After the Young Master’s Death, He was Kissed by His Mortal Enemy! (BL) - Chapter 23

Shen Ran had always assumed that someone as gentle as Ai Ziqing—someone who could become the director of a welfare home at such a young age—must surely have an exceptional temperament.

Surely, someone like him wouldn’t easily show an expression cold enough to verge on disgust.

Shen Ran couldn’t help but grow curious. He rose on tiptoe, trying to peek past Ai Ziqing’s shoulder toward the doorway.

Just who could make Director Ai look so displeased?

…Wait a second. Why did that person look so familiar?!

Outside the door stood a silent figure—tall, imposing, with a cold and stern face. Who else could it be but Luo Mu?

Shen Ran stood frozen. He looked at Luo Mu, then at Ai Ziqing’s gloomy face, blinking furiously as if his tongue had tied itself into knots.

Ai Ziqing and Luo Mu… knew each other?

The atmosphere was so cold, it felt like it might freeze solid.

Finally, Ai Ziqing was the first to avert his gaze. He brushed past Luo Mu without a second glance.
“Ran Ran, let’s go.”

“O-Oh… okay!”

Following Ai Ziqing down a flight of stairs, Shen Ran glanced back. Luo Mu was still standing there in silence.

So, had Luo Mu been standing outside the office the whole time while they were talking inside?

Now that he saw Luo Mu again, Shen Ran felt an odd sense of familiarity.

This time, it truly felt like he had seen him somewhere before.

Just then, Cheng Yi leaned in and whispered in his ear, “In that photo just now, the one who appeared with you and Director Ai… that was Luo Mu.”

That’s right—it was Luo Mu!

Shen Ran’s eyes lit up in realization.

No wonder, when he first met Luo Mu, the man had greeted him with a “Long time no see.”

Though Shen Ran hadn’t remembered it himself, they really had known each other!

As if fate itself had strung them all together once more with invisible threads.

—

Once Luo Mu was out of sight, Ai Ziqing returned to his earlier gentle demeanor.

He strolled leisurely with Shen Ran and Cheng Yi around the grounds, occasionally offering bits of introduction:

“This here is the garden. When we were little, we used to play hide-and-seek here all the time.”

“This used to be the storage room. You and I were once locked in there overnight for misbehaving. You cried so much and swore you’d never cause trouble again.”

They arrived at an old tree stump. Ai Ziqing couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“Ran Ran, do you remember this spot?”

When Shen Ran shook his head, Ai Ziqing chuckled and continued:

“At the time, you insisted on racing against Luo—er, someone else—and made me be the referee. You charged forward without even looking and ran headfirst into this stump. Your nose started bleeding like crazy.”

“Whoa.” Cheng Yi couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You ran into a tree when you were little? No wonder you’re not that bright now. Poor Director Ai, just sitting here waiting like a rabbit trap.”

Ai Ziqing only chuckled, then turned to Shen Ran. “Well? Ran Ran, does anything come back to you?”

Did anything come back?

Shen Ran stared at the tree stump, long since dead and gray. His brows furrowed in concentration.

Being back here, hearing Ai Ziqing’s descriptions—it wasn’t as if nothing came to mind.

When he tried to remember, blurry fragments would flash through his mind.

A dark night. Moonlight filtered through the narrow window of the storage room. He crouched beneath a desk in the corner, wiping away tears, while Ai Ziqing tried to comfort him.

A bright sunny day. He ran into the tree stump and fell hard. When he touched his face, his hand came away bloody, and he was so terrified his eyes nearly popped out.

During lunch, he tried to hide his vegetables at the bottom of the bowl. Ai Ziqing caught him and coaxed him into eating every last bite.

Now, Ai Ziqing looked at him with eyes as clear as water, silently hoping he’d remember the past.

And Cheng Yi, toying with his car keys, wasn’t impatient either—he simply waited quietly for a response.

Shen Ran wanted to keep digging into his memories, but a sharp pain suddenly lanced through his head, as if he’d collided with an invisible wall.

Beyond that wall were waves of surging memories—but he couldn’t touch even a shred of them.

Each time he tried to break through, the pain would only intensify.

“…Shen Ran? What’s wrong?”

Cheng Yi, quick to notice, reached out and grabbed Shen Ran’s hand. Shen Ran looked pale and pained, as if he could collapse at any moment.

His palm was soaked with sweat, yet his skin still burned hot.

Shen Ran opened his mouth to speak, but immediately clamped a hand over it and began dry heaving, dizziness overwhelming him.

Startled, Ai Ziqing’s voice trembled. “Ran Ran? Ran Ran! What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If it’s too much, don’t force it—we don’t have to remember right now! It’s okay if you don’t remember!”

Cheng Yi, more composed than Ai Ziqing, supported Shen Ran’s weight with calm steadiness. His eyes held a flicker of thoughtfulness.

He had seen this kind of reaction before.

To be precise, he had once heard of similar symptoms from Wei Hailan.

If his guess was correct, then it made sense that Shen Ran had no recollection of his childhood.

“Director Ai, is there a rest area or lounge nearby?” Cheng Yi asked.

“There is,” Ai Ziqing replied without hesitation. “Follow me.”

The two of them supported the pale and weakened Shen Ran as they made their way into the building—only to once again run into Luo Mu, who had just come downstairs.

This time, Ai Ziqing didn’t spare Luo Mu even a single glance.

After helping Shen Ran settle into a room, seeing that he was in no condition to speak, Cheng Yi turned and walked out, leaning against the corridor window as he made a call to Wei Hailan.

“Wei Hailan, I suspect Shen Ran may have been hypnotized in the past—planted with psychological suggestions. Do you have time to come take a look?”

“What?! Shen Ran was hypnotized?!” Wei Hailan was clearly shocked. “Does he show any symptoms?”

“They match what you described before. He can’t remember anything from the past, and whenever he tries to recall something, his condition worsens dramatically.”

“Then it’s most likely exactly that… Where are you? I’ll head over right away!”

After ending the call, Cheng Yi didn’t return to the room immediately. He remained at the window, silently watching the world outside.

Every time he thought Shen Ran couldn’t possibly have it worse, something even more troubling would happen.

A quiet sense of worry crept into his heart.

Once Shen Ran recovered all his memories—would he still be able to smile with the same pure, carefree joy as he did when they first met?

Just beyond the door, Shen Ran sat on the couch, clutching a cup of warm water, but his soul seemed elsewhere.

All he had wanted was to uncover his past, to rediscover who he was. Why did it have to be this complicated? This exhausting?

At this point, Shen Ran couldn’t help but suspect that he might actually be an alien. Maybe the dizziness earlier had been caused by a memory overload—and he’d almost ended up formatting himself.

Had the alien system update left him out?

Just then, Cheng Yi pushed open the door and entered.

“Shen Ran, I have some bad news. It’s possible you were hypnotized in the past.”

Shen Ran let out a sigh of relief.

Ah, hypnosis? Well, that meant he probably wasn’t an alien with a full memory drive.

…Wait a second—what did he just say?!

“HUH???”