Chapter 98: An Enigmatic Dream

This story is purely fictional.

Dai Yunjou was filled with countless emotions; even he never imagined that in this lifetime he would once again encounter a woman he liked, and one so young she could be like a daughter to him.

Gaoyating’s phone kept ringing incessantly. He stared at the relentless calls as if they were death threats, wishing he could just throw the phone into the river.

“It’s already late, and the boss keeps calling. I have to get back to work,” Dai Yunjou said, glancing at Yiyi beside him.

Yiyi turned to look at Dai Yunjou. Though reluctant to part, the joy of their first date was something she hadn’t anticipated. She felt time had flown by too quickly; she longed to escape with this older man to a place where no one would disturb them, to savor the beauty of a world meant for just the two of them. But then she caught herself—no, a girl must remain reserved; otherwise, he might think she was a reckless young woman. Shifting her tone, she said, “I should head home, or my father will start worrying again.”

After starting the car, Dai Yunjou fastened Yiyi’s seatbelt.

As he leaned closer to Yiyi’s face, something caught his attention. He stared intently at her for a long while, his expression serious.

Sensing this, Yiyi wondered if Dai Yunjou had discovered something about her, explaining the way he looked at her. But she quickly composed herself and, adopting a playful, adorable expression, asked, “What’s wrong, my dear uncle?”

Hearing Yiyi call him “uncle,” Dai Yunjou’s reason was once again buried beneath the charm of this little fox’s allure. He shook his head and muttered, “Impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible.”

“What’s impossible, uncle? In this world, nothing is impossible; anything can happen! That’s the truth, my uncle.” Yiyi touched his cheek and added, “What a handsome face—you’re just a little too old for me!” She then lightly kissed his cheek before settling back into the passenger seat.

Since the first time he met Yiyi, Dai Yunjou’s heart had not been at peace for a long time. He constantly recalled every detail of their meeting; her image lingered in his mind, impossible to shake.

He no longer thought of returning to the villa; his heart was filled with thoughts of Yiyi alone.

Online, their conversations flowed endlessly. As Yiyi put it, “I never imagined chatting with my uncle would be this interesting.” They talked about everything—from the MC Casino incident to amusing football anecdotes, from paparazzi in H City to celebrities’ private lives. There was nothing Yiyi couldn't think of, and nothing her uncle didn’t know.

Yiyi never expected that the man she was getting close to was witty and experienced. In Dai Yunjou’s presence, she felt like a naive girl who knew nothing. Yet he constantly praised her, a fact that surprised Yiyi greatly.

Dai Yunjou’s work seemed to slow down; he was immersed in the ocean of love. He was intoxicated, joyful, and it seemed all his troubles vanished with his acquaintance of Yiyi.

At lunch, he considered inviting Yiyi to join him but, due to arrangements made by Gaoyating that had to be completed that day, he feared time wouldn’t be enough and reluctantly gave up.

He called Yiyi, but when she answered and asked if he had an appointment, he casually said, “Just checking in; nothing important.” Then he hung up.

Yiyi felt the same way—she missed this interesting uncle, wanted to meet and chat with him, invite him to dinner, and even go to bed with him...

Whenever she thought about sleeping with her uncle, her cheeks flushed deeply, filled with anticipation.

The problem now was that the uncle she loved so deeply didn’t know her true identity. She dared not imagine what would happen once he found out.

In the morning, Chi Zhaoming took Xiyu to school. There was still time before work, and none of his colleagues had arrived at the station.

Chi Zhaoming looked down the empty corridors of the television station’s office building. The hallway lights cast a hazy blue glow, evoking a dreadful silence.

His passion for his job had waned; the drive to work overtime had vanished.

When he first started at the station, he would bring unfinished work home to discuss with Dujuan. Even a short piece of text was meticulously worded.

The station chief admired Zhaoming’s work ethic and trusted him implicitly. Nothing assigned to Zhaoming had ever caused dissatisfaction.

But recently, Zhaoming seemed distracted, often lost in thought, which concerned the chief. The chief had even had two heart-to-heart talks with him.

