After Being Watched by My Paranoid and Gloomy Deceased Wife - Chapter 3

“Come, come, come! Delicious roasted skewers! Three large meat skewers for 9.9 yuan!”

A long queue formed in front of the barbecue stall, and I naturally joined the very end of the line, following the flow of people.

The crowd was bustling, figures overlapped, and it was impossible to distinguish which one was my shadow.

The scent of charcoal smoke and the mixture of inevitable sweat and perfume from the crowd, which would usually make me nauseous, now didn’t bother me.

Looking at the heavily overlapped shadow that couldn’t be seen clearly, I felt a sense of security. My mind was rare relaxed, allowing me to stop focusing on the shadow’s changes and concentrate on waiting for my skewers.

Suddenly, everything went dark before my eyes. I wondered if it was even possible—I wasn’t hungry, so how could I have low bl00d sugar? But a holographic movie suddenly appeared before my eyes, and the scene, like a first-person perspective, began to play automatically, regardless of my will.

“You go wait over there. It’s smoky and fiery here, and you’ll get uncomfortable again soon.”

As she spoke, this beautiful woman whose face was heavily pixelated forcibly took my spot and pulled me to the side.

I was stunned for a moment, and just as I was about to ask, Who are you?

My vision returned to reality. The pearl tassel butterfly hairpin on the back of the head of the girl in front of me, swung and hit me in the face as she talked to someone.

“Hiss—”

As I cried out in pain and covered my face, she quickly turned back to apologize to me. But as she turned her head, the pearls at the end of the tassel heavily hit the hand covering my face again.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” the girl’s tone was extremely apologetic.

The pain was only momentary. I couldn’t see how many red marks were on my pale face. Once the sharp pain subsided, I waved my hand and said I was fine.

The girl was quite principled and insisted on compensating me, so I asked her to pay for three large meat skewers, and then, in a daze, I added her on WeChat.

However, this time I truly didn’t have to queue; I just needed to wait on the side.

Because I had to wait for the skewers the girl owed me, I couldn’t wander off to other stalls. I could only stand in a spot that didn’t bother others, watching my shadow separate from me, looking as if it were sulking.

Perhaps the noisy voices gave me courage, or perhaps the strange, inescapable shadow made me give up struggling. I didn’t glance at the shadow as often as before but started chatting with the girl.

“How old are you?” I randomly asked, finding a topic.

Unexpectedly, the girl asked almost simultaneously: “How old are you, big sister?”

We both froze for a moment, and then said almost simultaneously: “You first.”

We stared at each other in mutual confusion, and the sense of distance instantly closed.

Her round face smiled, revealing a dimple.

In a trance, I felt as if I had seen such a cheerful and beautiful smiling face somewhere before.

The trance was only fleeting. Since my recovery from the car accident, such situations were common. Memory and feelings were more likely to deceive me.

“We’re in our third year of college. Next semester is the fourth year. We’ll graduate soon, and then we’ll be kicked out by the school to look for housing everywhere.”

She smiled playfully, winking at the friend holding her place in the queue as she spoke.

Her friend in the line also laughed and said, “You don’t even have to wait for graduation. Seniors from previous years said the school chases people out early. If you want to stay, you have to apply for permission.”

I could tell she was lively. Thinking of my forgotten college years, I sighed with emotion.

“Still studying? That’s great. Enjoy campus life. Once you start working, all that’s left is work.”

She nodded in agreement: “I think so too. Many of my classmates are already submitting resumes and looking for jobs now.”

“I want to enjoy myself more. Anyway, the graduation thesis is done, the defense is prepared. Everything is ready except for the last step. Before graduation, I just want to relax and have fun.”

I wholeheartedly agreed with her decision. Without too much economic pressure, people should let themselves relax a bit. Tensing up too much is detrimental to mental health.

Since these recent encounters, I prioritize mental health far more than any other pursuit.

This is also partly because the numbers in my bank card are sufficient for me to retire from now on, as long as I don’t spend extravagantly or try to start a business, invest, or manage finances.

However, most people’s lives are full of things they are forced to do, which is unavoidable.

Seeing my agreement, her eyes sparkled brightly in the dim light, filled with the joy of being validated. No wonder people online say college students’ eyes are clear and…

Cough. They can indeed be seen through at a glance; simple and lovely.

The look in my eyes was probably one of affection, like seeing small cats or dogs or other fluffy things, and my tone was much softer than usual.

“You’re still young. There will be plenty of job opportunities later. There’s no need to rush into finding a job. As long as fresh graduates land their first job, it gets easier afterwards.”

She was surprised by my old-fashioned tone: “Wow, sister, you look so young, and you’re already working.”

It’s hard not to be happy hearing such a genuine exclamation.

I tried hard to control my facial expression to avoid showing my happiness too clearly, humbly saying, “I just look young. I’m almost forty now.”

Yes, in two months it will be my thirty-seventh birthday. I am approaching middle age.

The young girl was even more surprised. I clearly saw her already round eyes widen further, which was quite cute.

I felt a sudden, inexplicable chill run over me, as if a cold current was wrapping around my calves. I rubbed my arm; the hairs had stood up.

The hair in the shadow on the ground was flying, as if a high-powered hairdryer was blowing on It from the side.

