Transmigrated as Jane’s Ghostly Godmother - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Reunion After a Brief Parting — The Border Between Dream and Reality is You and Me

The ghost’s appearance hadn’t changed much since they last met; her eyes were still cast down, giving her a cold air when she wasn’t showing much emotion.

But in that one glance, Jane had a feeling:

Lin Zhao must have gone back to that place further away than the North Pole. That was why it took her so much time.

But if she could go back, why did she come back here?

She actually had many questions about Lin Zhao these days, and they were now bubbling up incessantly. Curiosity, the thirst for knowledge—were these things appropriate to use on a ghost?

Jane couldn’t figure it out, but like much of the knowledge she once didn’t understand but now knew well, she knew there would be a day when she would understand.

Lin Zhao, seeing her staring blankly, quickly moved to stand next to Eleanor so that her line of sight wouldn’t seem strange. Eleanor was also nervous because of Jane’s abrupt halt in her reply, and she looked at Jane expectantly.

“Jane, what did Eleanor say to you?” Clearing her throat, Lin Zhao waved her hand at her, reminding her to answer.

Jane then came back to her senses and said seriously: “Thank you, Lena. The Madeira Islands sound very interesting, but…”

“Wait!” Lin Zhao caught the keyword. She ran back to Jane’s bedside, pulled out the copy of Jane Eyre she hadn’t flipped through for a long time from under the bed, and repeatedly called for a stop.

Jane immediately shut her mouth and blinked panickily at Eleanor several times.

Lin Zhao had a deep impression of the name of this island. She flipped through the book quickly and indeed found it in the expected spot—this was exactly the place where, in the original work, Jane’s uncle went in a hurry after failing to find her for the first time.

Calculating the time and the distance from Wheelwood to Gateshead, the trajectory of events this time shouldn’t have changed much. They had likely already missed that one visit; Lin Zhao had originally planned to fight for that letter two years later.

Unexpectedly, the opportunity for redemption had fallen from the sky just like that.

“Agree to her, Jane,” Lin Zhao signaled to Jane, her tone unusually excited. “Your uncle is there right now. We have to go try our luck and see if we can find him.”

Jane’s eyes widened instantly. Regardless of how unpredictable her reactions had seemed over the last few minutes, she nodded to Eleanor, her unfinished sentence taking a sharp turn.

“…I was saying, but I wouldn’t have this chance to go there without you—I will go!” She also couldn’t suppress her joy, her voice trailing off on a high note.

“Great! I’ll write back to Mother immediately!” Eleanor naturally didn’t mind that bit of abnormality; she immediately held up the letter happily and ran to the desk.

As she moved away, she revealed Beatrice’s face on the next bed, staring thoughtfully toward them. Jane didn’t know how long she had been watching. Just as she felt guilty, the other girl nodded as if she hadn’t noticed anything.

“Quite right. You should seize these opportunities to go out and see more.”

Jane felt relieved. She tucked herself back into her covers, then turned her back to her roommates and stared at Lin Zhao with rounded eyes.

Lin Zhao could tell she had a mountain of questions and was so bottled up her face was turning red. She couldn’t help but squat down and speak some words of concern first.

“Jane, you look very happy,” she asked caringly. “How have you been these days?”

The young girl nodded with restrained movement, but remembering how Miss Ghost’s absence had dominated her daily records, she couldn’t help but shake her head.

“Well, this is a bit confusing to me.” Lin Zhao naturally didn’t associate that turn of events with herself. “Did John Reed and the others cause you trouble again?”

Jane shook her head. Feeling like she was about to burst, she simply pulled her head into the quilt, trying to physically isolate this one-sided conversation.

But just two seconds after hiding, hearing the low laughter outside, her heart itched again. Curious about Lin Zhao’s expression, she poked half her head out again, her two eyes showing, rolling about as she peeped at the other person.

“I’m here.” Lin Zhao’s eyes crinkled at her.

She’s here…

This sentence completely smoothed over the unexplained urgency in Jane’s heart. She quieted down and curled her lips up at Lin Zhao.

Fortunately, it was getting late. Before Jane could feel depressed again, her roommates had gone to bed and soon entered the land of dreams.

Jane shifted, making room again, and patted the bed for Lin Zhao. When Lin Zhao lay down and waited for her to ask questions, Jane kept her eyes open, temporarily conflicted about what to say.

Where did you go? How did you suddenly disappear? What did you mean about Uncle being in the Madeira Islands? Did you leave to find that out? I won’t first place! You missed my outfit for the banquet. We are going home with Eleanor together, right?

The words crowded together, and yet none of them felt quite right as a starting point.

Lin Zhao didn’t rush her; she just watched her patiently, as if no matter which sentence she said—or if she blurted them all out at once—she would answer carefully.

Jane knew she would do that. This thought made her budding restlessness shrink back. She reached out to poke the back of Lin Zhao’s hand, her voice muffled.

“…That day in the woods, were you all right?” The question that finally came out was the initial worry.

“Mm, what could happen?” Lin Zhao smiled. “I’m your Fairy Godmother, after all.”

Jane blinked, realizing with surprise that this was something she had completely forgotten. After all, Lin Zhao wouldn’t easily do things only a ghost could do unless necessary, and her behavior was occasionally more considerate than a human’s.

Oh… so was my worry unnecessary?

She felt her face heating up. This thought didn’t escape the other person’s eyes. Lin Zhao bent her hand, her fingertips lightly touching Jane’s.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Jane.”

“Now, tell me what I’ve missed?”

