Veiled Paths of the Forgotten Chapter 5

At exactly twelve o'clock, Adrian Du was taken out of the police car.

But just as he stepped out of the car and stood still, he suddenly realized that the car was not parked in front of the police station, but returned to the gate downstairs of Brandon Yu's company.

Adrian Du: "?"

Adrian Du subconsciously looked back. He didn't know when the police car that brought him here had turned into Brandon Yu's black car, and he was standing outside the passenger door.

Adrian Du: "???"

Adrian Du hadn't slept for 48 hours and thought he was hallucinating. The driver behind him rolled down the window and said, "Call your boss. There might be some traffic on the road later. Ask him to leave early."

Adrian Du took out his phone, looked at it blankly, and frowned. Before he could dial the call, Brandon Yu had already gone downstairs.

"Not this one." Brandon Yu whistled lightly, walked down the steps, and said, "Adrian Du, you drive my Mercedes."

The car keys flew over and Adrian Du raised his hand to catch them. He looked at Brandon Yu as if he had seen a ghost, his thoughts in great confusion.

Brandon Yu: "?"

Adrian Du: ...

At the same time, Ethan Zhou yawned, sat up from the spring bed and scratched his head.

Where is Adrian Du? Ethan Zhou looked around subconsciously. Why did he disappear without a word? Can this guy say hello? Just when he wanted to send him a message to ask, he found that his contact information was not added, and he didn't even know his phone number.

Ethan Zhou was looking at his phone seriously, thinking about whether to leave a note for him on the door, but his friend called.

"Hey, baby. Remember to discuss your partnership this afternoon, don't forget."

Ethan Zhou scanned a shared bike at the back of the alley and pushed it out: "Why are there still some? Spare me some! We just saw each other yesterday."

"We agreed on this, didn't we? He's a real estate agent, about 40 years old, surnamed Yu. You're free anyway, why don't you go take a look?"

"I'm telling you, I had dinner with that guy named Yu yesterday, guess who I bumped into..."

Ethan Zhou: "?"

Ethan Zhou suddenly realized something was wrong.

The call continued: "Oh? You went there last night too? Are there so many rich people with the surname Yu?"

Ethan Zhou stepped on the pedal and stopped at the traffic light. Without saying a word, he opened Alipay and scanned with his slender fingers, looking for his transfer record - none.

He turned off the phone, then turned it on again. At the last moment, his eyes stopped on the date on the lock screen: September 7, Friday.

What's going on? Ethan Zhou thought.

"Who did you run into?"

"Nothing." Ethan Zhou answered blankly, "Then I'll hang up?"

"Remember to go. I'll remind you again at five o'clock."

"I know." Ethan Zhou answered decisively, "I won't forget it."

Brandon Yu's schedule today was very full. After lunch, he met with the bank manager for tea to discuss loan extension. In the afternoon, he met with a lawyer for two hours to discuss how to resolve a financial dispute. Then he went to get a haircut at 4:45. In the evening, he arranged a blind date with a man in his twenties through a friend's introduction.

Yes, gay.

Brandon Yu finally decided to face his S3xual orientation and indulge himself. After all, the pressure during this period was too great. The assistant to the board of directors who was originally promoting the listing died inexplicably, and died in a love murder that could not be announced to the public. The company seemed to be thriving, but it was facing the danger of a broken capital chain at any time. The scale of the real estate enterprise was too large, and the shareholders had long been dissatisfied with him.

Once he is voted out of the board of directors and the company initiates the restructuring process, he will lose everything he has. Now, although he seems to be in a glorious position, he is actually standing on the edge of a cliff.

But Brandon Yu has always been a brave man. No one can take away what he has gained with his own hands. He is ready for the battle. But before that, he needs the stimulation of love and S3x to make himself forget all his troubles temporarily.

But today he suddenly felt that there was something wrong with the way Adrian Du looked at him.

This assistant has been with him for two months. He is a quiet guy, but very loyal. Brandon Yu is very satisfied with him. For some reason, Adrian Du has been looking at him in the rearview mirror today.

"What?" Brandon Yu asked.

Adrian Du looked away and said, "Boss, your hair is well cut. It makes you look young and handsome."

Brandon Yu smiled but said nothing. He was still confident about his appearance. Although he was over 40, he still maintained a well-maintained body with abdominal muscles, pectoral muscles and money. This was the most attractive time in a man's life.

When Adrian Du opened the car door, he was thinking about Brandon Yu's bloody body lying on the construction site eleven hours later. He followed Brandon Yu into the reserved private room and had tea served.

"You can go home when the time comes." Brandon Yu said, "Ask Xiao Wu to come and pick me up."

Adrian Du nodded, returned to the restaurant lobby and sent a message to the driver.

At five fifty, Ethan Zhou pushed open the door and entered the restaurant.

Adrian Du: ...

Ethan Zhou paused briefly, looking around blankly, but didn't notice Adrian Du sitting in a hidden corner. Finally, he entered Room 12.

