After the Paranoid Female Lead Lost Her Memory, She Insisted on Pursuing This Cannon Fodder - Chapter 19

Xiao Zhang’s anxious voice immediately came through the receiver:

“Hello?! Xiao Yuan?! Are you okay? Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you everywhere! The nurses said you were moved to a different room, but they wouldn’t tell me where! I’ve been searching for ages. Where are you now?!”

The barrage of questions hit like cannon fire, making it clear how worried Xiao Zhang truly was.

Shen Yuan instinctively glanced at Lin Zhaoyue before whispering into the phone, “I’m fine. I’m at Zhaoyue’s place now…”

“What?! Lin Zhaoyue?! How did you end up there?! What has she done to you?! Tell me the address immediately—I’m coming to get you right now!”

Xiao Zhang’s voice dripped with hostility and distrust toward Lin Zhaoyue.

“Don’t worry,” Shen Yuan said earnestly. “I came here on my own. I know we’ve broken up, but I’m determined to win her back!”

She added softly under her breath, “I almost wish she would do something to me…”

Xiao Zhang: “?”

Xiao Zhang: “……”

Ah, right, I almost forgot about that.

Remembering the doctor’s instructions, Xiao Zhang took a deep breath and adopted a coaxing tone, trying to salvage his friend’s possibly addled mind.

“Uh… Xiao Yuan, you two… you’ve broken up, after all.”

Xiao Zhang nearly bit his tongue.

“How do I put this? Lin Zhaoyue doesn’t want to see you right now, right? If you keep… keep clinging to her like this, she won’t be happy, will she?”

With each word, Xiao Zhang felt his conscience ache a little more.

Lin Zhaoyue, listening to Xiao Zhang’s words, wanted to give her a hundred thumbs up.

Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly right! Keep talking! Make her understand that clinging like this will only end badly!

However, Shen Yuan completely missed Xiao Zhang’s good intentions. Instead, she tilted her head, her tone puzzled.

“But Zhaoyue just kissed me.”

“That was CPR!”

Lin Zhaoyue finally snapped, her entire face flushing crimson.

Xiao Zhang: ?

What the hell was going on?

A kiss?

A real kiss?

In that instant, Xiao Zhang suddenly felt a surge of respect for Lin Zhaoyue.

To fulfill the doctor’s instructions and play the role of a fiancée, she was willing to sacrifice herself to this extent.

Respect.

With this thought, Lin Zhaoyue might, perhaps, seem… not so bad after all.

“And in the bathroom…” Shen Yuan tried to explain, but a slender, pale hand suddenly snatched the phone away.

Lin Zhaoyue, her face flushed crimson, roared into the receiver: “You! Get over here right now! Take your brain-addled ‘dear friend’ home! She’s driving me crazy!”

She deliberately emphasized the words “dear friend,” hoping Shen Yuan would remember she still had such a good friend.

Xiao Zhang, who had been furious with Lin Zhaoyue just moments ago, suddenly softened his tone considerably. He whispered into the phone, “I understand, I understand. You’ve been through so much, sacrificing so much. I’ll be right there!”

Lin Zhaoyue: “……”

She didn’t even want to imagine what Xiao Zhang had misunderstood.

She glanced at the wall clock—the hour hand already pointed to late at night.

Making her come over at this hour? No way! What if something happened on the road in the middle of the night…? Lin Zhaoyue muttered to herself. Besides, she was in no state to entertain guests right now.

So, she impatiently changed her tone into the phone:

“Coming right now? Do you think my house is a 24-hour hotel where you can just show up whenever you please? This young lady needs her beauty sleep. I don’t have time to wait for you.”

She paused, her tone growing even more imperious. “Come back tomorrow!”

On the other end of the line, Xiao Zhang maintained his usual “admirable” tone:

“Oh, okay. So… I’ll pick up Xiao Yuan early tomorrow morning?”

“Morning? Absolutely not!” Lin Zhaoyue refused decisively.

Never before 8 AM.

