Chapter 2: Picking Up an Amnesiac Man — His Ge Has Such a Bad Memory, He Even Forgot Him…
His fate with Jiang Yan began a month ago.
On the day of his twentieth birthday, Jiang Yunian picked up a man. Before this, he had never imagined his life would become entangled with another man’s.
That night, Jiang Yunian had finished tutoring a child as usual and was walking slowly back along the riverside. His phone buzzed intermittently with birthday wishes from classmates and seniors. Reading those warm words, the day’s exhaustion instantly washed away.
He had his head down, typing out replies, not watching where he was going, until he tripped over a dark shadow and fell hard.
“Hss…”
Jiang Yunian collapsed onto the ground. His knees and palms scraped against the gravel, stinging with a fiery pain.
It hurts.
The surroundings were overly quiet, save for his suppressed gasps of pain. The streetlights flickered on and off, and the river breeze, wrapped in damp moisture, slapped against his face as if mocking him for not watching the road.
Before the pain could subside, his ankle was suddenly gripped tight by an ice-cold hand! A mix of strange tactile sensation and pure fear flooded his brain instantly. He shuddered violently, nearly losing his voice.
“D-don’t come over…”
He kicked his legs in panic, ignoring the scrapes on his hands as he pushed against the ground, scrambling backward until his back hit the stone steps. He stared at the dark, huddled mass, his heart pounding wildly.
The shadow suddenly moved. It struggled to spread five fingers toward him, and a dry, raspy voice sounded.
“Save… me…”
Jiang Yunian froze for two seconds before realizing it was a person. He turned on his phone’s flashlight and tentatively approached. It seemed to be a young man.
Upon seeing the other person’s face clearly, Jiang Yunian was slightly stunned.
Thanks to his own rather good looks, he had been praised by many growing up and was recognized as the “department heartthrob.” There weren’t many people he would consider truly “good-looking,” but the person before him definitely counted as one.
It was just that the man’s face was deathly pale, his breathing weak. A soaked black shirt clung to his body, mixed with a faint scent of blood. It looked like he had met with some kind of accident.
Jiang Yunian immediately took out his phone to call for an ambulance. But before the call could connect, his hand was grabbed again. The man suddenly lunged into his arms, a heavy smell of mud and river water rushing into Jiang Yunian’s nose and mouth, making him gag.
“What are you doing… let go of me.”
As he struggled, countless terrible thoughts flashed through his mind—am I being scammed?
Fortunately, the grip loosened quickly, dispelling his doubts. The man laboriously raised a hand, pointing across the road, incredibly weak.
“Go there…”
Jiang Yunian looked in the direction he pointed. It was a small private clinic with half-lit lights, looking very much like a shady, unlicensed operation.
He hesitated for a moment.
It was late at night. Although this person looked terrifying, his internal organs didn’t seem damaged. Jiang Yunian guessed he had fallen into the water by accident and struggled ashore.
Regardless, saving a life was the priority. Jiang Yunian didn’t have time to think too much and struggled to help the man up.
The moment he hoisted him onto his back, his knees almost buckled. The man didn’t look bulky, but he was incredibly heavy; the solid muscle pressing against Jiang Yunian’s back felt like carrying a sack of cement. Jiang Yunian stumbled along, a thin layer of sweat quickly forming on his forehead.
A journey that should have taken two minutes took a tremendous amount of effort.
When they finally dragged themselves to the clinic entrance, he really couldn’t hold on anymore. His knees went soft, and he collapsed to the ground.
The night wind rustled through the treetops, shaking down a few leaves. There was no movement from behind him.
Jiang Yunian struggled to turn his head. The person on his back had long since passed out.
When Jiang Yan woke up, he met a pair of nervous, anxious eyes that looked terrified he might die.
Tsk. What a sight.
He had been open for less than two seconds before closing his eyes again.
Jiang Yunian was stunned. He’d never seen someone react like that. In a moment of panic, he shook the other man’s shoulder. “Y-you, don’t sleep yet…”
He held up a piece of paper in front of the man’s face. On it, the medical expenses, hospitalization fees, and even the cost of a newly bought inkpad were clearly listed. Down to the last cent, it totaled 14,250 RMB.
This was money he had just gritted his teeth to advance. When the bill was printed, he felt like the sky was falling. Over ten thousand just for this?
He hadn’t thought that much when saving the guy, but after paying, the fear set in. What if I can’t get it back…
Jiang Yan felt like his brain was being shaken into a smoothie. Memories of last night flooded back; he vaguely remembered this was the person who saved him.
He opened his eyes again. His pupils were pitch-black—it was hard to tell if they were deep or just empty.
