The summer weather is restless. The elderly who had exercised in the early morning now hurriedly avoided the scorching sun, rushing toward shady spots for relief. However, the trees, which had been stifled all night, were waiting eagerly for the morning sunlight to illuminate them. When the warm breeze blew by, they shook off the dewdrops and, in a revitalized state, embraced the people sheltering beneath their trunks from the blazing sun.
Walking beside me, Leyao was wearing a large sun hat and sunglasses, but her perfectly proportioned figure still drew many glances from passersby. Instinctively, she lowered the brim of her hat to avoid the gathering attention, quickening her pace. She was afraid of being recognized on this bustling street… I still remember a certain night two years ago when she had told me at Hengdian’s Dream Valley that she loved being the center of attention. But now, such attention had become a burden she desperately wanted to escape. Thinking about this, I realized that the passage of time had brought with it changes laced with a touch of bitterness—not only for Leyao, but also for Jianwei, and even Mi Cai, who had gone through similar transformations.
Moments later, Leyao and I arrived at the hospital. Almost simultaneously, we encountered Yan Yan and Qin Yan, who were also waiting for the elevator. We exchanged greetings and entered the elevator together with the crowd.
Soon, we entered Jianwei’s hospital room. She was already awake but appeared very weak, eating porridge prepared by Mo Zishi. Even with us standing beside her, she merely glanced up once before returning her focus to her breakfast, completely indifferent to our presence as her visitors.
Just as I was about to speak to her, she looked at Mo Zishi and said, “It’s hot,” then gestured for him to lower the air conditioning.
Mo Zishi patiently replied, “Your body is very weak now; you can’t catch a chill. After you finish breakfast, you won’t feel hot anymore. Just endure it a little longer. Be a good girl!”
Unlike her usual self, Jianwei nodded and resumed eating the seemingly tasteless breakfast.
I placed the fruits I had bought on the bedside table and finally asked her, “How are you feeling?”
She didn’t look up, perhaps unsure if I was addressing her. I stepped closer and gently patted her shoulder before asking again, “Jianwei, how are you feeling?”
She finally looked at me, frowned, and then turned to Mo Zishi beside her, asking, “Dr. Mo, who is he?”
I was taken aback, and the others around me shared the same expression. Jianwei stared at me for a moment, her face showing signs of contemplation, followed by a pained expression. Mo Zishi quickly and softly comforted her, saying, “He’s a friend of mine, just here to visit you. He has nothing to do with your past. Don’t try to remember too much!”
Apparently trusting Mo Zishi’s words, Jianwei turned her head away and no longer paid attention to me. Mo Zishi then signaled me to leave the room, not wanting to burden Jianwei’s mind further at this moment.
I looked at Jianwei with a heavy heart before stepping out of the room alone through the crowd, with Mo Zishi following me out.
The situation Jianwei was in was now quite clear, so I didn’t want to ask too many questions. Perhaps this silence, this unwillingness to ask anything, stemmed from the psychological preparation I had given myself the previous night. Jianwei forgetting me was a side effect, but it might also be a form of self-protection.
Mo Zishi finally spoke to me first, saying, “Zhaoyang, Jianwei’s condition is quite special. How should I explain it to you… Well, now she’s not only vague about you, but also about her parents. The human body has a very complex structure and a self-protective mechanism. What she is experiencing now is both accidental and inevitable… Do you understand what I mean?”
I nodded and replied, “I understand. If she had woken up just like a normal person, that would have been unnatural!”
“That’s right. There are many cases of patients developing amnesia after frequent hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Clinically, there are even cases where patients wake up with reduced intelligence. Jianwei’s condition is actually quite good. Her cognitive abilities have been well preserved, thanks to Dr. Carter’s extensive experience and his precise control over the dosage during the hyperbaric oxygen therapy!”
I finally smiled and said, “You and your team have worked really hard these days! I hope you can all spare some time tonight. I’d like to treat everyone to dinner as a token of my appreciation!”
Mo Zishi smiled back and said, “Jianwei waking up has been a great encouragement to us all. Having dinner is a small matter. If you really want to thank me, maybe you should give that girl I introduced to you last time a call… Seriously, she really likes you and even called me to ask about your attitude!”
I looked at him with a wry smile, for the first time in my life feeling that there was actually someone in this world I couldn’t handle—and that someone was a man! After a long silence, I replied, “There’s no chance between me and that girl… There’s no chance between me and anyone!”
