Yun Baizhou sat on the bed, from the early dawn until the noise of people grew louder.
Zong Yuan passed by his window and casually glanced, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.
He withdrew his gaze, and chuckled, “Thinking of me so much that you can’t sleep.”
A joyful smile played on his lips, “See, I knew it would be like this. Be considerate, be considerate of him.”
Zong Yuan took out his phone and messaged Yun Baizhou, “Teacher Yun, have you eaten? Let’s eat together?”
He stood not far from Yun Baizhou’s room, ensuring that Yun Baizhou could see his impressive demeanor as soon as he stepped out. 0046 muttered softly, “Zong Yuan, you need to make him remember on his own.”
Zong Yuan raised an eyebrow, “Have I done anything to prevent him from remembering?”
He cared a lot about that surprise, and 0046 had needlessly worried about it.
Yun Baizhou rushed out with the speed of an athlete, brushed his teeth, tidied up, and calmly approached Zong Yuan, “Sorry for the wait.”
He didn’t see Zong Bao, “Where’s Zong Bao?”
“He’s with his classmates,” Zong Yuan, who was always cool in front of Yun Baizhou, said, “What do you want to eat?”
It was a rhetorical question; there was only one breakfast place in the village that served soy milk, rice porridge, fried dough sticks, and buns.
Yun Baizhou sensed something amiss, feeling both worried and happy. “Shall we go for buns?”
Zong Yuan nodded, “Sure.”
As they walked silently along the path, Yun Baizhou felt uneasy. Muttering to himself, “Qi Zhuang…”
“Qi Zhuang?” Zong Yuan heard him and repeated the name, finding it catchy. “Who is Qi Zhuang?”
Yun Baizhou stopped in his tracks, staring directly at Zong Yuan, not missing even the slightest change in his expression. “You don’t remember Qi Zhuang?”
Zong Yuan chuckled, “It’s not that I don’t remember him.”
Yun Baizhou’s eyes lit up, a bittersweet sweetness flooding his heart.
Zong Yuan paused, hesitated as he observed Yun Baizhou’s expression, and reluctantly uttered the next words, “I don’t know him at all.”
Zong Yuan doesn’t know Qi Zhuang.
He doesn’t know me.
Yun Baizhou took out a piece of candy from his pocket. “Zong Yuan, have you tried this kind of candy?”
Zong Yuan looked at the White Rabbit candy in his hand. “Yeah.”
Feeling inexplicably emotional, Yun Baizhou asked, “Is it sweet?”
“Sweet.”
These words were not dreamed of in the dream, but Yun Baizhou smoothly uttered them now. He seemed like the perfect actor, pouring all his energy and emotion into this sentence. “Have some.”
In his mind, he anticipated Zong Yuan’s next line, ‘You have it.’
Zong Yuan raised an eyebrow, looking indifferent. “You have it.”
The young Zong Yuan glanced at him, seeming nonchalant. “You have it yourself.”
“You have it yourself, Qi Zhuang.”
Yun Baizhou lowered his head and, with a radiant smile similar to the one from a young man named Qi Zhuang, spoke the same words to Zong Yuan, “But I want to give you this, Zong Yuan. Watching you eat, I feel it would be even sweeter.”
“…” Zong Yuan, “Yun Baizhou?”
“No!” Yun Baizhou suddenly lifted his head, sniffed, and suppressed the trembling in his voice. “You should say, ‘Qi Zhuang, you’re really troublesome.'”
His face was full of tear stains, crying without any grace, redness at the corners of his eyes, and a runny nose.
Zong Yuan could no longer pretend that nothing was happening. He was at a loss, “What’s wrong with you?”
His hands hovered in the air, unsure whether to touch Yun Baizhou, “Don’t cry, Baizhou.”
“Do you think that by losing the word ‘Yun,’ hic, ” after a hiccup, he continued stubbornly as if trying to cry all the tears of a person’s lifetime at this moment, crying in an unsightly manner, “it becomes Qi Zhuang? The number of characters is the same, the name, the name is different!”
He spoke incoherently, and Zong Yuan couldn’t understand, but the two words “Qi Zhuang” sounded particularly pleasant to him. “Qi Zhuang, who is that?” he asked hesitantly.
The tears abruptly stopped in Yun Baizhou’s eyes. He looked at Zong Yuan’s face and whispered, “A big fool.”
A very big, very big fool.
—
“For example, if you complete the task of the fifth world, and your brain thinks that is the limit, it starts to delete all memories of the first world to make space for the next world.”
Oh.
So, I’ve already forgotten everything from my original world.
Qi Zhuang stood tall. He had experienced far too many worlds, making forgetting the memories of one world a rare form of relaxation for him.
He didn’t have the energy or inclination to doubt this statement.
But he forgot.
If he valued a world enough, his brain would avoid it.
This statement could also be phrased differently.
“For example, if you complete the task of the fifth world… it starts to delete the memories of the second world…”
It wasn’t necessary to delete the memories of his first world.
On the contrary, the brain securely protects the memories of this world, hiding them in the deepest recesses.
So deep that even Qi Zhuang himself forgot the existence of this world.
—
Yun Baizhou reached out to touch Zong Yuan’s face, but his hand froze in mid-air.
A memory surged mercilessly into his mind.
—
“Master!”
“Where is he?”
“?”
“The one you mentioned… Zong Yuan, where is he?”
“Assign 0046 to him.”
“But 0046 hasn’t completed the forced program and punishment settings yet.”
This is even better.
“I want to enter his world.”
“You… you want to role-play?”
“Yes.”
“Alright… So, what role do you want to play?”
The role closest to him.
Well, the role that would best help him complete the task.
