Chapter 119

Chapter 119

◎Why are you so late...◎

After returning from the bathroom, Li Qingjiang repeatedly urged Meng Qi to get some sleep if he could, because in his condition, staying up all night would cost him much more than the average person and would take several days to recover.

Meng Qi agreed repeatedly, and as soon as he returned to his room, he followed the doctor's advice, climbed into bed, turned off the light, and started counting sheep:

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep... Where is Wang Boyuan now? Did Qu Liang tell Li Qingjiang? I should have asked...

Four sheep, five sheep, six sheep... Can Zhao Zheyuan come back tomorrow? Probably not. If he could, why would he keep it a secret? There's no need for that...

Seven sheep, eight sheep, nine sheep... What's really going on with Qu Liang and the board members of their company? Why target Li Wangshan all of a sudden...

Ten sheep, eleven sheep...

Snoring gradually began, and half an hour later, Meng Qi finally fell asleep, sleeping straight through until broad daylight. The next morning, Li Qingjiang came knocking three times before finally waking him up.

Outside the door, Li Qingjiang held a bowl of millet porridge that Elder Gu had gotten up early to make. Wisps of steam rose from it, and inside the bowl were two shelled tea eggs and several pieces of pickled cucumber.

Inside the room, Meng Qi was frantically rummaging through his closet, which was wide open, muttering to himself, "I went to bed so late last night and didn't even think to pick out the clothes I need to wear today. What a dummy."

"Don't rush, take your time. We just need to leave before eight. It's only six forty-five now." Li Qingjiang kindly reminded Meng Qi, and as soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but pop a piece of pickled cucumber into his mouth, crunching loudly. Before swallowing, he took a sip of the millet porridge along the edge of the bowl, savoring the golden layer of oil floating on top. The aroma was so intoxicating it nearly knocked him over. "If I ever leave this place, I think I'll really miss Uncle Gu's cooking. Take this bowl of porridge made over a wood fire—whether you use a gas stove or an induction cooker, you can't get even a tenth of its fragrance. And these pickled cucumbers, so fragrant, crispy, and refreshing. If they were sold in a mall, they'd probably cost dozens of yuan per pound."

Meng Qi was sweating from searching for clothes and didn't want to talk, but Li Qingjiang's words struck a chord with him. He paused for a moment, distracted, and responded, "I love Uncle Gu's cooking too, especially his stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork. I never get tired of it. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

This was the authentic hometown flavor Qi Yun had mentioned, and Meng Qi had not only tasted it but also grown to love it.

But Li Qingjiang wouldn't let him eat too much; he kept a close watch. Fearing that Meng Qi might even ask the kids for some, Li Qingjiang had warned them in advance not to share their food with Meng Qi... Since Meng Qi brought it up again, Li Qingjiang took the opportunity to remind him once more, "Even if it's delicious, don't overeat, and definitely don't sneak any behind our backs. Wait... you'll have plenty of chances to eat it later, but for now, you really can't."

Meng Qi looked at the clothes and pants he had laid out on the bed, admired them for a moment, then pushed Li Qingjiang out the door. "I need to get dressed. We'll talk later."

Li Qingjiang used the other end of his chopsticks to tap on the door Meng Qi had closed, still worried, and continued to remind him, "Don't brush off what I said. It's all for your own good."

"I know, Master. I remember. I haven't snuck any food. Uncle Gu listens to you, not me. If he won't cook it for me, where would I even get it?" Meng Qi said from inside the room, a hint of complaint in his tone.

Satisfied, Li Qingjiang took a bite of the tea egg and turned to stroll toward the kitchen. There, Elder Gu had also fried up some sesame balls, filled with a rich mixture of jujube paste and red bean paste, wrapped in a soft, crispy glutinous rice skin. They were far better than the ones sold in breakfast shops. Li Qingjiang could easily eat seven or eight in one sitting, but he only allowed Meng Qi to have three.

