Repeatedly broken branches

Please give me a chance

Let me stay by your side

Don't let your tears remain in my dreams.

If I had known the ending would be so tragic

I don't even dare to love anymore...

I never want to see you again.

......"

His voice was completely different from Yu Yanjing's.

There was no red birthmark at the corner of his eye, and his gaze was always so gentle when he looked at each fan.

He only looks like Yu Yanjing.

Xiao Mu didn't look at him again during the concert; instead, she took out her phone and searched for Summer's profile.

He is only nineteen years old, but has already been in the industry for four years. He is the youngest actor to win a Best Actor award in the entertainment industry, and has more than 60 million fans. However, this concert is his first concert recently. He has almost disappeared for more than five months, and all his fans could not find him.

Xiao Mu lost interest in the rest.

He also disappeared for more than five months? Although I disappeared for more than a month less than him, it still makes one wonder.

With almost identical appearance and having disappeared for several months, Xiao Mu was almost starting to suspect that he was Yu Yanjing.

After the concert, Xiao Mu couldn't wait to join the fans at the stadium entrance, hoping to meet Summer.

Unfortunately, the power of the fangirls was too great, and she was pushed to the periphery of the crowd, probably not even visible to Summer.

All I could hear was the fans talking about something.

"I heard that my brother and Hu Hu are going to team up again."

"Really? I've been shipping them ever since they first met. Is their secret relationship real?"

"I don't know, I just heard it from others, but Huhu and her brother are such a good match, I wish they were together."

This older brother is probably referring to "summer," but who is "huhu"? Is it male or female?

"Ah!! Honey!!! Keep warm!"

"Husband!!! Xu Che! Look at me!"

The fans' screams almost pierced Xiao Mu's eardrums. No matter how high she jumped, she couldn't see Summer. When she finally caught a glimpse of her, she was still completely covered up, fully armed with a mask, hat, and sunglasses!

She had no choice but to crouch down and squeeze into the crowd, moving forward amidst the pushing and shoving of fans. She finally spotted Summer's shoes when someone kicked her, causing her to stumble forward. Ignoring everything else, she could only cling to Summer's leg to avoid falling.

"This fan, our artist doesn't sign autographs..." The bodyguard helped her up.

This was the first time she had seen him so closely. His skin was so white it was almost glowing, and she couldn't see his eyes, nose, or mouth. But just by looking at him, she felt a sense of déjà vu.

"What is this person trying to do? Is he a sasaeng fan?"

"Damn it, I actually touched my brother's calf. Is this the Dream Girl?"

She ignored the fans' criticisms and instead looked up at Xu Che, slowly calling out a name, "Yu Yanjing".

However, Xu Che didn't react at all. He just lifted his sunglasses, gave her a cold look, and then brushed past her and got into his car.

"Damn, it really is Meng Nu! Why is she calling my brother by his character's name from the movie?! I'm speechless!"

"Sorry, our artist has to go to a promotional event."

The bodyguard closed the car door, and the car drove onto the road and disappeared.

"Are you addicted to this? Are you obsessed with watching dramas?"

Many fans were cursing at her, but she didn't react at all; he wasn't Yu Yanjing.

But someone just mentioned a character's name in the play. What's going on? She eagerly opened her phone and continued scrolling down Xu Che's profile.

It turns out that Xu Che's new drama "Chaoyang Ce" just finished filming more than five months ago. It tells the story of Yu Yanjing, a young emperor of a short-lived dynasty. He only lived to be twenty-five years old, and had only one empress, Xia, and one daughter who died at the age of three. He died in battle the year after his daughter was born, and the Chaoyang Kingdom was annexed. However, during his short reign, he did many great things that benefited the country and its people. He advocated doing whatever he wanted, he deeply loved his empress, and he killed nine of his brothers to ascend the throne...

Those two words pierced Xiao Mu's eyes: premature death... Xiao Ran'er only lived to be three years old.

Impossible...impossible! How could Yu Yanjing only live to be twenty-five? How could he have died in battle? They clearly had so much left to say.

It turns out that when she searched for Yu Yanjing's name, the results of those incomprehensible entries were because Yu Yanjing wasn't actually that name in history, nor was the Kingdom of Chaoyang. All the names were changed by the director.

There are very few true historical records because he reigned for less than ten years, and the information about him after the war was pieced together. So, he did exist, right?

Back at the base, she spent the time catching up on everything about Xu Che. How could it be such a coincidence that he played Yu Yanjing, and that he looked exactly like Yu Yanjing?

During this time, she eagerly awaited the release of that TV series, wanting to see how her story with Yu Yanjing would be portrayed.

