Chapter 56
Were these three characters written by Yan Shiting later, or earlier?
Yu Li pursed her lips, her hand holding the photo trembling slightly.
After a long while, he calmly put all the photos back in their original places, put away Yuanyuan's gifts, and then stood up and left the small study.
As I walked outside and was about to open the door, it was opened from the inside.
Yan Shiting stood behind the door with a frown, a barely perceptible hint of tension in his eyes.
He accidentally got a little drunk that night and actually told Yu Li about the cabinet.
Those photos are still in that cabinet.
Did Yu Li see that?
Upon seeing Yu Li, Yan Shiting paused for a moment, then casually asked, "Have you put the things away?"
Yu Li, who had been looking at Yan Shiting's face, said upon hearing this, "Put it away properly."
If it's placed properly, then that means he saw those photos.
Yan Shiting tightened his grip on the doorknob slightly.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he said, "Come in first."
Yu Li nodded and went into the room.
His expression remained calm throughout, revealing no emotion.
Did you have no reaction after seeing those photos?
Yan Shiting pursed his lips and closed the door.
Can he pretend that this never happened?
He was about to speak, trying to change the subject and not bring up the photos, when Yu Li suddenly hugged him from behind.
"Brother, don't try to cover it up." Yu Li's muffled voice came from behind: "I saw all the photos in the cabinet. I want to know, when did you put them in there?"
Perhaps Yu Li thought that knowing when the photo was put in would reveal when he fell in love.
Now that things had come to this, Yan Shiting understood that he could no longer hide it.
Yan Shiting frowned, staring at the door panel in front of him.
“There are dates on the back of those photos, and the earliest one is the time when I started putting the photos up.”
That was a group photo taken when Yu Li and her three roommates went out for dinner during their freshman year.
"But even before that, I already had different feelings for you."
Yu Li was taken aback, and her grip on Yan Shiting loosened slightly.
Yan Shiting pulled his hand away, turned around, and stared intently at Yu Li.
Yu Li murmured, "When was it?"
Yan Shiting said, "Four years ago, on my birthday."
-
His birthday party has always been held the day before his birthday.
It was quite late when the banquet ended. After entrusting the task of seeing off the guests to Butler He, Yan Shiting once again went to the plum grove of the manor.
What many people don't know is that the day Yan Shiting and Yan Sui's mother passed away was Yan Shiting's birthday.
So every year after entertaining guests at his birthday banquet, he would go to the plum grove to briefly express his longing.
Around midnight that night, Yu Li, who was taking a walk in the manor to clear her mind, walked into the plum grove.
Yan Shiting remembered him.
On the day when he sent Yan Sui to report to Y University, he saw this handsome young man wake up from his afternoon nap, groggily climb down the stairs, his T-shirt riding up to reveal a section of his fair waist.
For some reason, Yan Shiting simply memorized him.
When the handsome young man saw him in the plum grove, he was slightly surprised at first, but then seemed to notice his unhappiness and chatted with him for a while. He then pulled a round hard candy from his coat and said to him:
Happy birthday, brother.
It was just past midnight, his birthday. Just then, snow fell from the wintersweet tree and landed on his shoulder.
He ultimately did not accept the candy, but politely thanked him and left first, as if to escape.
After that, he unknowingly began to pay attention to Yu Li's movements.
After seeing the group photo posted by Yan Sui on his WeChat Moments, Yan Shiting saved it and personally printed and laminated the photo.
Only when he held the photo did he realize that something was wrong with him.
But feelings are like bullets once fired; they can never be turned back.
The number of photos in the cabinet is increasing.
Yan Shiting regretted not accepting the candy Yu Li gave him; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone crazy collecting every photo of Yu Li because he didn't have anything related to her.
Behind each photo, he recorded the date and wrote down what Yu Li was doing at the time.
Later, he had his only photo with Yu Li.
He had just developed the photos and was about to write the date when he suddenly stopped.
After thinking for a long time, I wrote down the three words that expressed my feelings with utmost seriousness.
I like you.
There is no subject, because the only one who can see that photo is himself, and he is the subject of that sentence.
-
Four years ago, on Yan Shiting's birthday, Yu Li had just realized that she liked Yan Sui.
It turns out that while he was secretly in love with Yan Sui, someone else was in love with him.
Thinking of this, Yu Li said, "No wonder you always warned me with a cold face, telling me to stay away from Yan Sui."
Yan Shiting touched his face. "I admit, I did have my own selfish reasons for advising you to stay away from Yan Sui."
On one hand, it was because she knew that Yan Sui could never like men and didn't want Yu Li to get hurt; on the other hand, it was because of his ulterior motives.
He lowered his voice and continued, "Do you remember three years ago during the Qingming Festival, when you went on a spring outing and were suddenly caught in a torrential downpour in Yueshan?"
Yu Li nodded: "I remember."
Yue Mountain is located on the outskirts of Y City and is named for its crescent-shaped peak.
Yan Sui's photography club organized a spring outing, and club members could bring friends along, so Yan Sui brought Yu Li.
Once the group has finished taking photos at Yueshan, they are free to do as they please, as long as they have lunch at a farmhouse restaurant at the foot of the mountain at 3 p.m. sharp.
