Chapter 36 Scar His eyes changed from that moment on. ...
Liang Yizhi and He Xintu went upstairs one after the other.
Reaching Liang Yizhi's room, He Xintu said, "It's getting late, so get some rest. I won't disturb you any longer."
He forced a smile, his once vibrant curls now dry and dull.
He Xintu: "Good night."
“…Good night.” Liang Yizhi opened the door and slipped into the room.
She didn't want things to turn out this way.
Liang Yizhi sighed and looked towards the bed. He Man had just finished showering and was already lying on the bed. Even though she really wanted to chat with He Man, seeing her drooping eyelids, she ultimately swallowed her words.
He Man said she had a headache and wasn't feeling well right now, so it's best not to bother her.
Liang Yizhi sat for a while, then quietly opened the door again.
She wanted to see if He Xintu was still outside.
Liang Yizhi tiptoed out and peeked out. He Xintu's door was tightly closed, and the corridor was deserted. The lights downstairs were also off, and it was completely silent.
Just as Liang Yizhi closed the door behind her back, Gu Yinyan's door across the hall opened.
Gu Yinyan spotted the furtive figure in the corridor at a glance.
Gu Yinyan: "Are you doing something like stealing?"
"It's a little worse than being a thief." Liang Yizhi looked listless. She walked up to him and glanced into the room behind Gu Yinyan. "Jiang Huai isn't here?"
“He’s not here,” Gu Yinyan said. “He was acting mysteriously all night; I don’t know where he went.”
Not long after returning to the villa, Jiang Huai, seeing that he had no plans for the evening, went out again, saying he wanted to buy something. Gu Yinyan didn't press him for details, letting him do as he pleased.
"By the way, did you bring any cold medicine?" Liang Yizhi suddenly remembered, "He Man seems to have a headache, do you have any painkillers or cold medicine?"
"Come in and get it."
Gu Yinyan turned and went into the house.
He pulled out two boxes of commonly used medicines and handed them to Liang Yizhi: "Take one of these first. If the other one isn't serious, you don't need to take it yet; just keep it on hand."
"Thanks." Liang Yizhi sat in the chair, head down, examining the prescription and effects written on the medicine box.
She didn't make any other moves for a long time.
Gu Yinyan stared at her for a while, and then he understood:
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
Liang Yizhi nodded: "Yes."
She sighed and said, "Just now... He Xintu took me to set off fireworks."
Gu Yinyan listened quietly.
He was standing by the window when those fireworks went off outside. He couldn't see the fireworks from his room, but he waited until the noise stopped for those ten-odd seconds before leaving his spot.
"I was a little scared. I almost had a falling out with him just now," Liang Yizhi said, her head down.
Gu Yinyan originally thought that although He Xintu was stubborn, at least his words would serve as a warning.
It seems he mistook him for a bad guy.
Gu Yinyan sat down on the edge of the bed opposite Liang Yizhi, lowering his head slightly to try and see her expression.
"Still not recovered?"
Liang Yizhi shook her head: "It's all over now."
The image of He Xintu's disappointed expression flashed through her mind again, and she felt a tightness in her chest: "He doesn't know I don't like fireworks and such things, so I can't blame him. But I really can't pretend to like them."
"Did you tell him?" Gu Yinyan asked, "You don't like fireworks."
"I told you."
Did he ask you why?
"No."
Liang Yizhi also thought He Xintu would ask, but he was so immersed in his low mood that he probably didn't notice.
"He probably didn't expect it to be something I didn't like, and he didn't have time to ask why."
Gu Yinyan sat opposite her, neither confirming nor denying the reason.
He said, "I think he just doesn't care about you as much as you think."
Looking back, Liang Yizhi realized that she and He Xintu did not really understand each other that well.
She knew nothing about his background or past, only gleaning glimpses from his fragmented words; he was neither familiar with nor disliked her, nor did she wish to delve any further.
Upon closer reflection, her relationship with He Xintu had always been one that progressed recklessly based solely on feelings. This, perhaps, was its downside.
Liang Yizhi said, "Do you remember that time when we were little?"
"The time we secretly went to watch the fireworks together."
Gu Yinyan hummed in agreement.
That was a very important memory in his life, and he couldn't possibly have forgotten it.
It was the last day of the Lunar New Year that year, and the weather was particularly cold.
Liang Yizhi could have spent the day peacefully indoors, but she still insisted on dragging Gu Yinyan out with her.
That day, after the New Year's Eve dinner, Gu's parents brought Gu Yinyan to visit the Liang family. The adults chatted downstairs, while the young men and women went off to find other entertainment.
He Man texted Liang Yizhi, asking if she wanted to go out and celebrate the New Year together. Liang Yizhi thought that her parents would definitely not agree to her spending the New Year outside, but they would probably allow her to go out briefly to meet with friends.
