Damn it!
Damn it! Damn it!
Xin Yu really wanted to curse!
Could it be that the blind date her father arranged today was Liu Shuihan?
Why!
Seeing him, Xin Yu felt completely flustered, not even noticing the drooping belly.
The surrounding laughter and whispers grew louder before she snapped out of her daze and turned to run outside.
"Ayu." Liu Shuihan chased after her, grabbing her arm and staring intently at her. "Why...why are you like this?"
So resistant to him!
"I..." She seemed to have done something wrong, unsure how to explain. She genuinely didn't know the person today was Liu Shuihan. "I've never tried cosplay before, so...I was just giving it a try."
Xin Yu's explanation was weak, but he naturally didn't believe her.
Liu Shuihan held her hand, his eyes full of expectation. "I'll take you somewhere."
The two walked side by side, attracting glances and whispers wherever they went, because they looked so mismatched.
"Ah!" Xin Yu tripped over the bundle that had fallen from her lower abdomen, almost falling over, but luckily Liu Shuihan caught her.
"Not very convincing," he said, picking it up, joking bitterly.
Xin Yu looked at him, swallowing hard. "Where are you planning to take me? Maybe...maybe we can go another day?"
She was going to be laughed at the whole way here looking like this!
"Ayu," Liu Shuihan's voice was heavy, his eyes filled with deep conflict. "You really don't remember me? Have you forgotten our past?"
Xin Yu frowned, not wanting to answer, but the scenes from her dreams kept replaying in her mind—the graceful figure of that person, perfectly integrated with the man before her.
But…
Why couldn't her heart believe it?
She couldn't believe it!
Her memory was absolutely, positively correct!
Besides, her affair with Mu Yichuan wasn't resolved yet!
"I…"
Liu Shuihan reached out and pulled Xin Yu into his arms, holding her tightly, just like when they first met in Beishi.
"Shui…Brother Shuihan, let go, don't do this." She struggled, trying to remain calm without hurting him.
"Get in the car, I have something to show you."
Reluctantly, Xin Yu got into Liu Shuihan's car.
Suddenly, she froze in her seat.
"What…what is this?!" Her eyes widened in disbelief!
It was a photo of the lakeside she had dreamed of twice, showing her face and a profile of her and Liu Shuihan sitting on the ground, smiling at each other!
Her hand holding the photo trembled uncontrollably. Did she and he really have such a past? "Where is this?" Xin Yu looked up, staring intently at Liu Shuihan. He forced a smile, his eyes filled with suppressed pain, and returned her gaze gently.
"A suburban park in Beishi."
What to do?
She had no memory of such a place!
"When did I...?" If everything was true, she looked only fifteen or sixteen in the photo, right?
That was indeed the age when she left Beishi.
"..." Liu Shuihan fell silent, reaching out to grasp Xin Yu's head and pulling her close again. "Can't you give me a chance? Let me keep my promise? Ayu, I've waited for you for ten years, searched for you for six years. I've never forgotten the promise we made that year."
Listening to his whispers in her ear, Xin Yu felt a vague memory welling up in her blood.
"I don't remember!" She pushed Liu Shuihan away abruptly, her eyes closing slightly. In that instant, all she saw was Mu Yichuan's cold, captivating face.
"I'm sorry, I have to go!" Xin Yu opened the car door, stumbling and falling out. "Ayu!" he called out tenderly, trying to pull her up.
But he couldn't reach her.
Xin Yu ran, no longer caring about anyone's stares, until she could run no more. She leaned against a lamppost, panting heavily, her body trembling as she repeatedly turned the ring on her ring finger.
How could this be?
"You waited for me for ten years, searched for me for six years. Such deep feelings, why don't I have even the slightest memory of them!"
Did she suffer from amnesia like Mu Yi'ai?
This thought made Xin Yu gasp. Had something happened to her in the past few years?
"Yuanzi, do you have time at noon?"
"Noon? I'm afraid not." She hesitated.
"Then tomorrow at noon—never mind, I have class tomorrow."
"I'll come to your school tomorrow and try your cafeteria food."
Xin Yu breathed a sigh of relief, hearing Cheng Yuan's relaxed tone, and a slight smile curved her lips.
Only after she left in a taxi did Cheng Yuan emerge from the shop behind her, watching the taxi disappear into the distance with a forlorn expression. "Ayu, no matter what, I won't be a burden you choose."
...
Xin Yu walked blankly into the villa, her heart feeling heavy, suffocating, and filled with a heavy, damp feeling.
"Where did you go?" Mu Yichuan slammed his phone face down on the coffee table, his eyes blazing with anger. She had actually gone to see Liu Shuihan!
And she came back looking so lonely.
Was she starting to doubt the past?
"Ah!" Xin Yu shuddered, instinctively glancing at the clock. Why was he home at this hour?!
Mu Yichuan stared at her coldly, his face devoid of any warmth or expression.
His dark eyes made Xin Yu tremble. She instinctively knew his whereabouts, and this thought fueled her anger. "You sent Mu Jian to follow me?"
"Are you afraid of being followed?" he retorted, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.
