The Young Miss Refuse To Love-Chapter 85: Mother Qi

"Jianyi! Jianyi! Wake up!"

Qi Jianyi jolted awake, her eyes snapping open as she inhaled sharply. A cough escaped her lips as her hand instinctively went to press against her chest.

But to her surprise, the pain she had expected—the sharp ache she had grown accustomed to—was gone. She blinked rapidly, her thoughts swirling with confusion.

"Jianyi, why are you still lying there? Don’t you have a flight to catch?"

The voice startled her even more, not because of its urgency but because of the impossible source. The familiar tone belonged to someone Qi Jianyi had never thought she would hear again, someone whose presence made her heart skip a beat.

"Su Mei?"

Her voice was shaky, filled with disbelief as she slowly turned to face the figure standing beside her. It was her dorm roommate, Su Mei, someone she hadn’t seen in what felt like a lifetime.

For a long moment, Qi Jianyi simply stared, her mind struggling to process what was happening.

She remembered now—clear as day. The night she had transmigrated into that strange, unfamiliar world, she had been in this very dorm, packing her things for her flight home.

The memory was vivid, yet it felt so distant, like it belonged to a different life altogether.

A wild thought crossed her mind, a fragile hope she dared not fully embrace. Could it be? Could this truly be happening? Had she somehow returned to her original world, back to the mundane but comforting life she once knew?

"Yes, what’s wrong with you? Jianyi, didn’t you say your flight is at 1 o’clock? It’s already ten in the morning! Don’t you need to hurry up, pack your things, and head to the airport? Oh, and be careful—rumor has it the wind’s unusually strong today." Su Mei’s tone was casual, even as she moved around the room packing her own belongings with practiced ease.

Su Mei lived nearby, so she didn’t have to rush. Unlike Qi Jianyi, whose family home was farther away, Su Mei’s journey was simple and stress-free.

Yet here Qi Jianyi was, sitting dazedly on her bed as if she had all the time in the world.

"Jianyi, seriously! Snap out of it! You’re going to miss your flight!" Su Mei’s voice was firm, accompanied by a sharp snap of her fingers right in front of Qi Jianyi’s face.

The gesture broke through her haze. Qi Jianyi blinked, her thoughts reluctantly returning to the present. Even as she moved to get up, there was a part of her that still couldn’t believe this was real.

A persistent voice in her mind whispered doubts: Was she dreaming? Or had some miracle truly happened, pulling her back to the life she had lost?

Shaking her head, she forced herself to push those thoughts aside. There was no time to dwell on uncertainties. She climbed out of bed and began packing her things with a swiftness born of habit.

Ten minutes later, she was done—her belongings neatly stowed away. After all, she had already sent most of her stuff home ahead of time, leaving her with only the essentials to carry.

"Jianyi, did you hear? Our university’s hosting a basketball competition in a few days. It’s such a shame you won’t be here to join the fun," Su Mei remarked, sitting on her bed with a casual smile as she watched Qi Jianyi search for her phone.

"Huh?"

Qi Jianyi froze at the mention of the basketball competition, her head snapping up to look at Su Mei. A wave of confusion washed over her, deepening as memories surfaced.

"What’s wrong?" Su Mei asked, tilting her head in concern as Qi Jianyi sighed heavily and lowered her gaze.

Qi Jianyi laughed softly, though the sound was tinged with bitterness. Tears began to well in her eyes, trickling down her cheeks as she muttered to herself, "This... This is still a dream, isn’t it?"

Her hands trembled slightly as she touched her belongings. The motions felt hollow, as though they were part of some elaborate illusion.

Waking up in her dorm, hearing Su Mei’s voice, packing her things—it was all too perfect, too reminiscent of a past she had left behind.

Because in reality, it had been Qi Jianyi who first mentioned the basketball competition to Su Mei. She had returned to their dorm with a poster, excitedly announcing the event just before her life had taken an unimaginable turn.

Now, hearing Su Mei mention it felt like a cruel echo of her own words. If this were real, why would Su Mei talk about it as though the roles had reversed?

