Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Listening to these words, Qi Yanyu felt as though he were hearing the unintentional lecturing tone of Qi Muyao’s father—it was equal parts ridiculous and irritating.

On the phone, Qi Yanyu stayed quiet.

Jiang Tiyan initially thought it was a poor signal, but after hearing Qi Yanyu's breathing, he still didn’t realize how serious it was. “Am I right, Qi Yanyu? Back then when I came to help you, you threw my help back in my face. Now you're begging me?”

Qi Yanyu wanted to hang up. He should have known—there were hardly any people in this novel who didn’t make him miserable.

Jiang Tiyan and his elder brother were like two peas in a pod.

Calling him had been pure masochism.

“You’ve sent the only person who could save you straight to the wolves, yet now you come crawling back to your savior…” Jiang Tiyan kept ranting.

Qi Yanyu stopped listening. His hand holding the phone went slack.

At some point, his heart had developed a dull ache. He lightly pressed his hand against his chest and slightly doubled over.

The girls around him saw him hunched over for several minutes before realizing something was wrong. They rushed to ask with concern: “What’s wrong? What’s wrong, sister-in-law?”

“Let’s help him up.”

“Is it a sugar crash?”

Because Qi Yanyu had gone silent while the worried murmurs of his fans filtered through the line, Jiang Tiyan panicked and yelled into the phone, “Qi Yanyu, what are you doing?”

But no one answered.

Qi Yanyu had hung up.

Hearing the busy signal, Jiang Tiyan kept calling back.

Eventually, the call connected—but not by Qi Yanyu.

“Qi Yanyu, what did you do? Are you okay?”

“Brother Jiang, it’s [name].”

“Put the person from earlier on the phone. What happened?”

“Sister-in-law is sick—he doesn’t look well.”

“What’s wrong with him??”

“We don’t know either, Brother Jiang. Where are you? Can you come pick him up?”

“No social media posts, got it? Tell me where you are—I’m coming. Watch him closely. Call 911 if he gets worse.”

“We’re at XX Amusement Park. Don’t worry, Brother Jiang, we won’t post anything.”

Jiang Tiyan wanted to slap himself. Did I actually make him sick? In a rush, he asked, “What’s your number? Let me add you.”

“Mine, Brother Jiang? Wow!”

Qi Yanyu received support from the fans around him. After getting his breathing under control, they handed his phone back. He gripped it tightly without speaking, taking shallow breaths instead.

Those nearby comforted him: “Brother Jiang is on his way. Sister-in-law, what’s wrong? Do you need anything?”

"What kind of ice cream do you want? We’ll get it for you."

"No," Qi Yanyu refused.

Jiang Tiyan called several times, but Qi Yanyu wouldn’t answer. *Go ahead and post it online then.* He was done asking for help.

Jiang Tiyan was furious and ended up calling the fan from earlier: "What’s his problem? Why won’t he pick up?"

"Jiang, babe… he’s okay now."

"Put me on video. Let me see him."

The video call connected, showing Qi Yanyu completely ignoring the camera. Surrounded by people filming him, he didn’t react at all—just kept his eyes downcast, his face pale.

He looked kind of pathetic.

"Why are you still filming? Cut it out!"

The girl on the call quickly whispered to her friends, "Bro said to stop filming."

Everyone put their phones away and spoke over each other: "Don’t worry, Jiang, we’re looking after him."

"Like hell you are. Ask him if he’s in pain or something." The last time Jiang saw him, he’d had muscle cramps and looked like a total mess.

"We tried, but he ignores us."

"Back off and give him space. I’m coming now."

"Really? We’re at XX Amusement Park."

"Who else is with him?"

"Babe? Just him alone."

"Don’t you dare upload any of those photos or videos online."

"Bro, did you two have a fight? Babe’s mad at you."

Jiang didn’t respond. On the video, he appeared to be climbing a wall.

"Bro, are you seriously scaling a wall? Dude, you’re ridiculous."

He kept the video going but muted it—he didn’t want to alert the staff, the maids, or worse, those two golden retrievers. He easily climbed over the two-meter wall and dropped down onto the grass below.

Bringing the phone back up, he said, "Get out of the way. Let me see him."

As he scaled the wall and called a ride, Jiang kept glancing at Qi Yanyu on the screen. Seeing him so weak, he couldn’t understand his taste—always going for useless pretty boys.

"Get him some water."

"We tried. He refuses."

"Try giving him chocolate. Maybe it’s low blood sugar." Jiang walked down the road, but there were no cars around and no rides available nearby, all while anxiously watching his childhood friend through the video.

"We offered Dove, but he won’t touch it."

Why’s he being so damn difficult? It’s his own damn body. If he keeps this up, he’s only hurting himself.

