Chapter 68

Doudou, who was arranged by Jiang Yi to guard nearby and not allow anyone in, was completely shocked.

From a distance, she glanced at the idol she had voted for, then at the boyfriend of their own artist, who was even more handsome than the idol, before finally setting her eyes on Yang Yunran.

One was laughing, one had a cold face, and one looked like they were about to cry.

How could Yang Yunran have expected something like this to happen? He was now embarrassed to the point of blushing, hurriedly explaining to Jiang Yi, “He’s pestering me, Jiang Yi, don’t listen to him. I haven’t been in contact with him since late November last year, I blocked him a long time ago. Jiang Fan, you tell him, isn’t it true? Recently, I even told him not to contact me. Jiang Fan, didn’t I tell you to stay away from me?”

He spoke to both men at the same time.

Since hearing words like “not breaking up” and “third party,” Jiang Yi’s expression had already turned ugly.

But he didn’t question Yang Yunran, instead giving him a glance, pulling out his phone to take photos and videos of Jiang Fan, saying, “Jiang Yifan, half a year after breaking up with your ex, you came to make trouble at his place even though he’s settled down. It’s embarrassing for you.”

“What are you doing? Why are you recording? Don’t record!” Seeing Jiang Yi take out his phone to record, Jiang Fan immediately panicked, covering his face in horror. Just as he was about to put his mask back on, Jiang Yi grabbed his arm forcefully, preventing him from wearing the mask, and started recording his face, mocking coldly, “Didn’t you willingly obstruct the future? Can’t stand being seen in such an ugly state after interfering in a relationship? How much love do you have? Whatever you’re plotting, leave before I lose my temper.”

The other person acted like an aggressive journalist, making Jiang Fan break out in a cold sweat, “Don’t send it out! It’s not good for Yang Yunran either, I understand, I’ll leave.” He turned to Yang Yunran and said, “Darling… you…”

Yang Yunran raised his hand and said, “Stop. I’m not your darling, don’t call me that randomly. First of all, we haven’t been in contact for over eight months, Eight months, an ex, isn’t it as good as dead?”

Yang Yunran remembered how Jiang Fan had abandoned the original host, becoming Zhao Youmo’s lapdog, as mentioned in the original work, due to the exposure of the false young master’s identity, and the things the false young master had done were blacked out across the entire network. But if it’s true love, it’s impossible to leave like that.

So it’s not true love, just a tangle of interests.

Yang Yunran said, “Have you read the news online recently? My private plane was posted by a web celebrity named Zhao Youmo, and netizens suspect I’m impersonating the second generation of the rich. Didn’t I tell your agent? The fans were all right, don’t think about it, I don’t have money.”

Jiang Fan: “What’s wrong? She said that, isn’t that web celebrity just hyping it up?”

He thought Yang Yunran was making excuses and was forced to find a lame reason.

Yang Yunran took a deep breath and stood in front of him, saying, “No, really, I’m not from a wealthy family. I have no connection to any prominent family. It’s purely because I was mistakenly picked up by wealthy parents when I was born. My family is very ordinary; we just own a hair salon. The internet celebrity you mentioned is the real rich kid. By persisting like this, you might have misunderstood me as wealthy. I’m not. I don’t like you, and I won’t spend money on you either. Do you understand? If you do, leave and never appear in front of me again. Otherwise, I might end up borrowing money from you.”

Jiang Yi put down his phone as Yang Yunran spoke.

Jiang Fan’s face changed several times. Despite having seen Yang Yunran’s capabilities firsthand, his private jet, and having looked up his father online, he couldn’t believe such an absurd situation.

How could this be true?

Then Jiang Fan noticed that Yang Yunran was no longer dressed in branded clothing; he didn’t recognize the labels on his clothes, which seemed like something from an online marketplace. There was also a marked change in his demeanor, and he looked more attractive now.

He used to be arrogant; if annoyed, he would have slapped him.

Now suddenly he wasn’t arrogant anymore—was it because he lacked confidence?

“Regardless, we did love each other,” Jiang Fan tried to maintain his image of still loving him. Yang Yunran couldn’t stand it anymore and pointed to the door, “Get lost. If you don’t, I’ll call security.”

