Not long after, Yan Siyu texted and said to the group that the opportunity was given to Shi Sheng.

“Forget it, Yan Jie. There are so many voice actors in our studio. You can find someone else. I’m afraid my bad condition will affect the overall performance of the radio drama.”

“It’s okay. We all know it’s not easy for you right now. Everyone will help you together.” Yan Siyu smiled faintly over the phone. “How much progress can you make by self-study alone? With us, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

“But what if…”

“There’s no ‘what if’. Actually, even if you don’t take ‘Qingshou’, a few voice actors in the studio have already agreed to help you recover as soon as possible. You just need to know that this is not the studio’s compensation for you.”

Yan Siyu sent over a list and a schedule.

“Clock in for morning exercises starting from tomorrow, from 6 to 8 every evening, they will take turns to train you.”

“No need to waste so much manpower, Yan Jie,” Shi Sheng was slightly stunned. “Hello? Hello?”

“Why do I feel like the world suddenly became brighter as soon as those two left?” Shi Sheng muttered to himself after putting down his phone.

Lu Lin listened and laughed.

On the other side, Wu Nan er admitted that he sent the recording. To express his gratitude, Shi Sheng politely invited him to dinner. Seeing this, Lu Lin took the phone and sent a voice message: “He’s already asleep. Talk about it tomorrow.”

With a click, the message was sent right in front of the main character, and Shi Sheng raised an eyebrow at Lu Lin. He was clearly feeling jealous again.

“What’s up? Just exercising my boyfriend rights.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Shi Sheng muttered quietly, then saw Lu Lin looking at him lightly.

He bit his lip, well, after these days of getting along, it seemed that he did have some feelings for Lu Lin, otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten along so well on a daily basis. But whether to confirm this relationship or not, Shi Sheng still wanted to hesitate a bit.

Shi Sheng had no idea that Lu Lin’s seemingly indifferent gaze was actually full of tension.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Otherwise, should he tease Lu Lin again? Truly admitting that he was his boyfriend, living under the same roof and accidentally igniting the fire would not be too good. It would be living in the same dormitory, on the same bed, as night fell, with weight on his body, accompanied by the creaking sound of the bed, ambiguous gasps intertwined… Shi Sheng began to blush heavily.

He privately declared himself to be the king of imagination.

Lu Lin coldly snorted, pointed to his own eyes, then pointed to Shi Sheng.

Shi Sheng raised his hands in surrender.

“What, are you planning to sleep with me first and then fall in love, or are you going to have a few more single parties in the secular world?” Lu Lin didn’t believe that Shi Sheng had no feelings for him at all. Seizing this opportunity, he decided to establish their relationship clearly, which was the best strategy.

“What’s yours is yours. If it’s not yours…” Shi Sheng swallowed the second half of the sentence under Lu Lin’s fierce gaze. “It’s all yours, it’s all yours… What’s the rush?”

Lu Lin understood. Shi Sheng’s affection wasn’t deep enough yet; he wanted to play a little tug-of-war.

“Be careful,” Shi Sheng suddenly received a strong flick on his forehead, he covered his forehead and shrank his head, hearing Lu Lin softly adding, “”Playing with fire will get you burned.”

Shi Sheng sneaked a glance at him but didn’t see any signs of sadness on his face, so he relaxed.

However, in other circumstances, wouldn’t someone who had lost their memory and didn’t recognize their partner have to be pinned down and beaten on the bed? He rubbed his chin, surprised by Lu Lin’s patience.

Before long, Lu Lin finished filling out during the day, while dragging the task list, the lights in the dormitory were turned off.

Shi Sheng lay on the bed playing with his phone. Suddenly, the bed creaked, the covers were lifted, and a warm chest pressed against his back. He turned around and met Lu Lin’s calm expression.

“If we don’t define our relationship, it’s fine. Can we still share a bed?” Lu Lin took away his phone, hugged his waist tightly, with a hint of aggression. “Come on, give me some face.”

Shi Sheng choked, “…but this is clearly a single bed.”

If it was just one time, it would have been fine, but why did he have to squeeze in every day?

Lu Lin nodded, “You’re right.”

“Right about what!” Shi Sheng wrinkled his nose, trying to sound tough. “Go sleep in your own bed, stop crowding me.”

However, Lu Lin just held him, unmoving, and closed his eyes. “Goodnight.”

In the darkness, the master of deceit fell asleep instantly, and the world became extremely quiet. Only Shi Sheng, being held in his arms, was fully awake at this moment.

He tried to reach for his phone, but the “sleeping” Lu Lin grabbed his hand in his “sleep.”

And incidentally, their fingers intertwined.

Shi Sheng: “…”

---

Early the next morning, Lu Lin had a day off, so Shi Sheng got up to do morning exercises, punched in, and had some soup dumplings for breakfast before going out to meet Wu Nan er.

Of course, he had to report to a certain jealous guy before leaving.

There weren’t many people in the café at the moment. Sitting by the glass window, watching the falling leaves outside, with melodious music playing in the background, Shi Sheng transferred from his wheelchair to a chair. Wu Nan er ordered an Americano and a cappuccino.

“The studio has decided to expel Fu Xin and Zhou Hancun,” he said, raising his glasses and looking sincerely at Shi Sheng. “I’m sorry, Shi Sheng. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have let them have this opportunity to mess with you.”

“Isn’t just expelling them a bit too lenient?”

Wu Nan er was stunned, “we were colleagues after all, we shouldn’t be too ruthless. Aren’t you afraid they’ll retaliate against you for doing this?”

