Qiming Chapter 59

Chapter 59

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"What's going on with you today, suddenly calling me out for dinner?" The bamboo tube on the table was filled with iron skewers. Gu Yunfeng pulled out a low-quality napkin and wiped his mouth with disdain. The environment around them was quite noisy, and he had to speak loudly for the other person to hear.

"It's nothing, just..." He didn't know where to start, fiddling with the crawfish in his hand, hesitating to speak.

"Summer vacation over? New students upset you?" Gu Yunfeng moved his chair closer to him. After downing half a cup of liquor and seeing that he still wasn't talking, he mustered the courage to turn and look at him, "Is it because of me?!"

"That's... not it." He frowned, thinking it was best not to mention what happened during the physical examination. If he told him there might be something unknown in his brain, how would Gu Yunfeng look at him? Better to set it aside for now and explain it once he understands the whole situation.

He didn't want him to worry unnecessarily.

Xu Chengyue took off the plastic gloves covered in chilli oil and drank a few beers because it was too spicy. Drinking so much at once made him feel uncomfortable, and his head was a bit dizzy. When he looked up, his eyes were red from the chilli.

His deep eyes were fixed on Gu Yunfeng, who accidentally got choked by the chilli, causing his eyes to water and his face to turn red.

"Did you drink too much? Your face is so red." He asked again.

"I haven't drunk too much," Gu Yunfeng replied innocently, "It's just too spicy."

After saying that, he awkwardly unzipped his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. "I was impulsive last night. But... impulsive or not, I..." He leaned forward, his entire body tense, held his cup, and sincerely said to Xu Chengyue, "I thought about it all night, and I'll take responsibility for the consequences."

"Consequences?"

Gu Yunfeng nodded, embarrassed. "Yesterday, you said you were in love too, and I took it to mean you liked me. But if you were just speaking impulsively, I'll pretend it never happened and hold it all back. If you really like me and my impulsiveness deepened your feelings... I'll take responsibility."

"You're quite noble." After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke. "How will you take responsibility?"

How to take responsibility... Gu Yunfeng hadn't thought it through. He stared awkwardly at the mackerel still on the plate and quickly changed the topic. "You can decide how I take responsibility, but, what exactly do you think of me?"

What did he think... He looked at the shop across the street with its hanging signs, where groups of students were laughing, chasing each other on bicycles. The sounds of cars and motorcycles rose and fell. He didn't know how to express his feelings. He just wanted to stay like this, to see Gu Yunfeng every day, to go to the scene with him, to the police station, to places like this street to eat, to every corner of the world.

"I can't say clearly."

"No no, you have to make it clear." Gu Yunfeng knocked seriously on the wooden plate on the table, speaking each word carefully. He leaned close to Xu Chengyue and whispered in his ear, "I like you. What about you?"

The sky was completely dark, behind them was a bustling crowd, and above them a green lamp and a bright moon. The wind from afar, mixed with the city's dust, blew into his flesh and blood.

"I like you. What about you?"

What does it feel like to like someone? The sound of blood flowing? The moment a new bud sprouts? The end of a long night, the beginning of dawn?

He looked at Gu Yunfeng's face in the shadows, a face still very upright even in the dark.

Smelling the greasy barbecue in the air, he felt a bit hot, raised his head slightly, and smiled gently.

Seeing Xu Chengyue's smile, Gu Yunfeng suddenly felt a bit dazed. He remembered the first time he saw him, thinking this guy must have a poker face, always with a few expressions and not much of a smile.

But now he was smiling at him, in this small, smoke-filled shop, gradually becoming someone different.

He leaned closer to Xu Chengyue, closed his eyes, and gently kissed his forehead.

"What the fuck?"

A mouthful of barbecue flavour. Confirming that the "what the fuck" was just a guy across the table who got burnt by a skewer, Gu Yunfeng breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of embarrassment. "Will you mind my greasy mouth?"

"I don't mind." Xu Chengyue shook the empty bottles and placed them directly on the ground.

