Chapter 103 Because you are you.

Gojo Satoru spoke out loudly, and these simple words seemed to be filled with a myriad of emotions, yet shrouded in a hazy haze like morning mist.

Jiang Lai raised his eyes and stared at the white-haired man with his slender fingers crossed from a distance across the small table.

He was wondering what Gojo Satoru meant by these words. Was he really recalling events from long ago, or was he vaguely sensing some years slipping away through his fingers?

"What kind of dream was it?" Jiang Lai asked.

Gojo Satoru still maintained the same posture as before. He leaned back in his chair, his lips opening and closing with a perfect arc, as if answering or talking to himself, he spoke slowly:

"It must be a dream from a very long time ago. The buildings in the dream are all in the style of the Heian-kyō period thousands of years ago."

There was a barrier specially set up by Gojo Satoru around the two of them to reasonably blur and isolate the sounds, so that other people in the dessert shop would not hear their conversation.

Therefore, they can speak their minds and communicate freely without having to hide anything.

"The sky was very clear at that time, and the stars were particularly beautiful at night. The Gojo family was stationed in Heian-kyō Castle, the predecessor of Kyoto. There was an old-fashioned bamboo shutter in my room. When it was rolled up under the moonlight, I could see the beautiful night view outside the window."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, maintaining just the right boundary between dream and reality.

The words describing the dream are inexplicably mixed with inexplicable nostalgia and regret.

"In my dream, there was a meteor shower that I had never seen before, like a shower of light pouring down... Although the scene was beautiful, I didn't know why I felt very sad in my dream."

"..." Jiang Lai lowered his eyes slightly.

"Well, but I wasn't alone in my dreams. I met many people, such as Jay, Glass, and my lovely students~"

"Hmm, but I don't know why, I don't seem to see Yuji. Only the Ryomen Sukuna guys are disturbing me in my dreams. Ah, they even criticized those rotten oranges by name. Why do they bother me in my dreams? It's better for those old guys to be buried soon."

Gojo Satoru raised his voice online, complaining about the above words with great ease, and as always he showed no respect for the so-called upper echelons.

Then, he suddenly stopped talking.

"Oh, yes - there was also a dark blue figure in the dream, with long black hair flowing down to the waist, and a layer of white mist on the face. But of course, I also have six eyes in the dream, so I can still see it vaguely."

At this point, the white-haired teacher smiled and uncrossed his hands: "Guess who this person in the dream corresponds to?"

Jiang Lai blinked, but didn't say anything, because he could see that Gojo Satoru didn't really want him to answer - the other party already knew the answer in his heart.

So he just put down the cake fork in his hand and listened quietly.

"In my dream, I didn't seem to call his name from beginning to end - but I think now, I know his name."

Gojo Satoru raised one hand and nonchalantly lifted a corner of the eye mask, revealing the clear, azure blue eyes underneath.

Liuyan stared calmly at Jiang Lai in front of him. Gojo Satoru raised the corners of his mouth and opened his thin lips slightly: "Rai." He called.

Jiang Lai's eyebrows were curved like a crescent moon: "I'm here." he replied.

Gojo Satoru no longer leaned on the back of the chair. He leaned forward, put one hand on the edge of the table, and asked with a smile from a close distance: "Do you think those are my meaningless dreams, or are they real past events?"

Jiang Lai raised his eyelids: "My answer is the answer in your heart."

"What? You didn't even give me a definite answer." Gojo Satoru seemed to be complaining, but his expression was actually very calm.

"But you don't seem to want to hear everything from me, right?" Jiang Lai blinked and said.

Gojo Satoru laughed softly, lowered the corner of his eye mask, and his white hair swayed. He crossed his legs and nodded slightly, saying:

"Well, how should I put it? This dream was very long. Although I tried hard to remember it, it became blurry after I woke up. There are only a few memorable scenes that I still have some impression of."

