What's Wrong with This Alpha? - Chapter 88

Chapter 88 – The True Memories

Dr. He said, “Relax. It’s as simple as taking a nap.”

Sheng Yunze replied expressionlessly, “I don’t see how putting me on a delivery bed is supposed to make me relax.”

Dr. He apologized guiltily, “Sorry, occupational hazard. How about you sleep on the other bed?”

Sheng Yunze’s sharp tongue remained as sharp as ever, “Moving from one delivery bed to another—what difference does it make?”

Dr. He had a sudden inspiration, “Perhaps you’d prefer the one by the window?”

Sheng Yunze closed his eyes, leaned back against the bed, and impatiently gestured for Dr. He to hurry up.

Dr. He nodded and, from who-knows-where, produced a hair salon’s perm machine. Sheng Yunze’s patience with this lunatic finally snapped, “What is that thing?”

Dr. He pushed the machine closer, explaining, “It’s a perm machine from a hair salon.”

Sheng Yunze: “No shit, Sherlock. Of course I know it’s a perm machine. So, besides your dream of becoming an OB/GYN, you also fantasize about being a hairdresser?”

Dr. He: “I thought it looked high-tech and would add some gravitas to the room, making my professional skills seem more advanced. Don’t you think the moment it’s placed over your head, it looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie?”

Sheng Yunze asked him earnestly, “Have you ever been beaten up?”

Dr. He promptly removed the hair curlers from the salon, straightened his posture, and looked at Sheng Yunze. “Alright, Professor, let’s cut to the chase and get started.”

Dr. He explained that restoring Sheng Yunze’s memories would be achieved through hypnosis.

From his brief explanation, Sheng Yunze pieced together the sequence of events. In essence, Duan Yi had been in a car accident and fallen into a coma. “Professor Sheng” had used some kind of black technology to upload Duan Yi’s consciousness into a computer, then instructed Dr. He to use hypnosis to upload Sheng Yunze’s own consciousness into the same system.

The world they were currently inhabiting was a computer simulation.

When Sheng Yunze heard that Duan Yi was in a coma, an indescribable panic began to spread through his heart.

Dr. He spoke casually, but Sheng Yunze’s heart grew heavy with worry.

A coma from a car accident?

How long does someone have to be in a coma before they’re still unconscious after half a year?

How did the accident happen?

Where did it happen?

Will he… will he ever wake up?

Sheng Yunze felt uncertain. He wasn’t sure how confident “Professor Sheng” was that this technology could awaken Duan Yi.

What if he’s just gambling?

What if he has no real assurance at all?

Dr. He had admitted that the technique was far from mature and that he had taken a risk by using it.

Sheng Yunze’s heart felt like it had been struck by a heavy blow, a primal fear gripping him. In that instant, he seemed to understand his own true feelings.

If Duan Yi never wakes up, I’d rather remain lost in this dream.

He hadn’t prepared himself to wake up at all. He had come here with the mindset of simply dying in this place.

The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, Sheng Yunze’s consciousness suddenly drained away.

He vaguely saw Dr. He’s silhouette, a blurry shadow under the lamplight.

Subconscious: What’s Wrong With This Alpha?

He knew Dr. He’s hypnosis was taking effect, but he couldn’t guess which suggestive gesture the doctor had used.

Sheng Yunze felt himself sinking through a misty void, his body falling endlessly. At first, there was only darkness, nothing visible.

Gradually, like someone who had been in the dark for too long, his eyes adjusted, and he began to make out fragmented images. To his surprise, forgotten memories began to emerge from the darkness on either side.

The kitten that had gone missing when he was five.

The first fountain pen he had bought at seven.

The basketball he bought near home after graduating elementary school at twelve…

These cinematic scenes flashed past him like shooting stars.

When Sheng Yunze reached out to touch them, the memories rippled like water and vanished before his eyes.

Until he saw fifteen-year-old Duan Yi leaning against the experimental building of Attached Middle School, beneath a flowering tree, his back to him, laughing and chatting with classmates.

This was the first time he had ever seen Duan Yi.

Sheng Yunze reached out to grab him, but just as before, Duan Yi’s figure quickly dissolved into the watery memory.

…He couldn’t hold on.

Sheng Yunze withdrew his hand, realizing his actions were futile.

