When Jiang Nian woke up, she felt a headache.
It was as if he had been asleep for a long time.
First, she regained consciousness, then gradually regained sensation in her body, and finally slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing that catches the eye is the ceiling and chandelier with classic patterns.
A faint scent of gardenias wafted from my nose.
It was very familiar; it was the smell of her room.
Immediately afterwards, she heard a deep voice in her ear: "—Awake?"
Turning her head, she met the man's equally familiar face.
Lu Zhaokun rarely wears formal suits.
Most of the time, he wears casual Chinese-style clothing with a high-quality feel and understated yet luxurious patterns, exuding an innate air of nobility befitting someone of high status.
This is an Eastern face that is considered captivating abroad, with slightly upturned black phoenix eyes that possess a charm that appeals to both men and women.
Despite having such a face, the man was extremely ruthless and decisive, inspiring fear in everyone, and no one dared to harbor any thoughts of overstepping his bounds.
After all, he was the one who founded Shinpeki. He was, in effect, the king of the underworld.
At this moment, Lu Zhaokun sat in his wheelchair, right by her bedside, seemingly waiting for her to wake up.
"……Father?"
Jiang Nian was somewhat bewildered.
She glanced down at her white nightgown, her brows furrowing slightly, her voice cool and aloof.
What's wrong with me?
"And... why are you in a wheelchair?"
Lu Zhaokun glanced indifferently at his legs.
At the time, he knew his daughter was plotting to kill him and that she had planted a bomb in his car.
The girl wanted to kill him to avenge her friend and then leave to gain her freedom.
He decided to play along and fake his death. He planned to expose those in the hidden world who had long coveted his position, and then eliminate them one by one while she was away.
His leg injury was an accident. He was hit by shrapnel from a bomb, which damaged his nerves. It could be treated, but he didn't want to.
"You were in a car accident and hit your head."
Lu Zhaokun's eyes remained calm, and he did not explain the problem with his leg.
"The doctor said you've lost your memory of the last year."
"A car accident?...I lost a year's worth of memories?"
Jiang Nian paused, then opened her mouth.
She really couldn't remember what happened before she lost consciousness.
The last image that lingered in her mind was her and Annie's appointment to have hot pot in Chinatown.
After that, there was nothing.
This confirms it once again: "So, the things I'm thinking about are all from a year ago?"
"yes."
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Jiang Nian couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Where's Jiang Ren? I'm going to find him."
She couldn't remember anything from the entire past year. She needed to know what had happened in the past year.
As she spoke, she got up to get out of bed.
But the man suddenly called out to her.
"Wait--"
"Hmm?" Jiang Nian stopped what she was doing.
"Don't go barefoot, put on socks."
The next second, Lu Zhaokun had already taken a pair of soft white socks from the bedside.
He bent down from the wheelchair, raised his beautiful, slender hands, and helped the girl put on her socks.
He stood up calmly and said, "Go."
Jiang Nian didn't think much of it.
The moment I put on my slippers and opened the door, two rows of maids dressed in maid outfits were waiting outside.
Their expressions were respectful yet tinged with fear as they bowed in unison to greet her, saying, "Miss."
She didn't like speaking English at home, so the maids Lu Zhaokun hired for the house were all Chinese.
She simply nodded, just like Lu Zhaokun.
He walked straight to Jiang Ren's room.
There was no knocking.
When I pushed the door open, Jiang Ren was changing clothes and had just taken off his shirt.
His dark brown, tousled hair was messy. His tall frame was covered in strong, powerful muscles, and his back and arms were covered with scars of all sizes, exuding tension.
Upon seeing her, the man's handsome, rugged face seemed to stiffen for a moment. He then quickly put on his black shirt.
He called to her, "...Miss, you're awake."
Jiang Nian spoke directly: "I've lost my memories of the past year. Tell me what happened during this year."
When Jiang Ren was thirteen, he was lying on the roadside covered in blood and on the verge of death. She was the one who picked him up.
The person she trusted most was Jiang Ren. She didn't trust anyone else.
Jiang Ren remained silent for a few seconds.
All he could say were the prepared statements that person had told him to say.
Jiang Nian heard Jiang Ren tell her that a year ago, she witnessed Annie die in a street shooting.
After that, her personality changed drastically. She stayed in seclusion and rarely went out.
This time, she was in a car accident on her way to visit Anne's grave. She suffered a severe head injury, which caused her amnesia.
The doctor said that perhaps Anne's death caused her great pain. So after the injury, her brain, as a self-protective mechanism, deliberately withheld her memories of what happened afterward.
Anne died.
Jiang Nian was still in a daze.
Those scenes seem like they happened just yesterday, and the people she remembers laughing and joking are still so vivid in her memory, but now others are telling her that Annie has been dead for a year.
It wasn't until Jiang Ren showed her the photos of Annie covered in blood after being shot, and the photos of her holding a black umbrella and standing next to Annie's grave, that she had no choice but to believe it.
"...Where's my phone?"
"It's with me."
Jiang Ren seemed to have been prepared. He took a deep breath and handed over a cell phone.
Jiang Nian entered the unlock password and scrolled through her contacts, only to find that she only had a few contacts left.
Lu Zhaokun, Jiang Ren, the family's housekeeper.
This made her frown.
Jiang Ren lowered his head and explained, "After the young lady's personality changed drastically, she didn't like to interact with others."
"So you lost contact with some people you knew before, including your master, deleted their contact information, and later even changed your phone number."
"...I actually did this?"
Jiang Nian's brows furrowed even more.
She felt this wasn't like her usual way of doing things. But the more she tried to recall, the more her head ached, the more severe the pain became.
"……Miss."
Jiang Nian felt a sharp pain in her head and instinctively reached up to hold it.
Seeing the girl's pained expression, Jiang Ren subconsciously stepped forward and grabbed the hand that the girl was pressing harder on her temple.
Her tone revealed a heartache she dared not express.
"Miss, don't press so hard, it will hurt more... Shall I massage you instead?"
He asked Jiang Nian to sit in a chair.
The tall man stood behind the girl, stretched out his hands, and gently placed them on her temples.
The fingertips of these hands were covered with thick calluses from years of fighting, yet their movements at this moment were incredibly gentle, careful, and tender.
“Jiang Ren… I feel like something’s not right, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
Jiang Nian sat in the chair, closed her eyes, and spoke.
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