Chapter 53
Modern Story
Extra 9

Lin Qiwu immediately demonstrated what “ecstatic” meant, letting out an excited scream that nearly deafened a certain male college student.

Li Yunxi left Gu Yuwen and ran over, “What happened, what happened?”

Lin Qiwu shared the good news with Li Yunxi and then looked around, spotting their homeroom teacher.

Seeing her reaction, Li Yunxi guessed what she was planning and calculated the time, “There are still four hours until evening study.”

Lin Qiwu lowered her voice, “That’s enough. I’ll just call a car and go.”

She was about to climb over the school wall to get to the hospital to see her brother, but unfortunately, she failed because she and Li Yunxi hadn’t turned off their phones while conspiring, allowing Lin Yan’an to overhear.

Earlier that semester, Lin Qiwu had caused trouble at school. When the teacher called her home, they couldn’t reach anyone, so Lin Qiwu boldly gave Lin Yan’an’s phone number to the homeroom teacher, who pretended to be her guardian and helped her get away with it. As a result, Lin Yan’an had the homeroom teacher’s phone number. One call later, Lin Qiwu, who was about to climb the wall, was caught red-handed.

Knowing from Lin Yan’an that Lin Qiwu wanted to visit her brother in the hospital, the homeroom teacher didn’t scold her too harshly but emphasized safety issues. She reminded Lin Qiwu that as a boarding student, running out like that could lead to accidents and even mentioned previous incidents to educate her.

The homeroom teacher lectured for a long time, and Lin Qiwu, head down, didn’t say a word, mentally tearing Lin Yan’an to pieces and stomping on the fragments.

Fortunately, that evening, her aunt called. When Lin Qiwu expressed her desire to visit her brother in the hospital, her aunt agreed and asked her second brother, Gu Chi, to pick her up.

As soon as she got in the car, she asked, “How is Big Brother now?”

Gu Chi replied, “He’s awake but still can’t speak. The doctor said it’s normal and will take time to recover.”

Lin Qiwu nodded.

At the hospital, her brother had just woken up but soon fell asleep again. Her aunt, Gu Shu, busy with work, took her out for a late-night snack before catching a flight.

Although Lin Qiwu was still a high school student, she knew that her aunt and older brother managed many of the family businesses. Her second brother was still studying abroad and wouldn’t have returned to help if it weren’t for the car accident. After seeing her older brother, she felt reassured and returned to school without causing any more trouble.

The school had a two-week break, and when the weekend finally arrived, she had the family driver take her to the hospital. Her aunt and second brother were busy with work, so her uncle was taking care of things at the hospital. Her uncle was a musician, the most leisurely member of their family.

“Can Big Brother talk now?” On the way to the ward, Lin Qiwu asked her uncle, Lin Huaijin.

Lin Huaijin replied, “He can talk now, but his memory is a bit confused, and he still needs time to recover.”

“Confused memory? He won’t forget who I am, will he?” Lin Qiwu worried for a moment, then added, “If I tell him he never hired a tutor for me because of my poor grades, will he believe it?”

Lin Huaijin said, “Whether your brother believes it or not, I don’t know, but your aunt definitely won’t.”

In the ward, Lin Que, who had noticeably lost weight after a month, sat blankly on the hospital bed.

Lin Qiwu cautiously approached and called out, “Brother?”

Lin Que looked up at her with familiar eyes, showing no signs of memory problems. She asked again, “Do you still remember who I am?”

Lin Que retorted, “Lin Qiwu, don’t you think that’s a silly question?”

Lin Qiwu leaned back, “No memory problems, huh.”

There were still some issues, but most had been resolved. The most important thing now was—

“Where’s my phone?” Lin Que asked his father.

Lin Huaijin replied, “You don’t need to worry about company matters. Your priority is to recover.”

Lin Que smiled, “Dad, I’m not as dedicated as you think.”

“I just remembered I haven’t called my girlfriend to let her know I’m okay.”

“She’s probably worried sick.”

Lin Qiwu exclaimed, “Wow.”

Lin Huaijin was surprised to learn his eldest son had a girlfriend. He bent down, took a phone from the bedside cabinet, and handed it over, asking, “When did you start dating?”

Lin Que took the phone, “A long time ago.”

As the phone powered on, Lin Que, almost talking to himself, murmured, “A very long time ago.”

He didn’t open the contacts but instead opened the dial pad and entered a string of numbers.

…

Working overtime on the weekend, Li Mu didn’t go to the company cafeteria for lunch. She opened a pack of soda crackers at her desk. While eating, she opened Weibo to check her private messages.

A month ago, the author of “Drunken Phoenix” publicly apologized. The apology screenshot was posted in the thread where people had previously complained about the novel, and Li Mu saw it.

The apology was about the novel infringing on someone’s reputation, but it was vague. Many comments in the thread pieced together the whole story. In short, the author had used her cousin’s classmate as the model for the antagonist, without changing the names, and killed off the entire family in the story.

[Using high school conflicts as a basis and writing such a tragic story, how despicable. No wonder it got locked.]

[I read this novel. Lin’s death was satisfying, but thinking about the real high school student it was based on, it’s infuriating.]

