Everyone Regrets It After My Death - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Help Me Find Someone

Su Mingran had always been gentle and pleasant toward Gu Pei. Even if a few words made Gu Pei unhappy, Mingran was always the first to offer an olive branch.

This was the first time he had spoken to Gu Pei so ruthlessly.

Gu Pei was stung by Mingran’s words, muttering incessantly, “You’ve changed. You’ve really changed. You’ve become unreasonable—completely unreasonable!”

Su Mingran couldn’t stop laughing—laughing at the futility of everything he had once done.

Gu Pei was the only friend he could talk to after returning to the Su family, a friend who had helped him many times. Whenever Su Renhua held banquets to show off a harmonious family, Mingran knew very few people; Gu Pei was always there to ease the awkwardness with a joke. When Mingran was injured, Gu Pei would hand him medicine without ever prying into the cause.

To Mingran, Gu Pei was considerate. Every time he saw Gu Pei, he was reminded of Xuan-xuan.

During their long captivity, the kidnapper’s abuse never stopped. Whenever Mingran was beaten, Xuan-xuan would find ways to get medicine and clumsily apply it for him. The way Gu Pei handed him medicine overlapped perfectly with the image of Xuan-xuan.

Mingran’s feelings for Gu Pei were difficult to describe—they were inextricably tied to the shadow of Xuan-xuan.

During the second semester of his freshman year in high school, Mingran noticed Gu Pei was struggling emotionally. But Gu Pei was clearly avoiding him. Mingran decided to reach out through letters, sending along the snacks that high school boys liked.

At first, Gu Pei didn’t reply, but Mingran didn’t mind and kept writing. Eventually, Gu Pei began to respond, sharing his family troubles while Mingran comforted him. Mingran always assumed Gu Pei knew who the letters were from. He never imagined Gu Pei had no idea.

How exactly had Qi Xinghe managed to deceive Gu Pei? Mingran had written his name on every envelope. Had Qi Xinghe known about the letters all along and found a way to erase or alter the name?

Su Mingran laughed until his head throbbed. He turned to Gu Pei and asked, “You say he wrote to you? You two barely spoke a word back then. Did he suddenly fall for you? A secret crush, perhaps?”

Gu Pei’s cheeks flushed at the remark. “It… it wasn’t impossible.”

Su Mingran pressed a hand to his head. He was exhausted. The mistake was so glaring, yet Gu Pei couldn’t see it. Perhaps Gu Pei never truly viewed him as a close friend; otherwise, how could he be so blinded as to mistake the sender for someone as unlikely as Qi Xinghe?

The efforts Mingran had exhausted to cheer Gu Pei up had become the ultimate joke.

“So?” Mingran leaned back wearily against the hospital bed. “He has a crush on you, and I hit him. How do you plan to vent his anger? Qi Xinghe took my place and stole so many things from me. What, after taking so much, I’m not allowed to throw a single punch?”

Gu Pei frowned. He hated this side of Su Mingran—like a hedgehog that pricked anyone who got too close until their hands bled. Besides, he didn’t think Xinghe had “stolen” anything.

“You’re still like this. No wonder your brother Su Mo doesn’t like you.”

The Gu and Su families did business together, so Gu Pei saw Su Mo often. He had initially been curious why the stern Su Mo spoke of his non-biological brother, Xinghe, like a doting, loving guardian.

Looking at Mingran now, he thought it made sense. Who would like someone as prickly as this?

“Everyone loves Qi Xinghe, and everyone hates me,” Su Mingran said with a mocking curl of his lip. “So? What now?”

As they locked eyes, Mingran tried to shift his position. He caught his breath wrong and erupted into a violent fit of coughing, struggling to breathe.

Confronted with such a frail Su Mingran, Gu Pei found himself unable to strike him for Xinghe’s sake. He said with a hint of revulsion, “How did you get this sick? Don’t tell me you wore yourself out beating Xinghe.”

Mingran recovered, rubbing his sore chest. His voice carried a strange, melancholy tone. “Think whatever you want. You should be happy. You can give Qi Xinghe some good news: I can never play the piano again.”

Gu Pei froze, speechless. It took a long time for his voice to return. His gaze lingered on Mingran’s hands, which were stained yellow by medicinal ointment. “Your hands…”

Su Mingran looked up at him. “Yes. You’ve got your revenge for Qi Xinghe. Are you happy?”

Gu Pei felt a complicated mix of emotions. In his mind, Su Mingran was inferior to Qi Xinghe in every way—grades, personality, everything. But the piano was the one area where Xinghe couldn’t compare.

Once, Gu Pei had gone to Mingran’s university to find another friend. Passing the Conservatory, he saw a crowd gathered in the hall. Someone was playing a classic—Canon in D.

Gu Pei’s knowledge of music came entirely from Qi Xinghe. He had heard Xinghe play that piece and always felt it was different from the professional versions on TV. But Mingran’s Canon was on an entirely different level; even a layman could hear the difference. When he finished, the room erupted in applause, and students swarmed him for advice.

Mingran had looked so happy then, radiating a confidence Gu Pei had never seen before.

And now, he could never play again.

Gu Pei felt a surge of conflicting feelings—part of him felt Mingran deserved it, but another part felt a pang of pity. With a deep sigh, he abandoned his thoughts of “justice” for Xinghe.

“What did the doctor say? Do you need me to introduce a better specialist?”

Su Mingran lowered his eyes, lost in thought.

“Gu Pei, are we still friends?”

Gu Pei hesitated. “I suppose.”

“Can you do me a favor?” Mingran looked at him earnestly. “Regardless of whether you ever consider me a friend again.”

“I’ll try.”

“Help me find someone.”

….

After leaving the hospital, Gu Pei called his assistant to arrange the search. As he hung up, a call came in from Qi Xinghe.

Gu Pei smiled and answered quickly.

“It’s so boring at home,” Xinghe complained. “My brother is watching me constantly. I can’t do anything. He says I’m debuting soon and have to study etiquette and posture. I’m so tired!”

Gu Pei comforted him. “Our Xinghe is going to be a superstar that everyone admires. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

Qi Xinghe sighed on the other end, then asked, “Did you go see Su Mingran?”

“Yes.”

“What’s there to see? He’s in the hospital? I should be the one in the hospital! My face is still swollen from where he hit me!”

Gu Pei spent a long time coaxing him before saying, “He can’t play the piano anymore. I guess bad people get what’s coming to them.”

Qi Xinghe asked with palpable delight, “Really?! Heaven truly has eyes! Su Mingran was always trying to use his mediocre piano skills to compare himself to me. Now that he can’t play, it’s such a relief!”

“It’s a pity, though. Why didn’t he just die slowly? What’s the point of a useless person staying in this world? It’s disgusting. When he dies, I’ll definitely spit on his grave a few times.”

Xinghe was so overjoyed that he lost his composure and said too much.

These words might have been fine in front of the Su family, but they were a problem in front of Gu Pei. Hearing Xinghe’s gleeful curses, Gu Pei felt a chill run down his spine. “Xinghe… even if you hate him, you shouldn’t curse him like that. You aren’t that kind of person. What’s wrong with you today?”

Xinghe seemed to panic on the other end, rambling to cover his tracks. “I… I was pushed down the stairs and then beaten by him. I’m just talking out of anger. But isn’t it his own fault his hand ended up like that?”

“You’re not taking my side, you’re taking his. Do you have a problem with me? Do you hate me now?”

Gu Pei immediately put his doubts aside and focused on soothing Xinghe. He spent a long time doing so, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the Qi Xinghe on the phone was a completely different person from the one he thought he knew.