Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Deep down, Chen Shutang had always regarded Lan Ling as a rival and an enemy, and that worried her. Su Ya's attitude, too, was less than clear; though the two of them appeared to be on good terms now, Chen Shutang could not be sure what Su Ya was really thinking.

True, for the moment she was a big star with little time to spend with Yang Ce, so there was no need for her to compete for anything. But what about later? Su Ya would have to fade out of the entertainment world eventually. When that time came, if Su Ya really did signal a challenge and start vying for Yang Ce's favor, then Chen Shutang would be too late even to cry.

"All right. By the normal reckoning I'm a bit older than you anyway." Not wanting Zhou Yanning to feel at a disadvantage, Chen Shutang nodded with a smile.

"Mm." Zhou Yanning nodded too and went on, "Sister Mengyan, don't laugh at me if I say this—I still feel like I'm dreaming. You probably know that I've always been in love with Yang Ce, but because of some misunderstandings, we... And yet I never imagined that when I woke up, I'd already be Yang Juehuan's girlfriend. Thinking about it now, it's really amazing. Am I dreaming?"

Looking at Zhou Yanning's innocent, lovely expression, Chen Shutang could not help but find it a little funny. Another lovestruck girl. But then—was she any different herself?

"How would I laugh? Our situations are the same; laughing at you would be pot calling the kettle black." Chen Shutang shook her head. "Yang Ce has already forgiven you. I think Su Ya will forgive you too."

"Su Ya?" Zhou Yanning visibly started at the name. "You—you know Su Ya too?" This was clearly the last thing Zhou Yanning had expected.

"Heh, not only do I know her—she's also..." Chen Shutang paused there, then smiled. "According to Yang Yanzhou, she came to see you too. She's probably forgiven you long ago."

"Ah!" Zhou Yanning felt as if her brain had short-circuited and was not working properly anymore. How had so many things happened? Su Ya—Su Ya had already come back? And had already become Yang Juehuan's girlfriend?

Zhou Yanning felt everything was in chaos. Su Ya had come to see her, and had forgiven her too?

Wait—Zhou Yanning suddenly remembered: while she was unconscious, she seemed to have had a dream, and in that dream someone really had come to see her. That person seemed to be Su Ya, though she could not see clearly; but judging by the voice, it probably was.

At the time, Su Ya really had forgiven her. Zhou Yanning had assumed it was a hallucination brought on by her muddled sleep—could it really have happened?

"Sister Mengyan, is everything you said true?" Hearing that Su Ya had already forgiven her, Zhou Yanning was overcome with emotion, as though a great stone had been lifted from her chest, leaving her whole body suddenly weightless.

"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you?" Chen Shutang smiled. "You don't need to overthink anything. Just rest and get well. There are still some days before school starts—plenty of time to get used to things."

"Mm, all right." Zhou Yanning nodded. "Then—does my mother know about my situation?"

"Your mother knows you were injured and hospitalized, but you've only just woken up, so she probably doesn't know about that yet." Chen Shutang said, "In a little while, have Yang Ce contact your mother."

"Oh. Then can I be discharged now?" Zhou Yanning nodded slightly and asked.

"Yes. Yang Ce has probably gone to handle your discharge papers. In a little while we can go home," Chen Shutang said.

"We go home?" Zhou Yanning stared at Chen Shutang, at a loss. How was there a home all of a sudden? And moreover, "we"?

"Yes—our home, mine and Yanzhou's," Chen Shutang said with a smile.

Chen Shutang had her little calculations and little jealousies, but her weakness was a kind heart. When she had first seen how deeply Zhou Yanning loved Yang Ce, willing to give her life for him, Chen Shutang had accepted the girl completely.

And now Zhou Yanning had lost her memory again, which made Chen Shutang all the more sympathetic—after all, this was all a consequence of what she had done for Yang Ce. So from a moment ago until now, Chen Shutang had been doing her utmost to present herself as a kind older sister.

If Chen Shutang had merely said she was also Yang Juehuan's girlfriend, Zhou Yanning could have accepted it—after all, Yang Ce had made her a promise back then. But "home"—that truly seemed incredible to Zhou Yanning.

A home for three people—what on earth was that supposed to mean? Could it be that she really had lost her memory and forgotten something important? But there didn't seem to be anything missing either. Zhou Yanning knitted her brows and tried hard to recall what had come before, only to find that she had no memory at all of the three of them living together.

Had she traveled through time? Or had everyone around her traveled through time? Zhou Yanning was truly bewildered.

To be continued.

941. The Truth About the Amnesia

Actually, many readers have probably already guessed: our computer-genius hacker and Number Six beauty, our heroine Zhou Yanning, had not actually lost her memory at all.

When Zhou Yanning woke up, she remembered everything that had happened before—including that moment between life and death, and the promise Yang Minlan had made to her. Thinking of these things filled Zhou Yanning's heart with sweetness.

The love she had long awaited had finally come to her. They say a great escape from death brings great fortune to follow—and that saying seemed true enough. But along with the excitement, other troubles came crowding in on its heels.

Zhou Yanning was like other girls—the type who, with nothing to do, loved to let her imagination run wild. The more she thought, the more she liked to complicate matters, the more she liked to look before and after and worry over every angle.

Before this, all Zhou Yanning had considered was Yang Juehuan's attitude. But once she calmed down, she thought of Chen Shutang—even if Yang Ce had given her a promise, what if Chen Shutang refused to accept it?

At that thought, Zhou Yanning's formerly good mood plunged as if into an ice cellar. Yes, this was a crucial question. She did not want to think about it, and yet she had no choice but to.

Zhou Yanning's relationship with Chen Shutang could not be called especially good, and she had heard a little about Chen Shutang's temperament. So she was very afraid—afraid that when she really did meet Yang Ce and Chen Shutang in a little while, Chen Shutang would simply nullify the promise Yang Ce had made before.

After all, Chen Shutang was Yang Juehuan's first girlfriend—what was she by comparison? True, she had taken a bullet for Yang Ce, but that did not mean she had to repay him with love.

So Zhou Yanning was terrified—terrified that her fantasy would shatter, terrified that Chen Shutang would reject her without mercy. Rather than face that endless awkwardness, she might as well pretend she knew nothing at all.

If Yang Ce truly accepted her from the bottom of his heart, whether she remembered her earlier promise would not matter in the least. Zhou Yanning was very fond of Yang Ce, but she did not want a love that felt like repayment for a debt. And so she made a bold decision: to feign amnesia.

She had once seen a television drama called Genesis, in which there was a kind of amnesia called localized amnesia—forgetting everything that had happened during a certain period, while still remembering everything that came before.

Zhou Yanning thought this variety of amnesia suited her perfectly. So once the decision was made, she began to turn her memory back to a year ago, and very "cooperatively" answered several of the doctor's questions.

The human brain was the most complex thing of all, after all; Zhou Yanning did not believe anyone could actually determine whether a person had truly lost their memory.