It was hard for Gu Wei to remember things.
A monumental problem that affected his studies in school, and even now when he'd become an adult, it was still a major problem.
Gu Wei's brain seemed to process things more sluggishly when it came to memories and he always had to wrack his brain to a breaking point before he got anything.
Right now, staring at Ha Xing in disbelief, Gu Wei could not, for the life of him, recall anything crush-like related to Zhai Mei.
In his head, she was a classmate who didn't talk much - now he knew why - and was part of their circle.
"Yes, you don't remember? The first person you ever liked was Zhai Mei. You wouldn't shut up about her till you discovered Fu Yuan."
Ha Xing said, knowing very well how treacherous Gu Wei's memories were.
In the meantime, Gu Wei's confusion was spiralling the more Ha Xing talked.
He'd crushed on Zhai Mei? Then discovered Fu Yuan Jie Jie after?
Ha Xing's words were like computed codings to his ears. He heard them, knew they were true, but couldn't understand them.
"Wait a second… Wait, you mean I like-I used to like Zhai Mei? But I didn't even know her!"
Gu Wei's outburst was met with a dismissive wave from Ha Xing.
"You don't need to know a person to crush on them. Gu Wei didi, you know this better than anyone."
Gu Wei grabbed a pillow and threw it at the two-faced idiot. Gu Wei was his 'didi' only when it benefited him.
"Ow!"
The fluffy cotton hit Ha Xing's legs in a soft smack, and he rubbed over the area, pained at his roommate's aggressiveness.
Gu Wei ignored him and leaned his elbows on his leg, thinking about the surrealness of everything.
To get things straight, Ha Xing was telling Gu Wei that he liked Zhai Mei in high school, then Fu Yuan Jie Jie.
That meant Fu Yuan Jie Jie was his second crush. What? This was unacceptable.
Gu Wei had been living all this time with the information that Fu Yuan was the first and only person he'd ever loved, and he hadn't hesitated to share the info with other fans.
It was even in his account bio on Veibo. Gu Wei had been proud of himself for keeping pure and sharing his heart with his Jie Jie alone.
Now that Ha Xing had revealed that it was all false, Gu Wei felt like an imposter. Did that mean he'd been unintentionally lying?
There was also the possibility that Ha Xing was spouting nonsense, but unlike Gu Wei, Ha Xing's recollection range was at the peak of artificial intelligence.
He could probably tell you his experience as a fetus in his mother's belly. A complete opposite of Gu Wei.
That meant it was true. And weirdly, the information had clicked as if it had finally found its rightful place in his brain.
Gu Wei was getting overwhelming info in 24 hours and his head was starting to slow gears.
One thing still bothered Gu Wei, however. If he'd crushed on Zhai Mei in his teens, then what had gone wrong?
Gu Wei got his answer from Ha Xing, the everlasting memory cloud, and wished he had never asked. Had he been complaining about overload a few moments ago?
This time, Ha Xing's information was bordering on fiction, and Gu Wei's head pounded with the arrival of a headache.
What was that saying again?
A person's life can be upturned in the span of a day, an hour, minutes, or a few seconds, and currently, Gu Wei was the embodiment of it.
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Now fully equipped with the whole story, Gu Wei felt even more horrible towards Zhai Mei. He had probably made her feel left out and dismissed.
What was most annoying was, Gu Wei knew sign language, had a degree in it, was perfectly fluent, and made a living with it.
Being a Sign Language Private Tutor, he worked alongside people with speech and hearing impairment frequently.
Gu Wei was so angry with himself for not noticing the glaring signs and assuming like everyone in life did, that she could talk.
He'd studied this in school and it applied in life too.
How humans always assumed everyone around them was the same, only when they meet someone like Zhai Mei, do they come to the realization that oh, different people exist.
And therein lies the problem.
