Fang Chen had drifted off to sleep. He felt someone was moving quietly around in the room, as if afraid of waking him up.
His mind was in disarray. He only knew that he shouldn’t open his eyes, fearing that the person might be resting against the bedside, watching him, or that they would make eye contact the moment he opened his eyes.
In a hazy consciousness, he soon slipped back into slumber.
Upon waking in the morning and finishing his breakfast, Fang Chen left the house and noticed the elevator stationed on the sixth floor. He decisively pressed the elevator button and rode it downstairs.
The elevator halted on the fourth floor, with a person inside who appeared to be a university student. Fang Chen didn’t have much impression of this individual, but he nodded in acknowledgement, and the person responded with a smile.
They stood side by side in the elevator, and Fang Chen stole glances at the person several times.
Before getting off the elevator, Fang Chen asked, “May I ask… which floor do you live on?”
The person paused, still wearing a smile on their face. It seemed like they hadn’t stopped smiling since they spotted Fang Chen, and it still lingered on their lips as they replied, “Sixth floor.”
“Ah.” Fang Chen watched as the person exited the corridor, disappearing from his line of sight. He couldn’t shake off the strange feeling that he had no impression of this person at all.
“Good morning.” A female voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Fang Chen turned his head and saw Fan Yingying standing at her own doorway. Perhaps already used to it, he wasn’t startled. “Morning,” he paused and asked again, “Do you happen to have any impressions of… the resident on the sixth floor who just left?”
Fan Yingying pondered for a moment and shook her head. “I’m not very familiar with those people…”
Understandable. This young lady typically keeps to herself.
“What’s the matter?” Fan Yingying asked.
“It’s nothing.” Fang Chen shook his head, lingering doubts still occupying his thoughts.
Outside the corridor, Mrs. Wu remained seated in her usual spot. This time, no gossipers were surrounding her; only Mr. Wu sat beside her. The couple seemed engaged in discussion, huddling together and conversing in hushed tones.
Mrs. Wu greeted Fang Chen warmly when she saw him and turned to her husband, saying, “Look at the other family’s young lad, so full of vitality… our son isn’t too shabby either.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Fang Chen had already walked quite far, but for some reason, he could still hear the conversation between the couple.
“Do you think that girl left anything behind when she passed away? How are we going to settle the mountain of debts? Who will take care of it?”
“That’s all because of your son’s brilliant idea of borrowing such high-interest loans…”
“Enough, enough! What’s with ‘your son, my son’? Isn’t he your son too?!”
Fang Chen quickened his pace, yet the surrounding voices grew increasingly louder. He wanted to crouch down and cover his ears, not wanting to hear a single word… The quarrelling couple persisted, and he continued walking rapidly. Despite the intense August summer heat, his hands were as cold as a corpse.
On his way home at noon, he crossed paths with Gao Cheng in the corridor. This time, Fan Yingying didn’t greet him. She stood by the door, watching the two men enter the elevator. As the elevator doors closed, Gao Cheng nudged Fang Chen and winked. “That girl just now, she’s interested in you, right?”
Fang Chen couldn’t fathom it. “How is that possible? We’ve only exchanged a few words.”
The elevator stopped on the third floor, and Gao Cheng stepped out. Fang Chen, remembering something, took a step forward and asked, “Do you have any impressions of the resident on the sixth floor?”
Gao Cheng halted in his walk, his mouth agape, as he stared at the wall for a few seconds. “Well, now that you’ve mentioned it, I only recognize a few of you. As for those above, I’m not really familiar with them. It seems like I haven’t encountered them much either.”
“…I see.” Suddenly, the elevator emitted a “beep beep” alarm, startling both of them. For reasons unknown, Fang Chen’s heart started racing with apprehension. “Well, I’ll head up first.”
Back at home, Fang Chen closed the door. The familiar entryway mirror reflected his side profile. Recently, due to the increasingly strange occurrences, the dark circles under his eyes had become more pronounced, and he looked visibly weary all over.
Resting against the door, he scanned the surroundings, and the heightened sense of uneasiness became more apparent. Did his home truly look like this? Yes, in his memory, it was. But where did that memory come from? Did he rent or buy this apartment? Fang Chen suddenly found himself at a loss for words, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor.
His name was Fang Chen, and his home was close to the company. He lived a routine life. Friends, did he have any? In his memory, he hadn’t been in close contact with anyone. How old was he? In his twenties, was it twenty-five or twenty-six? Could he pinpoint it more precisely? Fang Chen anxiously took out his phone and opened the contact list—blank.
He felt he should at least remember one person’s number. He should remember.
Fang Chen randomly pressed buttons, but ultimately realized he couldn’t recall anything. He turned his head to face the mirror and found redness around his eye sockets, with bloodshot veins in his eyes. The pain in his eyes was overwhelming; he closed them, and tears streamed down.
