My Ex-Girlfriend Is a Zombie Queen - Chapter 6

“Do I know you?”

Seeing her frozen in place, the woman repeated the question. Her face remained a mask of indifference, and though a flicker of pained tenderness flashed through her eyes as she looked down, it vanished far too quickly to be certain.

“A-Li, you…” Lu Yu had never been treated this way. Even when they had their disagreements, Ye Qianli was never cold or biting; usually, a little bit of acting spoiled was enough to make her soften instantly.

Now, Lu Yu’s mind was a complete blank. A thousand words were wedged in her throat, yet she couldn’t force out a single syllable.

“I’m fine, and I don’t need anyone to look after me.”

Ye Qianli slowly withdrew her hand from Lu Yu’s palm, inch by inch, before issuing a blunt command to leave. “I want to be alone for a while.”

“But your injuries…”

With a sharp snap, Ye Qianli yanked the IV tube from her arm and tossed it aside. Shocked by the sudden movement, Lu Yu moved to call a nurse, but she caught sight of the woman pulling on her coat with clinical efficiency. Her previously pale complexion had returned to normal with unsettling speed.

Aside from the blood-stained gauze wrapped around her head, which glowed a piercing red, she looked entirely unharmed.

As the woman moved toward the door, Lu Yu found a sudden burst of strength and grabbed her arm as if she were clutching the last shred of a dying hope. Her voice shook violently. “A-Li, do you really not remember me? We’ve…”

We’ve been together for ten years.

The pain in her chest was agonizing, followed by a tidal wave of terror that threatened to pull her under. she had never imagined that the cliché of amnesia after a car accident would happen to her. Let alone to the person she loved most in the world.

“I’m sorry.”

After a long silence, the woman let out a heavy sigh and whispered those two words. Suddenly, she averted her gaze, and the hidden softness in her eyes was swallowed by a sharp, icy resolve.

The door was pushed open as four or five figures in white lab coats hurried in. Lu Yu vaguely recognized the faces; they weren’t hospital doctors, but staff from the research institute. Several were Ye Qianli’s colleagues. The only one she could name was Zhao Hui, a young but tactful woman.

“Director Ye, do you really not remember anything?” Zhao Hui was the first to speak, leaning over to pick up the overturned medical equipment and checking the monitors.

The woman watched her former assistant with a cold, silent stare.

“You can forget anyone, but you can’t forget your sister-in-law! She’s the one you—” Zhao Hui began to plead, but she was cut off mid-sentence.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Qianli turned her head. Her gaze swept over Lu Yu, who was on the verge of tears, without pausing for even a second. “Apparently, she isn’t even the type of person I would usually like.”

Her tone was as flat as stagnant water, sounding exceptionally heartless.

“…Regardless of what happened before, we shouldn’t see each other again.”

She pried Lu Yu’s hand off her sleeve and walked straight toward the door. Her back was straight, and she didn’t look back once. She left as if they were nothing more than total strangers.

“Wait, Director Ye!” Zhao Hui was the first to react, gesturing for the others to follow as they chased after her.

Soon, the ward was empty. Only the cold wind blowing in through the window made the curtains rustle with a lonely, desolate sound.

Lu Yu stared down at the polished floor, feeling the warmth drain out of her body until she felt like nothing more than a hollow shell. As the wind brushed against her sleeves, she felt no chill beyond a physical shiver; her mind was entirely occupied by the sight of the woman’s decisive departure.

Ye Qianli had forgotten her; forgotten everything they shared.

She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel, but the moment the woman vanished from her sight, her heart felt utterly empty. She wanted to chase after her, but the words “we shouldn’t see each other again” were like a sharp blade that had been driven deep into her chest. She had lost the ability to feel any more pain.

Ring! Ring!

Her phone rang persistently, over and over again. Lu Yu swiped at the screen, accidentally hitting the answer button instead of hanging up.

“Miss Lu, we found the collection piece you were looking for. I was wondering if you had time to stop by the shop tomorrow…” The manager’s voice was tinged with a fawning tone.

The collection piece? Hearing those words felt strangely foreign now.

She had spent so much effort on it, asking so many people and losing sleep over the search. Now that the gift was finally ready, there was no one left to celebrate the anniversary with her.

“I’ll buy it,” she said. Her eyes were dull, and she didn’t think for long before telling him her decision mechanically.

It was too late. If only she had listened to Ye Qianli a few days ago and moved the anniversary forward. She let out a bitter, silent laugh.

*****

It was nearly midnight by the time she got home.

Lu Yu was so dazed that she forgot to turn on the lights. She curled up like an abandoned kitten on the edge of the sofa, her fingers tightly clutching her phone, which was nearly out of battery. After leaving the hospital, she had called Ye Qianli countless times, only to be met by the cold, automated message that the phone was turned off.

She was willing to overlook everything; the coldness, the amnesia and pretend none of it had happened. She had only one wish: for Ye Qianli to come back to her. Beyond that, she asked for nothing. Even if the woman hated her for now, she believed that one day she would remember. And even if she didn’t, they could create new memories together.

She wrote a message, edited it, deleted it, and rewrote it again. She agonized over the wording for a long time, but when she finally hit send, a large red exclamation mark popped up.

You are no longer a contact of this user.

Lu Yu stared blankly at the small text. Just above it was the message from noon, where Ye Qianli had asked what she wanted for dinner.

How about duck braised in red wine?

She had been too busy to reply at the time. Now, it seemed she would never taste that dish again.

Ever since they had moved in together, Ye Qianli had taken over the cooking. Perhaps because she had lived alone for so long, she was an expert in the kitchen, capable of producing four or five high-quality dishes in an hour. Lu Yu remembered the first few times they ate together; the woman would watch her with a nervous intensity, and her lips would only curve into a smile once Lu Yu praised the food.

Later, when she asked her about it, Ye Qianli had admitted she was afraid Lu Yu wouldn’t like such “simple, home-cooked meals.” From that day on, Lu Yu had lost all interest in the banquets her socialite friends invited her to. To her, any table without Ye Qianli was bland and tasteless. She couldn’t swallow a single bite of it.

The fragile string in her mind snapped again, and she suddenly ran to the kitchen, flicking on the light. The harsh glare made her wince, and when she opened her eyes, they were dry and burning. On the cutting board, the duck had been sliced with the precise, meticulous knife work she knew so well. Even the green onions were perfectly chopped.

Strangely, the large pot of water was still sitting there with its lid on, exactly as it had been before the accident. As if possessed, Lu Yu turned on the stove. She stared into space for a while before clumsily adding the ingredients once the water began to boil.

She wasn’t hungry; she just wanted to taste something that carried the other woman’s presence, to briefly lie to herself that Ye Qianli hadn’t truly left.

When it came time to add the wine, she realized the bottle was empty. Perhaps it had run out during the last meal. Since they didn’t usually keep a stock of alcohol at home, it became clear: Ye Qianli must have been out buying wine when the accident happened.

Her heart sank as she watched the steam rise from the pot. Even without a drop of alcohol, she felt a wave of dizzying, drunken nausea.

Support My Ex-Girlfriend Is a Zombie Queen