Rip Man
"Yu... Ran? How's it going, Mom, I'm late... Wuuuuu."
"The patient suffered retrograde amnesia due to traumatic brain injury and needs to focus on neuropsychological rehabilitation after discharge."
“Ugh… uh, cough…!!!”
"Come, hold your sister's hand, you won't be afraid..."
“…”
Yu Ran woke up with a start, the sweat all over his body like the slime from a dying fish on a chopping board, and the white light coming through the gap in the curtains was the cold light of a knife.
A year has passed, and he still often has nightmares about losing his memory due to the car accident, or rather, these nightmares are forming his new memories.
He got up, his head buzzing.
Sudden--
"Yu Ran, you can't afford to offend me..."
Outside the door:
Danger signals spread, and Yu Lei's patience reached its limit. She pressed the doorknob twice, but it remained motionless, locked from the inside. The "click" sound sounded like a machine gun being loaded. If Yu Lei really had a gun, she would have shot her brother to pieces.
"...I don't know that Jiang or something."
Yu Ran finally opened the door and stared at his sister's three earrings on the left and two on the right. The metallic studs formed a constellation diagram. His anger was still simmering, and he couldn't help but hide behind the door.
"It doesn't matter if I don't know you. Just recognize your position. I'm just carrying a bag. Tsk, go take a shower."
She checked her watch and saw she had plenty of time. She looked up at her brother's room - the bed was made, the curtains were wide open, and the large expanse of fresh morning light was like old paint peeling off the wall. She suddenly felt a cold and lonely feeling as if her life was gone.
If Yu Ran was simply sloppy, lazy, and unkempt, it would be easy to deal with, but he managed everything so perfectly. This is a kind of loneliness that no one can help him with.
After waiting twenty minutes, Yu Ran finished washing up and emerged steaming. His hair used to be a wolf's tail, but lately, he'd neglected to care for it, and it had grown longer and longer. With a few casual rubs, his decadent look had transformed into the carefree, uninhibited style of a bard.
Well, in fact, the degree to which various styles can be interpreted depends on the face. The eyebrows are blazing and the eyes are starry. The turning points of the forehead, brow bone, nose bridge, philtrum and jaw are connected exceptionally well, with a high degree of folding. The white skin is tightly stretched on top of it, which elevates him to the level of "I am just handsome even without dressing up".
With a height of 187cm, he can turn soft home clothes into show pieces. At this time, he was too lazy to take off his pajamas, so he put on a caramel-colored sports suit on the outside - the hood of the sweatshirt did not block his neck. After all, he had long hair, and it would look good if he showed some skin. He also added a camel-colored peaked lapel coat.
Wearing similar colors was acceptable to Yu Lei. She threw the bag onto her brother's shoulder and kept her left hand busy, asking him to carry a heavy camera bag. "Recorder, lavalier microphone, interview manuscript..." She fiddled with the car keys casually, and didn't hear a single protest during the whole process.
Yu Lei, deputy editor of a renowned domestic beauty magazine, staked her chances of promotion this year on this interview; the interviewee was the runner-up of the recently concluded Asian Cup Flower Arrangement Competition:
Jiang Liu.
The art of flower arrangement is a trendsetting trend, but people know very little about it. The purpose of Yu Lei's trip is to break the stereotype of "highbrow" and "unpopular" in people's minds, and to deeply explore the side of art that is closest to life.
Coincidentally, the runner-up was her friend, but the formal process could not be omitted.
Apart from saying "Jiang what" just now, Yu Ran said nothing else and let his sister play with him. At this moment, if he was not tied up with a safety belt, he felt that this puddle of mud would definitely seep through and rot the chair.
…
Yu Lei booked the largest teahouse, with floor-to-ceiling windows on all four sides connected to form a panoramic screen. When she looked closer, she could see that the glass was spherical and curved, as if she was not in the sky, but rather that mist and clouds were in her arms.
Yu Ran's fingertips touched the glass and then the bonsai on the high flower table.
The mouth of the Guanyin bottle is dotted with a few flowers with yellow stamens and pink petals. The edges of the pink petals are pinched with a circle of tender white, a bit like the white edge of his sister's "French" manicure; the rhizome is very plastic, climbing upward, graceful and slender, with three or two plump flower buds located high up, like the antennae of a butterfly smelling spring.
