After Losing My Memory, I Became Sweet - Chapter 19

Yu Qingrong stepped out of the elevator, one hand swinging her little Chanel bag, the other letting go of the dog leash.

Behind her was a young man carrying a large bag. Once he set it down, he left.

Zhu Yun put Beibei on the ground and turned to Song Xiang, saying, “I don’t need anything here, you can head back first.”

At first, Song Xiang didn’t understand, until he saw Mrs. Zhu step out of the elevator.

As the personal assistant of Zhu Yun and Qin Huaichu, he had naturally done some research on their household. He immediately understood why Zhu Yun had said he could leave—someone had come to cover his shift.

“Good evening, Madam!” Song Xiang stood up and greeted loudly.

Yu Qingrong smiled warmly. “Hello! Are you also a staff member in the design department?”

“Madam, I’m not in the design department. I’m Yun’s personal assistant, so technically an external staff member,” Song Xiang replied.

Zhu Yun stood up and started to head inside, but Beibei the German Shepherd jumped up, hugging his waist perfectly.

Zhu Yun smiled and lightly rubbed his nose against Beibei’s wet one.

“Miss me that much?” he asked softly.

Beibei barked twice crisply.

“I heard from Huaichu that you’ve been having some health issues recently, so you’ve been resting at Yunshan,” Yu Qingrong said as she sat down on a chair, looking at Zhu Yun. “Why would you keep something like this from your mother?”

Zhu Yun thought to himself: Qin Huaichu tells everyone that I’ve been having health problems…

He lowered his eyes and subtly glanced at Song Xiang’s spot.

Song Xiang immediately understood and said loudly, “Yun, Madam, I’ll head off. Aunt Li will come later to cook for Yun. If you need anything, just call me.”

Yu Qingrong waved her hand and smiled, “Go ahead, don’t worry. I can take care of Yun, and Aunt Li can take the night off. I’ll personally cook for him.”

After Song Xiang left, Zhu Yun looked down in disbelief. “Mom, you’re going to cook?”

“What? Don’t trust my cooking? I’ve been practicing for a month and learned a few signature dishes,” Yu Qingrong leaned forward, extending her arm to touch Zhu Yun’s shoulder. “I even had your father taste test them several times. You’ll be impressed.”

Zhu Yun’s expressionless mind thought: This sounds familiar… someone must have said this before.

Yu Qingrong’s cooking was on par with Qin Huaichu’s, overly focused on presentation, and sometimes left fish slightly undercooked.

Zhu Yun didn’t complain, but he clearly couldn’t finish half a bowl of rice. He also felt sympathy for his father, who had been “abused” at home.

Yu Qingrong served him a bowl of chicken soup and placed some ribs in Beibei’s bowl, excitedly asking Zhu Yun, “So, how did you suddenly get so close to Xiao Qin? He rarely contacts me privately.”

Zhu Yun didn’t plan to hide it: “I lost my memory.”

Yu Qingrong’s mouth opened in shock: “Huh??”

“I was faking it,” Zhu Yun added calmly.

Yu Qingrong: “……”

“I fainted in the office that day. When I woke up, I pretended to have lost my memory. He didn’t suspect me, so I continued the act,” Zhu Yun added generously.

Yu Qingrong finally understood. “You pretended to lose your memory to make him spend more time with you?”

Zhu Yun was speechless: “No, of course not.”

Yu Qingrong shrugged: “Then what’s the real reason?”

Zhu Yun thought for a minute, couldn’t come up with a good excuse, and hedged: “I just wanted to see how he’d react.”

Yu Qingrong didn’t press further and waved her hand: “From what I see, he really does care about you.”

Zhu Yun looked at her: “Really?”

“Seeing you alone at home bored during the day, he called me to bring Beibei over. So considerate, it even moved me,” Yu Qingrong said.

Zhu Yun looked down at Beibei, who was happily gnawing on a bone. Beibei looked up confused, and when Zhu Yun opened his hand, Beibei immediately dropped the bone and ran to him.

“He probably left Beibei here to keep me busy, so I couldn’t sneak off to the club,” he murmured.

“What club?” Yu Qingrong asked.

At that moment, the elevator dinged, and Qin Huaichu stepped out.

He just happened to hear Yu Qingrong’s last words, so he shot a serious glance toward Zhu Yun.

“You went to the club?” Qin Huaichu asked in a low voice.

Zhu Yun thought: You had Song Xiang guard me all day, don’t you know if I went out?

He put on an innocent, hesitant expression. “Brother, why would you ask? I didn’t go out today.”

Yu Qingrong was shocked at her son’s impromptu performance, a skill she didn’t know he had studied.

Zhu Yun’s expression, innocent and unblemished, had never appeared on his face, even if he were ten years younger.

Qin Huaichu glanced at Yu Qingrong and nodded slightly: “Mom.”

Yu Qingrong asked him: “Huaichu, have you eaten lunch? If not, I can make you some noodles?”