The thread had grown significantly because of this incident. Li Mu, who had never sent a private message due to her social anxiety, sent one for the first time. She edited and re-edited the content multiple times before sending it.

She knew it was a long shot, but at least she confirmed that Lin Que existed in this world. She realized that the person she saw at the car accident scene was most likely Lin Que.

Did Lin Que not contact her because he was injured in the accident and couldn’t call? Or did he not know she existed in this world, or perhaps didn’t remember her? Or maybe the Lin Que in this world was just a namesake and had no connection to the Lin Que she knew?

Li Mu considered all possibilities except the chance that he might have died in the accident.

After eating a few crackers, Li Mu went to the break room to get a cup of warm water. Just as she set the cup down, her phone vibrated. She took it out and saw an unknown number on the screen. She quickly answered—

“Hello, this is X Express. You have a package at the door.”

Li Mu replied with difficulty, “Please leave it at the front desk.”

After hanging up, she checked her shopping records and confirmed that she had noted not to call her for deliveries, asking them to leave packages at the front desk or the parcel station. She didn’t understand why the courier still called.

Before she could put her phone down, it vibrated again. This time, it was a voice call from her mother.

Li Mu didn’t want to answer. Since the car accident, her mother had suddenly started urging her to find a partner and get married. Knowing her situation, her mother had even arranged blind dates for her. In just a month, she had sent her three contact cards via WeChat.

Li Mu hadn’t added any of them. She sipped her water, waiting for the phone to stop ringing. When it finally did, a second voice call came through.

Li Mu put down her cup, took her phone and earphones, and went to the stairwell.

“I sent you a few contacts. Add them. They are all good matches, found through your Uncle Zhao. They have good family backgrounds and character.”

“I’m not saying you have to establish a relationship right away. Just make friends. If it works out, great. If not, just don’t reply. What’s so difficult about that?”

Hearing no response from Li Mu, her mother added pressure, “I’ve already spoken to their parents. And you won’t even add them? Who taught you to be so rude?”

Yes, who indeed?

Li Mu laughed, but her mood had already plummeted to a new low. Her words could become quite harsh when she was in a bad mood. So she bluntly asked, “Mom, are you thinking that once I’m married, if I get into another car accident, you won’t have to go through the trouble of coming over?”

The other end of the line went silent.

Li Mu sat on the stairs, took a deep breath, and wanted to say more, but she couldn’t find the words, so she hung up.

Her mom didn’t call back, but her phone vibrated again.

It was an unknown number.

Li Mu didn’t feel the same urgency as before when seeing an unknown number. She stared at the phone screen for a few seconds, wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and answered the call.

…

Lin Que’s memory hadn’t fully recovered. He couldn’t even remember the full eleven-digit phone number. He mixed up the last two digits, so he tried each number one by one. By the end, Lin Qiwu was starting to doubt if her brother had been lying in bed too long and imagined having a girlfriend.

But Lin Que was determined and didn’t mind the trouble, trying again and again.

Lin Huaijin thought about it and decided to inform his wife, Gu Shu, about the situation, so he went to the corridor to make a call.

Lin Que continued trying numbers in the ward, with Lin Qiwu watching him. He dialed another number, and after a long wait, it was answered, but no one spoke. Both sides were silent until Lin Que finally spoke, unsure if the number was correct. He politely and formally said, “Hello, may I ask…”

In the company stairwell, the familiar voice came through the earphones, and Li Mu, unprepared, burst into tears.

On the other end, Lin Que’s voice suddenly stopped. After a long silence, he heard sobbing through the phone. His heart ached, and his vision blurred with tears.

“Weixi?” he asked softly.

Li Mu couldn’t stop crying. Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she nodded and gave a heavy “Mm.”

…

Lin Qiwu floated out of the ward as if she had seen a ghost.

Her big brother cried?

Her big brother actually cried?

He cried, right???

After finishing his overseas call with his wife, Lin Huaijin saw Lin Qiwu’s expression and thought something had happened to Lin Que. He opened the door to check and saw his eldest son smiling gently, speaking softly into the phone. His eyes were slightly red and moist, and he looked at the swaying branches outside the window as if gazing at his beloved with eyes full of tender affection.

Both uncle and niece stood at the door, feeling that entering would be inappropriate.

Inside the room, under Li Mu’s questioning, Lin Que confessed his injuries from the car accident—

“Rib fractures and some minor cuts, a few stitches, nothing serious. I’m not lying to you; I’m almost healed.”

“The worst pain was when I was unconscious.”

“Yes, I slept for a month. When I first woke up, I couldn’t speak or move, didn’t even know who I was, and my memory was a mess.”

“The hospital said my brain was fine, no hematomas or anything. Several experts couldn’t find the cause. I might need to switch hospitals for further examination.”

Listening to Li Mu’s stern yet tearful voice, Lin Que thought she was adorable. How could she be so cute?

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the door and said to Li Mu on the phone, “Wait a moment.”

Then he asked Lin Qiwu, “Qiwu, do you have earphones?”

Lin Qiwu quickly took a pair of Bluetooth earphones from her backpack and handed them over.

Lin Que put on the earphones, continued the call, and operated his phone, adding Li Mu on WeChat. After connecting, they shared their locations and home addresses, fearing that if the call ended, they might lose contact again.