Chapter 72: Zhang Zhiyin’s Dream

While Fang Zhou and Chu Xinran were waiting for the sunrise by the sea, someone in the villa was startled awake by a nightmare.

“No! Fang Zhou!”

The woman abruptly opened her eyes, seeing the pristine white ceiling instead of the gruesome corpse from her dream, and immediately felt relieved.

She breathed heavily, feeling her heart pounding wildly in her chest, her back drenched in cold sweat, making her pajamas stick uncomfortably to her skin.

Zhang Zhiyin got up, went to the bathroom to freshen up, and then returned to her room.

She took out a notebook and paper from her backpack, turned on the desk lamp, and began writing by the window.

“Eyes,” “Hands,” “Feet,” “Jumping off a building.”

She wrote down these four keywords on the paper.

With the pen tip pressing on the paper, Zhang Zhiyin fell into deep thought.

This was the first week she had been having nightmares continuously.

Ever since she accidentally saw a show called “100% Love” on her phone and saw Fang Zhou’s face in it, she had been having nightmares.

At first, she dreamt of Fang Zhou’s hand being cut off, then his Achilles tendons being severed, and then his bloody eyes being gouged out.

And today, she dreamt of Fang Zhou jumping off a high place, lifeless.

Zhang Zhiyin sought psychological intervention and hypnosis, but to no avail. She still had those nightmares every night.

At that time, she was abroad, struggling for inspiration for her next work when this incident caught her off guard.

She thought it was telepathy and that Fang Zhou might really be in trouble.

But the daily live broadcast of the show on her phone clearly showed that Fang Zhou was fine.

Zhang Zhiyin struggled for a long time, not knowing what went wrong, and was too scared to sleep at night, fearing those horrific scenes.

But people can’t stay awake forever. The mental stress caused her to doze off and wake up quickly during the day.

The psychologist believed that to solve the problem, she needed to directly confront the person she dreamt of.

“Perhaps the obsession from your youth was too deep, causing these feelings to resurface when you suddenly saw his face again after so many years.”

But Zhang Zhiyin thought it was too far-fetched to return to China just to find Fang Zhou because of a dream.

She hadn’t contacted him or Li Siming for years. Would he even acknowledge her if she suddenly went looking for him?

These hesitant thoughts dissipated when Zhang Zhiyin saw Fang Zhou almost drown and get poisoned by eating toxic mushrooms on the show.

He was truly in danger.

She had to go back to China to see him to be at ease.

So Zhang Zhiyin got in touch with a friend to get the contact information of the chief director of the dating show and bluntly stated her intention to join the cast with sponsorship.

After becoming famous and winning awards over the years, she rarely accepted public interviews or variety show invitations.

Now, her proactive request would certainly not be rejected by the director, as she brought traffic and topics with her.

Zhang Zhiyin returned to China overnight and hurriedly joined the fans visiting the set, arriving at the island and successfully meeting Fang Zhou.

She thought she could talk to him casually, like during their youth.

But when she saw him chatting with another girl, she couldn’t help scaring away the little fan by pretending to be his ex-girlfriend.

Seeing Fang Zhou reminded her of their unpleasant meal and her unrequited crush.

The grievances and anger in her heart made her speak harshly to Fang Zhou, feeling that only sarcasm could vent her pent-up emotions.

But Fang Zhou hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was herself who, the more she looked at him, the more memories of her past crush were stirred up.

Those hidden affections and cautious feelings resurfaced, prompting Zhang Zhiyin to say those words.

“If I hadn’t gone abroad, would we be together now?”

When Fang Zhou said it was impossible, her heart sank again, but this time she hid it well.

She pretended to be indifferent, warning him to be cautious in choosing his partners, and her eyes reddened when he bowed his head in weakness.

Sadness and sorrow flooded her like an opened floodgate, mercilessly drowning her.

At that moment, looking at the living Fang Zhou and remembering the tragic Fang Zhou in her dream, the contrast hit her even harder.

Fang Zhou’s words, “I know,” almost made Zhang Zhiyin reveal her nightmares.

You don’t know, you don’t know anything.

You don’t know I dreamt you were killed by a woman, and she was your ex-girlfriend.

Although she couldn’t see the woman’s face in the dream, Zhang Zhiyin heard her words as she attacked Fang Zhou.

“Didn’t I already warn you not to run around? Stay obediently by my side, don’t go anywhere.”

“If you don’t listen, I’ll have to cut your tendons.”

“Don’t be afraid, you won’t be able to run in the future. I’ll take good care of you. I’m the one who loves you most in the world.”

Even in the scorching summer, Zhang Zhiyin, reflecting on these words as a bystander, found them chilling.

What kind of possessive and controlling maniac was this?

She knew some writers created such characters, and there were a few real-life yanderes.

But if Fang Zhou fell into the hands of such a person, it would be truly unfortunate.

However, saying these words and dreams out loud was too absurd.

Not only would Fang Zhou not believe it, but even she wouldn’t have believed it a month ago.

She had hoped that seeing Fang Zhou in person would stop the nightmares, but it seemed things weren’t that simple.

Zhang Zhiyin could only keep this to herself, waiting to see how the dating show would unfold.

If there really was such a dangerous person around Fang Zhou, she would have to warn him.

Or she might have to take some measures to protect him.

People say dreams are the opposite of reality. This time, Zhang Zhiyin sincerely hoped they were right.

No matter how hard she tried, Zhang Zhiyin couldn’t recall the woman’s face from her dream.

Feeling frustrated, she threw down her pen, tore up the paper she had just written on, and threw the fragments into the trash can.

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she decided not to sleep at all.

Zhang Zhiyin stood up and walked to the window, wanting to see the scenery outside.

The sky was already bright, with the distant sea shimmering in the light, a streak of gold appearing on the horizon, the sky suddenly bright and dazzling.

At that moment, an orange sun slowly peeked out, dyeing the sky red, and the morning sun wore a brilliant robe.

The sea sparkled, the waves gently lapping the shore, reflecting the sunlight beautifully.

A new day had begun.