13、“The Dream Exchange”

1. The Sleepless Prisoner

Yu Letian had suffered from insomnia for many years.

Every night, when darkness engulfed the city like a rising tide, Yu Letian could only lie awake with dry, tired eyes, watching the cracks in the ceiling spread like a spiderweb. He was a successful professional who had risen to the position of vice president at a young age, but his overly tense lifestyle had left his nerves like a string stretched to the verge of snapping.

One attempt after another with medication, yoga meditation, and even expensive psychotherapy failed to give him a moment of peaceful sleep at night.

Until that night.

When he was finally exhausted to the point of collapse and fell asleep on the sofa in his office, he had a dream.

It was a dark and secluded alley, where faint whispers and fragmented music could be heard in the distance. Neon lights flickered like glowing flowers, releasing their fragrance into the darkness. At the end of the alley stood a small shop with a wooden sign hanging above the entrance. It read: “The Dream Exchange.”

A young girl stood at the entrance.

She had a pair of snow-white, lively cat ears, which matched her crystal-clear blue eyes. The girl introduced herself as the owner of the shop. Her name was Cat Tone.

“We can exchange memories for a good night’s sleep here,” she said with a smile. Her voice was like winter sunlight, gentle yet carrying a hint of coldness.

2. Forgetting His First Love

After Yu Letian made his first exchange with Cat Tone, he indeed enjoyed the peaceful sleep he had long been deprived of.

He gave up an insignificant memory from his elementary-school years—the time during a field trip when he had forgotten to bring chopsticks and had to eat his lunch with his hands. It was such a trivial and embarrassing memory that he handed it over without the slightest hesitation. That night, he slept like a baby.

After that, the exchanges became a habit.

With every exchange, Yu Letian’s quality of sleep gradually improved, but at the same time, what also began to grow blurred was his past.

One beautiful afternoon, Yu Letian encountered Chen Mengmei on the street—his first love from college.

Her smile was still warm, like the first ray of sunlight on a spring day. The two stood outside a café. Yu Letian felt that she looked familiar, yet he could not remember a single detail of their past together.

“Letian, you really don’t remember me?” Chen Mengmei’s voice trembled slightly.

“I’m sorry... Did we know each other before?”

Disappointment and sadness flashed across her eyes, but in the end, she simply nodded gently. “Maybe I mistook you for someone else.”

She turned and walked away, her figure appearing particularly thin and fragile beneath the afternoon sunlight.

3. The Void of Memory

Yu Letian’s exchanges became more and more frequent. From childhood to his youth, more and more memories were discarded without hesitation.

His coworkers began to notice the changes in him. The once ambitious and spirited Yu Letian had now become cold and mechanical. When speaking with others, he seemed distracted and indifferent, even somewhat numb.

Until one day, he saw his own eyes in the mirror—they were a pair of hollow eyes, as though they were bottomless abysses.

He decided to visit the Dream Exchange again.

4. The Final Exchange

Cat Tone was still standing behind the counter with a smile, as though she had never left.

“What else do you have to trade?”

“I don’t know...” Yu Letian’s voice was low and hollow. “But I need real sleep. Complete sleep.”

Cat Tone’s pupils narrowed slightly, and then she revealed a smile like that of a hunting cat that had just discovered its prey.

“Then give me the last thing you have left—your ‘self.’”

Yu Letian barely hesitated. All he wanted was to escape his endless insomnia.

5. The Twist Ending

When Yu Letian awoke, he was lying in an immaculate white room. There was no pain, no thought, and not even a past.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

“Welcome back, Letian.”

It was Chen Mengmei.

But Cat Tone was standing beside her.

“This is where the Dream Exchange truly exists,” Chen Mengmei said. “The memories you discarded did not disappear. Instead, they became nourishment for this place. Every soul that has lost its sense of self becomes one of the bricks and tiles that make up our world.”

Cat Tone smiled and added, “Congratulations. You are the new owner of this shop.”

At that moment, Yu Letian finally understood—the purpose of every exchange had been to push him toward this destiny.

Cat Tone would leave forever, handing over the responsibility of running the shop to him.

And Chen Mengmei was also part of this world.

Forever, there would be no escape.