Chapter 46
Tang Zefei didn't die. After Yu Congyi carried him out of the room, he had his subordinates find a physician to take Tang Zefei for treatment.
Yu Congyi didn't continue. He went to the bathroom to wash his face and saw two faint bloodstains on his neck in the mirror. They were left by Tang Zefei's bloodied hand touching his neck.
Yu Congyi lowered his head and washed away all the traces.
That shouldn't be the case.
Yu Congyi turned around and went downstairs, where he drank a few cups of wine with his companions and became half-drunk.
…
Yu Congyi didn't know how long this heavy rain, which started at the end of May, would last.
Normally, it rarely rains in Tianjin during the summer, but this year it rained for a whole week and showed no signs of stopping. The rain finally subsided this morning, but by noon it started pattering again.
The plane trees lining the asphalt road below the villa were wilted by the rain. Yu Congyi stood by the window, watching the raindrops gather into small streams beneath the glass. The trembling branches of the plane trees were reflected in the shattered glass, making the scene even more enigmatic. Jiang Fengming walked up to him and told him that after this rain, the wisteria in Fuxing Park would probably be completely destroyed.
“Yan Dong said a few days ago that he wanted to see the wisteria flowers,” he explained. “Brother, if you have some free time recently, why don’t you take him there to see them?”
Yan Dong is the child of Jiang Fengming's distant uncle. Recently, his family has experienced some changes, so he came to Tianjin to stay with his aunt and also stayed at his cousin Jiang Fengming's house for a few days. However, Jiang Fengming has been very busy lately and has hardly had time to pay attention to the child.
Yu Congyi happened to have some free time today, but looking at the heavy rain outside, he probably wouldn't be able to go out.
“The harsh winter is leaving tomorrow,” Jiang Fengming said with some difficulty. “It’s still raining. Or, brother, why don’t you take him to see a movie? The child has been cooped up at home for several days. If he doesn’t go out for a walk, he’ll probably get bored to death, and I’m not feeling comfortable with that either.”
Yu Congyi disliked going out in the rain, but seeing the boy standing next to Jiang Fengming, he hesitated. The boy hid behind Jiang Fengming, clutching his coat, only revealing a sliver of his figure, secretly glancing at him. This boy hadn't spoken to him since arriving last week to stay with Jiang Fengming; perhaps he was afraid of him.
Yu Congyi wondered if he wasn't popular with children; he suspected it was because his appearance was too aloof. He walked up to Jiang Fengming and lowered his head to meet the boy's gaze. The boy, seeing him suddenly approach, became somewhat embarrassed and walked around Jiang Fengming. Yu Congyi squatted down, stretched out his arm, and patted the boy's head; thankfully, the boy didn't flinch. Yu Congyi said to Jiang Fengming, "I'll take him out this afternoon; we'll bring two umbrellas."
Yu Congyi kept his word. Although the rain hadn't stopped by the afternoon, he still took the boy out. They brought two umbrellas, one large and one small. However, once outside, the boy didn't open his small umbrella; instead, he followed Yu Congyi and hid under his small umbrella.
Yu Congyi looked down at him and asked, "How old are you?"
This was their first interaction in several days. Yu Congyi wasn't particularly bothered by talking to people, but sometimes he couldn't quite grasp what the other person was thinking, and thus couldn't decide whether to speak less or more. For example, now he saw the boy's hand, which had been tucked into his sleeve, emerge and gently tug at his sleeve.
"Fourteen," the boy said timidly.
Yu Congyi glanced down, somewhat puzzled. In his memory, a fourteen-year-old boy should be much taller than Yan Dong, who was the same age. He also noticed that the boy's features resembled Jiang Fengming's.
“If you don’t want to use an umbrella, come closer to me,” he said. “The rain is coming at an angle. We’re waiting for the driver to come now, and then we’ll go to Fuxing Park.”