Adrian Du waited for nearly twenty minutes until the driver came and gave him the car keys. He then stood up, walked outside the private room, stood guard at the door, and tilted his ear slightly to hear the conversation between Brandon Yu and Ethan Zhou in the private room.

"Twenty-seven years ago, they were all in high school..." said Brandon Yu.

Ethan Zhou said: "Mr. Yu is still collecting waste?"

Brandon Yu: ...

"How do you know?" Brandon Yu said.

Ethan Zhou was completely dumbfounded today. At noon, he woke up in the warehouse. After Adrian Du disappeared, he experienced the same day exactly from beginning to end!

In other words, he lived September 7th again.

Riding through the same traffic lights, receiving the same phone call, Zhou Liam Le surfing the Internet at home, the web pages are exactly the same! Ethan Zhou began to have extreme doubts about this world, just like a video game that suddenly rewinded a full 24 hours!

He went to the same restaurant as yesterday and saw Brandon Yu again. What happened? My life collapsed!

But Ethan Zhou controlled his emotions very well. Along the way, he repeatedly wondered if this was the so-called "déjà vu" in legend. The brain sometimes deceives people. When arriving at certain established scenes, the pituitary gland will secrete a specific combination of hormones to make him feel familiar with "I have been to this place before" or "this thing has happened before".

So, Ethan Zhou used the simplest and most direct method to conduct the experiment.

The emergence of a sense of déjà vu only affects the facts that have already happened, but cannot affect the future. In other words, if Ethan Zhou predicts what will happen next based on the trajectory of the repetition of all things, it will be enough to prove that everything on September 7th really happened!

But what if it is confirmed? Ethan Zhou was filled with fear. This was too weird! He didn't dare to test it, and even forced himself not to think too much. However, this kind of self-hypnosis was useless. On the way to the meeting, Ethan Zhou made countless psychological preparations and finally made up his mind to use Brandon Yu as his experimental subject.

When Brandon Yu showed that expression, Ethan Zhou was more frightened than him, which proved that his guess was correct.

It's not an illusion, nor is it déjà vu.

This has already happened once a day!

Oh my god... Ethan Zhou thought, I went back to the past one day ago?

"Then you worked at a scrap collection station for a year and met a gangster. You followed him and started a reselling business. Later, your gangster got sick and went to the United States for medical treatment. Your family followed him abroad and you took over his business."

Brandon Yu: ...

"You were married once and had a son, but later divorced. Your son is about my age, but he doesn't like to talk. You suspect he is also gay. You used to watch P*rn movies occasionally. When you suspected he was using your phone, you found out, but he didn't say anything. You both pretended not to know each other."

Brandon Yu: ...

Based on Brandon Yu's expression, Ethan Zhou secretly judged and recounted what he had said. After all, in the last 24 hours, these were all what Brandon Yu told him after drinking.

However, for Brandon Yu, the biggest shock was not that Ethan Zhou knew him so well, but the purpose behind it!

"Have you checked me?" Brandon Yu's voice changed.

Ethan Zhou's heart was in turmoil, but his expression was calm. He took a sip of tea and said casually, "I can read faces. It's a legacy from my ancestors. Can I find out what you are thinking by checking your information?"

Brandon Yu opened his mouth slightly, stopped drinking, and stared at Ethan Zhou in a daze.

"You...can you tell these from your physiognomy?!" Brandon Yu said.

Ethan Zhou was almost completely sure, but at the same time, he overlooked another problem - he was so busy confirming it that he didn't expect to scare Brandon Yu. Fortunately, his mind was quick and he immediately switched to the character he had created for himself. He suddenly found it quite interesting. He moved over and said, "Come, let me read your palm?"

Brandon Yu subconsciously stretched out his hand and handed it to Ethan Zhou. Ethan Zhou pretended to look at his palm lines enthusiastically, but in fact he could not see anything. He said: "Look at this line, it indicates that you will have a son..."

Brandon Yu: ...

Ethan Zhou began to use his ability to talk nonsense, thinking about how to end this conversation as quickly as possible to give himself some time to think.

Brandon Yu suddenly changed his mind, held Ethan Zhou's hand, and said: "I can't believe you are so young, but you are a living god!"

Ethan Zhou: "Uh..."

Brandon Yu's words "living god" suddenly exposed his true nature, and he immediately asked: "I want to ask you, will this matter that I am worried about have any results soon?"

Ethan Zhou withdrew his hand, took a deep breath, then waved at Brandon Yu and smiled mysteriously.

Brandon Yu's expression suddenly became solemn.

Ethan Zhou said: "I can only look at the past, but I haven't learned to look at the future. My grandfather is unwilling to teach me."

"Where is your...grandfather?" Brandon Yu asked.

"He has passed away." Ethan Zhou started to make up stories again, saying, "It's okay to talk about the past, but predicting the future and revealing the secrets will bring you trouble. There are unexpected changes in the world, and people are subject to misfortunes at any time, right? You should just let it go."

The corners of Brandon Yu's mouth twitched constantly, and the two of them looked at each other in silence.