When he looked up again, time had advanced to high school. Sheng Yunze noticed that his high school life in this memory differed from his actual experiences. He was surprised, yet it also felt logical.

In this memory, he and Duan Yi had been classmates since their first year. Sheng Yunze saw himself sitting by the window, while Duan Yi sat by the aisle, chatting and laughing with Jiang Wangshu, completely ignoring him.

The subsequent memories were similar to the earlier ones—some he had experienced, others he hadn’t.

Sheng Yunze recalled Dr. He mentioning that the memories he was currently experiencing diverged from reality. It seemed that in the real world, his first encounter with Duan Yi had occurred much earlier than he had imagined.

He struggled to describe the familiar yet alien sensation, like something dormant within him had been awakened.

Love, marriage, work—scenes unfolded before him like a slow-motion film.

He saw Sheng Xi running from room to room, Sheng Ming crawling on the floor, licking Duan Yi’s paint with his fingers. He watched Duan Yi lift Sheng Ming from the floor, carry him to the sofa, and then saw himself returning home from work, Sheng Xi leaping up to hug his leg.

This daily routine played out day after day. Sometimes Duan Yi would travel abroad for art exhibitions, and sometimes Sheng Yunze would go abroad for academic exchanges. The days passed until December 25th—Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi’s fifth birthday, Christmas Eve—when everything was shattered.

It was at this moment that Sheng Yunze was suddenly yanked downward by an immense external force.

The sensation of falling was crystal clear. His mind went blank for an instant. By the time he regained his senses, his phone was ringing for the third time.

His assistant called out softly, “Professor? Professor? Your phone.”

Sheng Yunze’s heart began to pound violently, as if sensing something amiss. He removed his gloves, picked up his phone, and saw an unfamiliar system number on the screen.

He instinctively answered. A cold, mechanical voice came through the receiver, “Hello, are you a relative of Duan Yi? This is the City Hospital Emergency Center. Your family member was involved in a car accident on the Ring Expressway and is currently undergoing emergency treatment. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible…”

Sheng Yunze’s smooth, successful life seemed to end that day.

He didn’t hear anything the nurse on the phone said after that. She repeated herself several times before finally hanging up, presumably convinced he had received the message.

After hanging up, he felt as if he had lost control of his own body. He couldn’t remember how he drove or how he got to the hospital.

By the time he regained awareness, he was already standing outside the emergency room. Sheng Yunxi hurriedly stood up from her seat, her eyes still red-rimmed. For the first time ever, she called out to him, her voice trembling, “Brother…”

Sheng Yunze saw Duan Ji Huai standing silently at the entrance to the emergency room. When he arrived, Duan Ji Huai didn’t say a word.

Sheng Yunxi whispered, “Aunt Gu went to pick up Mingbao and the others from kindergarten, Brother…”

She paused, trying to keep her voice steady. “There was an accident on the way back from the airport. Duan Yi was rushing back to celebrate Xibao’s birthday with them. He didn’t tell us he was coming and took a taxi straight from the airport. The driver had been drinking. At a traffic light after exiting the Ring Expressway, they collided with a large truck. The front of the taxi was completely crushed, and the driver died instantly. Duan Yi was in the back seat, he should be…”

Sheng Yunxi couldn’t finish the sentence.

The massive truck had slammed into the taxi, sending it rolling several times. The front of the car and the driver were crushed under the wheels.

If the traffic police hadn’t arrived promptly, Duan Yi likely wouldn’t have survived long enough to reach the emergency room. Witnesses said the fuel tank exploded the moment he was pulled from the wreckage.

She couldn’t bring herself to say “he’ll be fine,” a reckless and irresponsible assurance.

Especially when faced with Sheng Yunze’s face, which seemed utterly devoid of hope.

Sheng Yunxi stopped speaking, her gaze fixed on the operating room doors.

Outside the operating room, doctors and nurses hurried in and out. Nurses carrying blood bags didn’t even have time to count and hand them off properly; they simply shoved the bags into another nurse’s hands before rushing through the emergency room doors.

The commotion seemed to jolt Sheng Yunze out of his dazed state.

He pushed Sheng Yunxi aside and strode toward the operating room. Sheng Yunxi gasped, “Brother!”

Just as the operating room doors were about to close, Sheng Yunze forced them open. The closing nurse startled, and the heavy doors slammed shut, crushing Sheng Yunze’s hand. His hand instantly turned red.

