I Won Big with the President Who Looks Like Me - Chapter 4

Heaven or Hell

A person with complete amnesia should remain unmoved when witnessing someone else’s tears.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the moment Jiang Ruosui saw Yun Yue’an’s tears, he felt an overwhelming urge to wipe them away.

This wasn’t right.

Since he had been the one to initiate the divorce two years ago, it was highly likely because he no longer loved Yun Yue’an, which explained his desperate desire to leave him.

But why…

Why did his heart ache faintly?

Jiang Ruosui stared at Yun Yue’an standing not far away. After a moment, he suddenly moved.

Under Yun Yue’an’s helpless and forlorn gaze, he turned without hesitation and walked toward the nearby stairwell.

He had only intended to observe Yun Yue’an from a distance before continuing his investigation, but he hadn’t expected Yun Yue’an to recognize him even through his mask. This caught Jiang Ruosui off guard.

With his memory gone, he couldn’t respond to Yun Yue’an’s address, nor did he know how to interact normally with someone who felt like a complete stranger after two years.

The best course of action now was to leave quickly. After all, he was still considered “dead” in the public eye, and it was best not to risk exposing his identity prematurely to avoid causing trouble.

The stairwell was closest to him, and he could be downstairs in less than half a minute. Just as he rounded the corner, he heard hurried footsteps behind him—thump-thump-thump—as if someone was following his pace and chasing after him.

Hearing this, Jiang Ruosui quickened his pace even further.

Tall and long-legged, he took three steps at a time down the stairs and hurried toward the parking lot. He quickly found his car, stepped inside, and started the engine.

As he started the car, Jiang Ruosui rolled down the window for fresh air. Suddenly, he heard a thud nearby, and the footsteps behind him vanished.

Eager to leave, Jiang Ruosui didn’t notice the anomaly and drove out of the parking lot.

Meanwhile, back at Jiang Manor, the Jiang Family, who had been waiting for Jiang Ruosui to return, slowly realized something was wrong.

Jiang Ruosui had recently woken up from a coma after a car accident and had been under the family’s protective care like a precious jewel for less than six months. His sudden disappearance without a trace sent Father and Mother Jiang into a panic, and they immediately began to check the surveillance footage.

Mother Jiang, sobbing and scolding the housekeeper, while Father Jiang tried to console her, turned the house into a chaotic scene. Only when Jiang Ruosui returned did Mother Jiang’s weeping finally subside.

“Ruosui, where have you been?!”

The moment Jiang Ruosui entered, Mother Jiang trembled, rushed forward, grabbed his hand, and scrutinized him from head to toe. Her eyes reddened further as she spoke, as if she wanted to hit him:

“You little brat! Why didn’t you tell your parents before you left?!”

Jiang Ruosui: “…Mom, Dad, I’m already twenty…”

He seemed to hesitate between “seven” and “nine” before smiling.

“I’m twenty-nine now. I’ll be thirty next year. I’m not a child anymore, you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Of course we worry! Do you know that it was all because we weren’t watching carefully that you ended up marrying Yun Yue’an! If you hadn’t married him, you wouldn’t have…”

Jiang Ruosui froze. “…What?”

Mother Jiang, in her anger, spoke without thinking. Seeing this, Father Jiang quickly tugged at her, pulled her into his arms, and held her close, forcibly silencing her mid-sentence.

“That’s enough,” he said, comforting his wife. He shot her a meaningful look and added, “The child just woke up. After months of rehabilitation at the hospital and home, it’s natural for her to want to go for a walk. Don’t blame her.”

Mother Jiang: “……”

She wasn’t a fool and quickly realized she had spoken out of turn. She was secretly annoyed but remained silent, tears streaming down her face.

Jiang Ruosui was surprised, but seeing that his parents didn’t want to discuss his life before the amnesia, he didn’t press the matter. After reassuring them that he wouldn’t run off again, he stood up and went upstairs.

Now that he was no longer the CEO of Jianghe Group, he had nothing to do at home. After a hasty meal, he returned to his room to shower and wash his hair. Then he opened his laptop and began browsing the news.

