The Written Novel

One kind of love is mutual fulfillment; perhaps letting go is also a good choice.

Perhaps...

That was how it was.

...

It was already ten o'clock when Ye Shuang returned home.

"Oh! Why must you tear Juliet and me apart! You bastards!"

"Romeo, give them a taste of your iron fists!"

The TV was blaring noisily. After changing his shoes, Ye Shuang looked toward the living room. Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke seemed to be watching a newly released TV drama. Although it wasn't as shocking as that domineering CEO show from last time, Ye Shuang still felt something was quite off about it.

"Oh, brother, you're back," Keke and Bai Yuyou looked over.

"Yeah. What are you watching so intently?" Ye Shuang asked.

"Romeo and Juliet vs. the Eighteen Bronze Men: A Love Rekindled 2."

Ye Shuang: "..."

Why did this title give off such a trashy vibe?

"Want to watch together, Ye Shuang?" Bai Yuyou asked.

"I... still need to update my novel. You guys go ahead," Ye Shuang smiled. Even though it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, he still needed to be somewhat responsible for his lovely readers.

"Oh."

Ye Shuang then returned to his room. Since he had already showered, he simply changed into his pajamas and sat down at his computer desk.

Despite telling the two girls he was going to type, Ye Shuang actually sat in front of the monitor for a full half hour without his fingers pressing a single key.

An Shiyu's words echoed in his ears.

"So why did I lose my memories?" Ye Shuang stared at the monitor for a long time. It wasn't until the screen was filled with periods that he lifted his fingers and silently deleted the punctuation marks.

He couldn't write anything; he might as well look at the outline.

Ye Shuang slowly exhaled, then silently opened the outline.

Chapter One: Picked up and taken home by a young girl.

Looking at the semi-autobiographical novel before him, Ye Shuang's fingers paused slightly. Then, as if he had thought of something, his gaze continued to scan downward.

Until the character setting for An Shiyu caught his eye.

Ye Shuang: "..."

After a long silence, Ye Shuang picked up his phone, opened the website where he wrote his novel, and started reading it from the very beginning.

Some of the more chaotic things in his brain seemed to find answers, but a sharp pain accompanied them.

"Why is it that whenever I recall the past..."

Ye Shuang forced himself to stay conscious, ignoring the needle-like pricking sensation in his brain, and continued reading Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four...

His page-like memories seemed to be filling in the blanks. Ye Shuang read carefully, but the next moment, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

...

When he opened his eyes again, it was already midnight.

Ye Shuang clutched his aching head and slowly sat up. He had forgotten why he was lying in bed. Looking at the ceiling and the hazy moonlight outside the window, Ye Shuang slowly reached out his hand.

"Did I forget something?"

Ye Shuang sat up and subconsciously reached for his phone, then noticed the novel's contents on the screen.

"..."

As if understanding something, Ye Shuang began to read again.

But as he continued to read closely, his brain hurt even more, turning from a needle-like prick to the feeling of someone smashing it with a hammer.

The matters concerning Zhao Mengyao, Chen Qin, and An Shiyu gradually made Ye Shuang feel as if he remembered something, and some incongruous parts of his memory were slowly repaired.

By the time he came back to his senses, Ye Shuang had finished reading the entire novel.

He couldn't remember how many times he had passed out. His consciousness had constantly hovered between chaos and clarity. It was no longer moonlight outside; the moment Ye Shuang finished reading the latest chapter, a ray of sunlight had already filtered in through the window.

The long night was giving way to dawn.

Slowly exhaling a breath of stale air from his chest, Ye Shuang silently put down his phone.

He silently digested all the information in his brain until a virtual window appeared before his eyes—

[Warning: Importing false memories is prone to deviation]

Ye Shuang looked at the system window in front of him for a long time, then suddenly said, "Thank you."

With that single sentence, the window flickered slightly and then slowly disappeared.

Although Ye Shuang knew that the novel he wrote was not a hundred percent accurate recreation, most of the recorded events still filled in his missing gaps, such as the stories of Zhao Mengyao and An Shiyu.

There was a lot of information; it wasn't complete, but it was enough.

He got out of bed and went straight to wash up.

Ye Shuang planned to take a trip to An Shiyu's house.

At this time, Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke had not yet woken up. Ye Shuang drove early to An Shiyu's neighborhood, and according to the description in the novel, found that row of colorful mini cars.

"Hmm..." Ye Shuang looked at the row of mini cars. Weren't these things a bit too conspicuous?

"Hmm... go up from this building, and... ring the doorbell?" Ye Shuang looked at the novel on his phone, then followed its description all the way to a certain floor, finally stopping in front of a familiar apartment door.

He had no memory of it, but his subconscious felt a sense of familiarity toward the door on the left.

Ye Shuang touched the electronic keypad. He didn't know the password, but he subconsciously entered a string of numbers anyway.

"Welcome home," a mechanical female voice sounded.

Ye Shuang froze for a moment. Even he hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. Perhaps only by coming here countless times could his fingers have formed such muscle memory, right?

As the door opened, a stream of singing drifted over—

"There is a kind of love called breaking up, giving up forever for the sake of love~"

It was a girl singing. Ye Shuang looked inside and saw a short-haired young woman sitting on the sofa, singing at the screen with a microphone in her hand.

Beside her, a long-haired young woman was holding a glow stick. Even though there were only two of them, they were acting like they were at a live concert.

Ye Shuang: "..."

The next moment, the sound abruptly stopped. As he opened the door, An Shiyu and An Shiyi, who were not far away, looked over.

At this moment, their expressions were a bit dumbfounded.

They seemed completely unprepared for Ye Shuang to appear here. The smile on Ye Shuang's face nearby seemed incredibly familiar.

"Yo?" Ye Shuang looked at the two dumbfounded girls and tried to greet them.

"You... how do you know our house password?" An Shiyu said, but the microphone in her hand suddenly popped, letting out a sharp feedback whine, "WEEEEEE—"

"I... think I remember something," Ye Shuang smiled.

Even though he had only read it in the novel, for some reason, Ye Shuang felt that it had indeed truly happened.

"Really?" An Shiyu was in disbelief. Even the microphone in her hand dropped to the floor, letting out another shriek of feedback.

"Huh?" An Shiyi froze for a second, scratching the back of her head with the glow stick. "We just started our emo session. Do you want to come back in a few days?"

"Uh..."

Emo?