Substitute Lover [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 75

The thin shirt was removed, but Jiang Cha didn’t stop. She leaned in closer, her hand circling her warm body, reaching toward her back.

 

Getting this close, Jiang Cha’s lips were almost touching her earlobe, and the familiar cold fragrance gently wafted over again. It was crisp and cool, like cedar, sandalwood, and agarwood mixed together, bringing to mind the forest outside the window.

 

Yet, this kind of scent was also warm, making it moving.

 

“Can we not unfasten it?”

 

Ji Fan stretched her arm behind her back, guarding the metal clasp, and shrank back slightly.

 

“Why not?” Jiang Cha looked at her and said softly, “There’s no need to be shy.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“But, you’d be more comfortable if I wiped you down—”

 

Jiang Cha moved another inch closer.

 

Her long hair fell down to her chest, and leaning in like this, it brushed against Ji Fan’s cheek. The soft, light hair was obedient and delicate, like a child’s, and when the wind blew, it was as beautiful as silk.

 

Ji Fan’s heart tightened, and her fair fingertips curled slightly. She felt momentarily nervous, yet she couldn’t help but want to lean closer, just a little closer.

 

An indescribable longing grew in her heart.

 

What longing?

 

She didn’t think too deeply about it.

 

Jiang Cha’s long hair was well-behaved, but her hands were disobedient, reaching behind her again, attempting to undo her bra clasp.

 

Ji Fan immediately grabbed her wrist and said:

 

“It’s really fine. The weather here is cold, so it’s not that uncomfortable.”

 

“Alright. Then turn around.”

 

Jiang Cha compromised, letting her keep her bra on, and grabbed the towel to start wiping her back.

 

Ji Fan’s skin was very smooth, and her back was slender. Jiang Cha gently wiped her with the towel and couldn’t help but lightly stroke it with her fingertips—the sensation was slick and smooth. Jiang Cha seemed captivated by her back and looked at it twice more.

 

With a slight movement of her arm, the shape of her shoulder blades became very clearly defined, delicate and beautiful.

 

Her skin was very fair. Jiang Cha hadn’t observed closely before, but now, wiping her with the hot water, she realized her skin wasn’t always cold and bloodless. As the warm towel gently wiped across it, a faint blush appeared on her jade-like back, very noticeable.

 

This was the first time she had looked so carefully at someone’s back, and she was surprised. Was she really this thin? She was beautiful, like a runway model, but Jiang Cha felt an inexplicable pity and even began planning a rich meal for her when they returned home.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

The woman, who had her back to her and gathered her long, curly hair over one shoulder, asked.

 

Jiang Cha just stared at her, her thoughts drifting, the towel continuously wiping the same spot.

 

“No, nothing.”

 

Jiang Cha quietly settled her slightly chaotic feelings, soaked the towel in hot water again, and continued wiping.

 

The areas prone to sweating were mainly the back and chest. Jiang Cha finished wiping her back and wanted to wipe her chest, and her fingers, persistent, once again touched her bra clasp.

 

Ji Fan seemed very sensitive to touch in this area and immediately reached out and grabbed her wrist.

 

Jiang Cha asked, “Why are you shy?”

 

Ji Fan had her back to Jiang Cha, and her fair earlobe, visible through her long hair, was flushed red, very noticeably.

 

“I’m not.”

 

“We’ve seen each other before, it’s really okay.”

 

“But, I’m not used to it—”

 

Jiang Cha couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Alright,” she put the towel back in the basin and said, “You do it yourself. I’ll step out.”

 

Jiang Cha closed the door and turned around to find Jiang Han also sitting outside the door, checking messages on her phone. Seeing her come out, she looked up, a little curious.

 

“Why did you come out?”

 

“She feels shy.”

 

“Huh?” A look of surprise flashed in Jiang Han’s eyes. “Shy? Her?”

 

Jiang Cha nodded awkwardly, “It’s understandable, it’s normal.”

 

Jiang Han immediately laughed. She still remembered the way this person leaned against the door to proclaim ownership of Jiang Cha, the authoritative air, the condescending expression—it was truly annoying.

 

And now that she had amnesia, she was so innocent, harmless, and shy?

 

Suddenly, an old saying came to mind—

 

What goes around comes around.

 

“The doctor said that to recover her memory sooner, you can take her to familiar places and do familiar things, which helps to awaken her memory,” Jiang Han instructed her.

