After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 45

“Qiuqiu, wait for me to come back.”

“Qiuqiu.”

“Qiuqiu.”

“Little lazybones, the sun is already shining on your backside. Why are you still sleeping?”

The voice etched into his very bones echoed in Yu Fuqiu’s ears. He felt as though he were being picked up.

It was so warm.

Dispelling the chill of the winter night, his curled-up body slowly relaxed, seeking out that warm source of light.

“Get up quickly. Today is the Winter Solstice; we are having dumplings.”

The scene felt so real.

Yu Fuqiu opened his eyes hazily and moved his body slowly to sit at the dining table. Dense steam gradually rose before him.

Through the misty haze, he saw a busy yet familiar figure in the kitchen.

Yu Fuqiu opened his mouth and called out his name.

The figure looked up, seemingly sensing something, and slowly turned around. Even though his features were blurred, Yu Fuqiu knew he was smiling at him.

He reached out, wanting to touch that figure, but in the next second, his vision suddenly plunged into darkness.

“Ugh!”

Yu Fuqiu woke up with a start, his forehead covered in a fine cold sweat. A bleak, chilly wind seeped through the cracks of the doors and windows, sliding down his collar.

His phone had fallen under the sofa. The screen was frozen on an image of two hands with fingers interlocked. Tears had blurred the screen and frozen into tiny patches of frost.

Yu Fuqiu was trembling all over, his limbs icy cold. Only the white shirt he held tightly in his arms felt warm.

He sat on the sofa, trying to calm his emotions.

However, as dream and reality intertwined, the cold crawled through his limbs like a creeping vine.

The bowl of steaming dumplings from his dream seemed to still be right before his eyes.

Yu Fuqiu buried his face in his knees and pulled the thin garment over himself, as if Chang Tingzhi were still by his side.

They were supposed to celebrate their fifth anniversary soon.

Everything had been moving in a good direction. Even in the final second before crashing to the ground, he had still been nestled in Chang Tingzhi’s arms.

They were so close to succeeding.

The phone screen emitted a faint glow; the time was 5:00 AM.

Today was the Winter Solstice.

It was supposed to be a day for the family to eat dumplings and sweet soup balls together.

Yu Fuqiu covered his eyes and let out a long, heavy sigh.

Suddenly, he really wanted to eat those dumplings.

The steaming bowl of dumplings from his dream.

“Mommy!”

“Mommy!”

The door was being pounded loudly. Yu Fuqiu opened his eyes dizzily. He did not know when he had fallen back asleep, curled into a ball in the furthest corner of the sofa. His hands and feet had almost no warmth left.

When he got up, his head felt light. He nearly tumbled off the sofa and only managed to stand by leaning heavily on the armrest.

He carefully folded the white shirt and placed it in the corner where he had huddled all night.

Before his mind could fully clear, he hazily opened the door. A small figure lunged into his arms. Though his legs were still stiff, he could manage to walk.

“Chun Chun?”

Yu Fuqiu’s expression wavered. He composed himself and looked at the child in his arms, still not fully processing the situation.

“Mhm! It is Chun Chun, Mommy.”

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.”

Like a young bird returning to its nest, Chun Chun could not stop calling out to Yu Fuqiu.

Yu Fuqiu’s heart softened completely. “I am here, I am here.”

“Why are you back? Weren’t you supposed to stay at your aunt’s place?”

“I asked Chun Chun to come.”

Chu Baoli’s voice rang out from behind Chang Chun Chun. She took off her glasses and looked earnestly at Yu Fuqiu. An unstoppable ache filled her heart as she let out a long sigh. “I knew it. You would not take care of yourself at all.”

At this moment, Yu Fuqiu’s long hair was a mess and his face was as pale as paper. It was a freezing winter day outside, yet the heating was not on. Only a single dim light shone. The air in the room was stagnant, heavy, and damp.

Yu Fuqiu was still wearing the clothes from when he was discharged. He had thrown his coat aside and stood barefoot on the polished floor. Some parts of his fingers had turned a bruised purple from the cold.

He was too thin.

Chu Baoli frowned, feeling an irrepressible bitterness.

It had been less than two months. When Chang Tingzhi was preparing to return from his business trip, Yu Fuqiu had video-called her, smiling brightly with eyes full of happiness and brilliance.

Now, Yu Fuqiu’s eyes were dull. He was already thin for his on-camera work, but now his cheeks were sunken.

Though Chu Baoli did not fully know how vital Chang Tingzhi was to Yu Fuqiu, seeing Yu Fuqiu like this after Chang Tingzhi lost his memory and became a completely different person was not something she wanted to see.

