This villain has become a ghost

I don’t know if it was the ruler’s behind-the-scenes manipulation or if modern medicine was too advanced, but after Yue Liuyun woke up, he recovered soon and went through the discharge procedures with He Yi.

But... because they had been on leave from school for nearly half a year, the two of them had a very heavy workload. Their schedules were almost full every day, and they were so busy that they were dizzy.

Liu Mang and Zhong Wanqing, the social animals and working people, also devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their work.

The four of them would occasionally get together for dinner when they were free, but the rest of the time they were busy with their own things.

In the blink of an eye... a year has passed.

Over the past year, Zhong Wanqing has successfully risen to the top of the company through unremitting efforts, which has made Liu Mang extremely envious.

"Come on... why are you envious of me when you have nothing better to do? I only work for a small company..." Zhong Wanqing said speechlessly, "...your company is a well-known enterprise in the city. Even if you can't make it to the top, your salary is probably about the same as mine..."

Liu Mang's faint voice came from the phone:

"Sister, is it money that I envy? I envy power!"

I simply don't want to suffer the wrath of that ox and horse!

Zhong Wanqing: "Oh...that makes sense. You must be envious."

I am indeed more powerful now.

Liu Mang: "..."

At night, tall buildings are ablaze with lights, neon signs flicker, and the streets are bustling with people. Various shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues are brightly lit.

Zhong Wanqing put down the work in her hands, looked out the window, and said, "By the way... Yue Liuyun and He Yi haven't had dinner with us for a long time."

"Tomorrow is a day off. Do you need me to make some arrangements?"

"Eh, don't you know?" Liu Mang said in distress, "...They've been working on a project lately and are quite busy. They're also collaborating with one of our departments. Our company takes this project very seriously, and a small employee like me can't get a say at all."

"Hey...don't you think they're a little too good? Why is there such a huge gap between me and them..."

Zhong Wanqing said leisurely: "It doesn't matter... maybe in the next life. I will definitely work hard in the next life."

Liu Mang said bitterly: "...I won't be a human in my next life."

Zhong Wanqing: "Then I wish your wish comes true."

Liu Mang: "..."

Liu Mang: "You should just be a human being in this life."

……

After hanging up the phone, Zhong Wanqing prepared to drive home.

After fastening her seatbelt, she answered the phone call from her family. Her mother's voice came from the other end:

"Wanqing, are you coming back for dinner tonight?"

Zhong Wanqing smiled and said, "Come back... Mom, I'm so hungry."

"Well, Mom will make you your favorite twice-cooked pork, okay?"

Zhong Wanqing was stunned for a long time before she said softly:

"……it is good."

There was a cool breeze at night. She closed the car window and stared at her own reflection in the glass, falling into a trance.

Twice-cooked pork... Does Zhong Wanqing like to eat it, or does Nangong Wanqing like to eat it?

She closed her eyes and smiled to herself.

The car started and drove slowly outward, gradually picking up speed.

Never mind...it doesn't matter.

-

"Wow, this is your home..."

He Yi exclaimed as soon as he entered the door.

Yue Liuyun closed the door, gave her the extra slippers, and said with a smile:

"...The house is not big, don't force yourself to praise it."

The walls of the main hall are painted in a light beige color. There are not many pieces of furniture, and each piece is arranged neatly and orderly. There are several pots of exquisite orchids on the balcony.

He Yi envied: "...Even if it's not big, it's the house you saved up and bought in full. It belongs to you."

Yue Liuyun poured her a glass of water and said, "You will have it sooner or later."

He Yi's family atmosphere was very suffocating. Over the years, she had been working hard to earn and save money to buy a house of her own and escape from that home.

"Tomorrow is the weekend anyway, so why don't you stay here with me tonight and continue discussing the project with the team tomorrow."

"Okay, have you asked your instructor for overnight leave?"

"Don't worry, I'll give you my invitation."

There is a table lamp on the small table beside the bed in the bedroom, and a few books and a cup of hot tea on the bedside table, emitting a faint fragrance.

There are paintings on the wall.

He Yi stared at the painting curiously.

The portrait seemed to depict a handsome ancient emperor, dressed in a purple-gold dragon robe, his inky black hair flowing freely. He lowered his head, meticulously staring at the memorial in his hands. His profile was beautiful and serious, and his long eyelashes were like crow feathers...

Wow, these details, these angles... they seem a little too lifelike...

