“Aye, I really hope I can get out of confinement quickly. I want to introduce a few good men to her while she’s lost her memory so that she can fall in love, get married, have a family and forget Xin Ziao. Even if she were to recall everything in the future, her life would be set in stone already.” Changqing sounded very anxious.
“Sure. I support you.” Li Shaobin reminded her kindly: “But shouldn’t you be taking care of your son first after you get out of confinement?”
Changqing said with frustration, “I want to but there are always people fighting to take care of my son while that’s not the case for Ruan Yang. I’m not the kind of person who would prioritize my son instead of my friend. Enough said. I’m going to ask my dad and Chuchu to see if there are any fine men out there.”
Li Shaobin hung up. Would Song Chuyi not blow up?
Also, Ruan Yang didn’t even remember her. Would she allow Changqing to introduce someone to her?
—————-
When the doctor came to do a follow-up in the afternoon, Li Shaobin asked him if Ruan Yang could be discharged. The doctor hesitated for a while before saying, “Actually, her main problem is amnesia. As for everything else, she’s fine. She can come with you next week to have her bandage removed. I’m just concerned about any sudden problems that could arise that the machines didn’t manage to detect. I personally suggest that she stay a few more days at the hospital. If she really wants to go home, she shouldn’t be alone. In the event that she faints or something happens, at least there would be someone who could bring her here.”
Li Shaobin passed the message to Ruan Yang word for word. “Why don’t you stay for a few more days?”
“No,” Ruan Yang said lightly. “I feel fine.”
Li Shaobin was left with no choice. On the third day, after dealing with the papers for discharge, he took her back to her apartment.
The two of them sat side by side in the backseat of the car. On the way, Li Shaobin was texting Luo Xiru excitedly. Ruan Yang kept her gaze on the scenery outside. Every building, every restaurant, and every shopping mall felt strange yet faintly familiar. It seemed like she had really been in this city for a very, very long time.
“Look, in order to take you home, I rejected her offer to pick me up from the hospital.” Li Shaobin shook his phone in front of her.
Ruan Yang retracted her gaze and looked at the style of the man beside her with a frown. When he came over this morning after settling the discharge procedures, he was wearing a yellowish-orange jacket with a bit of dark blue. Inside, he was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and for his bottoms, he was wearing a pair of beige pants. How corny.
“Even if you’re not touched, what’s with this expression?” Li Shaobin was suddenly unhappy.
Ruan Yang sighed. “I finally understood why the female cop would praise you while you were wearing a white patient uniform.”
Li Shaobin was bewildered.
“It might be because your style of dress is too corny usually,” Ruan Yang said truthfully.
“Corny?” Li Shaobin was angry. “Are you mocking me now? What do you know? These clothes are very expensive. These are all the latest winter designs of luxurious brands. Each piece costs a few hundred thousand.”
“I don’t know anything about clothes that cost a few hundred thousand but these don’t suit you at all. You can’t just put anything expensive on. They have to fit you,” Ruan Yang said. “Can you be an underground triad boss with better taste?”
Li Shaobin said unconvincingly, “I have good taste.”
Ruan Yang shook her head and couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. She continued to look out the window.
He’s not my boyfriend anyway. It doesn’t even matter if he dresses weirdly. It’s not for me to look at anyway.
Li Shaobin looked at his clothes then at his pants. Finally, he frowned with frustration. I’m not going to talk to her anymore in case she drives me to my grave.
After 40 minutes, the car drove into a luxurious area. The car couldn’t enter the area so it could only enter the car park. The car park was filled with branded cars which cost millions.
Ruan Yang was stunned. She only had the memory of her 18-year-old self. It felt just like a dream to suddenly own such an expensive house. She felt as though life was full of surprises. There was actually nothing bad about losing her memory.
Li Shaobin accompanied her upstairs. She couldn’t remember her password so she took out her keys and tried them one by one. After entering, she saw all the furniture in the house covered with cloth and there was a layer of dust on the floor. There was a giant poster of her hanging on the wall joining the first and second floor. In the poster, she had long curls. Her red lips were slightly apart and her brows were charmingly seductive. She was stunned. She almost couldn’t recognize this person to be herself.
“You went to Northern Europe for a long time a while ago, so this house was vacant for a long time.” After explaining it to her, he said to Hu Zhi, “Quick, quick, quick, help tidy things up a bit.”
Hu Zhi groaned in agony silently. As Li Shaobin’s assistant, he not only had to fight—he even had to investigate all these weird things and now, he had to clean up. What a terrible life.
Ruan Yang walked upstairs quietly. She pushed open the door to every room. In the master bedroom, there was a brown ivory bed. The background of the headboard was a picture of herself. In the study, there were awards everywhere. There was the Best Newcomer award, Most Popular award, Best Female Actor, and even international awards.
