Chapter 153: Ye Fuli, I Am Not Your Ex-Lover
After three days of grinding away in her room, Ye Fuli finally uncovered some leads about Ye Zhen, narrowing down his activities within the city.
Yet over those three days, those brutal fragments of memory had gradually begun to blur.
It was as if an invisible force was preventing her from delving deeper into the painful memories.
Ye Fuli sat blankly before her computer, cold sweat trickling down her forehead.
She frantically grabbed pen and paper, scribbling in shaky handwriting: I did terrible things to Ye Zhen. I must atone to her personally. I…
I… did something terrible.
But…
What did I do?
Ye Fuli's hand trembled as she gripped the pen.
The last scattered fragments of memory slowly blurred, like a nightmare fading into indistinctness after waking.
All she could recall were the happy times she'd shared with Ye Zhen.
That distant beauty offered no comfort to the Ye Fuli of the present.
Ye Fuli stared blankly at the map on her computer screen, her eyes reddened.
A heavy guilt weighed on her heart, yet she could no longer recall the specific reason for it.
"I must find Ye Zhen."
"Find Ye Zhen, and everything will be answered."
"I can't go on living like this, in such a daze."
Ye Fuli rose from her seat, her spirit broken.
Yet her eyes held a resolute gleam.
Within the designated area, finding Ye Zhen shouldn't be too difficult!
……
…
At that moment, Ye Zhen, sitting by the stove eating watermelon, was chatting idly with the system.
As they chatted, their conversation drifted toward matters concerning this world.
Ye Zhen hadn't asked about these things proactively, and the System wasn't exactly eager to volunteer the information either.
Now that Ye Zhen had brought it up, the System felt obligated to provide some answers.
[The pillar of this world is Ye Fuli herself. Without exaggeration, everything revolves around her. The world will pamper her, granting her every wish and averting all misfortune until she dies of natural causes. Therefore, theoretically, no one can kill her.]
"Whoa, so she's the so-called Chosen One?"
Ye Zhen scooped another generous slice of watermelon with her spoon, popping it into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
She suddenly furrowed her brow.
Ye Fuli's rebirth meant that in her previous life…
…had taken her own life in the most agonizing way?
How could someone so proud, someone who always found a way no matter what, resort to such an extreme path?
What could possibly have driven her to such utter despair?
[Even if she wanted to take her own life, this world would find ways to keep her alive, ensuring the normal functioning of its order.]
"Meaning even dying is difficult, right?"
Ye Zhen set down the watermelon.
She felt a pang of sympathy for Ye Fuli.
She appeared to be the freest, yet in reality, wasn't she also living within a cage?
It's just that in this world, the cage holding her was the largest.
[If it truly can't be saved, the world will reset everything back to square one. Of course, besides this reset method, erasing some of Ye Fuli's painful memories to make her give up on suicide is another approach.]
Hearing this, Ye Zhen finally understood.
She realized the reason behind Ye Fuli's recent unusual behavior.
Perhaps it wasn't just the toxins affecting her mind.
Forgetting certain things might indeed make Ye Fuli happier, but could someone as proud as her tolerate living in such pretense?
Ye Zhen felt a pang of melancholy.
Then.
She began to worry about one thing.
What if Yefuri still couldn't let go, causing the world to reset once more? What about her?
She wasn't a native of this world.
After the reset, she'd likely be left as a lonely ghost all over again!
Damn it. She really didn't want to give up this life where she could live comfortably without having to think.
"Hmph."
Ye Zhen's expression gradually turned serious.
She grasped the gravity of the situation.
"If possible, I must keep Ye Fuli alive—even offer her a little help."
[Even if it might cost you your own freedom?]
"No way."
Ye Zhen instantly slumped back down, reverting to her listless demeanor: "The absolute prerequisite is that it doesn't interfere with my freedom to enjoy life."
[Dog Host, you sure have your priorities straight…(*￣rǒ￣)]
"Hmph, of course, dog system."
……
By the time Ye Fuli arrived at the southern suburbs, it was already past ten in the evening.
No snow fell today, but it was bitterly cold.
Especially in the outskirts—this remote area felt even more desolate and chilling.
Ye Fuli lifted her head and looked toward a factory not far away.
She had already discovered it belonged to Ye Zhen.
She still felt a bit uneasy inside.
Whenever she stood before Ye Zhen, she always felt so insignificant… no, to be precise, she felt deeply uneasy.
But today, she had no choice but to stand before Ye Zhen and unravel all the mysteries.
She refused to live in an illusion of beauty any longer.
With that thought, Ye Fuli slowly took a step forward.
"Hey! You there, young lady! Who are you looking for?"
Ye Fuli's footsteps halted.
She lifted her head slightly, looking at the elderly janitor who had spoken.