Shi Sheng looked at him in confusion, “But they’ve never been afraid that I would retaliate against them.”

Wu Nan er stopped, not knowing what else to say.

Shi Sheng actually couldn’t quite figure him out. When he discovered his alcohol allergy at the dinner table, Wu Nan er’s impulsive anger seemed genuine. But after calming down, his behavior became more cautious and hesitant.

Even when exposing Fu Xin and Zhou Hancun’s recording, it was done through someone else’s account in the work group.

He had always been curious about Wu Nan er’s awkward concern for him. He always felt that it wasn’t as simple as Lu Lin said, just liking him.

“About the recording, I want to thank you.” Shi Sheng said sincerely. “You’ve saved me a lot of trouble by doing that. But I still want to ask, what’s your reason for helping me?”

Wu Nan er’s pupils contracted, then he smiled, “Do I need a reason to help you? Aren’t we friends?”

Shi Sheng tapped the table. “I think it’s more than that.”

A gust of wind blew outside, swirling the dry leaves around. The smile on Wu Nan er’s lips stiffened, appearing somewhat at a loss.

“Because of some things, I’ve always felt guilty.” Wu Nan er finally looked at him and said, “It was because I didn’t stand up for you at the beginning, so now, no matter what, I want to do my best to help you.”

“You know, I don’t remember anything.” Shi Sheng raised his eyebrows, mimicking Lu Lin’s expression. “Tell me, I want to hear it.”

In the garage, Lu Lin leaned against the wall with one hand in his trouser pocket, scrolling through his phone. Eventually, he put out his cigarette and rode off on his motorcycle.

How long does he plan to chat with that guy surnamed Wu?

And in the café, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Variations were playing. Wu Nan er took a sip of his Americano and set it down. Shi Sheng felt like he had just had a distant dream.

He returned to that place surrounded by green trees, where the cicadas chirped with the end-of-class bell, and the basketball bounced off the ground. Suddenly, it was kicked into a bucket, producing a loud noise.

“You were more delicate-looking than many girls at that time, good grades, good temperament… Everywhere you went, you were the center of attention,” Wu Nan er whispered beside him. “But sometimes, the more outstanding a person is, the more likely they are to attract envy and jealousy.”

“The bullies often cornered you in the boys’ restroom or some corner. Sometimes they would directly attack you in the classroom. Sometimes they would smear lipstick, used by girls, on your mouth as humiliation.”

In the darkness, the metal bucket toppled over, the basketball bounced away, and the person bound in the corner raised their head, revealing a pair of eyes with pitch-black pupils.

A tall figure cast a shadow, blocking out the last ray of light. Before the light disappeared completely, Wu Nan er stood stunned outside the door, watching the door slowly close. Dull thuds accompanied by muffled groans echoed inside the door, as fingers curled up and dug into the sand, struggling and pleading.

“Nan er!”

However, the person outside the door trembled but dared not take another step.

Shi Sheng suddenly woke up, only to find himself propping up his head, as if he had just slept briefly and quickly awakened. He raised his head, not knowing when Wu Nan er had stopped speaking. The afternoon sunlight was reflected in his golden-rimmed glasses.

It was about school bullying.

Shi Sheng leaned back in the chair, his brain perhaps having made a rare turn, feeling exhausted. But he did remember quite a bit.

His best friend turned a blind eye to his plight, and Shi Sheng finally understood what was hidden in Wu Nan er’s eyes. Beneath the awkward care was the burden of many years of guilt. Perhaps that plea haunted him forever, making him feel forever indebted.

In several subsequent instances when Wu Nan er woke up from dreams, he couldn’t forget that scene, the pleading.

Shi Sheng never had him by his side again, always avoiding him. That phrase “best friend” seemed to have become a joke. In many years to come, only he remembered it from the stories.

“I owe you an apology, but I never had the chance to say it.”

Until later, when that person appeared, he did what he had never dared to do.

The wind stopped, and the leaves outside stopped falling. Shi Sheng finished listening, but had no memory of what happened next.

It was strange. Although it had happened before, it seemed so distant to him now. He just wondered if Lu Lin was getting impatient waiting for him.

Shi Sheng shook his head, smiled, and slowly stood up with his hands on the table. “I thought it was something serious? It’s okay, it’s all in the past.”

Wu Nan er looked at him in surprise, but Shi Sheng’s eyes were clear, without a hint of blame.

“You—”

“Although I can’t remember, rest assured, people should always look forward,” Shi Sheng looked up at someone coming from across the traffic lights and chuckled, “That’s the way it should be.”

It seemed he had realized the benefits of amnesia. Separated parents, the bullying he endured, and the guilt of others over the years were reconciled under the erosion of time. The bits of the past revealed brought him no pain but rather taught him a lesson.

To live in the moment.

Lu Lin walked in, the bell on the door jingling. Shi Sheng elegantly turned his wheelchair around and waved to him.

“Don’t worry too much, I’ve already forgotten,” he said to Wu Nan er. Shi Sheng looked up at Lu Lin approaching, “I saw they’re selling candied haws over there when I came in. Let’s go buy some!”

“Sure.”

The afternoon was peaceful as Lu Lin pushed the wheelchair away, chatting with Shi Sheng.

Wu Nan er sat still in his seat, as if a heavy stone that had been pressing on his heart for ten years suddenly crumbled.

And at the end of the story, a figure rushed down the corridor, bumping into the stunned Wu Nan er.

Young Lu Lin fiercely beat up those few people, then squatted down to look at Shi Sheng in the corner.

“Hey, little trouble maker, are you okay?”