Feign Amnesia

Long Shushen finished getting dressed and walked out of the room. The first thing that entered his senses was the smell of freshly baked bread, savory cooked meat with the hint of caramelized butter and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He then heard something being sizzled to perfect crispiness and the scuff noises of wood and metal upon impact.

Following the sounds and smell of breakfast, Long Shushen entered the kitchen and saw Su Xinglan busying herself with cooking while Miki watched her intensely, waiting for an opportunity to snatch whatever that may fall on the floor by chance.

Hearing the creaking of the wooden floors behind her, Su Xinglan turned around to see Long Shushen standing at the doorway of the kitchen, watching her cook. Su Xinglan smiled and asked, "Good morning, how are you feeling?"

"Mhm. Better."

"Breakfast is almost ready. There is a bathroom on your left with extra hygiene toiletry if you want to wash up before eating," Su Xinglan said before turning back around to finish cooking.

Long Shushen did as suggested before reentering the kitchen. By the time he sat down, Su Xinglan already placed a plate full of sunny side up eggs, grilled vegetables, cooked bacon and toast in front of him.

"Help yourself," Su Xinglan said before pouring them both a cup of coffee.

They both ate and enjoyed their breakfast in silence. After they finished their meal, Su Xinglan quickly cleaned up while Long Shushen awkwardly stayed seated, drinking his coffee while trying to ignore Miki's big puppy dog eyes, begging for some scraps.

When Su Xinglan turned around and saw this scene, she laughed and said, "Miki, leave him alone." She then went to fill up his dog bowl and added a few small pieces of bread and bacon on top.

Miki quickly walked over and happily ate his breakfast.

"Spoiled dog," Su Xinglan laughs while petting Miki on his head before walking back to the small wooden table and sat across from Long Shushen.

"So, do you mind telling me more about yourself, how you got your injuries and how you almost drown in that pond?"

Long Shushen took one last sip of his coffee before placing the mug on the table and looked directly at Su Xinglan. "My name is Long Shushen…"

After introducing his name, Long Shushen frowned and briefly paused to organize his thoughts. He still wasn't sure if he could trust Su Xinglan just yet and tell her confidential information about his mission and how he arrived in this world. She might not even believe him if he told the truth anyway.

He took a quick glance at Su Xinglan's wrists that were neatly folded on top of the table and saw that she wasn't wearing the jade bracelet.

'Did I imagine that bracelet when I was half conscious?' Long Shushen deepening his frown even more.

Seeing that Su Xinglan was looking at him and patiently waited for him to collect his thoughts. She had her hair loosely tied up into a high ponytail and was wearing a long denim overall dress with a striped white top underneath. She looked homely with her pink fuzzy slippers and with bright clear eyes, she looked younger than her age but innocent and refreshingly cute.

Long Shushen subconsciously felt an attraction to her that he never felt with anyone else before. Something about Su Xinglan makes him feel comfortable around her and want to trust her but he has an important mission to fulfill and he needs to be extra cautious if he want to return to his world and save it. For the time being, he decided to feign amnesia until he gather more clues and get closer to Su Xinglan since she seemed to be his only lead.

"I… I'm not sure how I got here. I only remembered you and your dog rescuing me from the pond."

Su Xinglan creased her brow before asking, "You don't remember? Do you remember how you came up here on the mountain? Did you come with anybody? Where are you from?"

"No. I don't remember anything. I just know my name."

Su Xinglan lifted her right arm upright to rest her chin and covering her lips with finger while lowered her gaze pensively. 'He was unconscious when I found him so it's possible that he lost his memory but he could also be lying. He might be a dangerous person. He did carry a sword after all. His injuries also seemed to be done by someone else. Is he being hunted?'

She lifted her gaze back to him, eyed him waveringly and then lower her gaze to look at Miki, who just finished his food and is now sitting next to Long Shushen, happily wagging his tail while looking at him.

'Miki seems to strangely like him though. The sword might be a prop if he's an actor. Who carries swords nowadays anyways?'

Su Xinglan returned her gaze back to Long Shushen, dropped her hands down to her lap and said, "I didn't bring you down the mountain yesterday because it would have taken at least an hour to get to the closest town with a clinic and your injuries needed to be treated right away at that time. Now that you're awake, we can take a trip down the mountain to check your wounds and we might find somebody that recognizes you. Also…"

Taking a closer look at Long Shushen's outfit, he was still wearing his dark black hair in a top knot that was tightly wrapped with a jade pin and his worn-out cloth boots covered slightly tight jeans that reached above his ankles. The white t-shirt was a size too small on him, outlining the curves of every muscle on his body that was not covered by bandages.

"We probably should buy some clothes that fit you better. The clothes you were wearing yesterday were all torn up and are currently hanging to outside to dry. My father's old clothes seem to not to fit you that well."