Chapter 62: You’ve Changed

Chapter 62 You Have Changed

Xu Moxing had gone to bed very early the previous night, so he woke up around six in the morning today.

Su Lichen was still asleep, lying on his side, facing Xu Moxing.

Okay, he hadn't lost his memory. He still remembered everything.

Because right now, unlike when he had amnesia, waking up to see Su Lichen's sleeping face didn't make him feel deep love for this person or want to steal a kiss while he was asleep.

He was conflicted now, because the pain of the past and the sweetness of the present were at war in his mind.

In the days since his memory loss, Su Lichen had prepared breakfast for him every day when he was injured, hired someone to take care of him, taken him to the park on weekends, won him stuffed animals, and driven him to Yangcheng for checkups every so often.

At work, he taught him how to protect himself and patiently guided him.

He remembered the things Su Lichen had said and the expression on his face when he said them.

It wasn't an act. Su Lichen didn't bother pretending with people who were useless to him.

Those words were true, but the silences, the dishonesty, the impatience, and even the complaints about him to friends before he lost his memory were true.

Xu Moxing turned over so his back was to him, reached up and grabbed a stuffed toy from the head of the bed, hugging it as he tried to figure out what to do.

Financially, his current job didn't pay much, but the work pressure was much less than when he was in auditing, and he didn't need to travel much.

He couldn't trust Su Lichen at the moment, but he didn't deny that he still had feelings for him.

Su Lichen was the only person he had ever loved. Even if Su Lichen had once made him miserable, even if thinking of Su Lichen used to make him sad, he still loved him.

But he wasn't pathetic. Even if there was still love, he couldn't be with him again.

He didn't want to become like his mother—complaining and suffering yet unable to leave. That was too pathetic. No matter how much he loved him, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Xu Moxing didn't need love like that.

Maybe... he could wait and see a little longer. After all, his job was going okay, and he didn't plan to quit for now.

As for the changes in Su Lichen, he could keep an eye on it. It didn't matter. If it didn't work out, he would go back to Yangcheng.

He wasn't some morally flawless saint. He was a petty, grudging pessimist.

Speaking of Yangcheng, what about the apartment he rented there? After he and Su Lichen broke up, he lived alone and cooked for himself to save money. He bought a lot of appliances—had the landlord thrown them all out?

Where were his things?!

Thinking of this, Xu Moxing immediately pulled out his phone to look up his landlord's contact info.

Couldn't find the contact!

That bastard Su Lichen deleted his landlord's WeChat!

His clothes and other things—Su Lichen must have helped move them over. So what about the rest of his stuff?

Xu Moxing's heart ached. He had paid for all of it with his own money!

Who could he even ask about that?

Xu Moxing was staring at his phone in frustration. An hour later, Su Lichen woke up.

"Mo, why are you up so early? Still feeling unwell?"

Su Lichen leaned over to try to kiss him, but Xu Moxing jumped out of bed.

"I'm fine. I'm hungry, so I'll go make breakfast. What do you want to eat?"

Su Lichen looked at him, didn't notice anything unusual, and was a bit disappointed he hadn't gotten a kiss, but he didn't push it. He stayed lying in bed.

"Anything you want, just whip something up."

"Mm. Then you can sleep a little longer. I won't disturb you."

Xu Moxing walked out without another word.

The New Year's holiday came and went like that. No matter how turbulent his emotions were, Xu Moxing kept up a calm front.

After New Year's, the days suddenly became very quiet.

It wasn't that things were actually quiet—Xu Moxing had gone quiet himself.

He went to work, came home, ate, and slept as usual.

When Su Lichen asked what he wanted to eat, he would answer.

When Su Lichen asked if he wanted to go out on the weekend, he said okay.

When Su Lichen said it was cold and to dress warmly, he said fine.

The words were the same, but he was less proactive and rarely shared about his day. Now he only replied when Su Lichen texted first or shared something, and even then, he just went along with the conversation.

