Repeatedly broken branches

"Let's start the countdown."

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Happy New Year!!!"

Pei Xi handed Xu Che a glass of wine and smiled at him. She had originally planned to spend New Year's Eve with her boyfriend, but the production team wanted them to promote their New Year's Eve activities, so she had to leave her boyfriend behind and come to find Xu Che.

"Well, Happy New Year."

Xu Che took the wine glass, turned to look at the sea. The neon lights illuminated the sea in a variety of colors, and it shimmered with light. The sea breeze ruffled his hair, but it couldn't reach his heart. His heart was like the calm sea, without a ripple.

Wow, Xu Che and Pei Xi are spending New Year's Eve together! How sweet!

Xiao Mu had blocked entries related to the two of them, but she still came across their photos in the New Year's Eve entries.

Xu Che and Pei Xi were drinking on a cruise ship, both wearing matching red sweaters. Xu Che's gaze towards her was incredibly tender.

She stared at her phone screen, biting her lower lip, not understanding what right she had to be sad.

No one spoke here, no one chatted, unlike in Zining Palace where she could talk to Xiaoshao and Rourou when she was bored. She started thinking about the past again, even though she told herself she shouldn't, she just couldn't help it.

So, were those past days reality or a dream? If they were reality, why did the sisters all say they hadn't received their missions yet?

Xiao Mu didn't dare to think about any of this, afraid that the more she thought about it, the more lost she would feel. Everything she had experienced was so real, how could it be a dream? How could it be?

It's the place I've lived in for eighteen years, but stepping outside feels so unfamiliar. The streets and shops are so familiar, yet why does Chaoyang Kingdom feel more like the place where I should live?

A pop-up window on her phone showed that someone on a social media app had added her as a friend.

The ID is: summer.

Summer, Xu Che?

Impossible. It's probably just a coincidence. How could a big star like Xu Che add himself?

Click on the profile picture, and it's a cat.

It reminded her of Xie Huai's fat cat, Zhu Zhu, and she wondered what had become of him. She hadn't seen him since he left the palace.

That sharp-tongued boy and the thoughtful and gentle girl You, she probably met her family and is living a happy life.

Only then did I notice a few teardrops on my phone screen, and my nose felt sore. Thinking about all this, I still couldn't hold back my tears.

And that adorable, sleepy little Ran'er, that was her child who had been with her for thirteen months, stayed in her body for ten months, and lived in her world for more than three months. How could she have died?

What evidence does she have to prove that history is false?

Yu Yanjing, Xiao Ran'er, and myself are all dead, but we couldn't see each other one last time. What a pity.

She accepted the friend request.

summer: [Animated emoticon] Hello.

Out of curiosity, Xiao Mu replied: Hello.

Summer: I am Xu Che.

Xiao Mu couldn't believe it. It really was him! How did he have her contact information? Had she been doxxed? Was she really being treated like a sasaeng fan?

Good heavens, this is a huge misunderstanding.

I'm not your sasaeng fan, you've misunderstood.

summer: ?

Summer: I didn't mean that. I just wanted to ask if we've met before.

Xiao Mu's heart clenched, as if someone were squeezing it, the pain making it hard to breathe. She stared at the words on the screen, reading them over and over again.

Have we met before?

Can I say you look exactly like my husband? No, except for that mole, you look almost exactly the same, but your expression, tone of voice, and the way you look at me are very unfamiliar.

Even if she told Xu Che this, would he believe her? She was only eighteen years old, but Xia Yunzhi was twenty-two when she met Yu Yanjing.

They are four years apart.

Although I really want to tell Xu Che my story, such absurd remarks will only make me look like a lunatic.

After calming herself down, Xiao Mu replied, "No."

Summer replied almost instantly: "Then why did you show up at my concert?"

Would Xu Che feel awkward if he said that his sister gave him a ticket?

I am your fan.

Although we don't know what happened in those four months, we can tell from Pei-Chen's friends that she probably became a fan of celebrities.

Summer didn't reply, and he didn't wait any longer. Instead, he turned off his phone and stared blankly at the white ceiling.

When she couldn't sleep at night, she would stare blankly at the ceiling, wondering what was real and what was fake in this world. Why did she miss it once, and then the second time it ended in regret?

Although she didn't know how much Xia Yunzhi regretted her relationship with Yu Yanjing in her first life, the little moments she shared with him in her second life made her truly fall in love with him. But why did fate play such a cruel trick on her? Why, after finally being together and having a child, did they have to be separated again?

About two hours later, she received another message from Xu Che.

Let's meet. I'm downstairs at your place.

Upon seeing those words, Xiao Mu was practically trembling all over. She remained frozen on the bed for a while before getting out, pulling back the curtains, and sure enough, a black van was parked downstairs.

