Waking Up From A Dream, The Person Beside My Pillow Was No Longer There|✔️

15: Would there be another tomorrow?

Warning(s): Brief mention of rape

Before one of Buddha's disciples, Ananda, became a monk, he once loved a young woman. Buddha asked him:

"How much do you love that girl?"

Ananda replied: "I would turn into a stone bridge, enduring 500 years of wind, 500 years of sunlight, and 500 years of rain, all I ask of her is to cross it."

Quach Phuong did not know whether her love was as noble and great as that of Ananda's. But she also loved someone regardless of the consequences, loved someone with all her heart and soul, without expecting anything in return.

Perhaps the most sincere form of love was the kind that did not possess, did not coerce, but wholeheartedly hoped for the other person's happiness.

Quach Phuong seemed to have fallen into a bottomless pit. Above her was light, she was surrounded by darkness. She felt very scared, only able to feel her way forward.

She wondered if she was already dead? Was passing through this path the underworld that people often talk about?

But it was far from what Quach Phuong had imagined. This path was like a cut between the past and reality. She saw images of herself as a child, huddled in a cramped room, saw herself being bullied, saw herself being cheated of all the money she had just earned from working. She also saw Tan Duat, Nhan Tinh, and her parents.

Everyone was happy and radiant, only she stood alone in the distance, watching as the world favored others and forgot her.

Quach Phuong couldn't hold back her tears. She wanted to hug her past self, but upon touching, she realized that everything was just an illusion.

She felt like her soul was cracking, turning hollow inside. Quach Phuong walked aimlessly before a blinding light appeared. She covered her eyes with her hand, and through the gap between her fingers, she saw a young Cao Vien Thanh, with a shaved head, wearing a dirty tank top. He pointed proudly to his chest, and said: "Little kid, in the future, I, Cao Vien Thanh will protect you."

...

Quach Phuong struggled to open her heavy eyelids. The pure white ceiling of the room gradually became clear. She raised her hand, and examined her five fingers closely. It turned out that she wasn't dead; her life hadn't ended yet.

Quach Phuong tilted her head, and saw Cao Vien Thanh standing by the window with his back to her. She opened her mouth, her throat was dry, and a moment later, she managed to say: "Vien Thanh..."

Cao Vien Thanh turned around, his eyebrows relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "You're finally awake."

Quach Phuong blinked: "How long have I been asleep?"

"For over 2 hours."

"What time is it now?"

"10:45."

Quach Phuong's eyes suddenly widened. She hastily threw off the blanket and sat up, dragging the IV line. Quach Phuong decisively removed the needle, ignoring the dripping blood.

Cao Vien Thanh's face darkened. He stepped forward and quickly grabbed Quach Phuong's hand, using a medical cotton ball to stem the bleeding: "You think you've lived for too long, right? You don't even need your life?"

Quach Phuong turned away, speaking softly: "It's too late, I have to go home."

Cao Vien Thanh secured the medical cotton ball with a bandage, and laughed mockingly: "Home? Do you really think that's still your home, Quach Phuong? That home of yours is the reason why you're in the sorry state you're in now!"