Volume One, Chapter 20: What Truly Transpired During That Time?

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Compared to his current self, always dressed in suits, Shen Chi Yan watched the surveillance footage of himself wearing a pure white T-shirt, his hair casually tousled, eyes bright and spirited. That face, adorned with a radiant and audacious smile, exuded a vibrant and rebellious youthful energy.

The person on the monitor bore the same face as himself, yet Shen Chi Yan felt utterly unfamiliar with him. In his memory, he had never smiled like that.

Shen Zheng Hao was often too busy to be home, and Gu Zhi Yan was constantly filming, leaving Shen Chi Yan’s relationship with his parents rather distant. His grandmother, treating him as the head of the Shen family, was extremely strict with him. While others enjoyed their free time or vacations playing and relaxing, he was sent by his grandmother to military-style training camps for discipline.

While other children lived carefree lives, playing games or chasing girls, he was assigned to work as the lowest-level employee in the family company. He was cold and detached, unable to blend in with others, let alone smile so openly at a stranger like a shop assistant.

What had happened during that period?

The store’s surveillance had no audio, so he couldn’t hear what the Shen Chi Yan in the video was saying. Soon after, he pulled out a photo. The footage was low resolution and grainy due to the long recording time. Besides, he merely glanced at the phone hurriedly and then stared at the screen with a foolish grin, looking worthless.

Shen Chi Yan paused the video and stared at the pixelated girl on the screen for a long time, unable to discern who she was.

But... that phone looked familiar — he thought he had seen it in the bedroom of the old family home.

With that thought, Shen Chi Yan immediately went to the old residence. From his bedside table, he found the obsidian black phone, its screen badly cracked from the car accident he had endured.

The phone had long been unused and was out of power. He found the charger, powered it up, and switched it on.

The screen lit up, displaying a pink wallpaper filled with stars, exactly like the starry pattern drawn by the girl from his dream.

Shen Chi Yan took a deep breath and entered the password.

"Incorrect password. You have two attempts remaining."

The cold, mechanical female voice made his brow furrow. Almost all his passwords were the same — his grandmother’s birthday. How could it be wrong?

Could it be that during the time he lost his memory, the password was changed to his own birthday?

Knowing himself well, Shen Chi Yan was certain that was not the case.

He thought for a moment and then entered Lin Qiutong’s birthday.

"Incorrect password. You have one attempt remaining."

If Shen Chi Yan remembered correctly, this phone was a custom gift from Yu Sinian on his eighteenth birthday.

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Shen Chi Yan immediately called Yu Sinian. Before Yu Sinian’s voice could be heard, a soft, adorable meow came through.

"Xiao Hei, tell your dad to answer the phone."

Yu Sinian’s cat was a pure white Angora, ironically named Xiao Hei ("Little Black") because Yu Sinian thought calling a white cat Xiao Bai ("Little White") was too plain.

"Why are you calling so late?"

"Do you remember the phone you gave me on my eighteenth birthday?"

"Of course, I haven’t lost my memory!"

Feeling slightly insulted, Shen Chi Yan was speechless.

"I don’t know the screen unlock password. Is there any way to recover it?"

"How many times have you tried?"

"Twice."

"Then don’t try a third time unless you’re absolutely sure."

"Why not?"

"The phone is customized. If you enter the wrong password more than three times, all data inside will be erased."

At that moment, Shen Chi Yan was somewhat relieved he hadn’t risked entering the last attempt blindly.

What if he had been wrong!

"Is there any way to unlock the phone without the password?"

"No way!"

"That can’t be."

Yu Sinian scoffed. "When the phone was made, I asked if you wanted a recovery program in case you forgot the password. You said no, insisting you’d never forget."

Shen Chi Yan was speechless; he didn’t know what had possessed him to suddenly change the password.

"Is there really no other way?"

"If there were, do you think I wouldn’t tell you? The only way now is for you to remember the password perfectly."

Shen Chi Yan grew restless and asked, "Sinian, in what circumstances would someone suddenly remember they changed their phone password?"

"You should ask Shen Keqin; she often changes her passwords and forgets them."

Shen Chi Yan found Yu Sinian’s remark reasonable and sent a message to Shen Keqin.

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Soon, Shen Keqin replied.

"Of course people change passwords whenever they want, but most change them to important anniversaries or the birthdays of someone they admire. Brother, why are you asking?"

"Nothing, just getting ready for bed."

Shen Keqin: "..."

Holding the phone, Shen Chi Yan fell into deep thought. If it was the birthday of someone he admired, why wasn’t it Lin Qiutong’s?

Could it be that between him and Lin Qiutong there was some significant anniversary?

He tried hard to recall, but his head ached and he couldn’t come up with anything.

He grew agitated. What exactly was he doing during the period he lost his memory!?

Unable to sleep all night, Shen Chi Yan arrived at the company the next day with a sullen face, radiating a cold and irritable aura that made everyone instinctively keep their distance.

He also faced unprecedented challenges at work.

With Ding Sheng Group having reached this stage, the domestic market was saturated. Shen Chi Yan wanted to expand overseas and enlarge trade, but he needed partners.

Smith was his most desired collaborator, but Smith was a henpecked husband who always obeyed his wife, and his wife Daphne seemed to dislike Shen Chi Yan, so the cooperation kept stalling.

"How’s the investigation going?"

"The couple is very devoted; it’s almost impossible to find any weaknesses. However... recently, President Zhou Mingsheng of Hongsheng Group met with Smith and his wife. They got along well, and Smith’s couple is interested in cooperating with Hongsheng."

Shen Chi Yan’s handsome brow furrowed deeply. After a long silence, he said calmly to Li Nanxun, "Bring Song Qinian to the company."

Li Nanxun seemed to guess Shen Chi Yan’s intent and nodded lightly. "Yes."

Song Qinian felt uneasy when summoned to the company, uncertain of Shen Chi Yan’s purpose, especially after their big disagreement the night before.

On the eighteenth floor, Song Qinian pulled out her phone and quickly typed a message to Li Nanxun: "Secretary Li, do you know why Shen Chi Yan wants to see me?"

"Just go inside and you’ll know."

Song Qinian: "..."

For some reason, she had an ominous feeling.

Since she was here, she might as well face it. Shen Chi Yan wouldn’t kill her, after all.