Chapter 8.1 - 8th Stop: Recalling The Painful Memories (1)
That night, Mucheng recalled what happened just a few hours ago when Guangxi saved her flowers with her as she put Xiaole to bed.
Thank goodness he was there to help. It was highly possible that she would have been blown away with the wind if not because of him.
He’d always appear when she needed him badly. That was how it was in the past and present. But she could no longer accept his help because she was afraid that she might fall for him again.
Mucheng sighed as she walked in the hall. There, she saw Guangxi sitting on the sofa and staring at his own arm. He saw her and smiled.
“Is Xiaole asleep already?”
“Yes.” She nodded and examined his arm. She was shocked that there was a deep wound on his arm. “You got hurt?” She asked.
“It’s nothing; it’s just a small wound.” Guangxi wanted to roll his sleeve down.
Mucheng stopped him immediately and took out her first aid kit at once and tended to his wound. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? When did you get hurt?”
“Would it make any difference even if I told you then? I don’t even know when I hurt myself. I couldn’t feel it just now.”
Was he trying to kid her? It was such a deep wound. Surely he’d feel something. She rolled her eyes at him. She knew that this man always liked to put up a tough front in front of people. That was how he was too in the past.
“I say, your arms look red too?” He frowned after expressing his concern. “Is that a wound too?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s just an allergy.”
“Did you apply any medication?”
“Yes I did. But it doesn’t seem to be effective.” She sighed. “Forget about me. Your wound is more serious than my allergy.”
She applied some medication and gave him a bandage after she cleansed the wound. Neither did he scream out in pain nor he moved and that made her heart ached more. She felt something stinging her eyes and a clear teardrop fell without any warning and landed on Guangxi’s bandage.
He was shocked to see that. “What is the matter with you?”
“It’s nothing.” She said, realizing that she had displayed too much emotion. She moved away from him and wiped off her tears immediately.
“Did you cry?” Guangxi gazed at Mucheng and wondered why his heart ached too. “Are you worried about the flowers? Are you afraid that you’ll incur a great loss? Is Xiaole’s school fees… very expensive?”
She could feel his concern from his every sentence and that she felt really bad.
“Please, I beg you… Please don’t be so caring.” She said with a hoarse voice.
He was stunned by her request. “Why?”
That’s because it has been 6 years already. Everything has changed in these 6 years. He already has a fiancée now and the most important thing is; he had forgotten about her.
Mucheng bit onto her lip and she couldn’t seem to express the feeling she was experiencing now.
Why did he have to forget her? She didn’t know that the feeling of being forgotten by someone was so terrible and sorrowful.
“That’s because… we’re not related to each other at all.” That’s why he should stop being nice to her. If not, she’ll really miss him badly when it’s time for him to leave.
“Are you still angry at me?” Guangxi misunderstood her. “I apologise to you. I shouldn’t have taken Xiaole roller-skating the other day. I just suddenly felt like… teaching him.”
“Why?” She went into a daze. Why must it be roller-skating?
Guangxi was speechless and he felt really complicated. “The truth is; I don’t really remember the past.” He confessed to her bitterly. “I had to undergo a surgery to remove my brain tumour six years ago. I lost all my memories after I woke up from it.”
“Tumour?” Mucheng was the one who was shocked now. No wonder he had frequent headaches back then. Now she knew it was because of his tumour. Was that the reason too why he had forgotten about her? “Have you really forgotten about everything?”
He nodded. “I was packing up my room when I found a pair of skates. I guessed then I could skate. But I wasn’t too sure so I thought of bringing Xiaole along to try out the other day.”
Does that mean that he has forgotten his own father too? Has he forgotten those precious memories he shared with his father at Shengde Hall? Mucheng gazed at Guangxi and her heart ached for him.
“From then on, I’ve been living a make-believe life. I feel that my life is way too unrealistic. I think it’s because I’ve forgotten about someone or something that’s important to me.” Guangxi said softly and he took out a wristband from his pocket.
Mucheng was stunned. “This wristband…”
“I had this with me before the surgery.” Guangxi explained. “I kept it these few days for I was afraid that Xiaole would keep pestering me for it.” He stopped for a moment and he looked lost. “I don’t know why but I’ll always feel that it’s something close to my heart. Perhaps it was a gift from someone.”
Mucheng shook to her core when she heard that. She covered her mouth frantically in an attempt to muffle her cries.