He Yi was amazed:

"Eh... when did you become a fan of ancient people? Which emperor is this? How could he look so... enchanting?"

In real history, most portraits of emperors were misshapen. Why couldn't she remember... any emperor who looked like that?

"It's okay, I'm just drawing casually," Yue Liuyun lowered his eyelashes, smiled softly, and said, "Okay... I'm tired all day, let's lie down and rest for a while."

Hearing her say this, He Yi also shifted his attention from the portrait.

He Yi blinked her eyes, then suddenly lay down like a beauty, and her voice became choked:

"...Oh, my sister and I are sleeping in the same bed. Will her future boyfriend be angry?"

Yue Liuyun hit her face with a pillow and scolded her with a smile:

"You are so sick."

He Yi took the pillow happily, feeling satisfied.

...I act like a loser in front of my friends every day, just waiting for them to say "You are sick", and then I feel so good.

"But seriously," He Yi asked with a gossipy look on her face, "I heard...that senior named Xu Mo is still pursuing you."

"How do you feel? Are you excited?"

Yue Liuyun pushed her face away:

"I've already made it clear to him that I don't like him."

He Yi exclaimed, "Wow!" "There are so many of them, don't you have any favorites?"

Yue Liuyun took out his computer, turned it on, and said with a smile:

"I think... I can live well on my own."

She looked at He Yi: "You're still talking about me, aren't you the same?"

There are many people pursuing He Yi, but she seems to have sealed her heart and locked herself away from love, concentrating on making money, studying and pursuing her career.

He Yi pretended to be relaxed and said, "You know...my parents are eager to marry me off so they can receive the betrothal gifts."

As for marrying a good or bad man, marrying a chicken or a dog...it doesn't matter to them.

"As for me, I just want to earn more money and return it to them as a way to repay their kindness in raising me."

"After that... I won't owe them anything."

The world is so big, there is always a place for her.

She can live well on her own.

Yue Liuyun smiled at her:

"Whatever you want...love or not, like or not, it's all your freedom."

"I support you."

-

in the office.

Liu Mang packed up his things and prepared to go home.

In the drawer lay several sheets of yellowed, antique rice paper, sealed with plastic wrap. The first few sheets contained letters, while the latter were scratch papers resembling graffiti, with various mathematical formulas scrawled across them.

He stared at the papers in a daze as usual.

...resulting in him not hearing his colleague next to him calling him.

"Hey, hey... Liu Mang, Liu Mang!"

After a moment, Liu Mang finally came back to his senses, looked at his colleague, and smiled apologetically: "Sorry...what's wrong?"

"...Nothing much, I just saw that you were going home too, and since we were going the same way, let's go together."

"Okay."

My colleague said as he was packing up the documents:

"Hey, didn't you say last time... that you had two friends joining the company's latest intelligent software development project?"

Liu Mang nodded and said, "Yes."

The colleague continued:

"...The company takes this project very seriously. I heard...our old boss Yan's son, who just returned from studying abroad, will also be joining."

He sighed, "Your two friends are truly amazing. They haven't even graduated from university yet, but they're already capable of participating in such an impressive project. It really is true... we're not connected to the world of geniuses."

"But... the most amazing ones have to be those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. As expected, the biggest watershed in life is amniotic fluid."

"Perhaps genius is just the threshold to meeting them..."

"Ordinary people like us, no matter how hard we work, are just working for the evil capitalists..."

My colleague fell into a state of incessant sighing, and as his lips opened and closed, the truth poured out in an endless stream.

Liu Mang interrupted him in surprise, frowning and saying:

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

"When did our old Mr. Yan... have a son?"

Before he joined the company, he had clearly seen a report saying... Mr. Yan was divorced and had no children with his ex-wife.

His colleagues looked at him like a fool and said in surprise:

"No way? Mr. Yan has always had a son, his son with his ex-wife..."

Liu Mang widened his eyes:

"This...how is this possible?"

Could it be that his memory is confused?

But that shouldn't be the case, he clearly remembers it!

What exactly is going on?

A child out of nothing?

His colleagues thought he was just working too much and patted him on the shoulder, saying:

"Brother...you should find some time to rest up."

"Wait..." Liu Mang felt that all this was too strange. He grasped the key point and asked, "...Mr. Yan, what is his son's name?"

"It seems her name is... Yan Mingzhu."

-

"Hey, oh my god, Yue Liuyun, I'm going to tell you something really bloody and exciting that you'll never guess. No, let me take a break..."

