Chen Yuan felt a little nervous because the other party was likely a real ghost.

The mud stains on her shoes were quite telling.

And how should he answer her statement?

It wasn't yet...

After all, he hadn't given the bride price.

Or should he be generous and admit it, like calling her 'Auntie' directly on the phone?

But the phone was one thing; offline, he still honestly called her 'Aunt.'

"That..."

Before Chen Yuan could finish, Xia Xinyu's mother spoke again, "Although you might not believe it, I'm not someone from a dream. I'm real, Xia Xinyu's mother, or to put it another way...a wandering soul?"

After her death, Xu Qin had become a wandering, homeless ghost.

She had wanted to try to send a dream, so when Xia Xinyu returned to Shao Xiang, she tentatively tried to enter her mind.

But it wasn't that simple.

Once, she was pulled into a dream to celebrate Xia Xinyu's birthday. But at that time, she couldn't move or speak, and only had one point of view.

Following Xia Xinyu's memories, she returned to the past, to that somewhat special birthday when Xinyu's father wasn't there.

And what was the same was that both times, she could see Chen Yuan in the dream.

Was he real?

Was he also conscious?

"Perhaps you won't believe it," Chen Yuan said frankly, "But I'm real too."

"Really?!" Xu Qin asked in disbelief.

"Before, on Xia Xinyu's birthday, I also entered her dream and saw you. I don't know if you remember?" Chen Yuan inquired.

"This is too amazing."

Knowing that the other party was also conscious, Xu Qin was particularly happy. At the same time, she felt a sense of fate, sighing, "Perhaps something connects the three of us."

It was the Super Ability.

"I also miss you very much."

Chen Yuan gazed at this woman, feeling some sadness, but maintaining a steady tone, he said.

"You miss me?" Xu Qin asked, pointing to herself in confusion.

"Yes."

Chen Yuan nodded gently and said, "I've heard Xia Xinyu talk about you many times. You're a very gentle person who raised such a good child. More than once, I wanted to meet you and tell you that I was very sad about what happened."

Why did there have to be a tragedy?

Chen Yuan even thought that even if he never had the chance to meet Xia Xinyu, he wouldn't want to gain this love because of the tragedy of her parents' death.

Xinyu, she was too pitiful.

Xinyu's mother was also too pitiful.

The three of them were all good people.

Xu Qin touched the boy's hair, gently nuzzling it, making him a little bewildered, then smiled and said to him, "Chen Yuan, it's okay to cry."

Chen Yuan couldn't show weakness at this time, so he managed his expression well, smiling and saying, "I don't really want to cry..."

"Xinyu can't see, there are only adults here."

Xu Qin looked back at the sleeping Xia Xinyu and then reminded him gently.

"..."

Hearing these words, and thinking that this was the person Xia Xinyu had been longing for, and that now, he had really been pulled into the dream by his Super Ability, a pang of sorrow suddenly surged in Chen Yuan's chest.

Then, he covered his face with one hand and lowered his head.

His eyes welled up.

Xia Xinyu's mother held his other hand, rubbed it, and said with a smile, "Xinyu told me a lot, like when she was about to commit suicide, you used a Boston lobster to save her... That child is just so lovely. Of course, you're lovely too. I find this scene so amusing just thinking about it."

Chen Yuan remained silent.

Xia Xinyu's mother continued, "She said that after you met, you went to the supermarket to buy groceries together, cooked together, and went to school together. Your grades were relatively poor before, but after she used her scores to encourage you to go to the same university, you suddenly became so amazing and improved a lot. Now, you're much stronger than her. As expected, you're so smart."

"...Hard work makes up for deficiencies," Chen Yuan said in a low voice, still covering his face.

"Also, when you were in Shao Xiang, you protected Xinyu and didn't let that Niu Qiong trick her. When I saw that scene, do you know how much her father and I wanted to cry? You did a great job; you took care of Xinyu better than we did."

At this moment, Chen Yuan slowly lowered his hand.

At the same time, Xu Qin began to gently wipe away his tears with her fingertips.

After a while, when Chen Yuan was finally able to speak, the first thing he said was, "Please continue to urge me. If I don't do something well, you can come find me at night."

"That would be too scary. If I scared you, how would I explain it to Xinyu?"

