Reina saw Minami Yuki from the corner of her eye as her husband leaned against the wall and walked in quietly.
Knowing that he was going to do something bad, Reina did not expose him, but lowered her head and waited quietly.
Sure enough, a solid body and a pair of powerful arms approached her from behind, stuck to her, hugged her, and held her in his arms.
Nan Youxi rested his chin on his wife's shoulder, touched his wife's cheek with the tip of his nose, and sniffed the fragrance on her face.
Reina turned her head, her lips were like sakura cakes, soft, smooth and sweet.
After a light kiss, the two hugged each other quietly for a while. Meat was stewing on the stove, and they stared at the blue flames at the bottom of the pot.
"If..." Nan Youxi hesitated.
"Hmm?" Reina responded by turning off the little flame.
"If everything goes back, your memory is still there, back to the time when I hadn't gone to the hospital, but in that world line, I might not necessarily choose you. Would you think that the memory of the future with me is a good thing?" Nan Youxi asked the last question.
"Just like GALGAME, you enter different character routes?"
“You actually know this.”
"Because Nao plays it so often, she always changes the protagonist's name to yours, and only targets characters like big-breasted older sisters. If she accidentally goes the wrong way, she'll be depressed for a long time."
His wife's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Nan Youxi pretended not to understand.
He said: "Just like GALGAME, do you think that wrong branch memory is a good thing or a bad thing? Would you want it?"
Reina did not answer immediately. She opened the stew pot, scooped a little soup with a spoon, and poured it into a small dish. She lowered her white neck and touched the edge of the white dish with her lips, which were wet from the kiss just now, to taste it.
Looking up, she concluded: "I would want it."
"Why?"
"Memories are just memories, and it's a good thing to have them. It's like watching a movie from the future."
"It's not just a simple memory, but also the feelings of the past." Nan Youxi corrected. Dream movies are not just memory images, but also the emotions in the images.
"Do you still have feelings? Feelings shape people. If you have feelings, the way you look at things will change."
Reina closed the lid of the pot, picked up the soup bowl, washed it in the sink, and prepared to serve the soup.
"To some extent, it will change your personality."
Minami Youxi thought of Nao and Yuko. The social phobia of the shy older sister who stayed at home improved a lot, and the puppet-weary little sister became proactive.
"It would be more appropriate to use the word improvement rather than change. Besides, that is not a wrong branch memory, but a memory of happiness that has never come." The wife corrected Nan Youxi's words.
She put the bowl down and held her husband's hand around her waist. Her palm, which was wet with water droplets, was very cool, dissipating the heat in Nan Youxi's palm.
She said: "When I was in the hospital, I often felt that I was one with the white sheets, blue hospital gowns, plastic floors, and air that smelled of disinfectant."
"Before I became an adult, my memories were of the pure white ward. All I had were white sheets, blue hospital gowns, soft floors, and pungent air. Like them, I was a member of the ward, a part of it."
"I have two feet, but I cannot walk out of the ward. I have two hands, but I can only hug the pillow. My lips are dry, but I can only drink water. My body is cold, but I can only wrap myself in a colorless blanket."
"I am me, but the proof of my identity cannot be reflected in the ward. When I was a child, I suffered for a long time because of this. Later, I abandoned this part of me. I treated myself as a dead object and integrated myself into the ward. The pillow is my best friend, the quilt is my good mother, and the window is the bad girl next door. I am the model doll of the hospital gown, the lunch box for food, and the camera for observing the ward."
His wife paused, and Nan Youxi retracted his arms and hugged her tighter.
"At that time, I didn't feel happy. I had no joy. I was a prisoner. I imprisoned myself." Reina smiled and looked back at Minami Yuki. "At that time, I was a problem girl."
"It's that problem girl who makes my heart beat so fast." Nan Youxi put his cheek against his wife's cheek.
"I think," Reina avoided his face and continued, "If I can get those memories and feelings, even if you didn't choose me, I can still get the happiness and joy in my memories. The real pity is not losing, but not having it."
"Loss is painful." Nan Youxi retorted quietly.
“Pain is also a kind of proof, proving the existence of emotions, proving my existence, proving that I am not a decoration called ‘Patient in the Ward’, proving that I am me.”
Her head lowered again, her loose hair hung on the sides of her face, and the ends of her hair swayed around her waist.
Suddenly, a drop of water fell from the end of her hair and burst on the small blue floor tile. Nan Youxi hurriedly parted his wife's hair and looked at her cheek.
She is crying.
Nan Youxi was surprised, suspecting that his cruel question had touched his wife's tear glands. He wanted to apologize, but his wife's subsequent words made him laugh and cry.
"Did you have sex with Nao?" His wife looked at him with misty eyes.
She thought her husband's problem was the snooping he did after cheating on her.
"No." Nan Youxi looked into her eyes.
"Is that Yuko?"
"No."
"Ichimi?"
"No."
"Shagui?"
"That's too much!" Nan Youxi pinched her face hard, "Every day, besides being yourself, you also use props. How can I have the energy to cheat on you?"
"You haven't cheated on anyone?"
"I only cheated on her with three of them." Nan Youxi pointed at his wife's tender lips, soft palms, and flexible legs.
The tears on the wife's face stopped, a blush appeared on her face, and her tearful face was stained by the glow of the sunset.
"If you're not cheating, why are you asking this?" She pushed Nan Youxi's hand away and let her hair cover her face again.
"Just asking about this possibility." Nan Youxi was not sure how to say it.
"I thought you were going to leave me and find another woman."
"Don't say such stupid things. I only belong to you in this life."
"I would rather you cheat with them secretly. No, openly is fine too, but you can't abandon me."
"I will not."
"Without you, my body would have died of heart disease in adulthood, and my heart would have turned into a decoration in the hospital ward even earlier. You gave me everything. If you have any ideas, you can be bolder."
"I've already said it. I won't have any other ideas in this life."
Nan Youxi held her hands, and the two of them snuggled together in the kitchen, feeling the fragrance of happiness.
"Speaking of which," Nan Youxi pointed at the stew pot, "Is this not ready yet?"
"Ah!" Reina screamed, "I forgot!"
"What a daredevil."
"Ugh! Don't call me a ghost!"
[Free simulation ends]
(End of this chapter)