Zhaoming himself felt something was off but no matter how he tried to hide it, his troubles showed plainly on his face.

A big tip-off had earned him enough to buy makeup for Dujuan, bringing him a whole day of joy. But to his dismay, the next day’s information, for which he paid five thousand yuan, caused him to lose fifty thousand yuan.

He was thankful it was only fifty thousand. When he bought the second tip-off and considered betting a hundred thousand, he shuddered at the thought. His small hope burst like a huge bubble in an instant, plunging him into utter despair.

He called the royal insider again. When the call connected, a man with a Cantonese accent apologized: “Sorry, yesterday’s tip was wrong. Today, we will provide you with a completely accurate one for free...”

Before the man could finish, Zhaoming’s anger erupted through the phone: “Damn your ancestors!” Then he hung up.

Relying on tip-offs to turn the tide was a dead end. Lost and uncertain, Zhaoming was at a crossroads.

He leaned over his computer, fully absorbed in browsing online news. Around ten in the morning Beijing time, professional football matches in the M country usually started, marking his free time.

At this hour, he could easily delegate his work to his capable assistant, Xiaobianzi, who would complete the day’s program editing.

Among M country’s professional league teams, he favored some, like the Sky Galaxy, Pandora Wave, DND, and DNS—all teams he liked to bet on. He browsed the Sky Galaxy’s match data.

After losing fifty thousand, he dreamed one night that he was soaring into the galaxy.

Later, he wondered why he had that dream. He linked it to his intentions to bet on the Sky Galaxy and Pandora Wave games. “Daytime thoughts and nighttime dreams,” he mused. Could it be a sign?

The dream remained vivid before his eyes, like a scene from a sci-fi movie: he sprouted wings, stretched his arms, and took flight.

After flying for some time, he landed by a long river. The river’s waters roared fiercely. Standing at the riverbank, he watched a boat drifting downstream on the raging currents. The figures aboard were clearly visible; they rowed mightily, as if unhappy with the river’s speed, eager to hasten toward a destination.

Suddenly, their direction changed. With the crew’s efforts, the boat headed for the opposite shore.

All the crew disembarked, cheering as if celebrating their arrival.

At that moment, a violent hurricane arose, forming a massive vortex that connected to the sky. The whirlwind sucked the river’s water straight up, dark and immense, like a coiling dragon swallowing the galaxy’s waters into the clouds.

He watched as the river’s waters were nearly all sucked away within minutes, leaving only a few puddles in the riverbed.

He followed the riverbed to its end and found many fish stranded in the mud, unable to move, covered in sludge.

He took off his shoes, holding them in one hand, and with the other, a net bag. Carefully, he waded through the muck, trying to catch a large carp.

One hand couldn’t hold the fish. Thinking that catching a carp was a sign of fortune, he resolved not to let it escape. To free his hands, he cleverly tied his shoelaces together and hung the pair of shoes around his neck. Only then did he manage to catch the carp in his net.

He headed to the opposite shore to see why the cheering crowd was so joyful.

The fish was heavy, and dragging the net was a struggle, but unwilling to lose this hard-won catch, he finally reached the other side.

Feeling lucky, he thought, “I’m about to strike it rich. This time, it’s impossible not to succeed. Heaven, I thank you.” He bowed repeatedly, expressing gratitude.

The crowd suddenly turned and saw a mud-covered man, shoes hanging from his neck, kneeling and bowing. They found the scene hilarious and asked, “Who are you? How did you come to Corola’s territory?”

He was stunned, his vacant gaze amusing. Facing tall, burly men, he felt he had entered another world—not a human world but an unfamiliar, alternate realm.

He shivered and, eyes wide with shock, asked, “Where did you say this is?”

“This place? You really don’t know? This is Corola’s territory. Ordinary people can’t come here. Since you managed to get here, you must have extraordinary skills. But you must understand, you are now standing on our land—an inviolable zone. You look pitiful, so we will overlook your intrusion this time. Hurry and take that dead fish back to where you belong.”

(To be continued)