Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 547 - 395. That person, once thought to be unimportant (2 updates 1)

Chapter 547: 395. That person, once thought to be unimportant (2 updates 1)

When the trial results came out, Shi Nian was unaware of it, as she was in Du Songlin’s clinic. Treatment time is shielded from any external disturbances.

Du Songlin could see that Shi Nian was somewhat nervous. He understood that making this decision must have involved a lot of internal struggle for her.

He then played soothing music to help her relax.

"Today is your first session. You need some time to get familiar with this environment, including myself, before you can fully trust us. So let’s not rush and don’t set too specific goals for yourself today. Don’t think you must remember something today."

"Let’s just sit here comfortably, listen to some music, and talk. Let the gates of your memory open slowly and naturally. You can say whatever comes to mind, letting everything happen naturally, alright?"

Shi Nian understood that this was a buffer stage set by Du Songlin so she wouldn’t suddenly face the people and events in her memory that she didn’t want to recall.

"Alright, thank you, Uncle Du." She smiled gratefully, feeling indeed a lot more relaxed.

Du Songlin said, "The results from the last test show that you have already recalled quite a bit by yourself. Could you tell me if there’s anything new you’ve remembered recently?"

Shi Nian fell into recollection, but her brows uncontrollably furrowed slightly.

"I remembered a person."

Du Songlin sounded interested, "Who is it?"

Shi Nian frowned, "An online friend with whom I chatted. I knew him for many years, but later I somehow forgot all about him. It wasn’t until recently when I chatted with my senior brother about the past that I suddenly remembered there used to be such a person."

"Oh?" There was a flash in Du Songlin’s eyes, but he didn’t show it, "What’s his identity?"

"I don’t know," Shi Nian said, a bit embarrassed, "because we were just online friends, posting and replying on a mystery enthusiast BBS. Everyone had an unspoken understanding; we didn’t pursue each other’s real identities, nor did we disclose our own to outsiders."

"The reason for doing this is that the BBS is full of mystery enthusiasts, some of whom even have high expertise. If too much real information is disclosed, a few clues might be enough for others to deduce your real identity and potentially cause unnecessary trouble."

Du Songlin nodded, "I see."

Du Songlin made a distinctive mark on his notes and continued, "How long have you known this person, and how did you interact?"

Shi Nian thought for a moment, "When the incident happened five years ago, I was 21, a junior in college. I met this person after my college entrance exams were over, when I was finally freed, and my parents allowed me to use the internet. He was the first person I encountered on that BBS and was virtually my first online friend in the virtual world."

Hearing these timestamps, Du Songlin couldn’t help but circle each date, then asked, "What did you usually talk about?"

"Anything related to mystery. Mystery novels, detective movies, mind-bending suspense TV shows; of course, including classic detective comics like Conan and Kindaichi. We discussed plot, hunted for bugs, and even wrote sequels or spin-offs."

"We also focused on current events, discussing criminal cases happening worldwide, and would dig up unsolved and mysterious cases from various countries to attempt analysis."

Du Songlin nodded, "You’re the daughter of a policeman. You have a knack for this, and you have resources in this area, so you would find more and more points of interest on this BBS."

"Exactly," Shi Nian laughed, "Back then, my classmates were keen on chatting on Q, or playing online games, but I was always immersed in the simple page of that colorless BBS. I often gave up watching movies or networking with the boys to join discussions on the forum. Others said my university life was dull, but I enjoyed every bit of it."

Du Songlin nodded as well, "University life is a formal coming-of-age and an entry into society in the trajectory of Chinese children’s lives, so this person played an extremely important role in your life."

Shi Nian didn’t deny it, "You could say that."

After speaking, she couldn’t help but feel wistful, "So I can’t understand myself. Given he was such an important person, how could I have forgotten him? Moreover, I met him before the nightmare five years ago. He was irrelevant to that nightmare, and the memory I lost was only concerning that case, but it turns out I also lost people I knew years before it."

Du Songlin keenly caught onto a word, "He? You referred to this person as ’he.’ Why? Have you already known he’s a man?"

Shi Nian hadn’t noticed it herself. When asked by Du Songlin, she shook her head in confusion, "No, I don’t know whether he’s male or female, old or young. I just subconsciously used ’he,’ maybe subconsciously concluding he was male."

"Perhaps because he’s too outstanding; his thinking and logic are too meticulous. The girls I interacted with back then often had better image thinking than logic, whereas boys excelled in logic so I intuitively assumed he was male."

Du Songlin made another mark, "Shi Nian, through such a long interaction, and listening to your Auntie Huo and An Cheng, I know you’re also a child with a talent for mystery. Based on what you see, can you roughly outline other characteristics of this person?"

Shi Nian closed her eyes, returning to the memories of back then.

During her college entrance exam year, she was 18, just turned an adult. From encountering him then, to the tragedy in her junior year, she’d known him for as long as three years without realizing it.

For those three years, they adhered to BBS rules, never asking each other’s real identities and maintaining the secrecy of their own. Back then, there was a popular saying online: "You never know if the person across is a dog," and "die upon seeing light." His logic and deduction were powerful enough to make her worry that he might be an old man, so she preferred not to ask.

Online acquaintances came and went, but she remained on that BBS for three years, and so did he, naturally bringing them closer with time. She didn’t know when it started, but every time she went online, she would first search for him and see what posts or replies he made to reassure herself before refocusing on others on the forum.

Moreover, he began to focus on her too, setting a notification for when she went online, so her system would always bring up his "welcome" whenever she logged in.

Even knowing these were just system functions, not personalized at all, anyone could do it... she couldn’t help feeling a subtle joy.

Aside from these system functions, he would intentionally mimic some of her small habits in replies to her posts, such as the hand-typed emoticons she often used or her grammatical quirks in wording.

These habits had a girlish touch, and when he used them, it created a humorous contrast effect that made her smile involuntarily.

Maybe he was deliberately trying to make her laugh, she thought to herself.

During that era, at that age, just stepping into the bizarre and bustling world of the internet, girls inevitably had relationships with online romances, whether distantly or closely. Although she herself didn’t like online romance, she didn’t know how to define this subtle feeling towards the person.

Just whenever her heart felt an unusual sweetness, she sternly warned herself that the person might also be a girl, a creepy old man, or even a married person, so she forced herself to suppress all feelings.

Time has passed, yet recalling this now, she’s surprised to find these delicate and contradictory feelings still so vivid.

Memories are as hazy as smoke; she can only search for them in her recollection now, causing her to sigh slightly with longing.

Back then, being young with limited experience, many features of the person were unclear, but upon reflection today, she can already outline the person’s contour.

She lifted her eyes, "He is male, I can confirm now."

Because of his way of thinking, because of his wording habits, especially the deliberate mimicry of her girlish expressions and words during interesting parts, all unequivocally indicate he is male.

"He likely doesn’t live in Mainland China."

Although all in Chinese, the usage of Chinese varies vastly among people from different countries and regions, with even clear distinctions. For instance, some Taiwanese Chinese usage carries semiliterate literary nuances akin to the semiliterate novels of the 1930s at times; Hong Kong, influenced heavily by English, has relatively more borrowed terms.

She lowered her head, "In careful discrimination now, he could be an overseas Chinese."