Familiar scenes from his memories flowed past the window. It took Zhou Zhou a few days to process the fact that he had returned to the real world. The shops on the street were bustling with activity, and sanitation workers gathered in small groups under the shade of trees to chat. Because it was the height of summer, the plane trees along the street cast patches of shadow on the road, and cicadas chirped noisily.
If we were to apply the world of the book to reality, the development level of City X in the book would naturally far exceed that of this place. In the book's era of rapid technological advancement, same-sex marriage is legal, while in reality, homosexuality is still a niche and taboo topic.
The car was parked in front of a residential area. In the book, he lived for almost a year, but in this world, he had only lived for a week.
The residential building was a typical low-rise building without an elevator. Zhou Zhou carried his bag up the stairs. His home was behind the security door at the very back of the fourth floor, which was covered with locksmith advertisements.
"Oh my, Xiao Zhou, you're discharged from the hospital."
The security door next to her was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged woman with permed hair put a trash bag at the door. She saw Zhou Zhou standing there, holding a bag, stunned.
Recalling the scene when the police and ambulance arrived, the middle-aged woman frowned and began to lecture him.
"You have to be extra careful when living alone. You have to be careful about things like electricity and gas. Look how dangerous this time was. If I hadn't come back early from square dancing that day, I don't know what would have happened!"
"We really owe Aunt Sun a lot this time," Zhou Zhou said sincerely. "I don't know how to thank you enough."
"Oh, no need to thank me." Aunt Sun waved her hand. "Just be careful next time."
"I will."
Zhou Zhou watched the security door close in front of him and gave a helpless, bitter smile.
The security door was broken into by the police and then repaired by maintenance workers. His keys were not found in the bag he was carrying. There was a potted clivia plant in the corner by the door.
Zhou Zhou reached into the basin and felt around; the soil was still moist. Seeing this, he then looked at Aunt Sun's house.
It's so nice to have a kind neighbor.
Zhou Zhou fumbled in the damp soil with his fingers and finally pulled out a key. He used it to open the door and turned on the light in the entryway. The things inside were a bit messy. Several potted plants on the high shelf in the entryway had been knocked to the ground, and the dry soil was trampled everywhere, making the floor dirty.
Having been away for nearly half a month, with the water and electricity still running, Zhou Zhou put down his things and rolled up his sleeves to start cleaning up the mess in the house.
After rearranging the potted plants, sweeping, mopping, and doing laundry, I finished all the housework and realized that more than an hour had passed.
"..." Zhou Zhou lay exhausted on the sofa, his arm held in front of his eyes to block the glaring sunlight from the window. After a while, he picked up his phone from the coffee table again and awkwardly logged into the backend of the website he had signed a contract with.
Making a living requires money, and sure enough, he had already finished publishing all the manuscripts in his backend. Fortunately, the platform belongs to Shengyuan Network Technology, and the official side posted an announcement for his serialized novel.
The comments section, Weibo comments, and Weibo private messages were all filled with readers' prayers for his safety, and the donations doubled.
Zhou Zhou laughed. That's how male-oriented novel readers are. Although they sometimes criticize him on the keyboard, they are actually quite warm-hearted when something really happens.
He doesn't have many friends, and he replied to all the greetings on WeChat when his phone was first turned on.
Although the room, which is less than 100 square meters, is clean and tidy, it lacks human presence and appears particularly lonely.
He never felt this way when he was alone in his large villa of several hundred square meters, because he knew that someone would always come home.
Sadness surged up again in Zhou Zhou's heart. She stared at the ceiling, but all she could see was Fu Hengzhi's image.
The other person's gentle smile, their affectionate gestures, their pained gaze... the scenes replaying before Zhou Zhou's eyes were tearing her heart apart.
Tears streamed down Zhou Zhou's face as she buried her face in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably until her sobs grew louder.
These memories kept replaying in his mind, and he couldn't stop thinking about the other person, even though he had left her so resolutely in the last month.
He was just afraid that his disheveled appearance would leave an indelible mark on the other person's life, but the memory of it was so painful.
Will Fu Hengzhi also experience such pain?
I'm sorry, Fu Hengzhi, I'm so sorry, Fu Hengzhi, I miss you so much...
