“……”

“……”

The lengthy silence was finally broken by He Chuzhou: “Are you okay again?”

Pei Xi pushed his hand away and jumped off his lap. In an instant, his arms were empty, and the remaining warmth dissipated rapidly.

He Chuzhou’s fingertips curled in discomfort. He clenched his fist and put down his hand, looking at the person in front of him whose aura had suddenly changed.

……Fine.

“You came here on your own, it had nothing to do with me.”

He shelved the regrets in his heart and issued a disclaimer in advance to avoid history repeating itself: “Of course, you may not remember. After all, you were suffering from side effects and weren’t very clear-headed at the time.”

Pei Xi glanced at him, turned around, and walked out.

This condescending attitude was obviously not pleasing to the eye, but it was better than a sudden roundhouse kick.

The first time was awkward, the second time skillful. It was likely that President Pei had begun to become accustomed to facing hellish scenes as soon as he woke up.

“Ai.” He warned before this person opened the door: “The elevator outside can’t be opened without an employee card.”

Pei Xi stopped, then turned around to regard him silently.

He Chuzhou actually didn’t have any other intentions, and just wanted to inform him that he could borrow a company ID from anyone outside and they would not refuse.

But when he was looked at like this…..

It was difficult for He Chuzhou to think that just half an hour ago, this person had looked at him with these eyes and said softly that he was very good, good everywhere.

“……”

Fine, sometimes compromises and plans just changed too quickly.

Resigned to his fate, he stood up and took his work card, saying: “Let’s go, I’ll take you out.”

He Chuzhou still used the special elevator, but changed the destination from the sub-basement to the first floor. 

Seeing the other person walk in, He Chuzhou suddenly opened his mouth: “How about you and I have dinner together before you leave?”

The response he received was Pei Xi’s cold, lowered gaze, along with the elevator door slowly closing after three beeps.

“…….”

He Chuzhou cursed himself internally for being sick in the head. He turned back to his office, and had just sat down when he happened to get a video call from Wu Qing.

As soon as the call connected, what the camera caught was not Wu Qing’s big face, but a big fish with its mouth open in a silent scream.

He Chuzhou: “?”

He Chuzhou: “What are you doing? Don’t you know that after the founding of the PRC, becoming a spirit is prohibited?”

“I didn’t, I’m here!”

The fish was put down, and Wu Qing and his big white teeth appeared on the screen: “Look at this fish I just caught. It weighs 28 pounds, and it was very powerful. It took me a long time to haul it up……what’s with your expression?”

He Chuzhou’s mood was complicated: “Did you really study the Book of Changes?”^[1]

Wu Qing’s head was full of question marks: “What?”

The corners of his mouth twitched as he spoke nonsense: “It’s nothing, I just feel that if I encountered your fish, I would have to surrender.”

Wu Qing was baffled: “What are you talking about? If you want to eat it, come here. I’ll send you the location.”

“I’m busy, I won’t go.”

He Chuzhou changed the topic: “Don’t you have a distant cousin who’s a brain and mental health expert?”

Wu Qing: “Ah, what, did you slam your head in a door?”

He Chuzhou didn’t react to his nonsense: “Is she in Wancheng nowadays?”

Wu Qing: “She is, a provincial hospital just held an expert symposium.”

He Chuzhou: “Send me her contact information.”

Wu Qing gave an affirmative hum and handed the fish to someone else. He took off his gloves to send the contact info, and asked He Chuzhou: “Is there really something wrong with your head?”

He Chuzhou said perfunctorily: “En.”

Wu Qing abruptly raised his head: “The fuck? Don’t scare me!”

He Chuzhou: “But not for now.”

Wu Qing: “?”

He Chuzhou: “I’m not sure whether it will happen again in the future, so I want to be prepared.”

Wu Qing: “…..? ? ?”

Wu Qing: “This is how you prepare?”

Wu Qing: “If you have such a condition, why don’t you pick out a place with good feng shui and an urn for your ashes in advance?”

Wu Qing: “Go ahead, you dumbass.”

*

*

A third time.

How many times would this side effect occur?

Was it random, or……

No, there must be some pattern.

On the way back, Pei Xi’s brows never relaxed, and the rapidly receding buildings outside the window made him feel dizzy and uncomfortable.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, his mind going through everything that had happened the past few days.

The first time, he woke up in the hospital and called He Chuzhou. The second time, he called him after taking a drunken nap, and the third time he woke up at home……

Right.

Every episode of confusion occurred after waking up.

Every time, it started when he woke up.

So the pattern was……sleep?

But if that was the case, why didn’t he recover when he awoke the first time in the lounge just now?

Was there a location restriction? It must be in He Chuzhou’s arms……

No! Impossible!

He rejected this conjecture as soon as it appeared.

When he woke up the first time, He Chuzhou was clearly not in bed, but sleeping on the sofa.

Could it be that sleep was a one-way switch for his amnesia? To wake up, not only did he need to sleep, but he also needed He Chuzhou to be present?

His thoughts became increasingly chaotic, making him dizzy.

He opened his phone and checked a few unimportant missed calls, followed by several messages from Xiao Gu.

Xiao Gu didn’t dare to continue calling after the brain-addled Pei Xi hung up the phone. He carefully typed what he wanted to say into a message, and every line of words revealed the cautiousness of not knowing his boss’s mood.

Xiao Gu: [President Pei, it’s almost 3 o’clock. Do you want the afternoon meeting to start on time?]

Xiao Gu: [Are you still coming to the company?]

Xiao Gu: [I’ve postponed the meeting again. If it’s more convenient, you could reschedule it?]

It had been almost three hours since Xiao Gu sent these messages.

Looking through them, Pei Xi felt irritable, not toward Xiao Gu, but toward himself.

