HLJ Chapter 3

Middle school?

Lin Chun propped herself up against the headboard. “Mom, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Her mother also sat up. “Do you remember that time in middle school when you fainted due to low blood sugar?”

Lin Chun nodded. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?”

“After I got the call from your teacher, I rushed over and saw that girl in the infirmary,” her mother recalled, thinking carefully. “She was sitting by your bed, tears still on her little face. I thought she was your close friend.”

Lin Chun sounded skeptical. “Really? Mom, are you sure you’re not mixing her up with someone else?”

“I’m not mistaken,” her mother shook her head and pointed to the area behind her ear. “That girl had a birthmark here, didn’t she?”

A birthmark—

He Lanjin did indeed have a birthmark behind her ear.

Once, Lin Chun had teased her, “I heard that birthmarks are left because someone didn’t want to be reincarnated and got kicked. Hmm, good thing it was behind your ear and not on your pretty face.”

He Lanjin had taken Lin Chun’s hand and kissed it. “If I didn’t want to be reincarnated in my past life, it must have been because I couldn’t bear to leave you.”

“How do you know we knew each other in our past lives?”

“If we weren’t in love in our past life, why would I have fallen for you at first sight in this one?”

This was another reason Lin Chun liked He Lanjin. Despite her quiet demeanor, she had a way with words that could melt Lin Chun’s heart.

Lin Chun loved listening to He Lanjin talk. When they were together, Lin Chun would often ask He Lanjin to read to her—whether it was He Lanjin’s own novels or books she was reading.

Now, Lin Chun couldn’t sleep again. She had no memory of He Lanjin from middle school. If they had been in the same class, Lin Chun would have remembered her.

Did that mean He Lanjin had been in the same middle school but a different class?

After her mother fell asleep, Lin Chun got up and went back to her room. She rummaged through her closet and pulled out the middle school graduation photo. The photo had been rolled up and stored in a small box for so long that it wouldn’t lay flat. Lin Chun used a dictionary to weigh down one side and held the other side with her hand.

“Lin Chun?”

Lin Chun was startled by the sudden voice. She turned to see He Lanjin standing at the door, wearing Lin Chun’s black T-shirt and exposing her long legs.

Lin Chun clutched her chest. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I can’t sleep,” He Lanjin said, smoothing her long hair as she leaned against the doorframe, curiously looking at Lin Chun. “What are you looking at?”

Lin Chun glanced at the graduation photo and then at He Lanjin. She figured that even if He Lanjin had lost her memory, she should still be able to recognize herself. So Lin Chun waved He Lanjin over. “This is our middle school graduation photo. Do you remember where you were standing?”

He Lanjin walked over, resting one hand on the table. Her hair brushed against Lin Chun’s face as she leaned down, her expression serious. She pointed to Lin Chun in the photo. “This is you, right?”

He Lanjin bent down to take a closer look at the photo, then tilted her head to look at Lin Chun. Her dark, gentle eyes made Lin Chun’s cheeks burn. Lin Chun stammered, “Y-you, try to find yourself.”

He Lanjin looked down again, and after a moment, her finger pointed to a spot on the photo. “Here.”

The girl He Lanjin pointed to was standing in the front row. She was short, with hair cut just above her shoulders, and at first glance, she looked quite ordinary.

“This is you?” Lin Chun couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah,” He Lanjin replied with a smile. “I think so.”

Lin Chun rubbed her forehead. She had never imagined that she and He Lanjin had been in the same middle school.

But back then, she hadn’t known He Lanjin. So why had He Lanjin been sitting by her bed, crying?

Lin Chun had so many questions she wanted to ask He Lanjin once her memory returned.

But she was also worried. If He Lanjin regained her memory and left without a word again, where would Lin Chun find her?

So the next day, Lin Chun only took He Lanjin’s ID card and went to the police station alone.

He Lanjin didn’t ask why, simply handing over her ID card obediently.

The police station wasn’t far from home, so Lin Chun walked there, her heart uneasy the entire way.

After learning about He Lanjin’s situation, Lin Chun bought a pack of cigarettes and sat on the stone steps near a small shop.

“He Lanjin has no family. She only had a grandmother, who passed away seven years ago.”

She had no family—

Lin Chun bit down hard on the cigarette, the bitter taste of tobacco filling her mouth.

On New Year’s Eve, He Lanjin had helped Lin Chun load her suitcase into the car and tightened Lin Chun’s coat. “A Chun, be careful on the road.”

Lin Chun had been annoyed. “Why won’t you come back with me? You can finish your manuscript at home.”

“I still have some materials to submit to the company. I’ll go back later,” He Lanjin had said, kissing Lin Chun. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve already arranged for a ride back.”

No wonder He Lanjin hadn’t met Lin Chun in X City.

No wonder when Lin Chun returned home early on the seventh day of the New Year, He Lanjin had “coincidentally” come back too.

He Lanjin hadn’t gone home at all.

She had spent the New Year alone.

What about the previous years? Had she spent those festive nights alone, watching the fireworks outside, surrounded by the warmth of countless families while she guarded her own solitary light?

Lin Chun felt utterly oblivious and careless. Why hadn’t she paid more attention, shown more concern for He Lanjin?

Lin Chun threw the unlit cigarette into the trash and took a taxi to the address on He Lanjin’s ID card.

In the old building, the wooden stairs creaked with every step. Lin Chun walked carefully until she reached the door of unit 602 on the top floor.

The garbage piled at the door emitted a foul odor, and the old railing, its paint peeling, revealed rusted metal underneath.

Had He Lanjin lived here before?

Lin Chun bit her lower lip, took a deep breath, and knocked on the wooden door.

“Coming,” a voice called from inside. The door slowly opened, revealing an elderly woman who looked at Lin Chun warily and waved her hand. “We don’t need anything. Don’t try to sell us anything!”

“Wait!” Lin Chun quickly placed her hand on the doorframe. “Grandma, I’m not here to sell anything. I’m from the community office. I just have a few questions. Have you lived here for long?”

“We bought this place around 8, 9 years ago,” the old woman said.

“Do you know who lived here before?” Lin Chun asked.

“I don’t know much,” the old woman yawned. “But I heard the previous owners needed money urgently. We lowballed them, and at first, they refused. But when we offered cash, they sold it to us right away. We got a great deal.”

Lin Chun’s voice trembled. “Was the previous owner’s name… He Chunya?”

“How did you know that?” The old woman’s eyes widened. “Now that you mention it, I remember. He Chunya sold the house because something happened to her granddaughter at school. They needed money to settle it—”

Lin Chun felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed to her head.

Something happened at school—

Based on the timeline the old woman mentioned, it must have been during their senior year of high school. And back then, He Lanjin had had a conflict with Lin Chun’s good friend, Song Ya.

Lin Chun immediately dialed Song Ya’s number.

Song Ya, “Lin Chun? What’s up? Why are you calling?”

Lin Chun, “Are you in X City?”

Song Ya, “Yeah, why?”

Lin Chun, “I need to see you. There’s something I need to ask you.”

Song Ya, “Alright, come to my place.”