Because you’re still so young, but that part of you doesn’t work anymore.
That part doesn’t work anymore.
That part…
Doesn’t work anymore…
Doesn’t work…
These words echoed endlessly in Yan Xun’s mind.
At first, he didn’t understand until he noticed Zhou Ze’s glance at his lower body.
Yan Xun suddenly realized—
That part meant the… oh no, it should be the husband-and-husband aspect of their life.
That part of him didn’t work anymore.
Yan Xun: “…”
Seeing his friend with a blank expression as if the sky had fallen, Zhou Ze lovingly patted his shoulder and said:
“Xun, it’s okay.”
Zhou Ze had originally been gnashing his teeth in anger, but his old friend had sincerely apologized, and the other party had just experienced a life-and-death car accident and a family upheaval.
Now, having lost his dignity as a man…
At this point, Zhou Ze’s anger had mostly dissipated.
After all, what else could he do? The guy was already this miserable.
Yan Xun was still immersed in the shock and didn’t notice his friend’s increasingly sympathetic gaze. When he snapped back to reality, Zhou Ze was already patting his head.
“It’s okay, Yan Xun; pull yourself together. When you have time, we’ll find a great urologist and get you back on your feet in no time.”
Yan Xun: “…”
He slapped Zhou Ze’s hand away: “Get lost.”
“Ow… How is your grip still so strong after being in a coma for so many days?!”
Zhou Ze rubbed his reddened hand, but he wasn’t really angry and simply sat back in the chair.
“Don’t worry, I won’t say a word to anyone. Just let it go; divorce him if you have to. That guy’s not all that great anyway, just a pretty face with some money.”
Zhou Ze’s tone was indignant.
“You’ll be better off without him, really.”
Clearly, he was still holding a grudge against Yan Xun for ditching his friends for a pretty face back then.
Yan Xun quietly leaned against the headboard, not saying a word, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking. Zhou Ze thought his friend was heartbroken, so he slapped his thigh and started badmouthing Chu Tingyun.
“Let me tell you, Yan Xun, you were young and foolish back then, tricked by his looks into marrying him.”
“Plus, that guy is eight or nine years older than you. He’s a sly old fox who’s been around the block. He’s playing you like a…”
“Ahem, what I mean is, he’s cunning, probably with hundreds of tricks up his sleeve.”
“—Wait.”
Yan Xun raised his head, suddenly noticing the contradiction in Zhou Ze’s words.
“But didn’t you say I was the one who fell in love with him at first sight and pursued him relentlessly?”
Zhou Ze: “…That’s what you told me yourself!”
He stared at the young man in the hospital bed with a look that said, “Are you stupid or what?” and said in exasperation:
“Yan Xun, can you focus? The point is, that bastard Chu Tingyun has had his fill of you. Now that you can’t perform, he’s heartlessly kicking you to the curb!”
“…”
Yan Xun didn’t say anything.
He was struggling to digest the fact that he had gone crazy for love as an adult, only to be discarded like trash.
Hadn’t he crossed over into a parallel universe?
But alas, Yan Xun was a staunch materialist, so amnesia at least sounded more scientifically plausible.
Zhou Ze had no idea what Yan Xun was thinking and kept ranting.
“Yan Xun, don’t fall into the same trap again. If he wants a divorce, just go through with it! After all, you’re both men, no kids involved, so you don’t have to deal with the whole ‘for the sake of the children’ thing like my parents always say…”
“Besides, you don’t even remember him now, let alone any feelings. The sooner you get out, the better. You can split the house, car, and money, and then head straight for your new, free life.”
Slap—
Zhou Ze slapped his thigh: “How great is that!”
If Yan Xun’s leg wasn’t still in a cast, Zhou Ze would’ve happily packed him up and sent him to the Civil Affairs Bureau right then and there to personally finalize the divorce with Chu Tingyun.
“The world’s a big place. Besides Chu Tingyun, there are plenty of pretty women and men out there. There is no need to tie yourself to one tree. If worse comes to worst, I can introduce you to someone…”
However, Yan Xun hadn’t listened to a word of Zhou Ze’s heartfelt advice. He suddenly turned his head and interrupted Zhou Ze:
“Is that person… really good-looking?”