He forgot something important, but what was it…?
He couldn’t remember.
It was time for work, and as usual, Fang Chen left his apartment. The elevator descended from the tenth floor. His eyes flickered for a moment, but eventually, he didn’t press the elevator button.
He had no impression of anyone living on the sixth floor or above. Pressing the elevator button might mean encountering people he had never seen before, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to hold himself together and avoid experiencing a breakdown.
The door on the left of the third floor was open, with the couple leaning against it while they carried out a hushed conversation. Fang Chen walked past silently, then stopped abruptly at the corner, asking an unusual question, “Do you guys… know what my name is?”
The man turned around, looking puzzled. “Fang Chen, right?” The woman also glanced at him discreetly.
Fang Chen’s fingers slightly curled up. “Ah… Mm.”
“What’s wrong?” The woman tentatively asked him, “You don’t look too good.”
Fang Chen managed a forced smile. “Nothing… I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
He remembered the names of this couple. The man was named Zhang Rui, and the woman was Wang Huiwen. As for when they exchanged names with each other… he couldn’t recall.
His memories were blurred and appeared fabricated, as though someone had inserted false memories that weren’t his own…
Fang Chen tried to remember his childhood, but they were too fragmented. Afterwards, in this foggy recollection, he caught the scent of soil and blood. His knees were scraped, and the wounds were smeared with a mix of blood and flesh, along with grit sticking to the skin. A hand was carefully tending to his injuries with an alcohol swab,
He experienced a hint of sweetness in the blood.
A tap on his shoulder brought him back to reality. Turning around, he saw Zhang Rui walking down with him.
“What’s wrong? Seems as though your mind is wandering elsewhere.” A cigarette was dangling from Zhang Rui’s mouth as he took out a lighter from his pocket.
“Hmm… do you still remember where we first met?” Fang Chen asked.
The cigarette was lit, emitting a faint “crackle” sound. Zhang Rui took a drag and casually said, “How am I supposed to remember that?”
“Then how did you know my name?”
Zhang Rui paused, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and thought over it. “I don’t quite remember. Probably overheard it somewhere? What’s the matter?”
Fang Chen pursed his lips, asking the final question, “Do you know the residents on the sixth floor?”
As expected, Zhang Rui shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like I’ve seen them before.”
Reaching the first floor, Zhang Rui continued down to the basement to get his car. They parted ways at the entrance of the building, and Fang Chen saw Fan Yingying sitting where Mrs. Wu often sat.
The young lady was looking at him.
“…Good afternoon,” Fang Chen hesitated briefly before eventually greeting.
“Good afternoon.” The young lady smiled. She had a serene appearance, and she would probably look even better without vibrant lipstick. Fang Chen’s gaze lingered for a moment on her deep red lips, purely out of curiosity. Simply because the first time he had seen Fan Yingying, she was wearing just a regular short-sleeved shirt with no makeup on…
Hold on, the first time seeing Fan Yingying? His memory of her began on an early morning when he met Mrs. Wu, saw Fan Yingying, and then others… It seemed like the impressions of everyone started from that day. He felt like he knew them, but did he really?
What did he have for breakfast that morning?
Nothing came to his mind. Or maybe he didn’t have breakfast at all. He just subconsciously felt like he left after having breakfast.
Fang Chen felt a chill throughout his body and couldn’t help but walk up to her, asking, “A few days ago in the morning, we bumped into each other right there. I greeted you, and you didn’t respond. Do you remember?” He pointed to the cobblestone path.
“Mm,” Fan Yingying raised her head, appearing as though she was about to explain. “It wasn’t my intention to not respond, it’s just…”
“Did you… remember me from before then?”
Fan Yingying blinked, her gaze shifted to the cobblestone path before returning to Fang Chen. “Not really… but I knew your name.”
Fang Chen pressed on, “Apart from that? Nothing else?”
Fan Yingying seemed to be trying her best to recall, her brows gradually furrowing. “I’m sorry, I…”
Fang Chen’s face turned notably grim, and the girl timidly asked, “Did I say something wrong? Sorry, I don’t interact much with others, so I’m not good at speaking…”
Fang Chen snapped out of it, quickly shaking his head. “No, it’s not… It’s my own issue.”
Turning away, he surveyed the neighbourhood. He knew that walking straight ahead would lead to a fishless pond. A left turn would bring him to a park with a central fountain that sprayed water and played music at night… but did he really visit there before? In his memory, he always headed straight home from work each day, without venturing elsewhere. Perhaps he had been there before? However, he couldn’t remember the past.
Everything started from that day.
Reading this book and listening podcast about conscience is a really complicated situation for my brain, but I feel fully educated
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Oh, this is taking a different direction.Than I thought I thought it would take longer or he would start off in Apocalypse.So I guess my though ts was stupid since we’re gonna find out soon😂