After She Fell for Me, I Lost My Memory (GL) - Chapter 18

At 4 p.m., Cen Luo and Jiang Ting left the hotel on time to attend the press conference for the movie, “After the Breakup,” at the auditorium.

Besides the simple questions at the press conference, they would also conduct exclusive interviews with some of the actors.

Cen Luo was in charge of the interviews, and Jiang Ting was in charge of the filming.

The main cast of “After the Breakup” consisted of well-known actors in the entertainment industry. After interviewing all the main actors, the supporting actors would be gathered for a group interview.

The market determines value. Some supporting actors might only get a few seconds of screen time.

This was the company’s arrangement, and Cen Luo couldn’t change it.

During the interview with the supporting actors, Cen Luo noticed an actress named Liang Tiantian staring at her.

Her eyes were clean, and there was no malice.

Cen Luo had thought she wanted more screen time, so she intentionally asked her two questions.

But her reactions were a little slow, or maybe she was spacing out. Both times, she needed Cen Luo to repeat the question before she could answer.

Although she found it strange, Cen Luo didn’t think too much about it.

After the interview, Liang Tiantian called out to Cen Luo.

Cen Luo and Jiang Ting were tidying up their equipment. When she heard Liang Tiantian call her name, Cen Luo looked up at her in confusion:

“Miss Liang, is there anything else?”

Liang Tiantian bit her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something but was hesitant.

Jiang Ting also stopped what she was doing. She made a guess in her mind and then asked:

“Miss Liang, do you want us to give you a little more screen time?”

“No, no,” Liang Tiantian waved her hand and bit her lip. “I accidentally bumped into you at the airport today.”

After Liang Tiantian mentioned it, Cen Luo remembered the girl who had accidentally bumped into her suitcase at the airport.

She took a closer look and realized that Liang Tiantian was that girl.

Thinking that Liang Tiantian still felt apologetic, Cen Luo smiled. “Didn’t you already apologize?”

But Liang Tiantian shook her head. “I didn’t want to talk about that. I wanted to ask, are you Cen Xi’s older sister?”

“Bang—”

The interview scripts and microphone that Cen Luo had just finished tidying up fell to the floor, making a loud sound.

It had been many years since Cen Luo had heard an outsider mention that name.

“Team leader?” Jiang Ting bent down to pick up the interview scripts and microphone that had fallen to the floor and tapped Cen Luo’s arm.

Cen Luo took a deep breath and forced a smile as she asked Liang Tiantian, “You know Xiao Xi?”

Liang Tiantian didn’t notice Cen Luo’s abnormality. Hearing Cen Luo call her by that familiar nickname, Liang Tiantian knew she hadn’t made a mistake.

She instantly became happy.

“I knew I didn’t get the wrong person. Big sister, you haven’t changed at all. You’re still as pretty as you were in middle school.”

Cen Luo didn’t know why Liang Tiantian would say that. She just twitched the corner of her mouth and said two words: “Really?”

Over ten years have passed. How could I have not changed at all?

“Yes, you have! In elementary school, Cen Xi would often drag us to the middle school to see you. She would always brag to us about how she had an older sister who was both smart and good-looking.”

“You don’t know, but at that time, we all envied her for having a big sister like you.”

Cen Luo had never heard Cen Xi mention these things. In her memory, Cen Xi always had a sullen face and would question her, “What kind of big sister are you? Who acts like that?”

“She said she would take us to meet you one day, but unfortunately, my mom and I went abroad to live, so I never had the chance to meet you.”

Cen Luo had never known that Cen Xi was proud of her in front of her friends, and she didn’t know that there was a group of children in elementary school who wanted to meet her.

She no longer remembered whether Cen Xi had ever asked to take her to meet her friends.

“Big sister, how is Cen Xi now? Did she do better in school? Did she get into Yun City University? I heard she also wanted to be a reporter.”

In elementary school, Liang Tiantian and Cen Xi were desk mates. The most common thing she heard her say was how amazing her big sister was and how all their relatives and friends liked her.

But when someone asked her to take them to meet her big sister, Cen Xi would always put it off until next time.

Because of this, Liang Tiantian had been very curious about Cen Luo all these years.

Liang Tiantian’s words instantly jogged Cen Luo’s memory. All her past memories came flooding back in that moment.

After a long time, Cen Luo finally found her voice again.

“She passed away twelve years ago.”

••••

After Liang Tiantian left, Jiang Ting carefully watched Cen Luo’s every move.

