Chapter Forty-One Changes

  Because Tang Ao originally lived in an orphanage, there were not many photos from his childhood left behind, let alone pictures of him with relatives. His photo album was neither big nor thick, and most of the photos inside were group shots, roughly starting from junior high school, sports events and other collective activities, all of which he kept very well. In his own words, without family members, friends and classmates became even more precious. Unfortunately, after a serious illness, many of those cherished memories of his time with his classmates were forgotten. Now, looking at the smiling faces in the photos, he could hardly recall any details about those people.

  Su Tong also saw Tang Ao's photo album for the first time. Photo albums are relatively private things, and although the two people have become familiar with each other at an absolutely impossible speed in the past two days due to the current special situation, it is precisely because of this special situation that they do not have the time or leisure to communicate some private content, let alone the dead.

  From the photo, it seems that Tang Ao was a very thin and weak boy. In a group photo of his middle school sports day, he is wearing a loose-fitting sports uniform standing at the edge, looking like he's wearing someone else's clothes. This isn't unusual, as during Su Tong's own school days, especially in middle school, everyone grew rapidly, and to avoid having to buy new uniforms before graduation, most parents would buy sizes two numbers larger than their child's actual height, leaving room for growth. Even ordinary families did this, let alone Tang Ao, who grew up in an orphanage, where just ensuring the children could attend school was already a great effort, and seeking more would be unrealistic.

  Wang Li didn't pay much attention at first, slowly flipping through the pages one by one. When she got to the high school stage photos, she even joked with Tang Ao: "You were a pretty boy back then? At that age in high school, your style should have been quite popular among young girls too! Why haven't I seen any photos of you taking pictures with girls? And why do you always lean to one side when taking pictures?"

  "To be honest, I don't remember very clearly either," Tang Ao replied with a bit of difficulty. "After graduating from college, I had a serious illness and forgot many things after waking up. I guess maybe when I was younger, I was more shy, so I didn't like to show my face."

  Wang Li was taken aback, and because of Su Tong's reminder, she knew that Tang Ao was an orphan, so she deliberately didn't mention anything related to family. She hadn't expected him to have had amnesia before, and now hearing it from his own mouth, Wang Li couldn't help but size him up from head to toe. Her personality was different from Su Tong's; Su Tong was mostly reserved and composed, whereas Wang Li had a fiery and explosive temper, always needing to get to the bottom of things, otherwise she would feel uneasy all over and couldn't live a peaceful life.

  "What's wrong with you? Is it related to your head? Was it an injury? A car accident? Were you hit by a flower pot dropped from upstairs?" Her curiosity was piqued again, partly to satisfy her own curiosity and also to ask on behalf of her good sister Su Tong. Wang Li bombarded her with questions one after another.

  The old donkey is a honest and kind-hearted person, his personality is also relatively mild. He felt a bit embarrassed when Wang Li asked him so directly, so he quickly pulled her sleeve and reminded her in a low voice: "That's enough, don't ask anymore. After all, she's also a writer, you know what it means to be too nosy?"

  "I know," Wang Li replied with a full tone, "but Su Tong and I are good friends, aren't we? Tang Ao, you tell me, how's your relationship with Su Tong?"

  She suddenly threw such a question to Tang Ao, not to mention Tang Ao himself, even Su Tong on the side was caught off guard and turned bright red with embarrassment, hurriedly gesturing to Wang Li on the side, telling her not to joke around.

  Wang Li, however, was not deterred and insisted that Tang Ao give her an answer. At first, Tang Ao was a bit embarrassed, but later, under Wang Li's persistence, he did not evade the question. Smiling at Su Tong who looked a bit uncomfortable beside him, he said: "Personally, I hope our relationship can be good, but this is something that requires both parties to achieve. Firstly, it depends on whether my efforts are enough, and secondly, it also depends on whether Su Tong gives me the opportunity."

  The meaning of his words can be said to be very clear, Wang Li immediately laughed so hard that her eyes became a slit, the old donkey also understood and snickered twice on the side, smiling and nodding at Tang Ao in support. From the look on his face, it's likely he remembered when he was pursuing Wang Li back then.

  Su Tong felt her cheeks getting a bit hot, and her heart beating slightly faster. In order to avoid continuing this embarrassing topic, she pretended to be unhappy, putting on a stern face, glared at Wang Li, and said: "You're such a person, speaking incoherently, without even a central point, how did this topic end up involving me again!"

  "What's with the nonsense, one sentence here and there without a center? I was just trying to prove to Lao Liu that I didn't have a shallow relationship with Tang Ao," Wang Li wasn't so easily dismissed, the topic circled around and returned to the previous one, she temporarily spared Su Tong and continued to ask Tang Ao, "Is it an internal problem or an external injury?"

  "None of that is true." Tang Ao shook his head, "I don't even remember what happened myself. My university classmate who was working with me at the studio at the time has some impression - he said I was fine, working on design graphics on my computer, when suddenly I just fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He was really scared, called an ambulance and sent me to the hospital. The doctor checked me out and issued a critical condition notice, telling them to notify my family to come and prepare for the worst. My classmate was worried because I don't have any family - he didn't know who to contact to deal with it. Luckily, I suddenly woke up later, and after waking up, I didn't feel anything particularly uncomfortable or whatever. The doctor gave me another check-up, and found that my body was fine except for selective memory loss - no other problems at all. After observing me for a few days, I was discharged from the hospital. It's been a long time since then, and I've also had regular physical exams - my body is fine."

  Wang Li saw that her intention to pry into the matter had been discovered by Tang Ao, and she felt a little embarrassed, so she smiled and didn't say anything else, continuing to flip through the photo album.

