Chapter 73: Memory Loss Part 1

Xu Yinian braced herself. Clearly, the best course of action was to hide—to pretend she had completely blacked out. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have the face to look at Shen Ruoshuang or Bai Ran for the rest of her life.

Thinking of this, she looked up. Though her face remained a bright, flustered red under the collective weight of their gazes, she tried her best to blink away the panic in her eyes and meet their stares. Strands of hair fell beside her cheeks, quietly veiling the flush that had crept all the way to the tips of her ears.

Does she really not remember?

The same question surfaced simultaneously in the minds of the two women below, both of whom were keenly observing Niannian’s every move. They were well aware of her natural instinct to play dead whenever she wanted to avoid something. Already, various strategies on how to pry the truth from her lips were beginning to take shape in their minds.

“Did we wake Niannian?”

“…You’re awake?”

The voices—one a tender, drowning warmth and the other a slightly hesitant, stiff tone—rang out almost in unison, their syllables overlapping. Because both voices were uniquely beautiful, neither managed to drown the other out.

Hearing both of them at once made Xu Yinian feel like she was being caught in a pincer attack, her head spinning. This dizziness caused her to miss the strange hesitation in Shen Ruoshuang’s voice—the cold, bitter lump of insecurity she’d had to swallow before she could even speak.

Niannian.

She hadn’t called her that because they were in front of an outsider, but more importantly, because the Xu Yinian before her was no longer the drunken, clingy girl from last night who trusted her so implicitly. Having tasted the sweetness of that indulgence, Shen Ruoshuang had begun to crave it—shamefully so.

She, too, was running away. Running from the possibility of rejection.

Bai Ran, however, caught that tiny flicker of uncertainty. Her amber eyes swept over Shen Ruoshuang with a hint of contempt. Weren’t you acting so arrogant last night? Now you realize that without the influence of alcohol, you’re nothing.

To Bai Ran, the other woman was merely a tool used to help Niannian vent her drunken stupor. If she hadn’t been preoccupied with soothing a crying, waking Niannian in the middle of the night, Bai Ran would have settled the score for those “indecent” touches long ago.

At the door, Jiang Qian, the Class Organizer, finally snapped out of her gossip-induced daze when Xu Yinian timidly repeated her question. She hurriedly began to explain the situation.

Back in class, Niannian had always insisted she wasn’t close with her roommates to discourage people from using her as a bridge to meet them. Given her plain clothes and unassuming personality, she truly didn’t seem to belong to the same circle as these “darlings of fortune.” Over time, the curiosity and speculation about her had faded.

In the microcosm of university society, people tended to curry favor with the elite and ignore the “invisible” students. Since Niannian had spent her military training in the Injury Company, she had naturally become an outcast. She was always the lonely figure sitting in the corner of the lecture hall.

Though Niannian enjoyed the peace, she was inevitably viewed with either pity or slight disdain by others. That was why Jiang Qian had been so confused when both the Chemistry and Digital Media majors proactively reached out for a mixer. She had never suspected Niannian was the reason.

Yet now, the two women made no effort to hide their doting concern for her. Whether it was the unreserved tenderness in the poised, aloof Bai Ran’s voice when she said “Niannian,” or the way the perpetually proud and rational Shen Ruoshuang knitted her brows to hide a burning intensity—it was all there.

Did Niannian actually convince Shen Ruoshuang and Ji Yan to join our class mixer? Jiang Qian wondered.

She looked at Xu Yinian again, only to see the same quiet, timid girl from the classroom. She sat there biting her lip and looking down, showing none of the arrogance one might expect from someone pampered by such heavyweights.

Jiang Qian couldn’t have known that Niannian didn’t even realize this was a joint mixer. Shen Ruoshuang and Ji Yan had shared a rare, selfish moment of unspoken agreement and hadn’t mentioned it to her at all.

Once Jiang Qian left, Xu Yinian had to come down and face the absurdity of the previous night. But as she turned to place her foot on the ladder, she suddenly saw the two figures looming below.