"Of course, as the strongest who can do everything, I will remember everything sooner or later~" Gojo Satoru shook his fingers lightly, his voice light, "Rather than listening to that part of the experience from your mouth, it is more appropriate for me to recall it myself - but before that, I think you need to wait a moment."

"Okay." Jiang Lai nodded in response. He smiled softly and said in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry, Wu... I made you wait for so long."

"——So this time, it's my turn to wait for you. I will wait forever."

Gojo Satoru paused slightly. He couldn't control his stunned expression for a moment and subconsciously fell silent.

The air in the dessert shop is always sweet, and the temperature of the baking adds a layer of warmth to the room. The wind chimes hanging on the glass door sway gently, and the slight tinkling sound can be heard.

After a brief silence, the white-haired man raised his voice and said jokingly, "Eh, it turns out that a thousand-year-old monster also has a sense of time. I thought people of your age would already be living a life of mere years."

"...What do you mean you are so old? Nowadays, you are the uncle - oh no, grandpa, you already have a head full of white hair." Jiang Lai paused for only a second, then quickly replied.

"Hehe, I am the most handsome and hot teacher. White hair is a super rare hair color~ Don't be too jealous~" Gojo Satoru crossed his arms in front of his chest, shaking his long legs, shaking them quite ostentatiously, "Handsome brother Gojo teacher is always young, always seven years old."

"Seven years old is indeed consistent with your mental age - Hey, stop shaking, the table is shaking. And you kicked me, Wu!"

"Sorry, sorry, my legs are too long." Gojo Satoru did not apologize, and replied with a smile, "It can't be helped."

After this joke, the atmosphere between the two returned to that of good friends in the past. The entanglement and heaviness that had just brought up the bitter memories were swept away.

Gojo Satoru picked up his fork again and started eating the other desserts in the parent-child set meal on the table. He casually threw a few matcha puffs into his mouth and said:

"By the way, I received a message from those guys in the upper echelons last night. I will be going abroad in two days and will not be here for a while."

"Hmm?" Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly.

Although he knew that the strongest Gojo Satoru's missions were spread all over the world and that overseas missions were also common, the timing of the release of this mission 'last night' was a little strange.

Because yesterday happened to be the outbreak period and the conclusion of the Satosa Junior High School incident.

The light green fragment that the real person failed to successfully recover was taken away by Ryomen Sukuna inside Yuji Itadori's body.

After the real person returns, the regulatory authorities will definitely be the first to know about this matter, and they probably won't just sit there and do nothing.

There are people in the upper echelons of the world of sorcery who are subject to supervision and are infiltrated. So at this time, assigning Gojo Satoru a mission to go abroad is a bit like transferring him away so that it would be easier to do something to his students.

This was the case with the juvenile detention center incident. While Gojo Satoru was away on a business trip, the higher-ups arranged for Fuhuzhi and the other two who had just enrolled to carry out the task of casting special-grade cursed spirits and cursed fetuses, in an attempt to use this "accident" to wipe out Ryomen Sukuna's vessel.

Gojo Satoru nodded slightly and replied, "This timing is indeed a little tricky. But I still have to go on this mission - I need to go find Yuta."

He also explained, "Do you know Otsutsuki Yuta? His ancestors are all Sugawara Michizane, so he is a very distant relative of mine? Haha, he is a very good student. In 2017, the special-level passing of the cursed spirit Rika incident caused quite a stir. Now Yuta is already a special-level sorcerer."

"Really?" Jiang Lai, who had read the original manga, actually knew Otsutsuki Yuta, but he did not show it. Instead, he nodded in agreement with what Gojo Satoru said, "Special-grade sorcerer, that's really amazing."

"He's abroad now, so I'll be out for a while as well." Gojo Satoru said, "While I'm away, I plan to let Nanami and Haibara take care of Hisahito and the others for a while."

