After Losing My Memory, I Became My Adoptive Brother’s Caged Bird - Chapter 1

Falling.

It was a never-ending descent.

Ice-cold seawater surged toward him from all directions, pouring into his mouth, nose, and ears. An irresistible force enveloped him, dragging him toward the seabed. The air in his lungs was squeezed out completely, and his consciousness gradually began to dissipate.

“Help!”

He managed to utter only the first syllable before his weak cry for help dissolved into the ocean.

Meng Xueyan was like a captain without a compass. He drifted in the sea for a long time, groggy and disoriented. Ultraviolet rays scorched his skin, leaving him on the verge of a total physical collapse and a deep coma.

Floating aimlessly, he had long ago lost all concept of time.

After an unknown duration, he thought he heard the sound of human voices. He used every ounce of his strength to pry his eyes open.

What met his gaze was an unfamiliar ceiling. The air was thick with the pungent, irritating scent of disinfectant. He disliked the smell, and his brow furrowed instinctively.

Was this a hospital?

Meng Xueyan attempted to prop his body up with his arms, but a violent wave of dizziness suddenly struck. It slammed him back onto the pillows. His body was so weak that it refused to obey him, but even emptier than his physical form was his mind.

His name, his past, and the reason he was here were all part of a chaotic blur. Panic, like a cold hand, suddenly gripped his heart.

Who was he? What had happened to him?

Just then, Meng Xueyan realized there was someone else in the room. A man sat on the sofa with his back turned toward him, a laptop resting on his lap. A low, deep voice rumbled with a reassuring power, even though Meng Xueyan could not understand what the man was saying.

He opened his mouth, but his dry throat could only produce broken fragments of sound. “You… I…”

Meng Xueyan felt frustrated by his own lack of words. He was entirely unaware that the man’s silhouette had frozen the moment he spoke.

Meng Jin was in the middle of a cross-border online meeting that could not be postponed. Years of being in a position of power gave him a naturally intimidating aura. Even in a hospital room, none of the subordinates on the other side of the screen dared to slack off.

However, just now, a faint voice—one he almost thought was a hallucination—drifted into his ears.

Meng Jin felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He froze in place. A multi-billion dollar acquisition proposal slipped from his fingers and scattered across the floor, yet he did not even notice.

A second later, he cut the meeting with startling speed and turned around decisively.

On the hospital bed, the eyes that had been tightly shut for five months were now open, staring blankly.

He was finally awake.

Meng Jin pressed the emergency bell almost by instinct. He stood paralyzed at the door, watching through the glass window as medical staff filed in to examine his recovered treasure.

He subconsciously pulled out a cigarette case and held a cigarette between his fingertips, but he did not light it.

It had been five months. To be precise, it had been 163 days.

He was a man who believed in neither gods nor Buddhas. Yet, during the long period when Meng Xueyan lay unconscious, he had prayed to every deity in existence for the first time. He promised that as long as the man woke up, he would never force him again. Now, the gods had returned his treasure.

Should he fulfill his promise and let him go?

But the man had lost his memory.

Amnesia meant a blank slate, and a blank slate meant he could rewrite the story however he chose.

A dark and frenzied thought took root and sprouted in the depths of his heart.

When Meng Xueyan’s gaze passed through the crowd and met his through the glass, the familiar loathing and resistance were gone. There was only total strangeness and a hint of fledgling-like dependence.

Meng Jin closed his eyes, suppressing his surging emotions along with that dangerous thought. He threw away the unlit cigarette and, after speaking with the doctor, pushed the door open and entered.

“Are you hungry?”

His voice was incredibly calm, making it impossible to believe that his heart was currently racing.

Meng Xueyan followed the sound and began to carefully observe the man before him. Perhaps it was the first impression or a natural instinct to bond, but he felt an inexplicable sense of trust toward this person.

The man was very tall. A finely tailored black coat emphasized his straight, sharp shoulders. His features were deep and well-defined, but his expression was like perennial snow, carrying a coldness that kept others at a distance.

Meng Jin walked to the bedside and skillfully tucked in the corners of the quilt. His fingertips accidentally brushed against Meng Xueyan’s skin, leaving a trace of coolness.

“How do you feel?” He softened his voice. “If you feel uncomfortable, you must tell me.”

“Who are you?” Meng Xueyan blinked his beautiful almond-shaped eyes, his voice rasping tentatively. “Do you know me?”

Meng Jin poured a glass of warm water and used a cotton swab to gently moisten the patient’s dry lips.

“My name is Meng Jin.” His tone was as steady as if he were stating a plain fact. “We grew up together.”

As he spoke, Meng Xueyan stared at him without blinking, trying to find a flaw in that cold face.

When Meng Jin picked up the water cup and tried to support his shoulder to help him drink, Meng Xueyan’s body reacted before his mind could. He instinctively shrank back.

The air in the room froze instantly.

Meng Xueyan gave an awkward smile and quickly took the cup. “I can do it myself,” he whispered.

He lowered his head to take small sips. Thus, he missed the flash of dark, deep possessiveness in Meng Jin’s eyes. Even with amnesia, does he still hate my proximity?

“Can you tell me about myself?” Meng Xueyan held the cup. His slender wrists appeared fragile enough to break against the oversized hospital gown. “I do not remember anything.”

Meng Jin leaned back into the chair and crossed his long legs in a posture of total control.