"I miss you so much..." Zhou Zhou choked out, but no one answered in the empty living room.
"hiss--"
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell again?"
The elegant lady at the dining table half-stood up, looking worriedly at her son who was clutching his chest and panting. The dignified middle-aged man beside her also showed concern on his face.
"Hengzhi, are you feeling unwell?"
A soft, white hand gently caressed his chest, slowly kneading it.
"I'm fine." Fu Hengzhi shook his head, turned to look at the beautiful girl beside him whose eyes were full of worry, and reassured her, "I'm fine, don't worry."
"How could nothing be wrong?" The noblewoman frowned and looked at the woman beside him.
"Weiwei, accompany Hengzhi to the hospital again this afternoon."
"Yes, Auntie." Xiao Xiaowei nodded.
"Why are you still calling me 'Auntie'? The wedding is less than a month away," the lady teased. "Aren't you going to change how you address me?"
Xiao Xiaowei's face suddenly flushed red, making her delicate and petite appearance even more charming. She nodded slightly and said shyly, "Mom~"
The noblewoman was overjoyed to hear "Mom!" and exclaimed "Good!" The middle-aged man next to her nodded and gave his son across the table a wink.
"Let's eat," Fu Hengzhi said softly, placing a piece of fish belly meat on the other person's plate.
The lady watched her son and future daughter-in-law being so affectionate, and couldn't help but feel satisfied.
"Are you alright, Zhou Zhou? You look terrible."
Zhou Zhou looked exhausted. Hearing this, she looked up at Louis sitting opposite her and said with a wry smile, "Is it really that bad?"
"Otherwise what?" Louis took out his phone and brought up the front camera. Zhou Zhou looked at his eyes, which were not only red and swollen from crying but also had bruises, and sighed.
"No, what's going on?" Louis was confused by his reaction, his tone full of uncertainty. After a long silence, he tentatively asked, "You haven't lost your job, have you?"
"No." Zhou Zhou was amused by the other person's reaction and jokingly scolded, "I'm already in J City with the film crew, where would I be unemployed?"
“Yeah…” Louis murmured, then suddenly said decisively, “So you’re heartbroken? Damn, you didn’t tell your bro you were dating someone? That’s immoral!”
Louis and Zhou Zhou were college roommates. After graduation, they kept in touch more frequently than their other roommates.
Both of them were lifelong singles, and they hadn't even held hands with a girl much. Louis was just joking when he said that, and also to cheer the other person up.
Zhou Zhou suddenly fell silent.
Louis's smile froze, his expression turning visibly surprised. He exclaimed "Holy crap!" and abruptly raised his voice.
"You really broke up?! You actually have a boyfriend now?!"
"More or less." Zhou Zhou's head was throbbing from thinking about the events in the book these past few days. If it weren't for the vivid memories, he would have thought it was all a dream.
"No, why?" Louis's gossipy curiosity pounded, and he boldly guessed, "You got dumped?"
But seeing Zhou Zhou shake his head, he became even more agitated.
"You dumped that girl?"
Zhou Zhou nodded reluctantly, then sighed.
"You son of a bitch!" Louis suddenly lost interest in the baked rice in front of him and slammed his fist on the table in exasperation.
"No, buddy, even though you were the most handsome guy in our dorm back then, you can't compete with the country's current insane male-to-female ratio. There are just too many men and not enough women. Why didn't you cherish her? Was she treating you badly? Or did you get cheated on?"
"No, it's just..."
Zhou Zhou's expression suddenly froze on his face, and he jumped up and chased after her.
"Hey! Where are you going!" The two had arranged to have dinner, but before they had even eaten half of the food, the other person suddenly ran away. Louis hesitated for a moment, glanced at the hot and fragrant food on the table, quickly stuffed a few mouthfuls into his mouth, picked up his phone, and chased after him.
Whether in the book or in reality, J City, as the capital, is always crowded, no matter the time of day. Zhou Zhou was not having an easy time navigating the crowds and soon lost sight of his target in a shopping mall.
"Huff—huff—" Zhou Zhou had just eaten something and had been running too fast, so now he felt a heavy stomach and his breathing was labored.
