After She Fell for Me, I Lost My Memory (GL) - Chapter 34

After being hospitalized for more than half a month, Cen Luo was finally able to be discharged.

On the day of her discharge, all her friends and family came to pick her up, making the scene quite lively.

When Xu Yanyan walked in, Cen Luo was standing by the bed packing, with two suitcases beside her.

Seeing her, Cen Luo immediately put down what she was doing and walked over to Xu Yanyan.

Today, Cen Luo was wearing a blue and white sweater, her hair tied into two low pigtails, adorned with many small crystal hair clips.

She looked very youthful and beautiful.

During her hospitalization, Xu Yanyan rarely saw Cen Luo wear anything other than a patient gown.

At the first glance upon entering, Xu Yanyan felt as if she saw the little junior schoolmate who used to follow her in the first year of high school.

“Sister Xu, you’re here!”

Cen Luo was a little surprised.

She heard from her attending physician that there were many people seeing the dental department today, so Xu Yanyan should have been very busy. She didn’t expect Xu Yanyan to make time to see her despite her busy schedule.

Xu Yanyan came back to her senses, stroked Cen Luo’s head, and smiled softly: “It’s your discharge day today. How could I not come to see you off?”

Qin Ran, standing aside, nudged Xu Fengwan with her elbow and asked, “Is it really okay to let them interact this much?”

Xu Fengwan’s gaze was fixed intently on Xu Yanyan’s hand.

Hearing the question, she gritted her teeth and said fiercely, “It’s a problem! How could it not be a problem.”

Qin Ran turned her head to look at Xu Fengwan and saw that she was squinting slightly, her expression a little fierce.

Qin Ran: “…”

Qin Ran remembered that yesterday afternoon, Xu Fengwan had suddenly messaged her, asking her to help her one more time.

She was uneasy about leaving Cen Luo to others.

Qin Ran thought about it for a long time last night and finally agreed to Xu Fengwan’s request.

Xu Fengwan might be a little foolish, but she would definitely care enough about Cen Luo.

This time, she would do her best to create opportunities for them.

“Xiao Luo, it’s time to go.”

While Cen Luo and Xu Yanyan were talking, Qin Ran suddenly stood between the two of them, interrupting what Xu Yanyan was about to say.

“Time to go?”

Cen Luo countered, then turned her head and looked at the bedside table where piles and piles of books were stacked.

Why were there two suitcases?

Because one of them was needed to pack a whole case of books.

Thinking of this, Cen Luo looked at Qin Ran with a hint of helplessness, her eyes seeming to say: Look, all these books you bought for me haven’t been packed yet, and you’re telling me it’s time to go?

Cen Luo and Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan had known each other for years, and she knew the two meant well, so she wasn’t angry about them touching her phone.

Qin Ran scratched her head awkwardly.

She had asked her high school classmates to mail them, but she hadn’t expected so many.

Her home wasn’t close to the hospital, and it would be difficult to move so many books home.

It would be too much trouble going back and forth.

“Xu Fengwan’s car is in the garage. No big deal,” Qin Ran said.

Cen Luo let out a long “Oh,” and then looked back at Xu Yanyan, but after thinking for a while, she couldn’t remember what she was about to say.

As if she had sensed something, Xu Yanyan spoke before Cen Luo could: “Luo Luo won’t forget me after going home, will you?”

“No, no, I won’t,” Cen Luo shook her head instinctively upon hearing that.

How could she forget? She was thinking about how to ask Xu Yanyan out for dinner.

Qin Ran glanced at Xu Fengwan next to her and whispered a reminder: “Say something quickly! Is she going to seize the opportunity? It’s driving me crazy.”

“Xiao Luo, are these books going straight into the suitcase? Do you need a cardboard box? Should we sort them?”

Prompted by Qin Ran, Xu Fengwan looked at the books next to her and interrupted the eye contact between Cen Luo and Xu Yanyan.

Cen Luo was distracted by Xu Fengwan’s words and stood still, considering how to handle the books.

The moment Cen Luo turned away, Xu Yanyan’s gaze turned much colder.

If she couldn’t see that these two were deliberately interrupting Cen Luo and her, she would be foolish.

Qin Ran’s eyes met Xu Yanyan’s somewhat cold gaze. Remembering what Cen Luo had said before, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

In the first year of high school, one day Qin Ran suddenly couldn’t contact Cen Luo.

All her contact methods were blocked, and she couldn’t get through to her on the phone.