"That’s right..." Qi Jianyi murmured, a hollow laugh escaping her lips as she shook her head.

"That other Qi Jianyi stole my life. How could I possibly wake up here, in this perfect recreation of my old world, as if nothing ever happened?"

The weight of her realisation pressed down on her. If she were truly back in her real world, she wouldn’t be in her dorm. She would be at home, surrounded by her family, waking up to the warmth of familiarity.

"This is so annoying," she muttered bitterly, flopping back onto the bed.

Qi Jianyi no longer cared about the flight she was supposed to catch or the curious gaze Su Mei was casting her way.

It was just a dream.

Yet, even as doubt consumed her, Qi Jianyi felt a spark of defiance. She wasn’t someone who gave up easily. If this dream offered her even the faintest chance to reconnect with her family, she had to try.

Grabbing her phone, she dialed her mother’s number with trembling fingers. "Please," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "let me hear her voice."

The line rang, each passing second amplifying her anxiety. Finally, it connected.

"Hello, Jianyi?"

The gentle, familiar voice on the other end brought fresh tears to Qi Jianyi’s eyes, blurring the line between dream and reality.

"Jianyi, are you at the airport now? When is your flight again? I’ll ask your dad to wait for you at the airport since I can’t make it today—Jianning has her report card day at school," said Mother Qi, her voice as warm and gentle as ever.

She spoke with the natural ease of a mother tending to her family, completely unaware of the storm of emotions her daughter was battling on the other end of the line.

"Mom?" Qi Jianyi’s voice was barely a whisper, trembling with disbelief. Her heart felt like it had skipped a beat. "Is it really you, Mom?"

On the other side, Mother Qi paused in her task of washing the dishes, sensing something unusual in her daughter’s tone.

The shaky, almost desperate edge to Jianyi’s voice made her furrow her brows in concern.

"What’s wrong, Jianyi? Of course, it’s me. Who else would answer your call if not your mother?" she asked, attempting to lighten the mood with a small joke.

Her instinct told her that her daughter might be shaken by something—perhaps a bad dream or a stressful day.

Ever since Jianyi was a little girl, nightmares had plagued her. Mother Qi vividly remembered how her six-year-old daughter would wake up sobbing, clinging tightly to her and her husband while tearfully confessing her fears of being abandoned.

Those memories were etched deeply in her heart, making her especially sensitive to her daughter’s emotions.

"Don’t overthink, my dear. Just focus on reaching home safely, alright? When you get here, Mom will make your favourite dumplings. Be good and wait for us, okay?" Mother Qi’s soothing voice wrapped around Qi Jianyi like a warm embrace, comforting and familiar.

But those words only made Qi Jianyi’s chest tighten further. She tried to hold back her tears, biting her lip to suppress the sobs threatening to escape.

Yet, the harder she fought, the more her emotions overwhelmed her. Finally, her walls crumbled, and she let the tears flow freely.

"Mom," she cried, her voice cracking under the weight of her grief, "I miss you. I miss you, Dad, and Jianning so much. I miss home." Her hand flew to her mouth as if trying to stifle the pain pouring out with her words.

"Mom, everything has been so scary. I don’t know when I’ll get to see you all again, and I’m just... I’m so tired. So tired of it all."

Her body trembled as she wiped her tears, her mind fighting against the suffocating weight of despair. A feeling she had come to dread crept over her—a sensation that was painfully familiar.

It was that force.

The same force that had always yanked her away, pulling her from dreams like this, where she felt at peace, where she could pretend everything was normal. That force was returning now, wrapping around her and dragging her away from this precious, fleeting moment with her mother.

"Mom..." Her voice softened, turning into a whisper as she clutched the phone tightly, desperate to hold onto the connection for just a moment longer. "I love you. I love you so much." ƒreewebɳovel.com

Closing her eyes, Qi Jianyi let out a shaky breath. Deep down, she knew what was coming. The dream was slipping away, fading into the inevitable reality that awaited her.

As she surrendered to the pull, her heart ached with a longing so fierce it left her breathless. She knew this wasn’t real, but that didn’t make saying goodbye any easier.

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