Rather than doing it on purpose, it was more like every time he wanted to share something with Su Lichen, a voice in his head would say—"Have you forgotten what happened before? Shut up. Don't torment him with your constant need to share."

Then he'd feel a little sad and go quiet, only sharing trivial things with Su Lichen.

In the morning when he was leaving, Xu Moxing stood in the entryway putting on his shoes. He left earlier than Su Lichen.

Su Lichen called out to him, "Mo."

Xu Moxing turned back to look at him.

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

Su Lichen didn't ask further.

"I'll head out then."

Xu Moxing nodded and closed the door behind him and left for work.

Su Lichen stared at the closed door. He felt something was seriously off. Knowing Xu Moxing, he would normally be curious and concerned, asking things like—

"Nothing how? If you have something to say, just say it. We're like family, just tell me." and similar remarks.

But lately, he hadn't said anything like that.

If Su Lichen didn't bring something up first, Xu Moxing wouldn't ask.

On the first floor, a gust of cold wind blew in. Xu Moxing pulled his scarf higher up and headed to the subway station without breaking stride.

When he arrived at the office, Xiao Ke was already there, eating a steamed bun at her desk.

Seeing him come in, Xiao Ke mumbled something indistinctly.

Xu Moxing didn’t catch it, but he couldn’t be bothered to ask—probably something pointless anyway. He pretended he had heard, gave a grunt in acknowledgment, and sat down to start up his computer.

Xiao Ke swallowed the bun and leaned in. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Xiao Ke said, tilting her head to look at him. “It just feels like you’ve been a bit different the last couple of days.”

Xu Moxing stared at the screen as it slowly lit up before he finally spoke.

“I don’t think so. Nothing’s happened to me. Maybe I’ve just been too busy lately, and it’s giving you the wrong impression.”

Xiao Ke studied him for a moment, then didn’t press further. She turned back to finish her bun.

At lunch, Xiao Ke started talking about her boyfriend again.

“He went off to play games again this weekend. And last time he forgot my birthday, but recently he gave me a gold bracelet.”

Xu Moxing glanced at the bracelet she deliberately showed off on her wrist, thinking to himself, *That guy’s that generous? I find that hard to believe. Maybe this bracelet is fake?*

Xiao Ke added, “I actually paid a third of the cost myself. He kept saying it was too expensive and that he couldn’t afford food, so I chipped in a third.”

Xu Moxing listened while silently mocking in his head—*If you can’t afford a gift, don’t give one. And then he takes a third of the money? If it’s fake, he essentially made a third of the cost back as profit.*

As he thought this, Xu Moxing picked up a bite of rice with his chopsticks.

In the past, he would have gotten upset about how her boyfriend treated her, felt angry on her behalf, and wondered why she didn’t break up with him.

Later, after Su Lichen taught him those things when he had amnesia, he came to see it as Xiao Ke’s own business; no need for him to get worked up, just treat it like listening to a story.

But now? Well, sorry, but he’s become a spiteful person. He thinks, *If you don’t break up, then just put up with it.* And in his head, he’d snark that the two of them are a perfect match—one willing to dish it out, the other to take it.

“Do you think he’s finally realized he was wrong? He still loves me, right?” Xiao Ke asked him.

“Mm, probably,” he replied.

Xiao Ke gave him a look, as if she sensed something was off about him but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

She poked at the rice on her plate for a while before speaking again. “Forget it, I’m used to it. That’s just how he is. I don’t expect him to change.”

Xu Moxing didn’t respond, continuing his silent commentary: *Your choice, your burden. Whatever.*

His kindness and genuine sincerity toward others—he no longer had the patience for these boring people. Maintaining superficial politeness toward them was enough.

In the afternoon, Sister Zhong came out of the finance office and paused at his desk.

“Xiao Xu, come here a moment.”

Xu Moxing stood up and followed her into the finance office.