Especially for myself.
Every piece of information related to the original owner is now important.
The original owner was unwilling to share those painful memories, and she couldn't possibly trigger all those memories by accidentally encountering key items, so starting from the real world was the fastest way.
Everything that happens leaves a trace.
A storm raged through Liang Shi's mind. She pressed her temples and let out a soft breath.
He and Zhao Xuning locked eyes.
During his breaks, Zhao Xuning wore non-prescription glasses, which softened his sharp features, making him appear like a lake reflecting all of one's thoughts.
She sat there gracefully, her expression calm, and she remained neither arrogant nor impatient when she met Liang Shi's gaze.
After a long silence, Liang Shi lowered his voice and asked, "Can I trust you?"
Zhao Xuning did not answer directly. She gently turned the ceramic cup in her hand, picked it up and took a sip of coffee. Then she wiped the lipstick stain off the rim of the cup with her fingertip, and parted her thin lips slightly, saying, "If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them."
Liang Shi suddenly laughed. She leaned back in her chair and sat up straight after she had finished laughing. She picked up her coat from the side, tilted her head at Zhao Xuning, and invited him in a relaxed tone, "Let's go, Dr. Zhao, let's talk in the car."
Zhao Xuning originally wanted to go to Liang Shi's car with her, but once they got outside, Liang Shi handed the initiative to her directly, saying, "Let's go to your car."
Zhao Xuning frowned, but quickly relaxed.
After understanding her intention, he smiled knowingly and said, "Okay."
Zhao Xuning's car was parked on the side of the road with a privacy screen, so people could see out from inside, but not inside from outside.
It offers excellent privacy.
It's peak time for people to walk around, and two beautiful women with great figures walking together are sure to turn heads.
But Liang Shi and Zhao Xuning both ignored the stares of passersby.
After getting on the bus, Liang Shi spoke first, "I, or rather Liang Shi, have harmed myself."
She revealed her hand to Zhao Xuning.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xuning raised an eyebrow. His first focus wasn't on the self-harm part, but rather on the first half of the sentence, "You, or Liang Shi? Then who exactly are you?"
“My name is Liang Shi,” Liang Shi said. “But I’m not the same Liang Shi as before. I did have amnesia at the hospital. I don’t remember many things about that person, but recently I’ve slowly started to recall some things. I used to live in another world, and I had another identity.”
Zhao Xuning looked at her, and after a moment asked very seriously, "Have you been checked by a psychiatrist?"
Liang Shi: "..."
She said helplessly, "Didn't you say you trust the people you employ?"
“But I reasonably suspect that this is a form of schizophrenia.” Zhao Xuning explained from a medical perspective, “Some people may fantasize about a different past due to the pressure of reality, believing that they are another person.”
“I can say definitively that it is not,” Liang Shi said. “I don’t know what happened that led me here and made me another Liang Shi, but I have discovered many things during the process of memory recovery, so I would like to ask for your help.”
This was also Liang Shi's purpose in revealing his true intentions.
Even with her calm and rational demeanor, Zhao Xuning had a moment of existential doubt upon hearing this. She looked at Liang Shi and said, "Then why are you telling me this? If I call the research institution now, you'll be put to do experiments."
Liang Shi smiled gently, revealing the least lethal yet sharpest weapon in his hand, and answered firmly, "You won't."
Zhao Xuning: "..."
She raised an eyebrow, a hint of mischief in her eyes, "How do you know I can't?"
As if to undermine Liang Shi's confidence, she sneered, "Liang Shi, don't forget, I also grew up in a world of intrigue and backstabbing. You think I'm too kind."
“It’s not that I think you’re kind,” Liang Shi said. “You are kind by nature.”
She paused, then added, "Perhaps you could be described as a gentleman."
Zhao Xuning: "Hmm?"
“You are never blindly kind. When Bai Weiwei was in danger, you did everything you could to save her, but when she didn’t understand you, you decisively abandoned this friend. You are very rational,” Liang Shi said. “You may have evil thoughts, but you never put them into practice because you are a gentleman, and your moral bottom line is higher than most people’s. Even if you don’t like me, you will not betray me because when I entrust my trust to you, you feel a sense of responsibility.”
A long silence fell over the car.
Then Liang Shi said with a gentle smile, "That's why I trust you. Besides, we're still friends, aren't we? If I can't even trust you, I don't know who I can trust here."
Zhao Xuning: "Nonsense."
Liang Shi: "And Xu Qingzhu."
The two spoke almost simultaneously.