Yue Liuyun: “…”

This person must have left his punctuation marks at home.

Yue Liuyun put down his phone and continued typing, answering perfunctorily: "...What happened? The sows fell into the ditch while waiting in line? What could have made you so anxious?"

Liu Mang took a deep breath and said, "Wait... let me sort it out first."

"I just asked Zhong Wanqing, and she also remembered... Mr. Yan clearly doesn't have a son."

Yue Liuyun stared at the screen:

"Boss Yan? The one from your group?"

She seemed to know something about the one who divorced his ex-wife some time ago and caused a lot of controversy.

She said casually: "He doesn't have a son..."

"Yeah! You remember it that way too, right? You have such a good memory, you can't be wrong!" Liu Mang was very excited, and his voice became louder. "...But if you search online, or ask anyone, besides the three of us..."

"...Everyone says Mr. Yan has a son who studied abroad!"

"This Mandela Effect... only happened to the three of us!"

"And the amazing thing is... Mr. Yan's son is called Yan Mingzhu!"

"Do you think there are really such coincidences in the world..."

Yue Liuyun closed the computer with a "click".

She looked at He Yi: "...Haven't you always been paying attention to the divorce between Mr. Yan and his ex-wife?"

He Yi nodded inexplicably:

"Yes."

Why are you asking this suddenly?

Yue Liuyun stared at her straight in the eyes: "Does Mr. Yan have a son with his ex-wife?"

"Of course there is. The one who returned from studying abroad this year..."

Yue Liuyun didn't listen to the rest of the words.

...At that time, it was He Yi who told her the news, but now she got two completely different answers.

Yue Liuyun has always had an excellent memory.

She wouldn't be wrong.

He Yi looked at her in surprise as she quickly turned over and got out of bed, and asked in astonishment: "...What are you doing? Where are you going so late?"

"Go find someone."

…She wouldn’t remember it wrongly.

So it could only be that someone tampered with everyone's memories... except for the three of them.

-

Traffic is a bit heavy at night.

Yue Liuyun hurriedly got out of the car and trotted into the brightly lit building.

"Hello, Miss. I'm very sorry, but we're closing today. Tomorrow is a holiday. Our specific business hours are..."

Yue Liuyun gasped:

"...I'm a student at X University and am involved in the development of a new project for your company. I'm having some problems. Could you please allow me to meet Mr. Xiaoyan, the new project manager...? Here's my ID..."

The receptionist seemed a little embarrassed and shook her head apologetically:

"Miss, I'm very sorry, I'm indeed off work today."

"Please comply with the company's regulations and come back another day..."

Yue Liuyun finally calmed down.

...Sure enough, I still didn’t catch up.

I guess everyone has finished get off work by now.

"Sorry for disturbing you."

The wind was very cold at night, and cold lights were flashing everywhere.

The phone vibrated and rang.

"Hello? Yue Liuyun, are you okay? What happened? It's late at night, where are you?" He Yi's anxious voice sounded.

Yue Liuyun was slightly sobered up by the wind.

She responded: "It's okay, I'll take a taxi back later."

"You should go to bed early and don't have to wait for me."

He Yi recalled what she said before she left, "Go find someone," and asked, "...So who did you go find?"

Yue Liuyun chuckled and said:

"Go find someone...who is very likely an old acquaintance."

"I missed him so much that I was a little anxious."

"But now that I think about it...I think I was a little impulsive."

She thought to herself, "I don't think he should see me in such a mess. I need to dress up a little better..."

A voice with a lazy smile came from behind:

“…That’s not necessary.”

All sounds are silent.

Time seems to stand still at this moment.

Neon lights flickered, and the skyscrapers lining the streets loomed taller in the night. The streets were bustling with people, their pace a fleeting flow. From the cafes and bars lining the streets, bursts of melodious music and cheerful laughter emanated.

Cars whizzed past, their headlights drawing trails in the night.

The stars in the night sky and the city lights complement each other.

The moment the girl turned around, the light slanted across the young man's eyebrows, and the smile on his handsome, nonchalant face deepened. His eyes were like the deepest night, but there was only one figure.

...I didn't know when the tears started flowing.

On an autumn night with old friends, I am still afraid that our meeting is just a dream.

Fortunately, everything is true.

He raised his hand to wipe away the tears on Yue Liuyun's face, his fingertips warm.

“…Because I’m already here.”

——End of text——