At first, Qin Ran thought she had made Cen Luo angry.

But after thinking about it carefully, how could the person who was happily telling her yesterday that she was going on a date with the campus beauty suddenly get angry?

Qin Ran couldn’t figure out the reason for a long time.

It wasn’t until the evening that Qin Ran received a message from Cen Luo.

It was a crying emoji. After asking repeatedly what happened and why she had blocked them, Cen Luo wouldn’t say.

Later, when the two asked Cen Luo about her date with Xu Yanyan, Cen Luo told them with a miserable face: “We were almost together, but… Sister Xu seems a bit too controlling. I couldn’t accept it.”

To what extent she was controlling, Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan didn’t know.

After so many years, Qin Ran didn’t know if Xu Yanyan had changed, but the unintentional eye contact just now made Qin Ran slightly worried.

After thinking it over, Xu Fengwan and Zhao Zhao were still more suitable.

Unfortunately, Zhao Zhao didn’t come today.

Qin Ran ignored Xu Yanyan’s gaze, looked outside the door, and asked Cen Luo with some confusion, “Didn’t Zhao Zhao come?”

“She’s shooting an advertisement today. She couldn’t make it.”

In fact, Zhao Zhao had turned down many offers to take care of Cen Luo before, but she was an actress/celebrity after all and needed exposure and work.

Therefore, under the insistence of her management company, Zhao Zhao had to attend the commercial shoot on time this time.

Zhao Zhao had told her about it yesterday morning when she visited.

Zhao Zhao sounded quite apologetic and regretful that she couldn’t pick her up from the hospital.

Cen Luo didn’t mind. It was just a discharge; it wasn’t necessary for so many people to accompany her.

Xu Yanyan leaned against the wall, slightly tilting her head to look at Cen Luo, who was looking down and flipping through a book.

She remembered hearing from a schoolmate before that Cen Luo and Jian Mu had both attended Yuncheng University and that Cen Luo seemed to still be pursuing her.

Once, when passing by Yuncheng University with a friend, Xu Yanyan deliberately lingered for a long time at a coffee shop outside the school gate.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw familiar people.

Cen Luo was walking next to Jian Mu, sighing regretfully that the math department’s class was too boring, and asking Jian Mu why she didn’t doze off in class.

“I’ll go with you to buy coffee, and you come with me to the bubble tea shop next door.”

Cen Luo was chattering behind Jian Mu as she placed her order.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Her friend thought Xu Yanyan was about to leave, but she suddenly stopped moving again.

Xu Yanyan watched the two for a while.

Cen Luo’s gaze was always on Jian Mu and she didn’t notice Xu Yanyan sitting nearby.

Xu Yanyan saw the two leave the coffee shop and walk toward the bubble tea shop next door.

Perhaps because she had been staring at them for too long, Jian Mu turned her head and glanced at her as they entered the bubble tea shop.

It was a fleeting look, merely the look one gives a stranger.

Meeting her again now, Xu Yanyan hadn’t expected the Cen Luo who was so fond of Jian Mu back then to be so indifferent to Jian Mu now.

At that moment, she suddenly felt that some things, perhaps, could be done over.

“Knock, knock—” The knock on the door roused Xu Yanyan’s thoughts.

She looked up and saw a strange woman standing at the doorway, holding a bouquet of bright red roses.

“My younger sister is in class today. She specifically asked me to come and see you.”

Su Nian entered the ward and handed the red roses to Cen Luo.

Cen Luo smiled and said thank you, glancing at the bouquet. There were exactly eleven roses.

However, thinking that Su Nian said Yingying specifically asked her to visit, Cen Luo didn’t think much of it.

In the past few days, Yingying had been asking her what she thought of Su Nian, if she was pretty, if she was gentle, and if she was interested in having her as another older sister.

Cen Luo figured the roses were also arranged by Yingying.

Cen Luo could think this way, but others couldn’t. When Xu Fengwan saw the bouquet of fiery red roses, her eyes nearly popped out as she looked at Su Nian.

“I just remembered I didn’t bring Luo Luo a gift,” Xu Yanyan glanced at the roses and then said, “How about I treat you to dinner for a week?”

Cen Luo blinked. Such a good deal? So she nodded vigorously: “Okay, okay.”

Hearing this, Xu Fengwan was not happy and said, “I didn’t bring one either. I’ll treat you to lunch for a week.”

