After I Lost My Memory, My Wife Started To Chase Me - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Dowry

Weishu unlocked the phone with her fingerprint. It was a new model that came out this year, a ProMax with powerful specs and a generous 1TB of storage, of which 437GB had been used. Most of the data consisted of photos and videos.

Weishu opened the photo album, which was filled with various paintings and landscapes. The videos were mostly footage from gallery visits. There were very few personal photos. She scrolled for a long time but couldn’t find any valuable information. There was, however, a private album that required a password. Weishu guessed it contained personal photos. Since she couldn’t remember the password, she decided to wait until she did.

Her phone, like her, was unassuming. The settings showed her average daily screen time was less than two hours. Weishu scrolled through her contacts and, sure enough, found Beige listed as “Wife.” The rest of the names were unfamiliar.

Finally, she opened WeChat. Within seconds of logging in, hundreds of messages popped up from all sorts of people. Weishu read through them one by one. Her contact notes were very concise, usually “profession + name.” She sent a single, unified reply: “Thank you for your concern. I’m safe and well.”

There were two pinned chats: one with a black character on a white background, “Ge,” and another for “Shu Se Studio.” After a few seconds of mentally preparing herself, Weishu clicked on Beige’s chat. Contrary to the expected lovey-dovey conversations filled with pink hearts and bubbles, their chat style could best be described as “respectful and distant.”

[Ge]: Coming home for dinner tonight? [SHU]: Working overtime at the studio. Will be home at ten. [Ge]: Okay, be careful on your way.

…

SHU: Where did I put my peacock brooch? [Ge]: You broke a corner of it last week. I took it to be repaired. It’s not back yet.

…

[Ge]: Did you take the Lotus car? [SHU]: Yes, it’s for the Blue Line Awards today. It’s the only blue car we have, so it fits the occasion. [Ge]: …Darling, the car doesn’t have much gas. [SHU]: I’ll fill it up. [Ge]: …Never mind, there isn’t enough to get to the gas station. Where are you? I’ll come find you.

Weishu scrolled up, reading their history of trivial, little everyday matters. Seeing that she couldn’t remember where things were or to fill up her gas tank, Weishu frowned. Am I utterly incompetent at handling daily life? No, that can’t be right. But with her memory gone, she couldn’t prove otherwise.

Weishu pursed her lips and continued to skim the chat until a message from six months ago made her stop. It was a single message, sent at 3:47 AM.

Ge: Baby, I miss you so much.

For some reason, this message made Beige’s face flash in Weishu’s mind. Her features were bright and striking, meant to be bold and unrestrained, but whenever she was with Weishu, she always lowered her gaze slightly. Her long eyelashes cast shadows, and her eyes seemed veiled, giving off a fragile and delicate air that made you feel she could break with a light touch. Why would such an outstanding person look so hurt in front of her?

There was a large gap in dates around that message. They seemed to have been fighting or in a cold war, not speaking for over a month. Weishu opened her social media and saw that during that time, she had been traveling in Florida, Africa, sharing photos of the scenery every day. She didn’t know if it was day or night in Africa at 2 AM, or if she had even received the message in time. She wondered what her state of mind was when she ignored that message and continued sharing to her social media.

Weishu felt like she was looking at a stranger’s past, and she coldly judged in her heart, Someone is sleepless over you, and you’re off traveling in Africa, taking pictures every day. As she thought about it, she felt a sense of unfairness for Beige.

Just then, her pinned work group chat popped back up to the top. The group was discussing where to go for the upcoming weekend. She remembered Beige mentioning that she ran a studio and had a few unfinished designs on her plate. Weishu thought for a moment, then typed out a message.

SHU: Everyone, please submit your monthly reports and organize your current work into a written document. Send it to me privately.

This message was a group-wide stunner. After a string of “Got it,” no other messages appeared. Weishu put her phone away, feeling satisfied. She finished the rest of the lavish meal, and then a call came through on her phone.

-Qingbao

Weishu answered. Yu Qing’s surprised voice came from the other end of the line: “Darling, you’re awake!”

Weishu held the phone away from her ear and checked WeChat, opening Yu Qing’s chat. The screen was full of cute emojis and cheesy, romantic messages. If Beige hadn’t been the one constantly around her these past few days, this “Qingbao” could have easily passed herself off as Weishu’s girlfriend based on the chat history alone.

Weishu thought for a few seconds. “Who are you?”

Yu Qing burst into tears. “Waaah! Beige wasn’t lying. You really are an ungrateful wretch who forgot all of us! I’m an orphan and widow alone and lonely overseas, waiting for you, and you turn around and forget our promise…”

Weishu said, “I’m hanging up.”

Yu Qing quickly said, “Don’t! I’m your best friend, your genuine best friend. You can go look in the bottom drawer of your cabinet. There’s a box with photos of us from childhood. We even raised a lynx together in Europe, which we sent to the zoo a few years ago.”

