"Luck is part of one's ability too," Shen Yi said cheerfully.
Tonight, Fu Nanzhi's winning streak had been eerily uncanny. Many tis, it wasn’t that he had intentionally gone easy on her—it was simply that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t win.
Clearly, it was just ant to be her night.
"It's just a ga, no need to take it so seriously," Fu Nanzhi replied dismissively. After all, it was just a bit of fun—what did it matter whether luck was on her side or not?
Shen Yi brushed the back of his hand against the teapot, checking the temperature. Finding it still warm, he poured her another cup.
He steered the conversation elsewhere.
"Earlier, you ntioned you could recognize people now. Have you tested it out yourself?"
Shen Yi had been keeping Fu Nanzhi’s changes in mind, and now that they had a mont to spare, he imdiately brought it up.
Fu Nanzhi blinked, montarily dazed.
"Test what?"
After so many years of living this way, the question caught her off guard. She hadn’t yet fully processed the shift in herself.
Shen Yi’s eyes glead as he prompted her,
"You said you recognized Yunyi. Have you tried identifying anyone else’s face?"
Where there was one, there would be more. Shen Yi was certain her condition had changed—it was just that Fu Nanzhi herself might not even realize it yet.
"No..."
Fu Nanzhi shook her head. The thought had never crossed her mind.
There were very few people she truly cared about, and she had little interest in getting to know others. It simply hadn’t occurred to her to try.
For colleagues she interacted with daily, she kept a small notebook to jot down their distinguishing features so she could tell them apart.
After so many years, Fu Nanzhi’s thinking had beco rigid. When eting soone new, she relied on clothing and accessories to identify them, completely bypassing facial recognition.
Shen Yi fixed her with an intense gaze.
"Well, we’ve got ti now. Let’s give it a try."
"H-How?"
Fu Nanzhi felt a flutter of nervousness. She didn’t understand why Shen Yi was suddenly making such a big deal out of this.
"Easy. Just wait a sec."
With a wave of his hand, Shen Yi pulled out his phone and tapped rapidly on the screen. After a mont, he said,
"Take a look at this."
He turned the phone toward her.
"See the people on the screen? Do they look familiar?"
"Can you recognize them?"
Fu Nanzhi stared fixedly at the man and woman displayed on the phone. A string in her mind suddenly tightened, and a vague realization surfaced.
She pointed at the screen, stamring,
"That’s… isn’t that… what’s-their-na?"
She couldn’t recall their nas right away, but she definitely recognized them.
Shen Yi’s excitent grew. He encouraged her,
"Yes! You’re close. Think harder—who are they?"
Fu Nanzhi’s eyes widened. Suddenly, it clicked.
"I rember now!"
"That’s… isn’t that the main couple from that movie we always watch?"
Shen Yi’s face lit up. He pumped his fist in triumph.
"Correct!"
"Nanzhi, you’re amazing!"
Fu Nanzhi still seed to be in a dream. Her expression wavered between disbelief and bewildernt, her dazed look utterly endearing.
"Really?"
She had simply gone with her gut feeling—she hadn’t expected to actually get it right.
The people in the picture Shen Yi showed her were indeed the leads from a romantic film.
The two of them had watched it at least ten tis across their past and present lives, and Fu Nanzhi had often complained about the female lead being overly dramatic.
Because of her face blindness, every viewing had felt fresh, fueling her endless comntary.
Now, as Fu Nanzhi studied the image, a dormant part of her brain seed to awaken. The longer she looked, the more familiar they beca.
This sense of déjà vu was sothing she had only ever experienced with Shen Yi before. The novelty of it thrilled her, and she tugged at his sleeve.
"This feels so strange. Do you have more?"
"Let
try again."
Her curiosity burned too brightly to resist.
"Sure."
Shen Yi had no reason to refuse. He lowered his head and scrolled through his phone again.
This ti, when he looked up, he warned her,
"Alright, this one’s a bit harder. More people."
"These are all folks you’ve t in real life. No hesitating—just blurt out their nas based on your first instinct."
Shen Yi had spent a while combing through his social dia, digging up photos of Fu Nanzhi’s colleagues and relatives from their past life.
Since not many people posted selfies, he had only managed to find fewer than ten. If he hadn’t left the company group chat earlier, he could’ve pulled up even more coworkers.
Fu Nanzhi’s expression turned serious. She nodded, brimming with determination.
"Got it. Bring it on."
Shen Yi smirked and turned the phone toward her again.
"First one—let’s start easy."
"Who’s this?"
The image loaded, revealing a middle-aged woman with a slightly filtered appearance.
Fu Nanzhi squinted, then answered without hesitation,
"That’s Auntie Liu?"
"Bingo."
Shen Yi grinned. The woman in the photo was indeed Liu Huimin, his mother’s elder sister.
In their past life, Fu Nanzhi had interacted with her often. If her face blindness had truly improved, she wouldn’t have missed this one—hence the easy warm-up.
The picture was just a random screenshot from Auntie Liu’s social dia.
Fu Nanzhi bead, feeling more confident by the second. She urged him on,
"Next, next!"
Shen Yi chuckled and swiped to the next photo.
This one showed a man in a sharp suit, grinning broadly as he adjusted his tie.
The mont Fu Nanzhi saw him, she burst out laughing.
"Li Weinan!"
"Hahaha, nailed it!"
Shen Yi joined in her laughter. He had borrowed Li Weinan’s car back when he was trying to save Fu Nanzhi.
After wrecking the vehicle, Shen Yi had felt terrible. He’d gotten it repaired and treated Li Weinan to a al as an apology. Over ti, they’d beco friends.
Later, Li Weinan had even been invited to their wedding.
From there, Fu Nanzhi was on a roll. Her answers ca faster and faster.
Whether from this life or their past one, as long as she had t the person before, she could na them without a second thought.
"Old Dai—Dai Tiefeng."
"The office drunk, Su Xun."
"Your college senior, Qin Jingchao."
"Eldest cousin."
"Uncle and Auntie’s wedding photo—who wouldn’t recognize this?"
"That’s it."
Shen Yi couldn’t swipe any further. Fu Nanzhi had correctly identified every single one.
In his rush, he hadn’t been able to dig up more photos, but these were more than enough to prove that Fu Nanzhi’s condition had truly improved.
"Yay~"
Fu Nanzhi threw her arms around Shen Yi, giggling with delight.
Her mind raced, jumping from one thought to another as she reveled in this newfound sensation.
Even her parents’ faces, once blurred in her mory, now appeared vivid and clear—as if she were seeing them for the first ti.
Before, her father Fu Yuanyu had only existed in her mind as a man who constantly adjusted his glasses. His actual face had been a hazy void, obscured as if by fog.
Now she suddenly realized that her mother’s face was no longer as smooth and delicate as it had been in her youth. Ti had carved deep traces into it, indelible.
Fu Nanzhi straightened up abruptly, cupping Shen Yi’s face in her hands for a closer look.
The slender arch of his brows, the dark depth of his eyes, the sharp bridge of his nose, the rough stubble shading his jaw—
Every detail etched itself into her mind for the first ti, rging seamlessly with her gradually sharpening mories.
For a mont, she was spellbound, unable to look away.
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