Cen Luo pouted: “I might not even be awake at noon.” She would definitely need a few days of good sleep after returning home.

Feeling the preferential treatment, Xu Fengwan helplessly looked at Qin Ran.

Qin Ran quickly intervened to mediate: “Xiao Luo, where do you want to go out? Fengwan and I will take you. How about that?”

Hearing this, Cen Luo straightened up, blinking at the two of them with anticipation: “How about a bar? ST Bar.”

ST Bar was only open to adults.

Cen Luo had always wanted to go but couldn’t get in before.

Now that the age on her ID was well over 18, she finally had the chance.

Qin Ran was silent for a few seconds.

She suddenly remembered when they had just become adults.

She was dying to go to ST Bar.

The three of them had only been once.

Later, when she invited Cen Luo again, Cen Luo gently told her: “You and Xu Fengwan go. Jian Mu doesn’t like noisy places.”

At the time, she was puzzled; she hadn’t asked Cen Luo to bring Jian Mu along.

Cen Luo later told her that she had mentioned it to Jian Mu the last time, and Jian Mu seemed not to like noisy places.

Qin Ran had known for a long time that Cen Luo would change her hobbies according to Jian Mu’s likes and dislikes.

Qin Ran: “…”

“Can I?” Cen Luo asked again.

Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan exchanged glances, seeing the same understanding in each other’s eyes—both apparently remembered Cen Luo’s words from back then.

Qin Ran nodded and added, “But ST is only fun with more people at night. Will you still be able to come after having dinner with Dr. Xu? Will you still have time to hang out?”

Qin Ran was only one step away from telling Cen Luo to choose one or the other.

Xu Fengwan silently gave Qin Ran a thumbs-up in her heart. Qin Ran knew how to handle things.

Cen Luo thought about it. She couldn’t go to the bar every day, so it didn’t seem to conflict.

Xu Yanyan looked at the silent Cen Luo, thinking she was struggling, and said softly, “It’s fine. You can cancel dinner anytime, or you can bring me along.”

Where else could you find such a gentle and understanding beautiful older sister!

But wait, Xu Yanyan said or bring her along?

Cen Luo thought for a moment.

Would that be a bad idea? What if Xu Yanyan saw her crazy side and started to dislike her?

Before Cen Luo could find a way to refuse, Xu Fengwan interjected quickly, “We’ll talk about that later.”

Qin Ran was relieved.

Xu Fengwan had finally made some progress and knew how to actively block a love rival.

To help Su Nian build a good relationship with Cen Luo, Yingying had introduced Su Nian to the names of the people around Cen Luo.

Su Nian listened silently on the side, quietly noting the key points and analyzing them.

Xu Yanyan agreed to treat Cen Luo to dinner for a week. (A disguised excuse to meet; Xu Yanyan definitely has intentions toward Cen Luo.)

Cen Luo plans to go to ST Bar after being discharged, with her friends Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan. (There are many beauties in the bar. Need to be cautious. It’s best to follow closely.)

Xu Yanyan was understanding and tried to get Cen Luo to bring her to the bar but was interrupted by Xu Fengwan. (Xu Fengwan’s attitude is questionable. A true friend? Or other intentions?)

Su Nian’s mind was constantly working, trying to figure out ways for Jian Mu to win Cen Luo back.

But after thinking for a while, Su Nian suddenly felt that Cen Luo was too popular.

How was Jian Mu supposed to pursue her?

How could a blockhead like Jian Mu pursue her?

Su Nian felt a lot of pressure silently added to her shoulders.

When her eyes swept over the red roses on the table, Su Nian’s thoughts paused. She suddenly realized that their current topic seemed to have started from this bouquet of red roses.

Su Nian gritted her teeth.

This was all Jian Mu’s fault and had nothing to do with her.

She told her not to send red roses. It was quite odd for her to be handing a bouquet of red roses to Cen Luo, but fortunately, Cen Luo hadn’t been suspicious or asked why she sent eleven roses.

After the group discussed for a while, they realized Su Nian had been standing aside without saying anything.

Qin Ran, wanting to change the subject from Cen Luo and Xu Yanyan, brought the topic to Su Nian.

“They’re all your friends. Why are you only asking about Dr. Xu and ignoring your new friend?” Qin Ran asked Cen Luo.

Cen Luo then realized and started talking to Su Nian.

However, Su Nian didn’t want to talk to them right now.

