Chapter 111: Awakening

“This kind of bizarre thing is the first time I’ve ever seen it,” Katerina said, completely at a loss in the face of Chang Yu’s strange condition.

“What should we do then?” Yang Yang asked carefully, keeping a safe distance from Katerina and stealing anxious glances toward Chang Yu from time to time.

The worry on his face made it clear how much he cared about Chang Yu’s condition.

“If nothing else works, take him to the hospital,” Katerina suggested, though it hardly counted as a real solution. “Maybe with the help of advanced medical equipment, we can figure out exactly what happened to Chang Yu.”

“We can only do that, I guess.” Yang Yang agreed reluctantly, his face long and troubled.

After all, none of them could make Chang Yu wake up.

Just as Katerina took out her phone and was about to call an ambulance, an unexpected thing happened.

“Whoa, this stuff really hits hard!” The first thing Chang Yu said after waking up left Katerina and Yang Yang staring at him in stunned silence.

For a moment, they stood there at a loss, unsure what to do.

It turned out that while Yang Yang and Katerina had been arguing, Chang Yu had already woken up quietly.

He opened his eyes, looking refreshed and clear-headed, pushed aside the blanket over him, and sat up on the sofa with remarkable vitality.

“Huh? Isn’t this Katerina? What are you doing here?” he asked in confusion when he finally recognized the lovely figure standing before him.

“You... really don’t know what just happened?” Seeing him awake, Katerina visibly relaxed. Her expression, which had been taut a moment ago, loosened at once.

“What happened just now? Hiss—” Chang Yu instinctively touched his face, only to realize it hurt terribly.

“That’s strange. Why does my face hurt so much? And why is it so swollen?” He rubbed his red and swollen cheeks. “Could this be another side effect of the peach wine?”

Yang Yang looked away with a flicker in his eyes, silently swearing that Chang Yu must never be allowed to learn about the scene from earlier, when he had slapped him over and over again.

That incident would be a secret forever, something to be buried deep in his stomach and never spoken of again.

“We all thought something had happened to you. Yang Yang said you’d been asleep the whole time, and no matter how we called, you wouldn’t wake up,” Katerina said, her tone carrying a faint note of reproach.

Chang Yu’s strange condition had truly frightened her.

“What could possibly happen to me?” Chang Yu smiled, feeling a little warmth rise in his heart.

In this world, having someone care about you is a deeply comforting thing.

Especially when that person is Katerina.

“I’m better than ever right now, like I’ve been reborn.”

He was not exaggerating. After waking from that sleep, Chang Yu truly felt that his head was exceptionally comfortable, unusually cool and clear.

His thoughts were faster, his reactions quicker, and the world around him seemed sharper than before. He could even make out the fine fuzz on Yang Yang’s cheeks with perfect clarity.

Before, he always needed half a second or a full second to think before speaking. Now he didn’t need that at all.

Whatever Katerina asked, he could answer immediately. His mind was running like a CPU, fast and smooth.

This change both surprised and delighted Chang Yu. It must have been the manifestation of an increase in soul power.

No wonder Real Person Hao had told him that when he woke again, he would find the whole world changed.

“Actually, it’s like this...” Seeing that both Yang Yang and Katerina were looking at him with concern, Chang Yu took the opportunity to explain the cause and course of his sleep.

“So... you ended up like that because you drank a cup of peach blossom wine in your dream?” Although she already knew that Chang Yu’s gifted ability was dreaming, Katerina was still astonished after hearing his explanation.

She could sense that some kind of change was taking place in him.

It was so subtle that one would miss it unless paying close attention.

In the past, Chang Yu would always think for a moment before speaking, but now... he didn’t need to.

Even Katerina could no longer keep up with the speed of his thoughts.

“Maybe the liquor was just too strong, so I slept too deeply,” Chang Yu said vaguely, sounding uncertain no matter how one heard it.

Why he had slept so soundly, even he did not know.

Perhaps it had something to do with the words Real Person Hao had spoken to him, words that had taken effect as surely as a decree from heaven.

“I’m sorry to have frightened everyone. I’d like to apologize on Yang Yang’s behalf to both of you.”

Though Chang Yu felt his body was perfectly healthy, Katerina’s and Comrade Li’s concern still left him warm inside.

Once you truly step into the adult world, you discover that people who genuinely care about you are very, very rare.

“Since it was all a misunderstanding, then there’s nothing to worry about,” Katerina said. Her intuition told her that Chang Yu was holding something back, but with Little Li and Yang Yang present, she did not ask further.

“Since it’s nearly noon, let’s all have lunch together,” Chang Yu said, walking naturally into the kitchen and taking out... last night’s leftovers from the refrigerator.

This fellow was truly as frugal as they come.

“There was a little too much left over from yesterday. It would be a waste not to eat it,” he explained awkwardly to the others.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” Katerina said calmly. “I often eat leftovers at home too. I can do that.”

As for Yang Yang, the moment he heard they were going to eat leftovers, he refused on the spot. “I don’t agree. Your cooking isn’t as good as what they make outside. Let’s just eat out.”

“Objection denied!” Chang Yu ignored his protest. Perhaps because he had grown up following the old dean and living a life of thrift and hardship, he had always been careful not to waste food.

The lunch was very casual, and no one felt the same tension they had the night before.

It felt more like a simple family meal than a formal drinking gathering.

