BIAC CH 46

Chapter 46: Tang He was the problem that couldn’t be avoided.

Lin Yan immediately called the neurology department director for a consultation.

Tang He hesitated, slowly walking over to Du Jianyou’s bedside. His hands and feet felt clumsy, his expression tangled with emotions as he looked at him.

Already half-sitting up with effort, Du Jianyou shyly looked at the tall and handsome man approaching him. He smiled politely and greeted, “Hello, I’m Du Jianyou.”

Nervously, he smoothed his hair, hoping to leave a good impression. Then, with as much grace as a patient could muster, he extended his hand, wanting to shake his.

Tang He took his hand and held it tightly.

His voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable: “Hello, I’m Tang He. I’m your… boyfriend.”

“What did you say?”

“He is not!”

Both Du Jianyou and Zhao Tiancheng’s voices rang out at the same time. Jianyou’s voice was an octave higher than usual.

Du Jianyou’s almond-shaped eyes widened. Although he thought this man was very good-looking, although he felt shy around him, although he wanted to get to know him better—he never imagined he actually had a boyfriend. He yanked his hand back from Tang He’s tight grasp.

“Zhao Tiancheng, I have a boyfriend? I actually have a boyfriend? When did I get a boyfriend? How come I don’t remember at all?” Du Jianyou asked in a shrill, panicked voice, one question after another.

“He’s not your boyfriend, don’t listen to his nonsense. We’re not that unlucky to have anything to do with this kind of person.” Zhao Tiancheng comforted Du Jianyou. He really didn’t want the two of them to have any more entanglements. If Jianyou had forgotten, then so be it—better that he never remember for the rest of his life.

“President Tang, please leave. No one here has anything to do with you.” Zhao Tiancheng was just short of grabbing a broom to sweep him out the door.

“Jianyou, I really am your boyfriend. We had a misunderstanding before, I know you’re angry with me, but please, believe me…” Tang He anxiously tried to reach for Du Jianyou’s hand again.

But Du Jianyou nervously slapped his hand away, quickly hiding his own under the blanket.

“What did you do to me? Y-you… don’t touch me like that. Stop touching me randomly.” Du Jianyou’s face flushed red as he yanked the blanket up to his chin, staring at the man before him with wariness.

“When is Jianyou’s birthday?” Zhao Tiancheng suddenly shot out the question.

“Huh? What did you say?” Tang He couldn’t understand why, in the middle of all this chaos, Zhao Tiancheng would ask such a thing.

“You say you’re Xiao Du’s boyfriend. Then tell me—when is his birthday? As his boyfriend, don’t tell me you don’t even know this?”

What kind of question is this? Didn’t you see me at his company when we celebrated his birthday?

“Jianyou’s birthday is September 8. Didn’t I go to your company to celebrate it with him?” Tang He blurted out without hesitation.

Du Jianyou’s face darkened at that answer. He pouted, voice filled with grievance: “You really are my boyfriend? Then you’ve been very incompetent.”

Tang He didn’t understand what he meant and was about to ask, when Ji Ran, standing at the foot of the bed, glanced at the patient card and provided the explanation: “This record says Du Jianyou’s birthday is August 8.”

Lifting his head, Ji Ran looked at Tang He in confusion.

“You said you went to his company to celebrate his birthday? But you don’t even know his actual birthday?”

Even Lin Yan looked doubtful.

Tang He’s mouth fell open in shock. He couldn’t understand how this had happened. He was certain he had found September 8 when he checked. Could he have misread it?

He suddenly recalled that awkward moment the first time he brought Du Jianyou to the 19th floor and couldn’t unlock the door with the birthday code. Then he remembered that time he arranged a grand celebration, leading a whole group of people to Dream Advertising to celebrate Jianyou’s “birthday,” feeling so out of place.

It turned out, he hadn’t been shy. He had been embarrassed.

It turned out, those strange looks everyone gave them weren’t because their relationship was so close that President Tang had come personally—but because their relationship was so strained that President Tang had come on the wrong birthday.

Tang He no longer knew what kind of relationship he had been in.

Even more, he didn’t know what kind of ridiculous love Du Jianyou had endured.

He had always thought he was the one giving. But in reality, apart from hurting him, he had never given anything. He had only ever taken.

These wounds… they hadn’t been intentional. They had been careless. Inside, he silently begged for forgiveness.

And then another voice rang in his head, harsher, lashing at him.

Yes, it was unintentional. But precisely because it was unintentional, it caused all these wounds.

Tang He suddenly understood.

How much pain must a heart endure before it drives the mind to forget?

He looked at Du Jianyou, half-sitting up on the hospital bed. His eyes were still bright, his lips slightly pouted with a hint of grievance.

But… but was there also a faint smile in his eyes? Was he still inviting me to come closer?

Tang He didn’t know whether to feel heartache or relief. Flustered, he stood by the bed, even unconsciously taking a step back.

At last, Director Yang from neurology arrived. He had first reviewed Du Jianyou’s brain scans at the nurses’ station, then came into the ward to discuss with Lin Yan. He asked Jianyou a few questions and had him perform some simple actions.

Director Yang found that all other aspects of Jianyou’s cognition were intact—language, logic, calculation, memory—none showed abnormalities. His limbs could also follow commands, with no major problems detected.

The strange thing was: he had forgotten only one person.

“Is this person very important to him?” Director Yang asked casually while flipping through the chart, partly to keep the conversation going, partly to assess whether Jianyou’s memory loss was trivial or not.

No one answered. The air grew thick with awkward silence.

When Director Yang looked up in confusion, his gaze landed on Tang He—and realization dawned. The patient before him was the very same Du Jianyou who had held that explosive press conference! Could it be that the person he had forgotten was none other than President Tang He, the man he had accused?

