Chapter 71

Gu Yanqiu exchanged a few words with Gu Feiquan and hung up.

Lin Yuewei had been holding her wrist the whole time so she wouldn’t get scraped by passing people or cars. When Gu Yanqiu finished the call, Lin Yuewei looked across the road and didn’t ask what Gu Feiquan had said.

Instead, Gu Yanqiu took the initiative and told her, “Gu Feiquan said he wants to work with me. He asked where I am now.”

Lin Yuewei was pleased by that initiative, and by the fact that Gu Yanqiu was telling her directly. At the same time, she asked warily, “Work with you on what?”

Gu Yanqiu frowned, looking a little puzzled. “He said he wants to investigate what happened thirty years ago.”

“Gu Feiquan? You mean the Gu Feiquan who’s He Songjun’s son?”

Gu Yanqiu nodded. “Yes.”

“What’s his angle?”

“He didn’t say. He wants to meet me in person. I told him I wouldn’t be free for the next couple of days, and he said to call him when I have time.”

“What are you thinking? Do you want to meet him?”

“Meeting him should be fine.”

“I’ll go with you.” After saying it, Lin Yuewei noticed Gu Yanqiu’s slight pause and calmly explained, “I mean, do you need me to go with you?”

Before Gu Yanqiu could answer, she added, “Two people might be safer.”

For a moment, Gu Yanqiu’s expression became wonderfully complicated, as if she was doing her best not to laugh. Lin Yuewei and she had only spent a single day together in Gaoshan County, but the two of them had gotten along naturally. It wasn’t like in Yanning, where every second felt urgent, or like in Yanning either, where everything had been so restrained that they were always worrying about saying or doing something wrong. It had just been a very ordinary day.

Lin Yuewei gave herself an excuse. “What if he tries to lay hands on you? This mother and son can’t be judged by common sense.”

Gu Yanqiu cleared her throat. “You’re right.”

As dusk settled over the city, she looked at the hand Lin Yuewei was holding. In this lively but not noisy little town, the two of them looked like any ordinary couple among countless ordinary couples. Gu Yanqiu didn’t want irrelevant people ruining that atmosphere, so she quickly changed the subject. “What am I having for dinner?”

Lin Yuewei: “……”

Gu Yanqiu was really something now; knowing she couldn’t eat anything at night, she had changed her question into what she herself was eating tonight, as if dutifully checking in with herself three times a day.

Gu Yanqiu blinked at her.

Lin Yuewei gave in completely. “...Something like farm-style dishes. Find a clean place.”

“Okay.”

Like a good little kid listening to her mom.

Holding her with one hand, Lin Yuewei stood inside the roadside guardrail and pulled out her phone to look up nearby restaurants in the app. While scrolling, she showed it to Gu Yanqiu. “How about this one? It has a high rating.”

Gu Yanqiu had been back from abroad for more than half a year; she rarely ordered delivery and had never used these apps, so she didn’t even catch the rating at first glance and simply nodded. “Fine. Okay.”

“Then this one it is.” Lin Yuewei made the decision with characteristic bluntness. She didn’t like dragging things out, especially in an age when most young people felt the anxiety of not knowing what they’d eat for the next meal. In that sense, she was quite unusual. Jiang Congbi liked going out to eat with her largely because Lin Yuewei could make decisions; for someone with choice paralysis, she was practically a savior.

Speak of the devil, and she appears.

When the two of them were seated in the restaurant, had ordered, and were waiting for the food, Lin Yuewei received a call from Jiang Congbi.

Lin Yuewei made a shushing gesture at Gu Yanqiu and answered. She and Jiang Congbi didn’t have any secret topics to discuss, and she figured there was no need to avoid Gu Yanqiu, so she stayed seated opposite her and took the call.

“What’s up, Miss Jiang——” Lin Yuewei drawled.

“Can’t I call you unless I have something to say?”

“Of course not. I’m simply showing you my respect, as well as my surprise and excitement at receiving your call out of the blue.”

“Save the flattery. It’s dinner time; I’m going out to eat and can swing by to pick you up on the way. Where are you?”

“I’m out of town.”

“A job? You finally got some work?”

“No, personal business.”

“……”

Lin Yuewei moved the phone slightly away from her mouth in advance.

Then even Gu Yanqiu could hear Jiang Congbi’s roar through the receiver: “You go out of town for personal business and don’t even tell me! I’m practically turning into a salted fish over here. Where did you go to have fun?!”