"Zhou Zhou! Oh dear!" Louis caught up and saw that the other person was clutching their stomach in pain, so he quickly helped them to a public bench.
"Are you alright? Would you like some water?" Louis looked around. This mall was a high-end place, with all kinds of designer shoes, hats, clothes and bags, but no shops selling water.
"I'm fine." Zhou Zhou grabbed the other person's forearm and used it to stand up. He looked up at the shops above, but unfortunately, he could no longer see the familiar figure.
"Who are you chasing?" Louis looked around with him and asked, "Do they have any distinguishing features? Let me help you take a look?"
“He…” Zhou Zhou was momentarily dazed. He had forgotten everything the moment he saw Fu Hengzhi’s figure. Now he suddenly remembered that there was a woman with him who was behaving intimately. The woman was holding his arm affectionately and was wearing a white dress.
Given Fu Wen's experience at the Cayenne entrance, Zhou Zhou didn't dare to jump to conclusions about their relationship, nor did he want to think about it that way.
Even if he now realizes that there might really be a person named Fu Hengzhi in reality, he wouldn't be his Fu Hengzhi anymore.
"Her? What happened to her?" The two had just been talking about dating, and now the other person had chased after him in a daze. It was hard for Louis not to wonder who the other person was chasing.
"It's your..." Louis hesitated, then hesitated before choosing his words, "...your ex?"
“…Not an ex.” Zhou Zhou murmured the word “ex” and a pang of sadness welled up in her heart, her eyes reddening again.
"No, brother, don't cry." Louis hurriedly comforted him, "She's not your ex, there must be some misunderstanding. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, you two will still be a couple that everyone envies."
While offering words of comfort, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Why are you crying now? What's the use of belated affection? If I had known this would happen, why did I dump him in the first place?"
The two of them are completely on different wavelengths.
"Forget it, let's go back." Zhou Zhou said dejectedly. "I didn't let you eat well just now. I'll treat you to another meal tonight."
"Hey, it's just one meal. I'll treat you to it since you're in J City. Do you think I'd let you pay?" Louis said in a friendly manner, putting his arm around the other man's shoulder and leading him outside. "Let's make this clear first, you'll be staying at my place for a while, and we'll play games together tonight."
"Miss, this outfit suits you very well." The saleswoman praised Xiao Xiaowei in front of the fitting mirror with a smile. Xiao Xiaowei was already immune to such compliments, but she still smiled and tossed her shoulder-length curly hair. Just as she turned around, she saw Fu Hengzhi standing outside the store's glass railing looking down.
"Wrap these clothes up." Xiao Xiaowei handed the card to the sales clerk, walked lightly towards Fu Hengzhi, gently took his arm from behind, and looked down with him.
"What are you looking at?"
"No." Fu Hengzhi pulled his arm out of the other person's arm and said calmly, "Perhaps I saw it wrong."
Xiao Xiaowei wasn't angry at the cold treatment she received. Instead, she smiled and accepted the bags from the shop assistant, then stuffed them into Fu Hengzhi's hands.
The man in front of me was tall and slender yet muscular, with a handsome face and an allure of masculine charm in every gesture.
The female shop assistant blushed upon seeing Fu Hengzhi's face, marveling at how the man and woman in front of her were truly a match made in heaven.
Fu Hengzhi, carrying his things, still peered down through the glass railing. Xiao Xiaowei didn't mind, affectionately hugging his waist and playfully saying, "Right? I also think we're a match made in heaven."
The film crew's opening ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow, but they suddenly announced a dinner party tonight.
In fact, the crew had already had several meals together while Zhou Zhou was in a coma. Since Zhou Zhou was in J City this time and had nothing else to do, he naturally had to go.
The book describes the pre-production dinner at a very upscale location, but in reality, it wasn't. His drama was, after all, a web series with a limited budget, and there were no people like Liu Zong who wanted to curry favor with him. Of course, he didn't have anything that would make others want to climb up to him.
He wasn't even as handsome as the character he was in the book.
Zhou Zhou only found out then that the web series had been renamed and was no longer called the book, but "My Life Is Limited".
Life is finite, but knowledge is infinite.
Zhou Zhou had no idea what the scriptwriting team was thinking, but anyway, after he woke up, the script had already been mostly changed.