Having been in a coma for two years, many of his habits were out of sync with society. He needed to catch up.

As he dried his hair, Jiang Ruosui opened a web page and began scrolling casually.

He usually read financial and international news, so his browser typically recommended related content. But since this laptop was brand new, the first thing that popped up when he opened the news page was entertainment news.

Jiang Ruosui glanced at the article and found it uninteresting. Just as he was about to close it, a bright red “Breaking News” tag beside the headline caught his attention:

Artist Yun Yue’an Suffers Mental Breakdown at Art Exhibition

Jiang Ruosui: “?”

For some reason, whenever the name “Yun Yue’an” appeared, Jiang Ruosui, who was usually indifferent to everything, found himself easily drawn in by curiosity.

He dismissed the financial section and moved his mouse to the headline, clicking on it.

Soon, a blurry image popped up.

The photo seemed to have been taken in a dimly lit stairwell. Only a huddled figure could be seen in the corner, and there was a red mark on the wall—it was unclear if it was blood or something else.

Jiang Ruosui’s heart tightened. He quickly scanned the accompanying text, reading between the lines.

“At 10 AM today, renowned artist Yun Yue’an suddenly suffered a mental breakdown and left the interview site without explanation. He was later found collapsed in a stairwell with a head injury and was rushed to First People’s Hospital in critical condition…”

By the final lines, Jiang Ruosui had lost interest.

10 AM today?

Wasn’t that when the art exhibition was supposed to start?

And the stairwell where Yun Yue’an collapsed…

It looked exactly like the one I’d passed on my way to the parking lot.

How could Yun Yue’an have suddenly collapsed there and fallen so badly?

Could it be… because of me?

Just as Jiang Ruosui’s mind was racing with possibilities, a crisp phone ring pulled him back to the present.

He snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at the caller ID, steadied himself, and answered in a low voice:

“…Second Uncle?”

“Ruosui, did you go to Yun Yue’an’s art exhibition today?” Jiang Linwu’s voice crackled with the sound of a mouse clicking, slightly muffled by his stern tone. “Didn’t I tell you not to see him unless it was necessary? Why did you go anyway?”

Jiang Ruosui tried to explain: “…Second Uncle, I actually wanted to…”

“Enough. Don’t say another word.” Jiang Linwu sounded furious, his voice tinged with impatience. “I’ll erase the surveillance footage from the exhibition. Outside, at least concerning Yun Yue’an—you must maintain the illusion of being dead. Understand? Don’t slip up.”

“Why?” Jiang Ruosui asked. “But I’m still alive. Why create a false impression of my death in public?”

“To protect you,” Jiang Linwu replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Ruosui, you’ve lost your memory. You’ve long forgotten the pain Yun Yue’an once inflicted on you. He’s a madman, a paranoid, twisted psychopath. Don’t go near him, and don’t provoke him, understand?”

Jiang Ruosui tried to protest, “But…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Linwu’s secretary’s voice came through. Jiang Linwu hastily said, “Something’s come up. I have to hang up now. We’ll talk later,” and hung up.

Jiang Ruosui: “……”

Staring at the dark phone screen, Jiang Ruosui pressed his temple, a headache forming.

As someone accustomed to being in control, this feeling of being kept in the dark and having lost his memory was deeply unsettling. Yet, his family was using “protection” as a reason to hide everything about his past, making it difficult for Jiang Ruosui to blame them.

This meant the key to breaking through still lay with Yun Yue’an.

But… according to what everyone said, Yun Yue’an was mentally ill. Would he really tell Jiang Ruosui everything that had happened in the past?

What if he suddenly went mad?

Jiang Ruosui had never personally interacted with mentally ill people before and still held some stereotypes about them, which made him feel apprehensive.

After days of internal conflict and hesitation, curiosity and the guilt over the “incident that might have caused Yun Yue’an to fall down the stairs” finally overcame his fear. Jiang Ruosui secretly came to Yun Yue’an’s hospital again, hiding it from his family.