“Sister,” Yu Fuqiu’s eyes flickered and his lips moved as if to say something, but he could not bring himself to push Chang Chun Chun away.

“Since you consider me your sister, listen to me.”

Chu Baoli entered and closed the door, shivering from the cold wind. She gave Chang Chun Chun a look. Chun Chun understood and quickly looked up. “Mommy, Mommy, lower your head for a bit.”

Yu Fuqiu did not understand.

He saw Chun Chun pull a crookedly knitted scarf from his little blue backpack. He wrapped it around Yu Fuqiu’s neck layer by layer, then stood on tiptoe to leave a light kiss on his cheek.

“I made this in home economics class! Even Fatty did not knit as well as I did!” Chun Chun stood with his hands on his hips, his face full of pride. He took Yu Fuqiu’s hand; it was icy, but Chun Chun refused to let go.

He simply gripped Yu Fuqiu’s hand tightly, trying to warm it with the temperature of his own palm. Unfortunately, his hand was too small; he could only hold half of it.

Chu Baoli turned on the air conditioner. A steady stream of warm air blew out, dispelling the chill surrounding Yu Fuqiu.

“It looks good. Mommy likes it very much.”

Yu Fuqiu lowered his face into the light-colored scarf, his breathing turning shallow, afraid to disturb the silence.

“Mommy, lift your feet.”

At some point, Chun Chun had brought over a basin of hot water. He crouched in front of Yu Fuqiu and looked up with a smile. His features were so similar to Chang Tingzhi’s that Yu Fuqiu was momentarily dazed.

As his icy feet soaked in the hot water, the lingering cold in his bones seemed to gradually dissipate.

“Daddy is not here, so Chun Chun will take care of Mommy,” Chun Chun said while massaging Yu Fuqiu’s frozen feet. “Mommy is so silly. You are so grown up, yet you still make Chun Chun worry about you.”

He paused, then added, “But Chun Chun wants to. Chun Chun wants to protect Mommy.”

“Chun Chun,” Yu Fuqiu looked at the treasure he had held in the palm of his hand since birth, his heart overflowing with infinite sorrow. “Actually, you do not have to do these things. Mommy’s greatest wish is just for you to grow up healthy.”

“That is not it, Mommy.” Seeing the water had cooled, Chun Chun added a bit more hot water. He looked up with a serious expression. “Chun Chun did not know how to do these things at first. Mommy never asked Chun Chun to do anything.”

“But Daddy always taught Chun Chun to love Mommy and take good care of Mommy.”

“Daddy always told Chun Chun what Mommy likes to eat, what he cannot eat, and that he is afraid of the dark and the cold at night. Chun Chun saw Daddy always soaking Mommy’s feet.”

Yu Fuqiu’s breath hitched, his fingertips curling slightly.

No wonder.

No wonder every time he coaxed Chun Chun to sleep, the boy would always burrow into his arms and tuck Yu Fuqiu’s hands into his small palms. He said that way, Mommy would not have to be afraid of the cold at night.

Yu Fuqiu’s heart softened.

Just then, the aroma of food wafted through the air.

Yu Fuqiu turned around abruptly. The scene before him overlapped with his dream.

Misty steam wafted out of the kitchen. But this time, it was Chu Baoli standing behind the mist, turning back to smile at him.

Chu Baoli was Chang Tingzhi’s biological sister and bore a striking resemblance to him. The two faces slowly merged in his mind.

In an instant, Yu Fuqiu felt his heart skip a beat.

“Today is the Winter Solstice.”

Chu Baoli brought the hot dumplings out of the kitchen. She carried two bowls: one filled with dumplings and the other filled with soup.

Seeing this arrangement, Yu Fuqiu froze, staring blankly at the dumplings.

“Try some. My skills should not have gone downhill,” Chu Baoli’s expression stiffened, her tone slightly unnatural.

Yu Fuqiu carefully picked up a dumpling. The moment he bit into it, the familiar taste rushed to his head.

He sat there in a daze until warm tears slid from the corners of his eyes, only then slowly coming back to his senses.

“Do not cry, Fuqiu!” Chu Baoli said in a panic. “Is it really that bad?”

“Then dip it in this soup. Is it too dry?”

Chu Baoli reached for a tissue to wipe Yu Fuqiu’s tears, but Yu Fuqiu just shook his head and swallowed the dumpling. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he sniffled. “I just think it is too delicious. So delicious I am crying.”

