CHAPTER 80

As soon as Ye Chengxing heard Li Jia's voice, her movements paused for a bit.

Her voice was low, speaking of pain but with a hint of amusement.

After examining Li Jia's hand, Ye Chengxing thought that she had probably done this before, fortunately without any injuries. However, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken when she recalled the scene just now.

"Um..." She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the momentum she had subconsciously gathered earlier vanished, and looking at the current situation, she couldn't help but cough lightly.

She didn't use any of the words she had imagined saying if they really met. Instead, she directly held Li Jia's hand and inspected it from all angles.

After a momentary pause, the concern that was about to be expressed turned into a dry statement, "I'm done checking. No burns."

As soon as she finished speaking, without waiting for Li Jia's reaction, Ye Chengxing pursed her lips and averted her gaze, wondering what she was saying.

But she had already said everything, and she forgot that she had intended to let go of Li Jia's hand after speaking. Instead, she held it for a while longer, and Li Jia didn't say anything either.

Since Li Jia hadn't said anything since she finished that sentence, Ye Chengxing shifted her gaze back.Li Jia was still staring at her without blinking, as if realizing something, and her gaze was unpredictable.

Meeting her gaze, Ye Chengxing suddenly felt Li Jia's wrist turn, and her fingertips slipped into her sleeve, touching the skin on the inside of her wrist—

Only then did Ye Chengxing realize that she forgot to let go of Li Jia's hand.

Instinctively, Ye Chengxing apologized, "I didn't realize just now..."

But Li Jia's fingertips didn't retract, they continued to gently caress the small patch of skin on the inside of her wrist.

Being touched by her made Ye Chengxing's heart tingle, and various thoughts swirled in her mind, but in the end, she stood still in the same spot, allowing Li Jia to touch her.

This went on for a while, and finally, Ye Chengxing heard Li Jia speak, but she didn't say anything or ask any questions. She simply pronounced her name, one word at a time, with a low and slightly uncertain tone, "Ye... Cheng... Xing?"

Upon hearing her slightly uncertain tone, Ye Chengxing's initial reaction was that after five years, they had indeed grown distant and indifferent. For a moment, she couldn't determine her exact emotions.

...Well, after all, it had been such a long time since they last met. It wouldn't be possible for Li Jia to call her "sister" as affectionately as in her vague impression.

Ye Chengxing froze for a moment, but she still responded to Li Jia's question. Immediately after, she felt the fingertips that were caressing her skin suddenly exert a bit of force, as if a sense of loss of control.

But in the blink of an eye, Li Jia retracted her hand, and the feeling of losing control made it seem like an illusion. Her expression didn't show much change, and her tone was casual, "Why did you come here so late?"

Ye Chengxing didn't know how to respond to Li Jia's statement, but more importantly, she felt that she should first mention the matter of her lost memories.

However, it seemed that Li Jia didn't expect a response from her. She simply gave Ye Chengxing a deep look and then spoke, "Would you like to come inside and sit for a while?"

Ye Chengxing knew she was referring to the villa. She happened to be at a loss for how to answer Li Jia's previous question, so she nodded, "Mhm, let's go inside and sit."

After all, they couldn't just stand at the doorstep like this.

She was fine, but she didn't know how long Li Jia had been standing here. The temperature at night was a bit chilly, and it would definitely be warmer inside.

Ye Chengxing followed Li Jia inside.

However, once inside, Ye Chengxing found that the villa was actually very tidy. There was no dust that she had imagined from years of neglect, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was spotless.

It didn't look like it had been abandoned for five years at all. At first glance, it seemed like someone still lived here.

And...

Without a change in her gaze, she discreetly surveyed the layout of the place and had a vague sense of familiarity.

"Have a seat, everything is clean." Li Jia said as she handed Ye Chengxing a cup of warm water. She herself sat down beside her.

Ye Chengxing took the cup from her hand and instinctively said, "Thank you."

It wasn't very noticeable when they were outside the door, but now that they were inside, especially sitting on the same couch like this, the whole space felt like it was just the two of them, and their presence became vividly apparent.

Ye Chengxing thought about what she wanted to say next. She felt her throat tighten and took a sip of the warm water.

It had to be said that although the journey wasn't tiring, drinking the warm water now made her feel fully alive.

After finishing the drink, she remembered that Li Jia seemed to have poured water only for her and not for herself. She couldn't help but look up and ask, "Would you like to drink too..." water?

But as she raised her eyes, she directly met Li Jia's gaze.

Li Jia was propping her head up, seemingly watching her all along.

It felt like the act of drinking water was something that couldn't escape her eyes.