Lin Yuewei gave Gu Yanqiu an embarrassed smile, silently mouthing sorry about that, then replied to Jiang Congbi, “Is that how you see me, as someone so irresponsible?”

“You are.” Jiang Congbi laughed loudly.

“Your mapo tofu.” The waitress set down the steaming dish and marked it off on the menu.

“You? Who are you with?” Jiang Congbi was sharp-eared and had caught it.

“No one.” Lin Yuewei covered half her face with one hand.

The waitress asked again, “Any ingredients you can’t eat in the fried rice?”

Lin Yuewei, still on the phone, replied offhandedly, “No.” Only after answering did she remember that she herself didn’t even eat it; why had she answered so casually?

The waitress turned her gaze to Gu Yanqiu.

Gu Yanqiu looked at Lin Yuewei. “Hm?”

Gu Yanqiu pointed at the phone in her hand.

So Lin Yuewei got up and moved away.

Gu Yanqiu answered the waitress in a somewhat subdued voice, “No onions. Anything else is fine, thank you.”

“All right.”

She then gave Lin Yuewei an OK sign, and Lin Yuewei hurriedly exchanged a few perfunctory lines with Jiang Congbi before sitting back down.

Gu Yanqiu was unusually quiet at dinner today. Eating without speaking was, in principle, a good habit; however, Lin Yuewei somehow felt she was unhappy.

Gu Yanqiu bit into a Sichuan peppercorn and let out a soft “mm,” frowning. Lin Yuewei quickly handed her a glass of water. Gu Yanqiu took a sip and said flatly, “Thank you.”

That only made Lin Yuewei more certain something was off. Normally, Gu Yanqiu would at least smile a little.

Why had she suddenly become unhappy?

After thinking about it, Lin Yuewei said, “Don’t rush. There will always be an answer to things that should have one; worrying won’t make it come any faster. We just need to wait.” She thought Gu Yanqiu was fretting over her mother’s matter.

Gu Yanqiu gave a quiet “mm” and spooned a bite of fried rice into her mouth.

“And Gu Feiquan too; soldiers to block the general, water to cover the earth. There are two of us; are we really going to be afraid of just one him? The boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the bridge. No need to worry.”

“I’m not worried.”

Lin Yuewei thought: then what exactly is making you look so low?

Gu Yanqiu used her chopsticks to pick a peppercorn off a piece of tofu and put it into the spoon in her left hand. After blowing on it, she asked offhandedly, as if in casual conversation, “Was the one who called you just now Miss Jiang?”

“Yes.”

Gu Yanqiu ate the tofu slowly and carefully before continuing. “She seemed very excited. What did she say to you?”

“Nothing much; she just asked me to go out to eat with her. I said I was out of town on personal business, and then she said I wasn’t loyal or whatever.”

Gu Yanqiu raised an eyebrow. “Miss Jiang is quite interesting.”

“More interesting than me?” Lin Yuewei asked, half joking and half serious, now that she felt closer to her.

“No.” Gu Yanqiu smiled.

“That’s more like it.” Lin Yuewei huffed with mock pride. Mentioning Jiang Congbi made her let slip the very thing Gu Yanqiu wanted to hear by accident. “Jiang Congbi is the type who loves watching the fun and doesn’t mind making trouble. If I told her I came out here with you to handle personal business, she’d be asking me questions all night. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. And then there’s my mom; the two of them are very close. I’m telling you, there’s no guarantee my mom wouldn’t end up knowing too. Then neither of us would get away with it. I’m doing this for both of our peace and quiet.”

The corners of Gu Yanqiu’s mouth lifted; she nodded. “You’re right.”

Lin Yuewei looked at her steadily for a while and felt the low pressure around her disappear.

A subtle intuition rose in her heart.

Could it be that Gu Yanqiu had been unhappy because she’d deliberately kept her at arm’s length after that call with Jiang Congbi? The more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible; the way she looked at Gu Yanqiu became more and more meaningful.

Gu Yanqiu felt uncomfortable under that gaze and lifted her cup to block her face for a moment. Lin Yuewei withdrew her probing look, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it with an air of casual indifference.

Gu Yanqiu should be... at least a little interested in her, right?

Lin Yuewei slowly narrowed her eyes.

Was she?