Jiang Fan left with the flowers in his arms.

Dou Dou looked heartbroken as her idol’s image collapsed in front of her.

When watching the show, she thought Jiang Fan was gentle, sunny, disciplined, and resilient, even competing while injured—truly the darling of the group.

She had been deceived once again. It turned out it was all scripted, all just an image.

Doudou tried hard to minimize her presence, striving not to disturb Yang Yunran and Jiang Yi.

After Jiang Fan left, the two had been staring at each other in silence for almost half a minute.

“Yang Yunran, don’t you have anything to say to me?” Jiang Yi looked down at him. Although he should have been disappointed, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh, feeling sorry for him being mistakenly raised and losing his family’s love.

“Haven’t I made it clear? He and I lost contact for eight months,” Yang Yunran didn’t want to take the blame for dating Jiang Fan and couldn’t deny it, so he didn’t mention it. “During these eight months, I met you and fell in love with you. Don’t you feel that? He went to Korea for training, then came back for a variety show. Maybe because of a lack of resources recently, he remembered me. This is the first time we’ve met in eight months. Did you see how quickly he left when I said I had no money?”

“Didn’t see each other for a day, and you talked on the phone with him for five hours? You call each other every night before sleeping, right?” Jiang Yi’s mouth twitched. He didn’t want to bring up such differences, but Yang Yunran was in a relationship with him. Being affectionate was one thing, but it had never been like this.

Yang Yunran blinked. “Let’s not discuss whether this is true or not. He’s all talk, can he be trusted? If you want to talk to me on the phone for five hours, what for? We’re not living together; rolling in bed for five hours is almost enough. As long as you can, I can.”

Jiang Yi stared at him steadily for a while.

As for Jiang Fan, Jiang Yi had no major doubts anymore. He came and went quickly. Yang Yunran’s refusal was also firm, not like someone trying to rekindle an old flame.

Jiang Yi asked, “Do you have any other exes named Evan? Are you collecting them?”

“No more, really no more, I swear. Whether they might pop up, I can’t say, but you should have some confidence in yourself, Teacher Jiang.”

There were quite a few exes, most relationships lasting less than a month. Yang Yunran took some time to sort through them, even finding it a headache when he saw them, saying, “Now there’s only you, one Evan.”

Whether to mention that Jiang Yi was also called Evan, similar to Jiang Fan’s stage name, Yang Yunran wouldn’t have mistaken him otherwise.

Various coincidences coming together seemed like destined fate.

Jiang Yi was the only person in his life who had no connection to his past self, only the closest person to Yang Yunran.

Others, more or less, were involved in the drama and had some relationship with the original host.

Except for Jiang Yi.

It was like gaining a new life after a stage accident, a gift from God.

“Don’t look at me, go back to work. We’ll talk later. Write down your exes for me later. What were they all doing? I need to be mentally prepared.” Jiang Yi lightly patted his head, leading him back to the studio.

Yang Yunran: “…………”

Why are there still men like this, asking him to list his exes on a form?

Even though Yang Yunran did indeed create a form…

“Can we skip this process?” Yang Yunran asked.

“No, we can’t.” Jiang Yi wanted the data.

Returning from the studio that night, Yang Yunran was forced to open his computer, facing Jiang Yi’s interrogation, answering on the spot with the notes open.

“First love… uh, was a high school classmate, surname Liang.”

Jiang Yi started searching: “English name?”

Yang Yunran: “Not sure.”

Using the name and the fact that Liang was Yang Yunran’s high school classmate, Jiang Yi quickly locked onto his first love. Jiang Yi showed no concern over this person’s photo.

“Now he’s a lawyer, phone number is 177xxxxxxxxx. Let’s check the contacts, see if I can find him.”

Not finding the lawyer Liang’s information in Yang Yunran’s phone, Jiang Yi said, “Next one.”

Yang Yunran flipped through the notes again, breaking into a sweat: “Also… also a high school classmate.”

Jiang Yi: “?”

Frowning, he asked, “You were so into relationships in high school? Didn’t study well?”