When faced with strangers, her mind always defaulted to two completely different coping modes: one was to respond with a polite smile, the other was to simply ignore them.
Ye Fuli sighed, forcing a slight tug at the corners of her mouth into a polite smile. "I'm looking for someone named Ye Zhen."
The janitor's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're looking for the boss! He should be roasting sweet potatoes in that little hut over there right about now."
He picked up his broom and pointed toward a small wooden hut nearby.
Ye Fuli nodded and thanked him. "I'll go find her."
She approached the small cabin, stopped, and tentatively reached out to push the door.
The door wasn't locked and swung open easily.
Inside, Ye Zhen, who had been flipping sweet potatoes over the stove, looked up, her expression blank as she met the visitor.
Seeing it was Ye Fuli, her heart still gave an involuntary flutter.
"Uh, you? …You came."
"Mhm." Ye Fuli feigned composure. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced."
"…It's fine."
Ye Zhen thought to herself, You've done this plenty of times before. You never even apologized back then, so this is actually progress.
To avoid giving him too much to think about, she picked up a sweet potato and placed it on the tray.
"Here, have a sweet potato."
"Sure."
Ye Fuli walked in, her expression still stiff, looking much the same as before.
But the Ye Fuli of the past wouldn't have simply agreed to an invitation like this. She would have responded with a sarcastic remark like, "I have no interest in such things."
Ye Fuli wasn't very skilled at peeling sweet potatoes. She made a mess of it and even burned herself several times.
Unable to watch any longer, Ye Zhen reached out, took the sweet potato, and swiftly peeled it for her. She wrapped it in newspaper and handed it back.
After all, she'd been hooked on roasting sweet potatoes these past few days, filling several baskets—even the factory dogs were getting sick of them…
"Here, try it while it's hot."
Ye Fuli's pitifully thin fingers gripped the edge of the sweet potato as she took a cautious bite.
She'd been punishing herself lately, barely eating properly.
Now, biting into this steaming hot, sweetly sticky baked sweet potato, she felt a strange sense of redemption.
Ye Fuli sighed inwardly.
She slowly set down the sweet potato, as if resolving to reject this fleeting illusion of happiness and confront the harsh reality of her life.
"Ye Zhen, I came here today to ask you something."
Ye Zhen felt a chill run down her spine, sensing the other person was about to unleash a major blow.
Recalling the system's warnings, her heart began to race.
"Ah, go ahead."
"Have I ever done anything… particularly terrible in the past?" Ye Fuli's gaze locked onto hers. "I need you to tell me everything you know, exactly as it happened. This is very important to me."
Ye Zhen's heart skipped a beat. "You… lost your memory?"
The system's warning had come true.
What now? The problem had been completely dumped on her.
"I've lost a crucial part of my memory."
Ye Fuli didn't continue hiding anything from her, speaking calmly instead:
"I don't remember many people, but I still remember you. I remember our past, which felt like we were dating… But I can't recall why we broke up, why things escalated to this point."
Ye Zhen, sitting diagonally across from her, listened to these words as if sitting on pins and needles.
They hadn't exactly dated, had they?
Why had things turned out this way? It wasn't something that could be explained in a few words.
But right now, that wasn't the point…
The point was, if Ye Fuli remembered everything—especially the tragedy that befell the Ye family—given her temperament, she might well attempt suicide again, choosing to reopen the case.
Ye Zhen remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking up. "Ye Fuli, I don't know what you're talking about. We… we've only met a few times in the cafeteria or downstairs in the dorm building in Nancheng. We never dated."
This time, it was Ye Fuli's turn to fall silent.
She scrutinized Ye Zhen with a probing gaze, assessing whether she showed any signs of lying.
But Ye Zhen, who had acted alongside Ye Fuli countless times before, had long since mastered the rhythm.
Ye Zhen showed no hint of unease.
She even lifted her head, looking at Ye Fuli with feigned sympathy: "Could it be… you've mistaken me for your lover? After all, you've lost your memory."
Ye Fuli was struck as if by lightning.
Her body swayed unsteadily, as if she might collapse at any moment.
But she clutched the edge of the sofa cushion tightly and forced a smile. "No, it can't be. You and her have eyes that are identical. There are no two people in this world with completely identical eyes…"
Ye Zhen smiled too. "That's a bit of a hasty conclusion."
"If we weren't old acquaintances, why would you buy things for Dad?" Ye Fuli suddenly stood up. "If we never dated, why would I be afraid to see you? Why do I always feel guilty toward you?"
She fired off one question after another.
Ye Zhen felt a flicker of unease, but she sighed calmly.
"Buying something for your father? That was just me having some spare cash and acting on a whim. If I gave you the wrong impression, you can return the gift."
"As for your lover…"
"Ye Fuli, when you gaze at my eyes and features, fantasizing about that lover of yours—don't you feel that's a betrayal to that person?"