If the World Had No Daylight - Chapter 1

Have you ever wondered whether, the instant you enter a dream, you have already left Earth?

*

Morning came with rain again.

The electronic alarm clock beeped for twenty-nine seconds before the sleeping person finally opened her eyes.

Bai Tian reached out from beneath the quilt and turned off the alarm. She lay in bed with her eyes open, staring at the bright yellow chandelier hanging from the ceiling, unable for a moment to tell where she was.

Of course, it was not that she failed to recognize this as her own home, her own bedroom, the ceiling she saw every morning when she woke up.

She was simply still immersed in the dream she had just had, confusing dream with reality.

She felt around under her pillow for her phone. The cold, smooth touch made Bai Tian inexplicably let out a breath of relief.

She pressed the unlock button. Looking at the date and time displayed on the screen, she sat up, grabbed her pajamas from the chair beside her, put them on, and slowly got out of bed.

The pain at the root of her thigh from the ligament strain she had suffered a few days ago still followed her like a shadow. It made the way she walked indescribably awkward.

“Nothing is going my way,” Bai Tian muttered as she walked into the bathroom and picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste.

The taste of mint filled her mouth. She narrowed her eyes slightly, somewhat enjoying the cool, fresh stimulation against her taste buds.

As Bai Tian brushed her teeth, she casually turned off airplane mode on her phone. Immediately, several voice messages popped up.

She frowned, opened the messages, and as expected, they were several one-minute-long voice recordings.

Bai Tian spat out the foam, washed up, wiped her face, then picked up her phone and tapped the speech-to-text function.

A few minutes later, Bai Tian called the dean of students.

“Hello? Director Li, this is Bai Tian. It’s like this—I saw the message this morning about going to S City to grade exam papers. Actually, I already submitted a leave request the day before yesterday because I need to go out of town. Do you think…”

The person on the other end interrupted her. Bai Tian’s hand rested on the door handle as she patiently listened to the other party speak at length.

“Yes, yes, I understand, but…” Her words were interrupted once again.

Bai Tian took a deep breath and gripped the door handle tightly.

The person on the other end was probably still on the road. The noisy flow of traffic drowned out their voice, and she had to work hard to make out what they were saying so that she would not miss anything.

Ten minutes later, Bai Tian hung up the phone and irritably raked her fingers through her hair.

“Nothing is going my way.” She muttered it again, then let out a long sigh, opened the refrigerator, and began making breakfast.

She simply fried an egg, warmed half a cup of milk, then dug out a triangle rice ball that was about to expire from the refrigerator and put it into the microwave. Carrying the plate and cup, Bai Tian walked into the living room, sat down in front of the small square table, and turned on the TV to watch the news.

The financial news had already ended. She changed the channel at random, and when she heard the microwave beep, she hurried over to take out the rice ball.

The aroma of tuna rushed to her nose. Bai Tian carefully tore open the packaging as she slowly walked back to the living room.

“…Recently, the highly controversial film The Songstress was revealed to have been pulled from its release schedule. The film’s director, He Xuan, confirmed the matter on Weibo at four o’clock this morning. He also announced that he would indefinitely terminate all cooperation with the film’s lead actor. Many in the industry are speculating that the film’s withdrawal is related to this actor…”

Bai Tian pierced the fried egg and watched the golden, half-cooked yolk flow out. Suddenly, she lost her appetite.

A television was only a machine. It would not change on its own because of someone else’s emotions, so the sound from the TV continued.

“…After multiple interviews conducted by this station’s reporters, we finally managed to contact a staff member from the film set. The staff member revealed to our reporter that, due to dissatisfaction with the script’s plot design, sixty percent of this actor’s scenes were completed by a stand-in. The actor also failed to appear for work twice without reason, causing filming to be unable to proceed and resulting in heavy losses. Another insider also contacted our reporter, claiming to have personally witnessed this actor arguing with a newcomer backstage and physically assaulting the other party…”

Bai Tian grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

The fried egg had already gone cold. She stuffed it into her mouth in a few bites, mechanically chewed and swallowed it, then picked up the milk and drank it all in one go. Afterward, she got up, cleared the dishes, and walked into the kitchen.

Water ran from the faucet. Bai Tian picked up the plate and washed it for a long time before realizing that she had forgotten to squeeze out dish soap. She pressed the white bottle beside her, but after squeezing for quite a while, nothing came out. She picked it up and shook it. It was completely empty inside. Yet she shook the bottle expressionlessly, harder and harder each time, until finally, she simply ripped off the cap and managed to pour out a little leftover dish soap.

After silently washing the dishes, drying them, and putting them back into the cabinet, Bai Tian shook the water from her hands and took a step back, leaning against the counter.

The phone in the pocket of her pajama pants vibrated, but she stood there as if she had not heard it.

A minute later, the phone vibrated again. This time, it was an incoming call.

Bai Tian pressed her cold hand against her face to clear her head, then took out her phone and answered the call.

“A-Yuan, have you left?” Her tone was perfectly relaxed.

The other party did not notice anything unusual either and said in the same bright voice as always, “Do you want me to come pick you up?”

Bai Tian raised her head and rubbed the space between her brows before answering with a hint of apology, “I’m sorry. I received a temporary notice this morning. I’ve been assigned to go to S City to grade exam papers, and I’ll be leaving this afternoon. Even though I already asked for leave, the director said they’re short on people this time and there’s really no other way…”

The person on the other end paused, then instead comforted her. “It’s fine. There will be plenty of other chances. I’ll just change the flight. Don’t be upset, okay? It’s just a small thing.”

