Chapter 22: Gou Manchu's Secret
When he entered the dorm room, he saw Gou Manchu dazed and holding a bottle of pills.
Mo Aini lightly tapped his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Gou Manchu panicked and hid the pills behind him. "Oh, H-Hi.... Mo-gongzi. Where were you last night? You didn't come home."
"I had a study night and slept over at Shu Chuanli's place." Mo Aini had already prepared his excuse ever since he saw Gou Manch and Mo Jiagei last night.
"Ah, I see. Shu Chuanli..... He's a really timid guy, isn't he?" Gou Manchu said, trying to change the topic of the conversation.
Mo Aini felt like it wasn't his business, but the bottle of pills really worried him. They don't look like fever or cold medicine, they look like the special types in orange-tinted bottles that doctors or psychiatrists prescribe when someone has a serious illness.
Gou Manchu's face was pale and he was sweating. He wasn't good at hiding his true emotions, Mo Aini could tell that he's scared that he might find out the truth.
"Gou Manchu, you look unwell. You're also holding medicine just now. What's the matter?" Mo Aini creased his eyebrow and checked Gou Manchu's forehead.
"I-I had a fever last night.... Mo Jiagei took care of me." Gou Manchu said.
But he still looked nervous. This just proved Mo Aini's intuition that the medicine is not related to his fever.
"Have you taken your medicine on time? Let me see it." Mo Aini reached from behind Gou Manchu.
"No!" Gou Manchu backed away, not wanting to show the orange pill bottle.
"Gou Manchu, why are you so nervous? If it's just fever medicine, you don't have to hide it from me." Mo Aini said.
Gou Manchu looked down, not knowing what to say because he never lies. "But...Well.... I...."
Mo Aini didn't want to go this far, because he felt like he was invading someone's privacy, despite that person being a fictional character. But he can't back out now, he needs to know what the pills were for.
"Aren't I your friend? I've been living with you for so long, don't you trust me?" Mo Aini used his final trump card.
"I do trust you, Mo-gongzi...." Gou Manchu looked like he was about to cry. "It's just that..... I don't know what you will think of me afterwards if I tell you the truth."
"You'll never know unless you tell me. And I promise, I would never judge you. You are the kindest, most perfect person I know in Nushen." Mo Aini sat beside his bed. "That will never change."
"Really?" Gou Manchu's puppy dog eyes were teary, anyone who see it would feel more protective towards him.
"I promise. What is it for? What's bothering you?" Mo Aini asked sincerely.
Gou Manchu took in a deep breath. "Mo Jiagei.... saw it too when she was looking at my shelf for fever medicine. I explained to her what it was, and she walked away."
Mo Aini frowned. "Why would she do that?"
Gou Manchu rested his head on Mo Aini's lap. Mo Aini thought he was asking for him to pet it as comfort, so he did, but Gou Manchu said. "Look at my scalp, Mo-gongzi."
Mo Aini raised an eyebrow and delicately parted every strand of Gou Manchu's hair. Eventually, he found it.
Two ghastly long, sewed-up scars forming a cross on the upper left quarter of his head.
"I was hit by a truck when I was only 12 years old. All my memories disappeared, both childhood and infantile ones. I do know who I am and things like my parents and favorite food, but I can't recall specific memories." Gou Manchu explained. "I was not alone that time. I was walking with four other students. My mom said we just came were throwing rocks on passing vehicles and we hit the truck driver in the head, causing him to lose consciousness. It was our own fault for getting crashed. The other four died, I was the only one who survived."
Mo Aini blinked and subconsciously said, "Holy shit."
"Horrible, isn't it? The people knew me as the biggest bully on the playground, I was rude to everyone and always get into fights. If it weren't for my amnesia, I don't think I would be the same person as I am now." Gou Manchu smiled sadly.
He turned to Mo Aini's stunned face. "If I didn't lose my memories, I would not be the 'kind' person that Mo-gongzi knew."
He showed the pill bottles. "These were meant for when I get headaches from my injury. I joined the soccer team to keep my body and brain active, so that I won't lose more memories. There's still a possibility for the impact to cause changes in my brain, it's too complicated, they told me."
"Are you scared that you would lose your memories again?" Mo Aini asked.
"More than that. I'm scared that the next time I forget, I would forget to be a good person. I would revert back to my bad personality as a kid..... And push away everyone I loved and cared about." Gou Manchu clenched the bottle of pills closer. "I think I don't want to remember my lost memories anymore. I want to stay like this Gou Manchu you knew."
