Free Web NovelChapter 10: Chapter 10: Intermittent Memory Disorder
After hearing what Gao Xi said, Gao Tian tried hard to recall his life back in high school.
For some reason, there were vast, blank spots in his memory. Be it his teachers, his time with classmates, or even what he scored on his first college entrance exam and why he had to repeat a year—he could only remember fragmented pieces.
They didn’t form a complete memory at all.
’Could it be true, just as Gao Xi said? Am I a patient with intermittent memory loss?’
It was a truly sad thought. He was a man with no past, and after encountering Shattered Face, he’d almost had his future cut off as well.
Gao Tian hesitated, but at Gao Xi’s prompting, he stepped into the dim, dusty bedroom.
Gao Xi deftly flicked on the overhead light. Looking at the awards on the wall—from elementary, middle, to high school—and the group photos, Gao Tian felt his memory stirring. He truly felt a sense of familiarity with this room.
’Did I really go to the wrong room when I first got home? Was the second-to-last room my sister Gao Xi’s bedroom all along?’
Seeing Gao Tian still hesitating, Gao Xi shook her pigtails, bent down, and pulled a large, leather-bound journal from a drawer. With a thick smell of dust, she pushed it in front of Gao Tian.
"This is the journal you write in every time you recover your memory. You told me to show it to you the next time you have a lapse, saying it might help you remember something."
Gao Tian slowly opened the heavy cover of the journal. The writing inside was dense and messy, looking like it had been a struggle to write.
He examined it closely. To his dismay, Gao Tian found that he couldn’t even tell if it was his own handwriting. He had even forgotten what his own handwriting looked like.
"Sister," "amnesia," "attack during the exam," "intermittent memory," "have to remember," "don’t want to be a burden"... Flipping through the pages, he found they were all filled with similar words. Gao Tian quickly lost interest, having found no useful clues.
"Do you remember now?"
This pigtail-wearing girl named "Gao Xi" stood in the dimness, her expectant gaze still sparkling as she looked at Gao Tian.
Gao Tian answered vaguely,
"More or less."
He was still suspicious of this sister who had appeared out of nowhere, but he had no solid evidence to prove who was wrong.
The scales of his judgment had begun to tip.
Regardless, Gao Tian suppressed the urge to use Shattered Face to get rid of his "sister." If there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance that she was a real, living person and he killed a relative on a whim, the guilt would be immense.
’Don’t rush. Stay alert. See what this "sister" who suddenly appeared in his home really wants.’
Gao Xi wasn’t an idiot. She could tell from Gao Tian’s expression that he hadn’t remembered.
She seemed a little disappointed, but still pushed the journal toward him again.
"You should write something down yourself. That way, you can tell your future self what happened the next time you have a memory gap."
Gao Tian waved his hand at her, showing the gauze and cardboard tightly wrapped around his palm.
"My dominant hand is injured. I can’t write a single word."
Seeing that two of his fingers were completely broken and the injury was so severe, a pained expression immediately appeared on Gao Xi’s face. She grabbed his hand, wanting to inspect it closely.
"What on earth happened to you? When you said you were moving out, I just knew a grown man like you couldn’t even take care of himself."
"Is it disinfected? I’ll go get you some ointment."
Gao Tian ignored Gao Xi. His mother had finished cooking in the kitchen, and the priority now was to meet up with his parents.
What he worried about most was whether his parents had been brainwashed.
As he walked down the hallway, Gao Tian kept pondering an even more obscure and strange question. He realized that ever since he returned home, everything had become abnormal.
His father, his mother... what did they look like?
Why couldn’t he remember them at all either?
Since he’d walked through the door, his father had been sitting on the sofa watching TV, a dark silhouette with his back to him. His mother’s voice, the sound of chopping vegetables, and running water only came from the kitchen. He hadn’t even seen a glimpse of her.
Why? Why couldn’t he remember anything?
It was with this feeling of facing the unknown that Gao Tian walked into the living room, one step at a time. The dark silhouette was still watching TV. When the father heard the footsteps behind him, he slowly turned his head.
"Has your memory come back a little?"
"What happened to your hand? How did it get like this? Look, how about this, I’ll drive you to the hospital this afternoon to get it checked out."
The face that turned from the sofa was that of a complete stranger—a middle-aged man with black glasses and stubble on his chin.
Seeing this stranger greet him so casually, as if they had been family for a long time, Gao Tian was utterly unable to connect the man before him with the image of "Father."
Gao Tian realized he had no memory of what his real "father" and "mother" looked like.
’Could it be true, just as Gao Xi said? Am I a patient with intermittent memory loss?’