"Saxifrage... Campanula." Yu Ran took a photo and identified the picture, expressing his spirit lightly.
"Be careful, don't break it, it's also Teacher Jiang's work!"
Yu Lei was setting up the camera and glanced over there, seeing that Yu Ran seemed very interested in the small bonsai.
"Very beautiful flowers..." Yu Ran said that he would not be reckless and filled his mind with the above facts.
"Come over here and sit over there. Let me see what the lighting is like. I'll ask the waiter to bring me the menu later. By the way... Oops!"
Yu Ran held onto the armrest, not daring to sit down or stand up. Before his sister gave any further instructions, the area within a radius of several meters with him as the center was a minefield that could explode with just a breath.
"What...what happened?"
"Hurry, go to Yikoutian Dessert Shop on Zhongshan Road and buy Teacher Jiang's favorite cinnamon apple crepes. Also, buy a few other varieties. I forgot about them. Go now!"
Yu Ran received the order and hailed a taxi within seconds of the elevator descending. He was reluctant to make another trip because he hated unknown social interactions, but at the same time he was willing to be ordered around because it meant he was a useful person. This idea was like striking a match on a cold night; although the match wouldn't burn, the smell of gunpowder could always bring a little hope.
Although there are many questions, such as why go so far away instead of nearby, why specifically choose that particular store and that particular variety, I can only temporarily attribute everything to Mr. Jiang, whom I have never met.
"Weirdo...Luckily you're young and eating snacks." Yu Ran got in the car, muttering to himself, "If you were an old man asking for abalone, lobster, and shark's fin, where would I get them for you?"
The car started with a step on the accelerator and stopped with a step on the brake. Jiang Liu got out of the car and felt a ball of heat in the wind passing by.
…
"Hey, Teacher Jiang, hello." Yu Lei came forward warmly.
"Sister Yu Lei, please don't be so formal. Just call me like you used to."
Jiang Liu couldn't hide something in his heart. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, his eyes drifted down the building: "By the way, where is he..."
"Not bad. I forced him to dress up this morning so as not to scare you. I just sent him to buy your favorite dessert. Oh, and the tea I chose is the Zen-grade Eyebrow Snow Bud. Come, drink while you wait..."
"Sister Yu Lei, let's start the interview now."
Yu Lei was stunned for a moment, then led him to sit where Yu Ran had just sat. "Okay, let's go over the draft first."
…
Yu Ran was in a hurry. He walked in and said, "Hello, which one is the, uh...Kelly apple pie?"
The waiter immediately responded, "Are you talking about the cinnamon apple crepe? It's still being made, please wait."
Yu Ran looked at his watch. It was not even half past one. His sister always made appointments at the exact hour. What if that Jiang guy was arrogant and eccentric and slept until after two o'clock? His sister would have to take him into consideration, so the agreed time would have to be postponed. Taking into account the time required for the interview, he would definitely make it in time.
Yu Ran picked other things first. The window was full of dazzling things, and cakes and pastries were always more tempting than ordinary food. It would not hurt to eat more, but eating less would make one feel disappointed.
What does his sister like to eat? His brother doesn't know; what does he like to eat, Yu Ran has even less idea. This "not knowing" is both a matter of forgetting and an uncertainty about his current mood.
He could only choose some low-sugar and fat-reducing items to cater to girls' love of beauty.
After Yu Ran finished choosing, he stood at the bar. The waiter didn't want the customer to wait too long, but also knew that things wouldn't be that fast, so he came up with a compromise:
"Sir, let me check out for you first. Once the crepes are out of the oven, we can deliver them to your designated address. Is that okay with you?"
"How long will it take?" If Yu Ran didn't bring back the designated items after each trip, Yu Lei would tear him into pieces with bursts of anger.
"Half an hour."
That was enough, Yu Ran said nothing more.
During this time, customers came in one after another and the clerk was too busy to handle it. The manager came out, and Yu Ran met her gaze and quickly retreated to the door to avoid any further conversation.
"Sir, sir!" After a while, the clerk called him and asked what flavor he wanted.
"Let's have one too."
"Sorry sir, each customer is limited to two orders."
"Then it depends on your best and worst sellers."
The best one suits the public taste, and the worst one is, what if the one with the surname Jiang is the outlier?
Yu Ran didn't agree to pay the bill first, so he naturally got put in line behind others. It took him an hour to get a taxi back to the teahouse!