Zhou Ze: “…”
Zhou Ze was about to laugh in anger, but no matter how much he disliked Chu Tingyun, he couldn’t lie about this.
“Tsk, he’s got… a few good looks, I suppose. I think his mom was some blue-eyed foreign woman. You know, mixed-race kids usually…”
At this point, Zhou Ze suddenly realized he’d been led astray.
“I just listed all his flaws, and all you remember is his face?!”
“Not just that.”
Yan Xun thought for a moment and said,
“I also remember you saying he’s eight or nine years older than me, has lots of experience and knowledge, is deep and thoughtful, and is good at managing close relationships, always taking the lead.”
Model student Yan Xun neatly summed up his post-lesson notes.
Zhou Ze: “…”
That did sound like what he had just said, but why did it all sound like positives when Yan Xun repeated it?
“Yan Xun.”
“Mm?”
Zhou Ze was in agony: “You’re beyond saving. Did he put a spell on you?”
Yan Xun: “…”
Zhou Ze really couldn’t understand what kind of voodoo Chu Tingyun had used on his good friend. How could a car accident wipe out his memory but leave a ten-meter-thick filter perfectly intact?
“When I said he’s eight or nine years older than you, I didn’t mean he’s more experienced and knowledgeable—I meant he’s old! Get it? That old cow is feasting on your tender grass!”
“Early thirties…”
Yan Xun pondered for a few seconds and then spoke honestly, “That doesn’t count as old, does it?”
Zhou Ze: “…”
He was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Yan Xun, have you really not lost your memory? Are you just playing with me?”
“…I’m not playing with you; I’m reasoning with you.”
When it came to matters of logic, Yan Xun had an inexplicable persistence.
“Bullshit!”
Zhou Ze was so angry that he stood up again and said, “You’ve been defending that person the whole time!”
“I’m just discussing the matter objectively.”
“Bullshit, you’re clearly…”
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Yan Xun quickly called for a timeout.
“I don’t want to argue with you, Zhou Ze. My family is all abroad; that person wants a divorce, and now I’ve got memory problems. You’re the only friend I have left.”
“…”
Zhou Ze was at a loss for words and sat back down heavily, “Ha, now you realize who you can really rely on.”
Zhou Ze originally wanted to say a few more bad things about Chu Tingyun, but he thought better of it. They almost started fighting after just a couple of remarks, and since Yan Xun didn’t remember anything now, there was no point.
With that in mind, he patted his friend’s shoulder again and said, “It’s okay, Xun. Divorce him with confidence. If things really get tough, just come to me. If your brother has meat to eat, you’ll have a bone to chew on.”
Yan Xun raised an eyebrow, “Are you calling me a dog?”
“…Soup! You’ll have soup, okay?”
Yan Xun didn’t comment on that. He skipped the topic and suddenly asked Zhou Ze, “Do you have a photo of him?”
Zhou Ze suddenly became wary, “Why? Are you still hung up on him?”
Yan Xun: “…I have to recognize his face when we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow, right? I can’t just go around asking people, ‘Hey, are you the one divorcing me?'”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
Zhou Ze thought it over and agreed. So he pulled out his phone and started searching. However, after a long time, Zhou Ze realized that he didn’t actually have any photos of Chu Tingyun.
“What, you don’t have a photo of him?”
Yan Xun took one look at Zhou Ze’s expression and knew he hadn’t found one.
“Who says so?!”
Zhou Ze buried his head in a frantic search, determined to find a photo no matter what.
Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Ze tossed the phone to him, his tone not very pleasant, “Here, the photo you wanted.”
Yan Xun took it and was suddenly stunned.
He had anticipated what kind of photo Zhou Ze might find—maybe a travel photo, a candid shot, a selfie, a group photo, or even a secretly taken picture…
But Yan Xun never expected that the first time he saw Chu Tingyun’s photo would be…
—Their wedding photo.
The “handsome face” and “a few good looks” Zhou Ze had mentioned were finally made concrete in the photo.
His future spouse was indeed an exceptionally handsome man.
The man had a pair of extraordinarily beautiful almond-shaped eyes, deep blue like the lakes in a remote, snowy wilderness. Even in a photo taken years ago, it gave the illusion that you were being gazed at lovingly.
