Ptui, You Scumbag

Luo Xiyun stood before the balcony, tears streaming down her face as she watched the golden sun.

She stood there blankly for several minutes before remembering to tell Chen Xu the good news. She rushed back into the room and shook him awake, saying excitedly, "Get up, the snow has stopped, the sun's out, hurry—Chen Xu, what's wrong?"

After shaking him several times, she realized something was off with him. His face was pale, his eyes vacant, as though he were seriously ill, and she was startled.

"Maybe I caught a chill." Chen Xu forced a smile.

Luo Xiyun reached out and touched his forehead. "I'll get some medicine."

Chen Xu watched her rummage through the cabinet, his heart growing heavy. He felt that this probably was not an illness. His entire body was limp and weak, and he could not muster any strength. Yet he did not feel as miserable as he normally did with a cold or fever, nor did anything hurt.

Before long, Luo Xiyun finally found the medicine box. She poured a glass of water, found some cold medicine, and fed it to him.

"Get some proper rest. I'll make some porridge." With that, she tucked the blanket around Chen Xu, left the room, and gently closed the door behind her.

Chen Xu lay there for a while. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and soon he closed his eyes.

When Chen Xu opened his eyes again, he saw Luo Xiyun lying beside the bed, just like when he had been injured and unconscious last time.

He lowered his head with some difficulty and discovered that his clothes had been changed. His heart sank.

"You're awake."

Luo Xiyun woke up then and said in surprise.

Seeing the bloodshot veins in her eyes, Chen Xu asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"Not long." A gentle smile appeared on her face as she changed the subject. "I made some porridge. Have a little." As she spoke, she poured a bowl of porridge from the thermos beside her.

Chen Xu cooperated and barely managed to eat a bowl. He chatted with her for a while, but his eyelids soon grew heavy again, and he quickly lost consciousness.

When he woke for the second time, Luo Xiyun was not in the room. This time, he had changed into another set of clothes. He could not help sighing, then turned his head with effort to look at the Perpetual Electronic Clock by the bed.

Two days had already passed since he first fell unconscious. In other words, he only woke up once every other day.

"Fuck."

After figuring it out, he could not help cursing loudly.

About ten minutes later, he lost consciousness again.

When he woke for the third time, Luo Xiyun was lying beside him.

The moment he moved, she sensed it and raised her head to look at him.

The orange Desk Lamp by the bed was on. She liked keeping that lamp lit; its glow was soft and created a particularly nice atmosphere.

Today, she wore different makeup. Her vivid red lips accentuated a cool, glamorous air.

She moved close to his ear and whispered, "I've prepared everything. I'm just waiting for you..."

Chen Xu said with difficulty, "Get up. Can we talk for a while?"

Suddenly, Luo Xiyun grabbed his collar and snapped, "At a time like this, you're saying you can't? What kind of man are you? You pervert, get up! Get up already..."

Chen Xu let her vent, his heart aching bitterly.

Luo Xiyun was someone who kept her feelings bottled up. He had never seen her so emotionally agitated before. Clearly, in the days since he collapsed, she had already been close to breaking down.

After a while, Chen Xu's eyelids began growing heavy again. Knowing he did not have much time left, he said hoarsely, "I'm sorry." Then his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Before he completely sank into darkness, he faintly heard crying.

The final day of the dream.

Chen Xu woke up for the last time, and the bright light stung his eyes so badly that he could barely open them.

"You're awake." Luo Xiyun's voice came from beside him. This time, her voice sounded very calm.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the light around him, allowing him to see the scene before him clearly. The deep blue sky was like a vast dome. At the end of the pale horizon, a golden sun slowly rose, dyeing the entire icy world with a layer of golden light.

He had never seen such a magnificent sight before, and he was utterly entranced.

At that moment, he was seated in a Wheelchair. Several buildings below looked familiar, and he quickly realized where he was. This was the Mountain Top where the villa stood. The developer had built a viewing pavilion here for people to enjoy the scenery.

He had not expected Luo Xiyun to bring him here.

"The snow has stopped." Looking at the sight before him, he felt his heart brighten as well.

"It stopped four days ago."

Luo Xiyun pushed him over to the railing. "The temperature has been rising these past few days. By noon yesterday, it was already close to zero degrees. I believe it won't be long before it rises above zero."

As she spoke, she walked to his side and crouched down, continuing, "Once the snow melts, I plan to drive north and search for other survivors. I believe there must be other people on Earth who escaped this disaster."

Chen Xu noticed that she had said "I," not "we." As for whether she was deliberately provoking him or had some other reason, he no longer cared.

Because he was about to leave.

In a few more minutes, he would have spent a full one hundred and eighty days in this dream. Once the time was up, this dream would end.

Perhaps because of his deep sleep these past few days, his mind had become exceptionally clear. Since entering the dream, he had never known as clearly and certainly as he did now that everything he had experienced over these six months had been a dream.

Then, he once again felt his eyelids growing heavy. He knew that when he closed his eyes, the dream would end.

At that moment, a question rose in his heart. He desperately wanted to know the answer.

He turned his head and asked, "Luo Xiyun, did you ever love me?"

Luo Xiyun looked into his eyes, seeming to realize something. She bit her lower lip. "No. I never loved you. Why would I love a man like you, so self-righteous, so selfish, who only cares about his own feelings?"

As she spoke, her tears fell nonstop like pearls from a broken string.

Chen Xu's eyes had completely closed, and his neck slumped limply to one side.

Her trembling hand reached for his carotid artery. Moments later, her face had gone completely pale.

"What's so great about you? When I was unhappy, you never knew how to say sweet things to comfort me. When there was something delicious, you never knew to let me have it. You threw things everywhere, and when I said a few words to you, you even got... angry with me. When you... slept... you even snored... sob—"

As she spoke, she collapsed onto Chen Xu's lap, already crying so hard that she could not speak.

After a while, her sobs gradually stopped. She stood up, pulled Chen Xu upright from the chair, and used several straps to bind him tightly against her front, with his face toward hers.

With one hand holding the Wheelchair, she stepped onto the railing. Looking at that unremarkable face before her, she murmured, "How could you leave me all alone? You still haven't confessed to me, haven't proposed to me, haven't put a ring on my finger... and you still wanted me to fall in love with you? Ptui, you scumbag."

After saying that, she closed her eyes and fell forward. She plunged off the cliff.