Chapter 138: Silly Girl, Thank You for Still Remembering Me

"Get out of the car."

Yan Yichen looked at Meng Yi'er, who sat stunned beside him, and offered a warm smile.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Meng Yi'er's heart trembled with excitement as she stared in shock at the scenery outside the window—a landscape both strange and hauntingly familiar.

Yan Yichen said nothing. He stepped out of the car, opened the door for her, and reached out to take her hand. "Come on out first..."

Guided by his firm grip, she stepped out, her hand trembling. Before her stood rows of high-rise buildings, and not far away lay a sprawling villa complex. Beside them flowed a small river that cut through almost the entire city of Haishi, with a quiet park hugging its banks. She remembered this place. She had played here countless times as a child, frolicking in the park with her friends.

Though the area had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the past, she still recognized it. Her grandmother’s old house had once stood right here.

Looking at the scene, memories of her grandmother’s gentle gaze surfaced, followed by the night her parents abandoned her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yichen, how did you know about this place?"

Yan Yichen’s lips curved slightly, his cool, clear voice softening until it seemed to drip with warmth.

"Brother Chen..."

Meng Yi'er froze, her eyes widening as she stared at him blankly.

Brother Chen? Brother Cheng?

After a long while, she whispered, "Brother Chen?"

"Are you... the Brother Cheng who stayed with me all night at the old house back then?"

"Xiao Yi—"

Seeing her trembling with such overwhelming emotion, a mist of shimmering light flickered in Yan Yichen’s deep, dark eyes, which seemed to swallow the night sky. She still remembered him!

Meng Yi'er could hardly believe her eyes. "Are you really Brother Cheng?"

No wonder he had given her a sense of familiarity from the start; no wonder he knew this place.

Yan Yichen felt a surge of excitement. Could there be someone else he didn't know about? "Brother Cheng? Who is he?"

Meng Yi'er looked at the handsome, smiling man in confusion. Brother Cheng, Brother Chen. Although they sounded similar, could she have been mistaken?

"Brother Cheng was the boy who stayed with me for an entire night at my grandmother’s abandoned house when I was eight. It was right here. Is it you?"

"I did stay here with a little girl in a red dress, waiting for her parents all night long, until she was carried away by a middle-aged man the next day. But I am your Brother Chen, not Cheng..."

Before Yan Yichen could finish his sentence, Meng Yi'er had already leaped up in excitement, throwing herself into his arms, her petite frame trembling with emotion.

She certainly remembered her Brother Chen. How could she ever forget the boy who had accompanied and comforted her during her darkest, most helpless moments? She simply had never imagined that Yan Yichen was that very boy. In her memories, she had only recalled him as "Brother Cheng"; she had never actually memorized his name.

Yan Yichen was stunned for a moment, then pulled her into a tight embrace, his grip gradually tightening, his face radiating an irrepressible joy.

"Brother Chen... I'm sorry."

Meng Yi'er's nose stung, and her smiling face was covered in tears.

"Silly girl, thank you for still remembering me."

Yan Yichen’s voice was filled with emotion as he held her close. He had waited sixteen years, and finally, this day had arrived.

Fortunately, it was not too late. She remembered him. Everything had been worth it.

Time seemed to stand still. Two hearts, now connected, held each other tightly, feeling as if they possessed the entire world.