The cup in Ye Chengxing's hand suddenly felt hot under that gaze.

At this moment, Ye Chengxing couldn't quite grasp Li Jia's emotions.

The scenes that could be recalled in her mind were still too scattered and fragmented, or rather, the only scenes she could remember at the moment were these. She still couldn't recall the truly vital memories, such as what happened between them five years ago, why she came to this world, and... how she returned.

—There was truly no sign of her being able to remember these memories.

Li Jia noticed that Ye Chengxing's fingertips holding the cup tightened slightly, and her gaze lingered upward, focusing on her water-moistened rosy lips.

The touch of her skin from earlier still felt warm.

The pulse in her wrist seemed to synchronize with her heartbeat, shaking her not only physically but also making her soul tremble along with it.

The faint familiar fragrance in her breath was the scent she had yearned for countless nights and days.

In fact, she hadn't dreamed of her much, as she had been sleepless throughout the nights. Those memories were like sugar, yet they were also like knives wrapped in sugar coating.

Everything that was happening now felt so unbelievable that she couldn't help but doubt if she was dreaming. When she woke up from the dream, everything would dissipate, and she would be facing a world without Ye Chengxing again.

She couldn't even bear to blink her eyes.

Li Jia suppressed the complexity in her eyes and, as if just hearing Ye Chengxing's question, answered, "I'm not thirsty."

Upon hearing her response, Ye Chengxing understood that she was contemplating what to say, but her lips parted slightly for a moment and then closed again.

Li Jia stared intently, suddenly longing to feel the warmth of her lips and tongue.

...She was going crazy.

She had successfully made her leave, so how did she end up bringing herself back to her side?

Listening to Li Jia's soft words, Ye Chengxing paused and decided to first inform her about losing some of her memories.

Her grip on the cup tightened a bit more as she met Li Jia's gaze. Her voice was slow and gentle, "The thing is... Recently, I lost a portion of my memories due to an accident. Especially the memories from five years ago, I can't remember the details of them."

She deliberately kept the reason for her inability to remember vague, using the term "accident" to summarize the past.

After all, the true reason was simply too unbelievable.

Someone made her lose those memories through a wish contract with a system... It was as if the fact that she came from another world was more believable. It was better to just attribute it to a simple accident.

She wasn't sure if Li Jia knew that she wasn't from this world, but she probably didn't.

After all, she had already organized in her mind how to explain the fact that she had lost her memory, so once she started speaking, the rest of the words naturally flowed out smoothly.

As Ye Chengxing spoke slowly, she observed Li Jia's expression.

However, even though the person in front of her heard that she had lost her memories from approximately five years ago, there was no change in her face, no surprised or bewildered expression. She simply continued to look at her with that deep and unfathomable gaze.

"In any case, that's how it is. However, I haven't completely forgotten..."

Ye Chengxing finished speaking, and then added that she hadn't forgotten everything.

From the moment she started speaking until she finished, Li Jia remained silent.

The air seemed to grow still, so quiet that even the slightest sound was almost nonexistent.

Ye Chengxing felt a strange nervousness. She wasn't afraid of encountering intense emotional exchanges, but Li Jia's calmness made her unsure of how to proceed.

There were too many things that could be represented by that calmness.

Even the moment of relief might not be certain.

Finally, Ye Chengxing heard Li Jia speak, "Did you ask Xi Yue and the others for the address?"

Her tone was more of a statement than a question.

Ye Chengxing made a soft sound of agreement, surprised that Li Jia figured it out just by hearing her speak.

Before she could say anything else, she heard Li Jia continue, "Sister, if you can't even remember, why did you come back here?"

Ye Chengxing didn't expect Li Jia to call her "sister" at this moment, just like those vague memories.

But compared to the soft voice of a young girl, her voice now was a bit lower.

Therefore, even though it was the same title, it gave a completely different impression.

She was closer to her now, with captivating and lush eyes, and each eyelash was long and slender.

Not a young girl, but a mature woman.

As if sensing her bewilderment, Li Jia suddenly smiled, though there wasn't much amusement in her eyes.

She propped her hand against her head and made a slightly ambiguous gesture of rubbing her lips, as if caressing a flower. "Since you've seen Xi Yue and the others, you must have heard something about what happened five years ago. So why would you come back here, risking repeating the same mistakes?"

Emotions surged beneath her suppressed voice.

She couldn't understand why, with her blurred memories, she would still come back.

Ye Chengxing was pinned down by Li Jia on the sofa, and she heard a certain word in her words that made her lips curl up. "Then let's repeat the same mistakes."

"After all, I came back just to see you."

BACK | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT