Apartment Building Five (14)
Rain began to fall outside.
The fine threads of rain clung to the window, leaving winding streaks of water.
“This year, Bei Cheng has had a lot of rain.”
“I remember… it seems like there have already been five rainfalls this month.”
Rain was a concept both unfamiliar and yet familiar.
Jiang Nuan’s memories spanned only a few days; the memories from just days ago seemed to have been erased with an eraser, leaving only faint, indistinct chaos behind.
Raindrops tapped against the glass, falling with a soft pitter-patter.
Jiang Nuan lightly touched her pale chin, her gaze sweeping around the warmly toned consultation room before resting on the pale yellow clock hanging on the wall.
It was exactly seven o’clock in the evening.
“Ah—I didn’t notice, it’s already seven.”
“Have you eaten dinner yet, Miss Jiang?” The man’s voice was refined and gentle, neither hurried nor slow.
Jiang Nuan focused her eyes on the man in front of her.
Zheng Wen—his name.
All humans rescued from the Insect Nest were required to undergo a contamination level check, so she had been brought here.
The “check” was completely different from what Jiang Nuan had imagined.
The pale yellow walls were bathed in soft light, a row of bookshelves stood against the wall, and green plants on the windowsill stretched their leaves, with no cold instruments in sight.
Just as Zheng Wen had said when she entered, “Relax, Miss Jiang.”
Returning to the question from before, Jiang Nuan felt her stomach, which held no hunger: “I’m okay.”
Zheng Wen smiled gently.
“Can you talk with me a bit, Miss Jiang? About your experience in the Insect Nest?”
Jiang Nuan leaned back, arms crossed: “What do you think I know?”
Zheng Wen: “Before our colleagues arrived, did you notice anything unusual around you? Any ‘house rules,’ or… any abnormal behavior from your mother?”
Jiang Nuan pondered: “I don’t remember what she was like before. Of course, I couldn’t tell if her behavior was normal or not.”
“So you mean that your memory loss affects your ability to distinguish what’s normal and what isn’t?”
Zheng Wen looked at this surprisingly thin woman before him.
Her expression was cold, spirit drained, as if a part of her had been torn away.
Zheng Wen said, “I heard from my colleagues that you have amnesia. Could you tell me how you’re sure of that? Or rather, do you know which memories you’ve lost?”
Jiang Nuan: “All memories from five days ago—I don’t have any.”
Jiang Nuan also hoped to recall the memories she had lost.
“Then how do you know your mother is really your mother?” Zheng Wen asked with a faint smile.
“…” Jiang Nuan lifted her eyes, her misty black pupils quietly staring at Zheng Wen. “According to what you said, I can’t be sure.”
“Relax.” Zheng Wen spoke gently.
“I’m not doubting your intentions, Miss Jiang.
In this information age, you can look up your personal information online.”
“Amnesia isn’t uncommon among survivors,” Zheng Wen said. “Mental contamination, as well as self-defense mechanisms triggered by extreme fear, can both cause memory loss.”
“Your current contamination level is low; your amnesia might also be related to your physical condition.”
“Of course, from the data I’ve seen, the mother insect in Apartment 5’s Insect Nest is of the chaotic type, which generally targets mental consciousness. You might have been affected to some extent.”
Jiang Nuan: “Can I still recover my memories?”
Zheng Wen: “Let’s do a brain scan tomorrow.”
He closed the notebook on his lap and glanced out the window.
“It’s late already, and you haven’t eaten dinner yet. I’ll take you to eat.”
Jiang Nuan wasn’t hungry.
Yet she didn’t refuse to go with the man in front of her.
Even though he smiled politely the whole time and maintained a friendly attitude, sitting across from him always made Jiang Nuan feel as if she were being scrutinized, as if from the moment she stepped into this room, she had been under his surveillance, subjected to a thorough mental examination from head to toe.
After today’s “check,” when they stepped outside, a silver-haired young man stood like a statue at the door.
Zheng Wen raised an eyebrow. “Captain Luo?”
Luo Chen nodded lightly and said to Jiang Nuan, “I’ll take you to the reception center.”
Zheng Wen looked meaningfully at Luo Chen, a smile never leaving his lips: “Miss Jiang will need to do a brain scan tomorrow.”
Luo Chen said, “I’ll take her.”
The rain was like a curtain, and the air smelled damp.
Once they arrived at the reception center, Jiang Nuan called out to Luo Chen, “Captain Luo.”
Jiang Nuan asked, “What do you need me to do?”
Luo Chen was momentarily stunned: “You don’t need to do anything. Once the scan results come out, you’ll be free.”
Jiang Nuan blinked.
Since leaving Apartment 5’s Insect Nest, everything felt filled with strangeness.
Luo Chen understood the issue of Jiang Nuan’s amnesia.
“Apartment 5 is currently under lockdown and can’t be lived in for the time being. If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here.”
Jiang Nuan really didn’t know where to go.
She was a little confused.
“Thank you.”
Luo Chen’s hand, hanging by his side, shrank slightly.
He wasn’t sure what to say to comfort Jiang Nuan at this moment.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
Jiang Nuan hesitated. “… Sorry, I’ve already eaten.”
“No, you haven’t.”
Luo Chen: “I’ll order you some food.”
Jiang Nuan: “Thank you…”
Luo Chen quietly closed the door.
