Chapter 15 - Don’t You Remember?

“Imagine walking in a quiet maple forest. You’re stepping on the red maple leaves on the ground. It’s an Autumn afternoon. Walk slowly. What’s in front of you?”

Yan Yebai’s voice was gentle and soft, which made people involuntarily relax. Ji Naitang walked slowly forward. He saw a building in front of him. He approached it and saw a sign for an orphanage on it.

He opened the door. It was very lively inside. A voice sounded, “Come. Choose your favorite one.”

“I’m choosing?” Five-year-old Ji Naitang’s voice sounded milky and soft. The man next to him nodded. “Yes. We’ll adopt whomever you like. You always wanted an older brother, right? This will be your birthday present. Okay?”

Little Naitang nodded. “Okay ~ ” He looked carefully at the children who were around his age in front of him. He finally pointed to a boy who looked a little timid. “I like him ~ ”

The man nodded. “Then he will be your older brother from now on.”

“What did you see?” Yan Yebai softly asked.

The hypnotized Ji Naitang replied truthfully, “Orphanage. Older brother.”

“That was seventeen years ago. Let’s fast forward a bit. You brought your brother home. A few years later……” Yan Yebai carefully observed Ji Naitang’s expression. He discovered that the calm Ji Naitang was now frowning in pain.

“Brother……” Ji Naitang’s voice became choked. His hands clenched into fists. Tears fell down from his eyes. Yan Yebai saw that his emotions were out of control. He knew that Ji Naitang would collapse if they continued.

“I’m going to count to three. Then you’ll hear a clap. Wake up when you hear it.” Yan Yebai raised his hands. “Three, two, one, wake up.”

Ji Naitang suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. His hands clutched his head. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. Yan Yebai sighed somewhat helplessly. “We’ll continue another day.”

In the restroom, Ji Naitang scooped up tap water to wash his face. Then he looked at himself in the mirror. He cut a very sorry figure with red eyes. He wasn’t afraid of physical pain. He wouldn’t frown even if you cut his body with a knife a few times. But he was really afraid of the past. “Coward.” Ji Naitang said to himself, “Ji Naitang, you are a coward.”

He calmed his emotions before walking out of the restroom. Yan Yebai was hard to make an appointment with, so there was no one else in the clinic. It was very empty.

He walked a few steps and felt pain in his stomach. Ji Naitang stopped. One hand clutched his stomach and one hand clutched the wall. He waited for the pain to pass.

This was probably because he didn’t eat breakfast in the morning. This pain wasn’t much, but his emotions were already in turmoil, so the pain was more difficult to handle than usual.

“Ji Naitang?”

Ji Naitang heard the sound and looked up to meet Cen Muqi’s puzzled eyes. Ji Naitang froze. His mind was instantly pulled back to twelve years ago. It was a sunny afternoon. People came and went in the hospital’s garden. A sixteen-year-old teenager handed him a lollipop. He smiled and asked, “Do you want a lollipop?”

The teenager’s smile was innocent and pure. It was like a ray of light shot into Ji Naitang’s endlessly gray heart.

“What are you doing here?” Cen Muqi couldn’t help but ask when he saw him staring at him with an odd expression.

Ji Naitang asked instead, “Don’t you remember?”

Cen Muqi was confused. “Don’t remember what?”