"Well, this is good, it should be safer." Jiang Lai said, "I will be by their side with the Little Sheep vest, and I can also watch over them in secret."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Lai." Gojo Satoru made a gesture, and then added, "Of course, you have to be careful too. After all, your true identity cannot be truly exposed."

"You can't reveal your true position." Jiang Lai smiled confidently and winked lightly, "Don't worry, I'm still very good at acting and scripts."

Having gone through a series of struggles in the world of science, he already has a wealth of experience as an actor (bushi).

Not to mention the forums that constantly update with new inspirations for amnesiac and dark plots.

Afterwards, they briefly chatted about daily life and checked in with each other.

After some communication, the parent-child set meal on the table for two was almost finished.

After paying the bill and leaving the dessert shop, the scent of dessert still seemed to remain on my clothes.

When leaving this signature dessert shop, Gojo Satoru bought a lot of exquisite snacks.

When they were almost downstairs, Gojo Satoru stopped and called Jiang Lai: "Oh, right, we agreed to bring some desserts for Nanami and Hisahito as well - come, divide them up, you take this and give it to them when you go back."

The little sheep Jiang Lai, who had taken a few quick steps forward, stopped and turned back. He reached out to take the bag of desserts that Gojo Satoru handed to him with a slight bend.

Jiang Lai, who was now wearing the sheepskin, had a big height difference with Gojo Satoru. The tall adult figure was slightly bent, and the shadow cast by him almost covered the sheep Jiang Lai steadily.

After handing over the dessert, Gojo Satoru did not stand up immediately. Instead, he suddenly placed his free hand on Jiang Lai's shoulder, and his broad palm firmly held the boy's shoulder.

"?" Jiang Lai was slightly stunned. He raised his eyes and realized that the white-haired man in front of him had taken off his black eye mask at some point.

At this moment, the pair of far-reaching and broad eyes were fully exposed, staring at the little sheep Jiang Lai from a close distance.

"Ah, it's been a while since I last saw your true form. Now you look like this, and everything you do feels like you're bullying a child."

Gojo Satoru said this with a smile, and moved the hand on the boy's shoulder to his cheek, pinching it forcefully and rudely.

"You also know that this counts as bullying a child... Hey, let go, it hurts!" Jiang Lai felt that one side of his cheek was about to turn red from being pinched, and he slapped the other person's hand away.

“Sorry, sorry.” Gojo Satoru let go of his hand, his tone sounding insincere. He smiled and suddenly changed his tone, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask a question just now. After thinking about it, I still care a little bit, so I’ll ask it.”

His glass-like blue eyes looked a little darker because they were backlit. At a close distance, his clear eyes reflected the boy in front of him almost clearly.

"——You and I know each other because I was the white-haired figure that formed a relationship a thousand years ago, or because I am now the six-eyed one that you took care of and grew up with a thousand years later?"

"..." Jiang Lai was slightly startled at first. After half a second, he blinked and said, "Hey, Wu, you would also ask such a question? It always feels unreal."

"Why not? Sometimes there are such moments~ Just think of me as being curious." Gojo Satoru still smiled, his blue eyes revealing no hidden expression, "This is a limited-time quiz event between the most handsome and hot teacher and his friends. The time limit is three seconds. There is no reward for answering on time, but there is a penalty for exceeding the time limit~ Let's happily decide and start!"

"...Don't make decisions on your own!"

“3, 2——”

"Okay, okay, I'll answer." Jiang Lai exhaled, raised his head slightly, and looked back at the Cangtianzhitong nearby.

"Hmm, then do you still remember the question?" Gojo Satoru lowered his eyelids and stared at Jiang Lai. His eyelashes fluttered, the corners of his lips raised, and he repeated the question in a low voice, "Is it because of a thousand years ago, or a thousand years later?"

Caged by the tall shadow, Jiang Lai's eyes were still as calm as water, his expression gentle and calm.

A slight smile appeared on his brows, and he said, "Because you are you."