His habit when eating dumplings was to have a bowl of the water they were boiled in because he choked easily on dry food. Then, when he reached the last few dumplings, he would refuse to eat any more. Chang Tingzhi had come up with this method: as long as he added soup for the last few dumplings, Yu Fuqiu would obediently finish them and drink the whole bowl of soup.

“On the Winter Solstice, it is still best to eat together as a family. It is more lively.”

Seeing this, Chu Baoli felt relieved.

She also picked one up. The moment it entered her mouth, her expression froze.

That brat! He filled her portion with wasabi!

Just wait until she dealt with him later!

“Chun Chun wants to eat too!” Chun Chun opened his mouth, blinking his eyes at Yu Fuqiu. Yu Fuqiu laughed through his tears, the corners of his eyes red and his long lashes trembling like butterfly wings. He picked up a slightly cooled dumpling and fed it to Chun Chun.

“Mhm! It is pork and corn! Such a familiar taste.”

Chun Chun swallowed the dumpling and paused.

It was the taste of Daddy.

Was it made by Daddy?

He carefully looked up and saw that his mother’s previously dark eyes seemed to have found light. Yu Fuqiu ate the dumplings bite by bite, his movements slow as if they were the most precious treasures in the world.

Chun Chun’s heart settled.

He thought that although Daddy was absent for this year’s Winter Solstice, his love had never been absent.

In the middle of the dark night, the door was gently pushed open.

Chang Tingzhi stepped into the room with extreme caution. He held his breath until he had closed the door again, only then letting out a long sigh of relief.

Cold moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a pale, chilly band of light across the floor.

In the center of the shadows where yellow and pale light intertwined, a thin figure was curled up in the corner of the large sofa.

It was Yu Fuqiu.

He was sleeping fitfully.

He had nothing covering him, which was clearly not enough to ward off the chill in this unheated living room deep at night.

He was tightly curled up like a small animal trying to protect itself with its own body. His exposed ankles looked piercingly white in the moonlight, shivering slightly.

What made Chang Tingzhi’s heart suddenly contract with a sharp, fine pain was the object held tightly in Yu Fuqiu’s arms.

It was a white shirt that Chang Tingzhi often wore.

Yu Fuqiu had bundled it into a ball, clutching it tightly to his chest, his face almost completely buried in it.

Even in his sleep, he seemed to be drawing in the lingering scent of Chang Tingzhi from the fabric to fight against the long night.

He was not sleeping deeply; his brow was knit with a faint weariness and unease, and his lips were somewhat pale. Occasionally, he would unconsciously curl up tighter, letting out an almost inaudible, aggrieved whimper.

Chang Tingzhi’s heart felt as if it were being wrung by a giant hand. He could hardly breathe as he walked step by step to the sofa, his fingertips trembling as he touched Yu Fuqiu’s brow.

The deeply sleeping Yu Fuqiu seemed restless, yet also as if he sensed something. He murmured softly, and his body’s memory was awakened as he leaned into Chang Tingzhi’s embrace.

Chang Tingzhi looked down at Yu Fuqiu pressed against his chest. Soft, long hair fell across his forehead as he nuzzled into his arms until he found a comfortable position and fell back into a deep sleep.

Chang Tingzhi remained half-crouched there. He did not know how long he stayed; his legs seemed to go numb, yet he remained motionless.

His gaze lingered on Yu Fuqiu for a long time.

How wonderful it would be if time could stop at this moment.

But Chang Tingzhi knew that the time belonging solely to him was running out.

He slowly leaned down and pressed a very light kiss onto Yu Fuqiu’s cool lips. Their warm breaths mingled; he did not even dare to move too much.

“Qiuqiu.”

“Wait for me to come back.”

He carefully settled the figure that had been nestled in his arms back onto the sofa, turned around, and walked silently into the kitchen.

He was making dumplings for him.

He knew that during this period, Yu Fuqiu had not rested well at all.

For his sake, Yu Fuqiu had truly suffered far too much.

Seeing him curled up from the cold made his heart ache.

He wanted him to be able to eat something warm when he woke up.

More so because of that one sentence: he would wait for him to return.

The warm light in the kitchen stretched his shadow, facing the sleeping figure in the dim corner of the living room from a distance. Though the distance was close, it felt so far out of reach.

After finishing everything, Chang Tingzhi took one last look at the figure curled up on the sofa holding his clothes.

If time really could freeze at this moment, how wonderful it would be.

He wanted to softly coax Yu Fuqiu to sleep, to smooth the creases between his brows with his fingertips, and even more, to hold him in his arms and shield him from all the wind and rain outside.

But all of this had become an unreachable extravagance.