An equally unfamiliar middle-aged woman in an apron walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands.
"With your hand like that, can you even eat?"
"Do you need Mommy to feed you?"
Gao Xi came running out of the hallway behind them, shaking her head.
"Honestly. This time, he couldn’t even recognize his own handwriting."
"This is the most severe episode he’s had so far."
"Big Bro, you really shouldn’t rent a place outside anymore. I feel like your condition is getting worse and worse." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
In a daze, Gao Tian sat down with this completely unfamiliar family of three.
Steaming hot dishes were brought to the table. The one called "Father" and the one called "Mother" kept putting food into his bowl while discussing amusing stories about relatives he couldn’t remember at all. Gao Tian was completely bewildered by the situation. He could do nothing but quietly lower his head and eat.
Noticing Gao Tian’s awkwardness, Gao Xi, who was struggling with a fish eye with her chopsticks, suddenly interjected out of nowhere,
"Big Bro."
"You look... so pale right now."
"You haven’t forgotten what Mom and Dad look like too, have you?"
The role of parents wasn’t like that of a sister, an optional presence. Everyone has parents. So it was impossible for Gao Tian to forget them.
However, even if he remembered the abstract roles of "Father" and "Mother," he had long forgotten the actual people.
The mother smiled and reached out to pat Gao Tian’s head.
"Your dad’s a businessman, always flying all over the country. He’s rarely home. Look at you, you can’t even remember what your own father looks like."
"As for me, I’ve been working overtime at the hospital lately, so I can only come back once a week. We rarely get to have a family reunion all year round. We usually have a nanny to look after you two, but mostly you and your sister look after each other."
"It’s understandable that you’d forget what we look like, since we spend more time apart than together. I just never thought your sister’s existence would be the first thing you forgot. Can you imagine how hurt she must be..."
As the family of four was eating at the long dining table in the living room, a series of urgent knocks came from the front door.
With her mouth full of rice, Gao Xi put down her chopsticks, called out, "Coming!" and walked to the door.
"Who is it?" the father asked casually while shoveling rice into his mouth.
Gao Xi stood on her tiptoes, glanced through the peephole, and muttered, "It’s Gao Tian’s girlfriend, here to see him," as she reached for the doorknob.
Gao Tian’s worldview was shattered once again.
’Gao Tian’s... girlfriend?’
’Since when did I have a girlfriend?’
He had absolutely no memory of ever having one.
’Did I forget this too because of my amnesia?’
Ever since entering this house, Gao Tian had found that every person he met was a complete stranger. And yet, he truly couldn’t remember what his real parents were supposed to look like.
Just as Gao Xi was about to turn the handle and let Gao Tian’s "girlfriend" in, Gao Tian felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. As if remembering something, he shot his head up.
"Wait, Gao Xi..."
"Don’t open the door yet. Don’t open the door."
His temples were throbbing wildly. Gao Tian felt that if that door was opened, something terrible—something truly terrible—would happen.
He remembered. He remembered some crucial information.
Gao Xi slowly turned her head. She, along with the father and mother at the dining table, looked at him with pity.
"Gao Tian..."
"You don’t mean you can’t even remember your own girlfriend, Li Xing, do you?"
Outside, the knocking continued. A muffled female voice called out,
"Is anyone home?" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"I’m here to see Gao Tian. Can you let me in?"
Inside, everyone looked toward Gao Tian.
Gao Tian put down his chopsticks.
"I have a question."
"My decision to come home today was completely on a whim."
"If I really do have a girlfriend, and she wanted to find me,"
"Why wouldn’t she look for me at my apartment? Why would she come here instead, to a home I haven’t been back to in six months? And just happen to find me here when I’ve just returned."
"Could something really be that coincidental?"
The mother laughed. She waved the brightly lit phone in her hand at Gao Tian.
"Sigh, you’re such a suspicious child."
"Why are you making such a fuss? So that’s what you were talking about."
"Look... when I heard you and your sister arguing in the bedroom, I sent a text to Li Xing and asked her to come check on you. I thought maybe having Li Xing here would trigger some of your memories."
Gao Xi chimed in with a laugh,
"Big Bro is just way too suspicious."
Among the family of four, only Gao Tian wasn’t smiling.
The look in his eyes grew more and more serious. Because he had remembered more suspicious details.
When he entered the house, the security door hadn’t been closed properly.
The father sitting on the sofa was watching TV at the time and didn’t even turn his head to look at him. But he still called out his name so naturally.
How did the father, with his back turned, know that the person who walked in was Gao Tian?
But, there was one last question.
What was the name of this residential complex?