Miss Ghost always had this candid manner, embracing all her happiness, sadness, anger, and troubles. It was because of this that she couldn’t get used to the other’s absence.

Jane let out a breath and, starting from the night of the “Woodland Exploration,” recounted the events of the week in great detail. And just as she thought, Lin Zhao listened very seriously. After the last sentence fell, she patted her head and gave her a very gentle affirmation.

“You did very well this week too, Jane.”

Since she began her narration, the moonlight had spilled into the room from the windowsill; now, it covered the bed. Jane’s eyelids grew heavy. She wanted to say something more, but that hand lightly covered her eyes, softer than the night.

“Sleep, Jane. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. I will be with you.”

Using her last bit of strength, she grabbed that wrist, and then her consciousness fell into a deep dream.

Lin Zhao let her hold it until Jane’s breathing was completely steady before she stood up cautiously. She picked up that copy of Jane Eyre from the floor and began to carefully search for any information regarding Jane’s uncle, John Eyre.

Unfortunately, the passages mentioning him were few. All she could ascertain for now was that the uncle very much wanted to meet Jane and his earnest desire to take care of her.

Closing the book, Lin Zhao felt a surge of annoyance: If Mrs. Reed hadn’t hidden that letter Jane was supposed to receive at fifteen, why would Jane have had to endure the twists and turns of the following years?

“Since I’m here and there’s such an opportunity for Jane to go to Madeira early, I have to plan more thoroughly.”

Lin Zhao thought to herself, smoothing over Jane’s eyebrows which were still slightly furrowed in her sleep, her heart feeling a bit sour. To collect information, being apart for a week or longer—like this separation—was unavoidable.

But now, with Eleanor and the others, Jane was much more relaxed than when she was at Gateshead.

“You’re growing up well, Jane.”

“Have a good dream.”

After saying goodnight, she left the bed, went to the desk, and pulled out Jane’s pen and paper, preparing to write something. Consequently, she stumbled upon Jane’s “MISSING” records.

“…”

Her fingertips brushed over the paper, which had deep scratches from the forceful writing. Lin Zhao stood silently for a good while before letting out a sigh that had been blocked in her heart.

She remembered the dream that had delayed her for so long, and the phrase that ended every dream as always: “Let me obtain happiness.”

When she really tried to do something, she found it was much more difficult than she had imagined when first reading the book. Fortunately, Jane was always that Jane; as long as she sought a sliver of light, she could grow resiliently.

“When I go home, I will miss you very much, Jane.”

She whispered to herself, finally turning that page and beginning to write.

The person being missed seemed to have a premonition; her breathing faltered for a moment on the bed, she turned over, and her brow furrowed slightly again.

In fact, Jane hadn’t slept very steadily this whole week. In her fragmented dreams, she had returned many times to that gloomy school she had dreamed of at Gateshead.

In a world where no ghost existed, she stayed at that school for a long time. She briefly had a friend, only to never see them again one day. There, the young teacher who gave her direction in life finally chose to leave the school to go far away with her new husband.

Every time she woke up from such a dream, it took her a good while to recover. Then she would flip open her logbook to confirm that the schedule Lin Zhao had left behind truly existed. Because compared to her current life, the world in the dream actually matched her previous life better. She began to worry that perhaps now was the dream, and she was still unconscious in that Red Room where she had been ordered into confinement.

But Lin Zhao had returned, bringing more futures worth looking forward to. The scenes in her dreams also shifted toward a world that had never existed following her return.

“Jane, over here~” Before she realized where she was, a slightly youthful voice called her name.

Jane turned her head at the sound. Standing before her was a girl a bit taller than herself, reaching out a hand toward her. The girl had shoulder-length black hair and bangs that were cut unevenly, revealing bright black eyes beneath.

“Lin?”

She blurted it out, and even more unexpectedly, the girl tilted her head and responded with a wide grin.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t we going to the bookstore together?”

This is…? In her astonishment, Jane didn’t bother to reply. She murmured as she stepped back a few paces, her eyes darting around as she took in her surroundings. Nothing she saw could be called familiar—very tall buildings, a very large sun, and people in strange clothing.

“Wait, behind you—” Little Lin Zhao looked at her, her tone suddenly becoming urgent. She waved her outstretched hand, trying to catch her—but she didn’t make it. Jane’s feet felt heavy; she stepped on something and suddenly lost her balance.

Then, she sat up from the bed, panting slightly.

“Morning, Jane.” Eleanor was excited about the holiday arrangements and had woken up early. Hearing the movement on Jane’s bed, she greeted her without looking up, “Betty has already gone out. Are you going to pack together?”

Jane was still shaken. She opened her mouth but didn’t reply, first looking around until she saw Lin Zhao sitting at the desk looking at something. Only then did her heartbeat gradually calm down.

It was a dream, another bizarre dream.

“…Good morning, Lena.” Jane placed her hand on her heart. “I’ll pack later.” After saying that, she got out of bed and ran to the desk in a few steps.

Lin Zhao was buried in writing something, very immersed, not even noticing the conversation between Eleanor and her just now. Fortunately, Eleanor was also obsessed with the activity of packing her home luggage and didn’t notice the pen and paper “coming to life” on the desk.

Standing on tiptoe and quietly peeping over the desk, Jane saw that the only word she could understand on the paper was the one at the very top: SCHEDULE.

?

She shifted silently back to the bedside.

However, avoidance was useless. Lin Zhao had probably finished that schedule. She straightened up, stretched, and as soon as she turned her head and met Jane’s eyes, her lips curled up. She came over with the paper.

“Did you sleep well last night, Jane?”