She grazed past each of these awards with the tips of her fingers and felt a wave surging in her heart. She was in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she went through all these years.
“You… I couldn’t tell you had quite a few awards.” Li Shaobin reached out to pick up one of them.
“Hey, don’t touch them.” Ruan Yang quickly grabbed his hand.
Her hand was very small but her fingers were long and warm. Li Shaobin looked at the hand on his and paused for a while. After that, he quickly retracted his hand. “What are you doing? Are you taking advantage of me?”
Ruan Yang stared wide-eyed at him, looking as though she had heard the best joke of the year. However, she wasn’t like other girls. She liked to do things the opposite way. “If I wanted to take advantage of you, it wouldn’t just be holding your hand.”
After saying that, she looked at his face and shifted her gaze down to his chest. Li Shaobin lifted his chest up. “You have good taste. I train a lot. My chest muscles aren’t typical.”
Ruan Yang chuckled and said, “Really? But I think you should leave that for your female cop to touch. Don’t mind me. You can go back and have a date with your female cop in the afternoon. You have to act while the iron is hot when it comes to things like this. She might just lose all feelings for you after this honeymoon period.”
Li Shaobin was a little scared after hearing her say that. “Er… alright then, I’ll make a move first. If you need anything, just call me. I’ll get Auntie Li to stay here for the time being to take care of you. Right, if you need to go out or take a spin or anything, you can call me. I have a lot of properties in Northern City. It would be better if you sought me out when it comes to things like supper, normal meals, bars, and clubs. You’re so popular that I think everyone would recognize you if you went out. It would be troublesome if something happened.”
Ruan Yang raised her eyebrows slightly. “Actually, you don’t have to do this. Don’t tell me you have to take care of me forever if I don’t regain my memory…”
“That’s not it. It’s just that this is a very critical period,” Li Shaobin said helplessly. “Besides, Changqing would definitely be very upset if I didn’t do this. We’re kind of close. I don’t want her to hate me.”
“Really?” Ruan Yang smiled. “Right, if you were to go on a date in the afternoon, change that sweater you have on the inside. Turtlenecks don’t suit you.”
“Why must I listen to you? The more you don’t want me to wear it, the more I’m going to wear it.” Li Shaobin left her apartment angrily and returned to the Li Household.
——-
Knowing that Li Shaobin was going to be discharged today, Grandma Li had prepared a table full of delicacies. “Binbin, look at you. You refused to listen when I told you to drive slower. Look—you really gave all of us a good scare this time around.”
“He’s spoiled by all of you,” Grandpa Li said with a long face. “I think we should let him get married as soon as possible. Someone might be able to control him after he gets married. I think we should get him someone shrewd.”
Li Shaobin laughed coldly. “A woman who can subdue me in this world hasn’t been born yet.”
“Hasn’t he been in contact with that female cop recently?” He Mingshan said with a smile. “I think the female cop is pretty decent.”
“Aiya, don’t talk about the female cop anymore.” Li Shaobin quickly tugged at his sweater. “Tell me, do I look good in turtleneck sweaters? Am I handsome?”
“Handsome. My son is handsome in anything,” He Mingshan said with a grin.
Grandma Li agreed. “My grandson is handsome even if he’s dressed in beggar clothes with that dashing face and tall build.”
Li Shaobin was delighted upon hearing that. Indeed, there was a problem with Ruan Yang’s taste.
“That top is so ugly.” Li Xiaoxia suddenly came in from the entrance. He had just finished school. He took his shoes off and rushed in. “Little Uncle, where’s Ruan Yang? Is she discharged?”
“What did you just say?” Li Shaobin pulled Li Xiaoxia’s ear. “Did you say that my sweater is ugly?”
“It is. You don’t even have those Western vibes; why must you wear a turtleneck? It makes you look like you have no neck,” Li Xiaoxia said with frustration. “Also, your jacket. Oh my god, can you find something in a brighter color? Aiya, enough of this. Where’s Ruan Yang? Can you take me to visit her tonight?”
“Grandpa, Mom, this rascal only knows how to chase celebrities around the entire day. He doesn’t even study properly. Shouldn’t you control him?” Li Shaobin said angrily. “He even sent me a text today while he was in class. If you guys don’t control him, he might become the second me.”
“Really? Grandpa Li’s expression worsened. He didn’t want his great-grandson to become another Li Shaobin. One was enough to make his head hurt. “Xiaoxia, how can you have this attitude about studying? I’ll call your teacher at school to tell her to watch you later. You must’ve been too relaxed lately, thinking about chasing celebrities every day. You better stay at home to do your work every night. You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”