That was the exact one that she had given him! It was the last piece of memories she had given him. She really wanted to tell him desperately… but she couldn’t. If she did, things would become chaotic and that would make him feel even worse.
She took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Do you… still love your fiancée?”
He didn’t reply immediately. He only nodded after a while. “She was the first person I saw after my surgery. She was also the one who accompanied me through the miserable days I had after the surgery. I lost both my memory and coordination skills. Yiqian was the one who was there for me. She encouraged me and accompanied me during all my physiotherapy sessions.
She could picture it. He was so head-strong. That must have been a very difficult period for him. The thing was, He Yiqian was the one by him instead of her.
Tears welled up in her eyes again. But this time round, she held them back and smiled slightly. “I see. So you do love your fiancée.”
Yes, he loved Yiqian, but…
Guangxi looked at Mucheng and saw her smiling. But he could feel the sorrow in that smile. It tugged his heart and he was suddenly lost. There was this emptiness in him. He also felt worried for no particular reason.
“You don’t have to think so much.” Mucheng persuaded him softly. “Actually, I do think about the past too. Those dreams I have not fulfilled and the people I didn’t want to be separated from… But this is how life is, isn’t it? It’s inevitable that we’ll have some regrets in life. There’s no way we can go back in time and make up for anything. If we keep thinking about the past, we’ll miss the present. Isn’t that a pity too?” She paused and looked at him with a gentle expression on her face. “You shouldn’t keep thinking about the past. The present and future is what you should be thinking about instead. Your life would be real as long as you live it to the fullest from now on.”
Guangxi was touched by her words. “Do you believe you that you’re the first person to say such things to me in 6 years?”
“Really?” She smiled.
He smiled back at her. “It’s weird but I really feel very comfortable and relaxed when I talk to you like this.”
He said something similar six years ago too. Mucheng tried to control her emotions. “I guessed it’s because you’ve been too busy with work. It’s a given that you’ll feel relax since you’re not working now.”
“Perhaps.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.
Mucheng took a deep breath. “Guangxi, can we… be friends?”
Guangxi was stunned. He suddenly felt a rush in his body when he heard her saying his name.
He smiled at her. “That would make you my first true friend in 6 years.”
***
“You’re friends with that person!?”
Hua Tuoye had rushed back to Huatian Village after he knew about the typhoon as he was worried for Mucheng. He was already very shocked when he heard that the lawyer who was in their village for C.W.O. was Ren Guangxi. He got really upset too when he heard that Mucheng had allowed for that person to stay in her house.
“What is going on now? Are you thinking of reconciling with him now?” He questioned.
“How is that possible?” Mucheng denied. “Guangxi... He has lost his memory. He doesn’t even remember me now and he has a fiancée that he loves a lot.”
“Wait, hold on for a moment! What on earth is going on now? I can’t seem to understand what you’re trying to say.” Tuoye demanded for an explanation.
Mucheng had no choice but to tell him the whole story. Tuoye was taken aback by the story.
“Why are there so many complications? Tumour? Lost his memory?” He shook his head. “Does that mean that Ren Guangxi doesn’t remember you and your relationship with him? What about Xiaole…?”
“He doesn’t. And I don’t think I intend to tell him anything about it.” Mucheng interrupted.
Tuoye went into a daze and sighed. “Indeed. He already has a fiancée. What’s the use of telling him anything then?”
“So please, I’ll have to trouble you then to pretend not to know him lest Xiaole finds it weird.”
“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Tuoye promised. This wasn’t only for Mucheng, it was also for himself. He still hoped that one day she would reciprocate his love. “Oh yes, where is Xiaole? I brought him a remote control car.”
“Guangxi brought him to the village head’s office. He loves to stick around Guangxi.” She signed.
Tuoye frowned upon hearing that. “You’re okay with Xiaole hanging around Guangxi? Aren’t you afraid that they might develop feelings for each other and later on…?”
“I know. I don’t want Xiaole to be near him too but…” Mucheng looked away. “Xiaole really likes him and the two of them seemed really happy to be together. I only pray now that Xiaole won’t be too devastated when Guangxi leaves in future.”
Xiaole would be devastated? Tuoye was jealous as he imagined it. “Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll comfort Xiaole so that he’d forget that person very quickly!”
--- Support our hard work! Donate to help us maintain the website! Thank you! <3 ---
