After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 29

I want to touch you so badly.

“Chun Chun.”

“Chun Chun.”

Yu Fuqiu’s phone fell to the ground, the screen shattering into countless pieces. The longest crack pierced through the very center of the display. In that center was a photo of him leaning into Chang Tingzhi’s embrace, smiling brightly at the camera. Little Chun Chun had one arm around Chang Tingzhi’s neck while the other hand made a peace sign. Chang Tingzhi was not looking at the camera; he had his head turned, gazing tenderly at Yu Fuqiu with his hand resting gently on Fuqiu’s waist, pulling him into his chest.

That long crack ran right between them, splitting the screen in two.

Yu Fuqiu reached up with a trembling hand to touch his own face. He felt a warm liquid there.

It was blood.

It was his child’s blood.

Splattered from that small body, squeezed out by the brutal force of the impact.

His face was deathly pale, more terrifying than the hospital walls. It was as if all life had been drained from him in an instant, leaving his lips devoid of color, stained only with a deathly grayish blue.

“Chun Chun.”

His lips moved, producing a faint breath of sound that was almost inaudible. Those beautiful eyes, which used to be filled with gentle smiles, were now hollowed of their soul.

He was only one step away.

If only he had reached out, he could have embraced this small body lying in a pool of blood.

His knees slammed heavily onto the blood-soaked ground as his shaking hands reached toward the small figure.

“There has been an accident!”

“Call an ambulance quickly!”

“Wait, is that person Yu Fuqiu?”

“My god, it really is. It looks like a child was hit. Is it possible it is…”

“Chang Qichun? Heavens, I did not expect to meet him for the first time like this.”

“Yu Fuqiu? The big star Yu Fuqiu?”

“It is so late. Should he not still be at the charity gala? He is still wearing that high fashion gown.”

“Why is he the only one here? With this happening, did Chang Tingzhi not come?”

“Sigh, I told you. I saw the problems between them long ago. Now their biological son is in an accident, and there is not a shadow of Chang Tingzhi to be seen.”

Yu Fuqiu could no longer hear any of the words. He avoided the shocking wounds but did not know where to touch. He could only frantically use all his strength to pull Chun Chun’s increasingly cold body tightly into his arms.

He suddenly looked up, pleading with the surrounding crowd, “Please, help me call an ambulance. I will do anything you want, please.”

The people around him tried to comfort him. “The ambulance has already been called. Do not be nervous. We are very close to the hospital. They will be here soon.”

But the surrounding whispers still drifted into his ears.

“It looks like the child was crossing the street and ran a red light. He was right in the blind spot, and the car hit him directly.”

“No way. He is a public figure, after all. How did he teach the child? It is a shame for it to end up like this.”

“Shh, stop talking. Do you not know how fierce his fans are? They will dig up eight generations of your ancestors in a heartbeat.”

“How terrifying.”

Yu Fuqiu lowered his head, pressing his cheek tightly against Chun Chun’s cold little face. He did not dare to rub against him too hard, only touching him lightly while let out broken, tuneless sobs.

“Do not be afraid, Chun Chun. Do not be afraid. You want to call for Mommy? Mommy is answering. Mommy is right here.”

“Mommy is holding you. Open your eyes and look at Mommy, I beg you.”

Warm tears fell in large droplets, mixing with the blood and dust on Chun Chun’s face.

He called out in Chun Chun’s ear over and over in a low voice, moving from hoarse to raspy until only a thread-like plea remained.

His child was so good.

He was a very well-behaved angel of a baby.

When he was pregnant with Chun Chun, he did not have severe morning sickness. The pregnancy was very comfortable. Chun Chun did not trouble him; he would only wait for Yu Fuqiu to ask gently through his stomach, “Baby, can you move for me to see?”

Only then would the unborn Chun Chun move slowly, precisely touching his palm.

Even the nurses praised him for being a beautiful baby after he was born. From the time he was small, he loved grabbing Yu Fuqiu’s hem, from his first wobbling steps to his first babbled words.

Because both his and Chang Tingzhi’s work kept them busy, they rarely had time to spend with him. When little Chun Chun was only four, he looked up at Yu Fuqiu and said, “Mommy, Chun Chun will wait at home for you and Daddy to come back.”

“Chun Chun knows that you work hard for me.”

Chun Chun loved playing hide and seek with him most of all. Every time the boy hid in the same spot, Yu Fuqiu would pretend not to know and then act as if he had found him. Chun Chun would then dive into his arms and act spoiled, saying, “Mommy, why can you find Chun Chun every time? Next time, Chun Chun will find you! If I find you, you have to tell me the story of the Little Swan!”

Yu Fuqiu hooked his finger with Chun Chun’s, begging in a low voice, “Chun Chun, wake up. Hook your finger with Mommy’s and make a promise, okay? We will go home and play hide and seek. I will give you whatever you want.”

