With a sudden start, Sheng Tang woke up.
She instinctively rubbed her eyes.
It was pitch black in front of her, so dark she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She thought she had gone blind.
"Where am I?"
Her last memory was of the car she was in being chased by paparazzi on the highway, her assistant driving the car like a plane, racing at breakneck speed, only to encounter a car driving in the opposite direction.
The assistant swerved hastily, but the car still went flying.
"Is anyone there?" she called out.
The sound of her own voice seemed strange, a little childlike, at least to her.
There was no echo, so she was probably not in a room.
Full of doubts, she reached out to grope in the darkness, finding no light switch but feeling something wet.
She was startled, not knowing if it was water or blood, and quickly withdrew her hand.
Just then, a car's headlights shone from a distance.
With the help of this light, Sheng Tang saw a pond in front of her, willow branches swaying in the night breeze, and a car speeding towards her.
She stood there, stunned.
So she just stared wide-eyed as the car crashed into the pond.
There seemed to be someone in the car.
Sheng Tang didn't hesitate any longer, jumping into the pond.
She was a good swimmer, and the water wasn't deep.
The car door wasn't locked, and Sheng Tang easily pulled an unconscious person out of the driver's seat.
Dragging the person onto the shore, Sheng Tang was exhausted and collapsed, panting.
In that brief moment, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she could faintly make out that the person she pulled from the water was a tall male.
"Hey, sir!" She hurriedly began administering first aid.
If he knew that the renowned actress Sheng Tang was saving him, what would he think?
As she performed CPR, she thought: Any thought is fine, just don't faint out of excitement, or all this effort will be wasted.
When she finally performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he choked and coughed, waking up.
He sat up.
Then, he didn't move at all.
Sheng Tang couldn't see him clearly and, seeing him in a daze, didn't know his condition. She reached out and patted his face: "Sir, are you okay?"
Her hand was grabbed tightly.
The grip was so strong it could almost crush Sheng Tang's bones. Before she could ask him to let go, she felt a tremor in his hand.
Soon after, she heard the sound of teeth chattering, loud in the quiet night.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" This reminded Sheng Tang of her friend's little daughter, who was especially afraid of the dark. When faced with darkness, she would tremble like this.
She gently held his hand, then patted his back to soothe him.
He chattered his teeth, making low whimpering noises, like a sad little dog.
"You're afraid of the dark," Sheng Tang seemed to be asking him, but her voice was certain.
He held her hand even tighter.
He truly was afraid of the dark.
Seeing him this way, it wasn't just an ordinary fear, but some kind of psychological condition.
Sheng Tang saw he was still trembling, his teeth clattering so hard it must have been painful. Staying here wouldn't help.
She struggled to help the man stand: "Come on, let's find a place with light."
His legs were shaky, putting all his weight on Sheng Tang. He kept trembling, his whole body shivering.
They walked upwards, and from a distance, Sheng Tang saw some lights.
At this point, she didn't care about hiding her face.
She wanted to find a place with people, to call her assistant and manager and ask what was going on.
A car accident like that on the highway, it was impossible for her to be unscathed, and for her to end up alone in the wilderness.
All these oddities couldn't be solved in the dark.
So she mustered all her strength and walked forward.
Twenty minutes later, not only did they find a road, they also came across a gas station.
Exhausted, Sheng Tang propped the man under the streetlamp at the gas station entrance, letting him sit while she also took a rest.
He was still trembling.