After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 30

Who was Chang Tingzhi messaging at this specific moment?

It was the final day of 2024. The weather was so cold that one’s breath turned to frost. At that time, Yu Fuqiu had just finished filming a movie.

Tan Ling asked him, “Brother Yu, there is one more scheduled activity. Do you”

Yu Fuqiu dazed out. He did not know when it had started, but ever since Chang Tingzhi entered university, he seemed to have become exceptionally busy. He rarely replied to daily messages. Was he going to spend New Year’s Eve alone?

It would be the first New Year’s Eve without Chang Tingzhi.

Clearly, he had lived this way before. He used to watch from a distance as his mother spent the New Year with her family while he curled up in a cold storage room, watching the warm lights and listening to the laughter downstairs.

He had longed to throw himself into his mother’s arms.

However, it was always a dream. His birth was originally considered a sin.

But then heaven allowed him to find Chang Tingzhi, letting him build his own family with his own hands.

Was there finally a day for parting?

Yu Fuqiu stared at his pinned contact, where the green chat logs were densely packed.

Chang Tingzhi would find someone to love. He would marry, have children, and

Just thinking about it made Yu Fuqiu’s chest feel as if it were being squeezed tightly by a giant hand. The agonizing pain in his breath caused him to break down suddenly.

” ”

Yu Fuqiu was just about to say he would take the job, wanting to use work to numb himself.

“Ah, there is no need, Brother Yu.” Tan Ling smiled and closed the schedule. “Take a good rest.”

Rest?

Yu Fuqiu did not understand the situation. He suddenly looked up and saw Chang Tingzhi leaning against the doorframe.

His stunned expression was reflected in those eyes that looked like stars.

Chang Tingzhi’s eyes crinkled into a smile. He spread his arms wide in a gesture perfect for a hug.

“Well? Are you not going to come give me a hug?”

Yu Fuqiu could no longer restrain himself. He stood up and threw himself into Chang Tingzhi’s arms. He buried his head tightly against Chang Tingzhi’s chest, listening to the powerful beat of his heart. He took a deep breath, and the irritability in his heart was instantly calmed.

It turned out the boy he had raised had grown so large.

Yu Fuqiu quietly stood on his tiptoes and barely reached Chang Tingzhi’s chin. He tightened his embrace.

Chang Tingzhi restrained his emotions and lightly pressed a kiss to Fuqiu’s hair.

Yu Fuqiu had never spent New Year’s Eve outdoors before.

The group of them crowded onto the best viewing platform by the river, waiting for the New Year’s fireworks.

The noise of the crowd and many new faces made Yu Fuqiu feel particularly out of place. Chang Tingzhi introduced them one by one; they were partners from his company.

The friends clamored for Yu Fuqiu’s signature. Yu Fuqiu agreed with a smile, but they were so enthusiastic that Chang Tingzhi had to stand in front of him. “Hey, hey, hey, this is my” He paused, then pulled Yu Fuqiu into his arms. “I cannot let him stay with you any longer.”

The surroundings were bustling with noise, but between Yu Fuqiu and Chang Tingzhi, there was a tacit silence. He was right beside Yu Fuqiu, so close that Fuqiu could smell the faint, clean scent of soap on Chang Tingzhi’s coat.

There was also that hint of warmth that made his heart skip a beat.

He wanted to suppress his heartbeat, but

“I was not intentionally avoiding your messages during this time.”

Chang Tingzhi moved closer, filling the gap between them. He pursed his lips. His voice was dry, and if one listened closely, there was a moment of hesitation. “During the early stages of founding the company, I was too busy.”

Yu Fuqiu’s eyes flickered. He knew that as the protagonist of a novel, Chang Tingzhi was destined to go through a period of hard struggle. Therefore, he understood.

“It is okay. I understand. I”

“You just need to take care of yourself. Oh, by the way, that girl keeps looking at you. She is a very beautiful girl. You should take more care of her.”

Yu Fuqiu suddenly envied that girl. He could not look at Chang Tingzhi with that kind of gaze. The relationship between him and Chang Tingzhi was that of a guardian.

