Qiming Chapter 94

Chapter 94

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Gu Yunfeng turned on the lights, changed his shoes, closed the windows, and turned on the air conditioning.

He took off his coat and hung it on the rack, and shut the door wearing just a black sweater. Outside, the dim streetlights were covered in snow. The long street was empty, save for the occasional passing car, which splashed up water as it drove through the snow.

"Captain Huang said the case involving Zhiyin Biotech is still in the investigation stage. If there’s no substantial progress, it could be dropped." He had spent quite some time talking to Huang Chen that afternoon. Although the case was under their jurisdiction, he couldn’t reveal details, but Gu Yunfeng had gathered enough to understand the general direction of things.

“I just find it strange,” Gu Yunfeng said indignantly. “Even if Lin Xiangrong acted in self-defence, with her situation, the case shouldn't be dropped so quickly. Now the local police have released her without a word, something’s definitely off.”

Besides, this wasn’t self-defence at all.

Turning around, he looked at Xu Chengyue, who had been following him. Since they had left the detention centre, Xu Chengyue hadn’t spoken a word, pretending to sleep in the car and now remaining silent, his face solemn, after returning home.

His mind was filled with thoughts, far too many. He shouldn’t have been burdened with such thoughts. Everything in his mind should have been converted into numbers or programmes, eventually expressed in a mechanical manner, spoken or written. But now, he was caught in this state of indecision, torn in all directions.

Just like those blinded by desire, the more he thought, the more he wavered. The more complex his thoughts, the more he struggled.

“Did Dr Ying say anything to you?” Gu Yunfeng poured a glass of warm water and set it on the coffee table before grabbing a cold milk from the fridge. He gazed at Xu Chengyue with warmth and focus, “About what happened to you last year?”

Xu Chengyue, who had been silent the entire time, finally lifted his head slightly. He took the water from Gu Yunfeng, then placed it back on the table. He stepped forward a few paces and gently tugged at Gu Yunfeng’s sweater. “Dr Ying said that from the beginning to the end, Xu Chengyue was never brain-dead.”

He repeated the words with a mix of emotions, “Not dead, still alive, always alive.”

After he finished speaking, he suddenly stretched out his arms and hugged the bewildered Gu Yunfeng tightly, resting his face on his shoulder, and casually reached over to turn off the lights. His breath brushed against Gu Yunfeng’s suddenly sensitive ear.

“Let me hold you for a moment.”

“Alright, alright.” The sudden darkness made Gu Yunfeng uncomfortable. He rubbed his eyes, finally adjusting to the dimness of the snowy night. His fingers brushed across Xu Chengyue’s back before he forcefully bound him in his embrace.

In reality, he was only five or six centimetres taller than Xu Chengyue, but in this position, Xu Chengyue’s breath kept grazing his earlobe. Xu Chengyue’s forearm hooked around Gu Yunfeng’s neck, and soon Gu Yunfeng felt it was getting hard to maintain his composure.

He ruffled Xu Chengyue’s hair and whispered in his ear, “Of course you’re alive. You’ve been living well all this time. It’s getting late, let’s rest.”

Gu Yunfeng restrained himself and tried to gently encourage Xu Chengyue to go to bed, but Xu Chengyue still held onto him tightly, with no intention of letting go.

Ah – geez.

Gu Yunfeng smiled helplessly, then decisively scooped Xu Chengyue up and carried him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him with his foot. The last time he had carried Xu Chengyue, the latter had been unconscious, limp in his arms and completely heavy. This time, though, Xu Chengyue wasn’t resisting, making it easy for Gu Yunfeng to carry him and toss him onto the soft bed.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Gu Yunfeng said, “You should take a shower and get some sleep.”

“What about you?”

“I'll wait until you're done washing.”

With that, Gu Yunfeng left to grab his milk from the living room. He poured it into a glass and downed it in big gulps. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with each swallow, the cold liquid helping cool him down a little. When he opened the bedroom door, he found Xu Chengyue still lying there motionless. When he saw Gu Yunfeng return, he simply turned over and buried his face in the pillow.

Gu Yunfeng stood at the door, dumbfounded. After a long moment, he finally realised, “Are you saying you want to shower together?”

Immediately, Xu Chengyue sat up, hugging a pillow to his chest. His typically calm and composed face flushed red, and he looked uncomfortably hot. Seeing this expression, Gu Yunfeng, who had just barely managed to calm down, felt himself on the verge of exploding again.

Gu Yunfeng found this concealed yet undeniable desire, paired with Xu Chengyue’s otherwise aloof expression, absolutely adorable.

This was an expression only he had ever seen, he was certain of it, only him.

"Did you turn on the air conditioner?" Xu Chengyue was still hugging the pillow, looking a bit lost as he pointed at the wall.

"This room doesn’t have one, are you cold?"

"No, I'm hot."

"Me too." Gu Yunfeng replied, taking another restless gulp of cold milk.

"Mm... what should we do?"

"Drink something cold." He handed the cup to Xu Chengyue, but even after drinking, it had no effect.

"I'm still really hot." Xu Chengyue looked at him with eyes burning with intensity, "Open the window?"

"Pfft–" Gu Yunfeng couldn't help but laugh, taking the pillow from his arms and tossing it aside. "Are you out of your mind, open the window? Might as well roll around in the snow to cool off."

"So what do we do?"

"I’ll help you take off your clothes." Saying this, he pushed Xu Chengyue down into the bed’s blankets and began unbuttoning his shirt. He felt incredibly thirsty, unbearably hot. Ice couldn't cool him down, and cold water couldn’t extinguish the fire inside him. Not even the snow outside, or the sub-zero temperature, could lower the heat he felt within.

