When he left to buy breakfast, Qin Shu was sleeping soundly and did not show any signs of being unwell.

  Fu Tingyu did not know what to think. “Babe, wake up.”


  “Okay.”


  Qin Shu snorted with her brows furrowed. She looked deeply uncomfortable.

  Fu Tingyu’s heart ached to see her struggling with herself. “Babe, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”


  It felt as if something had popped in her head, and the pain was unbearable – It almost felt like her head was going to explode. Cold sweat beaded her pale skin, coating her pale skin in a thin layer of moisture.

  Fu Tingyu got up hastily and made his way to the bathroom. He fetched a clean towel hanging off the rack, wetting it in a spray of warm water, gently dabbing the beads of sweat over her brow and forehead.

  After which, he checked Qin Shu’s temperature. She did not feel like she was running a fever.

  Qin Shu slowly opened her eyes. Her mind was in a mess. When she caught sight of the man seated before her, she jolted in shock.

  Fu Tingyu let out a sigh of relief. “Babe, you’re finally awake. Are you alright? Do you feel unwell?”


  Qin Shu stared at Fu Tingyu like a deer caught in the headlights. One memory after another frothed to the surface in an endless stream. It felt like someone had replaced her head with a merry-go-round, a rolling cinematic film playing scenes of her past.

  Fu Tingyu noticed the peculiar look in Qin Shu’s eyes. There was something vastly different about them from when he had seen her earlier that morning.

  “Babe, why aren’t you saying anything?”


  Qin Shu remained silent, frowning as she gave Fu Tingyu a once over. It was hard to formulate coherent thoughts with her many memories still bombarding her, clambering for attention.

  A bad premonition struck Fu Tingyu. “Have you forgotten me after taking your nap? Babe, please don’t scare me.”


  Nothing scared him more than the thought of Qin Shu forgetting everything about him again.

  Qin Shu took some time digesting the memories she recovered. Hesitantly, she asked, “Did Master come by?”


  “No.” Fu Tingyu answered before he had the chance to process Qin Shu’s question. Could Master have visited her while he was away? “… Did you remember something?”


  Qin Shu nodded.

  Fu Tingyu decided to play it cautiously. “What do you remember? Do you remember everything or just part of it?”


  “I remembered my time with Han Xiao and how you used to bully me. Master must have sneaked over when I was asleep.” Qin Shu said.

  Fu Tingyu rubbed his head sheepishly, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “That’s not true! I never bullied you.”


  Qin Shu snorted coldly. “Semantics. Don’t try and feign innocence. I remember everything. You often hurled insults at me. You certainly must have held a grudge over how I accidentally tore your shirt the day we met at the Qiqiao festival.”


  “Sarcasm, sarcasm. Don’t you know what it is? I never meant any of the words I said!” Of all the things she could have remembered, it had to be their less than ideal meeting on the day of the Qiqiao festival. How unlucky was he? “That’s silly. Who would hold a grudge over a ruined shirt? I have plenty of those!”


  Being on the receiving end of Qin Shu’s death glare was not something he fancied himself facing the moment she woke up.

  Fu Tingyu lamented his current plight. He had never opened his heart to anyone but Qin Shu.

  Yet… He always seemed to put his foot in his mouth every time they were together.

  He said she had a bad temper.

  He said she was greedy.

  He said she had low standards.

  He said she had eaten peach blossom crisps and addled her mind.

  He said she was like a servant following him around.

  He said she was…


  … Sarcastic? Him? Who would have known?

  She certainly did not know he was being sarcastic.

  Qin Shu rephrased her pointed accusation. “If that’s so, then how do you explain our fight afterwards? I seem to recall beating you quite fairly that time you climbed the mountain.”


  “Couldn’t you tell how I let you win?”


  Qin Shu shook her head. “No, you were serious. You turned tail when you lost, leaving without a word.”


  Fu Tingyu felt that he could not clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. “You couldn’t beat me… so I let you win.”


  He almost let it slip that Qin Shu’s small body would have made it near impossible for her to beat him. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to put it in another way.

  Back then, Qin Shu was between nine and ten years of age. She only reached Fu Tingyu’s chest.

