After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 48

“I love you, not because of what you can give me, but simply because you are you.”

“Xin, Sister Xin.” Yu Fuqiu was held in her arms. The warm touch and pleasant scent filled his senses. Unlike the moment he stepped off the car when he had been left isolated in the cold, Tian Xin was the only person offering him kindness at this moment.

A surge of warmth rose in his heart. He sniffed slightly and spoke softly to her.

“It has been too long,” Tian Xin said apologetically. “I heard that you and Chun Chun were in a car accident. I wanted to visit you, but I was blocked every time.”

She sighed. “What on earth is going on with Chang Tingzhi?”

“I did not know which hospital you were in or how you were doing. I wanted to call him to ask about your condition. Do you know what he said?”

At this point, Tian Xin’s brows knitted together. She had debuted a few years earlier than Yu Fuqiu and thought highly of the young man. As they grew closer, she eventually learned about his relationship with Chang Tingzhi.

Their initial wedding had actually been very simple. Back then, Yu Fuqiu was plagued by black PR; he had just started making a name for himself but was being suppressed. He did not have much money. Chang Tingzhi was also in the early stages of starting his company, needing to socialize everywhere to pull in investment.

Life was not easy for the two “bitter gourds.” They held their wedding at a food stall, inviting a few friends and relatives and ordering a table of dishes that cost nearly three or four hundred yuan.

Yu Fuqiu had a special appointment for a scene at four in the morning and could not drink. He ordered a glass of orange juice and watched as Chang Tingzhi drank glass after glass, accepting everyone’s blessings.

He watched the young man he had raised with his own hands drink freely amidst the down to earth atmosphere. He saw the flickering lights reflected in Chang Tingzhi’s eyes, looking like fallen stars.

They were surrounded by the clamor of voices, the drifting aroma of food, the warm breeze of a summer night, and the swaying glow of light bulbs.

In that moment, Yu Fuqiu felt no fear for the future, no worry about poverty, and no longing for any grand narrative.

He touched the red marriage certificate in his pocket, which still smelled of fresh ink; it felt as though his heart had finally settled.

His eyes remained fixed on his lover’s profile.

“Mother, I have a home now.”

“I finally have a home of my own.”

After seeing off their friends and family, Yu Fuqiu drove their small electric scooter. Chang Tingzhi had been drinking; his face was flushed bright red as he leaned against Yu Fuqiu’s back.

The scooter emitted a low hum as it carried the two of them. The night breeze brought the slight chill of late summer, blowing away the grease and smoke they had just been immersed in.

Yu Fuqiu thought Chang Tingzhi had fallen fast asleep and remained silent throughout the ride. However, as they passed a plane tree, the fabric on his back became damp. Immediately following that came the sound of suppressed, tiny sobs.

Startled, Yu Fuqiu stopped the scooter. He tried to turn around, but Chang Tingzhi grabbed his sleeve.

Large tears slid from Chang Tingzhi’s eyes. He choked out, “Qiuqiu, I am sorry.”

“I am happy, but I am also full of self-reproach.” He buried his head into the nape of Yu Fuqiu’s neck and whispered, “I am happy because I married you. I married the person I like so very much.”

He touched the red booklet tucked against his chest and sniffed, his eyes red as he continued, “But I am really useless.”

“I could only invite friends to eat at a food stall like that.”

“You have suffered so much following me, yet I cannot even give you a decent wedding.”

It was not that he had not thought about it. He had even gone secretly to inquire about venues. He wanted to hold the wedding of Yu Fuqiu’s dreams, but when he calculated the cost, it required an immense amount of money. He could not even produce half the spare change for it. How could he not be heartbroken?

After they registered their marriage, seeing Yu Fuqiu’s cautious, treasure-like movements and gaze only deepened Chang Tingzhi’s guilt.

“Qiuqiu, I will definitely earn a lot of money. I will give you the best life.”

“I will hold a perfect wedding for you to make up for this. I definitely will.”

Before Chang Tingzhi could finish, Yu Fuqiu silenced him.

A gentle pair of lips pressed against his. He looked up blankly, falling into those tender eyes.

Yu Fuqiu’s eyes were filled entirely with him.

Yu Fuqiu had just eaten a mint, and the minty flavor spread between their mouths. The gentle summer wind blew back Yu Fuqiu’s stray hairs, revealing eyes as beautiful as the stars.

Yu Fuqiu reached out and pulled the sobbing, messy Chang Tingzhi tightly into his arms, gently patting his trembling back.

“Silly,” he said as his eyes curved into a smile. “I do not care about having a perfect wedding, and I do not care if you have money.”

“What I care about is you.”

“As long as we are together, anywhere is the best place.”

“We are both working hard together, Tingzhi. You gave me a home, and that is enough.”

He lowered his head, his lips kissing away the tears at the corners of the other man’s eyes. His forehead rested against Chang Tingzhi’s as he whispered, “Our lives will get better slowly. There is no rush.”

“I love you, not because of what you can give me, but simply because you are you.”

Back then, Tian Xin had been sitting in her car, watching the silhouettes of the couple embracing in the evening breeze. She had truly believed they would walk this path together forever.