An hour later, Meng Qi, wearing the baseball cap Yang Yiming had given him, appeared at Yang Yiming's print shop, carrying an exquisitely wrapped box. Yang Yiming handed him a drink and told him to sit and wait. As Meng Qi took the drink, he handed the box to Yang Yiming and said, "This is for you."

"What is it?" Yang Yiming asked without being polite, taking the box and glancing at it.

Meng Qi replied, "It's also a hat, but different from the one you gave me. It's a beret. I think you'd look great in a beret too."

Yang Yiming had naturally curly hair, which he had dyed a reddish-brown, making him look very trendy. He was over six feet tall, wearing olive-drab tapered cargo pants and a tight black T-shirt, with a chunky silver chain across his chest. He had eyebrow, lip, and ear piercings, and his hands were clattering with rings and bracelets. He almost had "I'm fashionable" written on his face. Compared to the plain baseball cap, Meng Qi thought the trendy beret suited him better.

Yang Yiming paused his hand as he was opening the box, raised his eyes to look at Meng Qi, and lifted the corner of his mouth as if smiling. "Thanks. You're not the only one who says I look good in a beret. You all have good taste."

Meng Qi returned a polite but slightly awkward smile, thinking to himself, Was that a compliment? It didn't seem very sincere.

While Meng Qi and Yang Yiming were talking, Li Qingjiang had already opened his drink and drunk half of it. Hearing Yang Yiming "compliment" Meng Qi on his taste, he also shook his bottle at Yang Yiming and chimed in with a smile, "I chose the style of the beret."

Yang Yiming raised an eyebrow at Li Qingjiang and, as if to satisfy him, praised, "Your taste isn't bad either."

After opening the box, Yang Yiming didn't try on the hat. He just looked at it, then packed it back up and placed it on the gaming table. Then he bent down, moving the mouse while asking Meng Qi if he wanted to play a round of a game. He logged out of his own account, and Meng Qi could use his computer to log into his own game account and play for a while.

Meng Qi had no idea what game Yang Yiming played, so, as always, he insisted he wasn't "abandoned but regrettable" and didn't know how to play this game. He declined Yang Yiming's invitation with a firm tone and polite attitude.

Yang Yiming didn't press further. He told Meng Qi and Li Qingjiang to help themselves to anything in the shop, then dove into the game.

Meng Qi glanced at the phone screen. It was still forty-one minutes and fifty-two seconds until Wang Boyuan's promised nine o'clock. He took a deep breath nervously. Well, now it's forty-nine seconds... Time isn't passing that slowly.

Li Qingjiang, sitting cross-legged, asked Meng Qi, "Have you thought about what you're going to say when you first see him?"

Meng Qi looked through the glass door, which had "Printing: one yuan, Copying: fifty cents" written on it, toward the street outside. The spot directly across from the shop was empty. Just as he looked, a silver-white minivan screeched to a halt. The windows had privacy film, so he couldn't see inside. He stared at the van for a moment while absentmindedly answering Li Qingjiang, "I haven't thought..."

Before he could even say the last word, he suddenly stood up and rushed out. His movements were fast and urgent, filled with unspeakable anticipation and grievance. The chair he pushed back made a harsh scraping sound, startling Li Qingjiang and Yang Yiming, who both looked at him.

By then, there was no trace of Meng Qi in the shop. He had already burst out the door like lightning, leaving the two glass doors still swinging behind him.

Yang Yiming's print shop had a three-step concrete staircase at the entrance. Meng Qi was so anxious that he didn't care about steps or flat ground. He jumped over them in one big stride, his movement as clean as an athlete's hundred-meter hurdle, leaving Li Qingjiang's reminder to "slow down" unspoken.

Before his long-awaited "Qi Yun," even the steps, let alone the bicycles and tricycles coming and going on the road, couldn't catch Meng Qi's eye.

