Putting aside the meaning of “husband” for now, Yan Xun quickly learned about his condition from the doctor—
“Actually, your injuries aren’t too serious. There’s a fracture in your leg, and your head took a heavy blow, causing a mild concussion and a bit of intracranial bleeding.”
“Based on the tests we’ve conducted, the prolonged coma and memory loss are somewhat unusual. We suspect that aside from the pressure from the bleeding, there might be some psychological factors at play. Since these haven’t affected other functions, as your attending physician, I don’t recommend surgical intervention; it’s better to let it recover naturally.”
As he said this, the doctor patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“Time, well, it’s hard to say. It could be a few months, or it might take a year or two. Of course, there’s a small chance that it may never fully recover, but don’t worry, this won’t affect your daily life or bodily functions.”
“…”
Finally, the doctor gave him some additional instructions and told Yan Xun to rest well.
“Alright, thank you.”
Yan Xun noted everything down.
But even after several hours, he couldn’t fully process the absurdity of the current situation—
Now, it’s seven years later, in 2022.
Yan Xun is now 25 years old and has been married for three years.
And he’s married to a man.
Ten days ago, he was in a car accident and remained unconscious until today.
Yan Xun: “…”
This is absurd!
He held his forehead and tried to calm down for a few minutes, then began to take stock of the single hospital room he was in.
The location was excellent, facing south, and the room was meticulously decorated—even carefully arranged.
The flowers by the bedside had just been changed that morning, looking fresh and vibrant. The fruit on the table also looked fresh, with an artful arrangement topped with a few bright red lychees.
Even the feel of the bed sheets and quilt cover was different from that of an ordinary hospital room.
Yan Xun was no stranger to hospitals, not because he was often ill but because he frequently accompanied his family members.
In his vague childhood memories, white hospital rooms occupied most of his mind. So he knew how expensive a single hospital room like this could be.
And now he was staying here.
Yan Xun speculated—
Perhaps after growing up, he had gained enough means to support his recovery in such a beautiful and expensive single room and could afford the long medical bills.
However, he never expected that in the future, seven years from now, he would be married and have a male partner…
Knock, knock.
At this moment, Nurse Zhao’s knocking interrupted Yan Xun’s thoughts. She apologized, saying they still couldn’t reach his husband on the phone, and tried to comfort him:
“Mr. Yan, don’t be sad; your husband is probably dealing with something important, or maybe his phone has some issues?”
“It’s okay, actually, I…” I’m not sad.
—Not sad at all.
Yan Xun was certain that he was straight, as he had never had any unusual thoughts about the same sex. So at this moment, he was still wrapped up in the odd and creepy feeling of having married a man seven years later.
As he thought about it, Yan Xun subconsciously reached for his neck, but his fingers grasped at nothing.
Wait!
“Where’s my jade pendant?”
“Jade pendant?”
Nurse Zhao looked puzzled.
“I haven’t seen you wearing one. Maybe your family took it off and kept it for you.”
“…”
Yan Xun, unable to get an answer, tried a different approach.
“Nurse, can I borrow your phone?”
His own phone had been destroyed in the car accident, and after that, he fell into a coma. Now that he was awake, he naturally didn’t have a phone.
People can act, but technology doesn’t lie.
It wasn’t until he held the latest phone model of the year in his hand that Yan Xun finally fully believed that he was in the world seven years later.
However, his mother’s and Lin Ran’s phones were either out of service or had become invalid numbers. Yan Xun was growing anxious and had no choice but to try calling Zhou Ze.
Right now, he desperately needed to find someone he trusted and was close to, to ask what had happened over the past seven years.
“Beep…”
“Hello, the number you are calling is currently on another call. Please try again later.”
This response typically means the call was connected, but the other party hung up. Yan Xun thought maybe they didn’t answer because it was an unfamiliar number, so instead of calling again, he sent a text message.
[It’s Yan Xun. I was in a car accident, and I’m in the hospital. I need to talk to you.]
Whoosh~
The message was successfully sent, and shortly after, the other party called back.
Yan Xun answered, “Hello, Zhou Ze?”
“…”
He waited for quite a while, but there was no response.
“Hello, can you hear me?”
“…What’s up?”
The male voice on the other end sounded a bit unfamiliar, but overall, it was still Zhou Ze’s voice.
Yan Xun frowned. It’s normal for someone’s voice to change over seven years, but for some reason, he felt like Zhou Ze sounded very cold.
“Well, I’m borrowing the nurse’s phone right now…”
Yan Xun didn’t know how to describe the absurdity of it all to the other party, so he simply said, “The situation is a bit complicated. Do you have time to come over?”
“…”
Zhou Ze was silent for a moment, seemingly arguing with someone nearby. Yan Xun couldn’t hear clearly, but eventually, the other party responded with a single word.
“Send your location via WeChat.”
WeChat?
Yan Xun was taken aback. Didn’t they always use QQ to communicate? Zhou Ze had even mocked WeChat as something only old people use, saying he’d never use it in his life.
Luckily, Nurse Zhao already knew Yan Xun was a special patient with his memory stuck seven years in the past, so she helped him send the location.
The other side quickly replied—
“I’ll be there in two hours.”
Yan Xun: “…Okay.”
He reflected on Zhou Ze’s tone after answering the phone, feeling it was quite odd.
If it weren’t for the familiar phone number, the familiar voice, and the fact that the other person confirmed he was Zhou Ze, Yan Xun would have thought he had dialed the wrong person.
He returned the phone to the nurse and continued asking, “Nurse, do you know why I was in a car accident?”
