Chapter 205

The hospital had already finished the paperwork, so Xia would be able to go straight to the delivery room when she arrived.

An Zhiren was waiting for them in the ward to take Xia there and would have to go back to help carry things over. "Mom said she'll come at noon to bring food. If I'm late getting here, just wait for me."

After An Zhiren left, An Zhiren said quietly, "Actually, the food here at the hospital is perfectly fine, and you can use the stove too. I feel like Mom is going overboard - by the time she makes the food at home and brings it over, it'll be cold."

As the one being doted on, Xia really couldn't complain no matter whether it was good or bad, she could only smile as An Zhiren grumbled.

After spending some time with Xia in the ward, a nurse called for An Zhiren from outside, "Dr. An, the clinic is swamped and everyone's looking for you."

"Coming right now," An Zhiren responded. He turned to Xia, "Little sister, you just rest here for now. I have to go take care of some things. I'll come check on you when I have time."

Xia hadn't given birth yet. With people around all over the place outside the ward, she wouldn't be too worried on her own.

She smiled and said, "Then go take care of things quickly. I'll be fine by myself, don't worry about me."

An Zhiren nodded and left.

Xia stayed in the ward for a bit. With nothing to do, she went out for a walk to familiarize herself with the area. After all, she would likely be here for at least a few days.

It had just finished raining. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky and the air still held some dampness. The leaves rustled in the gentle breeze. Ripples formed in the small pond in the yard.

The ground of the yard was paved with stone bricks. Xia was wearing leather shoes but wasn't worried the wet ground would be slippery after the rain.

She walked to the edge of the pond and enjoyed the faint coolness from the breeze on her cheeks, a peaceful smile on her face.

Behind her, she heard footsteps approaching. Xia turned around to see someone walking towards her.

It was him, the man who had awakened memories.

"What a coincidence seeing you again, comrade. It reminds me of when we first met in my awakened memories - after a rain, she went to the school to bring an umbrella for Teacher Liu, but it stopped raining by the time she arrived."

When she had turned around, her smile was dazzling in the sunlight. That instant when their eyes met, she had entered his sight and his heart.

But that wasn't how it was supposed to be in his memories.

From the moment those memories awakened, he had been waiting to encounter her again, thinking that if they were fated in this life, he would protect her from worry for a lifetime. But he waited for a long time and she never appeared.

Zhao Runze checked into her circumstances and learned that there was no An Meixia in the An family this life. Instead, there was an additional An ZhiXia, while An MeiYun who had ruined his and Meixia's lives in his memories had died early on.

An ZhiXia still married into the Pei family, but her husband had changed from Pei JianGuo to Pei Jing, the outstanding young uncle of the Pei family by all accounts.

Zhao Runze thought this An ZhiXia shouldn't be his Meixia, but when he saw the identical face and gentle temperament at their last meeting, his excitement was tinged with an empty feeling in his heart.

The girl he loved in his memories existed but had married someone else before even meeting him.

This made Zhao Runze doubt whether the extra memories in his mind were merely wishful thinking he had imagined.

"Coincidence or intention, comrade? I'm a pregnant woman about to give birth. You should keep your distance," Xia said guardedly upon this second meeting with the man. She didn't dislike him at first sight of their initial encounter, but learning he was a memory awakener made her think further.

He recognized her so must know the first life's An Meixia. She had no memories of An Meixia herself.

He had called her Meixia right away, so the one he knew was likely the first life's An Meixia and not her.

She was An ZhiXia and only An ZhiXia.

No matter what history this person had with An Meixia, it was unrelated to her.

She only wanted to live her own good life in this lifetime and feel content with a perfect ending.

Zhao Runze froze, seemingly not expecting her to say this.

But soon after, he accepted it calmly.

It was good she was cautious. Meixia had been too innocent and ended up ruined for life.

"Whether you believe me or not comrade, I harbor no ill intentions toward you. I just..." Zhao Runze lowered his eyes, his smile slightly bitter. "Never mind. It's better that you aren't her. I hope...you will be happy."

If she wasn't Meixia, there would not be the same tragedy.

As long as she was happy, his heart would be at peace.

He hadn't been able to protect the girl from his memories, so letting someone else protect this girl was fine too.

He only hoped Pei Jing would not hurt her like Pei JianGuo did and would truly cherish and care for her instead.

The awakened memories Zhao Runze had were only about his history with An Meixia and unclear about other people, only bits and pieces appearing alongside his interactions with An Meixia.

It was a pity they had started beautifully but ended tragically.

Xia didn't know what he was thinking but his sorrowful eyes made her heart heavy. Without An Meixia's memories herself, she couldn't empathize with his emotions yet couldn't laugh in the face of such a distressed person either.

Just as she was thinking to take her leave, she heard An Zhiren call her name behind her. She turned to see her second brother gazing at them not far away, his expression slightly dark.

"Second brother," Xia called and walked towards him. But An Zhiren approached Zhao Runze instead. "What are you doing here again? What's your deal, always pestering my sister? Can't you see how pregnant she is?"

A graceful lady naturally catches the eye of gentlemen. But pursuing another's wife clearly indicated some issues.

Moreover, her extremely large belly was visible to all. If not for the man's refined appearance and temperament, he would suspect some lecherous scoundrel.

Seeing it was An Zhiren, Zhao Runze instinctively stepped back.

"My apologies. I merely happened to run into the comrade standing here while at the hospital for my illness and had no intention of pestering her."

Xia had never told him her surname was An so he must recognize her from those awakened memories.

But she still didn't know what history he had with An Meixia.

"Forget it, second brother. He didn't really bother me much. I'm tired, let's go back," Xia lightly yawned into her hand.

She wasn't lying about being truly tired now.

An Zhiren immediately stopped minding Zhao Runze and hurried to support Xia. "Then let's go."

As they walked away, he looked back to glare warningly at Zhao Runze.

Zhao Runze sighed and left the hospital carrying his medication.

Back in the ward, An Zhiren had wanted to ask Xia what happened but seeing her fall asleep upon touching the bed, he didn't have the heart to wake her.

Forget it. School break still had several days left. He could just stay here guarding until she gave birth and left the hospital to prevent anyone from getting a chance to harm her.

When Zhao Runze returned to his dorm, he took out a book from his cabinet with a page folded inside. It was filled with writings about his life.

Zhao Runze, elementary school teacher. An Meixia's beloved in heart. Passed away from illness in 77. Obscure life...

The few short sentences also contained introductions to his family background.

He had picked up this page after a girl casually discarded it years ago. Seeing his name on it led him to retrieve the page. He was even more shocked that the contents truly matched his actual circumstances, except he definitely didn't know any An Meixia and the idea he would die from illness in 77 was nonsense.

Because when he picked up that page, it was only the winter of 70.

He placed the page under his pillow. The next day, many memories of An Meixia filled his mind. They were clearly unfamiliar memories yet the actions of Zhao Runze in those memories were indeed things he was capable of himself.

He even went to the hospital for an examination and his health was perfectly normal without any issues whatsoever. So he could only treat it as a dream.

As for the girl in the dream, he really liked her and even hoped to meet her. He kept waiting beyond their destined meeting time in his memories but she never appeared. Only then did he look into her circumstances.

It wasn't until last winter that he remembered this incident again, went to the hospital for another checkup, and found out that something had grown inside his body. He also met the girl from his dreams again, but she already had a big belly and was married!

Yet since seeing her, those memories that he'd thought were only dreams somehow became more vivid, and he felt even more empathy.