“…Her name is Jiang Jingshu.”
—This was the answer Chu Tingyun finally gave to Yan Xun.
When he heard this name, Yan Xun was momentarily stunned; it sounded familiar. A few seconds later, he suddenly realized who the name referred to.
Jiang Jingshu.
Senior Jingshu.
【Yan Xun, you like that senior who got into Capital University, right?】
That night when his memory stops, the old electric fan was creaking as it turned, and his friend, lying on the floor bed, was teasing him with a grin,
【When she graduated back then, she specifically came to our class to find you.】
Yes, Jiang Jingshu did indeed come to find him that day.
“Hey, Yan Xun, someone is looking for you outside.”
Little chubby Zhou Ze, sitting at the classroom door, was extremely excited, making mischievous expressions at his good buddy.
For a moment, all the students in the classroom looked over.
A girl in a white dress stood at the door, her long hair fluttering with the wind, dyed with the fragmented glow of the setting sun, looking as beautiful as a painting.
Jiang Jingshu, true to her name, was gentle and elegant, with a delicate and beautiful appearance, almost the white moonlight in the hearts of all the boys in the school at that time.
She gracefully accepted the curious and amazed gazes of everyone, smiling gently as she waved to the boy sitting in the back.
“Yan Xun.”
At that time, Yan Xun was fifteen years old and was in the first year of high school.
Jiang Jingshu was eighteen, having just finished the college entrance examination.
She was the top scorer in the liberal arts for the college entrance examination that year in Nancheng. It was said that as soon as the results were released, teachers from Capital University immediately went to her home. The school even posted her commendation on the most prominent place at the gate.
So that summer, the name Jiang Jingshu became known to everyone in Nancheng No. 7 High School.
As Yan Xun was doing problems, he had to put down his pen and, amidst the curious and teasing voices of his classmates, walked out expressionlessly.
It was the students’ dinner time, with forty minutes left before evening self-study, so as soon as Yan Xun came out, Jiang Jingshu pulled him to the back of the playground to talk.
Being called away alone by the most famous goddess of the school, Yan Xun didn’t feel any fluttering feelings; he was only thinking about the unfinished papers.
“Is there something you have to say here, senior?”
“Ah, always with a stiff face, you’re not cute, Xiao Xun.”
Jing Shu winked at him, “You won’t be able to find a girlfriend in the future.”
“…”
Yan Xun turned to leave.
“Hey, hey!”
Jiang Jingshu quickly ran in front of him to block his path.
“There’s something, there’s something.”
Yan Xun stopped and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Well, I graduated, so I thought there are many notes and materials that would be a pity to throw away, so I wanted to give them to you.”
Saying that, she ran to the nearby equipment room, completely disregarding her school beauty image, dragging out a huge backpack like a kitten pulling a blanket.
It wasn’t a student backpack anymore; it was an extremely large hiking bag. It was bulging, clearly stuffed with many things, weighing about twenty to thirty pounds.
Jiang Jingshu dragged the backpack to Yan Xun and exaggeratedly said:
“Look, this is the essence of my hard work over the past three years! Today, I’m giving it to you for free.”
“…”
Yan Xun opened the bag and found that it indeed contained some reference books and notes, as well as a lot of brand new, unused stationery, etc.
Everything was neatly organized, some wrapped in beautiful colored paper and tied with ribbons.
They looked like beautifully packaged gifts.
Yan Xun said, “Then why didn’t you just mention it in my classroom earlier?”
“That would damage my image!”
Jiang Jingshu put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes,
“Don’t you see what I’m wearing today? This is my most beautiful white dress.”
Yan Xun indeed didn’t notice her beautiful white dress; his focus was on another matter:
“Senior, you’re in the liberal arts, and I’m planning to choose science later.”
In other words, their majors wouldn’t match and it might not be useful.
Jiang Jingshu: “…”
She was instantly a bit annoyed: “Anyway, you have to accept it. I specially came to deliver it today.”
The girl kicked a small stone on the ground and mumbled in a sulk.
“And also, I’m going back to the capital tomorrow.”
Jiang Jingshu’s parents were in the capital, and her maternal grandparents were in Nancheng. Because her maternal grandfather was ill for the past two years, she transferred to Nancheng to stay with him.
Half a month ago, her grandfather passed away, and now that Jiang Jingshu had been admitted to Capital University, she naturally had to go back.
“…Alright, thank you, senior.”
Yan Xun finally didn’t refuse and asked,
“Is there anything else?”
“Mm…”
Jing Shu looked down at her toes, unconsciously lifting them,
“No.”
“Okay, then I’ll go back first.”
Yan Xun picked up the backpack and was about to leave.
“Hey, wait!”
Jiang Jingshu called him again.
Yan Xun turned back: “Is there something else?”
“Um…”
Jiang Jingshu pointed at the materials in the bag,
“A lot of the content is from the second and third years, and you’re only in the first year now. If you can’t understand it, you can ask… ask your brother. Oh, right, Lin Ran also studies liberal arts, you can give it to him if you don’t use it, make good use of it.”
“Okay.”
Yan Xun didn’t leave this time; he knew Jiang Jingshu had more to say.
Sure enough, after a pause, the girl casually asked:
“Oh, by the way, speaking of your brother, when I came to find you just now, I happened to pass by the repeating class and didn’t see him. Has Lin Ran changed to a different school for repeating?”
Yan Xun shook his head: “He’s not repeating.”
“Not repeating?!”
Jiang Jingshu seemed very shocked. She grabbed Yan Xun’s wrist, asking urgently,
“Why?”
“…No reason.”
Yan Xun said calmly,
“He just doesn’t want to.”
“…”
At that moment, Yan Xun suddenly felt Jiang Jingshu seemed very sad, and even her beautiful white dress seemed a bit dim.
