Chapter 10
“What?! Amnesia?!”
Liang Xun calmly moved his phone away from his ear, his expression unchanging.
The person on the other end of the phone was anything but calm: “Liang Xun, do you remember me? Remember eating Italian breadsticks in that shipping container, and how I strongly refused your request to go winter swimming in the Ganges?”
“I don’t remember.”
A brief silence hung in the air before the man let out a heavy sigh: “That’s good.”
Liang Xun:?
The man chuckled: “Because I made it all up.”
Liang Xun: …
He put down his phone and saw the full name displayed: Xiao Yuanzhou. Besides Jian Huaiyi’s “Huiyi,” this was the most unique contact name.
Others were either professions or single surnames; only Xiao Yuanzhou’s was a full name.
He didn’t have a habit of deleting chat logs, so he scrolled back through their WeChat conversations from the beginning.
From the fragments, he could deduce that Xiao Yuanzhou was someone he met abroad.
Initially, Xiao Yuanzhou was very polite, probably because they were roommates. Later, Xiao Yuanzhou’s true nature emerged; he frequently asked Liang Xun to bring things back, like breakfast.
In return, Xiao Yuanzhou willingly paid most of the utilities, although nearly seventy percent of the usage was his.
Liang Xun guessed they were friends; otherwise, he wouldn’t have tolerated this lazy young master who was even more immature than an eighteen-year-old.
“Liang Xun, you might be an extraterrestrial spy chosen to destroy Earth! As a model citizen and roommate, you refused to cooperate, so they erased your memory to force compliance!” Xiao Yuanzhou held a piece of bread, walking and taking a bite.
“Hang up.” Liang Xun hung up curtly.
After chatting with Xiao Yuanzhou, although most of it was useless, he still picked up a key piece of information.
He had left for overseas before finishing college and had a relatively difficult time there.
The security abroad was poor. According to Xiao Yuanzhou, he had his savings and phone stolen, only to be rescued by Xiao Yuanzhou, who was downstairs looking for food in the middle of the night.
In a foreign land, having not heard Chinese in a long time, Xiao Yuanzhou was unusually kind to Liang Xun, generously taking in the starving and freezing man.
This matched the information he had gleaned from the chat logs.
However, one thing didn’t match. When he mentioned his boyfriend, Xiao Yuanzhou knew nothing about it.
This plunged Liang Xun back into confusion, causing him to doubt his relationship with Jian Huaiyi.
A long-term relationship shouldn’t be kept a secret.
And as one of his few friends, Xiao Yuanzhou shouldn’t be unaware of Jian Huaiyi’s existence.
There was only one possibility.
Liang Xun lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling on the Range Rover approaching outside the window.
The orange-yellow light seemed tangible. Jian Huaiyi got out of the car; his pale face was warmed by the light, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting a clear glow. He was wearing a light-colored shirt, exuding a refined and cold elegance, his light eyes looking straight ahead.
“Have you eaten?” Jian Huaiyi unbuttoned his cuff.
He had just returned from work, placing his glasses on the coffee table and sitting on the other side of the sofa.
“No.”
“How about we eat out?” Jian Huaiyi smiled, his expression much lighter after work. He looked at Liang Xun: “Unless you want burnt scrambled eggs, forget I said anything.”
Yesterday, Jian Huaiyi had tried cooking again, resulting in a pan of dark, burnt scrambled eggs.
Worried about causing secondary harm to Liang Xun, Jian Huaiyi threw it away without tasting it, took his car keys, and took Liang Xun out to eat.
Liang Xun had no objections.
They went to a Hunan restaurant nearby.
Ms. Zhao was from southern China, and Jian Huaiyi had completely inherited her ability to eat spicy food. Even with his love for spicy food, his skin remained like a peeled egg, delicate and flawless.
This was something his full sibling, Jian Luo, was extremely jealous of. Jian Luo also loved spicy food, but every time he ate it, he would get a sore throat or a rash. Therefore, although he loved spicy food, he had to suppress his desire, only occasionally indulging in a small bite.
In Jian Huaiyi’s impression, Liang Xun also liked spicy food. He remembered that during college, when they ate hotpot, they always ordered only a spicy pot.
Sometimes, Jian Huaiyi felt like trying bone broth or mushroom soup, but Liang Xun would insist on the spicy pot.
Liang Xun seemed to like spicy food as well.
Jian Huaiyi ordered Hunan specialties: stir-fried yellow beef, pickled cabbage wrapped in rice noodles, and dry-fried squid.
He handed the menu to Liang Xun: “I ordered these; do you want to add anything?”
Liang Xun took it, first scanning the dishes Jian Huaiyi had ordered, his eyebrows rising slightly.
Every dish, judging by the menu photos piled high with chili peppers, was very spicy.
Liang Xun added a non-spicy dish, “Ants Climbing a Tree,” telling Jian Huaiyi: “That’s all.”
Jian Huaiyi didn’t think much of it until the food arrived. Seeing a very light dish of vermicelli noodles, he still didn’t consider the possibility that Liang Xun couldn’t eat spicy food.
Finally, almost finished with the meal, he noticed that Liang Xun hadn’t touched the three dishes he had ordered, causing Jian Huaiyi to become suspicious.
“Don’t you like it?”
Liang Xun answered truthfully: “I can’t eat spicy food.”
Jian Huaiyi furrowed his brow, slowly putting down his chopsticks.