Ethan Zhou was not very interested in the monthly package of 12,000 yuan, and said: "Then... let's just call it a day today?"

The "living immortal" is full of chic temperament. He comes on a bicycle and leaves on a bicycle. The table full of dishes remains motionless, as if he is not interested in the blind date, but only wants to give Brandon Yu guidance on life and help him out of his predicament.

"I heard you opened an antique shop?"

Ethan Zhou finally remembered his original intention when they met last time, which was to find a partner who was willing to run the business and work hard with him. However, he was not very interested in Brandon Yu, as they were not the same kind of people.

What he wanted to do next was to go outside the restaurant and find a secluded place to wait for Adrian Du to appear. Logically, Adrian Du would come in soon and send Brandon Yu out.

"Are you short of money?" Brandon Yu took out his cell phone and said, "I heard you are opening a store and need start-up capital. How much is the gap?" At the same time, Brandon Yu had already come up with another idea: whether this guy can really read faces or is just a charlatan who knows how to read people's expressions, he will be useful in the future. When cooperating with business opponents, he can bring him with him to provide advice for himself.

"No need," Ethan Zhou said with a smile, "No need, I'm leaving now, I have something else to do in the evening."

"Change your contact information. Whenever you need me, just let me know." Brandon Yu was about to add Ethan Zhou, but Ethan Zhou took out a pen and wrote down his phone number and name on a napkin.

"See you again if we're lucky." Ethan Zhou said with a smile, pushed open the door of the box, and bumped into Adrian Du.

Just like the day they first met, in the dormitory filled with rain and strong wind.

Like two quantum particles carrying immortal energy, they stubbornly flew towards each other under the arrangement of fate and cause and effect, whistling through the boundless time and space; spanning the vast universe. With all the energy before annihilation, they burst out with a devastating shock, turning into a blazing, brand new star, releasing brilliant light in the dark world.

"Xiao Du, please send Mr. Zhou off." Brandon Yu said.

The lights were on, the streets were full of neon lights, and in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the coffee shop, Ethan Zhou was still a little dazed, looking at Adrian Du suspiciously. Did he also experience September 7 again? Or was he, like Brandon Yu, just a passerby in his own time-loop adventure?

"Help me too?" Adrian Du spread out his left hand and placed it in front of Ethan Zhou, "What do the love line and life line represent?"

"Where have you been all these years?" Ethan Zhou chose this sentence to open his speech.

"Didn't I tell you?" Adrian Du replied expressionlessly, "I went to get treatment."

Ethan Zhou: "!!!"

"You remember it too!" Ethan Zhou immediately grabbed Adrian Du's finger and said in shock, "I'm not the only one who experienced the same..."

"Shh." Adrian Du frowned, letting Ethan Zhou hold his left hand, and put his right index finger in front of his lips, signaling Ethan Zhou not to get excited.

"You...I..." Ethan Zhou let go of Adrian Du's hand, looked at him, and said in a low and hurried voice, "I thought I was dreaming at first. When I woke up at noon, where were you? I had clearly experienced this once before..."

Adrian Du turned his head and looked out the French window, staring into Ethan Zhou's eyes through his reflection, and replied, "I found myself back to 24 hours ago when I was awake. This is not an illusion."

As he said this, he turned his head and looked at Ethan Zhou again, his expression very solemn.

"Why did you tell Brandon Yu all this?" Adrian Du said, "Why didn't you call me first? Just one phone call and everything will be clear."

Ethan Zhou asked back: "How do I know your number? Did you tell me?"

"Why didn't it exist yesterday?"

"Can you remember it if you save it? Can you remember my phone number?"

Adrian Du gave Ethan Zhou's phone number, so Ethan Zhou lost the game.

"Then why didn't you call me?" Ethan Zhou began to fight back unwillingly.

Adrian Du: "I thought this only happened to me, so I didn't dare to try for fear of scaring you. I also checked the transfer records." Adrian Du's first way of confirmation was to check the money transferred to Ethan Zhou yesterday. When he found that the transfer disappeared, he knew it was not an illusion.

Ethan Zhou said: "I checked it, but I still can't be sure."

Adrian Du asked back: "Why don't you believe in yourself?"

"Memory can be deceiving!" Ethan Zhou remembered and stretched out his hand, "Cellphone."

"Remember to save the number." Adrian Du said coldly, "There won't be a next time."

Who are you targeting? Ethan Zhou thought.

Ethan Zhou put his phone in front of Adrian Du, unlocked it, and transferred the money again. Just then, a call came in, and it showed "Mr. Yu". Ethan Zhou didn't even look at it, and swiped his hand to hang up the call from Brandon Yu to Adrian Du.

Adrian Du kept watching Ethan Zhou's every move and said, "You shouldn't have said those meaningless words to Brandon Yu. You aroused his suspicion. He suspected that someone was investigating him."

"Oh?" Ethan Zhou said, "Is he still some big shot? What can he do to me?"

"He won't do anything to you, but nine hours later, at four in the morning, he will jump from the 27th floor." Adrian Du replied coldly.