“Erase my memories.”
“Temporarily erase or permanently?”
“Temporarily.”
“But, sir, this… will be very painful.”
“Erase.”
The way I am now, he won’t like it.
“Let the system maintain his memories.”
“Sir, there’s no way to do that. According to the system’s regulations, newbies in their first few worlds don’t get memory maintenance.”
“What does it want?”
“Huh?”
“What does the system want? I can give it anything except my life.”
—
“Darling, darling, darling…”
“Honey, I’ve learned a cheesy pick-up line!”
“…Go on.”
“Have you gained weight recently?”
“…Why?”
“Otherwise, why do you feel heavier in my heart?”
“…Fuxin, come on, feel my abs.”
“Oh damn! Zong Yuan, you country bumpkin!”
“Lower your voice.”
“You f*ck… You f*cking talked about endurance, didn’t you?! Do you have someone else outside? I’ll kill his whole family!”
“…Jiang Shengyan, Mr. Jiang, just five minutes less than last night, right?”
“F*ck! What do you mean by ‘just five minutes less’? It’s related to my sexual happiness!”
“…Tonight, I’ll make up for it.”
“Daddy.”
“…Darling, call me husband.”
“Daddy.”
“D*mn, tail! Behave, turn back.”
“I want to eat.”
“Turn back into legs to eat.”
“My lady, you smiled seventeen times and had thirty-six drinks in front of Yang Zongshan and Zang Qi.”
“I’m giving you face.”
“…”
“Don’t be silent, are you jealous?”
“Dea-dear… can you, uh, not smile at them?”
“Alright.”
“Uh… Jing’er and Jun’er are still next door.”
“Let’s keep it down.”
“My love, look what I found, ah, a letter from Xino.”
“Sweetie, your shoulder is exposed.”
“Mm, do you, um, want it?”
“I’m starting to feel it.”
“But I don’t want to drink your blood!”
“Be good.”
“Ning’er has grown up and should get married.”
“You should also recover your human form soon.”
“Zong Yuan, I’m so happy to meet you after death.”
“But I’m a bit angry.”
“Don’t frown. In this life, I won’t let anyone bully me again.”
“This life?”
“Eternal life.”
“Wife, where’s the thong I bought for you? Black with lace edges—”
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t find it in the closet. Come, let your husband see if you’re wearing it.”
“…”
“Darling, going to see Dad dressed like this, I’m afraid I can’t control myself.”
“Heh, as the man of Zong Feiyu, I don’t need to control myself anywhere.”
“666, domineering.”
“Chi Xu, I beg you…”
“Forty hours!”
“Oh, damn!”
“Abe, you can’t eat this.”
“I’m hungry, smells good.”
“You, a mummy, hungry?!”
“…Darling, put down the sand and plants, come on, have a seat.”
“I feel weak.”
“Yun’er, stay fit and healthy.”
“No way! You just like me soft, don’t you?”
“…Speak nicely.”
“Love you, my husband.”
“Sheng Minglang, why the hell are you dressed like this for a livestream?”
“What’s your tone?! I’m just wearing a tank top. Wait, why are you taking off your clothes?!”
“Heh, I’ll do a livestream with my upper body bare for you.”
“Zong Yuan!!!”
“Zong Yuan, want a Tristar Beauty?”
“Beauty.”
“It’s yours.”
“Yeah, you’re mine.”
Time and time again, extracting memories, and time and time again, going to his world.
“Master, frequent memory extraction will make you increasingly in pain, unbearable pain.”
“Will I die?”
“No.”
“Then, let’s do it.”
For me, this is not pain.
It’s the sweetness before seeing him.
Journeys time and time again awaken memories deep within the brain.
—
Yun Baizhou let go of his stiff hand, “Zong Yuan, Zong Yuan, Zong Yuan.”
Zong Yuan sensed something was wrong, “Yun Baizhou?”
“Not just Yun Baizhou.”
Yun Baizhou cracked a smile, his swollen eyes looking at Zong Yuan, “I am Fu Xin, Jiang Shengyan, the mermaid, Qi Hangguang,” Zong Yuan stared at him in shock, his eyes bursting with joy, Yun Baizhou continued, “also Grad, Zhou Jin, Zhuang Feiyu, Chi Xu—”
“Yeah,” Zong Yuan continued for him, “You’re still Abe, Yun’er, Sheng Minglang, and Ji Xing.”
He placed his hand on Yun Baizhou’s head, affectionately rubbing it, “You remembered.”
The most exciting and joyful thing happened, and Zong Yuan felt a naturally warm feeling.
He opened his arms, and Yun Baizhou dove into his embrace. Zong Yuan kissed his hair and sighed, “Baby, you remembered.”
Yun Baizhou buried himself in Zong Yuan’s embrace, “I remembered everything, everything.”
He gently said the last sentence, “I am still… Qi Zhuang.”
He gently pulled away from Zong Yuan’s embrace, holding hands with Zong Yuan tightly, “Zong Yuan, I’ll find you soon.”
“What?” Zong Yuan frowned, feeling uneasy, “Yun Baizhou!”
Yun Baizhou stared into the void, “0046, initiate the detachment program, initiate the password, Qi Zhuang.”
“Yes.” 0046’s voice became emotionless, “Detachment countdown, 3, 2, 1.”
“Damn it!” Consciousness became increasingly blurred, Zong Yuan struggled to stay awake, “Yun Baizhou! 0046, let go of me!”
Yun Baizhou’s figure became increasingly blurry. Before sinking into darkness, Zong Yuan heard the last words, “Zong Yuan, my name is Qi Zhuang.”
“Quickly remember me.”