 

Jiang Cha nodded.

 

Then she remembered another crucial matter:

 

“Then, when she recovers her memory, will she still remember what happened during this amnesia period?”

 

“Well, that’s uncertain. What happens after memory loss is a type of anterograde amnesia, caused by injury to the medial temporal lobe that prevents the formation of long-term memories. Whether she can remember the events during the amnesia period after her memory recovers depends on the specific injury to the medial temporal lobe.”

 

Jiang Cha was quiet for a while, not speaking.

 

“Do you hope she remembers, or doesn’t remember?”

 

Jiang Cha nodded, then shook her head.

 

She couldn’t describe her feelings—was it disappointment or something else?

 

The next few days were filled with various pre-discharge checks. The doctor reviewed the reports again, confirmed she could be discharged, and let them go.

 

It was early morning when they left, and the North American sky was completely blue, without a single cloud in sight. Beside the lounge, the faint light shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a bright, soft halo on the floor.

 

In this cool light, one could see the shadow of Ji Fan’s eyelashes when she lowered her head, falling onto her fair skin, making her look very soft.

 

She was wearing a lake-blue sheath dress with a white V-neck blouse. The hem of the skirt rested slightly above her thigh, cinched at the waist, making her waistline look slender and straight. The blue and white was fresh, clean like an immaculate sky after a heavy rain—crisp and gentle.

 

Ji Fan fumbled through her bag and pulled out her phone.

 

It was fully charged and turned on, but it stopped at the password input screen.

 

She randomly tried a few combinations, but they were all wrong.

 

Jiang Cha was sitting next to her, biting a sandwich and sipping milk. She was looking down when a thin, pale hand reached out, offering a phone.

 

“Do you know the password to my phone?” Ji Fan looked at her quietly and said with some embarrassment, “I can’t open it.”

 

“I’ll try.”

 

Jiang Cha took the phone, not feeling confident herself.

 

In the past, when she and Ji Fan were together, they were very clear about certain boundaries. Ji Fan had never told her her phone password. She treated it as personal privacy and guarded it closely. Jiang Cha had tried to ask her before, but Ji Fan never revealed it, though she did give her bank card passwords.

 

What was the password?

 

She entered six ones—wrong. She entered one to six—wrong. Then she entered Ji Fan’s birthday.

 

Password wrong.

 

She tried her own birthday.

 

Her fingertips were icy cold, and the sudden tension made her afraid to look at the screen. What if it wasn’t it?

 

It would be normal if it wasn’t.

 

But the next second, the lock screen opened.

 

The password was her birthday.

 

Jiang Cha was blank for a moment, her thoughts chaotic and impossible to sort out.

 

When did she set this password? Jiang Cha only knew it was set before her amnesia, but the specific time, she didn’t know, and asking Ji Fan would definitely yield no result.

 

This seemed like a very small matter, but to her, it was very important, extremely important. When exactly did things start to change? Jiang Cha really wanted to know, but the only person who could give her the answer had amnesia. This made her a little frustrated, her heart itching slightly, as if a kitten were scratching it intermittently.

 

“It opened?”

 

Ji Fan looked at the screen and asked softly.

 

“Mm.” Jiang Cha handed it to her and recited a string of numbers, “Can you remember it? Or you can change the password to something easier to remember.”

 

Ji Fan shook her head. She remembered it easily after hearing it just once, as if she had once known this password by heart.

 

“What do these numbers represent?” she asked.

 

“My birthday.”

 

Jiang Cha said softly.

 

The corner of Ji Fan’s lips curved, and she said, “We must have had a very good relationship before.”

 

Jiang Cha was startled.

 

Otherwise, why would she set the password to her birthday? Ji Fan thought to herself, feeling very happy, painting a beautiful, sweet past for herself.

 

Jiang Cha didn’t know what to say, and the atmosphere instantly fell quiet.

 

Ji Fan didn’t notice anything amiss and was eager to review the past. She first flipped through her notes, trying to find some trace of the past, then opened the photo album and work software, thoroughly searching her phone.

 

Ji Fan then opened WeChat.

 

There were many messages, mostly work-related. Ji Fan looked through them and patiently scrolled back, then stopped.

 

Jiang Cha’s unread messages appeared on the screen.

 

—Where are you?

 

—We should go through the divorce procedures.