Chapter 25: The Meeting

　　I hesitated for a long time until it was completely dark outside, and then I turned off my phone.

　　What if he asks me to help him research those hallucinogens?

　　What if he uses curing me as an excuse to continue his experiments?

　　What if he succeeds in his research because of me?

　　My mind was a tangled mess; I had no idea what to do.

　　Who could possibly help me?

　　Wait, Ms. Tang!

　　Yes, Ms. Tang is definitely someone I can trust!

　　With that thought, I quickly turned my phone back on, found Ms. Tang's number, and dialed it.

　　Ring…!

　　Ring…!

　　“Is this Xia Ning?” Ms. Tang's voice came through.

　　“Yes, it's me, teacher.” I replied, my voice trembling with emotion.

　　“Xia Ning, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a while. I’ve missed you.” Ms. Tang said with a warm laugh.

　　“Teacher, I’ve missed you too…” I couldn’t hold back my feelings any longer and burst into tears.

　　“Xia Ning, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

　　“Teacher, is anyone else around you? I need to talk to you about something…” I said, sniffling.

　　“Hold on a moment…”

　　I heard the sound of a door closing on her end.

　　“Go ahead, Xia Ning.”

　　I hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Teacher, I think I’ve developed a second personality.”

　　“A second personality? Xia Ning, are you sure you’re not just overthinking things?” She sounded puzzled.

　　“I’m not imagining it. Just today, I saw my second personality in the mirror.” I paused, then emphasized, “She looks exactly like the version of me from the hallucination. What should I do, teacher?” I started crying again.

　　Ms. Tang suddenly fell silent. She didn’t speak for a long time.

　　“Teacher?” I called out.

　　“Xia Ning, what you need most right now is rest. You need to completely relax. In a few days, when I’m free, I’ll come over and take you out for some fun,” she said, trying to sound light-hearted.

　　This time, it was my turn to go quiet. She didn’t believe me. I couldn’t blame her—who would believe something so bizarre?

　　“Xia Ning? Xia Ning? Did you hear what I said, Xia Ning?”"I... I heard you, teacher..."

　　"Good. Don’t shut yourself away in your room. You need to get out and spend time with your friends... clear your mind."

　　"…"

　　We talked for a while longer, but it was mostly just her talking. She kept encouraging me to go out more or focus on my studies.

　　After about ten minutes, I hung up the phone.

　　Creak…

　　My bedroom door opened, and I quickly wiped my tears away.

　　"Studying, Xia Ning? I washed some grapes for you!" My mom came in carrying a plate of grapes and placed it on my desk.

　　"Thanks, Mom." I forced a smile.

　　She looked at me and then chuckled, "Look at you, you’re like a little lunatic right now, with your hair all messy like a bird’s nest."

　　"Lunatic…" The word stabbed at my heart like a sharp thorn. I forced a weak smile, not daring to meet her eyes.

　　"Well, since you’re about to go to bed, it doesn’t matter if it’s messy!" I said, trying to make my smile look as normal as possible.

　　"Okay, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Get some rest early. I’ll head back now, alright?"

　　"Mm-hmm."

　　I heard her footsteps retreating as she left my room and closed the door behind her.

　　I stared at the phone number in my call history, hesitating no longer. I clicked to call it back.

　　Ring…!

　　"Hello, this is Professor Li."

　　"This is Xia Ning." My voice was a bit cold.

　　"Oh? Miss Xia Ning, have you made up your mind? Don’t worry about the money—I can pay you 200,000 yuan a month, with 50,000 yuan upfront as a deposit." He sounded pleased.

　　"I need to talk to you in person," I said.

　　"No problem. You can come tomorrow. I’ll reimburse your travel expenses."

　　"Fine."

　　We arranged a time and place to meet—tomorrow at 10 a.m. at a sea cucumber restaurant in H City, at my request.

　　I wanted to make sure this scheming Professor Li would have to shell out a bit of money first before we talked. I still hadn’t decided exactly how the conversation would go.

　　After hanging up, I just stared blankly at my computer screen. It wasn’t until two hours later that I finally got into bed, undressed, and slipped under the covers.

　　I thought about a lot of things, including asking Wei Junliang to come with me to meet this Professor Li. But then I hesitated. What if Professor Li really could cure me, but Wei Junliang’s righteous nature got in the way? He has a strong sense of justice—who knows what he might do?After thinking it over, I decided to go meet him alone.

　　Lying in bed, it took me over two hours to finally drift off to sleep. That night, I didn’t have any of those terrifying dreams—maybe because my mind was just too exhausted, constantly on edge, and finally relaxed the moment I fell asleep.

　　The next morning, I got up as soon as dawn broke. I took a quick shower and changed into fresh clothes. While showering, I covered the mirror tightly with two towels—I was too scared to see my own reflection.

　　Afterward, I stared at the clothes in my wardrobe for a while before choosing a blue denim outfit. After what I’d been through in that hallucination, I didn’t think I’d ever want to wear a dress again.

　　I blow-dried my hair and tied it up in a simple ponytail just as my mom called me for breakfast. She asked why I was up so early, and I told her a classmate had invited me to go hiking. My parents told me to be careful, and I left the house.

　　The weather was a bit hot today, with no wind. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator from my apartment on the fourth floor, the bright sunlight made me squint. It took me a moment to adjust.

　　At the station, I bought a ticket and got on the train. From the moment I entered the station until now, I’d felt a little nervous—after all, in that hallucination, I was also traveling alone to H City. The image of those monsters staring at me kept flashing through my mind.

　　The train was crowded and the air was stuffy. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with a tissue and sat in my seat. It was a double seat, and next to me was a guy in his thirties, dressed in a blue casual outfit, wearing a black baseball cap with an NY logo. What did he look like? I didn’t dare to take a closer look.

　　He kept staring at me, and it made me think of the monsters from the hallucination.

　　"What are you staring at me for?" I snapped, my voice edged with anger.

　　He was taken aback at first, then smiled and said, "Sorry, maybe it’s because you’re so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself."

　　I didn’t smile. Instead, I got even angrier. Feeling irritated, I said, "Then do me a favor and control yourself. Next time, find a girl who’s easier to fool."

　　His smile froze, and he finally turned his face away.

　　Across from me sat another guy and a girl. The guy looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and the girl was only a little older than me.

　　The scene left the guy across from me wide-eyed, and he quickly averted his gaze.

　　The girl couldn’t hold back her laughter and giggled uncontrollably, covering her mouth as if trying to stifle it but failing miserably. She even gave me a thumbs-up, sneaking it in.

　　I gave her a polite smile but didn’t say anything.

　　An hour later, I finally arrived in H City. After getting off the train and stepping out of the bustling station, I checked my phone and saw that it was almost 9:00 AM. I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear and hailed a taxi to the sea cucumber restaurant where we had agreed to meet.

　　Using the navigation app, I found the restaurant’s location. No matter how long you’ve lived in this city, you can’t get by without navigation.

　　The car pulled up outside the restaurant, and as soon as I got out, I saw Professor Li. Today, he was dressed in a black checkered suit, wearing a dark red striped tie, and sporting black-framed glasses on his face, which was showing the signs of being in his forties. He was carrying a brown leather briefcase and was smiling at me.

　　"Miss Xia Ning, we meet again," he said with a smile, extending his hand to shake mine.