She had witnessed their love and the hardships they faced along the way. Yet, when she had anxiously called Chang Tingzhi to ask how Yu Fuqiu was doing after the car accident, the response was devastating.

On the other end of the line, Chang Tingzhi had merely said coldly that it had nothing to do with him. Even if he died, it was not his concern. He claimed there were plenty of people who used such low class tactics to gain his sympathy, and he did not have time to waste on someone irrelevant.

Then, he blocked Tian Xin.

Afterward, Tian Xin saw it.

Chang Tingzhi and Ke Qian entered a hotel while the fate of Yu Fuqiu and Chang Chun Chun was still unknown.

And when they fell from the Ferris wheel, when Chang Tingzhi was discharged from the hospital, the person leaning intimately against him was not Yu Fuqiu.

Tian Xin knew something had gone wrong.

Ignoring the attempts of others to stop her, she joined this show.

Although she had seen Yu Fuqiu’s pale face and exhausted expression on the livestream, meeting him in person made Tian Xin’s heart twist with pain.

Even in their most difficult times, Yu Fuqiu had never been in this state of near numbness.

The indelible sorrow between his brows, his bloodless face, and his frame that looked like it would collapse with a single gust of wind all spoke of his ordeal.

Yu Fuqiu looked up, waiting for Tian Xin to finish her sentence, but she held the words back in her throat.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, and hugged Yu Fuqiu. “Has Chun Chun arrived? My daughter Jiao Jiao has been clamoring to see her big brother Chun Chun.”

Only then did a smile appear on Yu Fuqiu’s face. “He is in the nanny van. Once this recording session is over, I will let Chun Chun go see Jiao Jiao.”

“Great! Everyone is here.”

The director, holding a card in his hand, looked around. “Rooms have been arranged for everyone. Since this is our last night in the country, please double check your luggage. Our flight is tomorrow, so please get some good rest.”

He gave a meaningful look to Yu Fuqiu and Ke Qian. “Of course, I hope the two directors will arrange an enjoyable trip to Country Y.”

“A friendly reminder: the production team provides basic information, but directors can use their personal resources to optimize the itinerary.”

The livestream for this show ran continuously, even through the night. The selling point was reality and experience.

Yu Fuqiu was assigned to the room at the very bottom. It faced away from the sun, and a cold wind blew in the moment he entered. He could not help but shiver. He poked his head out to look. He was the only one living on this floor; everyone else was staying on the higher floors with better sunlight.

Yu Fuqiu pursed his lips. He figured Ke Qian must have instructed the production team to arrange this.

There was nothing he could do. Ke Qian had a powerful family background as the young master of the Ke family, while he had nothing now. He used to have Chang Tingzhi standing behind him, but now he was alone.

It did not matter.

When he first debuted, he had been forced to accompany investors for drinks. Those pot bellied, balding men always touched him inappropriately, and he had endured it all.

He had even experienced that dark basement in the mental asylum and the auction block.

What else did he have to fear?

Yu Fuqiu turned on the light, but it was still very dim. He squinted, thought for a moment, and pulled a carefully wrapped small night light from his suitcase. When he turned it on, the room suddenly brightened.

He then spread out his suitcase. All social devices had been confiscated by the production team, so he was unaware of the rapidly scrolling comments.

He obediently tilted his head and took out bags of packed clothes and supplies from his suitcase, introducing them to the camera. “In a previous daily vlog, I introduced my packing method. Some comments said they wanted to see how I pack, so I will show everyone now.”

He was backlit, his hair falling loosely. The room was cold, and the air conditioning’s heating was not very responsive. The tip of his nose was red, making his skin look as white as snow. He sniffed, his eyes also red, looking like red plum blossoms fallen on a snow-capped mountain, but he continued to take out clothes and organize them for the camera.

“I checked the weather in Country Y. For the first few days, it will be foggy and quite cold, so these outfits are suitable. I print out photos of the outfits I want to wear; it saves trouble and makes matching easy. Then I tuck the photo into the bag with the clothes so I know what is inside.”

Yu Fuqiu slowly took out his belongings and explained.

However, he froze when he pulled out the next item. It was a worn out little bear.

It was the first birthday gift Chang Tingzhi had ever given to Chang Chun Chun.

The original bear had been coldly tossed aside by Chang Tingzhi, and as a result, it was missing an ear.

But now, that missing ear had been sewn back on with crooked, uneven stitches.

From the bear’s embrace, Yu Fuqiu found a note.

It was written in the wobbly, uneven handwriting of seven year old first grader Chang Chun Chun.

“Mother, Chun Chun asked Auntie for help and sewed this ear back on by hand. This is a bear sewed by Father and Chun Chun together. When Mother sleeps at night, hold it in your arms, and you will not be afraid!”

Yu Fuqiu’s expression froze. He slowly flipped the note over.

On the back was a drawing of three stick figures. One had long hair and held a tiny stick figure in its arms; both of these stick figures were being held in the embrace of a large stick figure.

“Chun Chun knows that Mother is going there to find Father.”

“Mother, whether Father will come back or not, Chun Chun does not know.”

“But Chun Chun knows that Chun Chun will love you forever.”

“Because you are my mother.”

“You are the person who loves me most in this world.”