My heart skipped a beat. I felt strangely uneasy, as if I were cheating on my wife outside.

But I’ve been single for many years. Where would I get a partner?

The young girl seemed to say something, but I didn’t hear it clearly. Since it was awkward to ask again, I only smiled and made a vague response.

The next moment, a QR code was held up in front of me.

Ah, so the young girl was asking to add me as a friend?

My vague response was taken as agreement. Young girls nowadays are really outgoing.

Although it was a bit awkward, I still scanned the code and added her.

It wasn’t an illusion; on such a hot day, I actually felt a wave of cold air crawl up my legs to my back. But I couldn’t figure out the reason, and my goosebumps emerged shamefully.

The young girl was still talking, but I couldn’t hear her at all.

Because a new scene started playing before my eyes: I was looking down at my phone, still complaining about novels like The God of War Returns, and then a fragrant, tempting roasted skewer appeared in front of me.

The scene ended, and a roasted skewer did indeed appear in front of me.

The young girl handed it over. To apologize, she got three extra skewers, which was double what was in the vision.

The freshly grilled skewers were still sizzling, and the aroma of cumin, sesame, and other barbecue seasonings was tempting, the heat mixing with the fragrance to tickle my nose.

I just suddenly lost my appetite for some reason. I felt a strange sense of discomfort in my heart.

I used the excuse of an urgent matter, waved goodbye to the young girl, and didn’t look back at her three-step-one-look-back, reluctant expression.

I didn’t want to go home, because I am just a timid ordinary person.

I wasn’t willing to stay alone in that weird house, but it was also inappropriate to stay here, since I had already told the girl I had to leave for an urgent matter.

So, I took a taxi to Xi Rong’s house.

We hadn’t seen each other for a long time. As soon as I mentioned it, she enthusiastically told me to come over right away.

At the same time, she had already quickly placed an order for our late-night snacks.

I sat in the taxi, holding the skewers.

The driver was a young girl. Soft music was playing in the car, which had soft seat cushions and cute dolls—it was warm and cozy.

The enclosed car environment cut off the noise outside. As I looked at the starry night outside the window, even though I was on my way to a friend’s house, I felt an inexplicable sense of vastness in the world and loneliness only for myself.

In this city, with its flashing neon lights and perpetual brightness, I felt dim, as if a shadow had cast a layer of gray over the city in my heart.

I pondered for a long time and could only think of the car accident that caused my amnesia. But the accident happened in Lishan, didn’t it?

This is Xizhao.

Oh, wait, that’s not right. What’s also casting a shadow on me is the chill that is currently lingering around me.

I watched with open eyes as the quiet driver turned up the air conditioning temperature; it seemed the driver felt cold too.

In the coldness, I had an intermittent feeling ever since I got into the car.

I always felt like something was wrong, as if I had forgotten something, but I couldn’t remember it. It felt quite important but not critically urgent.

What exactly is it?

Xi Rong sent me a message: Lu Lu, where are you? My takeout has arrived. It has your favorite grilled chicken wings!

【”Boss, I’ll take one more whole grilled chicken wing, lightly spicy!”】

【”Ten minutes, little girl, don’t rush. Ten minutes and it’ll be ready.”】

Darn it, my grilled chicken wings!

I had paid for them but forgot them due to the abrupt change. While my heart ached for the loss, I comforted myself that I’d just done a good deed for the day.

The taxi traveled from one side of the city to the other.

This is why I rarely meet up with Xi Rong, even though we are in the same city.

Except for work, nothing would make me travel this far.

My hand unintentionally clicked the GoWhere App. I habitually clicked ‘My Orders.’

Yi’an Xizhao City -> Jidong Lishan City Jidong Lishan City -> Yi’an Xizhao City

There were over fifty round-trip flight orders between the two locations.

Wait, why did I go to Lishan?

Guan Lan is from Lishan, but we didn’t seem to have known each other that long ago.

The fragmented memories left me utterly perplexed. I flipped through the orders and found that the earliest order for travel between the two places was twelve years ago.

What did I go to Lishan for twelve years ago?

In my memory, I don’t know anyone from Lishan besides Guan Lan.

Curiosity drove me to click on each order to check the details.

It was very strange.

The orders closer to the present time all showed that I had another fellow passenger.

An unfamiliar name, flight orders I had no recollection of taking.

I haven’t left Xizhao for the past two years, so I didn’t know I still had another person’s identity information saved, including a contact number.

I checked all the orders. The orders from twelve years ago were mostly my individual orders, interspersed with individual orders from this “Guan Zhi” lady.

After thinking about it, I opened Alipay and found the corresponding payment information for each order detail.

In the fifty-plus order details, in every combined order, this “Ms. Guan Zhi” was seated next to me. Clearly, we specifically chose adjacent seats when selecting them.

Logically, I shouldn’t have forgotten someone with such a close connection to me.

However, this person is named Guan Zhi.

Guan Lan’s last name is also Guan… An Zhi Ting Lan (Shoreline Iris, a classical reference). Could they know each other?

I have always trusted Guan Lan, so I immediately sent her a message asking.

“Lan Lan, do you know someone named Guan Zhi?”

Guan Lan’s reply was somewhat unexpected.

It was a voice message, and Guan Lan’s voice was a bit cold.

“Why does Lu Lu ask about that?”