…
Just as Jiang Fengming had imagined, almost all the wisteria flowers along the huge corridor in Fuxing Park had been withered and ruined by the wind and rain. Yu Congyi felt it was a pity, because he imagined how magnificent it would have been if they had all remained on the branches. "You like this flower?" Yu Congyi asked Yan Dong. He noticed that, at some point, Yan Dong had squatted down and was picking wisteria petals into his hands.
“They can be used in medicine,” Yan Dong explained, perhaps sensing the doubt in the other person’s voice. “When my mother was alive, she often took my sister and me to the back of the mountain to pick these. The herbal medicine shops in the city buy wisteria petals.”
Yu Congyi hadn't expected this reason. He stood silently for a while, feeling an indescribable sense of regret. Yan Dong didn't mention his mother's situation again in his words, yet it was all implied in his unfinished speech. This young man… Yu Congyi saw the pale purple flowers huddled together in the mud at his feet, looking disheveled and pitiful. He feared that collecting these petals now would only amplify the memory of his mother. Although he didn't know why the other man was picking up these withered flowers that had already rotted in the mud, he still squatted down beside him. "So that's how it is—I'll pick them up with you."
Fortunately, some of the curved branches under the wisteria trellis sheltered the space under the eaves, so the two of them weren't soaked by the rain. They quickly gathered two handfuls of petals into their handkerchiefs. Yu Congyi saw Yan Dong tie the handkerchief into a pretty knot. "Thank you, brother. It's good that I had this handkerchief."
Yu Congyi was surprised that Yan Dong showed no disappointment whatsoever throughout the entire process. There was even a faint smile on his lips. "What a pity about these flowers," he said. "If it hadn't rained, you could have seen even more beautiful ones."
“It’s already very good,” Yan Dong told him. “I’ve never seen so many wisteria flowers before.”
"What are you going to do with these petals?" Yu Congyi couldn't help but ask. "I want to take them back to my hometown and bury them in front of my mother's grave. She loved this flower the most. There aren't many flowers behind our mountain," Yan Dong put the handkerchief into his pocket. "Those trees were cut down a few days ago. I'm afraid she won't be able to see them down there."
Yu Congyi felt that he had asked another unnecessary question.
"I'm sorry... please accept my condolences." He said softly, reaching out to touch the back of Yan Dong's head and letting out a gentle sigh. "It's alright," Yan Dong shook his head at him, his initial restraint largely gone, patting the package in his pocket, "I'm so happy to have found these today. Brother, thank you for helping me pick up the petals, you're so kind."
Gentle? What a novel way to put it; this word was never used to describe him. Yu Congyi smiled noncommittally. He opened his umbrella again, and Yan Dong, seeing this, crouched down under it. "Where do you want to go now?" Yu Congyi asked him.
"I don't know. Brother, just take me anywhere. I'm fine with going anywhere."
…
Yu Congyi took Yan Dong for a walk in the park. It had been a long time since he'd taken a walk in the rain, so this time it felt novel to him. A small river flowed through Fuxing Park, with several pavilions along its banks. Yu Congyi thought they could rest there for a while.
The early summer rain was damp and cool. As Yu Congyi bent down to pick up flower petals from the ground, he felt the hem of his coat sweeping through the mud, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. This was also why he didn't like going out on rainy days; his boots, stepping into puddles, seemed to be getting wet as well.
The two walked into the pavilion. Yu Congyi took off his coat and placed it on a dry stone bench, then bent down and rolled up his trouser legs. A large patch of his trousers was already wet, and the soles of his boots were still covered with muddy petals from the corridor. Seeing this, Yan Dong quickly came over, took out the handkerchief that Yu Congyi had given him earlier from his pocket, and wanted to tear off a piece to wipe the other's face.
Before Yu Congyi could even realize the other person's overly considerate kindness, he rolled up his trouser leg and stuffed it into the boot. As for the stains on the sole of the boot, they were really insignificant and could be washed away with water.
Yan Dong knelt on the ground, insisting on wiping his face, but Yu Congyi refused, saying that there was only one handkerchief and that the stain was nothing. Yan Dong then looked a little dejected and ultimately didn't insist on continuing.
