Choose One of Two

Hospital.

Chen Qin was rushed into the operating room almost as soon as she arrived. Her condition was extremely critical; there had not even been time for a full examination before they had to work to keep her alive.

Ye Shuang and the others could only stand helplessly outside the operating room, staring at the light glowing above the door.

“Ha...” Ye Shuang crouched beside the wall, covering his face as he struggled to figure out what to do. As a medical student, he knew all too well how terrifying the amount of blood soaking Chen Qin’s skirt had been.

“...”

An Shiyu and Anshi Yi exchanged a glance. They did not know how to comfort Ye Shuang, so all they could say was, “She should be okay.”

Just then, the operating room door opened, and a doctor stepped out.

“Doctor, is she all right?!”

“The patient’s pupils have already dilated.”

The doctor’s words sent Ye Shuang plummeting into an icy abyss. He stared in disbelief. “Her pupils have dilated?”

One of the medical signs of death was dilated pupils.

“We have to operate immediately, but there’s only a ten percent chance of success. Even if we manage to resuscitate her, she may never wake up again and could require life support for the rest of her life,” the doctor said.

“Save her—save her! I need to sign a consent form, right?” Ye Shuang seemed to seize that sliver of hope, his voice growing frantic.

“Sir, please calm down. The resuscitation is already underway.”

“Oh, all right. Calm down. I need to calm down.”

But the trembling of Ye Shuang’s hands betrayed his feelings completely. In a situation like this, there was no way he could remain composed.

“Uncle, you need to stay calm.” An Shiyu placed a hand on Ye Shuang’s shoulder. “Sit down and wait patiently.”

Like a puppet, Ye Shuang allowed her to guide him to a chair.

He rubbed his hands together, repeating the motion mechanically.

“This time...” An Shiyu looked at the signal light and monitor in the distance, momentarily at a loss for words.

In truth, the doctor’s estimate of a ten percent chance had already been an optimistic one.

Though they did not know the exact extent of Chen Qin’s blood loss, if a major artery had been severed, a person could lose consciousness within ten or twenty seconds. The blood would gush out like a fountain, impossible to stop.

“Who did this? Why would anyone do something like this?” Anshi Yi leaned against the wall, deep in thought.

And it had happened at Yinshan Academy, of all places.

“There are surveillance cameras in the parking garage. We should check them.”

But Ye Shuang was not listening to anything the two fishes were saying. His eyes remained fixed on the operating room in the distance.

...

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. At last, the doctor emerged from the operating room again, followed by a medical trolley. Chen Qin lay on it with an oxygen mask over her face.

“We’ve temporarily stabilized her vital signs, but she’ll remain in critical danger for the next few days...” the doctor said. “She needs to be transferred to the intensive care unit.”

“Her vital signs are stable... That’s good. That’s good.” Ye Shuang hurried to Chen Qin’s side.

At that moment, a window slowly appeared before him—

[Character: Chen Qin

Severely injured and unconscious. Estimated survival time: less than 24 hours]

The simple message made Ye Shuang feel as though his breathing had stopped. He stared blankly at Chen Qin’s face, his lips moving soundlessly.

...

Several hours later, reporters arrived as well. News that someone had been stabbed in the academy’s parking garage had spread quickly. Fortunately, no one was allowed into the ICU corridor, and the nurses kept the reporters outside.

Through the window, Ye Shuang sat silently in the corridor, watching Chen Qin lying inside the intensive care unit.

His mind replayed one possibility after another.

A business rival?

Jin Sha?

A case of mistaken identity?

Ye Shuang had no idea. He could only clasp his hands together and pray that Chen Qin’s condition would improve. But the system’s message from earlier felt like a thorn driven straight into his heart.

No matter how unwilling he was to believe it, the system had never been wrong.

Was Chen Qin really not going to make it?

She had still been smiling just that morning. The thought filled Ye Shuang with a crushing sense of helplessness.

Bai Yuyou and the others arrived after receiving the news, bringing Ye Shuang some clothes and his phone. When they heard that Chen Qin had been attacked, the girls were all stunned.

It felt like something that only happened in the news had suddenly occurred right beside them—to someone they knew.

It was only after seeing Chen Qin unconscious in the hospital bed that they truly believed it. Sister Chen Qin really had been stabbed, and her life was in grave danger. Even though the surgery had succeeded, she still had not escaped the crisis.

Bai Yuyou looked at Ye Shuang and discovered that he had sunk into deep thought, sitting there blankly without the slightest reaction.

He looked as if he were about to shatter.

The police came to learn what had happened as well. But since Ye Shuang had been out running and knew nothing, they chose to retrieve the surveillance footage and question the teacher who had first found Chen Qin collapsed on the ground.

“Sister Chen Qin should be all right, shouldn’t she? Didn’t the doctor say the surgery went well?”

“I don’t know... She’s still in critical condition.”

“All right.”

As Bai Yuyou and the others spoke, they kept glancing at Ye Shuang’s reaction. His gaze remained empty.

Why had something like this happened?

Ye Shuang did not understand.

All he could do was watch Chen Qin lying inside the ICU, unable to do anything.

He could do nothing.

Ye Shuang drew a deep breath. Every time he thought of the system’s words—she would not survive twenty-four hours—his scalp prickled, and he felt as though he could no longer breathe.

[Are you... willing to pay the price?]

A window suddenly appeared before him, making Ye Shuang freeze.

[Are you... willing?]

The price...

Ye Shuang suddenly recalled how the novels described it.

Paying a price in exchange for something.

“Was that how it worked the first two times?” Ye Shuang murmured. As though afraid the window would disappear, he hurriedly said, “I’m willing!”

[Give up half of your memories to obtain a chance to heal Chen Qin.]

[Warning: If you make too many exchanges, your memories may collapse and become impossible to restore on their own.]

Half?

[1. Chen Qin

2. Bai Yuyou]

Memories...

Bai Yuyou or Chen Qin?

In other words, he would become like he had been back when he did not know An Shiyu.

“Big brother, are you all right?” Ye Shuang’s sudden shout of “I’m willing!” made Bai Yuyou and the others look over. Perhaps sensing that something was wrong with him, the girls all wore worried expressions.

Ye Shuang came back to his senses. “I...”

“It’ll be all right, Ye Shuang. Everything will get better.” Bai Yuyou reached out and embraced him, trying to comfort him.

The girl’s embrace was warm. Ye Shuang looked toward Chen Qin in the ICU, then at Bai Yuyou standing before him.

Two choices.

...

Why?