“Did you know that Pei Yanchu had an accident and lost his memory?”
“Really? When did this happen?”
“I went to visit a relative in the international hospital’s inpatient department, and I happened to run into Pei Yanchu. I greeted him, but he actually asked me who I was.”
“Are you sure he’s not pretending to have amnesia to avoid you?”
“He and Xiao^[1]Little Qi were famous enemies in high school. We’re all good friends with Xiao Qi, so maybe he was pretending not to know him.”
“I suspected that too, so I wrote down his bed number and asked at the nurse’s station. The nurse first asked me if I was his friend. He hadn’t paid his hospital fees for two weeks, so I quickly left.”
“The once arrogant Pei Yanchu has fallen so low?”

The small group of four was refreshing their messages on the phone.
“Tsk, Pei Yanchu was so popular in high school, always surrounded by friends. How did he end up like this so quickly?”
“I even heard about the personnel changes in the Pei family’s corporation while I was abroad. Pei Yanchu got sidelined by his uncle, and his position was taken away. He’s probably bankrupt by now.”
“If I were Pei Yanchu, I would pretend to have amnesia too if I ran into old classmates after falling so low.”

The other three were discussing it enthusiastically, while Wen Qi hadn’t said anything yet. The friend who started the conversation privately messaged Wen Qi:
“Xiao Qi, did you see the messages in the group?”
Wen Qi replied:
“I saw.”
His eyes lowered as he typed:
“The international hospital, right? I’m nearby. Which floor is Pei Yanchu on? Send me his room number.”

The other side replied in surprise:
“What are you planning to do?”
Wen Qi:
“I just want to see what game Pei Yanchu is playing—whether it’s real amnesia or fake.”

Upon seeing the message, Wen Qi’s first reaction was—disbelief. After all, this was Pei Yanchu.

The Pei family’s patriarch made his fortune by flipping properties, taking advantage of the times. After founding the Peize Group, he made broad investments across various fields, with many relatives involved, and the family’s power was deeply rooted. The Pei family’s influence and fortune were massive, and at one point, their name shone like gold. Pei Yanchu’s father, the current leader of Peize, attracted attention from everyone around him, with even the school’s board of directors receiving investments from the family.

Pei Yanchu grew up surrounded by praise, with a handsome and captivating appearance. He was carefree and arrogant, as if everyone owed him something. And his mouth… was especially irritating.

A trace of dislike flashed in Wen Qi’s eyes.

Ding— The machine’s female voice softly announced the arrived floor as the elevator doors slowly opened.
A young man in his twenties appeared in the elevator. He was tall and slim, with chestnut-colored hair that shimmered in the light, wearing a white sweatshirt. His long pants accentuated his straight, slender legs. He raised his head, revealing a pair of delicate eyebrows and eyes that, despite being covered by a black mask, were calm and emotionless.

Wen Qi walked towards the inpatient area, his phone displaying a string of numbers sent by the other side.
“713, 715, 717…”

Wen Qi slowed his steps in front of room 717, where he could hear the nurse’s voice.
“Bed 1502, your prepaid hospital fees have run out. Please make sure to pay soon!”

Then a deep male voice responded apologetically:
“Sorry, it might take a few more days. My cousin said he would pay my hospital fees, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with him. Once I borrow the money, I’ll pay immediately.”

Pei Yanchu… actually apologized?

Wen Qi raised his eyebrows slightly.

A car accident, and his personality changes too? The sound of a small wheel rolling across the floor echoed. Wen Qi took a few steps back, moved aside to let the nurse push the small cart past, and after she left, he entered the hospital room.

The international hospital is a private one with expensive fees. The medical staff is top-notch, and the medical equipment is at the forefront of international standards. The decor of the rooms resembles that of hotel suites. It was around two or three in the afternoon, the light was bright, and the ginkgo tree outside the window shimmered with golden light. The patient stood alone by the window, his back looking lonely in the vast hospital room. He heard footsteps and turned to see Wen Qi. Wen Qi instinctively slowed his pace.

The man in front of him was tall, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead. His handsome, deep features looked fragile due to the hospital gown. When he saw Wen Qi, he paused for a moment, then politely asked, “Who are you?” He was playing the part well.

Wen Qi scoffed and didn’t answer. He scanned the room, looking for clues about his act of amnesia. His gaze landed on a basket of mangoes on the table, and his expression flickered with surprise. Even he knew that Pei Yanchu was allergic to mangoes—who came to visit him with a whole bag of mangoes?

Wen Qi furrowed his brow and asked, “Who bought you the mangoes?”

He asked bluntly, and Pei Yanchu wasn’t bothered. He replied, “My cousin bought them when he came to visit me last time.”

He smiled and slowly reminisced, “He’s such a good guy. When I first woke up, he was running around, taking care of me personally. Even the mangoes were peeled and handed to me.”

Then his tone shifted, and he sighed, “Unfortunately, my cousin has been too busy recently to visit me, and he forgot to transfer the hospital fee.”

Wen Qi’s expression turned odd. Pei Yanchu’s authority had been usurped by his uncle, and now the cousin he was referring to must be his uncle’s son.

Wen Qi asked, “Did you eat the mangoes?”

“Yes,” Pei Yanchu nodded as if it were obvious. “But I had an allergic shock from eating them. But I can’t blame him, after all, it’s something even I didn’t know.”

Wen Qi’s voice was clear like a mountain spring, with a hint of unmasked sarcasm. “Pei Yanchu, did you have a car accident and lose your IQ too?”