She saw that Cen Luo only adjusted the position of a chair in the interview room and even used a broom in the corner to sweep the floor that was already clean.

Jiang Ting called out to her with a bit of worry: “Team leader…”

“Hmm?” Cen Luo put the broom aside and replied, “What is it?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to ask what you want for dinner? I saw online that if you come to Mian City and don’t eat Mian City rice noodles, you haven’t really been here. Team leader, do you have any recommendations?”

Jiang Ting was not good at comforting people, especially when she didn’t know the whole story.

She only knew that she could try to change the subject to prevent Cen Luo from thinking about unhappy things.

“Or we can eat something else? Team leader, you’re so familiar with Mian City. You must know all the good places to eat, drink, and have fun.”

Jiang Ting, who had only wanted to distract Cen Luo, didn’t expect that Cen Luo would be stunned after hearing her words.

After a long time, she slowly said, “The one outside Mian City Elementary School. It’s really good.”

Jiang Ting didn’t dare to speak and just nodded.

The two of them returned to the hotel, put away their equipment, and then went to the restaurant Cen Luo had mentioned.

The last time she was here was in March of this year. Every spring, Cen Luo would return to Mian City for a while.

The restaurant owner also recognized Cen Luo. When he saw her, he immediately went up to her.

“Why are you here today? The usual?”

Cen Luo usually appeared in Mian City in the spring. Every time, she would order two bowls of rice noodles. One bowl had to have a lot of chili, and the other had to have no chili at all. She would also order two bottles of rice wine.

After coming here many times, the restaurant owner had become familiar with Cen Luo.

“On a business trip to Mian City.” Cen Luo led Jiang Ting to a table and then asked Jiang Ting what she wanted to eat.

The restaurant owner understood and stood to the side, waiting for Jiang Ting to order.

Jiang Ting looked at the menu on the wall. When she saw the words signature dish in bold, she ordered one without hesitation.

Cen Luo also ordered one with Jiang Ting.

Mian City was known for its spring-like weather and its unique rice noodles. When Jiang Ting received the notice for the business trip, she had already done some simple research on Mian City.

“Team leader, do you want some alcohol?” Jiang Ting glanced at the counter above and saw the words Mian City rice wine. She was a little excited.

“The alcohol content is a little high. You’ll get drunk easily,” Cen Luo reminded her, following her gaze and realizing she wanted to drink Mian City rice wine.

Mian City rice wine was different from other rice wines. It was very smooth.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I can hold my liquor.”

Saying that, Jiang Ting waved to the owner to bring two bottles, but Cen Luo stopped her.

“One bottle is enough. You’ll really get drunk.”

“Okay,” Jiang Ting changed the order from two bottles to one.

Cen Luo didn’t like to drink. She only took a small sip and didn’t pour herself any more.

And Jiang Ting’s alcohol tolerance was not as good as she said it was. Before she could even finish the bottle, she was already a little dizzy.

In the end, it was Cen Luo who helped her back to the hotel.

Cen Luo found out for the first time that Jiang Ting would act crazy when she was drunk, singing and wailing all the way.

Maybe her singing was too shocking. The moment she opened her mouth, the sound of wings flapping came from the small trees along the road.

A flock of birds flew over their heads.

Jiang Ting was also not cooperative, moving around a lot. Cen Luo was quickly running out of energy and couldn’t take it anymore.

She helped her sit down on a bench by the road, ready to rest for a while.

Jiang Ting still hadn’t quieted down. When she saw Cen Luo didn’t speak, she foolishly asked her:

“Team leader, are you still sad?”

“I want to comfort you, but I don’t know how, hiccup.”

Cen Luo chuckled. She wanted to tell her that the biggest comfort for her right now would be if she just quietly went back to the hotel with her.

Before Cen Luo could speak, Jiang Ting said seriously, “Team leader, I’ll sing a song for you! When you hear me sing, you’ll be happy.”

Then came a wailing sound. All the people who passed by looked at them with a hint of disdain.

Cen Luo: “…”

Stopping her was no use. Jiang Ting would continue to sing anyway.

For some reason, Cen Luo looked at Jiang Ting and suddenly had the urge to confide in her.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, and the night wind was a little cold.

“Do you know? She was only eleven when she passed away. I was thirteen.”