Yu Congyi noticed that the child seemed to have a personality different from others. After he stopped the other child's actions, Yan Dong fell silent and stayed to the side, as if Yu Congyi's tolerance had put some kind of psychological burden on him. Yu Congyi did not know the root of these emotions. Seeing that the other child suddenly and visibly became depressed, he could only stand in the pavilion and enjoy the scenery for a while.
He didn't notice that someone had been standing outside the pavilion with an umbrella since earlier, watching his back from a distance. Now, this person put down the umbrella and walked into the pavilion, shaking it and scattering many water droplets.
Yan Dong stood up from the bench, looking at the tall man with a strange expression. This man had been standing behind Yu Congyi ever since they entered the pavilion to take shelter from the rain, seemingly watching something.
Tang Zefei had been following behind the two for half an hour.
He couldn't stand the sound of raindrops hitting the boat awning on a rainy day, so after getting off the boat at the dock of Fuxing Park, he wandered around the park alone with an umbrella. Unexpectedly, he met Yu Congyi again there.
Half a month has passed since the business conference. Tang Zefei stood outside the pavilion, silently watching Yu Congyi, feeling conflicted, wanting to leave but unable to. Since recovering from his anemia that day, he had been tirelessly handling the affairs of the business association, barely having any free time. Having finally outlasted a group of managers, he had planned to go out with some friends today to relax, but the sound of rain forced him to abandon his plans and find refuge in this desolate park.
He had assumed that he would be the only one in the park because of the heavy rain, but as he walked through the wisteria-covered pergola, he saw the shadows of two other people under the pergola.
Tang Zefei stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixed on one of the people, as if drawn by a magnet.
He unexpectedly encountered Yu Congyi here again.
Yu Congyi was holding an umbrella, with an unfamiliar boy beside him. The boy was holding something in his hands, and the two were talking enthusiastically.
Tang Zefei stood there watching for a long time—Yu Congyi reached out and touched the top of the boy's head. The boy smiled at him, but what was he smiling about?
Sometimes—like right now—Tang Zefei would inexplicably recall certain moments from his time in prison, just fleeting instants involving him and Yu Congyi—when he was deprived of his freedom, yet somehow seemed to receive a great deal of attention from Yu Congyi. He would even find no reason to reminisce about those moments—because now that he was free again, there was no reason to see him so frequently. Even if they returned to the same city, Tianjin was so vast that, unless they deliberately sought each other out, they might never meet again in their entire lives.
Tang Zefei certainly didn't want to go back to prison, but even in that destitute time, there were things he now longed for but couldn't obtain.
Moreover, he was finding it increasingly difficult to understand Yu Congyi's thoughts—though he had never figured them out before, they were now becoming increasingly perplexing. He knew that Yu Congyi probably hated him, but since the other party hadn't managed to kill him last time, he couldn't stop Yu Congyi from continuing his desperate and relentless pursuit of him.
Tang Zefei didn't know what was wrong with him. He had never been like this before. His dignity was being tortured, yet undeniably, the root of it all stemmed from a kind of unrequited love. Sometimes, when he calmed down and thought carefully about the two of them, Tang Zefei would admit that his hopes were perhaps becoming increasingly slim.
Time is sometimes a terrible thing; it changes many things in the world without you even realizing it.
He could only continue to keep a close watch on Yu Congyi without any hope, perhaps until the day Yu Congyi completely abandoned him.
Yu Congyi turned around and finally saw Tang Zefei.
He showed almost no surprise, but when his gaze swept across Tang Zefei's face, it subtly shifted to the side, like a bird's wings fluttering in the wind. He brushed past Tang Zefei, bent down to pick up his coat from the bench, and put it on. Yan Dong stood there, looking at Tang Zefei with a puzzled expression, holding a long umbrella, rainwater trickling down its ribs to the ground.