They arranged to meet at the 24-hour convenience store at the entrance of the residential compound, and Jiang Huai also came.
The four of them bought oden from a convenience store. The hot soup was comforting, and being with friends made it taste even better than their New Year's Eve dinner.
But after they finished eating, they still couldn't figure out where to go.
It was the end of the year, and all the shops on the street were closed for the New Year. No one was doing business, so they could only wander around the streets.
Two hours later, Liang Yizhi's father called, urging her to come home.
He Man complained, "Your dad is so old-fashioned. Every time we go out to play, he has to urge you to come home. All he ever does is urge!"
"Come on, don't be angry," Liang Yizhi said. "Anyway, it's late now, and we have nowhere to go. It's safer to go home early. How about we go see a movie tomorrow?"
After much persuasion, He Man was eventually coaxed by Liang Yizhi.
They went home separately. Gu Yinyan and Liang Yizhi went together, and Gu Yinyan first took her back to the Liang family home.
On her way home, Liang Yizhi heard the sounds of fireworks and children playing in the distance, seemingly nearby.
Liang Yizhi's heart skipped a beat, and she asked Gu Yinyan, "It's the New Year, after all. Shall we go and see what other people are doing with their fireworks?"
The boy beside her replied, "Aren't you afraid of fire?"
Gu Yinyan had heard about Liang Yizhi's fear of fire. When she was a child, she was playing around and accidentally burned her hair, which left her with a phobia. Her parents forbade her from getting near any source of fire.
But Liang Yizhi insisted: "We're not going to play, we'll just watch from afar. Otherwise, it'll be so boring during the Lunar New Year, there won't be any festive atmosphere at all."
Even if they've suffered losses, young and impetuous people always have the courage to be fearless.
After turning several blocks, they finally followed the sound and found the group of people setting off fireworks.
It was by an abandoned bridge. The group of people were students around the same age as Liang Yizhi and Gu Yinyan. They had bought all sorts of firecrackers and fireworks and were setting them off one after another.
Liang Yizhi and Gu Yinyan watched from a distance.
After watching for a while, Gu Yinyan recognized a familiar figure among the group.
That was the youngest son of the Zhang family, where he had previously stayed. He and his eldest son used to swarm around Gu Yinyan every day, finding all sorts of ways to bully him.
Later, Gu Yinyan was taken back to the Gu family. In return, Gu Yinyan's father also arranged for Zhang's son to transfer to a different school and come to this city.
The moment they recognized him, the youngest son happened to be looking in their direction.
Liang Yizhi didn't notice anything amiss. She just stared at the fireworks and murmured, "Where did they get so many kinds of fireworks? I've never seen any of them before."
Gu Yinyan stepped forward and stood close behind her: "Let's go back, it's getting late."
"I'll stay a little longer, just a few more minutes, then I'll leave right away."
In just a moment, when Gu Yinyan looked up again, the boy with the buzz cut was gone.
His brows furrowed even more.
They watched for another two minutes. Suddenly, a loud shout came from behind them:
"Hey—Gu Yinyan!"
Gu Yinyan felt a chill run down his spine and turned to look at them with a sullen face.
The short-haired guy who had just disappeared was standing far behind them, waving his arms outstretched as if to greet them warmly.
Upon hearing the voice, Liang Yizhi asked in confusion, "Your friend?"
Gu Yinyan didn't answer immediately, but instead pulled Liang Yizhi's arm through his sleeve: "Let's go back first since we don't know each other."
"Hurry up."
He was about to take Liang Yizhi away when the boy shouted at them again:
"Happy New Year!"
The man with the buzz cut cupped his hands around his mouth, his smile chillingly sinister.
"Don't go! We haven't seen each other in so long, I have a big gift for you—"
Gu Yinyan felt a chill run down his spine. Only then did he notice a firecracker set off in the open space behind them. The fuse was already lit, and it was about to explode at any moment.
In an instant, firecrackers exploded, and fireworks burst forth in their direction.
Gu Yinyan hesitated for a second before he could react.
In that split second, a soft, warm body immediately covered him, lunging forward and pushing him away.
Their bodies collided, and they fell to one side, crashing into the stone wall opposite them.
Ignoring the pain, Gu Yinyan immediately stood up and put his arm around her shoulder: "Liang Yizhi? Liang Yizhi? Are you alright?"
The stone wall was uneven, and Liang Yizhi's shoulder bumped into a protrusion, causing her to cry out in pain.
"I'm fine." She gritted her teeth and shook her head. "Were you burned by the fireworks?"
Gu Yinyan's mind went blank; he didn't bother to check if he was injured. The moment the fireworks burst through his body was still replaying in his mind's eye.