Come down quickly, I'm waiting for you in the car.

Without thinking twice, and without even putting on a coat, Xiao Mu went downstairs in her slippers.

She walked to Xu Che's car and stared at it for a long time. The driver got out and opened the door for her. Only then did she see Xu Che sitting in the car, wearing a loose tracksuit and headphones. He was looking at her with his eyes slightly narrowed. He raised the corner of his mouth, patted the leather seat next to him, and gestured for her to get in the car.

Xiao Mu was slightly taken aback, then quickly climbed into the car.

The driver drove the car out of the residential area. The air was still and quiet all the way. No one spoke except for the sound of the assistant on the phone behind them. The assistant was a boy who looked very polite, but he was surprisingly loud when he made the call.

"Are you nervous?" Xu Che took off his headphones, stretched, and habitually tossed them to his assistant in the back seat.

"No."

Xu Che smiled and said, "That's good. Actually, there's nothing much today... I just wanted to ask where you're from? I feel like we must have met before."

“I’m referring to everything except that museum and concert,” he added.

Xiao Mu shook her head. "No more."

Even though it was a face she knew all too well, the truth was that they had never seen each other before, or if they had, it was during those four months that she had forgotten about them.

It was clear that Xu Che was somewhat disappointed, but it was fleeting, though Xiao Mu didn't understand how she could see disappointment in his eyes.

"Miss Mu."

Have you ever dreamed about me?

Xiao Mu suddenly felt that Xu Che might be a little abnormal. How could he ask such a speechless question with such a serious attitude?

Perhaps feeling he had been presumptuous, Xu Che blinked and suddenly said dejectedly, "To be honest, ever since I saw you at the concert, I've been dreaming about you every single day. Not just once or twice, but every single day. I'm almost driven crazy. I dream that you're Xia Yunzhi and I'm Yu Yanjing. Is this a side effect of filming? Then why is the female lead you? I really can't take it anymore, I can't stand the pain of being tormented by nightmares, so that's why I came to you..."

Xiao Mu's heart ached again.

She let out a long sigh. What's wrong with this world? Why are there so many unsolved mysteries? Why are there two identical people in the world?

“You look exactly like Yu Yanjing in history.”

Xiao Mu didn't even know how those words came out of her mouth. She looked at the driver, but he didn't react at all. The assistant behind her was wearing headphones and didn't hear anything. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Xu Che was stunned for a long time, then frowned and asked, "What did you just say?"

Xiao Mu smiled helplessly. "It's nothing."

"You just said that I look exactly like Yu Yanjing in history. What do you mean? How could we possibly look exactly alike? And how do you know what he looked like?"

The car stopped, and the driver and assistant got out. Now only Xu Che was in the car. Faced with his barrage of questions, she felt dizzy and confused, but she didn't know what to say.

Xiao Mu looked up at the car roof, trying hard to hold back the tears that were about to spill from her eyes. She didn't understand why she had said those words. She should have kept them to herself. She couldn't tell Xu Che everything that had happened to her. She herself began to doubt what was real and what was fake.

"Xu Che, don't ask anything."

"why?"

Xu Che pulled her clothes and back to her original position, only to realize that she had been staring at the car roof because she was now in tears.

He panicked, not knowing why this was happening, why the girl in front of him was crying so sadly, nor why he felt an overwhelming sense of pity when he saw her crying.

Is this...heartache?

Xu Che handed her a few tissues, and Xiao Mu quickly wiped away her tears. She took a few deep breaths before she felt a little better. She hated that she was incontinent and couldn't control her tears in front of others. She had embarrassed herself.

"I won't ask anymore, I'll take you home."

Xu Che rolled down the car window and called the driver and assistant back into the car. The assistant glanced at Xiao Mu, whose eyes and nose were red, and probably misunderstood, so he pursed his lips and sat in the back.

The car was driving very slowly, so slowly that those ten minutes felt like ten hours. Xiao Mu felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, not wanting to say anything or see anything, just staring blankly at her slippers.

Finally, the car stopped. Xiao Mu opened the car door, eager to jump out immediately. Just as she stretched out her leg, Xu Che draped his coat over her shoulders and said from behind, "Sorry to call you out in the middle of the night. Don't catch a cold."

Xiao Mu got out of the car without looking back at him until she heard the car door close and the car drive out of the community. She then went upstairs.

It was past midnight, but she still couldn't fall asleep.

Xu Che's words kept replaying in her mind. He said he had dreamed of her, that she was Xia Yunzhi. Yes, she was Xia Yunzhi, but even she herself didn't know if she really was.

I didn't sleep all night, and finally fell asleep around five or six in the morning. I slept for a whole day, and when I woke up, the sun had already set.