After joking, Xu Qin stood in front of Chen Yuan, brewed for a while, and then said, "Then I'll entrust Xia Xinyu to you."

"..."

Chen Yuan lowered his head and didn't answer.

Nor did he choose to answer.

"I can't do anything anymore. From now on, Xinyu will rely on you." Xu Qin looked at Chen Yuan and said in an entreating tone, "Can you? Chen Yuan."

This time, Chen Yuan really wanted to answer.

But he still resisted saying it.

"Please, Chen Yuan, please promise..."

"That's impossible, there can't be no unfulfilled wishes. Don't you want to continue to see Xinyu? Next time, still in a dream, the three of us together... Or, during the New Year this year, Xinyu and I will go back to Shao Xiang together..."

"Chen Yuan, you're really smart."

Xu Qin finally understood that the reason he hadn't answered twice wasn't because he was afraid of taking on the responsibility, but because he felt that as soon as he agreed, she would enter reincarnation because she had no more attachments.

He still wanted her to see Xinyu a few more times.

But whether she had fulfilled her unfulfilled wishes and whether she had any attachments, Xu Qin knew better than anyone.

"Your feet?"

Chen Yuan saw that one of Xu Qin's feet was already so pale that it was transparent, and this transparency was continuing to spread.

"As you can see," Xu Qin said with a smile.

Whether there were unfulfilled wishes and whether she would enter reincarnation was not up to the ghost to decide.

Self-deception was even more useless.

"Then, leave it to me."

No longer wasting this last bit of time, Chen Yuan firmly promised Xu Qin.

"Thank you."

Xu Qin nodded, then used a joking tone to entrust something from her heart: "During the New Year, don't let Xinyu spend it at her aunt's house, and don't let her spend it at her uncle's house either. They all have their own families. Xia Xinyu has blood relations with them, but she doesn't belong to those families."

"My mother has already met her and said she's a good girl."

Looking at Xu Qin, Chen Yuan promised, "This year, I'll take her back, and I'll also take her to pay New Year's greetings, introduce her to some of my friends, we'll play mahjong together, roast tangerines... Our family used to lack the New Year's atmosphere. With Xinyu here, we'll definitely have the most New Year-like New Year."

"Then if Xinyu argues with my mother, who will you help?" Xu Qin asked curiously.

"With me around, they won't argue; they'll be like mother and daughter," Chen Yuan replied.

"Ha, it seems I still can't be a wicked mother-in-law; I didn't scare you."

Xu Qin rubbed Chen Yuan's face, revealing a beautiful and pure smile like Xinyu's.

"Please hurry up and go for the remaining time," Chen Yuan said, looking at Xia Xinyu, indicating that he didn't want to waste this important moment of mother and daughter reunion.

Xu Qin also nodded, then walked to Xia Xinyu's side, who was lying asleep on the long chair.

She sat down.

She placed one hand gently on her warm little face, watching her, gently humming, "My darling, darling, give you a little sweetness, let you sleep well tonight, my little imp, little imp, teasing your eyebrows..."

Xia Xinyu heard the song.

She slowly opened her eyes, and when she sat up, most of her mother's body had already decomposed into particles of light, rising upwards...

Which meant that most of her body had already disappeared.

Looking at Xia Xinyu, who was staring at her blankly, Xu Qin couldn't help but choke up, and tears slid down her cheeks, turning into golden particles as they fell, and with a sob in her voice, she continued to sing, "La la la la my darling... when you're tired, someone is there to accompany you... Aiya ya ya ya ya my darling... I want you to know you..."

"Are the most beautiful."

As the last word fell, Xu Qin completely disappeared.

Xia Xinyu then reached out to touch the gradually dissipating light.

Just like trying to scoop up water with a fishing net, she was so powerless, only able to watch her leave...

Xia Xinyu's tears fell patter patter.

Then, she looked up at the sky, trying to find that star, and sincerely confessed, "Mom, I love you so much too..."

Chen Yuan saw this scene.

While being healed, he couldn't help but shed tears.

At this moment, he suddenly felt something warm on his cheek, bringing a wave of wetness...

No, don't do this.

What the hell?

I still have to comfort Yu Zi... Damn it!

