Gu Bai’s gaze was complicated. This wasn't the same Zheng Xiaoyuan as before. Who was he? He frowned, filtering all the images after their encounter in his head, and then caught an almost absurd idea.
I heard that people in this hospital often claim to have switched their bodies as soon as they regain consciousness. Is that true?
He only felt that his head was blank, almost finding it hard to remain standing. He slowly sat down in front of the man and kept quiet. Qi Le teased the cat and looked up in a daze. “What’s wrong with you?”
Gu Bai stretched out a hand to cover his eyes, not letting him see his face and said in a low voice, “It's nothing. I’ve not been in a good mood recently…”
“What’s the matter?” Qi Le leaned over with concern, “Is it because of that?”
“Mmm,” Gu Bai answered in a low voice and only uncovered his eyes after a long while. “I've read Xiao Le’s letter. Why did he ask me take care of you?”
Qi Le blinked innocently, “…I’m sorry, I lost my memory.”
Gu Bai paid no attention to him and continued, “He asked me to find someone I like to live with. He also said that there are plenty of fish in the ocean and not to get hung up over one person. I think… he knew that I like him and wants me to start a new life and stop being sad.”
Qi Le blinked again, “Really? Then, what do you think?”
Gu Bai stared at him for a moment and said, “I don’t know.” Then he got up, “I want to have a drink, will you go with me?”
This buddy of his was so miserable that Qi Le felt obliged to accompany him. He put the cat down and got up to walk. However, when he saw his cute son clinging to his pants the whole time, he couldn’t help but hug it in his arms again, patiently comforting it. Only then did he manage to coax the little kitty.
Gu Bai watched all of that in silence. As Qi Le walked towards him, he picked up his keys and they both left together.
Qi Le didn’t realize that the date was blocked by the picture frame until evening today, and came over to steal the painting at once. By the time they went out, it was already late at night. The air felt a little damp as if it was about to rain. The two of them went to the bar and found a table in the corner. This was the gay bar where Qi Le had been a few days ago. He silently sat on the plush sofa. He didn’t know if it was just his illusion, but he couldn't shake the feeling that many people were looking this way.
Gu Bai turned a blind eye to the people around him, ordered some alcohol, poured two glasses for both of them and downed his own glass. “I'll take care of you according to Xiao Le’s wishes. If you think of anything related to him, please tell me.” He paused for a moment before softly speaking. “If there's someone by my side to chat with me about him, I'll feel as if he's still with me…”
Qi Le felt sad after hearing that. He drank with him and promised, “I will.”
Gu Bai nodded and filled up his glass again. After that, he stared intently at Qi Le's glass to make sure that it was full at all times. A little while later, Qi Le began to feel dizzy, his voice sounding faint, “What’s so good about Qi Le? Do you really like him so much?”
“Everything about him is good…” Gu Bai secretly observed the man. Seeing that he was almost drunk, he brought him outside. It had started to rain. He quickly walked over and was just about to enter his car when he froze. “Why are you here?”
Qi Le turned around with misty eyes, suddenly sobering up a little. The person Gu Bai was talking to was none other than Xiao Ying. Xiao Ying held an umbrella above Gu Bai's head, the rims of her eyes a little red. “Aunty said that you haven’t been home in three days. I went to the apartment to look for you. You weren’t there, so I came here to look. Have you been drinking again?”
Gu Bai backed away from her and pulled a certain someone under the umbrella to shelter him from the rain. “I’m fine.”
“You call this fine?” Xiao Ying seldom sounded this angry. “What are you doing? He’s dead. Dead, do you understand? Can you stop torturing yourself?!"
Those words "dead" rang in Qi Le's ears and he subconsciously trembled.
Gu Bai frowned. “Shut up.”
“I just won't!” Xiao Ying was shaking all over. Tears ran down her cheeks but she didn't care to wipe them away. “Go home with me.”
“No.”
“You…” Xiao Ying threw the umbrella in anger and wanted to pull him.
Qi Le had never seen Xiao Ying so agitated. He was scared silly by her reaction. When he saw her coming over, he subconsciously felt that she wanted to slap Erquan and immediately stood in front of her. “Don’t. Hit me if you want to…”
Anyways, he's like this because of me. It’s not wrong to be slapped in his place.
Gu Bai heard his every word clearly. He held his breath as he felt his emotions fluctuating drastically inside. He went to the cemetery to pay respects, he knew that name, he said he knew Xiao Le, he knew where the key to the apartment was, he was very intimate with that Scottish fold cat… If the rumors in the hospital were true… If he hadn't really lost his memory…
-I know now, you've come back to me.
Xiao Ying stopped in place, her eyes growing redder. Qi Le froze at that sight, then turned to look behind him. His heart sank at once. Gu Bai stood there without any change in his expression, but tears were slowly flowing down, soaking his entire face.
“You…” Xiao Ying cried even harder and subconsciously wanted to go over to hug him.
Gu Bai took a step back instead. Although he was crying, he didn't look miserable. “Go home, I don’t need you to bother about me.” He paused before he added, “It's none of your business anyways.”
Although this man was gentle, he was very cold to those he didn't care about… Xiao Ying couldn’t stand it any longer and ran off.
Gu Bai’s gaze slowly fell onto Qi Le as he asked in a low voice, “Why are you crying?”
Qi Le opened his mouth, his voice choked with sobs: “I don’t know why I'm crying either…”
~~~
P.S. I’ll release the whole of chapter 19 tonight! ❤