He Wasn't Li Sen, You Look Like My Son

Li Sen woke up.

When he saw Xu Qiuyan, he froze for a long while, his eyes fixed intently on her face.

I asked him, "Do you know her?"

Li Sen shook his head. I pointed at my own nose again. "Then do you know me?"

He nodded hard. "You gave the right code. You're one of us!"

I frowned. Had this guy really lost his mind?

"Take a good look at who I am."

He frowned just like I had. "How would I know? We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!"

Sure enough, he didn't recognize me either.

Still, that was only normal. So many years had passed since the incident at Little Ancestral Hall Entrance. We had all been children back then, but now we had grown into adults, our appearances changed drastically.

The reason Xu Qiuyan and I didn't feel like strangers was because of the Dreamscape we had shared before. Otherwise, we probably would have met without recognizing each other, just like childhood friends reunited after years apart.

"Then introduce yourself first," I said irritably.

He grinned and held out his hand again. "My name is Jiang Xiaobai."

This time, I was the one stunned. He was Jiang Xiaobai? Then who was I?

He looked at Xu Qiuyan again. "Is this your girlfriend?"

Xu Qiuyan's face reddened slightly. "Your name really is Jiang Xiaobai?"

"Yeah, my name's Jiang Xiaobai, but I'm not that Jiang Xiaobai."

"Which one?"

"The one printed on liquor bottles," he said awkwardly.

I cleared my throat. "You're not Jiang Xiaobai. You're Li Sen."

At that, he looked at me, his eyes full of confusion. "Li Sen? My name is Li Sen?"

I nodded. "That's right. Your name is Li Sen. I'm Jiang Xiaobai, and she's Xu Qiuyan. Think carefully."

He fell into deep thought.

Just then, someone rang the doorbell. I went over and opened the door. The person who came in was Yin Wuyu.

When Li Sen saw Yin Wuyu, he was startled at first, then suddenly cried out, "Little Mute!"

Now Xu Qiuyan and I both found it strange. He didn't recognize me or Xu Qiuyan, yet he recognized Little Mute at a glance. Compared to him, Xu Qiuyan and I had changed far less than Yin Wuyu had.

Yin Wuyu looked at him too, but asked instead, "Who are you?"

Li Sen's eyes widened. "You don't recognize me? I'm..." He trailed off, pain appearing on his face. "That's right, who am I? I'm Jiang Xiaobai. I'm not Jiang Xiaobai. I'm Li Sen? Who is Li Sen?"

His expression turned savage as he repeatedly pounded his head with both hands.

I said to Yin Wuyu, "He's Li Sen. Your Brother Sen."

"He isn't Brother Sen," Yin Wuyu said calmly. Then he took my hand. "Boss, I'm hungry!"

Xu Qiuyan said there were instant noodles in her room and went to get them. Just then, the doorbell rang again. This time, Fatty came in.

"I'm back. I brought you guys a late-night snack." Fatty was smiling, but when he saw Li Sen, he said, "Oh, we've got a guest!"

I was still thinking about Yin Wuyu's reaction. Yin Wuyu had said that he wasn't Li Sen.

His words made me uneasy. Yin Wuyu had always been a man of few words, but he had never been wrong. He said Abe Ichinan was a woman, a beautiful woman—and Abe Ichinan really was a beautiful woman.

Now he was saying that the Li Sen before us wasn't Li Sen, and he said it with such calm certainty.

Could it really be as he said? Then who was this Li Sen?

"Food!" Yin Wuyu's eyes widened. He snatched the bag from Fatty's hand and sat at the table to eat.

Soon, the smell of barbecue filled the entire room.

Fatty came over to me. "Aren't you going to introduce him?"

I pursed my lips, not knowing how to explain him for a moment.

I said to Fatty, "Come with me."

Fatty followed me out of the room and into the emergency stairwell. I lit a cigarette and gave him a rough account of what had happened.

"You and Xu Qiuyan both think he's Li Sen, and Xu Qiuyan personally saw Li Sen jump to his death right in front of her. Yet now he's suddenly appeared again, and in such a manner. Little Mute says he isn't Li Sen. You want me to help confirm whether he really is Li Sen, right?"