  Su Tong sat on the side, secretly guessing in his heart. Tang Ao had mentioned before that he had gone through a major illness and opened his heavenly eyes, becoming a yin-yang eye, losing his previous skills in interior design, but inexplicably gained insight into the mysterious and obscure arts of numerology. Not to mention that it was just a glimpse, from his performance and progress over the past few days, it could almost be said that he didn't even need to try to understand. But what kind of sudden illness could bring about such great changes and influences on him? Was the illness itself also a supernatural event, like his own experiences a few hours ago?

  Tang Ao's high school life seems to be relatively calm, with not many photos, and overall, there doesn't seem to be any particularly noticeable changes except that he appears a bit taller than in his junior high stage.

  Right after that are the college photos, and in them, Tang Ao looks slightly more mature than he did in high school, but overall not much has changed. He still has the same outline, including when taking pictures with others, a helpless expression of being dragged over, an awkward smile on his face, and a timid look in his eyes, exactly the same as always, never having changed at all.

  Wang Li also noticed this, and as she looked at the photos, she suddenly let out a curious sigh. She pointed to one of the photos in the album and asked Tang Hao: "Do you still remember this photo? Can you think of when it was taken? Or can you help me find a more recent photo of you before you got sick?"

  Tang Ao didn't understand what she meant, but still followed her words and flipped through the album for a while, finding an old photo that was closest to his impression of being seriously ill. He only showed it to Wang Li. Wang Li examined it carefully, then carefully pulled out the photo from the album, asking Tang Ao as she did so: "Honestly, have you ever had plastic surgery or something like that to improve your image and look more handsome?"

  "Not at all, everything is genuine." Tang Ao thought Wang Li's question sounded interesting, although he wanted to answer seriously, but couldn't help laughing.

  The old donkey also felt that Wang Li was intentionally joking, and said with a smile: "It's not like going to be a star singer or actor, how many ordinary men would want to mess up their own face?"

  "But didn't you notice?" Wang Li pulled out the photo and held it in her hand, standing up to walk behind Tang Ao, placing the photo next to his face so that Su Tong and Lao Lu could compare. "Don't you two feel that Tang Ao is almost unrecognizable from his university days? Not just his appearance and figure, but even his entire temperament is completely different. Can't you see?"

  Su Tong looked at the photo, then at Tang Ao, and again at the photo. The more she looked, the more she felt that Wang Li was right. She had been familiar with Tang Ao's appearance for several days, and when she looked at the album earlier, she had already formed the concept of "these are all old photos of Tang Ao" in her mind. Therefore, she didn't treat the person in the photo as a stranger, and naturally, she wouldn't compare the differences between the photo and reality. Now that Wang Li pointed it out, Su Tong also felt that the Tang Ao in the photo and the one in front of her were not very similar, except for some resemblance. The Tang Ao in the photos from middle school, high school, and even college had fair skin, was slender and weak, with light eyebrows and eyes, delicate but lacking spirit. Especially when looking at the camera, his eyes seemed to have the same feeling as Su Tong's, timid and like a small dog in an unfamiliar environment.

  Take another look at Tang Ao in front of him now, compared to the photo, his skin tone has obviously darkened, and his facial features seem to have become more angular. His eyes are still the same pair as in the photo, but they shine brightly, even with a smile, his gaze is firm and unwavering, without a hint of hesitation or uncertainty. Between his eyebrows, there is an unstoppable aura of heroism that cannot be concealed. Not only has his appearance and temperament changed, but his physique has also undergone a significant transformation. The recent photo taken by Wang Li before Tang Ao fell ill can best illustrate this point. In the photo, Tang Ao still had a slender figure like a bean sprout, pale and weak, wearing a loose-fitting shirt that couldn't be filled out, looking as if he would fly away with just one gust of wind. Now it's completely different, although he is still wearing a loose T-shirt, but through the fabric, you can still see the lean muscle lines on his arms and shoulders.

  For Su Tong, even if she didn't look, she knew exactly how good Tang Ao's figure was. That night, although she said she was confused by the baby spirit and made some abnormal moves, but the next day after waking up, the tactile memory of her hands on Tang Ao's body still lingered in her mind, and she couldn't forget it no matter how hard she tried. This man was absolutely the type that is described as "thin when dressed, fat when undressed".

  Stop! Stop right there! Su Tong suddenly realized what she was thinking and hastily sounded the alarm in her mind, forcing herself to stop and not continue with such wild thoughts. Her face flushed hot, and if it weren't for being in front of Wang Li and the others, she would have liked to bang her head hard.

  Luckily, everyone's attention was focused on the photo, so no one noticed anything unusual about Su Tong. Even Tang Ao himself was unusual, taking the photo from Wang Li's hand and examining it carefully for a moment before furrowing his brow and muttering to himself: "Yes... if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have even noticed how much I'd changed... but why is that?"

  Wang Li did not expect her discovery to make Tang Ao's attitude suddenly serious, which made her a bit at a loss, so she could only use her eyes to seek help from her boyfriend Lao Lu beside her. Lao Lu looked at her with some blame, then raised his wrist to look at the time, and said to Wang Li: "Wang Li, shouldn't we head home? You didn't finish writing tomorrow's manuscript because you ran out early, did you? If you don't hurry up, you'll have to work overtime again tonight."

  "Wang Li suddenly enlightened: "Ah, isn't that right! I felt like I forgot something. Originally, I was going to go home and rush to finish my manuscript, but I was worried about you, so I came over to take a look. Who knew that after seeing the photos, I completely forgot everything! Alright, alright, we won't disturb you anymore. Tang Ao, can you please keep an eye on Su Tong for us? She's always careless and forgetful, even forgetting to take her medicine. We're leaving her in your care. Let's catch up again another day and have dinner together!"