Yang Yunran shook his head, sincerely approaching Jiang Yi and saying, “Anyway, you’re the first boy I’ve truly liked. The others don’t count. In my memory, throughout my whole life, those people were just passing through, insignificant!”

Jiang Yi lowered his head and saw a furry head nestled into his arms.

His chin bumped against the head and he asked, “What about the third one, another high school classmate?”

“Let me check, wait a moment, I’ll go through the chat logs…” Yang Yunran confirmed, “Oh, this one was a university classmate, from Hong Kong.”

Jiang Yi asked, “What’s his name, his English name?”

“He’s called Huang Sizhe, ‘si’ as in ‘thinking’, ‘zhe’ as in ‘philosophy’, his English name seems to be Simon, yeah, that’s it.”

Jiang Yi checked for a while, “Is this it? Huang Sizhe?”

Yang Yunran looked at the photo, puzzled, “I’m not sure, is that what he’s called? I asked someone else too.”

Jiang Yi glanced at him.

Jiang Yi realized that Yang Yunran had absolutely no memory of these exes! He even seemed unfamiliar, as if he didn’t know them at all. He could mistake names and not recognize photos.

This felt unsettling to him; he suspected there was a problem with Yang Yunran’s memory.

So by the fourth ex, Jiang Yi intentionally used two incorrect photos to mislead Yang Yunran: “Which one of these two was your ex?”

Yang Yunran’s brow furrowed, his gaze shifting between the two photos repeatedly. Which one was more handsome…? They looked pretty similar. He couldn’t focus on other men.

Jiang Yi asked, “Can’t remember? This was from two years ago. Completely forgotten?”

Yang Yunran absentmindedly pointed at one, “I think it’s this one, I really can’t remember…”

Jiang Yi closed both photos and opened another, saying, “It’s this one.”

Yang Yunran looked puzzled for a few seconds, “Oh… right, this one.”

This one wasn’t it either—

Jiang Yi was sure now.

He turned Yang Yunran’s head, lightly pressing his thumb around his eye socket, “Does it hurt?”

“Not really…” Yang Yunran, sensitive, closed his eyes tightly.

Jiang Yi suspected it was a residual effect from the accident, a neurological issue affecting his brain’s memory. Yang Yunran had undergone eye removal surgery at age three; if it affected his memory in adulthood, it was often referred to as traumatic memory loss, possibly due to brain trauma causing memory loss or impairment.

“Your memory loss has been severe in recent years. Have you experienced amnesia?” He held Yang Yunran’s head with his five fingers, not a doctor but still professionally pressing lightly on his brain’s neural epidermis.

Yang Yunran’s heart jumped at the words, opening his eyes gently and continuing along with his words, “Possibly.”

“For how long?” Jiang Yi opened his computer to record, “When did you first notice it? Do you remember?”

“The first time, I don’t know, only the most recent time…”

“How recent was the last time, and why didn’t you tell me about this condition? What were you thinking?” Jiang Yi became serious.

Yang Yunran dodged the issue, “Jiang Yi… you seem like a doctor. I remember you in a white coat. If you were a doctor, you would definitely be handsome. Wow, everyone would like to have you check their body.”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Jiang Yi held his forehead helplessly and said, “Get to the point. How recent was the last time? Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the hospital to check your brain. You must have neurological aftereffects.”

Yang Yunran had thought about telling him about the amnesia but always felt that the reason was inappropriate and sounded fake like he was lying.

But since Jiang Yi had brought up the topic, it wasn’t appropriate for Yang Yunran to avoid it.

“The most recent time, I might have had some memory confusion, losing many memories of people and things around me, it was around the end of last year…” He looked up at Jiang Yi, hesitated for a long time, and finally boldly said, “I woke up one day and forgot a lot of things, like being reborn and becoming a different person. I didn’t dare to tell anyone, because I’m normal in other aspects. I heard from Zhao Youmo that I had a boyfriend named Evan, in the MIT life science lab… so I went to look for him.”

Jiang Yi had been typing away, but upon hearing this, he stopped abruptly. Even without Yang Yunran saying more, he knew exactly what absurd things Yang Yunran had done!

He stared firmly at Yang Yunran, pushing him away slightly with one hand, then gazed at him for a moment. “You mistook me for your ex-boyfriend Jiang Yifan, whom you lost contact with, and you thought I was him.”