As if oblivious to the pain, Sheng Yunze stared at the doctor.

The doctor quickly recited the standard protocol, “Family members, please remain calm. No unauthorized personnel are allowed in the operating room.”

“Just let me see him,” Sheng Yunze croaked, his voice so hoarse he could taste a faint metallic tang of blood in his throat.

He didn’t realize the desperation and pleading in his tone.

The doctor looked deeply troubled. “We understand your feelings completely, but the patient’s condition is critical… If things truly take a turn for the worse, we’ll abandon the surgery, and the family will be allowed to see him.”

Sheng Yunxi tried to pull Sheng Yunze back, but she found her brother’s feet seemed rooted to the ground, his hand clamped like a vise around the doctor’s arm.

The doctor’s face contorted in pain, his sleeve crumpled into a twisted mess, a testament to the force Sheng Yunze was exerting. This also spoke volumes about the doctor’s remarkable patience; he didn’t even scold Sheng Yunze.

Sheng Yunxi pleaded with him, “You can’t help by going in there. Please, listen to the doctor.”

Sheng Yunze released the doctor’s arm, his spirit seemingly having fled his body. After uttering that single sentence, he remained silent, unresponsive to any of Sheng Yunxi’s replies.

Duan Yi’s surgery lasted from 6 PM to 10 PM—a grueling four hours. It was a strain not only on Duan Yi but also on the medical team.

For four hours, no doctor emerged to update them, nor did anyone speak.

Everyone understood this was a bad sign, but no one dared voice the question.

Sheng Yunze looked as if he might collapse at any moment. Whoever broke the silence first risked earning his lifelong hatred.

Sheng Yunze’s gaze remained fixed on the blood-soaked cotton swabs, the array of sharp knives, and the forceps laid out on the metal tray.

Can a person really lose this much blood? he wondered.

His lips were deathly pale, his eyes bloodshot, and faint red veins crisscrossed the whites of his eyes.

He remembered how Duan Yi dreaded pain, how he struggled to swallow pills, and how he wailed like a banshee during injections.

With this much blood loss, with all those knives and forceps cutting into his body, how could he remain so still?

Why isn’t he crying out in pain? Why isn’t he weeping? Why are his eyes closed? Why is there not a single sound…?

Four hours…

The clock hands ticked forward relentlessly, each second echoing in the corridor’s silence, so profound that even the drop of a pin could be heard.

After what felt like an eternity, the emergency room doors swung open. Sheng Yunze snapped out of his daze, his eyes locking onto the Department Doctor and Duan Yi, who was being wheeled out, lying still and silent on the hospital bed.

For a moment, his legs felt weak. The doctor’s expression was grave, and he hurriedly said, “The patient is temporarily out of immediate danger. If he doesn’t regain consciousness within the next twenty-four hours, the family should prepare for the worst.”

“He’s only twenty-seven,” Sheng Yunze replied after a long pause, his lips trembling slightly. “Doctor, he’s only twenty-seven.”

The doctor nodded earnestly. “I understand. We’re just asking the family to prepare for the worst. None of us want that to happen…”

Sheng Yunze turned to look at Duan Yi. The young man who had been so full of life just days ago now lay pale and lifeless on the bed. Though the lower half of his face was obscured by the ventilator, Sheng Yunze could still see the horrifying wound on his forehead and the large patches of blood staining his neck and collar.

Duan Yi didn’t even frown; his expression remained utterly calm, as if he were already dead.

Sheng Yunze followed him all the way to the Intensive Care Unit, but he couldn’t go any further.

As the surgical bed was wheeled through the door, a delicate pocket watch fell from Duan Yi’s body with a clink. Half of it was shattered, and the back was engraved with the names Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi. When opened, a small note inside read: Happy Birthday, my darling.

Below it was a handwritten, awkwardly drawn emoticon: >3<

Sheng Yunze closed his eyes, clutched the pocket watch in his hand, the veins on his clenched fist bulging visibly. He slumped to the floor, wrapping his arms around himself as if all strength had drained from his body.

In everyone’s memory, Sheng Yunze had always been aloof, unfazed by honor or disgrace, calm and powerful.

Sheng Yunxi had never seen her brother like this before. She stood at a distance, afraid to approach or say a word.

Only after a long while did she hear his sobs, muffled against his arms, suppressed to the breaking point, almost hoarse with grief, utterly despairing.