"And then?"

"Then... honestly, I don’t really know how things work between guys." He had originally wanted to tease Xu Chengyue, but after a moment's thought, he realised Xu Chengyue was essentially just a new human who had recently come to terms with his body. If anyone should be laughed at, it was probably himself.

"Maybe we should watch something and learn." He muttered to himself, pulling out a small bottle he liked from the drawer by the bed and preparing it.

Both of their breaths grew heavier and hotter. Gu Yunfeng’s fingers brushed across Xu Chengyue’s fair collarbone as he lightly bit down on his now flushed, burning ear. He heard Xu Chengyue’s trembling voice next to his own ear, "It seems it's too late to learn."

"Yeah, too late."

In the next second, their bodies were pressed together, eyes reflecting endless desire as they kissed with the intensity of a raging storm.

—————

After showering, they sat on the bed wrapped tightly in the blankets.

The windows and door were sealed shut, but Gu Yunfeng still felt cold. He darted out to turn on the heater as if fleeing for his life, then rushed back into the blankets like a refugee seeking warmth.

He immediately sneezed under the covers.

Recalling what had just happened, Gu Yunfeng’s ears and neck flushed red. A scene like that? A year ago, he wouldn’t have imagined it, no matter what. The craziest part was that they had done all that in near-zero temperatures with nothing on.

Was it really that hot just now?

Crazy.

Then, Xu Chengyue sneezed as well. He pulled out a tissue from beside him, wiped his nose, glanced at the overflowing trash bin filled with tissues and other things, then coldly tossed another tissue in.

"Did you catch a cold?" Gu Yunfeng asked.

"I’m fine, it’s just a sneeze. What about you?"

"Same here."

Ai–

Both of them let out a sigh at the same time.

They hadn’t turned on the light, but the room wasn’t too dark either. Perhaps it was because of the snow, or maybe the city itself no longer experienced true darkness. Xu Chengyue glanced at the snow, falling intermittently but persistently through the night, before turning his gaze back to Gu Yunfeng.

Wrapped in a blanket, Gu Yunfeng was smiling at him, his eyes reflecting the night sky, seemingly filled with stars. Those stars shone brightly, like a tender affection that stretched across the universe.

"Today, I talked to Dr. Ying about Xizi. Maybe because of his own daughter, he mentioned something about me." Xu Chengyue suddenly spoke, bringing up the events of the day.

"What did he say?"

"He said some people wanted me dead, and others wanted me alive. It was a game, and the ones who wanted me to live won, that’s why I can stand here in front of you." He lowered his head, and on a whim, leaned in to plant a kiss on Gu Yunfeng’s cheek.

"Did he mention anything about Zhiyin Biotech’s illegal human experiments?"

"No, he just kept insisting that he was performing regular surgeries and that he had made some innovations in neurosurgery research."

"Same old story." Gu Yunfeng shook his head in frustration. The situation was unchanged, Zhiyin Biotech’s former CEO, the prime suspect in illegal experiments, had died in his hometown far away, his death shrouded in mystery. There was no one left to demand justice, not even his own son, who had vanished without a trace.

Many secrets had been buried with him in that misty mountain.

"Right now, the biggest breakthrough still lies with Lin Xiangrong."

She had killed Fang Xing, but walked away with a ridiculous excuse. Not only was she not charged, but she was promoted and given a pay rise upon returning. The problem now was that there was no reason to summon her, and Huang Chen was facing countless obstacles trying to investigate her.

The room had finally warmed to a comfortable temperature. Xu Chengyue, dressed in loungewear, had been staring at his phone in a daze for a long time.

After hesitating for a while, he suddenly looked at Gu Yunfeng's face and said, "You've gone through so much trouble, but... if I just came forward, that would be enough to accuse them, wouldn’t it?"

"No way."

Without a moment's hesitation, Gu Yunfeng firmly rejected the idea.

He even became emotional, frantically searching for legal clauses to make various explanations, "It's useless for you to come forward. Do you think just because you claim to be a victim, that’s enough to prove they conducted illegal experiments? It’ll only give them more room to argue, especially because you were miraculously saved."

By then, they might even paint themselves as a conscientious company contributing to human progress, with genius doctors and groundbreaking scientific research, wiping away all the blood and wrongful deaths staining their hands.

"But I have a chip in my head." Xu Chengyue pointed to his temple. "Doesn’t that prove everything?"

"What if, I mean hypothetically," Xu Chengyue continued, "What if we remove the chip? Could I provide the most compelling courtroom evidence, the decisive material proof?"

"No."

"Why not? Isn’t that evidence strong enough?"

"I mean, you can't do that."

"I’m just saying, what if..."

"Then there should be no ifs!" Gu Yunfeng nearly shouted the words.

"You can forget about the chip, you’re Xu Chengyue, a normal human being just like me! There are many ways to achieve justice!"

His eyes reddened instantly, and he reached out to hold Xu Chengyue tightly. This was something he had thought about long ago. There were many ways to pursue justice, but using Xu Chengyue would be the biggest price he would ever pay.

"I don’t want to lose you," his voice cracked with emotion, filled with endless tenderness. "I love you."

"I love the you who’s here with me right now, the you who’s shared life and death with me, the you who has all these memories with me."

"Those things are irreplaceable."

‿︵‿︵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: September 18, 2024 by Angel

Edited: January 7, 2025 by Angel