At that moment, Meng Qi's eyes were truly only on Wang Boyuan. He rushed recklessly toward Wang Boyuan, who had just stepped out of the minivan. Without a word, he threw himself into Wang Boyuan's arms, giving him a solid hug, just like countless times before in reality.

Then he buried his face in Wang Boyuan's neck, staying there for a long time, not moving, not speaking.

Wang Boyuan kept gently patting his back, stroking the top of his head, also silent.

Then, Li Qingjiang and Yang Yiming, who had run out of the print shop right after Meng Qi, saw Meng Qi's shoulders start to shake violently. It was as if a child who had been walking for a very, very long time had finally found home, nestling in the arms of a loved one, crying out in grievance.

The first words Meng Qi said to Wang Boyuan were: "Brother Boyuan, why are you so late..."

By then, Qu Liang, who had parked the car, jumped out of the driver's seat. He handed the keys to Yang Yiming, then draped his arm over Li Qingjiang's shoulder to watch the scene. After watching for a while, he leaned close to Li Qingjiang's ear and whispered, "Their bond is so strong, it moved me to tears."

Li Qingjiang nodded, clearly agreeing with Qu Liang.

Qu Liang whispered again, "You don't know, this friend of Young Master Meng had a brain injury. He forgot everything, only remembered Young Master Meng. And as soon as he recovered, he traveled thousands of miles to be with him. Such friendship is worthy of Bo Ya and Zi Qi, isn't it?"

Li Qingjiang raised an eyebrow, glanced sideways at Qu Liang, and teased him with a smirk, "Shouldn't it be worthy of Qu Liang and Zhao Zheyuan?"

Qu Liang grinned at that. "That comparison works too. My bond with Brother Yuan is just as strong. When he comes back, I'm going to hug him and cry for half the day!"

"When is he coming back?" Li Qingjiang asked.

Qu Liang replied, "Soon." But he didn't give an exact time.

Wang Boyuan comforted Meng Qi for a while before stopping his tears. Then, holding Meng Qi's face in both hands, he said, "Looking at you from this height, you're even more handsome."

That instantly made Meng Qi laugh.

Among Meng Qi, He Cong, and Wang Boyuan, Wang Boyuan was the shortest, just over 5'7". The other two, both over 6', were taller. So back then, when Wang Boyuan talked to Meng Qi and He Cong, he usually had to look up at them, his line of sight tilted upward. The first thing he'd see wasn't the window to the soul but the most prominent part of the face—the nose.

No matter how prominent, it was still a nose. What was there to look at?

Qi Yun's body was different; it was also over 6'. So now, Wang Boyuan didn't need to look up at Meng Qi. Their lines of sight were almost level. This perspective of looking at Meng Qi was indeed a novel experience for Wang Boyuan. Of course, he might also have been deliberately trying to make Meng Qi laugh.

Laughing, Meng Qi started staring intently at Wang Boyuan again. The more he looked, the more amazing it seemed. Before, he had only felt that Qi Yun resembled Wang Boyuan, but there were always differences, distinguishable at first glance. But now, looking at "Qi Yun's" face, except for the black mole on his earlobe that was still missing, it was truly Wang Boyuan in every way.

Meng Qi was about to call out "Brother Boyuan" again to confirm he was real and not hallucinating, when Yang Yiming, who had returned from parking the car, reminded them, "You guys standing here, isn't the target too big? It's not easy for this small place to have four handsome men all at once."

"Thanks for the compliment. With you here, that makes five," Qu Liang said, smiling and patting Yang Yiming's arm. Then he turned to Meng Qi and said, "Save the heartfelt words for later. The five of us really do stand out too much. With this much charm and style, we might end up on the gossip headlines."

Meng Qi pursed his lips and looked at Wang Boyuan. His confidence suddenly surged! With a loved one by his side, it wouldn't be so easy for others to try and destroy him anymore.

But to avoid dragging Wang Boyuan into trouble, he followed Qu Liang's advice and headed back to school first. They could take things slowly from there. Wang Boyuan was here, after all. There would be plenty of time ahead.