"Let's go," Yu Congyi said casually, as if speaking to the two of them. As Yan Dong opened his umbrella towards the outside of the pavilion, Tang Zefei finally couldn't hold back any longer. She turned around, approached him, and grabbed his shoulder. "Let's talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" Yu Congyi answered without turning around, his tone neither firm nor firm. His voice held a dismissive tone. He and Yan Dong were under the same umbrella. As they walked out of the pavilion, Tang Zefei saw the young man linking arms with Yu Congyi, affectionately calling him "brother."
"Who is he?" Yan Dong asked Yu Congyi. "I saw him standing behind you watching you for a long time." "Really?" Yu Congyi thought for a moment and said, "Someone who can't be considered a friend."
…
Tang Zefei chose to continue following Yu Congyi. The distance was just right, neither too close nor too far, so that Yu Congyi wouldn't notice. The sound of rain masked his footsteps. When Yu Congyi led Yan Dong into a restaurant and into a private room, he had no idea that Tang Zefei would also be there uninvited.
As the dishes were laid out on the table, the waiter didn't notice the uninvited guest standing outside the private room. Yu Congyi and Yan Dong were talking when Tang Zefei suddenly lifted the curtain and walked in. Leaning against the door, he stood quietly, his expression cold as he looked at the two of them, seemingly displeased. His hands were in his pockets, and he remained silent for a long time. Yu Congyi couldn't ignore him, and seeing his demeanor, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He sensed that Tang Zefei looked like she was here to cause trouble. "What are you doing here?" He pushed back his chair and stood up, noticing Tang Zefei staring at him, his brows furrowing.
"Nothing," Tang Zefei said coldly, "I just came to take a look."
Yu Congyi didn't know when the other party had started this kind of persistent clinging, actually following in his and Yan Dong's footsteps for so long. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel both annoyed and amused. "You are, after all..." He stopped speaking before finishing, wondering where Tang Zefei's change came from.
"Who are you?" At this moment, Yan Dong stood up from his seat. This strange stranger had seemed to have a strange attitude towards Yu Congyi's brother from the beginning. Was he an enemy? He couldn't say for sure. However, seeing Tang Zefei suddenly approaching Yu Congyi step by step, the oppressive feeling made Yan Dong hesitate and worry for Yu Congyi. "What exactly do you want?"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Yu Congyi told Yan Dong to leave first.
Yan Dong ignored him, still holding his chopsticks, his eyes glaring at Tang Zefei.
Tang Zefei approached the table, took his hand out of his pocket, and braced it against the edge, blocking Yu Congyi in front of him. He turned to Yan Dong and spoke, his tone chillingly cold, "This is none of your business. Go."
"You're such a strange person. Who exactly are you?" Yan Dong was still uneasy, tugging at Yu Congyi's sleeve, but her grip was too timid to apply any pressure. Yu Congyi
Knowing Tang Zefei's current thoughts, and not wanting to implicate her and escalate the matter further, he suddenly frowned and issued an order to Yan Dong, almost as if to drive him away, "Just leave when I tell you to."
Seeing that Yu Congyi was about to get angry, Yan Dong lowered his head, answered somewhat aggrievedly, lifted the curtain, and went out.
Yu Congyi watched Yan Dong leave, then reached out and pried Tang Zefei's arms off him, using the force to push him away. He looked up at the other man and asked, "Satisfied?"
Tang Zefei smiled strangely, pulled out a chair, sat down, and began to eat the food on the table. Yu Congyi stood there watching him eat for a while, and seeing that he was just eating and not doing anything else, he suddenly felt helpless and felt that the other party was really unreasonable.
Tang Zefei didn't know what consequences his unreasonable behavior would bring. He actually wanted to sulk, but he didn't have much of a temper. He was truly at Yu Congyi's mercy. He wondered what he should do. Since he couldn't figure out the answer, he just ate and thought at the same time. After all, eating didn't require speaking, and it was a rare moment of peace between the two of them.
