“You called me ‘wife’… so I got angry?”

Yan Zhichun lowered her head in contemplation and found that this matter was unexpectedly reasonable.

At least it was more reasonable than Jiang Ruoxue proposing “you can only choose between me and Baiyang.”

Jiang Ruoxue had always been a casual person, with no reason to back herself into a corner with just a few words.

On the contrary, she herself was someone who deeply cared about boundaries.

If she wanted to become friends with Jiang Ruoxue, she had to establish clear boundaries first. After all, when she first met Jiang Ruoxue, she had said—

“I like to say the ugly words upfront.”

At that time, she hadn’t said any “ugly words,” so why did she voice such a sentiment…?

“Zhichun… are you alright?” Jiang Ruoxue asked softly. “Sit down first… take your time explaining what’s going on.”

She pulled Yan Zhichun aside and found a chair for her to sit down.

Yan Zhichun was clearly overwhelmed by her own memories. Her face was expressionless, and she felt an indescribable dizziness.

“Ruoxue…” She reached out and grasped Jiang Ruoxue’s wrist, her fingertips ice-cold.

“It’s okay…” Jiang Ruoxue said. “Zhichun… there’s no need to be afraid. Isn’t everything still fine right now? You’re still here, you haven’t lost your sanity, you just haven’t figured some things out yet…”

Yan Zhichun knew that things weren’t so simple. This wasn’t just a matter of “not figuring some things out.”

This situation had also occurred in front of Baiyang before—chaotic memories beginning to appear in wild and random ways.

But if a person’s memories were contradictory and showed temporal confusion, were they still real?

“I feel like there’s something wrong with my brain…” Yan Zhichun said. “Ruoxue, you might not know how panicked I am. The most important moment is right now, but not only has the leader of this plan had problems, I’ve had problems too… The two of us confused people together, it’s simply…”

“What could be wrong with your brain?” Jiang Ruoxue smiled bitterly. “In this place we can’t even catch a cold, and you’re still expecting yourself to have brain disease?”

“But…”

While the three of them were silent, someone gently knocked on the door.

Jiang Ruoxue and Zheng Yingxiong turned to look and saw that the visitor was wearing a dirty white lab coat, dressed like a doctor, and was holding two somewhat deformed cans in his hands.

“I’m not disturbing you, am I…?” the man said. “My name is Zhao Haibo, and I’m currently one of the deputy leaders of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’… I’m here to bring you some food.”

No one in the room spoke; they just quietly watched Doctor Zhao place the two cans on the table.

“Oh… I didn’t expect there to be three people here.” Doctor Zhao reached out to pat Zheng Yingxiong’s head, but Zheng Yingxiong dodged.

He smiled somewhat awkwardly: “It’s okay, little friend, I’ll get another can in a bit.”

The room remained very quiet.

“Well, uh, if you need any help, just let me know.” Doctor Zhao smiled a bit embarrassedly. “I’ve also preserved two cycles of memories, so I remember quite a lot. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me too. Here, everyone needs to help each other.”

Jiang Ruoxue and Yan Zhichun stared at Doctor Zhao wordlessly. Forget about preserving two cycles of memories—even if someone had preserved two years of memories, they would have to humbly seek advice in this room. How could this person be so confident?

Doctor Zhao also felt the atmosphere was slightly awkward, so he continued making small talk: “I just heard you saying something about ‘brain problems’… If there’s something wrong, you can tell me about it… I know a little bit about brains…”

Jiang Ruoxue stared at Doctor Zhao for a long while, then chuckled lightly and said: “If you’re trying to hit on us, now isn’t the time, and your method is indeed a bit low-level.”

“No, no, no… oh my…” Doctor Zhao quickly waved his hands after hearing this. “This is still a bit different from hitting on someone… Since I’ve already become a deputy leader of this organization, I definitely need to build good relationships with people in the organization…”

“No need.” Yan Zhichun said coldly. “Take the food away too. We’re not members of ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ and I don’t trust you.”

“Ah, well…” Doctor Zhao smiled awkwardly with a conciliatory expression, then said, “I really don’t have any ill intentions… You can tell me about any brain problems. I used to be a brain surgeon.”

“Brain surgeon…?”

These three words finally caught Yan Zhichun’s interest, and she turned to look at Jiang Ruoxue.

“A brain surgeon doesn’t seem right either…” Jiang Ruoxue said doubtfully. “Zhichun’s problem looks more like a neurological or psychological factor…”

“That doesn’t prevent you from telling me about it.”

Doctor Zhao unceremoniously pulled over a chair and sat down. He very gentlemanly maintained a distance of two or three meters from the two girls, keeping a sufficient safe distance: “Like I said, we’re all part of the organization. If I can help you, I’ll do my best.”

Yan Zhichun thought for a while, but still looked toward Jiang Ruoxue. After all, when it came to interpersonal matters like this, Jiang Ruoxue understood more than she did.

In Yan Zhichun’s view, a stranger who wanted to help her no matter what definitely had ulterior motives.

“In that case… there’s no harm in asking.” Jiang Ruoxue smiled and said, “After all, many hands make light work. Maybe this doctor really does have a good idea?”

Hearing Jiang Ruoxue say this, Yan Zhichun could only nod, then said with some difficulty: “Doctor Zhao, before I tell you about my situation, I first need to clarify that I’m not crazy and I don’t have delusions, but some incredible things have indeed happened to me. These things make me look very much like a crazy person.”

“Hmm…?” Doctor Zhao asked himself—after years of medical practice, he had never heard such an opening statement. “Miss, you seem to have gotten something wrong. I’m a brain surgeon, not a psychologist… I just want to know your symptoms. Your mental state usually isn’t that important to me. Moreover… determining whether a person is crazy cannot use their own perception as a reference basis.”

Doctor Zhao’s professionalism quickly made Yan Zhichun lower her guard. She nodded and said: “You’re right.”

She organized her thoughts and spoke about the predicament that had been troubling her.

“Doctor Zhao, the memories in my mind seem to be different from everyone else’s, but I clearly remember those events happening.” Yan Zhichun swallowed and said, “Even if this place is filled with ‘echoes’… I still can’t understand the principle behind this.”

“Doesn’t this sound like the ‘Mandela Effect’…?” Doctor Zhao blinked and said. “It’s very normal. When I was young, I also remembered some segments of cartoons I really liked, and when I grew up I discovered that only I had seen them. This is just a kind of self-repair mechanism of the brain.”

“The Mandela Effect… no.” Yan Zhichun shook her head. “I’ve seen the situation you’re talking about, but those are at most just some memory fragments. They can’t compare at all with what’s troubling me.”