Bai Tian forced out a smile. Her voice was full of guilt. “Please help me apologize to your family. Standing them up the first time we’re supposed to meet… I really feel bad.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. My mom has been busy learning to dance these past two days, and in a few days she’s going to Thailand with a senior tour group. She has plenty of things to enjoy. It’s actually perfect that you’re not coming, so she can have a few more days of fun.”

Listening to his steady voice, some of the irritation in Bai Tian’s heart finally dispersed.

She nodded, walking back to her room while listening to the call, preparing to start packing.

“Oh, right. You’re going to S City?” the person on the other end suddenly asked.

“Yes. Why?”

Ye Li laughed. Holding the steering wheel with one hand, he first turned up the volume on his Bluetooth earpiece, then tapped open the phone on the stand and glanced at it. “What a coincidence. My Sister said she’ll be staying in S City for the next few days, giving herself a vacation.”

Bai Tian froze for a moment and asked somewhat blankly, “You have a Sister? I don’t think I’ve heard you mention her before.”

Ye Li also froze for a moment. He thought about it, then laughed despite himself. “I think I forgot to tell you.”

“She’s actually not my biological Sister. She’s my stepfather’s daughter.” Ye Li held the steering wheel with both hands and looked at the road ahead as he slowly said, “After my stepfather passed away a few years ago, she rarely came home. I don’t usually contact her much either, and with her being so busy with work, we see each other even less.”

Bai Tian looked at the suitcase she had already packed the night before. She simply patted the dust off her pajama pants and sat on the bed, listening seriously.

“This time, it was rare for me to receive a message from her. She said she was on vacation and resting in S City. I had originally thought of asking her to come home this time, so you two could meet as well.”

“It sounds like you two have a pretty good relationship,” she could not help commenting as she listened.

Ye Li was a cheerful and simple person. After spending enough time with him, Bai Tian could easily hear certain things in his tone.

But the person on the other end said, “Actually, our relationship used to be very bad. But that’s all in the past. Now I only know that she is my Sister, and aside from my mom, she is my only family in this world.”

His tone was rarely so serious. Bai Tian felt that many stories were hidden behind those words, but they were things she did not know and should not pry into. So she sat on the bed, swung her legs lightly, and asked, “So, you’re going to S City too?”

“As expected of you. You can always guess what I’m thinking. There’s a saying: it’s better to arrive at the right time than simply to arrive early. I’ll let her know, and this time we’ll meet in S City first. We can find another time to visit my mom later. That way, it’ll be easier for you too.”

Bai Tian had no objections. She also felt that meeting his “Sister” would be much less pressure than meeting his “mother.”

“Then change the flight. Let’s go to S City.”

With that, the matter was settled.

S City was a good place, a big city countless young people longed for.

But to Bai Tian, if possible, she planned never to set foot in that city again for the rest of her life.

However, eight or nine times out of ten, life did not go as one wished.

When Bai Tian followed a group of colleagues onto the plane bound for S City, she never imagined what this sudden return to an old place would bring to the life she had finally managed to put back on track.

She only sat in her seat, inwardly sighing that nothing was going her way. Then, once again, she adjusted her mindset for the sake of her own compromise and calmly looked out at the thick clouds beyond the airplane window, waiting to reach her destination.

The colleagues beside her were laughing and chatting about something interesting, but Bai Tian’s mind had wandered, and she did not hear them clearly.

The thoughts in her mind leaped swiftly from one thing to another, and after several turns, they stopped on the meeting that would soon arrive.

What kind of person would Ye Li’s Sister be? Bai Tian could not help wondering.

Since they were not related by blood, the two of them probably did not resemble each other. Bai Tian propped up her head, and a sudden uneasiness arose in her heart.

Was her personality easy to get along with? Would she dislike the gift Bai Tian had bought? Or perhaps, would she dislike Bai Tian herself? If such a terrible situation really occurred, how should Bai Tian handle it?

As Bai Tian thought and thought, she actually began to feel a little sleepy. Without realizing it, she fell asleep in her seat.

“There was a sunflower blooming beautifully. It swayed gently in the wind, and that made me think of you.”

The young girl standing in the pool was backlit. She turned her head slightly. She seemed to smile, but against the light, it was impossible to see clearly.

“But I soon realized that when I thought of you, it had nothing to do with the sunflower.”

The clear blue water in the pool rippled layer after layer as the girl slowly walked forward. Every ripple was accompanied by the sound of splashing water, echoing through the empty world.

“It was because the one addicted to you was me.”

The girl stopped only a breath away. She bent down and cupped the pool water in her hands, pouring it beneath the halo refracted by the sunlight. Water streamed down between those slender fingers. Through the shifting shadows, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Bai Tian.

“Bai Tian.”

“Bai Tian, wake up.”

Bai Tian opened her eyes. Focus slowly returned to them. She remained dazed for a few seconds before she finally fully woke. She nodded, picked up her personal belongings, and sat up straight.

A sweet announcement sounded in the cabin. The people around her began gathering their things in small groups. Those who had been asleep also woke, letting out long breaths of relief at arriving at their destination, some excited, some delighted.

Amid the clamor of human voices, Bai Tian appeared silent and out of place.

“I’m back,” she said silently, lowering her eyes to hide her emotions.

The place where my beautiful dreams and nightmares began.