Because these people are different in the publics' eyes, they are immediately labeled 'weird', and society puts them under a special label, as in their eyes, they are 'whole' and these people with impairments, were 'incomplete and imperfect'.
Automatically fitting into the special people's label and becoming a distinct label to society.
Gu Wei had worked hard to make life easier for people who fitted into such labels, and now, he'd become one of the loud obnoxious beings.
Those types of people who raise their voices at hearing-impaired persons, foolishly thinking their loud voice will get through.
What bullshit. If the person can read lips, talk like a respectful person, and if the person can't, do them the honor of taking a piece of paper and writing like a human being.
What made Gu Wei more ashamed was, he had always been the latter, trying his best to make it easier for the majority to feel accepted.
But now, he was like those loud humans, even worse because he claimed not to be.
Had he made the same mistakes in the past years too? Had he been part of the standard society all along?
Pretending to be aware when he actually wasn't. Gu Wei couldn't recall such a misunderstanding as Zhai Mei's.
It seemed when it came to that person, his memory took a worse turn than it originally was.
A week had passed and Gu Wei was hesitating to contact Zhai Mei. He didn't have her contact information, but he could collect it from their class 13 mates.
They would tease him to the ends of the earth about it, but it would be worth it.
The problem was that Gu Wei had no face to do such a thing. And he doubted Zhai Mei would reply if he reached out.
Gu Wei's predicament once again, was a dilemma for the higher beings of the earth. And Gu Wei was not a being from the heavens.
The weight of the looming decision made Gu Wei's back slump unnecessarily now, and he had joined the hunched Master Ha Xing in his spine folding.
His friend had inquired about his pale complexion the night before, and Gu Wei didn't have the heart to say he did not remember for the tenth time, so he dumped it on exhaustion.
Gu Wei hadn't wasted time in turning off his side of the light and going to bed, leaving a bewildered Ha Xing, who automatically went back to work.
Ha Xing worked from home, the little sucker, while Gu Wei had to wake up every morning at 7:00 AM to open his shop and prepare for the day's appointed customers.
It was not easy, but do this for 4 years, and you're awake minutes before the alarm.
But on this day, Gu Wei did not blink a single eye before the alarm, nor did he stir when it rang.
This guilt-stricken man slept through the shrieking sound of his alarm and awoke an hour later. The day had begun unnaturally for Gu Wei.
Fortunately, his accountant, Mo Ran, had arrived unusually early and had performed his routine in his stead.
When Gu Wei arrived, his gratitude for this accountant overcame him to the point of physical gratification, and he squeezed her to him in a warm thank you.
Mo Ran's arms were completely trapped in Gu Wei's bear hug and she sighed.
"Mr. Gu, please refrain from physical displays of gratitude. If you want to thank me, do it in cash. Your way can easily be translated to workplace harassment."
Hearing this, Gu Wei immediately stepped back, adjusting Mo Ran's clothing as he did.
"Aiyaa Miss Mo, what gratitude are you talking about? I just missed your filling presence and hugged you just now to show my friendly love. Is that too much from an emotional boss?"
Gu Wei said, carefully avoiding the cash reference and patting Mo Ran's shoulder in a calm gesture.
Mo Ran swept his arms away and walked by him, heading to the door and turning the sign from CLOSED to OPEN.
Gu Wei breathed out in relief as the talk about cash left the conversation.
His accountant was always sprouting grey hair from Gu Wei whenever she brought up a raise in her salary.
Gu Wei would happily oblige if he didn't have his own expenses and self-caused grey hair already growing from his head.
Mo Ran indeed deserved a raise. She was doing more work than her job requested, a feat Gu Wei had acknowledged through the years, but only through his feasible attempts, much like the hug just now, and that was never enough.
Mo Ran was an employee after all, and Gu Wei could only truly show his thanks in a way Mo Ran would appreciate.
How Gu Wei wished money fell from trees at that moment. All he would do was swipe open a check and offer it to Mo Ran in a display of bossy coolness.