He didn’t believe it, his mind filled with various guesses.
Liang Xun noticed the change, his fingers pressing on either side of his chopsticks as he picked up a piece of squid and put it in his mouth.
Sure enough, it was too spicy for him.
He frowned, forcing it down.
There are two types of people who can eat spicy food: those who naturally love it like Jian Huaiyi, and those who have developed a tolerance through repeated consumption.
But there’s also a third type of person who naturally can’t eat spicy food, even those who often eat it can’t develop a tolerance.
Liang Xun happened to be the last type.
Jian Huaiyi propped his chin on his hand, staring intently at Liang Xun.
Suspicious.
He used to love spicy hotpot so much; how did his taste change so quickly?
“Liang Xun, are you…?”
“No,” Liang Xun’s voice was slightly uneasy.
Jian Huaiyi raised an eyebrow, completing the sentence: “…isn’t it because the food abroad was too bland, so you can’t eat spicy food anymore?”
His knuckles tightened on his chopsticks before he abruptly loosened his grip, apologizing for interrupting Jian Huaiyi.
“Yes, the food abroad was indeed…bland,” Liang Xun’s voice was flat and monotonous.
“You should have said so. I wouldn’t have brought you here,” Jian Huaiyi regretted it. He had intended to give Liang Xun nutritious food, but most of it ended up in his own stomach.
Liang Xun lifted his eyelids and said calmly: “The Ants Climbing a Tree is also delicious. Want to try some?”
“Really?”
“Mm.”
After dinner, Jian Huaiyi drove Liang Xun to another villa.
It was Liang Xun’s own house, the indirect cause of Jian Huaiyi’s current role as Liang Xun’s boyfriend.
“This is one of your properties in A City,” Jian Huaiyi didn’t dare to look directly at the sofa where the incident occurred, telling Liang Xun at the doorway, “The doctor said that being in familiar places can help with memory recovery.”
Liang Xun seized on another detail: “I used to stay here whenever I came back to A City?”
Jian Huaiyi nodded: “You didn’t come back often, about once every three months.”
Liang Xun’s expression softened slightly, but Jian Huaiyi’s words overturned his previous guesses.
He had thought they were a long-estranged couple, which was why Jian Huaiyi was with the racer, and why he hadn’t told Xiao Yuanzhou that Jian Huaiyi was his boyfriend.
But Jian Huaiyi remembered many details about his life.
Had he changed his heart?
Liang Xun suddenly became serious. He glanced at the young man at the doorway, who stood there without entering, as if there were a ferocious beast in the house.
He also recalled lying next to Jian Huaiyi last night.
The young man blurted out: “You’re going to sleep here?” His tone was panicked.
They hadn’t slept together in a long time.
“Jian Huaiyi,” Liang Xun pursed his lips and said to the young man, “Come here.”
Jian Huaiyi also knew it wasn’t appropriate to stand at the doorway, but when he saw the sofa, he remembered how he had pounced on Liang Xun that night, forcibly sitting on his waist.
Jian Huaiyi cupped his hands over his eyes, slowly walking to the sofa, sitting stiffly.
“Have you…remembered anything?”
“No.”
Jian Huaiyi inexplicably felt relieved.
The next moment, a warm hand covered the back of his hand.
Jian Huaiyi:?
He glanced sideways and quickly pulled his hand away, his eyes widening in disbelief at Liang Xun.
What… what are you doing?
His guess was confirmed; Liang Xun lowered his gaze, withdrawing his equally stiff hand.
“You’re repulsed by me,” Liang Xun looked at Jian Huaiyi again, his dark eyes holding an unreadable emotion.
Jian Huaiyi was startled, his gaze wavering: “No.”
Of course not! A straight man suddenly making advances is terrifying?!
Although Jian Huaiyi had accepted the role of Liang Xun’s boyfriend, it didn’t mean he would accept being forcibly made gay.
Taking advantage of someone, someone he’d been friends with for so many years – was Jian Huaiyi still human?
Furthermore, Liang Xun had a psychological shadow regarding homosexuality.
How awkward it would be when he recovered his memories and remembered this.
Physical intimacy must be absolutely avoided, whether Liang Xun initiated it or not.
“Honey, you scared me,” Jian Huaiyi explained with a smile, patting Liang Xun’s shoulder and neck through his clothes.
There was little risk verbally; friends sometimes call each other “honey,” and Jian Huaiyi had even heard his roommates call each other “husband” in college, jokingly, of course.
Liang Xun looked suspicious, but he said: “Mm.”
Jian Huaiyi had just breathed a sigh of relief when the man’s arms suddenly went around him, his chest leaning forward in a highly possessive posture, almost enveloping him.
Jian Huaiyi’s internal alarm bells rang, suddenly suspecting that he had given Liang Xun the wrong medicine. Yesterday, they were barely acquainted; why had he changed so much today?
Liang Xun saw his panic. He picked up the pillow behind Jian Huaiyi and placed it against his back. Their movements back and forth were like sawing.
Jian Huaiyi had nowhere to retreat, bumping into the soft pillow behind him.
He instinctively looked back and found that Liang Xun had already retreated to a safe distance.
…
Night. The lights in the study were still on.
Liang Xun sat at his desk, looking at the computer screen, his thin lips pursed, his face swallowed by the light.
[How to make amends after seemingly cold-shouldering your boyfriend?]