Chapter 135: The Big Vinegar Jar
An Qingyan chose an outfit from the dressing room. A high-necked sweater concealed the marks on his neck. He noticed a loose thread on the cuff and went to find some scissors.
He didn’t know where the scissors were, so he went to the storage cabinet, bent down, and opened a drawer. There were no scissors, only a digital camera sitting there alone.
It was an older model, several years old, but well-preserved, looking about 80% new.
An Qingyan picked up the camera and discovered a small, cute chibi Ultraman sticker on the back. He immediately forgot about the scissors.
Was this camera Gu Fei’s?
But this adorable sticker didn’t fit Gu Ye’s style at all. Was this camera important to him, or why would it be kept in the room for so long?
Could it have been a gift from someone?
Who was that person?
Was that person important to him?
“…” An Qingyan realized his thoughts were getting increasingly absurd. He didn’t know anything, yet he felt a subtle pang of jealousy. He quickly stopped those messy thoughts.
Just as he was about to put the camera back, the bedroom door opened, and Gu Fei came in. Seeing the scene before him, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, fleeting as it was.
But it was caught by the observant and sensitive An Qingyan.
“When did you wake up?” The man hugged the boy from behind, leaning down to kiss his lips. “Are you hungry? I had the kitchen make your favorite food.”
“I just woke up.” An Qingyan was still thinking about other things. He casually raised the camera, smiling faintly. “Ge Fei, is this your camera? Why does it have such a cute sticker?”
Gu Fei said the camera was his, and the sticker was put there by someone else.
An Qingyan casually asked who that person was.
“Um…” The man’s chin rested lightly on the boy’s shoulder, an intimate gesture. He seemed to think for two seconds before chuckling and saying, “It’s a little liar.”
His tone was helpless yet amused. The term “little liar” was even more intimate and indulgent, as if he was referring to someone he dearly loved.
The smile on An Qingyan’s face gradually faded. His random guesses had actually come true. There really was such a person, and the mere thought had already made him subtly jealous.
Hearing Gu Fei say it himself made him even more resentful. Without showing it, he continued to ask, “Are you very close to them? Are they important to you?”
Gu Fei secretly observed the expression of the person in his arms, a playful smile in his deep eyes. His thin lips moved. “Yeah, very close, very important.”
The magnetic and gentle voice reached An Qingyan’s ears, but he found it incredibly jarring. He became angry and angrily jabbed his elbow into the man’s abdomen. “Since they’re so important, then go find them.”
The boy’s usually gentle and soft voice rose slightly, carrying a hint of coldness. He held the camera tightly, even wanting to tear off the sticker.
Last night, he thought Gu Fei was a big vinegar jar, jealous over trivial matters. Now, he had become a vinegar jar himself, but this wasn’t a trivial matter; Gu Fei said that person was important to him!!
Who was so important?!
An Qingyan was genuinely angry, his grip not gentle at all. Gu Fei winced in pain, but found the boy’s angry expression amusing.
“Yan Yan, Ge Fei has already found him.”
As soon as he said that, An Qingyan became even angrier. He wanted to throw the camera at the man’s face, but he held back. Seeing the man’s smirking expression, he felt something was wrong.
He had a feeling Gu Fei was teasing him.
Only he knew that Gu Fei was far less serious than he appeared.
An Qingyan pursed his lips, his mouth downturned, looking somewhat aggrieved. He shoved the camera into the man’s hand, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Gu Fei sensed something was amiss and quickly chased after him, pulling him back into his embrace. He held the boy’s hand, softly coaxing, “What’s wrong?”
“Ge Fei lied to you.”
“You can check the camera to see if you don’t believe me.”
He knew this person was playing with him!
He almost fell for it. People are easily irrational and lose their ability to think when it comes to love.
An Qingyan still pretended on the surface, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. If a childhood sweetheart suddenly appeared, it wouldn’t be good. He didn’t want his sweet story to turn into a tragedy.
He silently pressed the camera’s power button.
It still had power, and the camera quickly turned on.
He didn’t see that behind him, the usually calm and composed man had a hint of nervousness in his eyes, but his voice remained consistently gentle: “Open the photo album and take a look.”
Hearing this, An Qingyan opened the album.
Looking at the photos on the screen, he frowned slightly. There were two people in them: a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy and another boy of eight or nine years old.
The younger boy must have been holding the camera. The older boy in the picture was sitting on a bench, looking down at a book. He wasn’t looking at the camera. His side profile was exquisitely handsome, slightly childish, exuding a cool aura.