She looked at Gu Yanqiu, who was eating dinner with elegant composure. Gu Yanqiu’s eyelashes were lowered, and she was focused and serious about everything she did. When she caught Lin Yuewei’s scrutinizing gaze, she slightly lifted one eyebrow in a silent question.

Lin Yuewei propped her chin on one hand and turned to look out the window.

Maybe not after all?

Love was such a headache.

The two people worrying over each other finished dinner and returned to the hospital, but Old Lady Gao still hadn’t woken up. Gu Yanqiu was on the phone with Mr. Liu. Lin Yuewei had long ago developed the ability to find quiet in the middle of noise; she put on her headphones and did her own professional training. Instead, it was Gu Yanqiu who felt she was disturbing her and took the call outside.

When Lin Yuewei finished a set of exercises and looked up, Gu Yanqiu had already returned. She casually asked, “What did Mr. Liu say?”

“The photo is being processed. At the latest, we should have an answer by tomorrow morning.”

“Even if the result comes out today, we’d still have to wait until tomorrow to go looking. How many days of leave did you ask your company for?”

“Two days. Probably not enough; I’ll see tomorrow. What about you?”

“I’m flexible.” Lin Yuewei shrugged. “As long as I get back in time for Fang Xiaoxiao’s drama announcement.”

Last night, the drama’s director had even messaged Lin Yuewei personally, saying the role had been given to someone else and that they could collaborate next time if there was a chance. His attitude had been very sincere, which only strengthened Lin Yuewei’s conviction that the director had been fond of her and made her full of confidence about how things would develop next.

“So that means it’ll be in the next couple of days. Then we can go back to Yanning together?”

“You decide.” Lin Yuewei touched her earphones. “Should I keep going?”

“Okay.”

That night, they took turns keeping watch. Old Lady Gao woke once in the middle of the night, groggy and confused. They fed her some water and warm porridge, then she fell asleep again.

Early the next morning, Gu Yanqiu received a call from Mr. Liu. He said the photo had been clarified and, just as Lin Yuewei had guessed, there was indeed a village name written on it. After careful, difficult identification, they confirmed it was called Yangqing Village.

“Then where is Yangqing Village now?”

“Not sure yet. The stone only had the name, not a specific address. There may have been one, but it wasn’t captured in the photo.” Still, Mr. Liu was very optimistic about it. “Although many years have passed, as long as you give me some time, I’m sure I can find everything out clearly.”

“How long will it take, roughly?”

“Maybe one or two months,” Mr. Liu estimated.

“All right, I understand. Thank you for your trouble, sir.”

Gu Yanqiu hung up and walked to the bathroom door. “No need to ask for more leave. We’re going back to Yanning today.”

Lin Yuewei was washing up at the sink and was startled. “So soon?”

Gu Yanqiu sighed. “We only know the village name now. To verify the details, it’ll take some more time. We can’t just wait here indefinitely.”

Lin Yuewei hadn’t expected that the question they’d been discussing last night would already have an answer today, but it made sense.

The two of them booked an evening flight. They stayed at the hospital through the morning; Gu Yanqiu went to buy breakfast, while Lin Yuewei remained in the ward to look after the old woman.

Old Lady Gao was in pain all over and slept uneasily. She woke several times during the night, and even in the morning she was still making faint, pained sounds under her breath. Lin Yuewei pulled up a chair and sat by the bed, holding her hand and talking to her.

Old Lady Gao’s eyes were half-lidded; she no longer mistook her for her daughter.

Before long, the caregiver arrived and started wiping her down. Old Lady Gao’s main injury was to her arm, and her leg was mostly fine. The caregiver unfastened the front of her hospital gown and gently pressed a wrung-out warm towel against her exposed stomach.

Lin Yuewei looked up from her phone screen and saw the movement as the towel was removed. Old Lady Gao flinched; in two steps, she rushed over and said sharply, “What are you doing?”

Gu Yanqiu came back carrying breakfast and found Lin Yuewei arguing with the caregiver. The caregiver’s face was red, while Lin Yuewei looked stern. Gu Yanqiu set the breakfast down on the table and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Yuewei said angrily, “This caregiver isn’t professional.”

The caregiver lowered her head and stayed silent.

For a fracture patient who had to stay in bed for a long time, one should try to avoid causing unnecessary new injuries or letting them catch cold; especially for an elderly person, extra care was needed. When wiping the body, one had to be especially cautious and meticulous, and absolutely could not let the body be directly exposed to the air.