Weishu didn’t need to look at photos; the chat history was already cringey enough. Weishu asked, “So, do you need anything?”

Yu Qing sniffled on the other end. “See? Even little Beige couldn’t help but cry, and you ask me what I need! What does a best friend need a long phone chat for? I just miss you! Waaah, you actually asked me what I need…”

Weishu thought for a moment, then interrupted her with a question. “You mentioned Beige. Do you know her?”

Yu Qing choked out, “Yeah, I met you both at the same time.”

Weishu got straight to the point. “Then I have a question.”

Yu Qing replied, “Go ahead.”

Weishu looked at the empty plate. “Do I like seafood?”

Yu Qing’s voice was flat. “Yes, of course. You’re a total princess, won’t eat anything but seafood. Beige is always dragging you to get your uric acid checked, afraid you’ll get gout.”

Weishu asked again, “Then… does Beige not like seafood?”

Yu Qing’s voice was incredulous. “Beige is allergic to seafood! Not just seafood, even freshwater fish can make her sick. The kind where just one bite lands her in the hospital.”

After hanging up, Weishu fell into deep thought. So Beige had cooked a whole table of dishes just for her. She had discovered a rather terrible truth.

What was more confusing than waking up with amnesia was discovering you had a fiancée. What was more unsettling than having a fiancée was discovering that there was something wrong with their relationship. And most of the problems seemed to be her fault.

Weishu was a person who knew how to reflect. She immediately took out her phone and, imitating Beige’s style, sent her a message.

SHU: Darling, coming home for dinner tonight? She even added a cute cat emoji that said, “Waiting for you.”

…

In the high-level meeting room of Wilderness Company, Beige was pouring brewed tea into the cup of the person across from her.

“Third Aunt, please have some tea.”

Across from her sat Weishu’s Third Aunt, Chen Xiaoqian, who was Weishu’s only remaining relative from her immediate family. The Wei family had once been a prominent household in Jincheng, with a large company and vast properties. Later, their funding chain broke, all assets were seized, and most of the family went abroad. The only one who stayed was the widowed Third Aunt. Weishu was someone she had watched grow up. Although she hadn’t been meticulous in her care, she was still an elder, and Beige treated her with respect.

Chen Xiaoqian was wearing a shawl and had on a delicate layer of makeup. The woman, nearing fifty, was well-preserved. Aside from her somewhat harsh demeanor, you could tell she had been a beauty in her youth.

“Forget the tea. What about the matter I mentioned to you before? Have you considered it?”

Beige sat still, unmoving, pretending not to know. “Which matter are you referring to, Third Aunt?”

Chen Xiaoqian’s brows furrowed, her tone unfriendly. “What are you pretending to be dumb for? The dowry, of course.”

“Oh, that. I thought Third Aunt was going to tell me again not to get close to Weishu, not to see her, not to have any designs on her,” Beige said unhurriedly, pouring herself a cup of tea.

Chen Xiaoqian’s face flushed with anger at the subtle jabs, but since she had indeed said those things, she didn’t know how to respond.

“You know I don’t want you with Weishu,” Chen Xiaoqian seized her sore spot. “You’ve only become successful with your company these past few years. When you first graduated, your salary was twenty thousand a month. How could you possibly support Weishu? And you still dreamed of pursuing her? A fool’s fantasy.”

Beige’s hand, holding the teacup, paused. The warmth in her eyes instantly disappeared.

Chen Xiaoqian couldn’t read faces and continued to chatter. “Weishu is a soft-hearted child. You pursued her for so many years, so of course her heart softened. But you shouldn’t have pushed her so hard. Getting together is one thing, but getting married? I think you’ve both lost your minds. How can two women get married…”

Crack. The porcelain cup was placed on the smooth, polished marble tabletop with a heavy thud, making a cracking sound.

Beige interrupted her in a deep voice. “So, Third Aunt is here to continue advising us to break up?”

Chen Xiaoqian finally remembered her purpose. She adjusted her shawl and said unhappily, “If you’re not breaking up, then pay the dowry. Don’t think you can marry our Weishu without giving anything.”

Beige didn’t say anything else. She simply asked, “Have you discussed this with Weishu?”

Chen Xiaoqian’s expression stiffened. Her confidence wavered. “Such things don’t need to be discussed with her in advance.”

Beige lowered her head to think for half a minute, then looked up. Her tone was calm and collected. “Regarding whether to give a dowry, I respect Weishu’s opinion. I think you should also ask her first.”

Seeing her say this, Chen Xiaoqian knew Beige wouldn’t budge. She started to get anxious. Weishu was a strong-willed and proud person to her core. And with them both being women, asking her to demand a dowry from Beige would be a slap in the face. She would never do it. If she were to ask Weishu, the answer would surely be a simple “no.” Thinking of this, Chen Xiaoqian felt that Beige was cunning and malicious, a bad woman with deep-seated schemes.