“Why did the power suddenly go out?” Shen Guang wondered. He went outside to take a look and found that the outage seemed to affect only his floor.

Lin Qingqian was puzzled, too. Why had the power gone out all of a sudden?

Not many people lived on this floor. Liu Min was one of them. But Liu Qing was always making a fuss, so if she’d been home, she would’ve come knocking to demand an explanation by now.

Shen Guang hurried over to the breaker box, only to find that the main breaker for the entire floor had tripped!

Could someone on this floor have overloaded the circuit with an appliance?

The thought gave him a bit of a headache. Shen Guang flipped the switch back on, and the power was restored.

Lin Qingqian stood behind him barefoot, her brow slightly furrowed. She looked a little worried.

“Was it just a tripped breaker?”

“What else? You think the power company cut us off?” Shen Guang turned to look at the girl in front of him. But when he saw her standing barefoot on the cold floor, he frowned, his tone reproachful. “Why did you come out barefoot? It’s not like you don’t have shoes inside. Aren’t you worried you’ll catch a cold?”

Lin Qingqian was a little surprised. Was this man actually concerned about her?

“Those fair, lovely legs aren’t for other people to see!”

Sure enough, her biggest mistake was trying to treat the man in front of her like a normal person.

Lin Qingqian looked disgusted, and a click of her tongue escaped her.

“Do you spend all your time staring at my legs? Can’t you act normal for once?”

“There are other parts, too.”

“Just go die already! A paramecium like you is taking up space just by being alive!”

.......

Lin Qingqian left in a huff. Of course, Shen Guang knew she wouldn’t stay mad for long.

Still, teasing her really was fun—and he even got a little something out of it. Not bad.

Shen Guang sat down at his computer and opened that anonymous chat app.

But the screen said the server was under maintenance.

Shen Guang was puzzled. He’d been using the app for ages, and he’d never seen the site go down for maintenance before.

But the site was inaccessible for now, so he’d just have to find something else to do.

“Ding-dong! Ding-dong!”

The doorbell rang again outside.

Shen Guang was baffled. Other than Lin Qingqian, who would come looking for him in the middle of the night?

Could it be that crazy woman, Liu Min?

Just imagining Liu Min reeking of alcohol, her lips painted a blazing red, swaying as she leaned against his door, made Shen Guang shudder.

He really couldn’t handle a female drunk!

He wasn’t keen on it, but Shen Guang still went to answer the door. If something happened to Liu Min because of him, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

But things weren’t at all as Shen Guang had expected. The person standing outside his door was Yan Qingxue!

It was rare to see Yan Qingxue looking at him so seriously. In his mind, she was always wearing a gentle smile, but she really did look a little angry now.

Shen Guang could more or less guess why.

She must’ve found out about the one-on-one match after school today.

Everyone was their own person. Who would want to be treated like an object and wagered over?

“Shen Guang, did you make a bet with Lin Yangchao this afternoon?”

“More accurately, it was a bet we made a while ago—before I was hospitalized.”

Shen Guang was at a loss. He had no idea what that guy had been thinking.

“How could you do something like that? Who I choose to be friends with is my right. You’re both so presumptuous!” Yan Qingxue’s voice was full of displeasure, and she didn’t look at Shen Guang with her usual warmth.

“You’re right. We were being presumptuous. I’m sorry.”

Yan Qingxue had expected Shen Guang to at least try to explain himself. She hadn’t thought he’d admit his fault so readily.

She didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Then she suddenly remembered what Shen Guang had told her at the hospital: he seemed to have forgotten what had happened before.

So had he been forced into what happened today, too?

Still confused, Yan Qingxue asked what was on her mind.

“Shen Guang, you still haven’t remembered anything from before?”

“Whether I’ve remembered or not, I was the one who started this in the first place. You have every reason to be angry. Who’d want to be treated like that?”

Faced with Shen Guang’s sincerity, Yan Qingxue couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh.

She knew how Shen Guang had treated her before. But the Shen Guang standing here now had lost his memories, and he was nothing like the person he used to be.

Whatever the case, she couldn’t hold what had happened before against the Shen Guang of today.

She puffed out her cheeks, looking clearly relieved.

“Shen Guang, the thing is, I know you used to like me. But I’m sorry—I’m just not ready to date anyone right now. I really am sorry.”

When she finished, she bowed to Shen Guang in apology.

It was a good thing Yan Qingxue had been willing to make things clear. And it seemed Shen Guang had finally given up pursuing her for good.

Did that mean he’d truly escaped the bad end?

He lifted his head. At long last, the tension that had been weighing on him eased a little.

From here on, none of it seemed to have anything to do with him. Maybe he could just coast through life doing the bare minimum.

Yan Qingxue watched Shen Guang’s expression change, confusion rising in her heart.

Why wasn’t he even a little sad after she turned down his confession? If anything, he looked relieved.

Could it be that the amnesiac Shen Guang didn’t actually like her?

The more she thought about his recent behavior, the more certain Yan Qingxue became that she was right! He clearly didn’t like her, and yet she’d rejected him first. This was...

Yan Qingxue was suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at the boy in front of her.

“Sh-Shen Guang, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going!” Yan Qingxue wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.

But Shen Guang called out to stop her.

“Yan Qingxue, do you know a girl named Zhu Youting?”

“Youting? Yeah, I know her. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just asking.”

Just asking? Who casually asks about a girl they don’t know?

Yan Qingxue grumbled to herself, but didn’t press him. Now that they’d cleared the air, she didn’t have any right to meddle in Shen Guang’s affairs. But if he’d fallen for Youting, hadn’t he moved on awfully fast? Even if he’d lost his memories, could none of his feelings have remained?

Yan Qingxue felt a little frustrated. She had to admit she couldn’t figure Shen Guang out anymore.

........

A light rain fell outside. This time, Shen Guang rolled straight out of bed.

A sudden clap of thunder had woken him in the middle of the night, and he’d been miserable ever since.

Rain pattered against the window, blurring the view outside.

As Shen Guang washed up, he looked at himself in the mirror. It no longer felt strange.

He had to admit, by now he’d accepted that he was Shen Guang. And Lin Qingqian was the only other person who knew his secret.

Put it in a more romantic way, maybe they were bound by fate?

He spat out the toothpaste foam, and the doorbell rang outside. Shen Guang ran to open the door before he even had a chance to wipe his mouth.

When he opened it, Lin Qingqian was standing there with her arms folded, holding a clear plastic bag of baozi.

Seeing the foam still at the corners of Shen Guang’s mouth, Lin Qingqian looked utterly disgusted.

“Can’t you pay a little attention to your appearance? You’re such a mess. And your tie’s all crooked—are you sure you’re a high school student?”

“You might not believe this, but I’ve worn a red scarf before. I have no idea how to tie a necktie.”

“Tch! What a pain!”

Lin Qingqian shoved the baozi into Shen Guang’s hands, then reached for his tie.

Shen Guang stood still and let her fuss over him. For a moment, they were very close.

Her faint fragrance was soothing.

There was something captivating about the girl’s focused gaze. Even Shen Guang couldn’t help being drawn to her.

The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

“You’d make such a good wife and mother...”