WAM CH44

July 19, 1996. Overcast.

July, the lotuses have bloomed.

Jianguo, even if our love is shameful in the eyes of outsiders, please make sure to hold my hand.

Because you are my only source of courage.

—Ye Qing’s Journal.

Zhou Weiping and Ye Xuan confronted each other, with Shao Si standing by Gu Yanzhou’s side, his eyes unblinking.

System: [I only stepped away for a bit, how did the atmosphere suddenly get so tense? What’s going on here?]

[The revolution has made a breakthrough.]

[Is it a bit too smooth?] The system said thoughtfully, [I always feel this matter isn’t that simple.]

[Let’s wait and see first.]

Although Shao Si responded nonchalantly, his heart suddenly sank.

He didn’t know what that stifling sensation in his chest was for either—probably a kind of intuition—he felt that this matter might really not be that simple.

After a long pause, Zhou Weiping finally stumbled to his feet, his waist slightly bent, as if his legs lacked all strength. Staggering forward two steps in a daze, he braced both hands against Ye Xuan’s shoulders to barely stabilize himself, saying with great difficulty, “Who are you? How do you know all this… You… what’s your relation to Xiao Qing…”

Ye Xuan was clearly much calmer than him. Her gaze locked onto the bright incandescent light not far away, the glare stinging her eyes slightly, yet she didn’t blink as she said: “Don’t be in a rush. When Director Ou wakes up, we’ll talk again—have a proper talk.”

Director Ou was diagnosed with acute alcohol poisoning.

Coming out of the emergency room, he was transferred to a regular ward and hooked up to an IV drip, with no telling when he would wake up.

Seeing the current atmosphere between them, it wasn’t appropriate for Shao Si to rashly take the initiative to bring up that topic from earlier; it was far too ill-timed.

So he could only stare from afar through the semi-transparent glass at Director Ou lying on the hospital bed for a bit, then turned his head and asked them: “Aren’t you guys hungry? Want to go out and grab something to eat?”

Ye Xuan and Zhou Weiping didn’t even raise their heads.

“…Guess that’s a no.”

Shao Si leaned against the wall, his wet clothes already half-dry. Just as he was about to follow up by asking if they needed him to bring take-out back, the back of his head was patted neither too hard nor too softly by Gu Yanzhou: “Eat what? I booked a few rooms nearby. Let’s clean ourselves up first.”

Shao Si looked up at him: “You have clothes?”

Gu Yanzhou: “Had Chen Yang buy a few sets on short notice.”

Shao Si: “…” This manager really wears multiple hats.

He thought for a moment, still caring more about another question: “Presuming to ask, how is his taste?”

Gu Yanzhou sized him up twice, speaking with pointed meaning: “You can also choose not to wear them.”

Shao Si: Like hell I’m sick in the head.

Since Ye Xuan had held an umbrella the whole time, she hadn’t gotten rained on much. Sitting quietly there, she said without raising her head: “You guys go ahead, I don’t need to.”

By the time they returned to the hospital again, over an hour had passed.

Director Ou still hadn’t woken up.

It was approaching late at night, the hands of the wall clock ticking round after round.

Shao Si half-reclined in a chair, dozing off.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Chen Yang stood at the doorway and said to them: “He’s awake! He’s awake!”

Just as Shao Si was about to follow them inside, his phone suddenly began to vibrate wildly. The exact moment the call connected, Li Guangzong erupted with a furious roar: “—WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”

These words were heard crystal clear even by Gu Yanzhou standing beside him.

Shao Si extended his arm, holding the phone farther away, frowning as he rubbed his ear and said: “What are you shouting for? If you keep yelling, I’m hanging up directly. Call me back when you’ve calmed down.”

“You’re quite capable, aren’t you? Sneaking off without even saying a word! Who’s going to take responsibility if something goes wrong? Huh?! Calling you and you don’t pick up, even turning your phone off…” Li Guangzong was genuinely beside himself with rage. After a brief venting, he forcibly suppressed his anger and asked in a faux-gentle tone, “Fine, I won’t scold you. Tell me, where are you right now?”

Shao Si answered perfunctorily: “…I’m outside taking a walk.”

“…” Li Guangzong couldn’t hold it in any longer this time. He stood up from his armchair with a loud ‘thud’, pacing back and forth in his room, his breathing exceptionally heavy: “Taking a walk… If the ‘walk’ you speak of is squeezing into a tiny, shabby convenience store with Best Actor Gu, rummaging through your pockets for half a day only to pull out a few coins and a small roll of bills, then great, you walked remarkably well!”

“What?” Shao Si stopped in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat.

Over on the other end, Li Guangzong hadn’t organized his words properly yet, rambling without hitting the main point.

Meanwhile, Gu Yanzhou, having heard the whole thing, lowered his head to fiddle with his phone for a moment, then presented the screen in front of Shao Si: “Hot search.”

[User_XXXX]: Nothing more to say, everyone just watch the video yourselves, haha. [/Video Link]

Shao Si couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

This video wasn’t even candid footage shot from outside—it directly used the store’s internal security camera footage.

The image quality was rough. Although the two of them were bundled up very tightly, there was one shot where Shao Si, feeling it was too stifling, pulled his mask down slightly to catch some air.

Shao Si glanced at it briefly, suddenly feeling a bit curious about what label this hot search had slapped on them.