She just wanted to quietly listen to them talk, even hoping that Cen Luo would reveal all her plans for the rest of her life. That way, she could better help Jian Mu.

“How about we exchange WeChat? Yingying said she really likes you and wants to hang out with you later.” Su Nian thought about it. This way, she might be able to see into Cen Luo’s life later.

Cen Luo agreed without hesitation.

Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan knew that Cen Luo owned an apartment on West Street.

The home Cen Luo was returning to after being discharged was also the West Street apartment.

Qin Ran originally wanted Cen Luo to live with her for a while, but Cen Luo insisted on living alone, saying that being alone would allow her to adapt better.

Qin Ran couldn’t argue with Cen Luo, so she just told her to remember to call her and Xu Fengwan if anything happened.

Qin Ran remembered Cen Luo mentioning that she had never told Jian Mu about the apartment she bought on West Street.

When she first heard Cen Luo say it was because she was worried Jian Mu might ask her to move out after learning she bought an apartment, Qin Ran was so angry she wanted to punch her through the internet cable.

But now, Qin Ran just wanted to say that Cen Luo’s decision not to tell Jian Mu about this was simply excellent.

Around noon, Xu Fengwan and Qin Ran drove Cen Luo back to West Street.

After everything was settled, Qin Ran originally wanted to stay and accompany Cen Luo for the night but was refused by Cen Luo.

Left with no choice, as they were leaving, Qin Ran remembered Cen Luo mentioning that her neighbor in the West Street apartment was a very kind auntie, so she planned to knock on the door and say hello to the auntie.

Xu Fengwan stood behind Qin Ran and listened to her knock for a while.

After a while, the door didn’t open.

Qin Ran muttered, “Is she not home?”

Qin Ran pressed her head against the door to listen for any sound inside, but heard nothing.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from right next to Qin Ran’s ear: “Little girl, what are you doing?”

The speaker was almost right up against her ear, and with a naturally loud voice, the sound startled Qin Ran, who instinctively grabbed Xu Fengwan’s hand.

She then looked at the person speaking.

The woman looked to be in her forties, with a permed curly hairstyle and a red hairpin.

Half of a floral skirt peeked out from under her black cotton coat.

She was currently tilting her head, looking at the two of them.

Although her voice was loud, the auntie looked quite friendly.

“We wanted to talk to the auntie who lives here,” Qin Ran said.

“Auntie Li moved out last month. Didn’t you know?”

Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan shook their heads. They didn’t live here, so how could they know?

Zhang Ming nodded at the reply, then said, “As soon as Auntie Li moved out, the apartment was bought by someone else. It looks like they haven’t moved in yet.”

Haven’t moved in yet? Did that mean they wouldn’t know if the new neighbor was easy to get along with?

“What kind of person is it? Male or female? Young? Middle-aged? Or elderly?” Qin Ran asked Zhang Ming with concern.

“It seems like a woman, quite young, I’m not sure.” Qin Ran was a little disappointed, not knowing what the new neighbor would be like.

After finishing their conversation with Zhang Ming, Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan went back to Cen Luo’s apartment to give a few more instructions.

Under Cen Luo’s urging, the two finally left the apartment.

After Qin Ran and Xu Fengwan left, Cen Luo walked around the house a few times.

The apartment wasn’t big, just two bedrooms and one living room—a bedroom and a study.

The furnishings were clean and simple, with no special decorations.

Cen Luo had a faint sense of belonging.

After getting familiar with the environment for a while, Cen Luo checked the time: 3 PM.

After asking for Jian Mu’s address yesterday, Cen Luo hadn’t spoken to her again. Jian Mu hadn’t set a time with her either.

In Cen Luo’s view, that meant the entire day was open. Going at 11 AM and returning at 11:10 AM would be fine. But that time seemed a little too late.

Cen Luo wasn’t very interested in visiting the place she lived for two years.

More than going out, Cen Luo wanted to have a good sleep now.

Cen Luo, who only intended to lie down and test the softness of the bed, fell asleep before she could even set an alarm.

When she woke up again, it was 7 PM. Cen Luo looked out the window. It was already dark. Her stomach was rumbling. She got up, ordered takeout, and then looked for a book to read.

Cen Luo received a strange call just after finishing dinner, as she was about to watch some TV and then go back to sleep.

As soon as the call connected, Cen Luo said hello, and a slightly familiar voice came from the other end.

“Have you had dinner?” It was Jian Mu. The phone screen showed an unfamiliar number.