Gu Yinyan's voice involuntarily grew louder, and his expression became even colder than before:
"Why are you rushing over there? Don't you know how dangerous it is? What if you get hurt by the explosion?"
He rarely loses his temper, but now he's blinded by anger.
He was angry at Zhang's youngest son for being so vicious, angry at his own slow reaction, and even angrier at Liang Yizhi for... why she had risked her life to stand in front of him.
If the fireworks hadn't been slightly off-center, and if their speed hadn't been so fast, the consequences could have been unimaginable.
Seventeen-year-old Gu Yinyan had the urge to immediately grab a gunpowder barrel and blow up Zhang's youngest son along with the group of students who were setting off fireworks.
When the children saw that they seemed to have been injured by the explosion, they immediately scattered and ran back the way they came, laughing and joking.
Gu Yinyan lifted Liang Yizhi's face, examining every detail of her features, then looked her up and down thoroughly. There were no streetlights, and he carefully tried to make out her features for a long time.
He lifted her hand. Liang Yizhi gasped.
Gu Yinyan: "Does it hurt?"
"No," Liang Yizhi pointed, her voice trembling, "your wrist..."
Only then did Gu Yinyan have time to remember himself; it turned out that his wrist had still not been able to avoid the scattered sparks and had been burned.
Seeing her hands, which she had taken such good care of by playing the piano every day, suddenly swell up in large patches, Liang Yizhi almost burst into tears.
"Your hand... what should we do? We need to get to the hospital right away, quick!"
Liang Yizhi and Gu Yinyan went to the nearest convenience store, bought a bottle of ice water to rinse their face, then called their parents and took a taxi to the hospital.
When Liang Yizhi arrived at the hospital for a checkup, she discovered that she had also suffered a small burn on her hand, but it was nothing compared to Gu Yinyan's. The doctor gave them both basic treatment.
Recalling that chaotic New Year's Eve, Liang Yizhi still feels palpitations: "I was really scared to death. I was afraid that you would never be able to play the piano again because of this."
Gu Yin said casually, "I don't make a living by playing the piano, so what are you afraid of? Besides, it was my wrist that was burned, not my hand."
"But Uncle Gu has put so much effort into training you. Even if you don't play the piano, your hands are still an important tool for life. If something happens to you and your hands are amputated, how can I explain it to your uncle and aunt?"
The amputation has been mentioned; the more they talk, the more outrageous it becomes.
Gu Yinyan curled his lip: "What do you need to explain? It wasn't you who did it."
“But it was really me who insisted on dragging you to watch them set off fireworks,” Liang Yizhi said firmly. “If we hadn’t gone, those people wouldn’t have played pranks on us.”
When Liang Yizhi arrived at the hospital, she couldn't even lift her head in front of Gu Shiming and his wife, repeatedly bowing and apologizing. Although Gu Shiming and his wife didn't verbally reprimand her, they didn't even give her a second glance.
In Liang Yizhi's mind, the fact that they didn't criticize her was already a form of forgiveness.
However, Gu Yinyan denied her statement.
“You’re wrong,” Gu Yinyan said.
"To be honest, if it weren't for you, I would have suffered more than just a wrist injury from the explosion."
Gu Yinyan looked at her indifferently.
He remembered the moment Liang Yizhi threw herself in front of him, the panic, and the soft touch—for many, many years.
From that moment on, the way he looked at her began to change.
Liang Yizhi curled her lips and smiled at Gu Yinyan.
She reached out her hand: "Let me see your scar."
Gu Yinyan raised his arm.
She held his wrist; the burn scar was just below the protruding wrist bone. Over the years, and thanks to timely care after the burn, the scar's color had actually faded considerably, making it virtually undetectable to outsiders. However, the skin texture in that area was still slightly different from normal skin.
Liang Yizhi touched the scar with her finger, and Gu Yinyan suddenly hissed.
She was startled and immediately let go.
Gu Yinyan frowned, turned his head away, and looked as if he were in great pain. Liang Yizhi quickly sat down beside him, saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I..."
The man in front of her frowned, but a very faint smile slowly appeared on his lips.
“…I’m truly impressed.” Liang Yizhi changed her tune, speechless.
But she also had a smile on her face.
"You've used this trick many times, Young Master Gu."
"But it always works."
Liang Yizhi scoffed and stopped arguing with him.
After chatting with Gu Yinyan for a while, the frustration in her heart finally dissipated a lot.
It was getting late, so Liang Yizhi said goodnight to Gu Yinyan and prepared to go back to her room.
To her surprise, when she opened the door, she met He Xintu's eyes as he passed by in the corridor.
Liang Yizhi's smile froze instantly.
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