Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback
Chapter 384: She’s Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 384: Chapter 384: She’s Afraid of the Dark

She and the system are one and the same; since they are one, naturally there is no distinction between you and me.

The embroidery technique she used was double-sided embroidery, which is much more difficult than single-sided and takes almost half as much time to complete. She likes such challenging embroidery techniques. The more difficult it is, the more she enjoys it. The more setbacks she encounters, the stronger her determination becomes. Even if she were to hit a wall, she would keep on hitting it, not giving up until she succeeds or exhausts all options.

Yes, that’s just her nature. Jian Zhiqing says she’s stubborn, and indeed, she’s unyieldingly stubborn.

After staying in the system for five or six hours, when she emerged, she stretched vigorously and then became engrossed in her new phone, playing with it until the battery was drained. Only then did she grab the charger to rejuvenate her phone’s power.

The phone was small and felt comfortable in her hand, but after getting used to those large-screen smartphones, this one was quite inconvenient to hold. Nevertheless, she adored this phone, couldn’t get enough of it, and wished she could even sleep with it.

As dawn broke, a loud bang on the door startled her awake, and Qin Xiangnuan rushed out from her room wearing a pair of pink bunny slippers. Speaking of these slippers, they were the bane of Qin Xiangnuan’s existence. Why did Jian Zhiqing have to gift her these ridiculously juvenile shoes? However, she couldn’t just throw them away; after all, who else could possibly wear them besides her?

"Brother Jian, Brother Jian, open the door..." She knocked powerfully on Jian Zhiqing’s door, almost exerting all her strength.

With a creak, the door opened. Jian Zhiqing appeared wearing only a white tank top and shorts, tousling his hair, with apparent bags under his eyes that hinted at a late night of work.

"Brother Jian, what should I do, what should I do?" Qin Xiangnuan behaved with such anxiety, which was rare for her, indicating that she had encountered some particularly challenging issue.

"What happened?" Her demeanor took Jian Zhiqing by surprise; he quickly pulled her inside and poured her a glass of water. Such agitation was unusual for a girl who typically remained unaffected by turmoil.

If only there were a camera to capture this scene, it would have been precious.

Qin Xiangnuan clutched the cup, gulping down several mouthfuls of hot water before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Brother Jian..." She let out a soft sigh.

"Hmm," Jian Zhiqing settled into a chair, legs crossed naturally and bare, accentuating their extraordinary length and muscular definition.

Qin Xiangnuan opened her eyes, careful not to let her gaze wander aimlessly.

"I had a dream, a nightmare, actually."

She recounted the dream honestly, in an even tone, trying to convey just how much of a nightmare it was.

"What did you dream about?" Jian Zhiqing gently massaged his forehead, still showing signs of fatigue, but he listened intently to Qin Xiangnuan’s unexpected nightmare.

"I dreamt..." The memory of the dream sent shivers down Qin Xiangnuan’s spine, a truly terrible feeling, "I dreamt that I was in military training and that I turned into a dark ghost. Everyone despised me, they were disgusted with me," she lamented while looking at her fair arms. She was scared, frightened that she would regress to her previous life, that all her efforts over the past few years would be in vain. In her past life, there was no Qin Xiangyang, no Granny Lu, no Brother Jian—only her, all alone, with her frightfully dark complexion.

She was afraid of getting tanned like this.

Jian Zhiqing stood up and walked over, crouching in front of Qin Xiangnuan, bringing their gaze to the same level. He smiled, pinched Qin Xiangnuan’s face,

"What are you thinking about? A bit of sun won’t make you tan, and even if it did, Brother Jian wouldn’t mind. Besides, you’ll get your fair skin back after summer."

Qin Xiangnuan’s eyes, brimming like ripples on water, seemed to leave no trace as if they couldn’t stir a thousand waves – silent yet profound; perhaps it was more like the rare helplessness she showed. She liked to keep everything in her hands; her one unwavering belief in life was, "My fate is mine, not decided by the heavens." She doesn’t believe in fate or destiny, only in herself. However, every time she dreams at midnight, she still sees her lonely and helpless past life,

She feared returning to her past self, with nothing but her lone being, and that terrifying loneliness, as well as the unbearable idea of death.

"You really don’t want to go?" Jian Zhiqing shook his head helplessly. "University includes military training; you’ve known this for a while."

Qin Xiangnuan bit her lip and nodded seriously, "I don’t want to go; I don’t want to get darker."

"Alright," I’ll take care of it for you. Jian Zhiqing stood up, ready to pull some strings and get Qin Xiangnuan a medical certificate from the hospital, so she could skip the military training. The girl was starting to care about her looks, and not wanting to go was understandable. He didn’t think Qin Xiangnuan couldn’t endure hardship; in fact, Qin Xiangnuan had grown up in hardship. He knew this better than anyone; don’t forget, they grew up together like childhood sweethearts. Was the little miss really just afraid of getting a tan?

He looked at his wrist, checked his watch, and noted it was only around six o’clock, quite early. Granny Lu had already left for the shop, and Qin Xiangyang had gone to help, so Qin Xiangnuan didn’t need to go either; four people were enough to keep the place busy.

"Do you want to sleep a bit more?" It’s still early. Jian Zhiqing lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, the curve warm.

Qin Xiangnuan blinked her eyelashes, then gently nodded her head. She had dreamt all through the night and was still feeling groggy.

But somewhat blankly, she stared in the direction of her room, thinking: What if I can’t find the sense of security?

Jian Zhiqing stood up, tidied up the bed, spread out the pillows and the blankets, and then pressed them down with his hand.

"Brother Jian’s bed, I’ll share half with you, don’t worry. I will go to work at 8:30, and when I come back, I’ll write the sick leave note for you."

"Come sleep," Jian Zhiqing reached out his hand to her.

Qin Xiangnuan hesitated for a moment but eventually walked over.

Jian Zhiqing pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Sleep," and Jian Zhiqing stayed still, only retrieving his documents to read after Qin Xiangnuan had truly fallen asleep. He hadn’t slept on schedule and was somewhat tired as he occasionally yawned.

And Qin Xiangnuan continued to sleep, perhaps truly exhausted from being plagued by nightmares, so she was sleeping soundly now.

When Qin Xiangnuan woke up, she found herself in her own room, hearing Granny Lu’s voice talking with Qin Xiangyang outside, and Conghua’s occasional barking.