After She Fell for Me, I Lost My Memory (GL) - Chapter 3

Cen Luo took another sniff of the scent on Jian Mu, and suddenly realized it wasn’t a fragrance Jian Mu would normally like.

Cen Luo seemed to have suddenly understood why Jian Mu hadn’t replied to her messages.

“So you weren’t in a meeting today, were you?”

Jian Mu nodded as she expected, but didn’t offer any further explanation.

They just stayed there, facing each other, until Cen Luo looked away.

For a moment, Cen Luo couldn’t tell what she was feeling.

Jian Mu was very honest. She said she wouldn’t lie to her, and she wouldn’t. So when she encountered a question she didn’t want to answer, she simply chose to be silent.

Cen Luo should have known this already.

In a way, Jian Mu was very “responsible.”

Between them, it was always Cen Luo who asked and Jian Mu who answered. Jian Mu never initiated a conversation.

Cen Luo didn’t let go of Jian Mu, but snuggled closer and started sharing what happened today.

“Did you know, when I left work today, I met an artist downstairs? She gave me an umbrella. I don’t know how I would have gotten home otherwise.”

“And she smelled so good, I feel like you’d really like it. It’s a shame I didn’t get to talk to her. If I ever see her again, I’m definitely going to ask what perfume it was.”

Jian Mu listened quietly, occasionally answering Cen Luo with one or two words.

From recent company plans to little things that happened between colleagues, Cen Luo told Jian Mu everything.

She even told her about her recent conflict with Guan Hui.

Cen Luo knew Jian Mu wasn’t good at comforting people, so she didn’t expect her to console her.

But when she paused, she heard Jian Mu ask with a hint of confusion, “Why is she targeting you?”

Cen Luo was a little taken aback that Jian Mu would ask a follow-up question. After a moment, she smiled and said, “Maybe because the person she likes confessed to me?”

Jian Mu still looked perplexed, as if she didn’t understand what kind of reason that was.

But to Cen Luo, it was a look of disbelief.

Like she was asking, Really?

Cen Luo pouted and said, a little unhappily, “I’m a very lovable person, you know. Can’t you be a little more aware of the competition?”

As soon as she said this, Cen Luo instinctively looked at Jian Mu’s expression. After seeing no change in her emotions, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Jian Mu lost in thought, Cen Luo remembered the reheated food and quickly said, “Want to have a late-night meal together?”

“No, I have to work,” Jian Mu said, getting up and walking towards her study.

She’s still working so late?

What a waste of all that food.

It probably won’t taste good tomorrow, will it?

Cen Luo sighed, scooped a bowl of rice for herself, and sat down at the dining table.

The large room felt a bit empty.

Maybe I should put two potted plants in the living room and dining room. It would make it feel a little less lonely.

The next morning, when Cen Luo got up, Jian Mu had already left.

Cen Luo didn’t know her schedule and didn’t ask much.

The important thing was, she wouldn’t get much of an answer anyway.

Sometimes, messaging Jian Mu felt like a guessing game. If she guessed a question Jian Mu was willing to answer, she’d get a reply. If not, she wouldn’t.

If she had known Jian Mu would be so obedient, she shouldn’t have made such a simple wish back then.

Three years ago, when they first got together, she “threatened” Jian Mu, for the sake of fairness, to grant her one wish.

Jian Mu agreed.

At the time, Cen Luo was upset about Jian Mu lying to her, so she casually made a wish: Jian Mu is not allowed to lie to me.

Since then, Jian Mu had never lied to her.

But she had become silent much more often.

Sometimes, if Cen Luo could accurately guess what Jian Mu had done and asked her, she would definitely answer.

For example, “Did you go to the bookstore tonight?”

Yes or no.

But if she asked where she went, Jian Mu wouldn’t answer.

Sometimes Cen Luo would wonder if Jian Mu had been cursed by aliens and couldn’t say more than a certain number of words, or else…?

Or perhaps, Jian Mu just found talking too tiring and only wanted to focus her energy on developing products.

These were all Cen Luo’s wild thoughts when she didn’t get a reply from Jian Mu.

It was Saturday, a day off.

Cen Luo had long ago made plans with her best friend, Qin Ran, to go shopping.

The two had grown up together. Although they had been separated for a while in middle school, they had never lost touch.

They agreed to meet at a cafe in the city center.

When Cen Luo arrived at the cafe, Qin Ran was already there.

But she seemed to be busy.

Before even entering, Cen Luo saw Qin Ran handing a business card to a strange girl.

The girl looked up at her, her eyes full of smiles.

Standing at the entrance for two seconds, Cen Luo suddenly wondered if she was appearing at an inappropriate time.

Fortunately, at that moment, Qin Ran looked up and saw Cen Luo. She quickly said something to the girl, who waved goodbye reluctantly.

Qin Ran walked towards Cen Luo, giving her a look.

Seeing that the girl was still looking reluctantly at Qin Ran’s retreating back, Cen Luo knew what was going on. Qin Ran was expanding her “harem” again.

However, her harem was different from others’.

Cen Luo knowingly stepped back, making sure she didn’t interact with Qin Ran within the girl’s sight.

After they had both left the cafe, Cen Luo said, “How many is this now?”

“How many what?” Qin Ran asked, confused.

“What else? Your ‘sisters’,” Cen Luo said.

Other people flirt to date and string along multiple partners, but Qin Ran was different. Her focus was always on expanding her circle of female friends.

Soon, the young girl would realize that the person who was “hitting on her” just wanted to be her sister.

“There are 90 people in the group now. We’ll soon have enough for a preliminary round of a reality show.”