The hospital where Yun Yue’an was being treated wasn’t difficult to find. Although he wasn’t a celebrity, he was still a public figure, and with a little effort, one could still find out where he was.

Jiang Ruosui obtained Yun Yue’an’s schedule and nervously made his way to the hospital.

There were still quite a few visitors at Yun Yue’an’s ward, so Jiang Ruosui easily found out which VIP room he was in.

There were no bodyguards or other staff at the door of Yun Yue’an’s room. The corridor was eerily quiet. As Jiang Ruosui entered the room, he could clearly hear the sound of his leather shoes clicking on the tiled floor.

But no sound could drown out the thunderous pounding of his heart. The closer he got, the more violently his heart raced, threatening to spiral out of control.

He tried to steady himself, but his mind conjured up scenarios of what might happen when he met his ex-wife, and the tension only grew.

Moreover, Yun Yue’an might be mentally ill, a dangerous factor in the public’s eyes, ready to explode at any moment. Even Jiang Ruosui couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear.

Under the weight of these conflicting emotions, Jiang Ruosui placed his hand on the door, took several deep breaths, and slowly pushed it open to enter.

The VIP ward was spacious. Jiang Ruosui walked several steps forward before turning toward the bed.

The curtains were drawn, allowing only a sliver of sunlight to pierce through the center, illuminating the motes of dust dancing in the air.

A dim, yellow light glowed in the room. Yun Yue’an sat at the center of the bed, a bandage wrapped around his forehead, a faint crimson stain seeping through the left side. Seemingly oblivious to the pain, he was hunched over a small desk propped up against the bed, absorbed in drawing something with a watercolor brush.

He was drawing so intently that he barely noticed Jiang Ruosui’s footsteps. It wasn’t until Jiang Ruosui, unable to see clearly in the dim room, accidentally knocked over a stool by the hospital bed that Yun Yue’an suddenly flinched, as if startled, his whole body twitching nervously.

It was a truly neurotic twitch.

The movement was so violent that even Jiang Ruosui froze in place, afraid to move. Only when the colored pencil slipped from Yun Yue’an’s limp fingers, fell off the bed, and rolled to a stop beside Jiang Ruosui did he relax.

Yun Yue’an slowly raised his head.

Moments before, he had been completely immersed in his drawing, his eyes burning with a morbid fervor, red, web-like blood vessels almost filling his pupils. His entire demeanor was twisted and distorted. As Jiang Ruosui looked at him, he suddenly felt that anyone else seeing this would be terrified.

Yet, strangely, he felt no fear at all. He slowly bent down, picked up the colored pencil, straightened up, and met Yun Yue’an’s gaze from above, towering over him.

He didn’t move, didn’t leave, and didn’t speak. Yun Yue quietly observed him for a while, this time without the disbelief he’d felt before. Instead, his eyes rolled slightly before a sickly smile slowly spread across his face.

It was like a paranoiac encountering the white-moon doll he’d longed for in childhood. Despite his best efforts to conceal it, he couldn’t suppress the slight trembling of his muscles, born from extreme excitement.

He tilted his head, his movements jerky and stiff, like a puppet. His fingertips tightly gripped the pale paper, his snow-white skin almost blending into it. Combined with his crimson lips and raven hair, he resembled a spirit from a novel:

“Husband… is that you?”

Jiang Ruosui hesitated for a moment before murmuring a low “Mm.”

He said nothing more, made no further moves. Yet that single response sent Yun Yue’s excitement soaring.

This time, Jiang Ruosui didn’t run away at the sight of him, as he had in his dreams.

Fueled by this thought, Yun Yue’an felt almost overwhelmed with joy and eagerness to get out of bed.

He had forgotten that when he was chasing after Jiang Ruosui, he had accidentally fallen down the stairs and injured his leg. In an instant, he rolled off the bed, taking the table, papers, writing utensils, and quilt with him as he crashed to the floor.

