Chapter 762: After Waking Up

Hearing from Yanyan that Jian Wei had woken up, I felt my brain was deprived of oxygen, my heart rate rapidly increasing. After a long while, I finally said, “Yanyan, repeat what you just told me.”

Yanyan hadn’t yet calmed down; she stammered, “Zhaoyang…you didn’t hear wrong. Weiwei really woke up, just a few minutes ago…you should come to Shanghai as soon as possible.”

I acknowledged and hung up the phone, then turned to look at Leyao. However, due to my excitement, I couldn’t immediately convey the news Yanyan had just given me.

She looked at me in confusion and asked, “What’s wrong, Zhaoyang?”

Finally, I replied, “Jian Wei…she’s awake!”

Leyao instinctively placed her hand over her heart, clearly deeply moved by the news. During the four months that Jian Wei had been in a coma, everyone who cared for her understood how agonizing it was to alternate between hope and disappointment, and then rekindle hope again. She finally said to me, “Why are you still standing there…go see her in Shanghai!”

At that moment, I had completely forgotten the dizziness from being drunk, and the desire to go to Shanghai suddenly became intense. I opened the passenger door of the car and got in. Leyao was no slower; after getting into the car, she sharply turned the steering wheel, avoided a small dirt mound ahead, then accelerated and drove along the direction of the railway tracks toward an overpass nearby.

Soon the car was on the expressway. Because of the night, the scenery outside the car windows was barely noticeable. My mood gradually calmed a bit in this seemingly static scene. Finally, I began to imagine the moment I would meet Jian Wei again. Had anyone already told her everything that had happened since she fell into a coma?

As I was deep in thought, Leyao casually asked me, “Zhaoyang, what do you think Weiwei’s condition will be like after waking up?”

I was somewhat taken aback. I stared at her profile for a long time before replying, “I can’t say exactly. Maybe she feels like she’s been reborn.”

Leyao nodded thoughtfully and said, “Yes, anyone who has gone through such a major ordeal will change to some extent. I hope she can realize some things through this experience. Sometimes being too stubborn isn’t a good thing…” She paused briefly, then smiled, “I used to dislike her, but this time I really want to have a good chat with her. I need to tell her that as long as a woman holds her head high and moves forward, she can find a new world. For example, I’m living quite well now!”

I smiled but didn’t say much. Compared to whether Jian Wei would change after waking up, I was more concerned about her recovery. Because she had been in a coma for such a long time, her body might inevitably have some aftereffects. I didn’t want to indulge too much in the joy of her waking up.

…

The night had already deepened into the early hours of the next day when Leyao and I finally arrived at the hospital. As the elevator doors opened, the entire floor was surprisingly quiet, with only the dim corridor lights accompanying us. I saw Yanyan standing at the end of the hallway. I ran towards her and, without even speaking to her first, instinctively wanted to open the door to see Jian Wei, who had regained consciousness.

Yanyan shook her head and softly said to me, “Zhaoyang, Weiwei has already fallen asleep. Dr. Mo said she’s still very weak and shouldn’t be disturbed. Come visit her tomorrow morning.”

I leaned forward to look through the glass into the ward. Although Jian Wei was still lying there as she always had, there were fewer tubes attached to her body, and she was no longer relying on a ventilator to breathe. These signs indicated that she had indeed woken up.

Leyao also stood beside me, awkwardly trying to look inside. I moved aside to give her space and then asked Yanyan, “What time did she wake up? And in what condition?”

“About around ten o’clock. Dr. Mo was doing her routine physical examination. When he was moving her hand joints, she suddenly gripped his hand and opened her eyes… After Dr. Mo notified me, I immediately called you!”

“When you arrived at the hospital, had she already gone to sleep?”

“No, we chatted for a while, but her condition wasn’t very good. Her memory was fragmented, and she couldn’t recall many things. Her language ability hasn’t fully recovered either. Dr. Mo said this is normal because she had undergone many hyperbaric oxygen treatments. If the dosage of such treatment isn’t properly controlled, it can lead to memory loss, and in severe cases, even lower intelligence. Weiwei’s case is relatively good; she just needs some time to recover. Dr. Mo is confident that she can become a normal person again!”

My heart, which had just been lifted, settled down again. After hearing Yanyan’s explanation, this indeed wasn’t the worst-case scenario. It wasn’t realistic to expect Jian Wei to wake up after such a long coma without any aftereffects.

…

Late at night, Leyao and I walked on the now much quieter streets, still talking about Jian Wei. She said to me, “Zhaoyang, do you think tomorrow when Weiwei sees you, she’ll still remember you?”

I thought for a moment and replied, “I don’t know.”

“Hehe, I actually wish she would forget you and never remember you again…that way, she could live a much easier life. What do you think?”

