It was a long, long dream.
It was so long that she thought she would never wake up.
It was a dark room, and the floor was covered with bottle caps and glass shards left by broken wine bottles. In the corner of the dirty room, there was a broken vase and a torn and broken picture frame.
The decayed window was covered with withered vines, and the cross window frame was like a tombstone.
Outside the window, she could see children playing, but everything there seemed to have nothing to do with the world inside.
Of course, in this quagmire-like vortex, not all good things were left.
At least, there was the girl sitting at the desk.
That petite, thin figure did not fit in with everything here. It made one's heart ache to look at her. However, there was not much sadness written on that young and pretty face. There was a reassuring tranquility in her sapphire eyes, as if everything here had nothing to do with her. Her whole body and mind were immersed in the slightly yellowed book in her hand.
Although she couldn't see the writing on the book, Vera clearly remembered the name of the book.
"EGA …"
Basics of Algebraic Geometry …
Grothendieck's masterpiece, the bible of algebraic geometry!
At the same time, it was also the last birthday gift from her mother who left the family.
With her lips trembling slightly, Vera couldn't help but read the three letters.
Perhaps hearing the soft chanting, the girl sitting in front of the desk raised her sapphire eyes and looked at her quietly.
For a moment, Vera's pupils shrank.
In front of her was like a mirror leading to the past, and the reflection in the mirror was the cowardly, evasive, and fearful self of her childhood …
While she was hesitating whether to say something, the girl sitting at the desk, her childhood self, suddenly took the initiative to speak.
"Unbelievable, how did you find me?"
"I —"
Vera was about to say something, but at this moment, there was a violent knocking sound behind her.
It was as loud as the cannons of Donetsk. Not only the floor and windows, but the whole house shook.
Vera looked at the frightened girl who curled up into a ball. She didn't know where the courage came from, but she bravely walked over the shattered glass and grabbed her shoulder.
"Come with me, I'll take you out of here!"
The girl raised her head helplessly and stared at her elder sister who looked exactly the same as her in front of her with lifeless eyes.
"But … this is my home. Where else can I go other than here?"
"You can go anywhere. Cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic … Go to a place called Princeton. There, you will find the hero who can save you."
There was a glimmer of hope in the girl's eyes. Although it was very weak, it was very bright in the darkness.
"Just like in fairy tales?"
Vera's eyes trembled slightly. After a moment of silence, she nodded her head vigorously.
"Yes … He will wake you up from your nightmare like a prince."
"But that is a fairy tale after all …"
Vera still wanted to say something, but the little girl in front of her suddenly raised her index finger and gently touched her lips.
With a weak smile on her face, the little girl, who was only about seven or eight years old, spoke in a gentle voice.
"Thank you for visiting me … You must be a brave person to be able to find your way here, at least much braver than me."
"I believe that you, even in the face of great difficulties, will be able to overcome them and reach the shore in your heart."
"Go."
Unexpectedly, in the end, she was the one being comforted.
Looking at the little girl in front of her, Vera unconsciously let go of her hands that were holding her delicate shoulders.
Almost at the same time, the wooden door behind her suddenly collapsed.
With the splashing of sawdust, a nightmarish monster broke in from the door.
From the smoke, Vera saw the face that made her tremble with fear and anger.
But this time, she didn't flinch. Instead, she clenched her right fist and stood there bravely.
She didn't know where the inexplicable sense of security came from, but it was as if it really existed by her side.
She believed that she would be fine, as if there was a voice in her ear, telling her so.
As if surprised by her courage, the monster's face showed a surprised expression, but that expression quickly turned into a cruel smile. He raised his fists and strode toward her.
But at this moment, a miracle suddenly happened.
A ray of light passed through the curtains and lit up the entire dark room. The monster seemed to be punched by something as it fell back with a wail. Accompanied by the sound of falling to the ground, like a broken wine bottle, it turned into a pile of debris.
At the same time, under the illumination of the light, everything around began to collapse.
Whether it was the house, the windows, the glass fragments on the floor, or the book on the desk …
Everything was like a collapsing sand dune, including Vera herself, who was standing in the center of the whirlpool, falling into the bottomless darkness in a free fall.
She didn't know how long she sank into the darkness.
Just when she felt that her consciousness was on the verge of collapsing and she was about to fall into a deep sleep, she suddenly heard a slight sound in her ears.