“She said she wanted to go back to Mian City to see her grandma, wanted to eat the rice noodles from the restaurant outside Mian City Elementary School, and also wanted to drink rice wine. But because she wasn’t of age, she could only order a bottle of rice wine to place on the side. But at that time, I was angry because she had secretly smashed my piggy bank, so I rejected her without a second thought.”

Accompanied by Jiang Ting’s wailing songs, Cen Luo slowly confided in her.

“She was really mischievous, and her grades weren’t very good. The teachers would always visit our home, and my parents would always have headaches, saying that they wished she was as sensible as me.”

“It was only later that I realized how much that must have hurt a child. At that time, I just felt that no matter how nice I was to her, she would only reject me, saying that I was not a good older sister.”

When Cen Luo saw the shattered pieces of her piggy bank scattered on the floor, her heart was filled with disappointment and sadness.

No matter how nice she was to Cen Xi, Cen Xi would only reject her.

That day after school, she received a call from Cen Xi, who said she wanted to go back to Mian City to see her grandma.

At that time, she was still angry that Cen Xi had smashed her piggy bank without a word. She mercilessly rejected Cen Xi and questioned her why she had done it.

The only response she got was Cen Xi’s cheerful voice: “I’m borrowing it from you to buy you a present.”

Cen Luo had already known that Cen Xi had been buying a comic book every day. She wasn’t buying her a gift; she was clearly buying comic books for herself.

“Aiya, big sister, don’t be so stingy. Can’t I just pay you back with my New Year’s money?”

“Hurry, the light is about to turn green. I’m waiting for you here. I’ll take you to a place, and then we can go to Mian City together this weekend.”

Even though she had already rejected her, Cen Xi was still not giving up.

From a distance, she saw Cen Xi waving at her at the traffic light across the street.

Cen Luo was still a little angry. What was the use of the green light? She was still so far away from the crosswalk.

“Can’t you just come over? I haven’t reached the crosswalk yet.”

“But you’re going to have to cross over anyway, right? Okay, okay, I’ll go over. It’s your fault for doing so well on your exams this time. My parents are going to scold me again when I get home.”

At that time, Cen Luo wondered why Cen Xi always liked to do the opposite of her. She didn’t like spicy food, but Cen Xi would always put chili in her bowl. She had told her that the money in the piggy bank was to buy a gift for their mom, but she still smashed it.

But no one would ever be able to answer those questions for her.

Cen Xi’s life stopped in a long car horn.

The last thing she heard from Cen Xi was that word, “big sister.”

Since then, it had become her nightmare.

At some point, Jiang Ting had stopped singing and was just staring blankly at Cen Luo.

Cen Luo took Jiang Ting back to the hotel, put her on the bed, and left the hotel after she fell asleep.

The middle of the night was a good time to go for a walk with the moonlight and the wind.

In the park downstairs, there were still many people who hadn’t gone to sleep. Many people were walking their cats and dogs.

Cen Luo found a bench with no one on it and sat down.

Her messages with Jian Mu were still from the afternoon when she had messaged her to let her know she had landed safely.

What’s the point of letting her know I’m safe? No one really cares anyway.

Cen Luo tried to make an audio call to Jian Mu, but no one answered.

She tried calling again, but all she heard was a cold, robotic female voice: “The user you are calling has been turned off…”

Cen Luo didn’t give up and tried a few more times, but the result was the same.

Why?

She had thought their relationship was getting closer, but why didn’t Jian Mu ask about her business trip? She didn’t even reply to her message saying she had landed safely.

Oh, it turns out her phone is even turned off.

In the past, Cen Luo would have automatically found an excuse for Jian Mu, saying that maybe she was in a meeting and it was inconvenient for her to talk.

But now, all the pent-up emotions exploded in that moment.

Cen Luo’s heart was filled with grief and sadness.

She just wanted to confide in Jian Mu, so why couldn’t she find her?

What made Cen Luo even sadder was that after she left Jian Mu, Cen Luo couldn’t think of any way to contact Jian Mu besides calling her.

Cen Luo didn’t know any of the people around Jian Mu now. She had never even met Jian Mu’s family.

And Jian Mu had never added any of Cen Luo’s friends.

Their lives seemed to have no overlap at all.

Except when Cen Luo was trying hard to cater to Jian Mu.

“Do you need a tissue?”

A faint female voice came from beside her ear.

Cen Luo shook her head.

Even a stranger would care about me. So why, after all these years, has Jian Mu never once cared about me on her own?

T/N: She’s a bad woman and an emotionless jerk.