"Bro, did you guys have a fight? Babe’s pissed at you. Just apologize and sweet-talk him. Maybe he’ll take the water and chocolate then."

Jiang Tiyan called again, but Qi Yanyu hung up on him once more.

Fuming, Jiang Tiyan video-called the fans again: "Delete all the pics and videos of him—right in front of him. Once you're done, I’ll add you and DM signed photos."

But just in case, Jiang Tiyan dimmed the usual brilliance in his eyes and said, "He’s not feeling great. I... kinda pissed him off earlier. After you delete everything, stop following him."

"Jiang-ge [big bro Jiang], when are you coming? Can ‘sis-in-law’ hang tight till you arrive?"

"I'll come find him later. Stop following him."

At first, only three people had surrounded Qi Yanyu, but more joined later. Several fans, heeding Jiang Tiyan's words, took turns holding their phones up to Qi Yanyu: "Sis-in-law, deleting them now! Jiang-ge will be here soon. Don’t stay pissed at him."

All seven or eight of them deleted every photo and video from their phone albums and recycle bins right in front of Qi Yanyu.

The weight in Qi Yanyu’s chest lightened a little. He told the group, "I’m *not* your sis-in-law. If you have time, clear that up in the group chat."

"Whatever. Fight with Jiang-ge all you want, but you’re still our sis-in-law."

...

Qi Yanyu lowered his eyes and stayed silent. A fan who had Jiang Tiyan’s number said, "Alright, let’s all leave. Jiang-ge said he’ll come pick up sis-in-law soon."

"Sis-in-law, you gonna be okay alone?"

Hearing himself called “sis-in-law” over and over, Qi Yanyu simply nodded.

"Mm."

Seeing him finally respond, the fans beamed. "Don’t stay pissed at Jiang-ge."

"We’ve stanned him since day one. Two years and no love life—until you came along. You’re the first."

"Jiang-ge’s *so* into you. Stop fighting and just kiss already."

...

Qi Yanyu remained quiet. The kind-hearted girls were still worried about his condition.

So after another quiet "Mm" and a muttered "I’m fine," the fans, seeing his face wasn’t as pale anymore, dumped chocolates and boba into his hands before leaving.

Soon, it was Qi Yanyu’s turn to buy an ice cream cone. He didn’t really feel like eating, but he bought a choco-strawberry twist anyway.

His phone rang. Expecting Gu Jinglan’s call, he answered—only to hear his childhood friend’s voice.

A brief silence passed before the voice on the other end began: "I’m sorry. Are you feeling better now?"

"...A little."

Jiang Tiyan hesitated. "Is that twink with you? Have him take you to the hospital. If he’s not... my guys’ll be there in 10. They’ll get you checked out."

The "people" Jiang Tiyan referred to were, in fact, himself.

"He’ll take me. No need to worry." With that, Qi Yanyu hung up.

The line went dead in Jiang Tiyan’s ear. He cursed himself—why’d he have to poke the bear? Why mock him? It was just asking for trouble. Last time they met, Qi Yanyu looked like death warmed over. Normally, Qi Muyao was always riding him—why'd he gotta dad him on top of it? Qi Yanyu already had one big dad. Mocking him just piled on.

Now, Qi Yanyu held the cone and the snacks the fans had given him. Walking under sunlight spilling over the park, he wore a Nick the Fox headband. His head hung low, casting a faint shadow of fox ears onto the ground.

He stared at the ground. The high he’d felt earlier when buying the matching fox/bunny duo headbands had crashed completely.

He’d only taken a few steps when everything spun, and he realized he had been picked up.

He was carried into a café.

Gu Jinglan held him, found an empty table, sat down, and took the jumble of things from his hands.

Surprised, he looked up, and upon seeing the person he loved, he dropped his head against Gu Jinglan’s chest.

Gu Jinglan gently patted him, casually taking his left hand to check if he was uncomfortable or upset.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just sad.”

“Is your heart hurting?”

“No.”

His heart had ached dully earlier, but Qi Yanyu knew it was mostly in his head.

Gu Jinglan tried to meet his eyes, but Qi Yanyu pressed his face fully into his chest.

He just kept gently rubbing his left hand and patiently asked why he was so upset: “Did someone hassle you in line?”

“No,” Qi Yanyu shook his head again.

What was he thinking? He wondered—could he just leave?

If Gu Jinglan really loved him, would they have a chance to leave Kanbei City together?

If Gu Jinglan was just playing around, where would he be when this was over?

Qi Yanyu stayed silent for a long time before asking, “Gu Jinglan, are you just playing with me?”

What he really wanted to ask was—if they ran off together, would Gu Jinglan say yes?