Zhao Hanzhang listened to the footsteps on her left as they walked toward the elevator. The other person was quite considerate, even making sure to inform her, “Professor Zhao, let’s wait a moment. The elevator is just coming down from the thirty-second floor.”
His voice was a bit cold, but it sounded very pleasant. It was a pity they were at the same university; a rabbit shouldn’t eat the grass near its own burrow.
She had long heard students who came to the library to borrow books talk about how handsome Professor Fu from the Mathematics Department was. It was just that they rarely interacted. Had she known the person Professor Fang introduced was a professor from the same school, she wouldn’t have come.
After all, her reputation at the school was… a bit peculiar.
It was a little awkward at the moment.
As Zhao Hanzhang thought this, she tilted her head slightly and smiled in his direction. “Alright.”
As she spoke, she heard people nearby whispering in low voices. “He’s so handsome.”
“The woman is beautiful too; they’re a great match.”
“But the girl is a bit strange. Is there something wrong with her eyes?”
“It looks like it.”
Zhao Hanzhang’s expression didn’t change, and the faint smile remained on her face, though her eyes were cast down. She felt him gently support her elbow. Zhao Hanzhang tilted her head in confusion, only to hear him say, “Professor Zhao, the elevator is here.”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him and followed the sound of his footsteps into the elevator.
Now the onlookers were certain—there was indeed something wrong with her eyes.
Once Zhao Hanzhang heard that only the two of them had entered the elevator, she tilted her head slightly.
As if sensing her confusion, Fu Tinghan explained, “I heard there’s a Seven-Star Alignment tonight. Everyone is heading to the observation deck; we’re the only ones going down.”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, “Professor Fu, you could go take a look as well. There’s no need to escort me; I can get back on my own.”
Without any hesitation, she pointed to her eyes and said, “Even though I can’t see, it doesn’t affect my ability to get around.”
Fu Tinghan glanced at her eyes and said, “I don’t have much interest in astronomy. Besides, we’re heading the same way.”
True enough, since they both lived on campus, they were indeed going the same way.
Only the two of them were in the empty elevator. When Fu Tinghan fell silent, Zhao Hanzhang’s entire world became black.
She was truly composed, but she didn’t like the feeling of excessive darkness, so she looked for something to say. “I didn’t expect the person Professor Fang introduced to be you, Professor Fu.”
She heard a cold “Mm” from him, followed by: “I also didn’t expect the person my mentor’s wife mentioned would be Professor Zhao. I should have picked you up on my way here.”
These words were interesting. Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when she suddenly heard something. Her brow furrowed slightly.
Fu Tinghan noticed and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The words had barely left his mouth when the elevator plummeted. Fu Tinghan instinctively moved to support Zhao Hanzhang. Zhao Hanzhang instinctively grabbed the hand reaching toward her, twisting it. She was about to kick when she realized who it was and quickly changed the twist into a grip, apologizing repeatedly, “I’m sorry, my reaction was a bit extreme…”
But as the elevator dropped abruptly, she lost her footing. Before she could finish her sentence, she tumbled toward him, pinning him directly beneath her.
The two of them fell together in an embrace.
Great, Zhao Hanzhang thought, Professor Fu’s impression of me is going to be even worse now.
Fu Tinghan could see. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he held her tightly to steady their bodies, crouching against the elevator wall…
After the sudden drop, the elevator stopped, but they could feel the car trembling incessantly. Zhao Hanzhang also heard chaos and noise outside. She keenly caught certain sounds and frowned. “It seems like an earthquake.”
Fu Tinghan looked out through the elevator glass. This was a sightseeing elevator, providing a view of the outside. He saw a chaotic scene below, with people constantly running out of the building.
His expression shifted slightly. He held her tightly and reached out to press the alarm. Just as his hand touched the red button, the elevator dropped rapidly. Zhao Hanzhang felt herself become weightless. Someone was holding her tightly, protecting her. Then came a deafening crash, and what seemed like a flash of light appeared before her eyes…
She found it unbelievable. How could she possibly see light?
She had been blind for fourteen years.
Then came sharp pain. Before she could wonder if she was dead or if Fu Tinghan was dead too, she felt a bright white light forcing its way into her eyes.
Zhao Hanzhang’s eyelids trembled, and she cautiously opened her eyes…
In an instant, she had gone from the elevator to… an ancient film studio?
Zhao Hanzhang looked in shock at the tall city walls standing before her. People were constantly running past her, all dressed in ancient clothing with expressions of terror on their faces. Shifting her gaze to the left, she saw three or four rows of soldiers holding spears charging toward the city gate, forcibly driving back those who were trying to push their way in.
People in ragged clothes were desperately trying to squeeze inside. The soldiers showed no mercy, thrusting their spears and cutting down those in their way.
Zhao Hanzhang’s pupils contracted and her hands trembled slightly as she watched people fall, blood flowing and eyes wide. She couldn’t even lie to herself and say this was a movie set.
The soldiers pushed the crowd out, and the city gates slowly groaned shut before her eyes as more reinforcements arrived.
But whether it was the running, the screaming, or the painful, bloody deaths, she couldn’t hear a single sound. What was playing out before her seemed like a silent play.
Well then, after regaining her sight from blindness, she had gone deaf.
For a moment, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know whether it was better to be blind or deaf.
She looked down at her hands and clothes. She was wearing a white dress with a red belt tied around her waist. Her roommate had specifically chosen that belt for her before she left this afternoon, knowing she was going on a blind date.
The roommate had said that the red belt on the white dress would make her waist look incredibly slender, and as long as the guy wasn’t blind, he would surely be smitten.
So, was this reality, or… a dream?
Could an elevator crash not only change time and space but also restore one’s sight?
Zhao Hanzhang clenched her fists and pinched her hand. There was sensation. Her eyes brightened slightly. Seeing someone run past, she reached out to grab them. “Excuse me…”
Her hand passed right through the person’s arm. The person didn’t even look at her, running straight past.
Zhao Hanzhang froze, finally sensing the anomaly. It was one thing to be unable to hear, but she was standing right there, yet people were running all around her as if they couldn’t see her at all.
She waved her hand in front of several people, trying to catch their attention. “Hey, excuse me? Sir? Brother?”
No one reacted to her. Great—not only was she deaf, she was also invisible. So this was a dream?
Just as Zhao Hanzhang was becoming certain this was a dream, a group of people carrying a stretcher rushed past her. As she turned her head, she came face to face with a young girl lying on the stretcher.
It was a girl of about ten or eleven, dressed in red Hu-style clothing, lying on the stretcher with her eyes tightly shut and her forehead covered in blood. But Zhao Hanzhang recognized her at a single glance…
No, she didn’t recognize her. She didn’t know who she was. But the girl looked exactly like she did when she was ten, back when she wasn’t yet blind…
The moment her gaze fell upon the girl, Zhao Hanzhang seemed to hear a “pop,” as if something had shattered. Then, a cacophony of noise suddenly rushed into her ears.
Zhao Hanzhang could hear!
“Third Lady, wake up! Third Lady, wake up! Hurry, get her back to the manor and call for a physician immediately!”
Zhao Hanzhang followed the stretcher for a few steps in a daze when she heard a startled cry: “Professor Zhao—”
Zhao Hanzhang turned toward the sound and saw a handsome young man in a suit standing in the crowd, looking at her. He must have just spotted her as well. Seeing her look back, he started toward her excitedly, but after only two steps, he suddenly vanished before her eyes.
Zhao Hanzhang’s pupils shrank. She couldn’t help but step forward. “Professor Fu—”
But then everything went black, and she instantly lost consciousness.