Intersecting Parallel Lines

Shu Yunyi's expression first relaxed, but then surprise followed.

'What do you mean by "also"?'

Meanwhile, Fu Nanzhi was even more stunned.

'What is this supposed to mean? She’s also... Where did this teacher come from?'

Shen Yi had never mentioned having a university teacher like this to her before.

Because if that were the case, Shen Yi had known this Shu Yunyi even earlier than he had known her.

Before Fu Nanzhi could speak, Shu Yunyi couldn’t hold back anymore. She blurted out:

"She’s also, I’m also—are you trying to play both sides?"

Shen Yi rubbed his forehead and raised a hand to stop her.

"Let me explain..."

Shu Yunyi thought back to yesterday’s scene on the mountain with him, her heart filled more with indignation at being deceived.

Pushing his hand away, she sneered:

"Accompany me yesterday, then her today—quite the clever scheduling. Time management, huh?"

"If I hadn’t run into you, how long were you planning to keep this up?"

Hearing this, Fu Nanzhi also turned to Shen Yi. Though she didn’t speak, her meaning was unmistakable:

"You were with her yesterday?"

Under the simultaneous scrutiny of both women, Shen Yi felt as if prey caught by predators, his back prickling with discomfort. He defended himself:

"I never actually meant to hide it from either of you..."

"The reasons are complicated. Sit down and let me explain properly."

Shu Yunyi crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Fine. Let’s hear what you have to say."

"She’s the same as me? What does that even mean?"

At this point, Fu Nanzhi, unable to ignore Shu Yunyi’s accusatory tone, spoke up:

"That’s right, husband. You... you never mentioned her to me before."

The "before" here referred to their past life, not the past in this one.

Shu Yunyi felt deeply uncomfortable hearing Fu Nanzhi call Shen Yi "husband."

Shifting uneasily in her seat, she retorted:

"He’s not your husband."

"No matter how long you’ve known him, Xiao Yi is mine. No one can take him away!"

Fu Nanzhi had always been the more composed one, but now, faced with such a blatant challenge, she couldn’t hold back.

She looked at this complete stranger and replied:

"That’s exactly what I was going to say."

"I’ll call him what I want. He’s my husband. Only those who came later would talk about stealing..."

Shu Yunyi’s temper flared at these words. Pointing at her, she snapped:

"You—!"

In Shu Yunyi’s memory, not only had Cheng Jun never been mentioned, but neither had this Fu Nanzhi.

When she’d encountered Cheng Jun before, no matter how heated their arguments got, she’d always had the reassurance of their shared past. In her eyes, these others were just passing figures.

Only she was the one who would stay with him till the end.

But now that sense of security was gone. She suddenly remembered Cheng Jun’s smiling face back then, realizing in hindsight that the signs had been there all along.

Cheng Jun’s last words to her had been:

'Don’t think you’ve won for sure. Defeat the strongest one first, then talk.'

At the time, Shu Yunyi had dismissed it as Cheng Jun trying to mess with her head. But now, it seemed...

"Enough, both of you. Stop arguing."

Shen Yi placed one hand on Fu Nanzhi’s arm and grabbed Shu Yunyi’s outstretched finger with the other, mediating:

"Just listen to me first."

He sighed. Shen Yi had known this day would come eventually.

Unless he chose to give up one of them, this was the price he had to pay.

The small boat rocked gently with the waves, their emotions just as unsettled.

After a moment, Shen Yi spoke:

"It’s normal that you didn’t know about each other..."

"Before this, our lives were parallel lines that never crossed."

"It was me who connected you."

Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi’s expressions shifted, each trying to make sense of his vague implications.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We weren’t supposed to meet?"

Facing their questions, Shen Yi nodded slowly.

"Right."

"Do you remember that secret in your hearts—the one you could never tell anyone else?"

"The two of you... share the same one."

The moment these words left his mouth, both Fu Nanzhi and Shu Nanzhi were struck with shock. Their eyes met involuntarily, each seeing the same disbelief reflected in the other’s gaze.

They had many secrets, but only one truly counted as unspeakable.

Yet now, Shen Yi was saying that both of them had the same experience.

Which could only mean...

"You mean she... she also...?"

"How... how is that possible?"

Stammering in unison, the two women looked as if their entire worldview had been overturned.

This was supposed to be an intensely private matter, something never to be spoken of.

But Cheng Jun had already set a precedent—she was sharp enough to have guessed most of the truth, so Shen Yi felt less burdened revealing it now.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the uncanny similarities in their experiences.

Besides, neither woman’s life had been smooth sailing before. They’d each carried their own scars and incompleteness, even facing mortal danger if things had gone differently.

It was Shen Yi who had healed them, shaping who they were today.

Whatever thoughts raced through their minds, Shen Yi nodded again, confirming it.

"Yes."

"It’s exactly what you’re thinking..."

Fu Nanzhi fell silent. Shu Yunyi shook her head. It was too much to process.

No two leaves in the world were identical, yet here they were, two people sharing the same surreal experience.

Gradually, Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi regained their composure and turned to Shen Yi.

If their own experiences were extraordinary, then the one who had lived through it twice... was even more so.

Meeting their gazes, Shen Yi responded calmly:

"That’s right."

"I call it a 'dream,' because it always happened in my sleep. But it was this dream that connected us."

"At first, I thought it was just an ordinary dream, but it felt far too real..."

"I lived entire lifetimes in it."

His eyes sincere, he looked at them both.

"In those dreams, we met, fell in love, stayed together, married, had children, grew old... shared an entire life."

Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi wore different expressions, each lost in their own memories.

It was the weight of those experiences that had brought them together.

"No, no..."

"I don’t believe it."

Shu Yunyi rubbed her arms, her heart hollow. To her, those memories were undeniably real.

She had felt joy, pain, love—how could any of that be just a dream?

Compared to Shu Yunyi, Fu Nanzhi had a deeper understanding.

With the answer in mind, many previously inexplicable things now made sense.

But it was all so unbelievable that both women struggled to accept it.

Dreams may be fleeting, but the emotions they carried were undeniably real.