This was clearly a younger Gu Fei, not much different from now, with a similar temperament. He had always been handsome, just more childish in features, now more mature.
The younger boy beside him was smiling happily at the camera, his peach blossom eyes curved into crescents. He looked exceptionally delicate and cute.
But this child… After clearly seeing the younger boy’s appearance, An Qingyan was completely shocked. His eyes widened, his heart overwhelmed with a turbulent surge of emotions that made him question reality.
How could this child look so much like him when he was young? No, it wasn’t just similar; it was exactly the same! There was actually someone in the world who looked exactly like him?!
His hands trembling, he quickly flipped through the subsequent photos. The main characters were the young Gu Fei and this child who looked exactly like him—dozens of photos.
The clothes on the child were clearly too big, faded from washing, with an Ultraman print on the chest that had faded, but An Qingyan remembered; he had a similar shirt when he was a child.
Zhou YueLan rarely bought him new clothes. He wore this shirt for two or three years, so he naturally remembered it.
Therefore, this child wasn’t someone else; it was him.
The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he nervously swallowed, a sudden flash of insight striking him. He suddenly remembered the childhood diary he had found at the Lin family’s.
During the summer vacation of his eighth year, Zhou YueLan worked for a wealthy family, and he went with her. There, he met an older brother who was quiet, didn’t smile much, but was very handsome.
He bought plum candy with the money he earned from selling scrap, giving the older brother one every day…
Plum candy… Gu Fei had also given him a plum candy the night they met, and even in his past life when he was sick, the man who took care of him gave him plum candy.
An Qingyan originally thought Gu Fei simply liked this candy; he didn’t expect it was because of him… because he loved to eat it.
The “little liar,” the important person Gu Fei mentioned earlier, was him, no one else…
They had known each other since childhood.
Gu Fei still remembered him, but he had no recollection of it. This was completely illogical. His memory wasn’t that bad; he would more or less remember something that happened at the age of eight.
An Qingyan’s hand holding the camera trembled uncontrollably, his heart pounding. He turned to the man, tears welling up in his reddened eyes. “Ge Fei…”
His voice trembled, “What’s going on? I don’t remember anything.”
“Just like what’s written in your diary.” Gu Fei naturally pulled him into his arms, gently rubbing his head. His magnetic voice softened slightly:
“That year, there was a maid in my house who was going back to her hometown for maternity leave. She happened to know your adoptive mother, Zhou YueLan, so she introduced Zhou YueLan to work at my house.”
“And eight-year-old you came to my house with her.”
An Qingyan leaned against Gu Fei’s shoulder in a daze. He clutched the man’s clothes, silent for a moment, then looked up with wet eyes. “So, we’ve known each other for a long time.”
Then, he guiltily lowered his eyes, “Ge Fei, that night I was homeless on the street. Did you bring me home because you recognized me…? But I don’t remember you.”
Gu Fei smiled, leaning down to kiss the boy’s earlobe. “Yan Yan looks about the same as he did when he was little.” His memory was good, and he had a deep impression of An Qingyan, so he recognized him at a glance.
An Qingyan felt a mix of emotions, as if the mist had cleared, finally seeing the truth. The events of his past and present lives had explanations.
Why would Gu Fei help a stranger? They had known each other all along.
Then why… In his past life, he lived to twenty-four and didn’t meet Gu Fei. Why did Gu Fei suddenly appear to help him during his difficult times?
But that didn’t matter anymore.
“What happened after that…” The young man frowned in distress, hitting his head hard. “What to do, I really don’t have any memory. This part of my memory seems to have disappeared from my mind.”
Gu Fei grasped his wrist, stopping his movement.
He didn’t feel pain; don’t carelessly hurt yourself.
“It’s okay, it’s alright if you don’t remember,” Gu Fei comforted him. “Ge Fei remembering you is enough.”
“Not long after, I went abroad for my studies. The day I left, you and Zhou YueLan were still at the Gu residence. A few days later, I called home from abroad, wanting to talk to you.”
“But Butler Shen told me that the maid who went back to her hometown to give birth had returned, so Zhou YueLan no longer worked at the Gu residence, and you went back with her.”
“I was studying abroad and didn’t come back often. We lost contact after that.”
“I see…” It still didn’t explain why he didn’t have this memory. An Qingyan put the question aside. He tiptoed and kissed the man’s thin lips.
“I’m sorry, I misunderstood you earlier.”