How could such a good child run a red light? How could he not know how to avoid a car?

Moreover, the distance between him and Chun Chun was only the length of an embrace. At such a close distance, how could he not have seen that car?

It was as if the car had appeared out of thin air.

Appeared out of thin air?

How could he have not looked for cars?

A sudden chill surged up Yu Fuqiu’s spine.

The plot?

Was the plot beginning to correct itself?

He thought back to his previous dream where the original villain of the novel had been replaced—replaced by him.

The people around him surrounded him in layers like a tide.

In the distance, the flashing blue lights of police cars and ambulances cut through the chaotic scene.

Even more piercing were the countless mobile phone screens held high. The cold camera lenses were like innumerable prying eyes aimed at Yu Fuqiu as he sat in the pool of blood.

Yu Fuqiu pulled Chun Chun even tighter into his arms, curling up as much as possible, trying to use his thin back to block those prying lenses and gazes.

But those looks and discussions were still pervasive, entangling him like a cold spiderweb.

It feels so bad.

I cannot breathe.

“Chang Tingzhi.”

His dry lips moved, but the noisy surroundings completely drowned out his voice.

No one knew what he was saying.

Chang Tingzhi.

Where are you?

Please come back.

I want to see you so badly.

I want to touch you so badly.

He curled his body and trembled violently, trying to hear the heartbeat of the small body in his arms, but it was too loud.

It was too loud.

He could not hear it.

Images surfaced in his mind of that exquisite, dim lighting and the lingering, ambiguous atmosphere where two figures were intertwined.

Chang Tingzhi had carefully held Ke Qi’an, his eyes filled only with his reflection, saying, “I will be heartbroken.”

He had knelt before Ke Qi’an, looking up at his deity like a devout believer.

He had responded to Ke Qi’an’s request.

He looked up to ask for a kiss.

In the dream, Chang Tingzhi placed his palm on Ke Qi’an’s bulging abdomen and said, “This is our first child.”

“We will be happy for a very, very long time.”

“I will love you forever for the rest of my life.”

Poof.

Yu Fuqiu spat out a mouthful of blood, and tears flowed uncontrollably.

No, that was not his Chang Tingzhi.

That was just a fake, an outsider who had taken over the identity of his lover.

Could he please pray to the heavens to bring back the Chang Tingzhi who loved him?

He had managed to escape from the mental hospital and traveled into this book to come here. He thought he would have a brand new life of his own. He had seen the boy in the rainy alley and brought him home, raising him bit by bit.

Yes, he was greedy.

He was someone who should have died under the electric shocks of the mental hospital, someone who should have disappeared from the world long ago.

But Chang Tingzhi was like a beam of light that shone into his dark life.

His heart had begun to flutter.

He thought, could he also have a home?

Could he stop being so lonely? Could he stop curling up on a cold bed in the pitch-black night? Could there be a lamp left for him among the thousands of lights?

Could there be a harbor where he could act spoiled when he cried, where someone would hold him in their arms with heartache, accepting all his joys and sorrows, gently kissing away his tears, shielding him from all the gossip outside, and whispering in his ear, “I am here, you will never be afraid”?

In his new life, could Chang Tingzhi be a part of it?

“Do not be afraid.”

“Qiu Qiu.”

“I am here. I am always by your side.”

“You are my treasure.”

He was no longer afraid because there was always someone waiting for him to come home in the dark night, leaving a warm yellow light in the entryway.

At night, he would no longer wake up from the cold or toss and turn in fear because Chang Tingzhi would hold him in his arms, warming his hands and feet.

He knew of Yu Fuqiu’s insecurity, so he announced to the whole world that Yu Fuqiu was his lover. He would gently kiss the tears from his face and block all the external rumors for him.

These humble yet luxurious memories were once the faith that supported him through the most difficult years.

It was a dream he should have woken up from long ago.

Why was it becoming more and more blurred?

Yu Fuqiu suddenly felt very cold. He was dressed thinly, and his high fashion clothes were already wrinkled and covered in blood. His long hair fell, blurring his vision.

Tingzhi.

You said you would always stay by my side.

But where are you now?

Are you staying by his side?

I am so afraid.

Please, save me once more.

Just once.

I will not ask for more.

I only pray that you do not push me away completely.

Please, love me one more time.

Even if it is just a little, even if it is just pity, even if it is just a habitual handout.

At least, in your memories, let there be a little more of me.

“Qiu Qiu!”

A voice pierced through the air, a call that changed pitch due to extreme fear. It was like a clap of thunder, breaking through the darkness with a sliver of light for Yu Fuqiu.

Through the cold noise and whispering surroundings, Yu Fuqiu clearly heard that voice.

It was the voice calling his name.