Then they both looked at each other and smiled.
After laughing for a while, Zhao Xuning said, "You're quite good at judging people."
Liang Shi didn't mince words, "It's actually not bad."
She dropped out of high school and spent many years immersed in the complexities of society, experiencing the full spectrum of human nature in the entertainment industry.
In general, they are much more accurate in judging people than their peers.
So when she arrived, she felt that Zhao Xuning was someone she could befriend.
Even if we can't be friends, they are still worthy of respect.
“Let’s get back to the main topic,” Zhao Xuning said. “Gina’s Chinese name is Zheng Feiran. She is Dr. Gu’s senior colleague and currently works in the Department of Mental Health at the Second People’s Hospital. She had been abroad for a long time and only recently returned to China. I happened to be having dinner with her when I received the results of the button’s identification. She accidentally saw your name and we chatted for a bit.”
"Would a psychologist reveal a patient's condition?" Liang Shi frowned.
Zhao Xuning shook his head: "Of course not, so I don't know what you want with her. The information she gave me is that you used to be her patient, but you disappeared without a trace and stopped receiving treatment."
Liang Shi thought for a moment, "Are you sure she's talking about me? Did you exchange photos to confirm?"
It cannot be ruled out that there are people with the same name.
“Hmm.” Zhao Xuning was always meticulous in her work, and she naturally thought of what Liang Shi had thought of. “She showed me the photos. You were quite… unconventional back then.”
She racked her brains to come up with this idiom that wasn't considered insulting.
However, the original owner in Liang Shi's memory did have a unique appearance.
What she found most intolerable about this place was the original owner's aesthetic sense, always using strange and unusual things to package herself.
But now she seems to understand a little.
The original owner's distorted aesthetic sense was a form of self-protection.
For example, she likes bright colors to give people a psychological suggestion: I'm not someone to mess with.
She also likes clothes with studs, which makes her look intimidating.
She felt ashamed of her previous shallow thoughts.
"Do you have her contact information?" Liang Shi asked. "If I, as a patient, find her, I should be able to access all my medical records, right?"
Zhao Xuning gave Gina her contact information without hesitation.
I didn't ask anything after that.
After saving the number, Liang Shi waited for Zhao Xuning to question her. She had revealed so much information, Zhao Xuning must have a lot of questions to ask.
Any normal person would question her.
She was ready.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xuning sat in the driver's seat, opened a mini-program to play a game—a management simulation game—without saying a word.
Liang Shixian couldn't sit still any longer and tentatively asked, "Aren't you going to ask me anything?"
Zhao Xuning paused, his hand hovering over the screen. "What are you asking?"
Liang Shi: "..."
"For example, where did I come from? What was my original world like? After I came here, where did the original Liang Shi go? Will she ever come back? And so on," Liang Shi said.
Zhao Xuning closed his phone and tossed it aside casually, saying indifferently, "Not interested."
Liang Shi: "?"
Zhao Xuning said, "The more you know, the more I need to help you."
Liang Shi: "..."
“Right now, I don’t really want to get involved in this.” Zhao Xuning flicked his wrist. “I’m busy enough with things at the hospital, and I don’t have the time or inclination to concern myself with your affairs.”
Liang Shi: "..."
As expected of Zhao Xuning, who is rational to the point of being abnormal.
Liang Shi couldn't help but ask curiously, "Has nothing ever happened in your life that made you lose control?"
Zhao Xuning: "?"
She slowly turned her head to look at Liang Shi, giving him a look of incomprehension.
Seeing this, Liang Shi felt a chill run down his spine and immediately said, "I was just asking casually."
Zhao Xuning turned his face away again, his voice still cold, "Xu Qingzhu asked you the same question."
Liang Shi: "..."
“In some ways, you two are quite a good match,” Zhao Xuning said.
Liang Shi: "..."
Liang Shi was a little embarrassed when Xu Qingzhu was mentioned.
I don't know where this shyness came from.
She pinched her earlobe and immediately changed the subject, "So what was your answer?"
Zhao Xuning replied in a light tone, "It's none of your business."
Liang Shi: "..."
As expected of you, Zhao Xuning.
//
When Liang Shi told Zhao Xuning about this, he felt a sense of relief that he couldn't quite describe.
It's that feeling of ease, that I don't have to live in this world as someone else.
Some people know that I am who I am.
This was a state that was hard to express in words. Liang Shi was so happy that she wanted to invite Zhao Xuning to dinner, but Zhao Xuning said that she had to work and seriously declined her invitation.