“Come back in the afternoon. If you dare disturb my rest now, hmph, you know what I’ll do.”

In truth, Lin Zhaoyue herself had no idea what she would do.

It was like asking a pauper to write about the lives of the wealthy—she found herself unable to imagine how a rich woman would threaten someone.

Xiao Zhang froze at her words. Just moments ago, he had been disdainful of Shen Yuan, yet now he was being asked to delay his visit. What was going on?

Then it dawned on him.

This timing… could it be that they’re planning to…?

No wonder. If they were up late, they might not be able to wake up early.

They’re taking this act way too seriously, Xiao Zhang thought, his old face flushing crimson. He blurted out in a rush:

“Got it, got it, got it! I’ll come back in the afternoon and ring the doorbell when I arrive. I won’t disturb you any further. Goodbye!”

Without waiting for Lin Zhaoyue’s reply, Xiao Zhang abruptly ended the call with a decisive click.

Lin Zhaoyue: ?

Why is Xiao Zhang suddenly acting like this?

Never mind, she sighed, relieved to have temporarily resolved Xiao Zhang’s issue. Turning around, she met Shen Yuan’s teary eyes.

Lin Zhaoyue’s resolve wavered under that gaze, but she forced herself to harden her heart. She tossed her phone onto the nightstand, crossed her arms, and struggled to maintain her disdainful expression.

“You heard, right? Your ‘good friend’ will pick you up tomorrow afternoon.”

She paused deliberately, then casually glanced Shen Yuan up and down, her tone probing:

“Speaking of which, you and Xiao Zhang seem awfully close.”

Shen Yuan blinked, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as she strained to recall.

“Xiao Zhang…? Hmm… I think he’s a friend? I don’t remember very well… My head hurts a little.”

Since her amnesia, Shen Yuan’s memories seemed to be firmly locked onto Lin Zhaoyue, her “fiancée.” Everything else remained shrouded in a thick fog.

She instinctively reached up to rub the back of her head, where a dull ache still lingered.

Recalling the hundreds of chapters the original work had dragged out the amnesia arc, Lin Zhaoyue knew this approach wouldn’t work. She mentally addressed the System:

Sister System, quick! Pull up some information—specifically, how close Xiao Zhang and Shen Yuan used to be.

She needed to personally help Shen Yuan recover her memories.

The System responded swiftly:

Searching… Xiao Zhang, real name Zhang Wei, was Shen Yuan’s college roommate and best friend. When you spilled coffee on Shen Yuan, Zhang Wei shielded her. When you spread rumors about Shen Yuan, Zhang Wei stayed up all night clearing her name on the school forum. When you arranged for someone to steal Shen Yuan’s tuition money, Zhang Wei secretly combined her part-time wages and scholarship funds to give to her, even working alongside her… They often reserved seats together at the library and shared cheap boxed lunches. Zhang Wei was arguably the only person in this city whom Shen Yuan could completely trust and rely on.

Lin Zhaoyue: “……”

For the first time, she wanted to describe herself as a lingering ghost.

Armed with this “script,” Lin Zhaoyue cleared her throat and tried to convey the information in her own way, her tone dripping with disdain:

“Zhang Wei was your roommate in college, right? She seemed quite protective of you. I remember that time… uh, someone accidentally spilled coffee on you, and she foolishly tried to shield you? What a busybody.”

Lin Zhaoyue glossed over the fact that she was the one who had spilled the coffee.

“And didn’t she also defend you when people were gossiping about you at school? Tsk, what a bleeding heart.”

As she spoke, she surreptitiously observed Shen Yuan’s reaction.

“Remember that time you couldn’t afford tuition? She scraped together the money to cover it for you? Heh, what a pair of pathetic paupers.”

Lin Zhaoyue continued to frame Xiao Zhang’s kindness in negative terms.

Shen Yuan listened quietly, her initial curiosity gradually giving way to a dazed expression as she struggled to grasp those distant, hazy fragments of memory.

“Zhang Wei… Weiwei…?”

Shen Yuan murmured, as if a corner of her memory had been lifted.