Lu Yan revealed too much information in just a few words. He never expected that Lu Yan would see the paper airplane he casually threw away.
"You said you came looking for me back then? But we didn't know each other back then, did we?"
Lu Yan kicked the stone under her feet: "You don't know me, but I know you, and I've known you for a long time."
Zhuang Yan watched as the stone under Lu Yan's feet rolled forward once before being inadvertently kicked back in front of them. Zhuang Yan stepped on the stone and stopped: "When did this happen?"
He met Xia Wan three years ago. He got to know Xia Wan first, and then gradually came into contact with the Lu family before meeting Lu Yan.
He still remembered the first time he met Lu Yan. At a banquet, Lu Yan was sitting in an inconspicuous corner. Xia Wan introduced her to him, and when their eyes met, Lu Yan suddenly broke the glass in her hand, making a fool of herself.
Out of politeness, he didn't look at it much, but he could feel the gaze on his back throughout the whole process.
Lu Yan said, "15 years old."
"When you were fifteen, I was only twelve and hadn't even graduated from elementary school yet. How did you know me?" He couldn't possibly forget someone like Lu Yan after just one meeting.
Zhuang Yan went through all the possibilities he could think of, and then, for some reason, he chuckled and said, "It can't be because we met online, can it?"
Lu Yan casually asked, "Do you still remember the tree hole?"
Zhuang Yan frowned, and Lu Yan's eyes instantly dimmed. She smiled and changed the subject: "Never mind if you don't remember. I'm a little hungry now. Let's go across the street and get something to eat. I want to eat potatoes and wide rice noodles..."
Lu Yan changed the subject, and Zhuang Yan wanted to ask more but didn't know how to start, because he could clearly sense that Lu Yan was hiding a secret.
Is she unwilling to talk about it? Or does she not know how to say it?
What is a tree hole? Lu Yan would never suddenly mention such a word.
The matter was left unresolved, leaving Zhuang Yan alone to ponder it. The more he couldn't understand something, the more tormented he became, feeling restless and anxious. He could only try to distract himself by doing other things.
Lu Yan seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. She was unwilling to make it clear, and only wanted Zhuang Yan to discover and figure it out. One day, on the road of exploration, he would know why he had become her whole universe.
The process of exploration is more meaningful than knowing the answer directly.
...
However, an accident occurred before the truth.
Whether he was working or resting, whenever his brain paused for a moment, he would unconsciously start analyzing what Lu Yan had said.
He searched for "tree hole" online and finally remembered that it was a social software from several years ago. It was very niche and not many people downloaded it. He used it for two years, but one day the server crashed and the software disappeared.
It's no wonder Zhuang Yan couldn't remember; after all, it's been thirty or forty years, who would remember a social media app they casually downloaded in elementary school?
So, he and Lu Yan met online through a tree hole?
What is her online name?
The answer was right in front of him, yet it seemed incredibly unreal, because in his view, Lu Yan wasn't the type to have an online romance. It couldn't be that a 15-year-old girl would have had feelings for him, a primary school student, and that those feelings would have lasted for so many years.
This is understandable if it happens to other people, but it's outrageous when it happens to Lu Yan.
Zhuang Yan decided to find someone to repair the "tree hole," but he didn't know if he could retrieve the chat history inside.
Just as Zhuang Yan was focused on finding someone to fix the software, he received a phone call.
Lu Yan was in a car accident.
Zhuang Yan ran to the hospital covered in cold sweat, unaware that the sleeve of his coat had fallen to the ground and dragged along the way.
Lu Yan is currently in the emergency room with an IV drip attached to the back of her hand. Her assistant just returned after paying the bill.
Zhuang Yan first checked Lu Yan's body. Her arms and legs were still intact, and she had abrasions. The most serious injury was the bump on her forehead, which the doctor said indicated a mild concussion.
Zhuang Yan had never seen Lu Yan so weak before, and his heart ached terribly, as if two hands were constantly pulling and squeezing it. Zhuang Yan reached out and gently covered Lu Yan's cold hand, then asked the assistant beside him, "What happened?"
The assistant explained the whole incident: it was a minor chain-reaction rear-end collision. The driver was more seriously injured than Lu Yan, but there were no major problems.
Lu Yan woke up just as the assistant finished giving instructions. She looked at Zhuang Yan warily and asked, "Who are you? Where is this place? Why am I here?"
She questioned loudly, her face turning even paler with nervousness. She ripped the needle off the back of her hand, and blood immediately flowed out. She shook her hand in pain, and Zhuang Yan reached out to help stop the bleeding.
As if provoked, Lu Yan raised her hand and slapped Zhuang Yan.
Not only was Zhuang Yan stunned, but his assistant was also dumbfounded.
The assistant backed away until she reached the door, then turned and ran, saying, "I'll go get the attending physician..."
The empty ward was now empty except for Zhuang Yan and Lu Yan, who stared at each other.
"Yanyan, what's wrong?"
Lu Yan's condition was clearly not right, but Zhuang Yan was unwilling to think the worst.
At home, the two would play some playful scenarios, such as being a yandere nurse or a strict teacher. Sometimes, Lu Yan would even pretend to have amnesia and ask Zhuang Yan to force himself on her. If Zhuang Yan refused, she would keep pestering him.
At first, Zhuang Yan felt a little embarrassed, but he was always attracted by Lu Yan's persona and appearance, and then easily won her over.
So when Lu Yan suddenly changed like this, he wondered if she was teasing him or joking with him.
"I am Zhuang Yan, don't you recognize me?" Zhuang Yan asked in a low voice.
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