The Silly Alchemist

“Aargh, it always ends up like this. I wake up when we talk about it. I can never get anything out of her, not even a little!” Ye Lang cursed as he woke up from his dream. It was the first time he cursed right after a dream.

He then...

Yeah, he fell back asleep. But this time, he didn’t see the girl again. He didn’t dream at all until the sun rose.

This had been going on for about three years now. Ye Lang didn’t really think much about it, he just had conversations with the girl and treated it as if it were merely a dream!

At the moment, he thought that the girl was an incarnation of Tigress, since the dreams started happening after Tigress left. Perhaps it was because of him thinking of her all the time.

But, at the same time, he couldn’t figure out why he’d forget what she looked like once he woke up. He also wasn’t sure what the dreams meant and whether there was actually a girl like that in real life.

He was confident the girl he met in his dreams was not Tigress, he knew her too well. He also couldn’t find any similarities between Tigress and the girl, hence he ruled out the probability of it quite easily.

While he’d always forget how she looked like when he woke up, he was always able to recognize the girl effortlessly and remember how she looked like vividly in his dreams. It was something that he found strange.

As conversations progressed, Ye Lang would always find ways to reveal her identity. Yet whenever he did, the dream would be abruptly interrupted as she was about to answer.

Even if the question wasn’t a serious one, the dream would still end abruptly. Like a programme with a lock for protection. Once the “safe” range was exceeded even by a little, the system would be interrupted.

Ye Lang was helpless here, he could do nothing but accept this fate. They talked about everything except her identity.

He didn’t really have much of a choice. He would meet this girl regardless unless he didn’t sleep for the day. He could also ask her of her identity and interrupt the dream, giving him a dreamless sleep. 

Ye Lang rarely did though. He loved talking to her. And if he was tired, he would go to sleep… in his dream. Yes, he could and was probably the only person who could possibly do that!

Similarly, if she asked Ye Lang about his identity, the dream will come to a halt. It was as if the dream connected the two, but they weren’t allowed to know anything about each other.

Of course, it was still unknown if the girl was real, if she existed in the real world. Ye Lang kept this to himself because this was too strange to be explained. The dreams were between him and the girl in his dreams.

Maybe this was a special kind of spiritual connection. One that connected two people from different places, across different timelines and realms to meet in a dream!

Or maybe she was just another character in a dream. 

No matter who she was, Ye Lang would carry on with his daily activities after he woke up and put his dream at the back of his mind. He treated it as what it was, a dream!

It was up to the heavens for him to get an answer. Maybe he would... maybe he wouldn't, ever.

The following day, Ye Lanyu came over early and went to school with Ye Lang, as usual.

Everyone was at school as usual, going through their daily routines. They didn’t feel that Ye Lang’s presence affected their daily life. It was as if nothing had happened. 

This wasn’t an order or anything from anyone. The people were just used to Ye Lang’s sudden appearance and then him disappearing the next second.

The classroom was noisy as usual.

“Ye Lang?!”

When Ye Lang walked into the classroom, everyone stopped what they were doing and were stunned. Though, they were only stunned for a little while.

“Welcome back, Ye Lang…”

A few girls went forward and welcome Ye Lang warmly. A little too much enthusiasm. This was very different compared to how they treated him the last time.

“Oh, thank you!” Ye Lang nodded politely and was oblivious that these girls wanted something from him.

Being Ye Lang’s classmates, naturally, they could be a little more direct since they'd known each other for a while. They were gossiping before they came to approach Ye Lang. 

Everyone knew Zhen Xiaoyan had a drastic change in her figure and became amazingly beautiful. This made many girls envious and wanted the same treatment from Ye Lang. Well, not just girls. 

Had Ye Lang not stayed at home that day, he would have been bombarded with narcissistic girls.

Now that the craze had died down and people knew the extremities of the treatment Zhen Xiaoyan underwent, a vast majority of the people decided against their initial choice. The only ones left were either hopeful or desperate.

Once Ye Lang entered the classroom, he went next to Zhen Xiaoyan and sat down at the eerily vacant seat beside her.

Why did it look eerily vacant? Simple. It was a room full of people, but there was one bare seat. It stood out. 

Zhen Xiaoyan was the centre of the crowd. It wasn't because her personality changed though. Back then, not many people would be around her, only a few close friends and Ye Lang, who even then preferred somewhere quiet.

The current Zhen Xiaoyan was loved by everyone- guys and girls alike approached her for various reasons!

Despite her surge in popularity, Zhen Xiaoyan was still the same person. She was humble and did not put anyone down. She remained indifferent even when she was granted favours or subjected to humiliation. And it was what Ye Lang admired most about her.

This was the first day she had a vacant seat next to her... And that was because she knew Ye Lang was coming to school. She decided it was best he sat next to her.

People questioned it at first, but she didn’t explain herself. How could she explain to everyone that she had reserved a seat for Ye Lang? She blushed at the thought of it.

That just made her even prettier and adorable!

Now, everyone realized that the vacant seat was meant for him.