At her age, if Old Lady Gao caught a cold after repeated body wipes like this, it could cost her life.

It was such a simple principle that even Lin Yuewei knew it, yet this caregiver did not.

Lin Yuewei said, “Who hired this caregiver?”

After hearing her out, Gu Yanqiu’s face also cooled. “The hospital arranged her.” She had been planning to ask someone over directly once they got back to Yanning, and hadn’t paid much attention to the hospital’s temporary substitute. Who would have thought there’d be a problem?

Gu Yanqiu took the dejected caregiver outside. A few minutes later, she came back and said, “That caregiver has a private connection. She only learned a little basic nursing knowledge and was attached to the hospital through someone’s connections. She’s never taken care of an old person before, so she didn’t know how dangerous this was for her.”

“Was she fired?” Lin Yuewei asked, her face still cold.

“She was fired.” Gu Yanqiu nodded obediently. Lin Yuewei like this was a little... how should she put it? More compelling to her eyes.

“I’ll do it myself.” Lin Yuewei’s expression eased a little. “Go hire another one, and make sure you ask clearly whether they’re really professional. Don’t let just anyone slip in and muddle through. If necessary, I’ll stay here for two more days and leave once the new caregiver arrives.”

“You know how?” Gu Yanqiu was dumbfounded. How could she even know this?

“My great-aunt is a doctor. She said I had a talent for medicine. When my dad took my mom out for social engagements or their little two-person dates, I’d go play at my great-aunt’s place.” Lin Yuewei carried the basin to get hot water and poked half her head out of the bathroom to speak to Gu Yanqiu. “I said I didn’t want to study medicine, and she told me that learning one more skill is never a bad thing. In the end, I still didn’t become a doctor, but seeing it more often means I know a little about the basics.”

Lin Yuewei smiled. “Did I never tell you? My grandmother started becoming confused not long after she fell. She used to be a pretty... well, how should I put it, a rather spirited old lady. Later, she was bedridden for a while. My grandmother had two children, my dad and my eldest aunt. My aunt married out of town, so she wasn’t easy to have care for her, and my dad was busy with work. Back then I was in... middle school or high school, I think, and I took very good care of her. My grandmother only recognized me; she didn’t want anyone else. Sometimes she’d call me by my dad’s name, sometimes by my aunt’s name, and sometimes by mine. If she didn’t, I’d make a fuss.”

Gu Yanqiu’s eyes curved with hers, pretending not to notice how Lin Yuewei had suddenly turned away at the end.

“Bring a stool over,” Lin Yuewei said after settling herself, coming out with the basin.

Gu Yanqiu placed the stool by the bed.

“Get another clean towel too; a bigger one.”

Lin Yuewei skillfully wiped Old Lady Gao down, all the while speaking softly and gently to the old woman, who had already woken up. Old Lady Gao opened and closed her mouth, making muffled sounds.

Lin Yuewei didn’t understand, but she asked patiently, with patience that exceeded ordinary people’s. Standing nearby and helping out, changing the hot water and so on, Gu Yanqiu couldn’t help feeling that if it were her own biological granddaughter, she might not have been able to do as well.

When Lin Yuewei wiped Old Lady Gao’s legs, her hand touched the woman’s slender bones through the warm towel. There was nothing but skin and bone; there wasn’t much flesh at all. She wiped carefully and gently, then suddenly stopped, slowly frowning.

Gu Yanqiu noticed her strange reaction. “What is it?”

Lin Yuewei lifted the towel and looked at the inside of Old Lady Gao’s lower leg. There was a long, hideous scar there, running from the ankle all the way to the knee. Just from the look of it, it was an old injury, and clearly not just any old injury.

They exchanged a glance.

Gu Yanqiu took a photo of the scar and sent it to Mr. Liu.

The new caregiver they hired was much more reliable than the previous one. After Lin Yuewei checked her over and finally relaxed, she and Gu Yanqiu returned to the hotel, packed their bags, checked out, and took the evening flight back to Yanning.

***

Yanning was always bustling and lively, while the people of Yanning were cold and distant. Gu Yanqiu could tell that Lin Yuewei, with her sunglasses and mask on, seemed even more indifferent than she had in the small town; of course, it could also have been because it was too late and she was sleepy.

Their flight was delayed, and by the time they landed it was already two in the morning. Lin Yuewei’s eyes were practically closed beneath her sunglasses.