I gave a helpless smile. That was indeed exactly what he had said.

"But I've never met Li Sen. Still, I don't think Little Mute's instincts would be wrong."

"If he isn't Li Sen, then who is he?"

Fatty shrugged. "How would I know? Maybe he really is Jiang Xiaobai."

I rolled my eyes. If he was Jiang Xiaobai, then who was I?

Fatty naturally knew what I was thinking. He gave a flippant grin and patted my shoulder. "Just kidding. Since you know he escaped from Harbin City Mental Hospital, why not go there and ask around?"

"But we already booked flights for tomorrow morning."

"Looks like we won't be leaving tomorrow either. Until we figure out who he is, we really can't just leave. Besides, what happens to him if we go? If he isn't Li Sen, his appearance may very well be part of some conspiracy. If he is Li Sen, you definitely wouldn't have the heart to abandon him here. So I suggest we stop rushing to leave. I'll go to the mental hospital with you tomorrow morning and look into his background."

With a bitter smile, I called He Li and asked her to help us refund the tickets again.

She was somewhat speechless, and I felt a little embarrassed too. This was already the second time we had failed to leave.

They didn't stay in my room for long before each of them returned to their own rooms.

Naturally, Li Sen stayed in the same room as me. For one thing, he seemed somewhat resistant toward everyone else. For another, mine was the only room with an empty bed left.

Although Xu Qiuyan was also staying alone, I couldn't exactly send him into her room.

"You sleep in that bed." I pointed to the bed beside mine.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at me without saying anything.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"You look like someone!"

I asked, "Like who?"

"Like my son!" He looked utterly serious.

At that moment, I really wanted to slap him across the face.

Then he suddenly laughed. "Hahahaha! You actually got angry. The way you look when you're angry really is just like my son. You're the son of me, Jiang Chengyue."

As he spoke, he reached out to stroke my head.

I didn't dodge, because his words had stunned me.

"You're the son of me, Jiang Chengyue."

Those words echoed repeatedly in my ears. Jiang Chengyue was my father's name.

"What did you just say? Say it again." I looked at him and asked nervously.

"I said you look like my son!"

"No, the last sentence."

"You're just like my son!" As he spoke, he reached out again. I slapped his hand away. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Jiang Chengyue."

He still said the same thing. Looking at his face, a chill ran down my spine.

"Then who is your wife?"

"Chen Fang, of course!"

I was completely thunderstruck. I grabbed his hand. "Where are Jiang Chengyue and Chen Fang now? Do you know where they are?"

I was so agitated that I unconsciously tightened my grip. He grimaced in pain. "It hurts. Let go of me."

I released him, and my tone softened considerably. "Tell me, do you know where they are?"

"Who? Who's where?" Confusion appeared on his face again.

"Jiang Chengyue and Chen Fang. Where are they?"

He asked me in return, "Who is Jiang Chengyue? And who is Chen Fang?"

He was about to drive me insane. I nearly lost it. "Didn't you just say you were Jiang Chengyue? You even said your wife was Chen Fang."

"I'm not Jiang Chengyue. I don't know Jiang Chengyue, and I don't know any Chen Fang." His face darkened.

I was speechless and couldn't help asking, "Then who exactly are you?"

"Hehe, I'm not telling you."

After saying that, he lay down directly and pulled the blanket over his head.

I pulled his blanket down. He glared at me with wide eyes. "I'm sleepy. I want to sleep."

Then he closed his eyes. No matter what else I said, he ignored me.

I could only return to my own bed and light another cigarette. My mind was a mess. Was he really Li Sen? He looked exactly like the Li Sen I had seen in the Dreamscape, yet Yin Wuyu said he wasn't Li Sen. And his own behavior was exceedingly strange. One moment, he said he was Jiang Xiaobai; the next, he said he was my father, Jiang Chengyue. But when I pressed him further, he remembered nothing and denied ever saying any of it.

Had he really lost his mind? Was he truly mentally ill?

Or did he merely resemble Li Sen?

If he only resembled Li Sen, then how did he know my name? And how did he know about my father, Jiang Chengyue?