They could not cross the line.

“It is not like that!”

Chang Tingzhi interrupted him, his expression panicked. “I saw them. I saw all of them, but I did not dare to reply.”

“I was afraid that if I replied, I would drop everything in my hands. I would want to go to your side immediately. I would”

He suddenly got stuck.

As the crowd began the countdown amid the immense clamor, Yu Fuqiu felt as if he could only hear the thumping of his own heart and see those bright eyes.

“10!”

“9!”

” ”

At that moment of universal attention, Chang Tingzhi seemed to say something, but Yu Fuqiu could not see it clearly.

Huge fireworks bloomed in the sky. At that moment, they lit up the entire world.

“What did you say!”

Yu Fuqiu spoke loudly. He desperately wanted to know the answer.

As the fireworks exploded second by second, Yu Fuqiu blinked his eyes in discomfort.

Suddenly, everything before his eyes went dark. A warm palm covered his eyes.

From an angle he could not see, Chang Tingzhi leaned down slightly and pressed a light, lingering kiss on the back of his own hand.

It was placed right over the position of Yu Fuqiu’s eyes.

“It is nothing.”

Once the fireworks grew weaker, he finally let go of Yu Fuqiu.

Yu Fuqiu glanced sideways and saw Chang Tingzhi with his head slightly lowered. The light from the phone screen was reflected on his handsome profile. The light danced across his focused brow.

He was typing.

A nearly frantic thought seized Yu Fuqiu. Who was Chang Tingzhi messaging at this specific moment?

A girl he liked?

A girlfriend or a boyfriend?

Why did he not bring them to meet him?

Yu Fuqiu suddenly had a desperate impulse. He tilted his head slightly, holding his breath, and carefully cast his gaze toward the phone screen.

It was their chat window.

All the surrounding sounds, such as the shouting of the countdown, the whistling of the river wind, and the distant music, receded like a tide. The world was left with only him and that glowing screen.

Yu Fuqiu saw Chang Tingzhi’s slender fingers pause over the keyboard. Then, key by key, extremely slowly but incredibly clearly, he typed four words into the dialog box.

[I like you]

These four words felt like a scalding temperature that instantly burned Yu Fuqiu’s eyes red. He bit his lip, desperately trying to suppress the emotions churning within him.

Chang Tingzhi’s finger froze in mid-air like a statue. His fingertip hovered over the send button for a long time, never landing.

He looked as if he had made a certain resolution, yet also as if he were pulled back by an invisible rope. He deleted those four words, one by one.

[Happy New Year.]

At the exact same moment the message was successfully sent:

“Happy New Year!”

The deafening cheers surged like a tidal wave, and a waterfall of golden light poured down, illuminating his face.

Chang Tingzhi turned his head to look at Yu Fuqiu, whose face was reflected in the glow of the fireworks. The corners of his lips curled up slightly as if nothing had happened.

“Happy New Year.”

His voice was calm, blending into the boundless clamor and brilliance of the night.

Yu Fuqiu responded stutteringly. Then, standing with Chang Tingzhi, he looked up at the night sky, which was lit as bright as day by the pyrotechnics.

It was not his imagination.

That was definitely their chat window.

He said he liked me.

The fireworks bloomed one after another, painting the dark night with magnificent colors as the crowd celebrated the arrival of the new year.

But in Yu Fuqiu’s ears, all he could hear were the syllables of those four words being typed out.

The fireworks were so beautiful.

Yu Fuqiu blinked.

They were so beautiful that he wanted to cry.

“He is awake!”

“He is awake!”

Yu Fuqiu slowly regained consciousness. He was greeted by a snow-white ceiling and the inescapable scent of disinfectant and medicine.

His unfocused pupils slowly centered, and his brain began to function sluggishly.

“Chun Chun!”

Startled, he sat up with a panicked expression. Yu Fuqiu immediately pulled the IV needle from his hand, and small beads of blood trickled out.

