Gu Susu tidied her belongings and left the classroom with a classmate named Sophie, just as she had the day before.
Qin Tianyi waited until they had left before getting up and secretly following, wanting to understand why Susu had changed so completely.
As Gu Susu walked across the campus, chatting with Sophie, she suddenly spotted a handsome man in a black overcoat, wearing the same red scarf as her, leaning against a flower bed and smiling at her.
She immediately abandoned Sophie and, like a little bird, flew into the man's arms, hugging him affectionately and asking, "Si Jie, why are you here? Didn't you say you were busy and wouldn't be able to pick me up for a couple more days?"
Yang Sijie affectionately pinched her chin. "I finished my work early and wanted to come pick you up sooner. Surprise?"
"Surprise." Gu Susu let go of him and linked her arm through his. "Are you tired? Let's go back and try the French food I made."
"Not tired. Seeing you makes me not tired, no matter how exhausted I am." Yang Sijie turned his head and looked at her affectionately. "You can cook French food now?"
"While you were away, I learned a few dishes on my own. I was thinking of letting you taste them when you arrived."
"I wouldn't dare to critique..."
Sophie, overwhelmed by their display of affection, walked past them and said to Gu Susu, "You're so engrossed with him that you forget everyone else. You two enjoy your sweet time, I'm leaving."
"Hey." Gu Susu finally realized she had neglected her friend and tried to call her back. "Don't go, Si Jie wants to treat you to a meal."
Sophie turned back disbelievingly and made a face at her. "Forget it, I'm not going to be a third wheel. You two should enjoy your time alone." With that, she quickly turned and walked away.
Yang Sijie smiled and waved at Sophie, holding Gu Susu even tighter. They were truly a picture-perfect couple, envied by onlookers.
Qin Tianyi watched from a distance, seeing the moment Gu Susu nestled into Yang Sijie's embrace, and their conversation about food and cooking. It reminded him of another woman who had once cooked for him, who had taught him how to gut a fish and make delicious meals.
It felt like a lifetime ago...
But why should he still care about her, or what happened to her, whether she was happy or not?
She had betrayed their vows long before she went abroad, and for the past six months, she hadn't even contacted Aunt Chen, forgetting and abandoning her own child.
The thought of little Xingxing crying himself to sleep every night, waking up crying from dreams, made him feel only hatred for her. He hated that for this man, Yang Sijie, she had forgotten she was a mother.
As Qin Tianyi thought of these things, he clenched his fists tightly, watching her and Yang Sijie disappear down the campus path.
"Hey, you're still here."
Qin Tianyi, consumed by anger, suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder from behind. He reflexively turned and grabbed the person's wrist with a grappling hold, only to see it was Gu Susu's classmate, Sophie.
"Ouch, that hurts! Let go, let go!" Sophie cried out in pain, her wrist almost broken by his grip. His cold expression sent a shiver down her spine.
Qin Tianyi released her and asked coldly, "When did you sneak up behind me?"
Sophie shook her wrist. She had been on her way back to the dorm but had inadvertently seen him standing in the corner, staring in the direction Gu Susu and Yang Sijie had gone, so she had come over to say hello.
"We've met before, haven't we? You attack me so fiercely as soon as you see me. Do you think I'm a thief?" Sophie complained.
Qin Tianyi glanced at her, offered no response, and prepared to leave.
Sophie caught up with him. "You came looking for Susu, didn't you? You just saw her with her boyfriend, why didn't you go up and say hello? Do you know her boyfriend? If you do, you could just ask him. She has amnesia, but her boyfriend doesn't..."
Qin Tianyi suddenly stopped, his gaze inscrutable as he looked at her. "What did you just say? She has amnesia? Why does she have amnesia?"
Sophie felt an intense pressure. He was a man with a powerful aura. She hastily covered her mouth, realizing she had let something slip.
Qin Tianyi grabbed her hand covering her mouth and asked again, "How exactly did she get amnesia?"
Startled, Sophie licked her lips and said, "I think it was a car accident."
"What else do you know? Tell me everything! Name your price, just tell me everything you know!"
"This is all I know. As for how the car accident happened, I don't know, really." Sophie raised her free hand to swear, sensing that the man before her and Gu Susu were definitely not ordinary friends.
Qin Tianyi let go of her hand and warned her, "Don't follow me again."
Although Sophie was a little scared of him, she still took a couple of steps, pressing him, "What is your relationship with Susu? Why have you been lurking around campus, following her? You don't have to do this. If there's anything, you can tell me, and I'll relay it. Maybe Susu will remember something."
"No need. I'll talk to her in person." Qin Tianyi quickened his pace, realizing some things had to be clarified personally.
...
After dinner, Gu Susu sat by the warm fireplace, eating cranberry ice cream and watching a TV drama. She occasionally glanced out the window, where Paris's nightscape was still brilliantly lit in the cold winter.
Yang Sijie finished washing the dishes and placed a medicine box and warm water in front of her. "You haven't taken your medicine yet, and you're eating ice cream. That's not good for your stomach."
"Ah, ah." Gu Susu put down her ice cream and patted her head. "Look at my brain, I forgot to take my medicine again."
As she spoke, she took her medicine with warm water. Yang Sijie affectionately rubbed her head. "Don't pat your head like that, you'll hurt yourself."
Gu Susu leaned against him and asked, "Si Jie, do you think this medicine can really cure my amnesia? I feel like the more I take it, the more forgetful I become."
"How could that be?" Yang Sijie hugged her and watched TV with her. "It has nothing to do with the medicine. Even before you had amnesia, you were a bit absent-minded, always misplacing things and forgetting this and that."
"What was I like before? Was I spoiled, willful, and unreasonable, or gentle, quiet, and likable? Was I popular? Why is it that after being in Paris for so long, none of my old friends have contacted me?" As she spoke, she picked up her phone and opened some messaging apps. She had very few friends.
Her friends were mostly people she had met recently abroad. It seemed like everyone from her past had been cleared out.
Yang Sijie took her phone and looked through it for her. "I'm not familiar with your friends from China. After coming here, you got a new phone, and your old contact list wasn't transferred."
As he spoke, he opened his own phone and found Su Kangxi's WeChat avatar. "He's someone we both knew in China, a friend we grew up with in the orphanage. Why don't we chat with him together and see how he's been doing lately?"