2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

267 Reality (23)

The first thing Song Jia saw when she opened her eyes were delicate, pink peach blossoms shimmering against the background of a clear blue sky. 

Their buds burst exquisitely in white and pink colors, announcing the arrival of spring. A soft breeze caressed her face, bringing in the fresh scent of pine trees and newly turned soil. 

Peach blossom petals rained down like snow, spinning in the air as if being carried by an invisible current. Some of them landed on her upturned face, sticking on her forehead and cheeks. 

Song Jia picked them up in amazement, rubbing the petal between her fingertips.

When she looked around, she saw that she was sitting on a park bench. Not far away from her, there was a river flowing quietly down a water channel. 

She was inside a promenade, with rows of peach blossom trees lining up along the river, only held back by a low, wooden post-and-rail fence. The water washed away fallen petals along the current, and as Song Jia watched them, she felt the tense muscles in her shoulders slowly relax. 

Xu Jinhai was sitting next to her, watching her.

"We're in Manzusha," he explained to her quietly. "I had that watch made when I realized I didn't know how long my state of being comatose while overusing my powers would continue. It seemed I can go into virtual reality while sleeping, so I wanted to meet you here. But you might not visit me much if you have to use a headgear, so I wanted to give you an easier way to do it. Do you like it?"

"Mm, I like it." 

Song Jia suddenly felt an urge to get close to him. Not allowing herself to overthink things, she sidled next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Xu Jinhai froze for a moment and then wrapped his arm around her, tucking her closer to his side. 

Song Jia closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a few, deep breaths.

It had been a long time since she felt this peaceful. The warmth of his body, the cool breeze with the faint fragrance of peaches caressing her cheeks, the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees...Song Jia opened her eyes. She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked up.

Xu Jinhai was holding a retro-inspired selfie stick on his left hand, and was just about to take a picture of the two of them.

Song Jia, "..."

She remembered that selfie stick. It was the one that could make a 3D hologram of everything that it captured.

Xu Jinhai realized that he was found out and quickly forced out a small laugh, "Hehe, I just wanted to capture the first time Jia put her head on my shoulder."

Song Jia also twitched her lips, "Hehe."

Her peaceful moment suddenly over, Song Jia dragged an unwilling Xu Jinhai who still wanted to take pictures of her to stroll along the promenade. They only walked a few steps before Xu Jinhai ran a few steps ahead of her and crouched down.

"Jia, jump on my back, I'll carry you!"

Song Jia was about to say, "No need," but after thinking about it, she remembered that she wanted to give Xu Jinhai some security so that he wouldn't be so paranoid about her. If she continued to rebuff his advances like this, how would he be able to gain reassurance about their relationship?

Song Jia swallowed down her initial embarrassment. After doing some psychological construction, Song Jia felt that her inner child actually wanted to do it. Alright, this grandma should just thicken her face. He wasn't the only shameless person around here, oh~