Under the circumstances where they were not familiar at all, Yang Yunran’s somewhat boundary-crossing actions could be explained by memory distortion, mistaking himself for his boyfriend.

Yang Yunran nodded, looking somewhat nervous as he stared at Jiang Yi. “At first, that’s how it was. My memory was disordered, and I thought my boyfriend wasn’t a good person. But later, didn’t I find out the truth? You seem like a good person. It was my mistake… my memory isn’t good, please don’t blame me.”

“So you judged my character based on a mistake. Did you want to break up with me? Even after being together for so long, you never noticed any issues?” Jiang Yi finally understood the crux of their relationship with Yang Yunran. He also understood why he had doubted his own character at that time—it turned out Yang Yunran had mistaken him for someone else from the beginning!

It was incredulous to him. He turned to the side and asked, “Yang Yunran, did you always take me for that weirdo Jiang Yifan??”

Yang Yunran scratched his head. “Ah… I accidentally got it wrong, sorry. With my memory disorder, you can’t blame me. Besides, you were so nice to me from the beginning, taking me to the movies and even helping me with my clothes and backpack.”

Jiang Yi’s expression turned cold. “We look so different. How could you mistake me?” Was he on the same level of appearance as Jiang Yifan?

Yang Yunran rubbed his head. “It’s a bit absurd. Zhao Youmo said my boyfriend was very handsome, so I went after the most handsome one. You’re the most handsome! How could I doubt your handsomeness? I can’t remember things from before, neither about my exes, so you’re my first love, the first guy I fell in love with… I haven’t dated anyone else, oh.” He chuckled towards his boyfriend, “Jiang Yi, are you happy to hear this?”

Jiang Yi shook his head expressionlessly. “No.”

“Why?” Yang Yunran said, “I’m telling the truth, you don’t think I’m bluffing, do you?”

“Your first memory lapse might lead to a second, and this might not be the first time. What if you mistake someone again?” Jiang Yi frowned. “I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow for a brain CT scan.”

Yang Yunran replied nervously, “It’s not… not that serious, right?” He noticed Jiang Yi’s expression. “Okay, let’s do it. You should feel assured.”

“You being sick doesn’t mean anything to me,” Jiang Yi’s tone turned cold, his anger evident. “With such a serious issue, you not only didn’t tell me but also kept it from your family. Yang Yunran, you’re being too stubborn. I’m heading back to Beijing the day after tomorrow, and I won’t leave until I see your scan. I won’t be at ease otherwise.”

The next day, Yang Yunran obediently accompanied him to the hospital for the brain CT scan. After the procedure, he put his prosthetic eye back on and asked the female doctor, “When you tell my family about the scan results later, could you please not mention my eye?”

Yang Yunran was nervous, as he disliked discussing it in front of others, but with the doctor… it was inevitable.

The doctor showed a hint of sympathy that made Yang Yunran uncomfortable and said, “Is that a prosthetic eye? It’s very well made.”

Yang Yunran clenched his jaw and replied with a forced “Thank you.”

As he had instructed, the doctor refrained from mentioning it, briefly commenting on Yang Yunran’s scan. Jiang Yi pointed to a small, distinct calcification on the left side of the brain CT. “This calcified spot here is from a childhood accident.”

Then, she pointed to shadows around the right eye socket. “Localized abnormal soft tissue density, creates a noticeable contrast with the surrounding normal brain tissue. Traumatic amnesia could be caused by compression of nerves due to this soft tissue density.”

The doctor, having her words preempted, asked hesitantly, “… Are you in radiology too?”

“No,” Jiang Yi replied confidently, having studied the topic the previous night. “Do you have anything else to add?”

The doctor shook her head. “Um, you’ve covered it… Traumatic amnesia from a childhood accident is possible in adulthood, but it’s usually temporary and unlikely to persist indefinitely. Of course, there are exceptions.”

Jiang Yi asked, “What about personality changes after amnesia?”

The doctor nodded, “That’s also a reasonable possibility.”

Jiang Yi pressed further, “Could there be another bout of amnesia?”

