episode 55

The bedroom on the third floor was quiet. The midday sun gradually began to slide westward, the afterglow faded, and the sky gradually darkened.

He Xun sat silently on the edge of the bed, watching intently as the family doctor packed up his medical kit.

The doctor happened to be the same one who had come when He Xun fainted due to low blood sugar last time. He recognized He Xun, picked up his medical kit, turned around and familiarly informed him of his test results: "He is indeed not in any danger. He will be fine once he wakes up."

"Afterwards, you must take antibiotics on time to prevent infection, disinfect and change dressings every day, keep the wound dry and breathable, and never get it wet."

"He should eat more high-protein and vitamin C foods, avoid spicy and stimulating foods, and absolutely no alcohol. He has a lot of social engagements, so you must remind him of this."

"Okay, I understand, doctor." He Xun nodded, then hesitated and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is his injury serious?"

When he returned, Mo Shilin had already been bandaged up at the hospital, and he didn't get to see the extent of the wound himself.

"It's not that serious, since no vital organs were damaged." The doctor pushed up his glasses and pointed to his shoulder. "It's just—this place will definitely leave a scar."

The doctor pushed open the door and left, and the bedroom returned to silence.

Mo Shilin was still asleep, lying there quietly in white pajamas, his face as white as paper, his shoulders wrapped in thick bandages, and his handsome face expressionless.

It was rare to see him so vulnerable. He Xun felt a secret pleasure, a sense of satisfaction that only he could see the other person like this, and an overwhelming heartache.

He couldn't help but touch Mo Shilin's hand.

Unlike the usual warm and dry feeling, the other person's hands are still icy cold, like they're being squeezed with ice.

He Xun refused to let go, hooking Mo Shilin's hand and gently rubbing it a few times to warm the icy cold hand.

He stared at the other person's tall and handsome features, and inevitably thought of the scene of the other person with Jian Ye this morning.

The bouquet of roses between the two was dazzlingly red.

Why did his shoulder get injured?

Is it because of Jianye...?

A wave of sourness suddenly spread through my chest, faster than the best anesthetic in the world.

He closed his eyes, let go of her hand, got up, and went downstairs to make pear syrup to soothe his throat.

*

As evening fell, the clock hands slowly pointed to six o'clock, and Mo Shilin, who had been silent for most of the day, finally opened his eyes.

The room was dark, and only a thin figure could be vaguely seen.

Having gone almost a whole day without water, he couldn't help coughing, and he shifted his body as if to get up.

Seeing this, He Xun quickly bent down, supported his shoulders and helped him sit up. After he leaned against the headboard, He Xun handed him the still warm pear juice, his voice so gentle it could melt water: "Awake? How are you feeling? Is there anything else that's bothering you? Drink this first, it'll soothe your throat."

"Thank you." Mo Shilin took the pear juice, but didn't drink it immediately. He looked around and then asked in a hoarse voice, "Where's Aunt Mu?"

"What?" He Xun was taken aback, somewhat bewildered.

Mo Shilin finally looked up and examined the person in front of him again, his thoughts gradually returning to normal.

He smiled politely, but his eyes held a distant look: "Are you new here? You've had a hard time. Tell Aunt Mu to come up."

"W-what did you say?"

He Xun was no stranger to Mo Shilin in this state; Mo Shilin had looked like this when they first met.

Polite, gentlemanly, distant, yet unable to hide his indifference.

It is truly difficult for people to go from extravagance to frugality.

Having been enveloped in Mo Shilin's tenderness and sweetness for so long, He Xun felt a chill run down his spine from the obvious defensiveness and coldness in the other's eyes at this moment.

His heart felt as if it had been torn in two, a sharp, stabbing pain shooting through him, making his breathing quicken. He clutched the hem of his clothes: "You...you don't remember me?"

Mo Shilin felt somewhat puzzled. He slightly lifted his eyelids and asked, "Should I remember you?"

He actually wanted to say, "Just because you have a decent face, I should remember you?" But for some reason, seeing the person in front of him looking so lost and dejected, he didn't say it.

The other person looked like they were about to cry.

He was afraid that telling the story would make people cry.

Making a new employee cry is not his style.

He Xun knew nothing about it.

He even thought the other person was toying with him. He held back, his cold voice tinged with a sob: "Then... how do you remember Aunt Mu?"

If the other person's brain was really damaged, shouldn't no one remember it?

Was she speaking to him like that on purpose? Because she's fallen for someone else, is she using this method to brush him off?

Mo Shilin seemed to have heard something amusing. He didn't say anything, but he became even more certain that the young man in front of him was the new male servant.

He raised his eyebrows: "Of course I remember Aunt Mu. She raised me since I was a child. How could I not remember her?"

The person in front of him fell silent. His dark pupils first showed disbelief, then he stared at him blankly. His lips, which were originally pale pink, had lost all color, as if he had lost some important treasure.

Mo Shilin couldn't fathom the emotions in the other person's eyes; the feelings there were too intense, so intense that they threatened to melt him.