When he ran to the elevator, he forgot which floor and which room it was. After describing it to the waiter, he finally found it.
When I tried to push the door open, I heard voices talking inside. They were very close, almost talking through the crack of the door.
"Just arrived?" Eavesdropping brought Yu Ran a mischievous pleasure. He was pondering and peeking, when a "leopard claw" suddenly attacked and almost gouged out his eyes.
The door opened inward, and it was Yu Lei!
Of course, next to Yu Lei, who has leopard print nails and heavy makeup with princess cut hair, there is also a little lamb.
A rippled green ribbon tied his black hair.
Her black hair hung down on her neck like lamb's wool.
The boy and girl's appearance should be extremely different, but... this kind of dress looks surprisingly harmonious on him.
Yu Ran looked at her very quickly. The winter coat was stiff and bulky, but it couldn't hide her tall and well-proportioned figure. He looked at her from head to toe and looked back at her intently.
The moment they looked at each other, it was like mountains collapsing, torrents bursting their banks, a physical shock that made Yu Ran's eyes burst and his ears pierced with tears...
"His bangs, slanting to the right, gradually grow longer, reaching chin level. His loose hair is gathered on the left. A pearl earring pops out. I look up at his face—his face is like a pear blossom covered in morning dew, but his eyes are a bit rude, unceremoniously grabbing the focus of others' attention and forcing them to willingly drown in his gaze. Then, he purses his thin lips, passing you by provocatively yet innocently."
The above words are the most appropriate to describe Jiang Liu's appearance, but this is not just the invisible impression and evaluation in Yu Ran's mind.
These words were actually written on a piece of paper and tucked inside a suspense novel. One day, when the novel was thrown into the trash can, they slipped out.
That day, Yu Ran picked up a novel, and on the spine was written "As Strong as Water and Fire", author: Ran Yuan.
The "burning wish" and the "burning" in his name merged into a blazing fire, dispelling the past:
Although Yu Ran is a science and engineering student, he loved reading since high school. He wrote the light suspense detective novel "Water and Fire" in his junior year, and made his mark in the online literature world. It is said that his first pot of gold in life was very considerable.
Gao Gemengjin suffered the most painful and devastating fall, so much so that he still hasn't recovered. A year ago, he was in a car accident and spent a week in a coma in the hospital, undergoing rehabilitation for the better part of six months. He didn't lose any limbs or teeth, but the price he paid was a faint scar on his right eyebrow, like a bite mark on a piece of fruit, where a moth crawled in and ate away his brain.
It's a cliché amnesia joke, but it happened.
Yu Ran's life plummeted, and the only identity that suited him was that of a patient. His life could be described in a single doctor's prescription.
These things really shouldn't be linked to the future of a 22-year-old graduate from a double-first-class university.
He can only hope for a twist in the next chapter of his life.
When he was just discharged from the hospital and returned home, Yu Ran felt tired as soon as he used his brain. It was very difficult for him to learn anything in his spare time, let alone go back to his old job of writing novels. Fortunately, he could still read books with more pictures and less words, such as magazines and illustrations.
The big cleaning before the New Year helped him regain some memories by reading the dusty "Water and Fire". As for the single description of his appearance sandwiched between the books, maybe it will be the character design for his next book?
Of course, Yu Ran couldn't understand his imagination at that time. How could he create such an image of a "boy with a feminine appearance"? There was no such boy in the world.
As fate would have it, he saw it today.
Dress, looks, temperament, the pearl on his left ear and the green silk in his low ponytail, Jiang Liu is a true comic book guy! He also really followed the original story and skipped Yu Ran.
Yu Ran was surrounded by various questions arising from that person. Although he was eager to learn, he was not worried. The long-lost feeling of using his brain made him almost crazy. What also added to his madness was the true identity of that person.
Why did I borrow Jiang Liu's image and personality before I lost my memory?
What is his relationship with me?
Along the way, Yu Ran ignored his sister's anger and turned something between his fingertips.
The cloisonné high-temperature enamel ring was left by Jiang Liu next to the teacup and was picked up by Yu Ran.
From the perspective of the protagonist of the novel, this ring is an opportunity for the next reunion and a token of love; from the perspective of the suspense novelist Yu Ran, this is just a loophole left by Jiang Liu.
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