It was the sound of breathing.
However, it didn't blow on her ear. Instead, it gently blew on a piece of glass.
For some reason, at this moment, she was like a princess in a fairy tale, lying in a crystal coffin.
Gradually, the silhouette reflected on the crystal coffin became clearer.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the handsome and brave prince in the fairy tale who came to the crystal coffin, but a beautiful princess.
Yes, compared to an ugly duckling like herself, she undoubtedly looked more like a princess. Her long black hair hung quietly behind her, and there was an indescribable dignity and elegance in her every movement.
Vera knew that this was a dream, and everything in front of her was her imagination, but she still tried to see her clearly.
But after all, a dream was a dream. All the beauty and suffering here seemed to be separated by an opaque layer of gauze. She was like a deer wandering in the forest, unable to see anything except for the occasional mottled light that peeked through the shade of the trees.
"Who are you …"
As if she didn't hear her voice, the princess who was separated by a layer of haze spoke softly with a melodious organ-like voice.
"Although we may have met a few times before, this is probably the first time we have a face-to-face conversation like this."
Looking at herself lying in the crystal coffin, the mysterious woman continued.
"... A long time ago, I often heard him talk about you. He once told me that you were his favorite student, and also the most talented one among all the students he had taught. "
Vera opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but she couldn't say a word.
She felt like when she was asleep, many things happened that she didn't know about.
The feeling of uncertainty made her inexplicably nervous.
"In addition to your story, there were also stories about Princeton and many other people. From his tone, I could clearly sense that he was genuinely proud of the students he had taught and the people he had helped. "
"Actually, many times, I envy him for being able to live such a pure life. As for when this feeling turned into admiration, perhaps even I myself am not too clear on it. "
"But one thing is for sure, I love him very much. When he promised me that he would give me a star and leave a legend about us on it, you can't imagine how touched I was at the time."
A faint smile appeared on the face that was blurred by the fog.
It was like she was immersed in some kind of beautiful memory. There was a hint of sweetness in the smile, which also made her voice take with a hint of inadvertent ease and slyness.
"Of course … Maybe you can imagine."
"My woman's intuition tells me that your view of him may not be as simple as it seems on the surface. But talking about this now seems to be a story for the future. "
As he spoke, his relaxed voice was suddenly tinged with a trace of loneliness and even sorrow.
"Later on, he went to a place far away."
Time seemed to have frozen at this moment.
Vera suddenly felt like her heartbeat was stuck by something, and a little bit of pain came from the depths of her soul.
"That place is farther than any distance and time. Although I thought about following him, in the end, I didn't do so."
"He is no longer here, but I am still here."
"There are still many things that he wanted to do that he couldn't accomplish. I will do the rest for him. Whether it's about the part of this world or about the promise I made … "
The woman went silent for a while. Suddenly, a free and easy smile bloomed on her blurry face.
"Although it's self-righteous talk, but … to you, he's probably a very important person."
"If … I mean if there is a one in ten thousand possibility."
"If there is some misunderstanding here, he has never been to Mars, and he didn't encounter any accidents there. He just wanted to rest for a while because he was too tired, so he quietly hid himself … At that time, I was no longer in this world, and you happened to wake up."
"I hope you can take care of that idiot."
"… However, that kind of thing that only happens in fairy tales is really unlikely in reality."
The slender fingertips stayed on Vera's face for a moment. When she was about to reach out and grab the hand to ask what happened during her sleep, everything in front of her suddenly disappeared.
Suddenly, in the layers of fog that surrounded her, a meter of sunlight suddenly shone, causing her to unconsciously close her eyelashes.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the chandelier on the ceiling, the white fog rising around her, and the faces full of joy.
It was as if she had drilled out of the deep sea. Her five senses were cut off, along with a faint coldness and a noisy sound wave, they came from all directions and wrapped around her.
"… It really was a moment."
Although that moment felt like a lifetime, so long that she almost forgot the feeling of warmth.
Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes unconsciously.
The burning sensation on her forehead felt like it happened a minute ago, but it also felt as long as a century.
She tried to turn her face sideways, widening her eyes that were blurred by tears, trying to find the familiar face from the side or the door.
"Lu Zhou …"
But there was nothing there, only the shouts of doctors and nurses echoed in her ears …
"Thawing successful!"
"She woke up!"
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