Cen Luo: “…”

“Why does your significant other have to come from a friendship? Isn’t that a bit unreasonably strict?”

Cen Luo didn’t understand Qin Ran’s behavior. The last time she asked her what she was doing, Qin Ran had answered her like this.

“What do you know? This is called fun, got it? Everyone says it’s easy to go from friends to lovers and hard to go from lovers to friends. Look at me, do you think it’s easy?”

Hearing Qin Ran’s reply, Cen Luo was speechless.

After leaving the cafe, they went to another coffee shop on a different street.

The shop had a very elegant decor and was playing soft, soothing music.

As soon as she walked in, Cen Luo felt herself relax.

They chose a table by the window, ordered two cups of coffee, and began to catch up on their recent lives.

After they started working, Cen Luo and Qin Ran saw each other often, but it was less frequent than when they were in school.

They were busy with their respective lives and careers, and they lived far apart.

So they could only get together on weekends occasionally.

“Spill the tea. What’s been going on lately? I’m your trash can.”

Qin Ran knew about Cen Luo’s relationship status, and it was a lie to say she didn’t have any complaints about Jian Mu.

But her complaints didn’t matter, because Jian Mu never actively interacted with them and didn’t care what they thought.

If Cen Luo didn’t bring something up, Qin Ran wouldn’t either.

Their close friends knew that Cen Luo was stubborn. Once she made up her mind about something, she wouldn’t turn back, even if it meant hitting a wall.

She would do whatever she believed she could do.

Cen Luo briefly told Qin Ran about what happened yesterday. As soon as she finished, Qin Ran exclaimed, “What?!”

Her voice was a little loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafe.

Qin Ran apologized to them with a nod and then whispered to Cen Luo, “What are you thinking? It’s like this, and you’re not going to question her? Aren’t you worried she’s cheating?”

“She wouldn’t,” Cen Luo replied, her voice firm.

“Silly Luo, why do you trust her so much? That’s clearly another woman’s perfume. What are you thinking? Are you still enabling her?”

Qin Ran was getting angry. This had crossed a line.

“And you know why you two are together, don’t you? What are you still hoping for?”

When Qin Ran got angry, she tended to say things she regretted. And she immediately regretted it.

Sure enough, Cen Luo’s eyes dimmed considerably. After a while, Cen Luo murmured, “It’s going to be our eleventh year of knowing each other soon. I don’t think she’s that kind of person.”

Just as Qin Ran was about to snap her out of it, she heard Cen Luo say, “Besides, she said she wouldn’t lie to me.”

For a moment, Qin Ran didn’t know what to say.

After a long sigh, Qin Ran recalled, “Can you tell me why you like Jian Mu?”

To solve a problem, you have to start at the source. To stop Cen Luo from liking Jian Mu, she had to know why she liked her in the first place.

“Don’t give me that ‘she’s pretty, smart, and rich’ stuff.”

She couldn’t exactly go and scratch Jian Mu’s face, make her stupid, or take her money, could she?

“Why hasn’t our coffee arrived yet?”

Cen Luo was deflecting, as usual.

“Don’t change the subject. You have to answer me today.”

In all eleven years, Qin Ran had never found the real reason why Cen Luo liked Jian Mu.

She didn’t believe Cen Luo would care about such superficial things.

After a long silence, Cen Luo still didn’t answer.

Qin Ran gave up, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Do you remember the wish you made on your sixteenth birthday?”

“Huh?” Cen Luo thought carefully. She had always wished for her family and friends to be healthy. She didn’t think she had any other special wishes.

“You said you hoped to find a sunny, warm girlfriend.”

Cen Luo was stunned for a moment. Did she really make that wish?

“Sunny, warm. I thought you were hinting at Xu Fengwan at the time. I thought you liked her.”

Cen Luo had completely forgotten about it, but was Xu Fengwan really sunny and warm?

In her memory, Xu Fengwan was always messing with her. Even though she was older, she was always bullying her.

When they were little, she would constantly pull her pigtails, which got her scolded by her mom every day when she got home.

When they were older, she would always try to copy her homework. A few times, they got caught and were punished together.

You call that sunny and warm?

“And do you remember what you said about Jian Mu when we were freshmen and saw her give her speech?”

Qin Ran cleared her throat, faked a deep voice, and sarcastically repeated Cen Luo’s words.

“‘This new school beauty is way too cold. I was standing in the audience, and when she started talking, I felt like I was frozen in a block of ice. Sis, we should stay away from this girl for our own sakes.'”

Back then, Cen Luo, Qin Ran, and Xu Fengwan were three troublemakers on campus. Everyone in the school knew them.

It wasn’t because they were bad people or had great grades. It was because they were generous and loved to make friends, so they knew everyone with a name in their grade.

They would often organize parties and gatherings, which meant people got to eat and drink for free. Who wouldn’t want friends like that?

Cen Luo actually remembered this, but because she had heard Qin Ran tell the story so many times, she wasn’t embarrassed by it anymore.

“People have to pay for their youthful mistakes, right? But I guess I’m lucky.”

The person who drinks the water knows if it’s warm or cold.

If Cen Luo felt it was good, then Qin Ran wouldn’t try to persuade her anymore.

Even though Cen Luo would share things that happened to her, she never complained about Jian Mu or said anything bad about her.

It was a very rare kind of relationship.

After they finished talking, the waiter finally brought their coffee.

Just then, Qin Ran suddenly saw two people walking in from the door.

Qin Ran narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

Cen Luo followed her gaze and saw Jian Mu and a strange woman entering the cafe.