Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

When Yang Ce drove the car into a rather unfamiliar residential compound near the school, Zhou Yanning grew even more astonished. She had never been here before—where on earth was this?

Yang Ce parked in front of a villa and said, "Get out. We're home."

"Home?" Zhou Yanning stared in amazement at the unfamiliar villa before her. She truly had never been here. She shook her head in some bewilderment. "This place?"

"Yes, this is it." Chen Shutang pushed open the door and hopped out first, then took Zhou Yanning's hand and pulled her out too. "Let's go inside first."

"Oh, all right." Pulled along by Chen Shutang, Zhou Yanning stumbled dazedly into the villa.

Chen Shutang had a key to this place as well, so while Yang Ce was parking, she led Zhou Yanning inside ahead of him.

Zhou Yanning looked at the splendid villa before her in disbelief. Try as she might, she could not recall ever having lived here with Yan and Chen Shutang.

"Come on, let's go see your room first." Seeing Zhou Yanning's utterly astonished expression, Chen Shutang found it rather amusing.

And no wonder—whoever suddenly woke up having forgotten an entire year, only to be told she already had a boyfriend and a home, would be astonished.

Zhou Yanning nodded, feeling profoundly strange. Her own room was here too—so it seemed certain she had lived here; it was just that she truly did not remember.

Such important memories—the moment Yang Ce accepted her, her first night, the warm times the three of them had shared—how could she not remember any of it?

How dreadful. Such precious memories, and not a trace of them remained.

It was no wonder Zhou Yanning's thoughts turned to her "first night." The three of them were living together; if nothing had happened between her and Yan by now, that seemed hardly possible.

When Chen Shutang pushed open the door to a bedroom on the second floor, Zhou Yanning was utterly dumbfounded. The furnishings in this room were exactly the same as in her old room, without the slightest difference.

It seemed this really was her room beyond any doubt. Zhou Yanning sighed. She had probably transmigrated, then—only that could explain the wondrous phenomenon before her.

Well, transmigration or not, though she could not remember those precious events, wasn't the outcome exactly what she had always hoped for? If she really had returned to her original world, who knew what state she and Yan would be in now. As it was, she had become Yang Juehuan's girlfriend—nothing could be better, and it saved no end of trouble.

"Mengyan, you know what happened before—I don't even remember it myself." Zhou Yanning spoke with some feeling. "Now I don't even know how to face Yang Ce."

"Heh, is that so." Chen Shutang smiled. "It's all right. If you can't adjust for a while, that's fine—after spending some time together, you'll naturally get used to it."

Chen Shutang understood Zhou Yanning's feelings. Suddenly becoming Yang Juehuan's girlfriend—she probably had not yet prepared herself for it.

Yang Ce finished parking and came into the villa with Auntie Li, then gave her a side room on the ground floor as her resting quarters.

Auntie Li was delighted. If she could find steady work with good pay, so much the better.

"By the way, Zhou Yanning hasn't eaten. Auntie Li, take a look in the kitchen in a bit—there should be instant noodles or something. Would you fix her a packet?" Yang Minlan instructed Auntie Li.

"Instant noodles have so little nutrition. Let me see what else is in the kitchen and cook something," Auntie Li said.

"Oh?" Yang Puqi was startled, then delighted. "Auntie Li, you can cook too?"

"Heh, why wouldn't I?" Auntie Li laughed. "Mr. Yang, you hired me as a housekeeper. What would I be if I couldn't cook? I couldn't have taken this job."

"That's wonderful!" Yang Ce said. "We'll be eating well from now on."

"I only fear it won't be good, and won't suit your taste, Mr. Yang," Auntie Li said modestly.

"Auntie Li, just call me Yang Ce or Little Yang. Don't call me Mr. Yang—it sounds strange," Yang Yanzhou said.

"How can I do that?" Auntie Li was clearly uncomfortable; in her view, one ought to show an employer some respect.

"It's just a form of address, nothing more," Yang Hengye said. "Hearing you call me that would actually make me uncomfortable."

"Well, all right then. I'll call you Yang Ce," Auntie Li agreed.

"By the way, there are eggs in the fridge and I don't know what else. Take a look yourself—Chen Shutang bought it all a few days ago and never got around to cooking it. Whether it's gone bad, I couldn't say," Yang Yanzhou said.

"All right, I'll go look myself." Auntie Li nodded and headed for the kitchen.

Yang Ce, meanwhile, went upstairs toward Zhou Yanning's room—Chen Shutang and Zhou Yanning should both be in there now. He knocked, and it was Chen Shutang who opened the door. Seeing him, she said quietly, "Yang Ce, come with me a moment. I have something to tell you."

Yang Yuting nodded, stepped aside to let Chen Shutang out, and she closed the door behind her. Then the two walked to the end of the corridor.

"Yang Ce, I'm sorry," Chen Shutang said with some apology.

"Sorry? What for?" Yang Mo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Earlier, in the hospital, I told Zhou Yanning that she was already your girlfriend and that she normally lived with us," Chen Shutang said quietly. "She's lost her memory, so I figured she wouldn't have any doubts—and her feelings for you are real too. I don't think that counts as deceiving her."

Yang Ce had, in fact, seen all of this back at the hospital, but hearing Chen Shutang say it now, he still put on a look of great astonishment. "Mengyan, isn't that a bit much?"

In his heart, though, Yang Juehuan was saying: Little darling, you've done wonderfully—more and more the bearing of a proper wife. Commendable. Keep it up.

"I know it's not quite right either, but after all, you made her a promise before, and she likes you too. I'm afraid that now that she's lost her memory, she might—" Chen Shutang did not go on. The rest was only her own conjecture, and somewhat petty besides.

"Might compete with you, is that it?" How could Yang Ce fail to understand Chen Shutang's mind? He asked with a smile.

Having her thoughts seen through by Yang Yanzhou, Chen Shutang blushed at once, though there was no point in denying it. "Yes. So what?"

"Ha ha, it's all right." Yang Ce took Chen Shutang's hand and held it fast. "You were thinking of me. How could I blame you?"

"As long as you don't blame me." Only then did Chen Shutang breathe a sigh of relief at Yang Juehuan's words. "Jiajia may still be a little unsettled—she doesn't quite know how to face you. So don't stay here tonight. I'll keep her company and talk with her."

Yang Yu nodded. "That works too. You stay with her, then." Yang Ce did have matters to attend to that evening, though he felt a pang of regret—he had hoped for another intimate moment with Chen Shutang, but plainly that was not to be.

To be continued.

945. It Wasn't on Purpose

Auntie Li's cooking was indeed excellent. Though the ingredients in the kitchen were quite limited, a steaming bowl of yangchun noodles was set before them, and even Yang Ce and Chen Shutang, who had already eaten dinner, found their mouths watering.

Zhou Yanning was truly hungry. She took the noodles and, though she kept a ladylike decorum as she ate, polished off the whole bowl in the blink of an eye.

"It's really delicious," Zhou Yanning praised without stinting. "I remember when I was small, I learned a text in school called 'A Bowl of Yangchun Noodles.' But genuine yangchun noodles are very rare in the north. Now that I've tasted them, this must be just the flavor I imagined."