“I’ve eaten,” Qin Huaichu said softly. “You two chat. I’ll go change clothes.”

Qin Huaichu hurried to the cloakroom, changed into a more formal suit jacket, answered a call, and quickly headed toward the door.

Yu Qingrong, holding her tea, was surprised: “Did Xiao Qin just come home to change clothes? Why doesn’t he keep a spare suit at the office? This running back and forth is so troublesome.”

Zhu Yun didn’t comment. He was used to Qin Huaichu’s late-night work habits.

Qin Huaichu ended the call and looked at the two in the living room.

“There’s a last-minute cocktail party. My suits at the office are at the cleaners,” he explained to Yu Qingrong while his eyes stayed on Zhu Yun.

Zhu Yun spread his long legs, letting Beibei place its front paws on his knees, comfortably rubbing the dog’s head.

Qin Huaichu stopped, changed direction, and walked toward Zhu Yun.

Seeing Zhu Yun’s empty water cup, he filled a glass from the water purifier and handed it back.

Zhu Yun looked up in confusion. Qin Huaichu placed the cup on the table and met his eyes.

Beibei looked up, unaware, watching the subtle tension between the humans.

“Happy?” Qin Huaichu finally asked after a long moment.

“Happy?” Zhu Yun blinked, looked at Beibei in his arms, and nodded. “Happy. Thank you for having Mom bring Beibei over.”

Qin Huaichu nodded, accepting his thanks.

Qin Huaichu then looked at Yu Qingrong: “Mom, please stay with Yun a while longer. I’ll be back around eight.”

Yu Qingrong, enjoying her little role in the scene, nodded repeatedly: “No problem, I’ll wait for you before I leave.”

After Qin Huaichu left, Yu Qingrong felt something was off.

It was the first time he had asked her this way; usually their communication was more formal than a shareholder meeting.

Although respectful, his aura hinted at a subtle change.

And he used to call Zhu Yun by his name… now it’s “Yun Yun.”

Yu Qingrong glanced at her son and saw Zhu Yun staring at the door, cheeks slightly flushed.

Strange—though the room had heating, it wasn’t hot enough to explain it. Zhu Yun’s face, which had been like an ice sculpture earlier, now emitted warmth.

“Yun Yun, is it because of your memory loss that Huaichu worries about you, wanting to be with you all day?” Yu Qingrong asked after careful thought.

Zhu Yun, now calm, replied: “You realize he’s not actually with me all day, right? He had Song Xiang and you accompany me instead.”

Yu Qingrong shrugged: “Yes, but that’s because he’s busy. Still, his heart is definitely thinking about you.”

Zhu Yun: “……”

Yu Qingrong took a sip of tea and gave a thumbs-up: “Son, if you wanted to use the ‘fake illness’ trick to win Huaichu’s heart, you did the right thing.”

Zhu Yun: “……I’m not playing chess.”

He had only acted on a whim, never expecting it to last this long. Now, caught in a situation he couldn’t explain, he couldn’t clarify it to Yu Qingrong.

Qin Huaichu arrived home around eight, carrying a faint smell of alcohol, his expression calm and eyes clear.

Yu Qingrong picked up her bag to leave, and Qin Huaichu said, “Mom, the driver is waiting downstairs. You can take his car home.”

Yu Qingrong smiled: “Alright, I won’t call my own driver then.”

Beibei stayed at home, and Zhu Yun unpacked the large bag Yu Qingrong had brought, arranging food and supplies for the dog on the balcony.

Qin Huaichu stood watching him.

Zhu Yun washed his hands and passed by Qin Huaichu, noticing the lingering alcohol scent.

“Brother, did you drink a lot?” he asked, stopping.

Qin Huaichu often drank at events, but bringing the smell home seemed like a first.

“A little,” Qin Huaichu said lightly.

“Want me to make you some sobering tea?” Zhu Yun hesitated, asking again.

Remembering Zhu Yun’s cleanliness habits, Qin Huaichu said: “No, I’ll shower first.”

Zhu Yun sat on the sofa, thinking for a long time, and eventually decided to make him some sobering tea.

Though inexperienced in the kitchen, he had seen the ingredients and knew boiling the herbs in water would be easy.

After Qin Huaichu showered and came out in loose short-sleeve pajamas, he smelled the medicinal aroma and followed it to the kitchen, seeing Zhu Yun focused on pouring the tea into a Yixing teapot, thinking Qin Huaichu could drink it again tomorrow—it would detox his liver.

As he covered the pot, his fingers brushed the lid, and he instinctively pulled back.

Qin Huaichu reacted faster, grabbing his wrist with one hand and wrapping the other around Zhu Yun’s waist, pulling him close.

Holding him in a semi-embrace, he checked Zhu Yun’s fingers for burns.

“I didn’t burn myself. This pot’s insulation is pretty good,” Zhu Yun said quietly, leaning against him, unable to move.

“Mm, I know,” Qin Huaichu said, holding his fingers gently.

But he didn’t seem to plan on letting go.