So he scrolled back and saw a rising new topic on the Weibo Hot Search list: Broke Couple Midnight Date.

…

Netizens definitely wouldn’t buy into this—it was just visiting a convenience store without bringing money, how bored could people be?

Holding this thought, Shao Si clicked into the netizen comments.

Yet the entire screen was filled with:

—OMG, that’s way too cute! They originally scooped up a pile of stuff, but when it came time to swipe the card, they were totally dumbfounded HAHAHAHA they could only put everything back first.

—Did anyone notice at 7:06, Daddy Shao couldn’t believe he only had four coins in his pocket and even wanted to search Best Actor Gu’s HAHAHAHA.

—I’ll take this batch of impoverished dog food.

Shao Si was dumbfounded: “What the hell is all this?”

Gu Yanzhou withdrew his hand: “I’d more so like to know why a store that doesn’t even have a card reader would install security cameras.”

…That really is a good question.

However, now wasn’t the time to focus on such things either. Shao Si stated the hospital name and hung up the phone.

The group of people squeezed into the single hospital ward. Director Ou’s breathing was still somewhat erratic; his eyes were open, staring straight at the ceiling, though it was unclear what he was looking at.

The hospital gown was exceptionally loose, looking a size too big on Director Ou.

“Sorry for causing you trouble,” Director Ou spoke slowly, his fingers curling powerlessly against the bedsheets. “I’m already fine. You guys head back first; you all have scenes tomorrow… I can manage alone.”

Ye Xuan had said that once Director Ou woke up, she would lay this matter out for a proper talk.

Sure enough, under the gaze of the few people present, Ye Xuan spoke up slowly: “Director Ou, I want to reintroduce myself to you. My name is Ye Xuan, and Ye Qing is my uncle.”

Director Ou struggled to sit up, the IV needle on the back of his hand almost coming loose: “What did you say?”

Shao Si appropriately displayed a few bits of surprise as well, though he had already guessed it in his heart.

So it really was…

A familial relationship.

“When I was very young, up in the attic at home, I stumbled upon a journal.” Ye Xuan slowly closed her eyes, a look of distress crossing her face at the mention of that memory. “The first time I saw that journal, I was still illiterate, but I could read the character ‘Ye’ on the title page, because my name had one too.”

Old memories were like a long-sealed door; every time it was pushed open, one would be choked by the accumulated dust falling from it, choked to the point of suffocation.

Back then, Ye Xuan was just a child, and she had casually tossed the journal into who-knows-what corner.

Until many years later, when they suddenly had to move, she found that journal again in a corner of the attic while packing up things.

This time she could read it; the owner of this journal was named Ye Qing.

A very thick volume. Due to poor binding quality, combined with the inner pages already being somewhat loose, there were even a few missing pages.

This journal had accompanied Ye Qing for many years. His sexuality—suppressed by himself and by society—could probably only be voiced freely in full detail when writing in his journal.

He was a homosexual. Thirty-three years ago, how much tolerance did society have for homosexuality?

Ye Qing’s own claim of having no parents was actually fake. The Ye family was a scholarly family of repute, and as the doted-upon youngest son of the Ye family, he had been burdened with high expectations since childhood. Who would have thought he would grow up to be the disgrace of the Ye family?

March 1, 1992. Overcast and rainy.

Ran into eldest brother on the street today, but he didn’t want to see me.

Maybe I should change my name… but the name ‘Ye Qing’ is my final connection to home. There are so many people with the surname Ye in the world; as long as I don’t speak up, no one will know.

March 17, 1992. Sunny.

I like singing opera. Only on the opera stage does no one point fingers at me.

I play Yu Ji in love with Xiang Yu; I sing ‘advising the King to drink wine and listen to Yu’s song, dispelling the King’s worries as I dance with the sword,’ and everyone claps and cheers.

Only at that time am I free.

Ye Xuan: “I never knew who the ‘Jianguo’ written in his journal was. I asked someone to look into it, but there was no such person.”

Zhou Weiping didn’t dare make eye contact with her.

“How could you act like nothing happened, continuing to live on as if nothing ever happened? When you denied it previously, I felt something was off, and later I secretly tailed you.”

That night, Ye Xuan had stood outside Zhou Weiping’s front door, watching the harmonious scene inside, feeling a chill run through her entire body.

Only after a long while did Zhou Weiping speak: “You live in the 21st century and grew up in a relatively open environment from a young age. In the education you received, homosexuality is normal. But if you were to go back thirty years, back then, the whole world didn’t treat us like human beings.”

“I couldn’t bear that pressure—it was too hard. I just wanted to live the life of a normal person, to let my parents and elders hold their heads high in front of others… Even Ye Qing didn’t hold out… I think I have the right to make a choice.”

Ye Xuan listened and laughed: “You think he committed suicide because of this? He wasn’t that fragile to choose to end his life hastily just because he lived in a world without acceptance.”

Zhou Weiping froze: “What?”

Shao Si was listening earnestly when the door was suddenly slammed open with a “Bang!”. Before Li Guangzong even stepped inside, his voice arrived first: “Shao Si—stand right there and don’t move! I have to pick a fight with you today!”

“…”

Li Guangzong was full of vigor. Stepping one leg inside, he rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his hands together: “Heiya, today it’s either your death or my survival!”

In an instant, silence fell over the hospital room.

The few people all looked toward the door together.

Shao Si rubbed his temples with a headache: Damn mentally disabled guy.