It was like a flashback to her blurred, drunken memories.

Terrified, Niannian’s already weak legs slipped. She nearly fell off the ladder, grabbing the railing frantically and wishing she could just crawl back onto the mattress.

“I—I can get down by myself…” she stammered. Her voice was trembling so much that the statement lacked any credibility.

Mid-sentence, she suddenly remembered saying those exact same words last night—except then, it had been with the bold defiance of a drunkard. That momentary lapse in her facade betrayed her. She clearly remembered everything.

The two “old foxes” watching her like hawks weren’t about to let that slip.

“About yesterday…” Shen Ruoshuang began.

“I don’t remember anything!” Xu Yinian interrupted with a guilty speed, desperate to wipe the slate clean.

It was a classic case of protesting too much.

A cold, elegant arc curved at the corner of Shen Ruoshuang’s lips. You were the one who took advantage of me over and over again yesterday, and now that you’ve had your fill, you want to act like nothing happened?

If it weren’t for the sake of collecting on this debt once Niannian was sober, why would she have restrained herself to such an extent? She had been so meticulous, maintaining control over every boundary and touch. Even if Niannian truly had a blackout, Shen Ruoshuang wouldn’t mind reenacting the scenes to help her remember. And if she was faking it, she deserved to endure the consequences.

Bai Ran, on the other hand, began calculating. Though she was almost certain Niannian was faking it given the intensity of her resistance, it didn’t matter if she remembered or not. As long as Niannian insisted she didn’t, all of Shen Ruoshuang’s progress and the hard-won intimacy from the night before would be rendered null and void. That suited Bai Ran just fine.

What pleased Bai Ran even more was Niannian’s “irresponsible” attitude—her desire to distance herself immediately upon waking proved that everything last night was just the alcohol talking. Clearly, Niannian didn’t want that drunken intimacy to change their relationship.

As long as Niannian didn’t want to “remember,” Bai Ran was happy to act as if nothing had happened. After all… once she truly possessed Xu Yinian, these little grievances wouldn’t happen again.

“You don’t remember, huh?” Shen Ruoshuang let out a soft chuckle. When she looked up again, a strange, bewitching light flickered in her peach blossom eyes. “Then why don’t you guess why your legs are so weak you can’t even get out of bed?”

Niannian’s situation was indeed difficult, but she clearly remembered that her soreness and weak legs were from her stubborn, repeated attempts to climb the ladder while drunk, resulting in several slips.

Under Shen Ruoshuang’s ambiguous tone, Niannian’s cheeks turned an uncooperative shade of crimson. Anyone listening would completely misunderstand! Yet because she had claimed to have a blackout, she couldn’t even argue or explain herself.

She was seeing Shen Ruoshuang’s “black-bellied” side in full force again.

The current, sober Niannian was a total coward. She could only purse her lips and stay silent, though a wave of stubbornness rose in her chest. Shen Ruoshuang said I couldn’t get out of bed? I’ll show her.

Just as she started to climb down, Bai Ran spoke up to rescue her.

“Don’t listen to her teasing. You didn’t do anything, Niannian. You were just a bit clumsy getting in and out of bed while drunk and took a few tumbles.”

The gentle, soothing voice smoothed over the shame and indignation Niannian felt from Shen Ruoshuang’s teasing. She lost focus on the ladder and missed a step two rungs from the floor. Her balance vanished.

She was actually quite close to the ground, but the sudden fear of falling made her instinctively reach out for someone to catch her. Unlike the night before when she would recklessly fall into anyone’s arms, the sober Niannian was faced with a split-second dilemma. She could only pick one…

In that crucial moment, a flash of memory crossed her mind: the shock of Shen Ruoshuang giving her a princess carry. Shen Ruoshuang should be stronger than the sickly Sister Ran, right?

With that thought alone, Niannian steeled her heart and leaned toward Shen Ruoshuang’s side.