Even Lin Yuewei didn’t know why she was so sleepy today. With her head drooping and one hand hanging on the strap of her backpack, she shuffled forward listlessly. Suddenly, a hand reached in from the side and, without a word, took the backpack off her shoulder and slung it over her own.

Lin Yuewei perked up a little and lifted her eyelids. “Huh?”

Gu Yanqiu said, “Hold onto me. Don’t get lost.”

Lin Yuewei: “……”

She’d been able to run all over the streets when she was three; she could find her way home with her eyes closed. It was still uncertain who was more likely to get lost.

No matter what, though, Lin Yuewei still reached out and grabbed onto Gu Yanqiu’s... hem.

It was cold at night, and Gu Yanqiu was wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt, very trendy, very cool, very avant-garde; she could have walked straight onto a runway. But with Lin Yuewei tugging on her hem like this, the cool factor vanished in an instant.

Gu Yanqiu looked at her for a while. Lin Yuewei, half-dazed behind her sunglasses, looked back at her with bright white teeth showing in a very pretty smile. Gu Yanqiu had the intuition that she was doing it on purpose.

It seemed Lin Yuewei didn’t quite like her dressing too well, or rather, too eye-catching?

Gu Yanqiu smiled softly and left the airport with a little tail tugging on her clothes.

She called a ride-hailing car and waited at the exit. After confirming the license plate, they got in. The moment Lin Yuewei touched the seat, she fell asleep. She was obviously not someone without vigilance, yet she was daring enough to sleep in a car in the middle of the night; there was only one explanation: she didn’t guard herself against Gu Yanqiu, trusting her with her whole heart. Gu Yanqiu was very satisfied with that conclusion.

Lin Yuewei’s head bobbed up and down. The clusters of lights outside the window reflected all kinds of colors across her face. Gu Yanqiu scooted a little closer to the middle, very deliberately straightened her back and leaned her shoulder toward Lin Yuewei, then wrapped one arm around her other shoulder and gently pulled. Lin Yuewei immediately rested her head on Gu Yanqiu’s shoulder.

It was nearly an hour from the airport to home. Lin Yuewei was hazy and half-asleep, not fully sleeping, but her eyelids were too heavy to lift. She caught a whiff of a familiar scent and instinctively moved toward it.

It was slippery, soft, and comfortable.

What kind of scent was that, so strange? And why did it even have a physical sensation?

Lin Yuewei suddenly opened her eyes. In the dim light of the back seat, her face was resting on Gu Yanqiu’s lap, and the source of that slippery, soft feeling was...

Embarrassed, Lin Yuewei quickly pulled her hand out from inside Gu Yanqiu’s clothes.

“Sorry.” She sat up, and all her sleepiness vanished.

“It’s fine.” Gu Yanqiu turned to look out the window; her ears were red.

“Um, I...”

“Your hand was cold.” Gu Yanqiu gave her an excuse.

“Right, I was a little cold.” Lin Yuewei rubbed her arm in the air-conditioned car.

“Do you have a jacket in your bag?” Gu Yanqiu asked. Her suitcase was in the trunk, while Lin Yuewei’s backpack was on the back seat, right by Gu Yanqiu’s right hand.

“I didn’t bring any long sleeves.” Lin Yuewei was usually in very good health; it had only been a one- or two-day trip, so she hadn’t planned to bring long sleeves, and if the weather got too cold she could always buy something on the spot.

“Oh.” Gu Yanqiu said, still not looking at her.

Lin Yuewei didn’t know what else to say, and the two of them sat there awkwardly in the car while she checked the navigation on her phone to see how far they were from home.

Good heavens, still half an hour? She’d only been asleep for less than half an hour?

Lin Yuewei lowered the window a little on her side and rested her elbow on the frame. Cold air poured in through the crack, helping cool down the heat on her face.

“Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?” Gu Yanqiu asked from behind her.

“No. I haven’t caught a cold in two years.”

“Oh.”

Gu Yanqiu’s mouth must have been blessed; the good never came true, but the bad always did. The moment Lin Yuewei entered the house, she let out an earth-shaking sneeze. The next morning, she woke up dizzy and groggy, her throat swollen and sore.

Gu Yanqiu specially took a day off to stay home and take care of her.

Author’s note: I’ve been developing the feelings all along; can’t you see it, haha