Half an hour later, Jiang Zhirou came out of the bathroom.
Before opening the door, she even pressed her ear against it. Not hearing any movement outside, she carefully opened the door.
Jiang Zhirou poked her head out. The bedsheet on the bed had been changed. Her gaze swept around the room. After confirming that Chi Yu wasn't in the room, she pushed open the bathroom door and walked out.
Jiang Zhirou quickly walked to the cloakroom. Just as she opened the door of the cloakroom, a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind her.
"All done washing?"
Chi Yu was standing behind her. She didn't know when he'd come.
Jiang Zhirou was startled. Her body suddenly stiffened. She subconsciously tightened the bathrobe on her body and stood still on the spot.
Seeing her nervous look, Chi Yu laughed. "Why are you so stiff? Afraid I'll eat you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Zhirou's face instantly flushed red to the tips of her ears. She didn't know what was going on in her head.
Chi Yu behind her laughed even louder at the sight, but he didn't continue to tease her. "I've already prepared your clothes. They're hanging on the innermost hanger. I'll wait for you in the living room."
Jiang Zhirou nodded heavily with her back to Chi Yu. "Okay."
After saying that, Chi Yu turned around and walked out of the room. It wasn't until she heard the sound of the door locking that Jiang Zhirou heaved a heavy sigh of relief. She turned her head to look in the direction of the door and then walked into the cloakroom.
An hour later, the car slowly stopped in front of Mumin Building.
Jiang Zhirou got out of the car and looked up at the carved Chinese-style signboard in front of her. She silently read the three characters on the plaque in her heart.
Mu, Min, Lou.
Mu and Min together form the character Mian.
Jiang Zhirou's eyes flashed. It was named after Chen Qingmian. But it seemed that she didn't know the meaning of the name Chi Yu had chosen until she decided to give up.
"What are you looking at? So engrossed."
Chi Yu got out of the car and saw Jiang Zhirou looking up, staring at something.
Hearing Chi Yu's voice, Jiang Zhirou turned to look at him. "This name." She raised her finger and pointed at the plaque. "Does it mean Mian?"
Jiang Zhirou asked straightforwardly.
She preferred to get an accurate answer rather than make a guess.
Chi Yu was actually stunned for a moment.
After coming here so many times, it was the first time "Qingmian" had asked about the name.
"Is it?"
Jiang Zhirou pressed on.
Chi Yu nodded and laughed as he ruffled her hair. "Just noticed now? My baby is really a bit too slow."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on Jiang Zhirou's face faded a bit. She silently moved her body, dodging the hand Chi Yu stretched out towards her.
After a pause, Jiang Zhirou asked again, "Why did you use my name to name it?"
Chi Yu felt that she was a bit different today. She had an unusually large number of questions and was suddenly very interested in the name.
This time, Chi Yu answered without thinking. "Because it was built for you."
Jiang Zhirou wasn't the least bit surprised by this answer.
But hearing it with her own ears still felt a bit different. A sour feeling welled up in her heart.
She suppressed the sourness in her heart and blinked hard, finally suppressing that emotion.
As far as she knew, this place was a membership-only place and hardly ever open to the public. In other words, this was a private kitchen Chi Yu had prepared for Chen Qingmian.
Jiang Zhirou couldn't put a name to the feeling in her heart, but she just felt sad, inexplicably sad. She was so sad that she even wanted to leave this place.
... Chi Yu really loved Chen Qingmian. He loved her even more than she'd imagined.
"Why are you suddenly interested in this?"
Chi Yu suddenly asked.
Jiang Zhirou came back to her senses, shook her head, and forced a smile on her lips. "It's nothing."
"Let's go quickly. Grandpa Jiang should be here by now."
After saying that, Jiang Zhirou took a step forward and walked in as if she was running away.
When the two of them walked into the private room, Jiang Yuezhong hadn't arrived yet.
Jiang Zhirou sat by the window and looked out.
They were on the fifth floor, not very high. She had very good eyesight and could clearly see the expressions of the passers-by walking in a hurry outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Everyone seemed to be very busy, moving towards their own destinations.
But what was her destination?
Was it to find out the truth about why she'd been sent away all those years ago, to find out the truth about her mother's suicide, or to find herself?
Was she herself now?
Jiang Zhirou didn't know.
She stared out of the window for a long time and suddenly turned to look at the man beside her.
"Chi Yu, I want to eat walnuts. Do you have any?"
"Walnuts?" Chi Yu was a bit surprised. "You want to eat walnuts?"
He'd never heard Qingmian say that she liked walnuts before.
Why did she suddenly want to eat this today?
Chi Yu was about to ask another question, but Jiang Zhirou's voice rang out before him.
"Do you have any?"
Jiang Zhirou looked directly into Chi Yu's eyes. There was a determination in her eyes that he couldn't understand.
Chi Yu frowned slightly but didn't think too much. "Yes, I'll ask the kitchen to prepare some."
"Raw ones will do."
Jiang Zhirou added.
"Okay."
Mumin Building was very efficient.
Just five minutes later, the waiter walked in with a plate of shelled walnuts.
Looking at the plate in front of her, Jiang Zhirou didn't reach out to take them right away.
"Why do you suddenly want to eat walnuts?"
Chi Yu asked again.
Jiang Zhirou looked deeply at him and then suddenly smiled. She looked at him with a beaming smile. "Haven't I been using my brain too much recently? Walnuts are good for the brain. I need to replenish myself."
After saying that, she turned her head and her gaze landed on the plate in front of her. Then she picked up two and stuffed them into her mouth.
When was the last time she'd eaten walnuts?
She remembered. It was before she'd been taken away.
At that time, she didn't know that she was allergic to walnuts. She'd almost died after eating them.
In Chen Qingmian's memory, she wasn't allergic to walnuts.
If... if she ate these walnuts today and wasn't allergic and walked out of here healthy, would it prove that in fact she wasn't Jiang Zhirou, that she was still Chen Qingmian?
Jiang Zhirou didn't have time to think more when she heard an exclamation beside her.
"She's allergic to walnuts! She can't eat them!"
It was Jiang Yuezhong's voice.
Jiang Zhirou felt that her breathing suddenly became rapid. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something. Her breathing started to become difficult and the oxygen became thinner and thinner.
Before she closed her eyes, she saw the nervous and flustered expressions of Jiang Yuezhong and Chi Yu.
"So I'm really not her..."
She murmured and then fell into a coma.
...
Ruikang Hospital.
Jiang Zhirou was wheeled out of the emergency room by the nurse and taken to the VIP ward.
Chi Yu quickly stepped forward.
Jiang Yuezhong beside him also looked extremely anxious.
"Mr. Jiang? You just said she's allergic to walnuts?"
"Does this 'she' refer to Jiang Zhirou?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yuezhong nodded. "Zhi Zhi is allergic to walnuts. She almost died because of this when she was a child. So over the years, even if I forget everything else, I'll never forget this."
The expression on Chi Yu's face was a bit complicated. He looked at the person sleeping on the bed. The emotions in his eyes were unclear.