Noticing that Yu Congyi had been standing still, Tang Zefei kicked the chair next to her, urging him to sit down, but Yu Congyi refused.
"Say what you want to say, hurry up," he heard Yu Congyi's impatient voice drifting over from above.
"Sit down first, then I'll talk," Tang Zefei said, pulling the chair next to her back to him.
"You speak," Yu Congyi said, still standing in place.
Tang Zefei ignored him, simply turning the swivel table with her hand and focusing solely on eating.
Yu Congyi turned around and left.
Tang Zefei suddenly put down her chopsticks, pushed back her chair, stood up, and stepped in front of Yu Congyi.
Yu Congyi was stopped at the table again. He raised his arm to block the other man, then pushed his chest, but couldn't budge him. He glanced at Tang Zefei, his eyes filled with confusion and anger. His patience was running out; he didn't know what the other man wanted, and he didn't want to play along any longer. Tang Zefei saw the anger in his eyes, and felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
Yu Congyi pursed his lips, feeling a bit angry. Tang Zefei stared at him in a stalemate, neither of them saying a word. After a while, Yu Congyi felt a pain in his leg from the edge of the table behind him, so he pulled Tang Zefei's arm and pushed her to the side.
Thinking he was about to leave, Tang Zefei shoved Yu Congyi hard, slamming him onto the table. He even cushioned the impact by placing his hand behind Yu's head, then moved to Yu's side, leaning forward with a look of utter despair in his eyes. Yu Congyi, however, was now truly enraged. He raised his hand and delivered a resounding slap to Tang Zefei's face.
Since leaving the Tang mansion, he hadn't hit her. This slap was a bit too hard, and Yu Congyi suddenly felt a pang of panic. He saw streaks of blood rising from Tang Zefei's cheek. Tang Zefei's face was already pale, so even the slightest blush was clearly visible. He stared at her face, watching the streaks of blood gradually coalesce into a thin line that oozed from beside her lips.
Yu Congyi frowned, touched the other's lips, and supported himself with one hand, letting out a helpless sigh. Tang Zefei was caught off guard by his sudden attack, and Yu Congyi had already used his thumb to wipe away the bloodstain from the side of his mouth.
"I don't know what to do about you," Yu Congyi finally sighed, raising his arm to embrace Tang Zefei's neck. He sat up from the table, resting his face against the other's chest in silence for a moment. Looking down at Yu Congyi's profile, a subtle sadness welled up in Tang Zefei's heart, like thick blood, emptying his entire being. He could see Yu Congyi's feelings for him, but besides those feelings, something else was constantly troubling his heart.
"Are you still investigating that woman?" Tang Zefei gripped Yu Congyi's wrist, her voice almost pleading. Yu Congyi had lost sight of his own heart for some time now. He nodded, overwhelmed by a torrent of love and hate. "If one day I complete all my missions," he released his arms from hers, looking up at Tang Zefei, "I tell myself, if that day comes, I think I will accept you."
"You still haven't changed your mind?" Tang Zefei could only sigh helplessly. He knew very well that Yu Congyi was referring to what would happen after he had completely avenged Jiang Jiejie. He wanted to make a self-deprecating remark, like, "Am I really that much worse than her?" but he couldn't bring himself to say it. In prison, he had basically understood the other man's thoughts from their conversations, and saying such trivial, sarcastic things now would be useless. In the end, he just sighed and said, "You only feel better when you're stubborn like this, right? Then be stubborn, I accept it. It just hurts me to see you so stubborn, refusing to let go of yourself."
Yu Congyi remained silent. Now, he wanted to say goodbye to his former self, but he found it increasingly difficult. "Don't say anything that moves me anymore," Yu Congyi wanted to say to Tang Zefei, but he didn't say it aloud. "Tang Zefei, until the truth is revealed, consider this what I owe you."
Tang Zefei released him, and only when the wind outside stirred the curtains, bringing a chilly breeze, did Yu Congyi belatedly realize that she had already left the room and was nowhere to be seen.
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