"And next time, before I kiss you, please take off your glasses, they hit my nose," Gu Yunfeng complained, rubbing the tip of his nose.

"Then you have to give me a heads-up," Xu Chengyue teased.

"Want a few more bottles, Xiongdi?" The owner appeared before Xu Chengyue with a basket of beer, continuously promoting some fruit-flavoured beer of his own creation.

"No need." Gu Yunfeng waved his hand. He didn't really enjoy drinking, only doing so when absolutely necessary. Both he and Xu Chengyue weren't keen on alcohol, and it felt rather pointless for two people who didn't like drinking to keep urging each other to drink.

"If not drinking, then what should we do?" Xu Chengyue stared blankly at the street. He wasn't sure if he had drunk too much or if the health check was bothering him too much, but the thought of going back to rest made him restless.

"I just want to walk down the street with you like this. If we don't drink, we should head back."

"Go... on a walk? There's a park over there." Gu Yunfeng pointed south, towards an open-air plaza that was free to the public. Every evening, it was filled with people, with uncles and aunties bringing their speakers for square dancing.

"Okay."

"Then go back to the team and work overtime."

"......" Xu Chengyue walked along the road, but stopped at those words. "Forget the walk, let's just go straight to work."

—————

The first thing Ying Xizi did when she got home was take off her coat and shoes. She loved her thin-heeled high heels, they were beautiful and elegant but uncomfortable to wear. She looked at her red, swollen toes with pity and changed into slippers, planning to go to the bathroom to rinse them. As she walked through the living room, she opened the window and turned on the light, only to notice the bedroom door was ajar.

Was someone in there?

She cautiously walked over, trying not to make any noise. Gently pushing the white wooden door open, she saw her father, Ying Han, lying on the bed with a game console in his hands, intensely focused on a game.

"Dad." She called out to Ying Han, exasperated, but he was oblivious, wearing headphones.

Ying Xizi had no choice but to walk over and pull one of the headphones from his ear, glaring at him.

"Where did you go today?"

"The hospital, I had a surgery."

"Liar, I went to the hospital today, and your assistant said you didn't come in."

Ying Han saw the words "game over" appear on his console, sat up, removed the other earphone, and looked at his daughter with a loving expression, "Why did you go to the hospital?"

"To give Chengyue a check-up."

"Why didn't I get notified?" Hearing this, Ying Han's face darkened. He was stunned at first, and then he approached her with a sharp gaze. Though he usually had a kind appearance, this sudden change surprised Ying Xizi.

"He forgot his documents, so we left it, we'll schedule another appointment in a few days."

Hearing this, Ying Han's expression softened, and a few seconds later, he returned to his usual self.

"Dad, you still haven't answered me, where exactly did you go today, coming home so early." It was only six o'clock. In her memory, Ying Han had never returned home before eight and never before dark.

"I had a meeting, there was a complicated patient." He lowered his head, stood up, patted his clothes, put his arm around her shoulder and said they should go sit in the living room.

"How complicated?"

"About as complicated as Chengyue was."

"That's pretty complicated." She nodded. Xu Chengyue's survival had been largely due to good luck. Several similar cases they received later ended in the patients' deaths. However, Xu Chengyue's case still gave many families a glimmer of hope, prompting them to come to Ruihe Hospital specifically to see Ying Han.

Ying Han pulled her to sit on the sofa and turned on the TV to a financial news channel. The news first briefly outlined the progress of the Jiang family case and then began extensive coverage of the successive stock price surges of Zhiyin Biotech after its official listing. Seeing this, Ying Han frowned and impatiently changed the channel.

He flipped through the channels and finally settled on a food documentary. He closed his eyes for a short nap, and after a few minutes, he changed his posture, seemingly making a big decision. With a slightly hoarse voice, he said to her, "Xizi, since you're home early, there's something I want to discuss with you."

"What is it?" She placed two washed apples on the table and took one for herself.

"Are you... seeing anyone now?"

"Huh?" She put down the apple she'd taken two bites of, puzzled by her father's sudden interest in her love life.

"No."

"Haven't found the right one?"