Jiang Nuan’s room was furnished with a double bed, but she lived alone.
She lay on the bed, her conversation with Zheng Wen stirring her curiosity about the past.
She opened her phone and browsed through her contacts.
The first entry in her contact list, [A. Zhi Xiaojie], caught her attention.
The deliberate label “A” at the top suggested this person was very important to her.
Jiang Nuan tried calling the number.
“Rui—”
The call was quickly answered, a stretched-out female voice, thin in tone.
Jiang Nuan: “Hello.”
Female voice: “Pfft.”
“Miss Jiang, no need for such formality.”
The sarcastic tone seemed laced with dissatisfaction.
The other party recognized her.
Jiang Nuan considered whether to truthfully tell her about the amnesia, hoping the other party might provide some past memories.
Zhi Xiaojie: “What’s your name?”
Jiang Nuan was stunned.
An acquaintance who didn’t know her name?
She probed: “You don’t know my name?”
Zhi Xiaojie retorted: “Do you know mine?”
They knew each other but didn’t know each other’s names.
Jiang Nuan: “Zhi Xiaojie.”
“Haha.” The other side laughed stiffly.
“That nickname—I personally wrote it in your contact list.”
“Eh?” Before Jiang Nuan could respond, Zhi Xiaojie’s voice suddenly sharpened: “Wait, don’t tell me you still haven’t recovered your memories.”
Jiang Nuan was baffled.
The person on the other end knew she had no memories.
But among her limited five days of memory, there was no trace of Zhi Xiaojie.
Jiang Nuan: “When was the last time we met?”
Silence stretched on the other end.
Jiang Nuan thought she had been hung up on: “Hello?”
Zhi Xiaojie: “Hello? What a joke.”
“You still haven’t recovered your memories.”
“No, wait…”
“Maybe you never had any memories at all!
How can you recover what you never had?”
“Haha, lucky you~”
Zhi Xiaojie rambled on, then laughed and said, “Tell me your name, and I’ll tell you what you want to know. How about that?”
Jiang Nuan: “Before that, I want to know your name.”
Zhi Xiaojie: “Ren Zhi. That’s my name.”
Jiang Nuan repeated after her, “Jiang Nuan. That’s my name.”
“Jiang Nuan?”
“Jiang… Nuan…”
“Future hope?”
“Hahahahaha…”
Zhi Xiaojie suddenly burst into laughter, at first just a normal female laugh, then gradually becoming thinner, at one point sounding like a mix of man, old person, child, beast, and even infant crying.
The sounds seeped into Jiang Nuan’s ears, turning into murmurs, as if countless voices were talking, laughing, mocking, and ridiculing her in her mind.
Jiang Nuan’s vision twisted and warped, flipped upside down.
—complete chaos.
She took a deep breath, clutching her phone tightly, unwilling to hang up.
The laughter finally stopped, as if exhausted, then sighed: “Tsk, so weak.”
“Clearly so weak…”
Ren Zhi’s attitude carried an inexplicable sharpness, as if hostile toward her.
Jiang Nuan remained indifferent: “Why lucky?”
Silence followed.
Just when Jiang Nuan thought she wouldn’t answer, she spoke again: “I won’t tell you.”
“Don’t call me again.”
The call was cut off unilaterally.
Jiang Nuan gripped her phone, the world spinning.
She felt as if she were caught in raging waves, everything shaking and twisting.
A soft knock came at the door.
Jiang Nuan propped herself up and took a couple of steps, bumping into the cabinet.
The person outside heard the noise inside: “Jiang Nuan?”
No response. Luo Chen pushed the door open; it wasn’t locked.
Entering, he saw Jiang Nuan leaning against the cabinet, nosebleed trickling down her pale chin.
Luo Chen was shocked and hurried to support her, pulling out tissue to help stop the bleeding.
“Miss Jiang, what’s going on? You don’t feel well?”
Jiang Nuan gave a muffled chuckle.
From her perspective, a beautiful fish-like creature supported her back with its fins.
The fish hopped and helped her to the bedside.
Jiang Nuan couldn’t find the head of the bed, so she just lay back.
The fin covered her forehead, voice soft and gentle: “Jiang Nuan, you have a fever.”
Jiang Nuan reached out, wanting to pop the bubbles on the fish’s mouth.
She knew she had been muddled by Zhi Xiaojie.
Her mind was a mess, obsessing over one question—why was losing her memories considered lucky?
Or rather, for Zhi Xiaojie, losing memories was a good thing.
Also, her name—
… future hope?
It was like not knowing where she came from.
Jiang Nuan didn’t know why she was called Jiang Nuan.
Since gaining consciousness, an impression had always surfaced in her mind—that her name was Jiang Nuan.
Besides that, she had no memories but naturally possessed some basic common sense for social interaction and mimicking others.
It was as if traces of how to adapt to human society were lingering deep within her consciousness.
Jiang Nuan had a dream.
In the dream, she was surrounded by endless darkness. Next to her lay a massive being, soundly sleeping.
She was utterly confused, as if yearning for something in the eternal darkness, yet afraid of something—even though she didn’t know what fear was.
Woof, woof, woof!
A familiar dog barking.
Jiang Nuan opened her eyes.
Sunlight streamed through the window onto her face.
At that moment, Jiang Nuan suddenly realized she was still in 524.
Otherwise, why would she have been awakened by the barking?
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