His mixed heritage had given him an almost model-like facial structure.
In short, he was strikingly beautiful.
Yan Xun’s gaze lingered on the man’s face for a few seconds before it shifted to his own.
He was familiar with his appearance, but the person in the photo felt a bit strange.
His future self seemed to have changed a bit, becoming much more mature.
The young man in the photo had already shed the immaturity of his student days. He was wearing a clean white shirt with his bangs neatly combed back, likely styled with gel.
—But those details weren’t the point.
The point was that in this photo, Yan Xun was entering into a marriage contract with his future spouse.
They stood side by side, smiling happily.
“…”
Eighteen-year-old Yan Xun stared blankly at this wedding photo, as if he suddenly lost his voice.
Even though he had immediately accepted the fact that he was already married upon waking up and could rationally accept the news that he was about to get divorced, it wasn’t until now, until he saw this wedding photo, that Yan Xun finally felt a sense of reality grounding him from the dreamlike haze.
He really had entered into a marriage with this person and formed a new family.
So, I must have…
Yan Xun thought—
I must have really liked him.
With the accounts of the medical staff and friends, the evidence of the photo, and the unconscious self-suggestion, this concept that had originally not existed slowly began to take shape in Yan Xun’s mind.
Like a shadow in the void, gradually becoming solid, silently sprouting a tender shoot of flesh and blood…
“Hey, have you seen enough?”
Zhou Ze reached over, intending to take the phone back.
This sound interrupted Yan Xun’s thoughts. His gaze was still fixed on the photo, but his hand, as if it had eyes, casually lifted and grabbed Zhou Ze’s wrist, making a soft but firm sound.
Snap—
“Where did this photo come from?”
After asking this, Yan Xun finally looked up at Zhou Ze, with no intention of returning the phone immediately.
“…Your WeChat Moments background.”
Zhou Ze pouted, his tone unhappy.
WeChat Moments?
Yan Xun quickly realized that it must be something similar to Qzone. And that also meant—
“Everyone can see it?”
Zhou Ze: “To be precise, all your friends can.”
Everyone can see it…
For someone as introverted as Yan Xun, who didn’t like to show off, this was very out of character.
In the end, he could only attribute such behavior to the fact that he had been so blinded by love that he did something out of character.
Yan Xun was slightly surprised, “Since all my friends can see it, why did you take so long to find it?”
Zhou Ze looked at him with a face full of resentment and said, “Because you! Deleted! Me!”
So Zhou Ze had to contact several old classmates before he finally managed to get a screenshot of Yan Xun’s Moments background.
Yan Xun: “…”
He let go of Zhou Ze’s hand and returned the phone.
“Sorry, I’ll add you back as soon as I get a new phone.”
“Hmph, who cares!”
Zhou Ze snorted lightly but didn’t dwell on the issue. He was now more concerned about the divorce.
“Let me tell you, divorce isn’t something to be taken lightly, especially when it comes to dividing assets.”
“The problem is, you don’t remember anything right now, not even how much money you have, so the first thing we need to do is figure out your financial situation.”
“…”
Yan Xun remained silent.
His gaze lingered on Zhou Ze’s phone, as if he were seriously considering something.
Meanwhile, his friend, thinking Yan Xun was listening, became more animated.
“Let me tell you, Yan Xun, Chu Tingyun is definitely up to no good, choosing this time to bring up divorce. He’s probably trying to leave you with nothing.”
“Shit! It must be that! You need to hire a divorce lawyer.”
Zhou Ze became increasingly agitated, full of enthusiasm, ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work.
“Xun, just wait. I know a reliable one. My mom used him before. He’s an amazing lawyer. Oh, and a private detective too. I’ll contact them right away…”
“—Zhou Ze.”
Yan Xun suddenly interrupted him,
“There is no need to rush to find a lawyer.”
“…No need to find a lawyer?”
Zhou Ze froze, looking completely baffled.
“Then what are we doing now?”
The young man on the hospital bed turned his face away, his lips pressing together; even the dimples seemed unnatural.
“Uh, first… help me make an appointment with a urologist.”
Zhou Ze: “?”
___
Author’s Note:
Zhou Ze: Alright, alright, alright.
Good decision. Important matters should be handled first 🗿😆