MFW 5

What happened after?

… Fu Siting only vaguely remembered that the man asked him a few questions.

His voice was deep and pleasant, like the elegant notes of a cello flowing gently, perfectly matching his elegant and composed face.

He not only looked a lot like Li Fei.

His voice was also… quite similar.

Fu Siting felt a little dizzy, his thoughts like a turbulent lake. He answered the other person’s questions in a daze, and in his hazy state, time and the surrounding scenery seemed to have been fast-forwarded, passing by rapidly without leaving a trace.

He didn’t know if he had said something wrong.

The man’s expression changed slightly, he frowned and pondered, then suddenly got up and walked out.

His slender figure cast a shadow under the ward light, then disappeared. Fu Siting could only lie frozen on the bed, helplessly watching.

Taking advantage of the man’s departure, a group of people suddenly rushed into the ward.

Fu Siting didn’t recognize any of them.

They weren’t his classmates, nor were they any familiar teachers. Almost everyone there was an adult, handsome men and beautiful women dressed smartly, as if they had stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Yet, they all seemed to know him very well, and began to surround him warmly, asking him all sorts of questions.

“Oh dear, look at you! You’ve lost weight after lying here for a week! Are you hungry, Xiaoting? There seems to be some porridge, do you want some?”

“Hey, he’s just woken up, don’t feed him randomly. If something bad happens, Xiaofei will kill you.”

“Haha, anyway, it’s good that you’re awake. Now Fei-ge can rest easy. Seriously, the doctor said he didn’t hit anything fatal, how could he have slept for a whole week? It scared Fei-ge to death.”

“Yeah, Siting, Fei-ge didn’t even go to the awards ceremony this time, he just stayed here to watch over you. You can’t be so careless next time. Seriously, when Mercury is in retrograde¹, you can really fall and die on the stairs. You know, there was an elevator, why did you have to take the stairs?”

“It’s just that you’re lucky, you rolled down such a high staircase and you’re fine. But you really have to be careful in the future. Feifei is so handsome, you finally managed to win him over, so many people are eyeing him. Are you willing to let him be a widow? You’ll be a ghost and won’t be able to close your eyes in peace, I’m telling you.”

“Hey, Ting-ge, what’s wrong?”

“Why do you look so…cough, dazed after you woke up?”

“Ting-ge, Ting-ge? Did you hear us? Give us a response!”

Among the large group of people surrounding his hospital bed, only the boy with tiger teeth, whose face was almost touching him, seemed to be about the same age as him.

The boy had slightly scleral show in his eyes, but that didn’t detract from his excessively handsome appearance.

He was lively and very talkative, staring at Fu Siting with his face right in front of him. After staring for a while, he suddenly clutched his forehead, his face contorted in despair:

“Oh no, oh no, I feel like he’s not listening at all. Ting-ge, can you talk to me? Can you be normal for once?”

“Hey, he probably fell down the stairs and got hit… and suffered some kind of aftereffect, cough, like amnesia, right?”

“Really, Ting-ge, can you say something? Why are your eyes so still after you woke up? You look like a wax figure, it’s kind of scary.”

“…”

“Ting-ge, do you recognize me? Do you remember who I am?”

“Holy crap, he really doesn’t seem to recognize me. Could he really have amnesia? Huh? But the doctor said there wouldn’t be any aftereffects!”

The boy grabbed Fu Siting’s shoulders and started dramatically yelling, “Ting-ge, Ting-ge, tell me who I am! Tell me now!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Yihao,” a slightly older, handsome guy next to him said helplessly, “Do you think this is some kind of movie called ‘100 Days of Amnesia’ that your Xingchen just filmed? This is just a side effect of anesthesia, his reaction is slow.”

“No, no, no,” another beautiful woman shook her finger, “He fell a week ago, how could the effects of anesthesia last that long?”

A scruffy, artsy-looking middle-aged man patted Fu Siting’s hand: “Ting, our Xiaofei stayed up for days and nights watching over you, look how haggard he’s become in just one week! Adversity reveals true feelings, you have to treat him well after you get better, and no more arguing. Hmm?”

The boy with the tiger teeth continued to frown and tilt his head: “But judging from his eyes, it doesn’t seem like he has amnesia. He’s been staring at the door the whole time.”

“At least he knows to be a wife-gazing stone², so he should be alright.”

“Speaking of which, what is Fei-ge talk to the doctor about? Why is he taking so long?”

“…”

After a while of commotion, the man who looked a lot like Li Fei, with dark eyes, finally returned.

The world suddenly fell silent as he entered the room.

Visiting hours ended, and everyone left after leaving their gifts.

Only he stayed, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside Fu Siting’s bed.

Very close.

The person was so close that Fu Siting was enveloped in a faint scent of ink, as if he were melting into that pure and noble fragrance.

He lowered his eyes, clearly hearing his own heartbeat. His throat suddenly became dry and sore, and his back felt slightly hot and sweaty. He was momentarily at a loss, and could only stare silently at his hands hanging limply on the blanket.

After a while, the person spoke, “Don’t worry, I just told the doctor about your situation.”

“They’ll come to see you about your memory confusion as soon as they finish their meeting.”

Memory…confusion?

Fu Siting’s gaze was fixed on the white shirt cuff peeking out from under the other person’s suit. The cufflinks and lapel pin were obsidian, gleaming under the incandescent light.

His own mind…it seemed that it really wasn’t very clear yet.

Fortunately, after a period of short recovery, his fingers could finally move again.

