"Fortunately, the stab didn't hit any vital organs, and since it was treated promptly with only a small wound, stitching it up will be enough," the doctor at Zhongwu Hospital told Ye Shuang the next morning, discussing Chen Qin's condition. "But even a small wound can be dangerous if it hits the heart or similar areas."
"Understood."
After exchanging a few more words with the doctor, Ye Shuang entered the ward to check on Chen Qin.
She was lying in bed, with several nurses attending to her.
When Chen Qin saw Ye Shuang walk in, she playfully flashed a peace sign. "I'm fine, yay!"
"Just rest for now," Ye Shuang said, sitting beside the bed.
"Should I contact Uncle Chen and the others?"
"No, they’d be terrified," Chen Qin replied, forcing a lighthearted tone. "I prefer sharing only good news."
"Telling family would just make them worry without helping anything."
Ye Shuang could only sigh. "Then let me be the only one worrying."
Chen Qin giggled. "Sorry to trouble you~"
But her complexion was pale—she was clearly putting on a brave face just to ease Ye Shuang’s concerns.
"What about work?"
"The doctor said I’ll need at least half a month of bed rest, but it’s fine. I’ll just work from the hospital," Chen Qin said.
"I’ll stay here and help handle company matters too," Ye Shuang offered. "Luckily, the knife missed all the vital organs. The doctor said the angle was extremely tricky but somehow avoided everything important."
"Huh? A stroke of luck in misfortune, then."
"How can you still laugh about it?" Ye Shuang asked.
"Because I’m happy."
"Happy?" Ye Shuang was puzzled. What was there to be happy about?
"Because I only got a minor injury," Chen Qin said, tilting her head. "But what if the knife had hit you somewhere fatal? Even if Zhao Mengyao just meant to scare you with the knife, I was so afraid of losing you."
"If it happened again…"
"I’d still choose to do the same."
Ye Shuang: "..."
"You’re such a fool," Ye Shuang murmured. Then, after a pause, he suddenly asked,
"So… we’re really not dating?"
"Nope," Chen Qin said, then proceeded to recount everything about Ye Shuang and Zhao Mengyao from beginning to end.
Ye Shuang listened quietly. Though it was his own story, it felt completely unfamiliar—as if it had happened to someone else.
"None of that matters now," Ye Shuang shook his head and said earnestly,
"Be with me."
Chen Qin stared at him blankly before smiling and shaking her head.
"No."
"Why…?"
Chen Qin lowered her head, deep in thought.
"I really do like you, but…"
"I don’t want you to be with me out of obligation or guilt."
"I don’t want you to be with me because of those jumbled memories."
"Of course, at first, when I realized you’d replaced Zhao Mengyao in your memories with me, I was overjoyed…"
"It felt like we had shared memories, like… the girl you worked so hard to please… was actually me."
"But then I realized—that just made me a substitute."
"Zhao Mengyao is Zhao Mengyao."
"And I am me."
Chen Qin placed a hand over her chest. Even wounded, bathed in the morning light streaming through the window, her smile seemed to glow brilliantly.
"This lady is one of a kind! I’m no one’s replacement, and I don’t need anyone’s pity."
"I love you for who you are, and I want a love that’s just as unique."
"I want you to genuinely like this girl, not just feel like you owe her."
"Ye Shuang, I want you to remember everything."
"And then, properly tell me, ‘I love you.’"
Ye Shuang gazed at the radiant girl before him, momentarily speechless—she was so dazzling that he felt like a corpse dragged out of the gutter and forced into the sunlight.
She was extraordinary, with her own pride and dignity. Even if Chen Qin could humble herself to the bone for Ye Shuang, that didn’t mean she’d accept being a stand-in or a bandage for his wounds.
Right.
Ye Shuang suddenly understood.
They’d grown up together—he remembered Chen Qin’s favorite foods.
So why, during dinner yesterday, had Zhao Mengyao’s preferences overwritten those memories?
Chen Qin was Chen Qin. Zhao Mengyao was Zhao Mengyao.
"Memories…"
A sharp pain shot through Ye Shuang’s head, but nothing came back to him.
Noticing his discomfort, Chen Qin gently reassured him, "Take your time. I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m sure you’ll be okay."
"After all, this lady isn’t going anywhere."
"..." Ye Shuang smiled. "Yeah."
Just then, his phone rang.
It was the police station.
"Hello? Yes… What? Seriously? Alright." Hanging up, Ye Shuang frowned slightly, lost in thought.
"Huh?" Chen Qin asked.
"Zhao Mengyao…"
"She got arrested?" Chen Qin sounded displeased. "What a joke. My injury barely counts as minor."
Ye Shuang shook his head. "No, when she ran out of her apartment, she was in such a hurry that…"
"She got hit by a dump truck at the corner."
Chen Qin: "..."
"You’re kidding?"
"Nope. The police said it was instant—they couldn’t even find her head." Ye Shuang felt neither sorrow nor joy. While Zhao Mengyao didn’t deserve death, it seemed too lenient for her.
Rather than a quick end, rotting in prison with regret would’ve been more fitting.
After all, death was over in an instant.
"As the Analects say, ‘Heaven punishes the wicked. If Heaven won’t, I know a thing or two about fists.’"
Ye Shuang laughed. "That’s in the Analects?"
"Heh."
They exchanged a glance and smiled in unison.
"Hey, Ye Shuang."
"Yeah?"
"It hurts…"
"Idiot. Lie down already."
Not long after Zhao Mengyao’s encounter with the dump truck, Tang Hao also ran into trouble overseas. While transferring assets, he was betrayed by someone he trusted, losing everything before getting robbed by locals in a "zero-dollar shopping" spree.
After that, news of Tang Hao simply vanished.
Overseas, death often goes unnoticed.
With Zhao Mengyao’s demise and the collapse of the Zhao Corporation, the chapter closed—erasing her not just from the world, but from Ye Shuang’s life as well.
As if she’d never existed.
And with this interlude over, Yinshan Academy finally welcomed its annual sports festival—
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