Before he could even think, he threw back the covers to get out of bed. However, the moment he stood up, his body felt weak and powerless, and he collapsed forward.

“Be careful!”

A pair of warm hands caught him. Yu Fuqiu’s heart trembled.

Before he lost consciousness, someone had called him “Qiuqiu.”

Could it be?

Could it be?

Like a piece of wood adrift at sea, he raised his head as if grasping at a final straw.

“Yu Zhuo?”

He saw the person in front of him clearly, and his voice was hoarse.

Yu Zhuo looked haggard. His usually meticulously styled hair was a mess, and his clothes were disheveled. It was clear he had been watching over him for a long time.

“Fuqiu, calm down.”

Yu Zhuo picked Yu Fuqiu up. He was so thin.

He was even thinner than the last time Yu Zhuo had seen him.

“No, Chun Chun. Chun Chun, he”

“Chun Chun just finished surgery and is lying in the ward now. You need to rest properly.” He firmly carried Yu Fuqiu back to the bed and tucked him in. He pressed the call button, picked up the bowl of porridge from the table, blew on it, and held it to Yu Fuqiu’s lips. “Only when you are well can you wait for Chun Chun to wake up, right?”

” ”

Yu Fuqiu opened his mouth mechanically and swallowed the porridge. As a familiar sensation hit his taste buds, he suddenly looked up and grabbed Yu Zhuo’s hand, his eyes shining. “Who taught you how to make this porridge?”

“It was Tingzhi, was it not? Where is he?”

“Did he come?”

Yu Zhuo’s throat bobbed. A pleasant fragrance wafted toward him. The beauty before him had long, loose hair and a pale face, yet his lips reflected a moist luster from the bite of porridge.

” ”

Yu Zhuo did not know how to answer. Looking into those expectant eyes, his heart felt incredibly bitter.

His fingertips instinctively reached out to rub the corner of Yu Fuqiu’s eye.

This movement caused both of them to freeze for a moment. Yu Zhuo hurriedly withdrew his hand.

“Finish eating first, and then I will tell you, all right?”

Yu Fuqiu’s tense heart slowly relaxed. He opened his mouth like a child waiting to be fed, obediently tilting his head and swallowing all the porridge Yu Zhuo fed him.

“So, can I go see him?” Yu Fuqiu asked excitedly.

“Mr. Yu, your health has not fully recovered. How can you get out of bed now? You even pulled out the needle!” the doctor exclaimed, gasping.

“I want to see Chun Chun and”

Yu Fuqiu pursed his lips. He suddenly looked at himself in the mirror and murmured, “Will I look very ugly? Will he be disgusted by me?”

” ”

Yu Zhuo knew he could not win against Yu Fuqiu’s persistence, so he knelt down. “Come, I will carry you on my back. Your body is weak right now. Earlier, your distress caused a physical collapse. It is a miracle you can even stand up.”

Yu Fuqiu did not overthink it. He carefully leaned onto Yu Zhuo’s back, feeling the broad shoulders and a familiar scent. He could not help but bury his head in Yu Zhuo’s neck and take a deep breath, instinctively rubbing against him.

He was completely unaware of how stiff Yu Zhuo’s body had become.

As Yu Zhuo felt the nerves pulsing beneath those slender legs, his heart seemed to skip a beat. With that fuzzy head rubbing against his shoulder, he found it difficult to swallow.

He wished that time would stretch longer, just a little bit longer.

“Chun Chun?”

After seeing the small figure lying on the hospital bed, Yu Fuqiu froze.

The child was pale, and his body was covered in needle marks. The only sound in the silent room was the rhythmic beeping of the machines. The rising and falling of the child’s chest was almost invisible.

How did it come to this?

His child was only seven years old. He had not even finished a third of his life, yet he was covered in tubes, lying on a cold bed.

“Chun Chun, Mommy is here.”

“Open your eyes and look at Mommy, okay?”

Was this all because of the plot?

The plot had been changed, and this was the consequence of the butterfly effect.

Was it his child who had to pay the price?