Chapter 137: Am I Suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder?

At two in the morning, Lin Zhiwei stared blankly at the ceiling, wide awake and unable to fall asleep no matter how hard she tried.

At ten o'clock, she had conducted a spot check to see if that workaholic Ling was still at the company. Just receiving Ling Ziheng's reply wasn't enough; she had insisted on a video call to inspect the vase and sofa in his residence before she was satisfied.

The two of them had whispered sweet nothings to each other for ages before finally hanging up.

Yin Mier had rehearsed hard all morning and was already fast asleep beside her, but Lin Zhiwei couldn't drift off at all. Hesitantly, she sat up, picked up her phone with her left hand, and began scrolling through it.

Countless messages of concern flooded her WeChat: Xiaoyu, Ning Ning, Zhao Lei, Lu Ran, Qin Meng, Xinxin... As long as they had her on WeChat, even a production assistant she had only met once on the recording set had come to ask if she was safe.

There was also a message from an unfamiliar number sent just two minutes ago: Are you alright now?

She recognized this string of digits; it belonged to Chu Zhuo. She hesitated over whether to reply, vaguely remembering that before she passed out, the person speaking by her ear seemed to have been Chuo Zhuo.

Furthermore, Chuo Zhuo also seemed to be the first person who had rushed to her side. To reply or not to reply? That was a good question.

She decided to reply. Lin Zhiwei used her left hand to type clumsily: I'm fine, thank you.

After sending it, even Lin Zhiwei herself found it a bit baffling. Why didn't she feel any hostility from Chuo Zhuo at all? It felt as though they had known each other before. Clearly, she should have been on her guard against him, yet she had a strong sense of confidence that he would never hurt her.

Forget it, if he had wanted to make a move, he would have done so long ago. There is no use overthinking it. Lin Zhiwei put down her phone and forced herself to sleep. If she didn't sleep now, she would definitely wake up with dark circles under her eyes tomorrow...

After finishing his shower and stepping out, Chuo Zhuo saw an unread message. Without even waiting to dry the tips of his hair, he unlocked his phone and swiped it open. Only when he saw the words "I'm fine, thank you" did the stone in his heart finally drop.

He had thought this girl had always detested him, and that sending that message would be like throwing a stone into the ocean; he assumed that upon seeing it, she would ignore it just as she had done before. He hadn't expected her to reply after all.

He stared blankly at the message, the corners of his lips curling upward. Amidst the dim night, a trace of warmth unexpectedly welled up in his heart.

That entire night, Lin Zhiwei's sleep was exceptionally restless. Her dreams were filled with bloodshed, roaring shouts, and all sorts of people talking and fighting with her.

The girl in the dream wore a mask, making her face impossible to discern and her voice impossible to hear. One could only occasionally catch glimpses of the swiftness with which she raised her blade and dropped it, along with her flexible and agile posture.

The locations in the dream shifted from deserts to wilderness, from jungles to harbors. She tried hard to grasp more information, but she could never quite step inside. Her brain played the scenes automatically at double or even quadruple speed, yet whenever she tried to linger on a specific frame, it would disperse like an illusion.

"Weiwei, Weiwei," Yin Mier nudged Lin Zhiwei, whose brow was furrowed and covered in sweat. Seeing the girl's expression of struggle and pain, she hurriedly turned back to ask, "Doctor, it looks like she's having a nightmare!"

Crossing his arms, Dr. Hawkins frowned slightly and reassured her, "It's fine. Some sedative ingredients were added to yesterday's IV drip, so it's only natural for her to sleep heavily."

Dazedly, Lin Zhiwei opened her eyes, momentarily unable to tell where she was. Gazing at the panicked Yin Mier beside her, she asked, "Where am I?"

"Weiwei, don't scare me. You're in the hospital. Did you just have a nightmare?" Yin Mier asked anxiously.

"A nightmare?" Lin Zhiwei struggled to sit up, and Yin Mier hurriedly helped support her.

"Miss Yin, please step outside and wait for a moment. I need to examine Miss Lin," Hawkins said to Yin Mier with a faint, polite nod.