"Well, I have a crush on someone."

"Why haven't you told us about it? Have you confessed?"

"I have, but I was rejected." She had never told her parents about her unrequited love for Xu Chengyue. They were always busy with work and never concerned themselves with these matters. Ying Han's sudden questions left her feeling both anxious and somewhat touched.

"Then find someone else, don't hang yourself on one tree."

"Yeah, I'll find someone else." She felt a bit sad. "I always feel like he's gone."

"Gone? Moved to another city?"

"Probably." She smiled.

"Since it's already in the past, don't dwell on old feelings." Ying Han held her hand and earnestly said, "You're twenty-five now, it's time to think about your future."

"Fortunately, I'm only twenty-five..."

"Wait, what do you mean?" She had a particularly bad feeling as she watched her father, full of love, take out a photo on his phone. The photo showed a boy with a baby face, smiling brightly.

"This is the son of a friend of mine. He's a good-looking guy and an engineer at Zhiyin Biotech. Would you like to meet him?"

A blind date?

She took her father's phone and stared at the photo, finding the boy increasingly familiar.

"I've met this guy before." This boy was Xu Chengyue's junior schoolmate. They had met at previous gatherings. He was short and looked very young, almost like a minor. She didn't like baby-faced types, walking together would make them look like siblings, and she'd feel uncomfortable.

"You know him? That's even better." Ying Han was delighted, thinking there was hope.

"What's his name again... I think his surname is Xie, right?"

"Xie Yu'an."

"Oh, that's right. He's Chengyue's junior, we've had meals together."

"What do you think of him?"

"He's about my height, looks very young, even younger than in this photo." She pursed her lips. "He seemed interested in me back then, added me on WeChat several times, but I ignored him."

"Why ignore him? He's handsome, talented, and my friend says he has a good personality and a decent family background."

"Then I won't be able to wear high heels in the future." Her smile faded, and she looked at her father with a lifeless expression.

"Height doesn't matter, this kind of thing is superficial. You girls should pay more attention to a guy's inner qualities."

She didn't understand what had gotten into Ying Han today, insisting on introducing her to someone. He had never cared about her relationships before, and now, he suddenly wanted to marry her off. Fortunately, her mother was working overtime today, so she only had to deal with Ying Han. If her mother were here too, they might have teamed up and arranged her marriage on the spot.

She was still young, still a girl at heart!

"Dad! I don't want to go on a blind date," Ying Xizi protested firmly. She didn't want to meet someone she wasn't interested in and she didn't have the slightest bit of goodwill for this person at all, not even bothering to add him on WeChat.

"How can it be called a blind date, it's just getting to know each other. You're a big girl now, it's good to have more friends of the opposite sex."

She sat on the sofa, frowning, rubbing her palms, thinking of dozens of solutions within a minute. Suddenly, she remembered what Gu Yunfeng had told her that morning. Feeling guilty, she said to her father, "I, I already like someone."

"Xizi ah, you need to look forward, not get stuck on the past," Ying Han shook his head helplessly and held his daughter's wrist. "The person you have a crush on is already in the past. Love someone worthy of your love, someone who loves you."

"It's not the old one, it's someone new."

"Someone new?"

"Mhmm, I recently went to Ruihe Hospital and fell in love at first sight with a guy." She cleared her throat, straightened her back, picked up the apple from before and went back to munching on it.

"A patient at the hospital? Or a staff member?" Ying Han seemed greatly affected, his grip on Ying Xizi's hands gently loosened and he awkwardly sipped water from a cup on the table. He had a lot to say but only asked a couple of questions.

"A doctor, not a patient."

"What's his name? Maybe I know him."

What was his name again... She tried hard to recall what Gu Yunfeng had said.

– Can you do me a favour and ask your dad about someone named Wang Kun? Just say you saw him at the hospital today, thought he was handsome, and are interested in him.

"Wang Kun, with the 'earth' radical." Ying Xizi sincerely told her father.

The next second, Ying Han choked on his water, coughing violently.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: August 13, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 24, 2024 by Angel