His fingertips secretly touched the bed sheet; it was soft and delicate silk.

Unlike the coarse cloth used for his mattress at home, it had no unevenness.

“Fu Siting.”

Perhaps because he was acting so strangely, the man couldn’t help but frown with worry.

He reached out a hand, his fingers pausing slightly about a centimeter from Fu Siting’s cheek, his dark eyes fixed on him as if confirming something.

Only after a moment, sensing no resistance from Fu Siting, did his fingertips finally fall.

He gently brushed against Fu Siting’s cheek and ear, touching him softly a few times.

The place where his fingertips touched felt tingly and itchy, and Fu Siting’s body suddenly tensed, as if struck by an electric current, spreading from his spine all the way to his fingertips.

This feeling was so unfamiliar. He gritted his teeth and finally slowly raised his eyes, meeting those unyielding dark eyes.

He really did look like Li Fei…only more mature, more handsome… completely unreal.

But this thought only lasted for a moment before Fu Siting silently avoided that burning gaze again. His gaze wandered little by little, moving down and landing back on the man’s well-defined wrist beneath his white shirt.

Something on his wrist looked very familiar.

Fu Siting then noticed a faded, old-fashioned cowhide rope tied to the other person’s wrist, with a small, exquisite Tibetan silver fox hanging from it.

…That was his bracelet.

His grandmother had personally rubbed and braided it for him when he was a child.

Fu Siting’s biological parents were not very educated, but his grandmother had been the daughter of a capitalist in the old society. She was not only literate but also skilled in painting and calligraphy. Although her life was full of ups and downs, she always remained optimistic and strong.

His name was also given to him by his grandmother.

In Fu Siting’s life, the time he spent with his grandmother before the age of five was not much, but it was all warm and beautiful. Therefore, he had always cherished that bracelet, and although it was very old, he had worn it on his wrist for many years.

Why was that bracelet on his wrist now?

Just as he was thinking this, the other person sighed, untied the bracelet with one hand, took Fu Siting’s wrist, and gently tied it back on.

“I don’t know if it’s because you gave me your lucky bracelet, but I’ve been blessed these past few years, while you’ve always had so many misfortunes.”

“So, let Grandma’s little fox continue to protect you. In your current state, you definitely need more protection than I do.”

“…”

Fu Siting fell silent. After a long while, he finally slowly raised his eyes again.

When their eyes met again, he finally saw a trace of unconcealed worry and exhaustion in the man’s gentle and patient eyes.

Those people seemed to have said he hadn’t slept for days…

His heart ached slightly.

Fu Siting opened his mouth, but couldn’t speak.

“…”

“Actually, I shouldn’t have been so greedy.” After a moment, the man smiled and comforted him, “You’ve been unconscious for so long, it’s already good enough that you’ve woken up.”

He finished speaking and suddenly leaned closer.

The cool scent of ink wafted over, and Fu Siting’s vision blurred.

Only when their foreheads touched did he realize that the other person was just taking his temperature. After confirming he didn’t have a fever, he released him.

But…

Just for that brief moment.

Fu Siting found himself almost…unable to suppress the absurd impulse to lean closer and touch those thin lips so close to his.

It was insane.

This feeling was both strange and terrifying; Fu Siting froze, unable to comprehend it.

Before this, he had never…felt such an inexplicable impulse.

Although he was theoretically in his adolescence, as someone overwhelmed by life’s pressures, juggling school and part-time work, he rarely had such inexplicable fantasies.

So what he just experienced…no, Fu Siting thought to himself.

No. He must have just been momentarily confused. Perhaps it was the scent of ink that carried…a hint of alluring citrus sweetness that caused a brief moment of disorientation.

Fortunately, after the other person sat back down, the sweetness gradually faded.

Fu Siting breathed a sigh of relief without showing any emotion, continuing to listen to the man finish what he had just said.

“Besides, even if you really lost your memory, not remembering me or anyone else, at least you haven’t forgotten who you are.”

“It’s not like you’ve forgotten everything.”

“Even remembering just a little is better than remembering nothing at all.”

As the man spoke, he suddenly took Fu Siting’s hand, which was hanging by the bedside, again.

This time, he ignored Fu Siting’s momentary stiffness. With a flicker of his gaze, he forcefully wrote the two characters “Li Fei” in Fu Siting’s palm, stroke by stroke. Those two simple words struck Fu Siting’s heart.

After the man finished writing, he looked up, his dark pupils fixed on him. Under that burning gaze, Fu Siting heard him slowly speak:

“Let’s get to know each other again. I’m Li Fei, your fiancé.”

“We got together three years ago and lived together for two years.”

“Our relationship was very good… at least in my opinion, it was quite good.”

Fu Siting was completely bewildered.

He couldn’t understand.

***

Author’s Note:

Intense second-sight love + utter bewilderment resulted in a completely botched performance throughout.

It can be understood that all of Fu Siting’s inner thoughts are like this:

“Ah—(groundhog scream)” and then outwardly remaining motionless.

1. People use it ironically to explain bad luck, accidents, miscommunication, or things going wrong. ↩︎
2. “Wife gazing stone” comes from an East Asian legend and later idiom. The most common version is the Chinese tale of 望夫石 (Husband Gazing Stone)
   In the story, a woman waits for her husband to return from war or a long journey. She goes to the same spot every day, watching the road without leaving. She waits for so long, through wind and rain, that she eventually turns into stone. That stone becomes known as the “husband gazing stone,” a symbol of absolute devotion and waiting. ↩︎