"Alright. Weiwei, Dr. Hawkins is the Movie Emperor Ling's private doctor," Yin Mier said, wiping the sweat from Lin Zhiwei's forehead. Although her face was full of concern, she knew she was powerless to help.

Lin Zhiwei sat up, her wits slowly returning. Could a dream like that even be called a nightmare? It felt more like lingering memories hidden deep within her own mind.

"Hello, Miss Lin," Dr. Hawkins greeted her in fluent Mandarin.

Lin Zhiwei quickly gathered her thoughts. "Hello, Dr. Hawkins. Sorry to trouble you!"

"It's no trouble, I'm just conducting a routine check," Dr. Hawkins smiled and began a simple examination, taking out some tiny, micro-instruments from his briefcase—many of which Lin Zhiwei had never seen before.

Once the examination was finished and a small blood sample was taken, Dr. Hawkins opened his laptop and began comparing data on the side.

A routine check? Was there ever such a high-tech routine check?

An answer instantly formed in Lin Zhiwei's mind. Her face darkened as she calmly spoke, "Dr. Hawkins, do I have dissociative identity disorder?"

Hawkins was taken aback. He hadn't expected the girl before him to have already sensed her own abnormality. Turning back with a gentle expression, he said, "Miss Lin is overthinking it. If you had dissociative identity disorder, your current personality would be entirely unaware of the existence of another personality, and it would be even more impossible to perceive another personality's memories through dreams or imagination."

Lin Zhiwei heaved a sigh of relief. Since it wasn't dissociative identity disorder, then it must be memory gaps. She pursued the question, "Then have I experienced memory gaps?"

"Judging by the current situation, that possibility perhaps exists. However, people often find their childhood memories somewhat vague to begin with, and it is also possible to naturally forget things after illness or trauma," Dr. Hawkins replied while typing away on his keyboard.

"I understand," Lin Zhiwei murmured, lowering her gaze in thought. If it was merely memory gaps, it wasn't a big deal. Perhaps Ling Ziheng had already discovered it and kept quiet out of fear that she would worry. Bringing Dr. Hawkins here this time was definitely on her account.

"Then was my sudden fainting also because of this reason?"

"Yes. But judging by your physical condition, this kind of sudden fainting doesn't pose any major issues, as long as it doesn't happen too frequently," Dr. Hawkins responded with composure.

At that moment, Ling Ziheng walked in accompanied by Pei Xi, just in time to catch sight of Lin Zhiwei's tense expression. As expected, it was impossible to keep things from his little girl. He took off his coat, handed it to Pei Xi, stepped forward, and took her hand. "Weiwei, don't worry, everything is fine."

"Mm, I know. With you here, I'm not afraid of anything," Lin Zhiwei felt the warmth in her palm, and as she met the man's burning gaze, her vitality returned. Oh well, what big deal was this? With her darling here, why worry so much?

"Alright, my examination here is concluded. I still need to run some further data comparisons. Miss Lin, get some good rest. President Ling, I have a seminar to attend, so I must take my leave. I will notify the two of you once the results are out." Dr. Hawkins gestured to them both and left with his assistant.

"Darling, you were the one who had Dr. Hawkins specially come over to examine me, weren't you?" Lin Zhiwei asked with a sly smile.

Seeing that he couldn't keep it hidden anymore, Ling Ziheng prepared to reveal a bit. "Yes. I remember when you suddenly fainted the last time we drank, I sought out Dr. Hawkins. It just happened that he was lecturing in Y City these past few days, so it was very convenient for him to come over. Weiwei, leave it to me!"

Lin Zhiwei tilted her head to look at the man's dazzling eyes and his flawlessly perfect features. She licked her lips and teased, "Of course I'll leave it to you. I'm too lazy to think about it anyway. Let's not talk about this, let's talk about something interesting..."

"What is it?" Ling Ziheng hadn't expected his little girl to change the subject so quickly.

"When are we going on a date?" Lin Zhiwei wore a smile at the corners of her mouth, her eyes brimming with cleverness.

"Whenever you get better, we can go wherever you like." Ling Ziheng ruffled her little head. He truly surrendered to her; she had looked somewhat forlorn just a moment ago, yet now she had cast it all to the winds.