"This is for you Mo Ran, you've worked hard, here's your rewards for the gruesome years."
Gu Wei sighed deeply as the vivid image faded out. Wishful thinking was sweet when it was at an acknowledgeable distance from your reality.
Mo Ran passed him by again as she headed inside their office, a space that was slowly feeling cramped with the increase of paperwork.
Gu Wei looked around his business, double-checking if everything was in place.
The foamy chairs were in their orderly lines around the learning table at the far side of the square-cube space.
Aligned by the wall of the comfortable chairs, was the shelf, clean and full to the brim with notepads and textbooks. A few pencil holders were living within the wooden planks too.
Gu Wei was standing on the other side, with a full-length mirror fixed into the wall, and the same chairs and table huddled in a corner.
The other corner had decorated plants and a door leading to the staff area, which Mo Ran had disappeared into.
Gu Wei's reflection beckoned him and he glanced briefly at his appearance.
His black hair was a halo over his head, his fringe stopping just over his eyebrows. Gu Wei had never grown it out and the length brushing just over his nape was a witness to this.
His outfit was casual and simple.
Gu Wei's line of work didn't require uniform or office wear, so he usually donned a sweater, paired with comfortable pants or joggers, and was ready for work.
Today's wear was just as simple, grey joggers and its coupled grey hooded sweater, covered with an unbuttoned black overcoat to ward off the cold.
Gu Wei had always appeared average to himself, with an oval-shaped face, a long thin nose, two medium-sized lips, and his defining feature: His thick eyebrows.
His clothes weren't anything special too. Feeling like he'd wasted enough time for the day, Gu Wei followed Mo Ran's footsteps and went into the office, where he would check his schedule and appointments.
Today was Friday, so his workload was extra full. Parents usually booked appointments for their teenage children due to schools closing earlier on Fridays, so Gu Wei was swamped with tutoring impatient children for 10 hours.
Mo Ran handed him an iPad displaying his work for the day, and Gu Wei finally saw what day it was.
Friday, 8th of November. Eh? Wasn't today Fu Yuan Jie Jie's campaign recruitment application?
Gu Wei stopped halfway in taking off his coat, one hand free, gripping the iPad, the other still in the confines of the heavy fabric.
Gu Wei wanted to smack himself, how could he forget such a thing? Had he not added it to his list of reminders?
That wasn't important now. The event started at 10:00 and the time now was…?
"Ahhhh! My god, it's 9:35?!"
The disbelief in his voice matched his loudness, and Mo Ran jumped in her seat, looking over to find her boss with half his coat hanging from him.
"Mr. Gu, please refrain from loud noises. They hurt my ears, thank you."
With that said, Mo Ran returned to her papers, while Gu Wei stood like a statue and tried to figure out how he could make it to the campaign in time and avoid canceling his appointments.
The rustling of papers lit a bulb in Gu Wei and his eyes shifted to his accountant.
"Miss Mo, what level did you say you were again?" Mo Ran reluctantly met his gaze, "Level for what?"
Gu Wei dropped the iPad on his desk and tapped his foot impatiently, "You're learning sign language right? What level are you in?"
Squinting suspiciously at her boss, Mo Ran clamped her mouth shut and decided not to tell. She could already tell what he wanted, and he was nervously tapping his foot in that way of his.
Gu Wei noticed Mo Ran's hesitation and pleaded with his eyes. Please please please.
He hated asking a favor of Mo Ran, she'd done more than enough, but he could not miss this, and he'd treat her to a meal afterward.
Mo Ran relented, shook her head at Gu Wei and nodded towards the door, "Just go."
Gu Wei didn't waste his precious time. He bowed three times and was gone in the flash of a second.
Mo Ran made to tell him to properly put on his coat, but the person had adopted the power of speed in that instant, and the words died in her throat.
Shaking her head once more, Mo Ran returned to her accounting.