  Fu Tingyu had studied martial arts under Leng Xiao since he was young. Whenever Ye Huang took him out to play, he would also teach him a thing or two. His father, Fu Beichen, would instruct him on occasion, and though it was not often, it ensured he was far above the average for his age group. He had not been an ordinary fifteen-year-old.

  Qin Shu stared at Fu Tingyu, unsure what to make of his words. A familiar fragrance stole her attention before she could say anything else. It made her stomach rumble in protest.

  Fu Tingyu heard the unflattering sound and said, “Wash up and have breakfast. I bought wonton noodles. We’ll talk later.”


  “Okay.” Qin Shu’s eyes lit up as soon as Fu Tingyu made mention of wonton noodles. With surprising alacrity, Qin Shu hopped out of bed and shut the door behind her as she washed up in the bathroom.

  –


  Half an hour later, at the dining table…


  The wonton noodles had gone soggy while in the bathroom, but she did not mind. Qin Shu picked up her chopsticks and happily ate her noodles.

  She drank a mouthful of soup, feeling dismayed when she found it cold. It would have tasted better if it were hot.

  Fu Tingyu only needed a glance to know her noodles had turned lumpy – soaking up all that moisture had not done it any good. “You don’t have to eat it if it’s too soggy,” he said. He had not realised how long it had been since he bought the noodles.

  “It’s okay. It still tastes great.” Qin Shu swallowed a few mouthfuls and helped herself to a red bean roll.

  Seeing how happy she was, Fu Tingyu decided to take his chances and asked, “Do you remember what happened after Han Xiao left?”


  Qin Shu stopped chewing upon hearing Fu Tingyu mention Han Xiao’s name. She did remember a few more details about her time with Han Xiao.

  Han Xiao was cold and calm, while she was more active. In the beginning, there were only three of them on the mountain. They had an amazing relationship such that they were inseparable.

  The memories after Han Xiao left, however, remained a hazy fog.

  She shook her head. “I don’t remember.”


  She only remembered how sad she felt when Han Xiao left.

  She did not remember anything else.

  She and Han Xiao had had a good relationship – of that she knew as a matter of fact.

  Did that translate into a good relationship after his departure? She did not know. She had not recovered those memories.

  Fu Tingyu sighed helplessly. “Alright. I’ll remember to ask you again in the future.”


  “I think Master doesn’t want me to remember anything that transpired after Han Xiao left. It must have something to do with my sudden descent from the mountain and my loss of memory.” Qin Shu said, thoughtful.

  “Do you still want to go and find Master?” Fu Tingyu was more than a little suspicious of their Master. For him to take the trouble of helping Qin Shu recover a part, rather than the whole of her memory, pointed to some secret he did not wish for her to know.

  Qin Shu nodded. “I want to go and see my mother.”


  “Alright. We’ll head to Mount Qi after breakfast.”


  “Okay.”


  After breakfast, Fu Tingyu and Qin Shu visited Mount Qi once again.

  Strangely, it seemed easier to scale the mountain than it had been previously. Qin Shu and Fu Tingyu merely spent a few hours to reach the summit.

  They arrived in an old courtyard. Two burly men appeared out of thin air to stop them.

  Qin Shu had not met either man on her visit the previous day.

  “Apologies. Master is no longer on the mountain.” One of the men fished out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Qin Shu. “Master instructed me to give this to you before he left.”


  Qin Shu blinked uncomprehendingly for the longest time. The two men seemed to know her from how they addressed her with such familiarity. She examined the envelope and noted the greyish hue marking its age.

  Two sentences were all that was written on the page.

  “I’m bringing Ling’er home. Don’t worry.”


  Fu Tingyu read their Master’s note over her shoulder. He smiled. “It’s Master’s style, alright.”


  “Master is too hateful. He kidnapped my mother and did not tell me. Now he’s left with her without even giving me the chance to say goodbye!” Qin Shu chewed on her lip, warring between anger and anguish. It felt like her Master had run through her heart with a knife, twisting the blade to add insult to injury. It had not been long since she first learned her mother was still alive. Yet, with but a vicious step, her hopes of reuniting with her had been crushed.

  “Master probably knew we would come looking for her again, so he took my mother and left.”


  Fu Tingyu agreed. Their Master’s way of doing things was highly unethical…… How could he not let mother and daughter reunite?