His disorder was so erratic that it was affecting his work, so he had to find a way to solve it quickly.

Pei Xi: [I understand.]

Pei Xi: [Notify everyone that the meeting that was canceled today will be changed to an online meeting at 8pm, and send the plans to my email in advance]

Finishing his instructions, he opened his mailbox and logged in. When the emails came up, he suddenly remembered an important thing that was almost ignored.

The rumors appeared to be false.

At least judging from what he saw and heard in He Chuzhou’s office today, the man’s ability was not low, and he differed greatly from the rumored image of an idle fool.

But why didn’t He Chuzhou ever counter this rumor?

Did he want to go with the flow and make his opponents relax their vigilance?

Pei Xi wracked his brains, but couldn’t figure out the purpose of He Chuzhou’s behavior.

When he got home, it was just past seven o’clock.

Pei Xi planned to change clothes first and take off the bracelet he had accidentally brought home again. He had been speechless for a while after hearing a certain person saying that “the second bracelet was half price.”

Everything he said was irrelevant.

It was only that he had taken away more than the bracelet from He Chuzhou this time. As soon as he removed his coat, something rolled out of his pocket, bounced, and hit the edge of the bed.

It was the rubber pig.

Glancing down, he dropped his coat. He was about to toss the pig into the trash when the softness touched his fingertips, and the awakened memory pushed him into action.

If.

He thought, if the rumors about his work ability were wrong…..

Then were there some other unclarified misunderstandings in other aspects?

At least based on what he had seen these two days, He Chuzhou had no dirty and chaotic private life. What he did most was just going out to walk the dog.

He was different from what he had thought.

He was so patient that he was almost too patient.

Even in the face of their extremely bad relationship, he could easily tolerate all of the unreasonable trouble caused by the other party’s amnesia. He coaxed him and went along with him without bringing to play any grudges between work and personal matters.

If the situation was switched, Pei Xi did not believe he could have done this.

Not to mention……hugging him to comfort him after a nightmare.

He’d had the same dream many times.

There were no ghosts, no zombies, and no horror plots in his dreams. He would just be pulled into fragments of the past and wake up in a cold sweat, opening his eyes again and again until dawn in a silent and empty room.

But today was the first time.

The first time he awoke from a nightmare and got a hug, the first time he received comfort, the first time his hair was stroked and he was told that it was just a dream.

It was the first time he felt intuitively that it really was just a dream.

It was a very mysterious feeling. Even though he knew clearly that the other person was He Chuzhou, he still felt that such an embrace was incredibly warm and safe.

With his mind subtly tossing and turning, he lowered his eyes to look at the rubber pig in his palm, his emotions hidden by his long eyelashes.

Three minutes later, the lone person in the room had changed clothes, opened the door, and left.

The trash can was still empty. And on the corner of the bedside table, which originally contained only a lamp and two books, there was a simple rubber pig.

*

*

“That is all for tonight’s meeting. Further arrangements will be made for the follow-up work. Everyone has worked hard, go and rest now.”

As the video screens of the online conference closed one after another, Pei Xi stopped Xiao Gu alone: “I will update you on the progress of the subsequent work. Do not ask for my opinion unless it is necessary. Make your own decisions. If you don’t understand something, contact Dong Han and he will explain it to you.”

Xiao Gu felt flattered: “Yes, President Pei.”

Pei Xi: “I will do my best to make all of the arrangements at once, and you can make adjustments according to the situation.”

Xiao Gu: “Okay!”

“Send an message or email if something happens, but try not to make a phone call.”

Xiao Gu: “Ah? Oh, I understand!”

Pei Xi: “Good. Go and rest.”

Xiao Gu: “Yes, President Pei. You should also rest early.”

After he hung up the video call, the study became quiet. The lamp shone on the drizzle outside, along with the lights of countless homes.

Pei Xi closed his eyes and relaxed for a while. After finishing work, his hunger pangs became more obvious.

He opened his phone and ordered food, placing an additional order for flash delivery. Then he stood and walked to the backyard balcony, packing up a set of pajamas that didn’t belong to him.

The courier arrived after the takeaway did, and Pei Xi handed him the bag containing the clothes.

When the courier took it and confirmed his ID, he accidentally glanced at the top of the bag, which obviously contained the bracelet he had carelessly stuffed inside earlier.

Courier: “…..?”

The courier stared: “? ? ?”

Another 90 million?

Rich people liked to play like this? ? ? ? ? 

“Sir, it’s too late today. I’ve run out of packaging boxes.”

He kindly reminded: “Look at this valuable thing. Do you want to find something to put it in?”

“No need, just send it like this.”

Pei Xi took back his ID card. After sending the courier to the elevator with the bag, he returned to the dining table to finish eating.

It was already getting late once he took a shower and tidied up, but he had no intention of sleeping immediately. Instead, he made a cup of coffee and returned to the study to continue his work.

In order to avoid further delays in his work, he had to make up for as much of the lost progress as possible.

It was a pity that the awakening function of coffee could not compete with the human sleep schedule and the urge to rest, and in the second half of the night, he still couldn’t withstand the surge of sleepiness.

But before going to bed, he made one more preparation—

He turned his cell phone on silent mode and hid it in the top kitchen cupboard where the flour was placed. 

The brain-addled Pei Xi would not remember anything he had done when he was in his right mind. He had to stop himself from seeking out He Chuzhou over and over again.

As long as he couldn’t find his cell phone and contact He Chuzhou, perhaps this series of problems would be solved.

The plan could be considered perfect.

However, it was soon proven that he had underestimated He Chuzhou’s appeal to Pei-calico, as well as Pei-calico’s ability to carry through, which nine oxen couldn’t hold back.

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[1] The Book of Changes is an ancient divination text. ⮐

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Chapter 14 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 16