The young man had a decent character, strong principles, and an air of mystery. His future seemed boundless, and this olive branch was offered at the right time.

Four hours later, Gaoyang opened his eyes.

"Are you waking up?" Liu Qingying asked.

"Yes, I feel like I'm about to wake up."

Gaoyang had spent four hours in the system, when his body began to exhibit strange reactions. It felt as though there was another body beneath his own, and he could hear its heavy breathing and heartbeat.

His current body seemed to float on the surface of the ocean, while the other body lay submerged in the deep. Now, the real body was gradually rising, soon to merge with the one on the surface.

In an instant, the scene before him froze. The room’s furniture, the scent in the air, the moonlight streaming through the window, and Liu Qingying standing before him—all turned into countless "pixels," disintegrating bit by bit into nothingness, replaced by dense darkness.

Just as he was about to be engulfed by the void, Liu Qingying’s cheerful voice echoed in his ears, "Pleasure doing business, see you next time."

Gaoyang opened his eyes.

It was six in the morning. The familiar bedroom, the yellowed white ceiling, the noisy traffic outside, the scent of detergent on the quilt, and the strong, steady heartbeat in his chest.

Finally awake. What a long dream it was.

...

After a simple wash and breakfast, Gaoyang went to the hospital, bringing soy milk, fried dough sticks, and century egg porridge for his mother and sister along the way.

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His father was able to speak now, and the four of them shared a long-overdue, warm breakfast in the hospital room. His father felt guilty and kept saying, "When I get better and return home, I’ll make you all egg soup."

The three of them smiled, knowingly changing the subject.

The fact that his father would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair had been kept from him. He still believed it was merely a postoperative side effect, and that after some time, he would regain feeling in his lower body and walk again.

After breakfast, Gaoyang’s mother and sister headed home, and he escorted them to the hospital entrance.

As his mother hailed a cab by the roadside, his sister stood beside him. Unable to resist, Gaoyang ruffled her hair.

"What are you doing?" His sister glared at him, still angry over his "disappearance" for the past two days.

"Nothing."

"You're crazy!"

"Yeah, your brother’s crazy," Gaoyang chuckled. He silently vowed: Whether his sister was human or beast no longer mattered; from now on, he would be doubly cautious, never letting her discover his awakened identity.

After watching his mother and sister get into the cab and leave, Gaoyang returned to the hospital room. An elderly doctor in a white coat stood by his father’s bed, observing him. His father had fallen asleep again, and the doctor scribbled something on the medical record, then closed it and left.

Gaoyang followed him out of the room and called out, "Excuse me, where is Doctor Baili?"

Gaoyang had officially entered the world of the awakened, and there were still many questions he wanted to ask Baili Yi.

"Baili who?" The doctor looked puzzled.

"The attending doctor for my father," Gaoyang replied.

"I’m your father’s attending physician!" The old doctor sounded a bit annoyed. "What’s the matter with you?"

Gaoyang was stunned. "That can’t be right. I distinctly remember a doctor named Baili Yi."

"I was the one who performed the surgery that night. I remember it vividly—your father was on the verge of death. Your mother, sister, and you were all waiting outside the operating room. When I came out, your mother and sister were still in their pajamas. I don’t remember what you were wearing, but there was blood in your hair. I even thought you were in the accident too, and told you to get a CT scan to check for a concussion. Have you forgotten all this?"

Gaoyang froze. It was true. That night, after the battle with "Old Zhang," he had burned his blood-stained school uniform and wore the spare clothes from Officer Huang’s car, but he hadn’t cleaned the blood from his hair, almost blowing his cover.

"Hmph!" The old doctor seemed quite pleased with himself. "You may have forgotten, but I haven’t. My memory is excellent!"

"But Baili..."

"I’ve worked here for over thirty years, and there’s no one with the surname Baili in this hospital!"