Mo Zishi patted my shoulder, completely unfazed by my frustration. With a half-smile, he said, “Still the same old saying: give yourself a way out, and give Xiaocai a way out too. You should understand better than me that all pain is temporary. When you have a happy family in the future, you’ll really thank me!”
I didn’t respond further, only looking back into the room through the glass door at Jianwei. She looked peaceful now, full of curiosity about the world… I suddenly felt a bit dazed, to the point of forgetting what had happened between us. It was as if those past events, long buried by time, were nothing more than a numbed surgery—there was a slight pain, but it didn’t feel quite real anymore…
…
Moments later, Leyao and I were preparing to part ways at the hospital entrance. Soon, she would board a flight back to Beijing to continue working on her creative film and television projects, while I would return to Suzhou to develop the pre-launch promotion strategy for the upcoming mobile game.
She said to me, “Zhaoyang, Jianwei no longer remembers you. According to the typical plot in TV dramas, you should help her regain her lost memories. But would you really do that?”
Instinctively, I looked up at the blazing sun, feeling a slight pain in my heart. Finally, I smiled and replied, “Let things take their natural course… Maybe, this is actually a good outcome for everyone.”
“Is that so?… Does it also mean we should thank the person who pushed Jianwei down the stairs back then? Without him, none of this would have happened. He set Jianwei free!”
When Leyao said that, I was reminded of the unresolved issue that had been hanging over us. Until now, even the police had not found the person who had pushed Jianwei down the stairs. He seemed to have vanished from the world out of nowhere. But my pursuit of the truth had never ceased. I had even privately offered a reward of 150,000 yuan for any effective clues, yet unfortunately, even with such a generous reward, there had been no significant breakthroughs.
…
That afternoon after returning to Suzhou, I immediately called in Ms. Li, the director of our PR department. I asked her, “Ms. Li, have your PR department obtained the data of the big spenders (referred to as big R players) in the game ‘Longyou Tianxia’?”
“Mr. Zhao, our company is a direct competitor of ‘Longyou Tianxia’. After hearing that our game will launch soon, their company has implemented stricter confidentiality measures regarding such core data. Our PR department has done our best!”
“I can understand, but for the company’s benefit, I hope your department will not give up on this matter. We can also obtain the data of these big R players through other channels.”
Ms. Li nodded with a sense of guilt, indicating that she would do her utmost to complete the task.
That night, after returning home, I logged onto a trading platform for “Longyou Tianxia” and, through connections, purchased a well-known gaming account for 30,000 yuan. Then I logged into the game.
My purpose in doing this was to use this influential account to contact the game’s top-paying player and realize my business ambitions through him…
Through investigation, I found that the player known as “Tianya Siming” in the game had already spent over a million yuan in the game “Longyou Tianxia” and was a prominent figure in the game. I hoped that such a symbolic player would switch to our game. If this goal could be achieved, it would create a storm of public opinion among big R players, which would be a huge blow to our competitors. At that time, with “Tianya Siming’s” prestige in the game, many big R players would follow him to our game platform.
The game account I bought was in the same guild as “Tianya Siming.” As soon as I logged in, I immediately sent him a private message, asking, “Boss, are you there?”
About half an hour later, he replied, “Tangzhu Xiong Yidao (my in-game character name), what’s up?”
I replied, “I’ve always admired your generosity in the game. So I really want to get to know you better. I mean, if it’s convenient for you, we can meet in real life and play together in any new games. I wonder if the Commander would give me this honor?”
“Haha, we can be good brothers in the game, but it might not be convenient in real life…”
Tianya Siming’s response was as expected. It was easy to imagine that someone who had spent millions in the game must have a prominent identity in real life. Such people usually have a strong sense of caution, clearly separating their game life from reality.
I didn’t plan to push too hard. After expressing my disappointment, I ended the conversation with him… and then logged out of the game!
…
Late into the night, I lit a cigarette and stood on the balcony, looking up at the hazy moonlight outside the window. That lonely feeling habitually spread through my body. Once again, I pulled out the necklace Mi Cai had given me from under my collar and gazed at it… I really wanted to know about her. I had a growing urge I could barely contain—I wanted to find her contact information, wait until it was late on her side, and secretly call her. Maybe I wouldn’t say anything, but just wait for her to answer with a “Hello” would make me feel much less lonely than I was now!!
Moreover, I had some resentment toward her. I always felt that her longing for me was nowhere near as intense as my longing for her during those lonely nights in a foreign land!
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