Katerina did not have much of an appetite, which made Chang Yu feel as though she was easy to take care of.

She ate with refined manners, and she looked lovely doing it.

Chang Yu thought that she looked better while eating than any girl he had ever seen.

After lunch, Katerina answered a phone call and then told Chang Yu that she had to go to the bureau for a while.

“Why is she always so busy?”

After Katerina left, Chang Yu was a little puzzled. “We’re clearly in the same unit, even on the same team, so why am I the one with so much free time?”

As the team leader and a key member of the bureau, Katerina was far busier than a newcomer like him.

...

“Hello, sir. This single bed we have here is currently on discount. The original price is 2,500, and now it’s only 1,500.”

Inside the furniture mall, a middle-aged sales clerk was introducing the store’s products to Chang Yu and Yang Yang.

“This single bed is made entirely of solid wood, and its color is natural wood grain, giving it a fresh and elegant look that fits today’s aesthetic trends very well.”

Looking at the bed before him, Chang Yu was honestly quite satisfied.

He had just checked it and found that while the timber and workmanship were both fairly ordinary, it was indeed solid wood.

Buying a solid wood bed for 1,500 was not expensive. By then, he had already begun thinking about taking it home.

Of course, the main reason was that 1,500 was a price Chang Yu could accept.

No matter how good a bed was, if he could not afford it, he would not buy it.

“However, as nice as this bed is, I still wouldn’t recommend you buy it,” the clerk suddenly said, changing course just as Chang Yu was about to make up his mind.

“Why not?” Chang Yu asked.

“Are you planning to put it in the living room after buying it?” The clerk saw through his thoughts at once.

“Your living room is already small. If you put a bed in there too, wouldn’t the space become even more cramped?”

“And when you look at that crowded living room every day, wouldn’t it make you feel stifled?”

“That’s true, but our bedroom only has room for one bed. Besides putting it in the living room, there’s no other option,” Chang Yu said, suddenly troubled.

His home was not large to begin with, just a one-bedroom, one-living-room place.

Adding another bed would certainly take up a great deal of space and make the already small apartment feel cramped.

“I do have a suggestion that could solve your problem,” the clerk said, shifting the topic again. “Look over there...”

Chang Yu turned at the sound of his voice and saw that the clerk’s gaze was fixed on a large, unusually shaped bed.

It was a bed Chang Yu had never seen before, quietly standing in the corner against the wall of the showroom.

It looked somewhat like the bunk beds in a school dormitory, with an upper and lower section, yet it differed in many ways.

First, the lower bed was a double-sized one, while the upper bed was a single.

The lower frame was much wider than the upper one, increasing the contact area with the floor and greatly improving the bed’s stability.

Second, the student beds in school dormitories were mostly made of iron and rather crudely built.

This one, however, was made entirely of solid wood, not only beautiful to look at but also very elegant and upscale.

“This kind of bed is called a parent-child bed. It’s specially designed for families with children,” Comrade Li explained at the right moment.

“The larger lower bed is for the parents, and the smaller upper bed is for the child.”

“Placed in a bedroom, it doesn’t take up much space and can still sleep a family of three.”

“And most importantly, children are usually naughty. If the child sleeps beside the adults, the grown-ups can keep an eye on them.”

“That way, if the child refuses to sleep properly at night, the adults can remind them in time not to stay up late.”

“It really is convenient,” Chang Yu said with satisfaction, unconsciously picturing himself and Yang Yang using it.

He realized that although this bed was much higher than an ordinary one, it saved a great deal of space in the house.

The lower section was about the size of a double bed, so it would definitely fit in his bedroom.

“How much is it?” Chang Yu asked the clerk with keen interest.

“Since this bed is actually two beds assembled together, the price is a little higher. It’s 3,000,” the clerk said, barely able to hide his delight at seeing Chang Yu interested in a more expensive and better product.

“That’s a full thousand more than the one we just looked at!” Chang Yu winced at the quote.

A conflicted expression appeared on his face, and his old habit of pinching every cent returned once more.

Was it worth spending an extra 1,500 to buy a bed like this? Chang Yu hesitated.

But soon, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

“Forget it. I’m buying this one!”

No one wanted their home to become narrow and cramped, and Chang Yu was no exception.

This was a bed that could both ensure enough sleeping space for him and Yang Yang, while also taking up very little room.

For the sake of his future sleep and quality of life, Chang Yu felt this money had to be spent.

With that thought, he immediately took out his bank card and paid.

Two hours later, at Chang Yu’s home.

Squeak, squeak, squeak...

The installers used a power screwdriver to drive the final screw into Chang Yu’s newly purchased parent-child bed, completing the half-hour assembly process.

“Handsome, your new bed has been assembled. Please check whether there are any problems with it.”

“If everything is fine, please sign this agreement.”

The lead installer wiped the sweat from his brow and handed Chang Yu an agreement.

Chang Yu inspected the new bed from top to bottom, inside and out, and found no defects in the installation or quality.

“The bed is fine,” he said briskly, signing the agreement to show that he was satisfied with the service.

“In addition, we’ve already helped you disassemble your original bed,” the installer said, pointing to the old bed temporarily placed in the living room.

It was the double bed that had originally stood in Chang Yu’s bedroom. In the days before, Chang Yu and Yang Yang had squeezed together on it to sleep.

Now that double bed had been taken apart by the installers into many separate pieces and stacked together.