With a curse, Chen Yuan opened his eyes.

Yu Zi, who was lying next to him, licking his face, looked at him with concern when he saw him wake up.

"Thank you for caring about me, now get lost."

Chen Yuan said politely to Yu Zi.

But it could only understand his tone, not realizing that it should leave, and continued to lie beside him.

Chen Yuan didn't bother with it anymore, but opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

Thinking of the scene in the dream, he felt very sentimental.

This Super Ability had been used by him as a dream-fulfilling master.

But was it right to do this?

Was entering reincarnation a good thing for Mom?

But at least, Mom was smiling when she knew she was about to disappear.

When singing to Xia Xinyu, she finally cried like a living person.

When he was saving Xia Xinyu, he also ended it with a cry.

So, it was a good thing, right?

Then what about for Xinyu?

She would never see her mother again...

Knock knock.

Just as he was thinking this, a knock sounded on the door.

Then, Chen Yuan went over, adjusted his breathing, and opened the door.

Standing in front of his door was a beautiful girl holding a pillow, as if she had just cried and was about to continue crying. As soon as she opened her mouth, she said, "Today, I want to sleep in your arms."

"Yeah, okay."

Chen Yuan nodded in agreement, not as excited as usual, but quite calm and reserved.

Because the current atmosphere was not suitable for lewdness.

Then, Xia Xinyu, dressed in matching pajamas, walked to the bed and made eye contact with Yu Zi.

"Get out of here." Chen Yuan picked up the dog and threw it to the side.

Then, Xia Xinyu climbed onto the bed, got into his quilt, glanced at Chen Yuan, and whispered, "Come up."

"I, my pants are a bit thick," Chen Yuan explained.

"Take them off."

"Wait, let me find a pair of long johns."

Chen Yuan went to the closet, found a pair of long pants similar to pajama pants, changed into them, and slowly got into bed.

The two of them lay in bed together, under the same quilt, looking at each other.

"I had a dream, I dreamed of my mother," Xia Xinyu said proactively.

"And then?" Chen Yuan asked.

Xia Xinyu choked a little, paused briefly, and then continued, "We talked a lot, your topic took up a lot of it, and she also taught me how to keep my husband very obedient."

"Ah?"

"Just kidding, she didn't teach me that."

Xia Xinyu laughed through her tears, and after joking, she said, "This dream was so real that it didn't feel like a dream. The mother in the dream was my mother."

"Then where did the dream end?" Chen Yuan asked.

"It ended where she turned into a star."

Xia Xinyu's sobs gradually subsided, and her voice was no longer choked. She said softly, "I think she should really be my mother. She finally turned into a star, and after fulfilling her wish to see me, she entered reincarnation."

"Do you think so?" Chen Yuan was a little surprised.

He originally thought Xia Xinyu would be more sad because her mother had disappeared in the dream.

No one could bear that kind of lonely disappointment.

"Yeah." The more Xia Xinyu recalled, the more satisfied she felt. "I've actually always cared about whether Mom died sadly or regretfully. But now that I know she left with a smile, leaving with tears of emotion, I feel so much better."

This was different.

It was like the ending of a story.

An abrupt and unfinished ending would only make people entangled and painful.

Although there was plenty of blank space, it stopped at a reasonable place, and even if the ending wasn't that good, it could still let people let go.

This dream belonged to the latter.

"Yeah, that's good," Chen Yuan said happily for Xia Xinyu.

"Yuan."

Xia Xinyu moved her body forward, facing Chen Yuan, her legs already a little intertwined, and smiled softly, "Hold me."

Chen Yuan passed one hand under her neck and the other over her, hugging her in his arms and gently kissing her forehead, "Xin Bao, good night."

"That..." Xia Xinyu said with a giggle, "You're already calling me Xin Bao, so sing me a lullaby to lull me to sleep."

When they hugged, there was no distance between them.

She wanted to continue the dream that had suddenly broken off just now.

Transitioning from one important person to another.

That way,

The people who loved her would always be there.

Thinking so, Xia Xinyu suddenly heard a gentle song in her ears, causing her hands to involuntarily hug the other person tighter, "La la la la my darling, when you're tired, someone is there to accompany you..."

(End of this chapter)