In any case, they were as indifferent as a dead man’s.
Jiang Yunian felt a chill. He suspected he shouldn’t have saved him; that look didn’t seem like someone who wanted to live. Will I ever get my money back?
The corner of Jiang Yan’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Idiot.
When Jiang Yunian snapped out of it and met those eyes again, the darkness had dispersed, replaced by a somewhat naive confusion. For a moment, he felt dazed, as if the dead silence from before was just an illusion.
After a long silence, the man finally spoke, his voice raspy.
“Who… are you?”
The next sentence plunged both of them into confusion.
“And who am I?”
This clichéd, melodramatic amnesia opening caught Jiang Yunian off guard. The IOU in his hand crinkled. “I’m the one who saved you. You don’t remember?”
Jiang Yan shook his head gently, the soft bangs on his forehead sweeping obediently past the corners of his eyes.
“What about your name? You should at least remember your name, right?”
Jiang Yan: “…”
He remembered nothing.
over the next few days, Jiang Yunian asked the attending physician several times, only to receive the same answer.
“The patient’s brain was indeed impacted by a hard object, so amnesia is possible. The injury isn’t particularly severe. Take him home and let him rest well; he might remember someday.”
“Then when will he remember?”
“Hard to say. It depends on fate.”
“…”
With no help from the hospital, Jiang Yunian tried to contact the man’s family. Strangely, street missing person flyers, scrolling news reports, and accident missing person filings… none of them matched him. Logically, if a grown man like this went missing, his parents should be frantic. Yet several days had passed without a single ripple.
Could he be an orphan?
But that outfit of his wasn’t something an ordinary person could afford.
After several futile struggles, the string of hope in Jiang Yunian’s heart finally snapped. He had to admit his bad luck and accept the reality that he had picked up a burden.
In the end, he was too soft-hearted. Looking at that clean, harmless face—which was even younger than his own—Jiang Yunian really couldn’t bring himself to throw down the money and… er… just leave him be.
Just to be safe, Jiang Yunian grabbed the man’s hand and pressed his thumbprint onto the paper, ensuring he would pay back the debt once his memory returned.
The other party was unusually docile, cooperating the entire time.
Jiang Yunian stored the IOU away safely, planning to go to the police station once the man’s injuries healed a bit. He didn’t ask for gratitude; he just wanted what he was owed.
Having experienced the successive deaths of his parents and living a solitary, hard life, Jiang Yunian had become quick to accept life’s changes, big or small. Often powerless to change things, he simply went with the flow.
After bringing the man home, he gave him a name. Once, while applying medicine, Jiang Yunian glimpsed a faint tattoo on his shoulder blade, barely making out the letters “yan”. Assuming it was his old name, he flipped through the dictionary and finally chose the character “硯” (Yan).
Jiang Yunian felt this character suited him well. Like his dark, bright eyes—quiet, yet holding a faint luster. He hoped he was a piece of ink jade that could be warmed up.
“Ge has become a little messy kitten.”
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Jiang Yan suddenly raised his hand, his thumb gently brushing over the corner of Jiang Yunian’s mouth, wiping away a grain of rice and some grease. “So cute.”
“No, I’m not.” Jiang Yunian subconsciously touched the spot he had touched.
Jiang Yan’s gaze lingered on his face. “Ge is cute everywhere.”
“Stop teasing.” Jiang Yunian couldn’t help but think of the free-size underwear, his ears inexplicably heating up. He picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks to block the guy’s mouth. “Eat.”
The dumplings were frozen ones from the supermarket. The dough was powdery in the mouth. Jiang Yan chewed once, and his expression turned bland.
While eating, Jiang Yunian casually mentioned school, telling him to report to Nan University on time next Monday.
This was a special quota secured by his father’s former leader. At first, he worried Jiang Yan would have a gap in knowledge and couldn’t keep up, but unexpectedly, the man’s brain worked surprisingly well—he easily scored full marks.
Jiang Yan listened quietly to his instructions, raising no objections.
Jiang Yunian had a small stomach and was full after a few bites. He told Jiang Yan to finish eating while he went to buy clothes later. But first, he had to tidy up the clothes that had been rummaged through in the room. He was a neat freak and couldn’t stand the room being messy.
Jiang Yan maintained a faint, bland arc at the corner of his mouth and didn’t make a sound.
Only after Jiang Yunian entered the room did he slowly spit out the contents of his mouth. He wiped his mouth expressionlessly. Under the light, his face was deathly pale.
His Ge really had a terrible memory; he had even forgotten that what he hated most… was chive dumplings.
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
