I Hope You Can Remember Me

Zhang Yuan couldn't help but ask, "I don't quite understand why you had to pull this stunt at the end. Isn't this just adding an emotional burden to yourself for no reason?"

Han Ziyue thought for a moment and said, "Three thousand years from now, I will have long since vanished from this world. If, at that time, there is still someone who can remember me—and in another space-time at that—don't you think that's very meaningful?"

Zhang Yuan fell silent.

He felt that this line of thinking was a bit pretentious, yet it also seemed to make some sense...

Before long, he bit the bullet and crawled out of the bathroom at a snail's pace.

Han Ziyue just stared at his shoulders, laughing non-stop.

Then, she hopped and skipped into the bathroom.

Zhang Yuan pondered whether he should take advantage of her shower time to make a run for it.

Yes, that's exactly what he should do!

Run!

Wait, where are my pants?

"...I took your clothes and pants into the bathroom with me. If you try to run away while I'm showering, you might have to risk wearing nothing but a bathrobe." Through the frosted glass, Han Ziyue saw Zhang Yuan searching for something and couldn't help but say with amusement.

Zhang Yuan was speechless.

He felt... as if he were about to explode from nervousness.

He hurriedly grabbed his phone to solve a few calculus problems to soothe his restless soul.

But with all his blood rushing to his lower half, his brain suffered a massive debuff; problems he usually found simple were now stumbling blocks, and he couldn't get an answer after a long time.

"Studying isn't a cure-all either... This won't do, I have to think of a way!"

Think of a way!

A few minutes later, Han Ziyue emerged from the bathroom, her wet hair clinging in fine strands to her smooth, fair neck. A girl who has just finished a shower always possesses a fresh beauty, her crystal-clear skin looking as if it could be pinched to release water.

She pounced over with a smile, like a happy little deer.

"This... isn't good!"

Zhang Yuan's body shuddered, and he stammered, "If we don't do anything tonight, it might leave a deeper impression. I'm serious!"

Seeming to see through Zhang Yuan's true thoughts, Han Ziyue laughed and said, "I'm not asking you to take responsibility, so what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Then why are you shaking? I really don't need you to take responsibility."

"It's not about taking responsibility or not, I just don't think this is right... How about we just hug? Just a hug, wouldn't that be warm and harmonious?"

Han Ziyue furrowed her delicate brows and pouted: "Don't you think you're being excessive? I've been so proactive! Do you think I'm not shy? I get shy too."

Zhang Yuan hurriedly explained, "If I had known you longer and we had more contact, I might think this was the natural course of things. But right now... it feels too sudden."

Han Ziyue's eyes turned red; she let go of his arm and kept wiping her eyes: "You must think I'm too easy, throwing myself at you like this, which is why you're acting like this!"

"...I have dignity too, you know! I have suitors behind me, but I never keep them as backups! I've only ever had one boyfriend; my private life isn't as messy as you imagine!"

Seeing the girl lose her temper, Zhang Yuan said weakly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't think that..."

"Who would believe that!" Han Ziyue was very angry.

But as she spoke, she started to laugh again, resting her head in her hands as she studied Zhang Yuan's awkward expression: "True, if you were so easily seduced by me, I might not like you anymore and would forget you very quickly..."

"My sister once described you as a guy with strong principles. Even after breaking up, she still had a very good opinion of you... Haha, you tremble just from a touch, you're so cute. My judgment really is good!"

She revealed her sharp canine teeth, lying on the bed as if admiring a fresh, tender little apple.

"Wait a second!"

She suddenly jumped up and rummaged through her bag for a while, "I have a little gift for you, close your eyes quickly."

"Again?"

Between the shocks and surprises, Zhang Yuan felt like he was about to suffocate.

"It's a real little gift!" She didn't keep him in suspense and handed a delicate box into Zhang Yuan's hands.

He took it and saw a specimen of a lily flower, with a portrait of Han Ziyue on the right—it was vivid and incredibly exquisite.

At the very bottom was a signature: "Han Ziyue, 2264.8.1"

It must have been a botanical specimen she made a few days ago.

She said very earnestly, "I hope you can remember me."

"I am just an ordinary member of the masses; I have no hope of becoming a famous person, nor is it possible for me to be remembered by history."

"One hundred years from now, it is very likely that I will no longer exist in this world; three hundred years from now, any information about me will be impossible to look up. Perhaps only a name, 'Han Ziyue', will be found in the genealogy."

"One thousand years from now, perhaps even the genealogy will have vanished. Who would remember an ancestor from a thousand years ago? Everything about me will be lost in the cycle of reincarnation."

Suddenly speaking of such a serious matter, Zhang Yuan was stunned, and the boiling blood in his body slowly calmed down.

The meaning of life, huh?

Han Ziyue continued, "I've always had this thought: have I truly come to this world? If there isn't even a trace of my existence left behind, then what is the point of it all? Is it merely for reproduction, for pleasure? A person's life is such a fleeting moment; compared to the entire universe, it is truly insignificant."

"I hope you can remember me, because... you are very likely the last person who will know that I once existed."

"I hope that three thousand years from now, when you wake up from hibernation, you will still hold onto the memory of me. Yes, that is my only request. Is that okay?"

Zhang Yuan took the lily specimen and nodded solemnly, "I promise you. Girls like you are truly rare. However, in ten or twenty years, you won't have these thoughts anymore; perhaps you'll even find your current self very naive. Only the you of right now would be this sentimental, wouldn't you?"

Han Ziyue said with great embarrassment, "I'm sorry. The future me is the future me, and I know that the future me will be worn down by reality, but the me of the present is the real me."

"This request is actually quite selfish; to you, it is nothing more than an extra emotional burden."

Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "So, do you want to pay me back with your body?"

"Yeah, I really did like you when I was little. I heard that after you broke up with my sister, I was actually happy for a long time! Paying you back with my body doesn't seem like a problem."

"You were still in middle school back then, right? Do middle schoolers even understand such things?"

"Is middle school not enough?"

Zhang Yuan said, "Let's skip the paying back with your body. I am a person of high moral character, and I hope to leave you with the best impression on this final day."

Han Ziyue leaned against his side and quieted down, "Then, in this long, endless night, what should we do? What do you think would be truly meaningful?"

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and joked, "For our last night, how about I teach you some math problems?"

Don't make me write anything inappropriate; there's been a strict crackdown lately.

Let's just leave it at that. As for whether anything happened or not, you can all imagine it for yourselves.