“Honestly, it’s unlikely, but we can’t rule out the possibility,” the doctor replied.

Jiang Yi seemed to hear this and not hear it at the same time. After taking the CT scan, he took Yang Yunran out of the hospital. “I’m heading back tomorrow, I’ll consult with a specialist about your scans again. If there’s time, we’ll get an MRI done.”

It was clear Jiang Yi was concerned for him and his health. Yang Yunran couldn’t refuse and agreed.

The next day, he saw Jiang Yi off at the airport.

Yang Yunran handed Jiang Yi his boarding pass and looked surprised, “This time, you booked business class? I was going to upgrade for you.”

“Economy class is tough on my back. I won’t fly it again,” Jiang Yi replied. Despite both wearing hats and masks and Jiang Yi preparing them, the two handsome men couldn’t exactly keep a low profile.

So, they couldn’t hold hands in public. Until the security check, Yang Yunran pretended to help him lock his luggage, accidentally brushing his fingers against Jiang Yi’s hand.

One touch, and they separated. Jiang Yi’s fingers twitched, intending to gently squeeze his hand, but Yang Yunran left too quickly.

Yang Yunran couldn’t escort him any further. Standing at the gate, he watched Jiang Yi pass through security and wave goodbye, urging him to go home.

It was too hot outside.

Yang Yunran didn’t want to linger either. Not until Jiang Yi was out of sight did he sadly leave the airport and find Doudou and the nanny’s car.

This car was arranged by his real father, Xu Xing, who had been picking him up and dropping him off recently.

Very luxurious and comfortable, Yang Yunran liked it a lot and decided to work hard to buy one himself because his dog obviously liked such a spacious car, not the cramped small business car he had before.

“Brother Ran, this is the mask you asked me to bring you earlier, Yuduo,” Doudou pulled a box out of his backpack. “It’s a gift set from their PR.”

“I heard their brand includes a missing person notice in every box?” Yang Yunran said, opening the gift box, tightly bound inside with several cards, except for the brand’s advertising and after-sales cards, there was a missing person notice.

Yang Yunran picked it up and looked at it, expecting to see Zhao Youmo whom Yang Wanyu was looking for, but instead saw a strange little girl in the photo, indicating the child had been missing in Henan for thirty years.

The founder of the brand used the brand’s influence to search for her missing child and others in need in society. Yang Yunran was deeply moved by this. “The founder’s name is Yang Wanyu, right? She’s a very kind person.”

Doudou nodded, “She signed with our company’s artists before, and she even came to our annual meeting. I secretly took a photo of her backstage. She’s truly a gentle lady.”

Yang Yunran turned his head. “You took a photo? Let me see.”

Doudou quickly opened the album and flipped through it. “It’s been a while… Here, take a look.”

Yang Yunran took the phone and zoomed in. He froze on the spot as if struck by lightning. “She is…”

Doudou said, “Yang Wanyu, the outstanding female entrepreneur nationwide.”

In the photo, Yang Wanyu was wearing a white professional suit, sitting in the audience. The photographer captured her warm smile, and the image was projected on the big screen. She exuded a stable aura that shone brightly, despite not wearing any jewelry.

This face, this familiar photo, and this familiar person brought Yang Yunran’s memory back to his childhood. Back then, there was no online appointment system. To get a specialist appointment, they often stayed up all night on weekends. His mother would bring blankets and sleep on the hospital floor overnight, while Yang Yunran finished his homework early. He liked hiding his face in her embrace, listening to people around him walk by, coughing, sighing, and getting water.

His eyesight was poor, but his hearing was keen. He felt uneasy around crowds and enjoyed listening to the sounds of collisions and crisp noises, which formed a melody.

Yang Yunran overheard a strange uncle saying to his child, “You’re too noisy. You woke Grandma up. Go play by yourself or find other kids to play with.”

Yang Yunran sat on the side wearing a hood, playing with his small toy car. The little kid approached him, seemingly wanting to play with his car too. He squatted down and said, “I have a car like yours, but it’s much bigger and the same color as yours.”

Yang Yunran didn’t look up, his small hand resting on his toy, and he didn’t respond.

The child saw his face and suddenly screamed.