He glanced at the other person, but then his eyes fell on the other person's arm in a cast, and his heart involuntarily clenched.

But the throbbing pain only lasted for a second before his emotions were quickly overwhelmed by a forced surge of reason.

The two of them stood silently facing each other in the darkness.

...After an unknown amount of time, perhaps ten minutes or so, the young man in front of him finally closed his eyes, forced a smile, and lowered his head slightly: "Sorry, it was me... Never mind, it's nothing, I'll go call Aunt Mu."

Then he kept quiet and left without saying anything more.

He was very tall but thin, and his left arm was in a cast. His lonely and pitiful figure as he walked away alone looked like a kitten abandoned by its owner on a rainy day.

Mo Shilin kept staring at the young man as he walked out of the room, and only when Mu Xianglu brought in dinner did his gaze slowly turn back.

Mu Xianglu turned on the bedroom light and placed the porridge and vegetables on the bedside table.

Mo Shilin suddenly asked in a hoarse voice, "Aunt Mu, who was that just now?"

He could see the strange look in the other person's eyes when they looked at him, but he didn't know why.

He didn't understand why the other person was looking at him like that.

He thought about it for a long time, but couldn't remember having any interaction with the other party before today.

"Just now? You mean the person who took care of you? It was He Xun—"

As Mu Xianglu was speaking, her mind suddenly went blank and her vision went black. But when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. She replied, "He hasn't been here long, so it's normal that you find him unfamiliar. I think he's quite meticulous in his work, so I let him work on the third floor."

"He Xun...He Xun..."

After Mu Xianglu left, Mo Shilin unconsciously repeated those two words over and over again.

He, Xun.

He suddenly felt an emptiness in his heart, as if someone had ripped a piece out of it.

*

The matter of Assistant Li checking the surveillance footage ultimately came to nothing.

Everyone in the villa, including Mu Xianglu, acted as if nothing had happened.

Their version of events was that Mo Shilin was injured while bravely shielding someone from a knife attack.

For a moment, He Xun even thought he was suffering from some kind of delusional disorder.

He asked Jian Ye again, and as expected, Jian Ye pretended not to know anything.

She even sent him a voice message with a puzzled look: "Brother Xun, what's wrong with you? Why are you asking such strange questions? Did you not sleep well last night? I've been streaming with Brother Zhuo all day. Although we had a little argument, I haven't gone out at all, let alone seen President Mo."

Now, even if He Xun didn't understand at first, he finally understands.

It wasn't that Mo Shilin was playing a trick on him, nor was it that everyone in the villa had collectively lost their memories; rather, it was the original plot at work.

It's even quite possible that the plot or the system detected that Mo Shilin, the original male lead, wasn't following the original storyline, which is why his memories were forcibly erased.

And he, this "uninvited guest," was to be completely eliminated.

He Xun suddenly smiled.

The sword of Damocles finally pierced down.

After all, he had been worried about this for a long time.

All of this happening now is simply expected.

Should we go and talk to Mo Shilin?

It seems unnecessary and meaningless.

Telling such a precious and intense story to someone who has lost that memory—what's the difference between that and moral blackmail? What's the difference between that and forcing a stranger to love them?

He simply couldn't bring himself to put on a shameless and pitiful act and tell Mo Shilin that he had amnesia, that they had been together before, and that he had to try his best to remember him.

He won't.

He wasn't that selfish. Since the other person had their own destiny to follow, he couldn't force them to turn to his path. Wouldn't that just harm Mo Shilin?

He loved Mo Shilin, and he couldn't bear to see Mo Shilin suffer any more inexplicable harm or lose a piece of his memory again for no reason.

The moon in the night sky was bright white.

He Xun stood by the window, a cigarette between his fingers, his face pale, but he didn't smoke a single puff.

He masochistically replayed all the past events with Mo Shilin in his mind.

From their first close encounter at a hotel table to Mo Shilin knocking on his door in the middle of the night to deliver Sudanese gold to him.

The first physical contact.

Our first argument.

This was the first time we attended an auction together.

First kiss.

It was the first time we watched a movie together.

It was my first time seeing the sea from a cruise ship.

first......

It turns out that he and Mo Shilin have so many memories to savor and reminisce over.

He Xun's throat bobbed slightly.

That's enough.

He will cherish that relationship in his heart.

He had once experienced the passionate and sincere love of Mo Shilin, and that was enough.

As the cigarette burned out, He Xun remained staring blankly out the window, the flame cruelly brushing against his fingertips, before he finally frowned and let go.

He stared at the cigarette butt on the ground for a long time, his eyes suddenly reddened, and a salty tear slid down his cheek without warning.

He suddenly squatted down, and the lake-blue gemstone necklace he was carrying in his pocket fell to the ground. He frantically wiped away the tears on his face, pressed his hand to the cigarette butt, and muttered to himself, "I've clearly figured everything out, but why am I still so sad?"