Now it all made sense. No wonder Jianyou had selective amnesia. He had provoked this powerful, storm-wielding CEO. And now that the man had come to confront him, how could Jianyou remember? Perhaps his head injury was even caused by Tang He!

If it were me, I’d want to forget everything too.

Clearing his throat, Director Yang said diplomatically:

“From what I see, the patient’s neurological condition is stable for now. As for his partial memory loss, it could very well be psychological in nature. This is a form of ‘self-protective mechanism.’ He may be avoiding certain issues, so his brain has simply blocked them out. I’d recommend further evaluation from the psychiatric department. At least for now, there doesn’t appear to be any structural brain damage.”

He had put it as tactfully as possible.

But Tang He… Tang He was the problem that Jianyou’s mind was escaping from.

Lin Yan patted Director Yang’s shoulder. “Thank you, really. It’s late, you should go rest now.”

After seeing him off, the ward once again was left with the five of them, staring silently at one another.

---

In the end, it was Zhao Tiancheng who finally spoke up: “You all should go back. I’ll stay here and take care of Xiao Du.”

Tang He was about to say something, but Zhao Tiancheng cut him off: “Especially you. The last thing he needs is a stranger like you. Please, just leave quickly. Don’t make his condition worse by staying here. Go, go, all of you, out.” Zhao Tiancheng really wasn’t polite as he waved his hand to drive them away.

Ji Ran, watching the two of them pushing back and forth, couldn’t help but speak: “President Tang, I think it’s best to let Mr. Zhao stay here with Du Jianyou tonight. You should go home first and gather the things he’ll need for the hospital—some changes of clothes and toiletries. You can come back to see him tomorrow, all right? Since he doesn’t recognize you right now, your staying here might actually be a source of stress for him.”

“Old Tang, Ji Ran’s right. Go back and pack up first. Come back tomorrow. It’s already so late—if you don’t rest, do you really want to keep the patient from resting too?” Lin Yan also advised, seeing that Tang He’s thoughts were in disarray.

Tang He turned his head to look at Du Jianyou. The man really was tired, his eyes struggling to stay open, yet the light in them hadn’t dimmed in the slightest.

Du Jianyou didn’t speak again. He still seemed unable to recover from the shock of having a boyfriend. He only cast questioning, shy glances at him from time to time.

Even though he had forgotten Tang He, he couldn’t help being drawn to him.

Seeing this, Tang He’s heart was both warmed and pained. He nodded.

Tonight, both of them had gone through too much. They needed time to calm down.

“Jianyou, I’ll come see you tomorrow. For tonight, you just rest well…” He hadn’t even finished speaking when Zhao Tiancheng pushed him out of the ward.

“No need. I’ll take care of Xiao Du myself—there’s no need to trouble you.” Zhao Tiancheng lowered his voice: “Your Guangsheng Group finally managed to cut ties with him. Aren’t you afraid of being photographed again? He doesn’t have that many lives to pay for you. Now go, I won’t see you out.” Zhao Tiancheng pushed him all the way into the corridor, not forgetting to pull out the USB drive and stuff it back into his hand.

After driving Tang He out, he turned to Lin Yan and Ji Ran, who had also followed him out of the ward, and thanked them: “Dr. Lin, Officer Ji, really, thank you so much tonight. If it weren’t for you, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable. I thank you on his behalf.” He shook hands with them one by one before heading back into the ward.

Just as he was about to help Du Jianyou settle down again, that inconsiderate Tang He poked his head in through the door once more.

“Hey, aren’t you done being annoying? No matter how many times I chase you out, you keep coming back.” Zhao Tiancheng strode toward the door, ready to push him out again.

“TuTu, goodbye. See you tomorrow.” Tang He looked straight at Du Jianyou, spoke these words solemnly, and left on his own before Zhao Tiancheng could kick him out again.

He didn’t see Du Jianyou, sitting on the bed, staring at the closed door with a complicated expression, saying nothing.

Zhao Tiancheng looked at Du Jianyou like this and couldn’t help feeling a kind of hatred born of disappointment, as if hating iron for not becoming steel. Why couldn’t you learn your lesson? Why do you always judge people by their looks? Since when did you become so shallow? Just by being with Tang He for a while, your entire IQ seems to have dropped. Completely hopeless. What’s so good about that man, anyway? So he’s got a bit of money, a better body, a better face… Other than that, he’s nothing but a beast in human clothing!

Zhao Tiancheng glared at Du Jianyou, wanting to see what exactly was going on in his head. But Du Jianyou was the one who spoke first.

 “Xiao Zhao, is he really my boyfriend? Is that possible? Someone like him… can he really be my boyfriend?” His tone actually carried a trace of sorrow.

Zhao Tiancheng didn’t know whether it was anger or shock that left him speechless. He only helped Du Jianyou change into a clean patient gown, tucked him back under the blanket, and pondered how best to persuade him.

In the end, it was unclear who was comforting whom. All that was certain was that neither of them slept a wink that night.

Meanwhile, Tang He returned once again to Du Jianyou’s home, completely at a loss for what he should do next. He felt the urge to smoke, but when he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket, he pulled out a USB drive—Ji Ran’s USB drive.

He went into his studio and once again replayed the video several times.

Du Jianyou’s singing voice—Tang He had long been familiar with it. He loved listening to it, sometimes even humming along. But this time, it filled him with panic and dread. Each word of the lyrics stabbed directly into his heart.

Worn and weary, stumbling on the road of love,
Only in freedom did I learn the pain of being bound.
Sober yet lonely, stubborn and blind,
Falling for him means no happiness ever again.
Love should be simple, trading heart for heart,
No one lives without desire.
Seeing your unyielding courage,
Even the world must bow—
How could he possibly ignore it?

How could I… have ignored it?

(To be continued…)