Xin Yu, her neck held high, couldn't hide her anger, but knowing she couldn't outmaneuver Mu Yichuan, she ignored him and walked upstairs.
Upon entering the bedroom, before the door even closed, the man behind her followed, pinning her against the wall and gripping her chin. "You've learned to be mute?"
"Then what do you want to hear? Mr. Jiu, don't you already know?!" Why ask again!
"It seems you think seeing Liu Shuihan is quite natural." Mu Yichuan pressed his entire body against Xin Yu. "I want to hear your takeaways."
"Nothing." She remembered nothing; what takeaways could she possibly have?
As soon as she finished speaking, Xin Yu felt Mu Yichuan's embrace turn cold, his dark eyes blazing with fury.
"Mr. Jiu, what takeaways do you want me to say?" Was he forcing her? *Screech!*
Mu Yichuan ripped Xin Yu's ugly clothes off, his cold fingers tracing her skin, covered in the hickeys he'd left the night before. "This outfit might be enough to make Liu Shuihan happy."
...!
Xin Yu was stunned by his words, only reacting after a long pause. "Mu Yichuan, you're sick!"
"And what about you two? One pretending to be mute, the other pretending to be blind?" His voice was utterly cold, his eyes dark and devoid of warmth.
He flicked his finger, pinning Xin Yu's ring finger down.
The ring he'd given her was clearly there; why didn't she clearly reject Liu Shuihan!
Xin Yu tilted her head, looking at the phoenix-and-iris ring on her hand. Honestly, every time she saw this ring, her troubled heart would calm down.
However, in this situation, she didn't want to say anything.
Even if she did, would he believe her?! "Let me go."
"Wishful thinking."
Xin Yu frowned and added, "I said I want to take a shower."
Before she finished speaking, Mu Yichuan shoved Xin Yu into the bathroom, grabbed the showerhead, and started spraying water on her. "You really need to wake up."
She let his rough actions go, offering no further resistance; it was futile anyway.
And as if punishing her, from noon to night, and then to morning, he took her again and again, tirelessly…
"Get up, go to school." Mu Yichuan, satisfied, patiently said.
Xin Yu tried to lift her eyelids, but couldn't lift her body.
For the first time in her life, she didn't want to move at all, didn't want to go to school, didn't want to think; she just wanted to stay in bed.
Looking at her exhausted appearance, a gentle feeling quickly swept through Mu Yichuan's heart. Yesterday he had been too harsh, so angry that he had completely forgotten her limits.
"Not going?" He turned to his side, lying down next to Xin Yu.
Her body stiffened. Overcoming her exhaustion, she sat up, determined not to stay by his side for even a second longer; otherwise, she would die.
"Ayu," he said, displeased, even more so by her ignoring her own body and her stubbornness.
"Go to school," she said hoarsely, utterly weak, but still managing to get herself ready.
However, upon stepping outside, she saw Mu Yichuan's car parked at the gate and involuntarily stopped.
Through the car window, she saw his perfect, resolute profile, clean-cut and sexy, especially under the sunlight, as if serene and beautiful.
"Devil," Xin Yu muttered, turning her head away from him.
But he got out of the car, walked over, and carried her into the vehicle.
The car drove smoothly to the main gate of Dongdu University, and the entire morning passed smoothly.
If it weren't for remembering her date with Cheng Yuan, Xin Yu really wouldn't want to move. How wonderful it would have been to stay in the classroom! "Ayu," Cheng Yuan greeted her warmly, "What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"You seem to be too," Xin Yu forced a smile, taking her friend's hand. "What do you want to eat?"
"Mala Tang, I've had it in ages, I've been craving it." Cheng Yuan smiled happily, her eyes crinkling, just like she did back in middle school, carefree.
The two sat at an outdoor table, ordering a very lavish meal.
"Yuanzi, I want to ask you something." Xin Yu hesitated. She knew Cheng Yuan's feelings for Liu Shuihan. Swallowing hard, she pursed her lips. "Don't misunderstand, I just want to confirm my memories from before I left Beishi, that's all."
"Ayu—" Cheng Yuan grabbed Xin Yu's hand and nodded firmly. "Ask away."
"Before I left Beishi, did I really have a relationship with Liu Shuihan? Were we really that close?"
Cheng Yuan's face suddenly showed pain, then she lowered her head to hide it, before finally looking up again. "Ayu, yes."
Xin Yu was stunned, her heart skipped a beat.
Cheng Yuan bit her lip. "Back then, you were very… close to him. I remember you even drew a picture of him, afraid the teacher would find out, you drew his back."
Back?
Xin Yu remembered the sketch she had unintentionally drawn before, a sketch she herself didn't even know was by whom.
So it really was Liu Shuihan.
"Did anything happen to me before I left Beishi?"
Cheng Yuan shook her head, her eyes filled with surprise.
So she had an accident in Nanshi?
That's why she forgot that memory?
"Yuanzi, I didn't—"
"Ayu, I slept with someone, and I'm getting married soon."
Cheng Yuan's calm words interrupted Xin Yu's attempt at explanation.