“I’m not sure about the details because you weren’t brought to our hospital immediately after the accident. You were first taken to a nearby hospital for emergency care, and once your condition stabilized, you were transferred here.”
So Yan Xun switched to another question:
“Then my… my husband, have you seen him? What kind of person is he?”
“Hmm, I’ve seen him once or twice. But your husband is very busy; he always comes and goes in a hurry. I haven’t really talked to him.”
So Yan Xun didn’t get much useful information about the mysterious spouse either.
In the end, he could only ask the nurse about major events in the country over the past few years and some basic living knowledge.
As the sun was about to set, the front desk nurse called to inform Yan Xun—
“Mr. Yan, your friend is here.”
Zhou Ze?
Yan Xun put down the call button by his bed and looked toward the door of his hospital room.
A minute later, a tall, slender person wearing a leather jacket, a black mask, and a baseball cap walked straight in.
Yan Xun: “…???”
Who is this handsome guy?
The two locked eyes, and Zhou Ze didn’t say a word; he just stared at the young man on the bed. The latter didn’t seem too badly injured, aside from the cast on his fractured left leg.
Four years had passed, and Yan Xun’s appearance hadn’t changed much.
The young man sitting on the hospital bed had cold and sharp features, with a calm and handsome face, though slightly pale due to just waking from a coma.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Zhou Ze felt that Yan Xun’s gaze at this moment was somewhat reminiscent of the past, back when they were in high school.
—That was also the time when they were the closest.
But after they had a falling out four years ago, they deleted each other’s contacts. Since then, Zhou Ze hadn’t received any news about Yan Xun.
Until today, when he suddenly got a call from a strange number…
As Zhou Ze observed Yan Xun, the latter was also scrutinizing him.
Compared to Zhou Ze’s subtle gaze, Yan Xun’s was much more blatant. It reached the point where Zhou Ze felt a bit uneasy.
Perhaps Yan Xun’s surprise was too obvious, so Zhou Ze frowned, pulled down his mask, and couldn’t help but sarcastically ask:
“What, you don’t recognize me?”
Yan Xun looked him up and down, very honestly giving an answer—
“Indeed, I don’t.”
In his memory, Zhou Ze was a 5’7″ chubby guy weighing 170 pounds, but the person in front of him was tall and lean; even the tone and manner of speaking were different.
Although his facial features still bore some resemblance to the past, no one would associate this trendy, cool guy with the chubby kid from their senior year of high school.
However, from Zhou Ze’s perspective, it seemed like Yan Xun was deliberately mocking him.
“Fine!”
The man was so angry that he laughed.
“Yan Xun, did you call me here just to say you don’t recognize me?!”
“No, I just remember you being… like this.”
Yan Xun made a round shape with his hands.
Zhou Ze’s face instantly darkened: “Are you calling me fat?”
Yan Xun: “…”
He decided not to dwell on the fat issue and switched the topic directly to the main point—
“The doctor said I hit my head in the car accident and lost some of my memories.”
The young man on the hospital bed pointed to his head.
“I only remember that yesterday you came to my house to crash on the floor because your dad cheated. We stayed up talking all night, and then I woke up in the hospital.”
Zhou Ze: “…”
The amount of information in those two sentences was overwhelming, and he was stunned for a long time.
His father’s affair, crashing at Yan Xun’s place, sleeping on the floor, late-night chats…
Fragments of memories swirled like countless butterflies, fluttering towards him, until one quietly landed on his shoulder.
After a long pause, Zhou Ze frowned:
“—This is ridiculous.”
“Exactly.”
Yan Xun rubbed his aching temples.
“Even I think it’s ridiculous, but that’s how it is.”
“…”
Zhou Ze felt a bit disoriented, not sure what to say. Because Yan Xun wouldn’t joke about something like this, and there was no point in doing so. But if the memory loss was real, that was even more absurd.
Yan Xun gestured to the chair beside him: “Have a seat.”
He planned to find out about his past seven years from Zhou Ze, which would obviously take some time.
“I couldn’t reach my mom or my brother, so I can only ask you.”
“…”
Zhou Ze didn’t respond.
Back then, Yan Xun was ruthless, saying they were done and would never speak again. Zhou Ze was so mad that he nearly exploded, swearing that if he ever spoke to Yan Xun again, he’d be a dog.
What was he supposed to say now?
Woof, woof, woof?
Yan Xun noticed his strange expression and asked:
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
Zhou Ze frowned, crossing his arms, looking displeased.
But he didn’t say anything, instead starting to look around the room, even taking a turn in the bathroom, seemingly searching for someone.
A few seconds later, Zhou Ze had thoroughly scanned every inch of the hospital room, finally confirming that it was just him and Yan Xun.
This realization made him feel a bit more comfortable.
Then Zhou Ze sarcastically said:
“Where’s your man? Why don’t you ask him?”
“…”
Yan Xun choked, stunned for a minute by the phrase “your man.”
He opened his mouth but found himself speechless. After a long pause, he finally said:
“I tried, called him many times, but couldn’t get through.”
“I can’t find him.”
At this moment, the young man on the hospital bed lowered his eyes. His expression remained calm, but there was an inexplicable sense of confusion.
“Besides, I don’t remember him now either…”
“…”
Zhou Ze was silent, his expression complicated.
After a while, he finally sneered and said, “Yan Xun, do you know what you look like right now?”
“What?”
Yan Xun turned to look at him, only to see Zhou Ze put a cigarette in his mouth, sneering mercilessly:
“—Like an abandoned wife who got kicked to the curb.”
“…”