But she didn’t ask further, as if she really just brought it up casually.
Jiang Jingshu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said seriously to Yan Xun:
“Study hard, Xiao Xun. You’re so smart and diligent, you’ll definitely get into a good university in the future.”
“My dad says that all industries in the country are developing at an extremely fast pace. In the next ten years, the world we see might be ‘earth-shattering’.”
“So if possible, try to move to a first-tier city. Although Nancheng is also good, its medical and educational resources, job prospects, and many other things are far behind the former.”
Yan Xun listened carefully and remembered it.
His expression was serious, as if he had received an important life task, and he nodded:
“Okay, I’ll remember. Thank you, senior.”
“…Pfft.”
Jiang Jingshu looked at him for a few seconds and couldn’t help but pat his head:
“Why are you so well-behaved, Xiao Xun? I wish you were my younger brother.”
“Senior, pay attention.”
Yan Xun coldly blocked the girl’s hand,
“I don’t want to be called to the teacher’s office later for early dating issues.”
“Alright, alright.”
The girl shrugged and smiled as she said goodbye.
The setting sun cast her beautiful shadow long and then gradually disappeared.
After that day, Yan Xun never saw Jiang Jingshu again.
Occasionally, he would hear her name from teachers or receive a New Year’s greeting message from her.
The content was mostly asking about his studies and wishing his family health, happiness, and harmony.
Such blessings were indeed ordinary, as any child in Hua would casually say, without any ambiguous tone.
Besides that, there was no further contact between them.
So when Zhou Ze teased him about liking the senior that night, how did Yan Xun respond?
He threw a book at Zhou Ze, hitting the chubby guy who gasped in pain, and warned:
“Keep talking nonsense and you’ll be packing up and going home right now.”
But when Yan Xun woke up again, the pointer of his life had already turned to seven years later.
The once chubby Zhou Ze had not only slimmed down but also told him:
[You’ve had a crush on the senior for years, but after being together for just a few months, you broke up with her.]
Then, this only good friend also said that he had been fickle, breaking up with the senior and marrying a beautiful man in his thirties.
And now Yan Xun suddenly discovered that his spouse was actually the half-brother of Jingshu.
Yan Xun: “…”
Wait, he needed to sort out this complicated relationship.
While lost in thought, the descending elevator had already reached the underground parking lot.
Ding—
The elevator door opened, jolting Yan Xun back to reality, finally freeing him from the distant memories. At this moment, he noticed a scorching gaze fixed on his face.
From the moment Jiang Jingshu’s name was mentioned, Chu Tingyun had been observing Yan Xun’s expression. He kept his eyes firmly on the young man’s face, not missing a single subtle change.
The top light in the elevator cast a shadow over the man’s eyelashes, creating a dark, tense, and forlorn look that was hard for Yan Xun to describe.
It was like a snow leopard intensely monitoring its prey to prevent escape, yet also somewhat like a pitiful death row inmate awaiting the judge’s sentence.
When he tried to carefully discern further, Chu Tingyun had already nonchalantly averted his gaze and walked out of the elevator.
He silently got into the car, unusually pulling out a cigarette.
In fact, when Yan Xun had just woken up in the hospital, Chu Tingyun had already learned all about his situation.
It wasn’t that the phone calls weren’t answered, but they were deliberately concealed.
Moreover, the hospital had arranged for the most professional psychologist to conduct many tests on this special amnesiac patient.
The final result showed that Yan Xun had lost all memory of the past seven years, including his emotions. So, this meant—
He no longer loved the people he once loved or hated those he once hated.
The current Yan Xun’s cognition, consciousness, and emotions were entirely that of eighteen-year-old Yan Xun.
But Chu Tingyun still feared that Yan Xun might recall things quickly, so after a hasty meeting with Yan Xun, he used the excuse of a business trip to avoid him, not meeting him again.
For this month, Chu Tingyun had hinted and even provided many clues about the past to Yan Xun.
But the young man had not remembered anything, not even a little.
This was enough to prove that even if Yan Xun really met Jiang Jingshu again, he would not recall anything.
The eighteen-year-old high school boy was so well-behaved that it made one’s heart soften, as if all his thorns had turned into soft fluff. There were even moments when Chu Tingyun had the illusion that Yan Xun seemed to like him a bit.
Everything was developing in the direction he once longed for but couldn’t attain.
Rationally, his best choice now would be to ensure Yan Xun never sees his once beloved girlfriend again.
But Chu Tingyun was unwilling.
He wanted Yan Xun to witness his ex-girlfriend’s wedding as Jingshu’s brother’s partner.
He wanted Yan Xun to compete with him for Jingshu’s bouquet.
To prove that Yan Xun’s person and heart finally and completely belonged to him.
Although Jiang Yuheng’s appearance today was indeed unexpected, it did not actually disrupt Chu Tingyun’s original plan.
But just now, when he mentioned Jingshu’s name to Yan Xun, Chu Tingyun suddenly regretted it.
The jealousy that had been forcefully hidden felt like sour bile re-chewing in his stomach, making him feel a sour, bitter numbness from his tongue to his entire brain.
Click, click…
The cigarette failed to ignite after several attempts.
The next second, the lighter in his hand was snatched away by another hand.
“I thought you were so clean that you wouldn’t smoke in the car.”
Yan Xun was sitting in the front passenger seat without him noticing.
Chu Tingyun was taken aback. As he turned his head, he met the young man’s face up close.
Yan Xun leaned over and lit the cigarette for the man.
Click.
A faint tobacco smell spread between them.
…
For a moment, the car was silent.
Until a moment later, Yan Xun suddenly broke the silence—
He asked: “Chu Tingyun, are you jealous?”