Yan Sui, being the boldest among them, dragged Yu Li and several other club members to climb another mountain connected to Yue Shan, hoping to capture a photo of the crescent-shaped peak of Yue Shan from that angle.
Just as the group finished filming and was about to head down the mountain, a sudden downpour began.
It had been raining for several days before, and the mountain roads were already muddy. After the torrential rain, the soil became unstable.
Yan Sui was leading the way when he accidentally slipped and rolled down the hillside. During the fall, his right leg hit a rock, and he lay motionless in a ditch at the bottom of the slope.
Some members of the community immediately called the police, while others took a detour to seek help at a farmhouse.
Yu Li looked at Yan Sui at the bottom of the slope, her heart filled with anxiety.
He saw that the roots of the trees on the slope were exposed and worried about the risk of a landslide, so he prepared to go down and bring Yan Sui up.
＊
Yan Shiting happened to be at that farmhouse restaurant that day.
When he saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds, he took an umbrella and went up the mountain to pick up Yan Sui.
But just as they reached the mountainside, they heard a member of the community calling for help.
He hurriedly followed the people to the place where Yan Sui had the accident, and just then he saw Yu Li preparing to go down.
Yan Shiting was startled, his mind went blank, and he quickly stepped forward to stop him: "Yu Li, don't be impulsive! The rescue team will be here soon."
Yu Li shook her head: "It's too late. There's already a minor landslide here. If the rain continues, Yan Sui will be buried underneath!"
He gripped Yan Shiting's arm, and in the pouring rain, only his eyes, filled with urgency and worry, shone brightly.
His tone was firm: "I'm confident I can bring him up, brother, you have to believe me!"
Yan Shiting felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a knife.
He stared into Yu Li's eyes, frozen in place.
Yu Li pried open the hand that was grabbing hers, and then Yu Li turned around and resolutely slid down the hillside to Yan Sui's side.
He was clearly shorter and thinner than Yan Sui, yet he carried Yan Sui on his back, securing him with his belt and coat sleeves, and climbed up the hill with Yan Sui on a relatively stable footing.
During this process, his hands and body were scratched by rocks and tree roots on the hillside, but he didn't care at all, his mind was only on bringing Yan Sui up there.
Yan Shiting held up the umbrella, watching him risk his life, watching Yan Sui win his love, his body stiffened on the spot, unable to move, as if his throat was blocked.
It turns out that there are people who love someone so much, as if they'd give up everything for them.
＊
Yan Shiting's eyes were slightly red. He stared at Yu Li for a long time before saying, word by word, "At that moment, I was jealous of Yan Sui, so jealous that I was almost going crazy."
He wasn't as calm and composed as Yu Li had imagined.
After returning from Yueshan, Yu Li came to visit Yan Sui, who was recuperating from his injuries. He then reminded Yu Li to stay away from Yan Sui.
Behind every word of advice he later gave was his selfish desire for jealousy.
"Little Fish." Yan Shiting closed his eyes briefly, then spoke again with renewed composure: "Will you be afraid after you know my true thoughts?"
Yu Li felt her heart being slowly tightened.
He hugged Yan Shiting and shook his head, saying, "No. Isn't it normal to have such thoughts?"
Whether it's liking or being jealous, aren't these just human emotions?
Yu Li paused for a moment, then said, "Brother, I'm very grateful that you were willing to tell me."
"This makes me feel like I understand you better."
Yan Shiting hugged him back: "Even if you knew that I was using your pregnancy to marry you, weren't you afraid?"
Yu Li's eyes welled up with tears, but she still shook her head and comforted him, "No. I agreed to get married on my own. You've never coerced me or hurt me, so don't blame yourself like this."
After he finished speaking, he added, "Brother, I'm sorry, it's only now that I'm responding to your feelings of all these years."
He spoke firmly, reiterating once again: "I love you now and in the future."
The anxiety that had been building for so long finally subsided.
Yan Shiting tightened his arms around Yu Li's shoulder and said in a muffled voice, "Thank you, Xiaoyu. I love you too."
The room fell silent, and the two embraced quietly by the door for a long while.
Yu Li only released Yan Shiting when she heard Yuan Yuan crying from the crib.
He looked at Yan Shiting and said, "Brother, I'm going to comfort Yuanyuan. You go take a shower."
Yan Shiting had drunk quite a bit of alcohol with Mr. Lu that evening, and he smelled slightly of alcohol on himself.
He looked at Yu Li and nodded.
After Yan Shiting went into the bathroom, Yu Li quickly went to Yuan Yuan's crib, placed a small fish-shaped pillow in Yuan Yuan's arms, and gently coaxed her while pushing the crib.
Before long, Yuanyuan fell into a deep sleep again.
The sound of water in the bathroom also stopped.
Yan Shiting walked to the crib, looked at the sleeping Yuanyuan, hugged Yu Li from behind, and sighed contentedly, "It's like a dream."
Yu Li chuckled softly and tilted her head to rub her face against his.
He recalled that a month ago, he had wondered when Yan Shiting had fallen for him.
Now we have the answer.
It turned out that it wasn't a case of feelings developing over time as he had imagined; Yan Shiting's feelings for him had been premeditated for a long time.
And he and Yan Shiting have a long future ahead of them.
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