Had she not saved Jian Mu’s number before? Oh, she suddenly remembered, Qin Ran and the others might have blocked Jian Mu.

“I have,” Cen Luo was a little sleepy after eating her fill. She didn’t understand why Jian Mu was calling at this time.

The other side was silent for a while. Just as Cen Luo was about to hang up, she heard Jian Mu ask, “Are you still coming over today?”

Today? Come over where? Cen Luo was puzzled. Just as she was about to ask, she suddenly remembered yesterday’s conversation.

She had remembered it before falling asleep, but completely forgot about it after waking up. But it wasn’t too important. Changing the time wouldn’t hurt.

“I was busy sleeping. It’s not a big deal anyway. Let’s reschedule.” Cen Luo would definitely go since she said she would, but as for the time, sleepiness wasn’t something she could control. Could she be blamed? No.

After a few seconds, there was no sound from the other side. “Otherwise, cancel…” Before the word “it” could come out, she heard Jian Mu’s voice again.

“I was just looking at my calendar. Is tomorrow afternoon okay?”

She was just looking at her calendar? Was she explaining herself? Tomorrow afternoon? She was having dinner with Sister Xu tomorrow afternoon. She didn’t have time to meet her.

“Tomorrow morning. I don’t have time otherwise.”

Jian Mu on the other end heard this, glanced at the calendar where she had circled today, tomorrow, and the day after, and hummed in agreement: “Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

After hanging up, Jian Mu sent a message to her secretary, asking her to adjust the meeting time.

The meeting that was originally scheduled for today had been moved to tomorrow, and now it had to be moved again. Yang Qing was a little confused about what Jian Mu was doing lately. This was something that had never happened before.

At this moment, Jian Mu was sitting at the dining table, which was filled with all sorts of dishes that she had learned to make by following videos since the morning.

Jian Mu rarely cooked because she knew she lacked skill in that area.

But every time Cen Luo ate her cooking, she would praise how delicious it was and express her hope to keep eating her dishes. Perhaps her cooking just suited Cen Luo’s taste.

So she had been preparing at home since the morning, reheating the dishes again and again, waiting for Cen Luo’s arrival.

However, it seemed she had forgotten again.

On the dining table were photo albums and a camera, along with a Chinese language textbook.

Jian Mu thought that maybe these could help Cen Luo recall some memories of the past.

Jian Mu touched the photo albums and the camera, then focused her attention on the language textbook. It was the compulsory textbook from the first semester of the first year of high school, which she had found while searching today.

The book, which had been covered in dust, was now wiped clean by her.

The handwriting in the first half of the book was very elegant and neat, and the annotations for each lesson were complete.

The sudden change started from the second half of the textbook.

That day was a study hall after the Chinese class.

A few strange gasps suddenly arose in the classroom.

Jian Mu looked up and saw a somewhat familiar girl with her index finger on her lips, making a shushing gesture.

After a glance, Jian Mu looked back and began to complete her notes.

However, she suddenly felt someone sit down next to her.

There was a faint scent of roses in her breath. Feeling the person next to her staring, Jian Mu frowned, then slightly turned her face, meeting Cen Luo’s smiling eyes. Cen Luo was resting her head on her right hand, tilting her head to look at Jian Mu.

Only when their eyes met did she put her hand down and smiled as she extended her hand to Jian Mu: “Hello, Jian Mu. I’m Cen Luo from the next class. Cen as in mountain and now, Luo as in… never mind, let me write it for you.”

Cen Luo snatched the pen from Jian Mu’s hand and wrote her name stroke by stroke on Jian Mu’s textbook.

Jian Mu touched the characters Cen Luo on the book.

Cen Luo’s handwriting was actually not very good.

Later, for some unknown reason, Cen Luo began to like helping her write notes. In the second half of the Chinese textbook, the handwriting also became messy.

Suddenly, Jian Mu’s gaze stopped.

There was only the character mountain (山) on the book, but it wasn’t exactly mountain.

It was about a week after Cen Luo and she met.

Cen Luo suddenly told her that Xu Fengwan was bullying her.

She said her name carried bad luck and that she had no romantic fate.

“Xu Fengwan said my name has too many ‘ones.’

Just the radical of Cen has four ‘ones’ (一), meaning ‘one life, one lifetime, one person,’ plus ‘one whole life.’

Who uses ‘one life, one lifetime’ and ‘one whole life’ together? She’s too much for cursing me!”