Will I experience the same thing as her?

During this period, Xu Che has been busy with one announcement after another, but they all revolve around a girl named "Pei Xi". She is the "Hu Hu" that fans talk about, the "Hu Hu" who is a perfect match for Xu Che.

She also played the female lead, Xia Yunzhi.

So, they've been doing marketing all this time. Looking at the two people embracing on the computer screen, Xiao Mu's eyes stung. Even though she knew it wasn't Yu Yanjing, seeing the way he loved someone else still made her sad.

She tried to convince herself that this was not Yu Yanjing.

The Yu Yanjing that fans talk about is just a character played by Xu Che, but in Xiao Mu's heart, he is her lover, someone she longs to see day and night, and he is different.

She couldn't imagine that someone in this world looked like Yu Yanjing, and she couldn't accept that he had absolutely no feelings for her.

She considered sending Xu Che a private message on social media, but in Xu Che's world, Yu Yanjing was just a character he had played. No matter what Xiao Mu said, he would only think of her as a brainless fan.

Besides, Xu Che has over 60 million fans, so he naturally wouldn't even look at private messages. If he were Yu Yanjing, how could he not recognize himself at the concert or at the stadium entrance?

"Xiao Mu, what's wrong? You've been so absent-minded lately. You shouldn't go to class for a while; you should take some time to rest."

The teacher at the base sent her a message.

She really needed to rest for a while; she couldn't tell whether what she had experienced over the past four years was a dream or reality.

Perhaps only the system can answer these questions, but the system itself is nowhere to be found.

Where should she go? Who should she confide in? All of this left her feeling utterly lost. She drifted through more than a month in a daze, doing nothing but eating and sleeping, without accomplishing anything she was supposed to.

As I passed by the street, there was a sign in front of an office building that read: "The ruins of the Chaoyang Kingdom have been unearthed, and many historical artifacts have been excavated, so an exhibition is being held in the museum in front of us..."

Before she could finish reading the rest of the text, Xiao Mu was already on her way to the museum.

There weren't many people here. Maybe the advertisements hadn't been put up yet, or maybe she arrived early and the advertisements had just been put up.

She couldn't wait to buy a ticket and go into the museum.

Many of the items are not yet labeled, but they all look incredibly familiar, and most of them were unearthed from the Zining Palace.

Her favorite pillow, her favorite tuberose tea set, and... the tuberose hairpin that Ruan Cifeng gave her.

Continuing forward, she came across Yu Yanjing's belongings, the Silver Snake Dance. She still remembered how Yu Yanjing looked carrying the Silver Snake Dance, so full of vigor and spirit. It all felt so real.

And then there's that bow. Shen Ruoxuan said it was a gift from his father, and even the gemstones on it were personally selected. But he broke it once, so Xiao Mu found similar gemstones, polished them one by one, and set them in. Those gemstones... were exactly the same as the ones she polished back then, even the order was the same: red, green, blue, purple. She remembered that initially, purple was on top, but now it's red because she placed them according to her own aesthetic sense.

She placed her hand on the glass display case, wanting to examine the patterns on the bow more closely, but instead met a pair of sorrowful eyes that gazed sadly at the bow, as if they were weeping for it.

The owner of the eyes slowly raised his eyelids and hurriedly met Xiao Mu's gaze. That one look almost devoured her. He was Yu Yanjing, otherwise why would he look at the bow he once used with such sorrowful eyes?

But the way he looked at me was so indifferent, so indifferent that it was devoid of any emotion.

He was wearing a mask, otherwise the museum would have been packed with people.

Xiao Mu wanted to go over and say hello to him, but she saw a girl wearing a mask with an extraordinary temperament hooking her arm around Xu Che's.

Her heart suddenly ached. This person was probably Pei Xi.

They were like any other loving couple, arm in arm, visiting an exhibition of roles they had once played, while I was just an outsider.

Why does her heart ache? Even though she knows that person isn't him, why can't she control the heartache? Time and time again, it almost suffocates her.

They passed by, and time seemed to pass for a long time, but in reality, it was only a few seconds.

In just a few seconds, she was in so much pain that she couldn't breathe. It was just that someone who looked like him was in love with someone else, and she couldn't accept it like that?

She lost all interest in the exhibition. This time, she couldn't bear to watch Xu Che and Pei Xi being intimate in front of her, so she fled in a panic.

Since then, she has shut down all social media accounts and blocked all hashtags related to Xu Che and Pei Xi, attempting to restore peace to her life.

But how could I let her have her way?

Four months later, one day, she was walking down the street when the sound of a TV series playing in a bookstore caught her eye.