Dazed, he knelt on the ground, looking utterly disheveled and helpless.

Papers fluttered past, brushing against his cheeks, making him look like a wounded puppy, his large, dark eyes wide with confusion as he knelt on the floor.

After a moment, as if struck by a sudden thought, he raised his head sharply and turned to look at Jiang Ruosui. Seeing that Jiang Ruosui hadn’t turned and walked away as he’d imagined in his fantasies, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Honey, wait for me.”

Yun Yue’an pinched his thigh hard, twisting the flesh until it turned bright red. Forcing himself to rally, he struggled to stand up, forcing a ingratiating smile at Jiang Ruosui.

“Wait for me, I’ll catch up soon.”

With that, he gripped the edge of the bed, gritted his teeth, and strained with all his might, enduring the searing pain as he tried to pull himself up. But his strength failed him, and he collapsed back to the floor.

This fall was more brutal. His head slammed against the ground, and the wound he’d been bandaging split open again, fresh blood gushing out and soaking through most of the gauze.

Jiang Ruosui: “………”

The colored pencil in his hand tightened and loosened. After a moment, he let out a soft sigh.

His feet moved unconsciously.

Yun Yue’an, head bowed and dizzy from blood loss and pain, suddenly noticed a pair of long, straight legs appear in the distance.

Then, at the edge of his vision, he saw the face he’d been longing for. The face drew closer, carrying a faint scent of pine.

A strong arm slipped beneath his knees. Yun Yue’an’s balance shifted abruptly. His vision blurred, and then he felt himself being pulled into a firm embrace, his back pressed against a solid chest.

Jiang Ruosui lifted him into his arms.

“How did your family raise you?” Jiang Ruosui asked as he laid Yun Yue’an on the bed. He propped his palm on the pillow beside Yun Yue’an’s head and met his wide-eyed gaze. “How did they make you so silly?”

Yun Yue’an: “……”

It was meant as a teasing remark, but the moment the words left his lips, Yun Yue’an’s expression of bewilderment transformed into shock.

His eyes widened, his pupils dilating as they reflected Jiang Ruosui’s smiling face.

Jiang Ruosui… Jiang Ruosui spoke to me!

This was the first time Jiang Ruosui had spoken to him since he’d started dreaming of him!

Could it be… Jiang Ruosui has forgiven him?

Or…

Yun Yue’an suddenly reached out, as if in disbelief, and cupped Jiang Ruosui’s face, his fingers tracing every feature with meticulous care. After a moment, he blurted out, “Husband? Is it really you?”

This time… it’s not a dream?

Seeing that Yun Yue’an had no intention of harming him, Jiang Ruosui allowed the man to touch his face. Just as he was about to ask about their past, Yun Yue’an suddenly seemed to realize something and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Jiang Ruosui’s neck.

Startled, Jiang Ruosui stumbled backward, instinctively trying to pull away, but the soft, snake-like arms tightened around his neck.

Jiang Ruosui stiffened. Though his expression remained impassive, his mind raced through a hundred strategies for subduing a mentally unstable patient and protecting himself.

He’s hugging me so tightly… could he be trying to strangle me?

Just as Jiang Ruosui was secretly regretting coming today, a faint whimpering sound gradually reached his ears, interrupting his thoughts.

Yun Yue’an wasn’t trying to strangle him as Jiang Ruosui had feared. Instead, he held Jiang Ruosui tightly, crying, “Husband, you’ve really come back… Take me with you.”

Jiang Ruosui froze for a moment before struggling to break free from his embrace. Grabbing Yun Yue’an’s wrist to keep him from moving erratically, he looked into his eyes with confusion. “…Take me where?”

“Heaven, or hell… anywhere will do.”

Tears still glistened in the corners of Yun Yue’an’s eyes, but his face was flushed with excitement. As he spoke, a hint of morbid excitement and anticipation flickered across his features. “Wherever you are, I’ll be there!”

He pleaded desperately, “Husband, I really want to die with you… This time, will you take me with you?”

Jiang Ruosui: “……”

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