In a villa near Hung Hom, Gu Bingwen sat on a black leather sofa, a cigar in hand, his brow tightly furrowed.
He was forty-five this year, the prime of a man’s life.
He kept himself in excellent shape, dressed in a well-tailored suit, his hair meticulously combed. Yet at this moment, his expression was grim.
He never would have imagined that his usually gentle and delicate daughter could be so fiercely determined.
“That poor boy from the mainland is just a shop assistant at a gold store. Aside from being somewhat handsome, what good qualities does he have?”
Gu Bingwen snorted coldly, tossing the cigar heavily onto the coffee table. “To be willing to die for such a person—it’s a disgrace to the Gu family!”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. “Even if she doesn’t fancy Ah Xuan from the Li family, there are so many outstanding young men from Hong Kong’s wealthy families. Would I ever treat her poorly? How could it come to this?”
“Bingwen,” a gentle voice came from beside him.
Gu Bingwen looked up and saw his second wife, Yang Huijuan, walking over with a plate of cut fruit, which she gently placed on the coffee table.
She was exceptionally well-preserved, with a lingering charm in her eyes and brows from her youth.
“Have some fruit,” she said softly.
Gu Bingwen remained silent.
Yang Huijuan didn’t mind. After setting down the fruit plate, she walked behind Gu Bingwen and gently began massaging his stiff shoulders and neck, speaking in a soothing tone:
“Bingwen, don’t get too worked up. The young lady is still young, after all. It’s easy for her to be swept away by emotions.”
“Starting today, I’ll go on a vegetarian diet to pray for the young lady’s well-being. Tomorrow, I’ll visit the Wong Tai Sin Temple to burn incense and ask the Bodhisattva to bless her with a swift recovery…”
“Enough!” Gu Bingwen interrupted her impatiently. “Stop with all this nonsense. What good does praying to gods and Buddha do?”
Yang Huijuan’s hands paused for a moment before resuming the massage, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corner of her lips.
Just then, the telephone in the living room rang abruptly.
The maid answered the call, and after listening for a moment, she turned to Gu Bingwen with an excited expression. “Sir is here. What? The young lady has woken up? Yes, yes, I’ll tell Sir right away!”
Gu Bingwen, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. Without waiting for the maid to finish her report, he stood up abruptly and strode toward the door, not leaving a single word for Yang Huijuan behind him.
Yang Huijuan stood where she was, watching his back disappear through the doorway.
A moment later, she heard the sound of a car starting up, gradually fading into the distance.
The gentleness on her face slowly faded, replaced by a gloomy expression.
Suddenly, she swept her hand violently across the coffee table, sending the carefully arranged plate of fruit crashing to the floor.
The exquisite bone china plate shattered into pieces, and the fruit scattered everywhere.
“Second Madam…” The maid standing in the corner was startled, not daring to make a sound.
Yang Huijuan gave her a cold glance. “What are you standing there for? Clean this up.”
“Yes, yes…”
The maid quickly crouched down to tidy up the mess on the floor.
Yang Huijuan turned and walked toward the staircase, her lips twitching slightly.
That wretched girl’s life is truly tough.
In the ward at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital.
After a series of examinations, Gu Wangshu finally understood the situation.
She was indeed still alive, but this body was no longer hers.
The doctor told her it was now 1987.
Ten years had passed.
In 1977, she passed away in Hong Kong. It has been exactly ten years since then.
She is now Gu Xihe—her cousin, the daughter of her second uncle Gu Bingwen.
From the doctor’s examinations and the fragments of information from Ming Lan and Sister Wen, she pieced together the general situation.
Two days ago, Gu Xihe, forced into marriage by her parents, attempted suicide by taking pills with her boyfriend.
The boyfriend regretted his decision and called for help, saving her life, but she remained unconscious for two days and only woke up today.
And she, Gu Wangshu, for reasons unknown, found herself in this body when she awoke.
As for the real Gu Xihe…
That foolish girl was truly gone.
She had given her life for a man.
Gu Wangshu lay in the hospital bed, watching the sky outside gradually darken, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
The doctor was beside her, explaining the examination results to Ming Lan.
“Mrs. Gu, although Miss Gu has regained consciousness and her bodily functions are largely unaffected, the prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain and the effects of the medication have still caused some damage to her brain.”
“Based on our initial communication, we have found that Miss Gu is experiencing symptoms of partial amnesia…”
Gu Bingwen pushed the door open just in time to hear the last half of the sentence.
“Partial amnesia? What’s going on?” His authoritative voice echoed in the hospital room.
Gu Wangshu on the bed turned her head to look.
It had been ten years since she last saw him.
Second Uncle Gu Bingwen hadn’t changed much, except that his aura of authority had grown even stronger compared to before.
Gu Bingwen walked to the bedside, scrutinizing his daughter. “Xixi, don’t you recognize your father?”
Gu Wangshu looked at this man who was both familiar and unfamiliar, her heart filled with conflicting emotions.
She spoke slowly, her voice tinged with the weakness of illness. “I do.”
Ming Lan quickly explained from the side, “Bingwen, the doctor said Xixi’s memory is confused right now. It seems she only remembers things from when she was a teenager. Everything from the past few years is completely forgotten.”
“From when she was a teenager?” Gu Bingwen frowned. “What else do you remember?”
Gu Wangshu leaned against the pillow, looking at Gu Bingwen, her gaze growing somewhat distant.
She decided to go along with this lie—it was the best way to conceal her identity for now.
“I remember…” she paused, then said softly, “this is Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. I’ve been here before. Back then, I came to visit my grandfather when he was sick.”
When her father was seriously ill, he had indeed stayed at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital for a while. At that time, Xixi was often brought by Ming Lan to visit her grandfather.
“What else?”
“I also came here to visit…” Gu Wangshu paused, “my cousin.”
Gu Bingwen was stunned.
Cousin? Gu Wangshu?
That was ten years ago.
Back then, his father Gu Shiyong was seriously ill and hospitalized. His niece Gu Wangshu had come from Beijing to Hong Kong and ultimately died here.
“What is going on?” Gu Bingwen turned to the doctor, his gaze sharp.
The doctor adjusted his glasses and explained, “Mr. Gu, this is medically referred to as ‘retrograde amnesia.'”
“Typically, patients lose memories from a period before the onset of the condition. The more recent the memory, the more likely it is to be lost, while distant memories, such as profound experiences from childhood or earlier years, are often better preserved.”
“Earlier, I also conducted tests. Miss Gu still remembers the knowledge she learned in the past and the language skills she mastered, meaning this won’t affect her normal life in the future.”
Gu Bingwen pondered for a moment, his expression easing slightly.
Forgetting might be for the best—forgetting that poor boy, just in time for a fresh start.
“Doctor, may we speak privately?” Gu Bingwen gestured for the doctor to step outside. Ming Lan glanced worriedly at her daughter and followed them out.