"Why did Mo Jiagei leave? You were a bully in the past, but that kid is not you anymore." Mo Aini asked.
"It turns out that Mo Jiagei was also constantly bullied when she was young. She hates people who are mean to the weak for no reason."
(I'm pretty sure my sister isn't like that, that's just her MC's character. She would definitely LOVE it if you were a bully.) Mo Aini thought secretly.
This was a major plot point for Gou Manchu. Most of the time, when big secrets like this were revealed, it's usually the climax of the route. This climax will determine what ending the player was going to get. They're at a crossroads.
Mo Aini had been doing well with helping his sister pick the right choices, so he's sure they'll get the Good Ending.
"If it was me, I won't worry too much about it. Mo Jiagei was probably just shocked. She will soon realize that the past is past and she liked the person you are now, who didn't do anything wrong." Mo Aini patted his back.
"I hope so. But I can't let go of the feeling that I might forget her, and harm her." Gou Manchu buried his head on the covers. "Let me be for now, Mo-gongzi. I'll be fine.... Eventually."
Mo Aini couldn't help it and gave the poor boy a hug. "Everything will be okay, you won't have to worry for long. I promise."
Gou Manchu weakly nodded, and Mo Aini slowly let him go. He gave him some space. At night while sleeping, Mo Aini asked the system:
"If Mo Jiagei got the bad ending, Gou Manchu will lose his memory and become a mean bully to her, right?"
[Correct. That will be the result of the Bad End.]
Mo Aini scoffed. "My sister would love that. How exactly will it happen?"
[Bad End Scene:
After the wonderful performance on their school play, Mo Jiagei and Gou Manchu would go outside to celebrate. A truck will come rushing and Gou Manchu's trauma will be triggered. His first instinct would be to push Mo Jiagei away, and get hit himself.
In the hospital, Gou Manchu would wake up not remembering Mo Jiagei. He would be cold and cruel to her, asking who she is. Mo Jiagei would try to convince him that she's his girlfriend, and that they love each other. But the now bully Gou Manchu would sneer, saying that if she really was his girlfriend, she should do anything he says.
Mo Jiagei would not receive love from Gou Manchu anymore, and would follow him blindly despite constantly insulting her and abusing her. She would be his lapdog that he treats lesser than shit for the rest of their lives. That is the bad end.]
"That's really hard to imagine. Gou Manchu is a freaking giant baby! I don't think I'd like to imagine him being an abusive scum."
[Thanks to your intervention, the player will not reach that ending. Congratulations.]
Mo Aini's face brightened. "So it's a confirmed Good Ending!? Can I go to the next route now!?"
[After the Good Ending scene, you will be able to return to the game Prologue and the game will restart.]
"Do I have enough Cupid Points to get a Cheat Pass? I don't want to go to that whole fiasco of trying to make the boys bad in Mo Jiagei's eyes so they would choose them....." Mo Aini frowned. "Or create a misunderstanding with Hu Chuntian again."
[You only have 115 Cupid points at the moment.]
"That sucks, I'm short by 35 points. I need to find a way to get past the Prologue somehow." Mo Aini clicked his tongue. "I don't want a repeat of all that chaos again, especially my involvement with Hu Chuntian. But how will I convince Mo Jiagei to take another route?"
[By that time, you must also convince her not to play Gou Manchu's route again. There are now two routes that she must avoid.]
"Now that she knows there's a possibility of him being a bad boy, she might try for the Bad End." Mo Aini grumbled. "Ahhhhh, I'm so stressed out. Everything feels like shit."
[At least you'll have 10,000 yuan after successfully finishing Gou Manchu's route.]
"Can I go to the real world for a bit and splurge my sweet, sweet payment? Please????" Mo Aini begged the system. "I could kill myself with alcohol poisoning with all the booze I can buy from that 10,000 yuan!"
[No. You must finish all the routes in the game before you can retrieve your total payment.]
"Fuck you, system! Why did you even mention the 10,000 yuan when I can't even use it yet?"
[I want to motivate the user to keep going for the money.]
"I'm not in it for the money anymore, I just want my fucking normal life back!" Mo Aini flipped off the holographic screen, and it disappeared, leaving him in peace.
He has to admit though, his life had never been this interesting. Even as a side character in an otome, there was not a single dull moment. That Hu Chuntian was hella annoying, but he can't deny that he made this whole experience something he would never forget. He would miss their fights and banter.
Though not that much. He still wants Hu Chuntian to go back to the hellhole he climbed out of. That cunning little devil!
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