I stopped walking. My mind immediately conjured up an image of Jian Wei not remembering me or our past… Suddenly, I felt a sense of loss, yet at the same time, a strange sense of relief. I remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “Perhaps the past is meant to be forgotten, not remembered… I hope she can have a new life of her own. The past has brought her too much pain, whether from me or her family.”

Leyao also stopped walking. She looked at me seriously and asked, “Then tell me, my previous idea isn’t nonsense, right?”

I asked in confusion, “What did you say before?”

“I said that the reason Jian Wei was unwilling to wake up was because she hadn’t yet found a way to resolve her past pain. Now that she has found it, she woke up… She might have already forgotten you, forgotten all those unforgettable experiences she had with you!”

“Nonsense!…Didn’t you hear Yanyan say that her partial memory loss is due to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy? Besides, how can you be sure she has already forgotten me?”

“You’ll know tomorrow!…Zhaoyang, you seem pretty unwilling for her to forget you, so you look a bit excited now, do you realize that?”

“Excited? I just hope you believe in science… Don’t always make assumptions without basis… I, I also wish that from the moment she woke up, she could completely sever ties with the past!”

“Really wish that?”

This time, I didn’t rush to answer Leyao. After thinking for a long time, I nodded and softly said, “The past her was really too painful… I hope that after experiencing such a major ordeal, her life can be completely refreshed, and she can live a happier life!”

“I hope so too!”

…

A moment later, Leyao and I found a hotel near the hospital and checked into two adjacent rooms. Just as I was taking out my room card to open the door, Leyao suddenly remembered something and said to me, “Oh right, Zhaoyang, did Rob tell you that he’s planning to open a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. and stay there permanently?”

Thinking about this made me feel that Rob was being treated unfairly, so I replied, “He did. He also said he doesn’t plan to pursue music as a career anymore…”

Leyao expressed her regret, saying, “His decision really makes us friends feel it’s a waste for him!”

“Yeah… I still hope he comes back. As you know, the music industry is full of talents, and things change quickly. By the time he regrets his decision, there might no longer be a place for him… I’ve always believed he’s not someone who can live without music. According to his family, he started getting involved with music when he was only five years old!”

Leyao nodded, then took out her phone from her pocket and said, “It’s noon in the U.S. now. I’ll give him a call and tell him not to go all the way to America to do something foolish, making it seem like our 9.6 million square kilometer country can’t accommodate a fool like him!”

She dialed Rob’s number as she spoke. After Rob answered, she turned on the speakerphone and asked first, “Have you had lunch yet?”

Taken aback by her aggressive tone, Rob replied somewhat unfriendly, “Why do you care so much?”

Leyao rolled her eyes at the phone, not caring whether Rob could see her, and continued in her Beijing accent, “Look at you, what are you doing now?… I’m just thinking besides eating and sleeping, what else can you do in America… Seriously, I advise you not to pretend to be so important. Saying you want to open a Chinese restaurant, sounds plausible at first, but when you think about it carefully, do you even have the money to open a restaurant? Do you really need reality to hit you over the head before you understand what fear feels like?”

Rob was speechless for half a while, then we heard the sound of him lighting a cigarette before he said, “You really are a pain! Repeating the same nonsense over and over, is it fun?”

Just when I thought the confrontation between the two Beijingers would escalate, Leyao suddenly softened her tone and said, “Bro…listen to your little sister’s advice, don’t mess around in America, okay? If you really want to open a Chinese restaurant, I’ll help you open one after we go back home. If you’re tired of music, we can treat it as a hobby, but please don’t give up… Come back soon. In China, we can support you, but in America, who can you rely on?”

Rob was silent again, but this time his silence was different from before. It seemed as if he had finished smoking a cigarette before he replied, “Don’t meddle in my affairs… I’m doing fine on my own in America.”

“What do you mean you’re doing fine on your own in America?… You know, the way you’re acting now, you’re not even as good as Zhaoyang a few years ago. You really need to think carefully. When you decided to go to America, was it for furthering your music studies, or was it to stay there and open a Chinese restaurant!”

Rob didn’t respond, and we didn’t know whether it was because he felt ashamed for forgetting his original intention…

Leyao continued, “I know I can’t force you right now. In two months, I have to go to America for a film festival. I’ll talk to you properly then… Let’s stop here for today…”

Before Leyao could finish speaking, Rob had already hung up the phone on the other side. Leyao was so angry that she stomped her foot and almost dropped her phone. I had to sacrifice my sleep time to calm down her irritated mood. Actually, it’s not really her fault, because we all know Rob is doing something very wrong, but he stubbornly refuses to listen to any advice, continuing to act so self-willed… We don’t even know what exactly happened between him and Wei Manwen when he went to that small village last time, causing him to be so dispirited!

…

I didn’t sleep very well that night in the hotel, but the next morning, I still got up very early. My thoughts were still with Jian Wei. Although she had regained consciousness, the situation wasn’t exactly very optimistic!