“Your name is Chen Jiaojiao,” he said, his voice devoid of any ripples. “You have been in a coma for 163 days.”

Meng Xueyan gasped. 163 days? Had he been a vegetable? He repeated the name in his mind: Chen Jiaojiao. There was no sense of rejection. It even felt a bit familiar. So, this name was correct.

“Which ‘Jiao’ is it?” he asked instinctively.

Meng Jin did not answer directly. Instead, he took the man’s hand. The difference in the size of their palms was stark; Meng Jin could easily wrap his hand entirely around the other’s.

“Do you still recognize written characters?” he asked, while slowly tracing a character on Meng Xueyan’s palm with his index finger.

A numbing itch, like an electric current, surged through him. Meng Xueyan instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but he was held firmly.

“Do you know now?” Meng Jin looked up at him.

Meng Xueyan had been so focused on the itching sensation that he had not remembered the strokes at all. Fearing the man would do it again, he nodded haphazardly. “I know.”

Meng Jin raised an eyebrow, looking at him with mock patience. “Then tell me, which ‘Jiao’ is it?”

Meng Xueyan bit his lower lip. Seeing Meng Jin reaching for his hand again, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and blurted out, “The ‘Jiao’ from ‘Jiaogui’!”

Immediately after saying it, he felt annoyed. How could it possibly be that one?

Meng Jin’s gaze sharpened as he scrutinized Meng Xueyan. Then, he let out a low chuckle, his eyes locking onto him as he spoke in a measured pace. “Right, and also wrong.”

“When your mother was pregnant with you, she thought you were a girl. She called you ‘Jiaojiao’ all day long. Later, when you were born a boy, ‘Jiaojiao’ became your nickname. Your formal name was taken from the phrase ‘the bright and shining moon,’ which is ‘Jiao’.”

So that was how it was.

Chen Jiaojiao’s trust in Meng Jin grew by another notch, even without him realizing it.

“Why was I in a coma?” he asked softly.

Meng Jin’s tone remained gentle, but Chen Jiaojiao keenly captured a trace of very faint anger.

“You insisted on taking a cruise ship abroad, and it hit an iceberg at night.” His eyes were bottomless as he forcibly suppressed the fire in his heart. “I did not want you to go. I tried to chase after you, but I happened to save you instead.”

Chen Jiaojiao unconsciously gripped the bedsheets. An indescribable sense of dissonance rose in his heart, leaving him at a loss. Something felt wrong.

He stole a glance at Meng Jin, only to be caught red-handed.

At this moment, all of Chen Jiaojiao’s emotions were written on his face. It was easy for Meng Jin to conclude that Chen Jiaojiao did not believe him. However, he had not technically lied.

The boy’s biological parents’ surname was Chen, and his nickname was Jiaojiao. Therefore, calling him Chen Jiaojiao was not wrong.

After learning of Meng Jin’s feelings, the boy had offered nothing but rejection and escape. Finally, ignoring all opposition, he had been determined to go abroad. When Meng Jin found out, he rushed to intercept him, only to come across a wrecked cruise ship.

He had simply erased a few causes and effects.

“You do not believe me?” The corners of Meng Jin’s mouth curled into a smile, but the warmth did not reach his eyes. He pulled a pocket watch from his chest and handed it to Chen Jiaojiao. “This is your pocket watch. Now, I am returning it to its rightful owner.”

Chen Jiaojiao took it and looked down at the bronze-colored watch. It was clearly old, but it had been well-maintained.

He accidentally pressed a button, and with a click, the watch flipped open. Inside the lid was a photo of two people: himself and Meng Jin.

In the photo, their faces were pressed together. They looked extremely intimate. He was looking at the camera with a beaming smile, while Meng Jin was looking at him.

Chen Jiaojiao’s fingertips turned white as he gripped the watch. He forcibly suppressed the sense of dissonance and convinced himself: If our relationship was not good, who would stay here guarding me?

He was overthinking it.

“Where are we?” Chen Jiaojiao changed to a lighter topic. Since he woke up, everyone he had seen—except for Meng Jin—was a foreigner.

“Switzerland,” Meng Jin said, looking at him deeply. “It is the country you always wanted to visit. Moreover, the medical standards here are beneficial for your condition.”

Chen Jiaojiao’s mind was a bit muddled, so he asked Meng Jin to tell him things starting from his childhood.

In Meng Jin’s narrative, he had been an outstanding student since he was young. But in his senior year of high school, his parents died in an accident, leaving him alone in the world.

During that period, his state of mind was very poor, so he moved into Meng Jin’s house to live with him.

During the summer break after graduation, he insisted on going abroad. After a major conflict with Meng Jin, he chose to sneak away. That led to the events that followed.

By the time he finished listening, Chen Jiaojiao believed about eighty percent of the explanation. He continued to probe, “So, are you, my cousin?”

Meng Jin had only talked about his history and glossed over their interactions. He could only infer from fragments that they had a good relationship. They must be family, right?

Hearing this, Meng Jin shook his head. He smiled slightly. “No. We are not related by blood, but we grew up together.”

“And,” he paused, meeting Chen Jiaojiao’s curious gaze, and continued, “you pursued me for many years.”

“We love each other deeply.”

When Meng Jin spoke that final sentence in a tender, soulful tone, Chen Jiaojiao looked at that flawless face, and his heart skipped a beat.

So, were they dating?