He took off his mask, continuing, “Your mango allergy was so severe that you ended up in the hospital. Your cousin not knowing about it is truly suspicious. I think you might as well stop waiting for him to come and pay your hospital bills and instead ask if they hire part-time workers here. After all, you were once the CEO of Peize; you can’t just skip out on your hospital bill, right?”

Pei Yanchu remained quiet, watching him with a faint smile in his eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are very beautiful?”

Wen Qi’s words suddenly caught in his throat. His eyes widened, and an indescribable anger surged, coloring his face.

Back in high school, when Pei Yanchu climbed over the wall into the school campus and landed on the path, the first thing he said to Wen Qi was exactly this! Not a word had changed.

Pei Yanchu was doing this on purpose!

Wen Qi’s eyes gleamed with fury, shining with a flicker of sparkling light. He gritted his teeth and asked, “Pei Yanchu, are you really suffering from amnesia or just pretending?”

Back in high school, when Pei Yanchu saw him angry, he would smile and tease him, “Why aren’t you happy with the compliment?” This time, Pei Yanchu also noticed the displeasure on Wen Qi’s face and asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

The completely different response awakened a few fragments of reason in Wen Qi. His anger subsided a little, and he said, “I don’t like it when people say I’m pretty.”

Pei Yanchu smiled and replied, “So bossy, you don’t even let people say you’re pretty. Fine, I won’t say it then.” He asked again, “You’ve been here for so long, you should tell me your name by now.”

Wen Qi pressed his lips together, speaking stiffly, “We’re not that familiar. I’m just passing by, I’ll leave soon. No need to share my name.”

Pei Yanchu’s eyes gradually dimmed, his expression turning desolate. “I thought… you were my friend.”

Wen Qi furrowed his brow, feeling uneasy, everything about this situation felt off. What happened to the Pei Yanchu he knew? Where did the arrogance go? And where were all his many friends who used to follow him around like a flock of geese? Was it really true that when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter?

Pei Yanchu’s voice sounded lonely. “Well, at least I met someone new after waking up. Can you at least tell me your last name?”

Wen Qi looked away, uncomfortable. “…My last name is Wen, Wen from ‘Ting Wen’.” It made it seem like they were meeting for the first time. But back then, when Pei Yanchu had asked for his name, he hadn’t given it, and after a fight, they were caught by the supervising teacher. Now, today, he was giving his surname.

Pei Yanchu seemed thoughtful. “Is the ‘Wen school beauty’ in my phone contacts you?”

Wen Qi’s anger flared up again. “Try calling me that again, I dare you.”

Back in high school, there was some competition for the title of “school beauty,” and someone had posted a picture of him in class and submitted it under the school beauty category. By the time he found out, his votes were so high that he was far ahead of the second place, with a margin of over two thousand votes. He was a grown man—what was he doing being called a school beauty?! Furious, he found the account that had uploaded the picture and had the admin track down the ID overnight. — It was Pei Yanchu. The post for “school beauty” was deleted, but the title stuck with him for three years.

All those past incidents had quietly been covered up by the passage of time, but now, after only a few words exchanged, two old grudges were reignited, flaring up in anger.

Pei Yanchu innocently held up his phone, adding fuel to the fire. “Are you sure it’s not you? Let me make a call and see.”

Wen Qi snapped back, “Wait, how do you even have my contact information?”

Pei Yanchu replied, “I have over 800 people in my contacts, I don’t know how I ended up with so many. I called my parents first after I woke up, but no one answered. Afterward, quite a few people called me, but only my cousin came to visit me at the hospital.”

Wen Qi froze for a moment.

Pei Yanchu’s parents had died in a car accident two years ago, and the news had spread everywhere. Even Wen Qi, who was in college at the time, knew about it.

Wen Qi felt some sympathy and his voice softened. He asked, “Did the doctor say when you might recover your memory?”

Pei Yanchu replied, “The doctor said it depends on the situation with the blood clot in my head. It could take three to four months, or it could never come back.” He added with a smile, “But no one has come to look for me, so whether I recover my memory or not doesn’t really matter, right?”

Wen Qi, accustomed to seeing Pei Yanchu’s high and mighty aristocratic demeanor, felt an odd discomfort.

Come to think of it, back in high school, Pei Yanchu’s mango allergy was also related to him…

“Although we’re not close, we were classmates in high school,” Wen Qi hesitated, then said, “Let me pay your hospital bill, you don’t have to pay me back.” After saying it, he himself felt awkward and avoided eye contact, his speech faster than usual. “Well, take care of yourself. I’ll leave now.”

Whether it’s true amnesia or pretending, in the end, it was still unclear.

After a few words, Wen Qi ended up hurriedly paying for the hospital bill. He gave a self-deprecating smile, thinking that they wouldn’t meet again anyway. He decided to treat it as settling an old score from high school and turned to leave.

Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind, and before he knew it, his wrist was grabbed. Long, distinct fingers tightly gripped his wrist, with a force that was a little too strong, as if afraid of losing something precious.

Wen Qi turned in shock and met Pei Yanchu’s eyes, which were filled with urgent light.

“I—” Realizing his behavior was inappropriate, Pei Yanchu quickly let go, standing there with an awkward expression, unsure of what to do. “I have no memory right now, and no place to go.”

He looked at Wen Qi, his gaze filled with something unusual and suppressed, his voice soft as he asked, “Could you… take me with you?”