"Zhou Tingxi, our relationship is over. Please stop bothering me."

It was Pei Xi, who played Xia Yunzhi, while the person who played Zhou Tingxi was not nearly as good-looking as the Zhou Tingxi she knew.

Has their drama aired yet? Which episode is this? When did she say such things to Zhou Tingxi? And when did Zhou Tingxi start bothering her?

Then, Xu Che came out. He pulled Pei Xi away from Zhou Tingxi, his eyes devoid of any emotion. He drew his sword and pointed it at Zhou Tingxi, his voice cold, "Zhou Tingxi, if you continue to pester Xiaozhi, don't blame me for disregarding our brotherhood."

Xiao Mu stared blankly at the TV. When did Zhou Tingxi become Yu Yanjing's brother, and when did he start bothering her?

"No, no!" Xiao Mu shouted, covering her ears. "These are all fake, they're nothing like history!"

The bookstore owner looked over, her puzzled gaze making her realize she was on the street, and passersby couldn't help but cast strange glances at her.

She gradually calmed down, gave the proprietress an awkward smile, and turned to leave.

Finally finding a secluded spot, she relaxed and squatted down, tears falling one by one onto the ground, soon soaking a patch of floor.

She was somewhat taken aback. Why was what was shown on TV completely different from what she had experienced?

Is this really a historical event? Was what I experienced just a dream? But why does everything feel so real?

Even if it was a dream, why could she still clearly feel the pain of giving birth to Xiao Ran? She never wanted to experience that kind of pain again in her life, so how could it be a dream?

She felt so helpless and lost.

Back at the base, she watched all the updated episodes of "Chaoyang Ce," and the director of the series said that it was completely adapted from historical events.

Zhou Tingxi is Yu Yanjing's brother, while Xia Yunzhi is merely a princess of a fallen kingdom. It's a one-sided affair between Zhou Tingxi and Xia Yunzhi. Shen Ruoxuan, Deng Yizhi, Chen Lanhe, Song Xinning, and Yin Fu'an are not in the story...

She began to feel afraid. Did these people really not exist in history? Yet she still remembered what they looked like. This was definitely not a dream, definitely not!

Xiao Mu made an appointment with a psychologist. She started looking for the problem psychologically, concluding that she must be under too much pressure, which was why she was like this.

But what kind of pressure could she possibly be under?

If I tell all this to a psychologist, will she think I'm a fanatical drama fan?

"To distinguish between dreams and reality, you must first find out if there are any traces of the things that appear in the dream in reality. If you can find traces of their existence and find people who remember these things, then it is not a dream."

These are the psychologist's exact words.

How can she find people who remember these things? Where can she even begin to look? If these people were real, they would have been sealed away in history long ago.

Xiao Mu left the hospital with a wry smile, only to run into Xu Che at the entrance.

He was wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses, still fully disguised, but even so, Xiao Mu still recognized him.

What's wrong with him? He's even come to see a psychologist.

However, he is indeed under a lot of pressure. As an artist, he has to face not only fans, but also haters, and he has to endure countless insults.

Is he happy like this?

Xiao Mu sighed and didn't stay there any longer.

"Xu Che, have you been having dreams lately?"

"No. But I've started dreaming about someone I have no connection with."

"Oh? How can you say they're completely unrelated?"

"We only met once, but her face often appears in my dreams. We've never spoken, but she's my fan."

"Hmm. What are they all about?"

Xu Che said unhurriedly, "In my dream, I saw a scene from my new drama, but the face was hers, not the female lead. I found it very strange."

"You're under too much pressure. You need to relax a bit."

"But I've been relaxing my routine for over five months, and my condition is even worse than before. Doctor, what else can I do?"

Xu Che's eyes were full of exhaustion. Every time he had a dream, it was just as painful as his own experience. Every time he was exhausted from filming and rushing to events, he would finally be able to sleep, only to fall into such a nightmare.

"Then why don't you try spending some time with this fan? Maybe you can find the answer in her?"

It is forbidden for celebrities to have private contact with fans, and besides, he and she had only met once, no... twice. The last time was at a museum, where they saw the same exhibit.

It's strange, but when I saw that bow, my heart seemed to be drawn to it, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness and resonate with it. I couldn't control my emotions at all.

If it weren't for marketing, he wouldn't have gone to the museum with Pei Xi; they only went there to take a few photos.

If it weren't for wanting to escape the control of that old man at home, Xu Che would never have shown his face in public to film or sing. If his mother knew that he hadn't been admitted to Zhoushan University, she would be sad in heaven, wouldn't she?