All that was left for her was a fiery red sunset.

I turned on my phone and realized it was already past six in the afternoon. My stomach suddenly started growling; I hadn't eaten all day and was so hungry I was almost numb.

Her first reaction was to call for Rou Rou to serve the meal. She really wanted to laugh. She had been back for more than a month, so why couldn't she forget that she used to be the empress?

I went downstairs and found a noodle shop to eat. I ordered a bowl of clear broth beef noodles. I used to love spicy food, but after living in Chaoyang for a long time, the locals eat a light diet, which has influenced me. Now I can't eat spicy food anymore. If this is a dream, how can my eating habits be changed?

So she was convinced that this was definitely not a dream.

It must be a soul transmigration. Her soul traveled to the past, but her body remained here, just like before. However, she only had one consciousness, so in this world, she lived a life like a walking corpse. That's why she didn't remember anything from those four months. That should be it.

Only she herself would believe such an absurd idea.

Stepping outside, the streets were plastered with advertisements and posters featuring Xu Che, and many fans were taking photos and checking in. There were so many people who liked him. If he were Yu Yanjing, he would definitely be very jealous.

Sometimes I'm quite glad he isn't, otherwise I don't know how I would face him.

"Tsk, who was that woman in Che-ge's car last night? She even went back wearing Che-ge's coat. The address doesn't look like Pei Xi's, so who was she?"

"It's disgusting. She's a homewrecker, interfering in other people's relationships."

"If I find her, I'll blackmail her to death and expose all her relatives and friends."

Xiao Mu overheard this conversation while passing by, and it terrified her. Fans these days are really crazy, but what they just said seemed to be about her!

Now that they know her address, wouldn't it be unsafe for her to go home? But it seems her face wasn't seen, otherwise those two girls wouldn't have reacted at all when she passed by them.

Xu Che, you've really ruined my life.

Her life was already a mess, and now she had to get dragged into Xu Che's fan wars. Although she had spent some time in the palace, she had never experienced palace intrigue.

"Xiao Mu, be careful when you go out. There are so many Xu Che's fans outside, a huge crowd gathered around. They stare intently at every girl they see, probably looking for the girl wearing Xu Che's jacket." Sister Pei Zhen came in carrying a cup of hot milk.

"Oh, really?" Xiao Mu took the milk and looked at Pei Zhen with a smile.

Pei-zhen sat down, looking at her with a worried expression. Xiao-mu sensed that she seemed to have something to say, but then swallowed it back.

Xiao Mu didn't want to ask any more questions. If her sister didn't want to talk about something, it must be something she found difficult to say. She could only wait for her sister to tell her herself; otherwise, she would never ask.

Pei-zhen looked at the medications on her table, sighed deeply, and finally said softly, "If you don't need to take the medicine, then don't."

"Sister, it's okay for me to eat it occasionally now."

Pei-zhen held her hand, bit her lip, nodded and said, "Don't think about things you can't understand, or you'll only suffer more."

"Mm." Xiao Mu still had a smile on her face.

As Pei-zhen prepared to leave, she took one last look at the sports jacket hanging on the wall, paused for a moment, and Xiao-mu didn't notice before she closed the door.

This incident seems to be quite serious. Xu Che's fan club and the topics surrounding him have been constantly controversial, and his commercial activities and endorsements have also decreased significantly.

After all, he's been doing a lot of promotional work with Pei Xi lately, and now Pei Xi suddenly seems to be the victim, with many CP fans comforting her on her social media.

Various marketing accounts have also published articles criticizing Xu Che and expressing sympathy for Pei Xi. But Xu Che is an actor, not an idol. So what if he is in a relationship?

Besides, he didn't officially announce his relationship with Pei Xi. Any normal person would know that it was just a marketing ploy for the film.

I don't know why, but seeing all the comments criticizing Xu Che, I inexplicably got so angry, all because he looks just like Yu Yanjing.

After thinking about it for a long time, I repeatedly clicked on Xu Che's profile picture, but I still didn't dare to send the message "Are you okay?"

What right do I have to ask him that? In what capacity do I have?

Moreover, it showed that Xu Che hadn't logged into his account for a week, a week, which was the last time they met.

He must have been very upset during this time, facing countless insults. Among those who insulted him were people who used to like him. What should he do to calm down?

Having been an entertainer for so long, he should know very well that there will always be some affection for her. So why would he use his work van to pick her up? Was he doing it on purpose? Trying to generate buzz? Why did he have to drag her into it?

A barrage of questions bombarded Xiao Mu, keeping her awake. She had no choice but to swallow a few sleeping pills; it seemed she was starting to become dependent on the medication.