Chapter 73: Bro, Do I Look Like You?

Chapter 73: Bro, Do I Look Like You?

In the morning, Chen Xitong opened the door and saw that dark figure still sitting at the emergency stairwell landing. He went downstairs to throw out the trash, and the bodyguard stood to check who he was, then sat back down once he recognized him.

When Chen Xitong returned from throwing out the trash, the bodyguard was still sitting there.

Zhao Yu was making breakfast. Chen Xitong pulled open the kitchen door and said, "Bro, the bodyguard Mr. Gu left behind is still there. Aren't you going to do anything about him?"

"Leave him alone." Zhao Yu carried the breakfast out and said, "Whatever Gu Hansheng wants to do, nobody can stop him. Just let him do it."

This time, he'd made breakfast for Chen Xitong as well. After setting it down, he grabbed a couple of napkins, wiped his hands, and pulled out a chair.

Chen Xitong looked at the noodles on the table—his bowl was the one without cilantro. After all these years, Zhao Yu still remembered that he didn't particularly like cilantro.

He picked up a clump of noodles with his chopsticks. The round noodles were chewy, slicked with a bit of sesame oil, in a savory broth with a hint of white pepper.

Chen Xitong was surprised at how good Zhao Yu's noodles were—and maybe because Zhao Yu had made them, they tasted somehow different.

If Zhao Yu hadn't been taken away back then, they'd be closer than they were now. Chen Xitong stirred the noodles with his chopsticks, his feelings all tangled up.

After breakfast, Chen Xitong volunteered to wash the dishes, and Zhao Yu sat on the couch, reading the anatomy book Zhuang Shubai had given him. The book was full of color illustrations of human anatomy, clear enough for even a layman to understand at a glance.

"Bro, why are you reading medical books?" Chen Xitong came out after doing the dishes and leaned over the back of the couch, watching Zhao Yu's fingers turn the pages. His fingertip happened to land on an organ diagram.

"Just killing time." Zhao Yu turned a page.

"You're not working today?" Chen Xitong added, "Didn't Mr. Gu say Zhao Lianfeng wouldn't be bothering you for a while?"

"I'm in no rush."

Chen Xitong was a little surprised. The day Zhao Yu came home, he'd clearly been in a hurry, but today he wasn't at all.

"What exactly did you two talk about when you met Zhao Lianfeng?"

"Nothing much."

Chen Xitong tilted his head to look at his face. His expression was as calm as a machine's—completely unreadable.

"Bro, is there anything I can do to help?"

Hearing this, Zhao Yu thought for a moment, his dark eyes meeting Chen Xitong's: "Yes. I need you to pretend to be me and lure that bodyguard away."

Chen Xitong felt a sudden, inexplicable unease under his stare. He hesitated, then asked, "What are you going to do?"

Zhao Yu rubbed the page with his fingers: "He'll definitely report my whereabouts to Gu Hansheng, but I've got my own things to deal with sometimes. Can you help?"

Chen Xitong nodded: "Okay."

In the afternoon, Zhao Yu went out, and sure enough, the bodyguard followed him. Even on his motorcycle, he couldn't lose him.

He waited outside Yatai for a while but never ran into Zhao Lianfeng.

Just as Gu Hansheng had said, Zhao Lianfeng had gone quiet once he got his money.

Zhao Yu stood in the shade of a tree, looking at the entrance of Yatai. The summer wind made him even more restless. He took off his helmet, lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face, but his mood didn't improve.

Money wouldn't keep Zhao Lianfeng quiet for long. After meeting him once, Zhao Yu was certain Zhao Lianfeng wouldn't stop until he'd completely ruined his life.

His phone suddenly rang. It was Zhuang Shubai.

"Dr. Zhuang, what's up?" Zhao Yu answered.

"Have you sorted things out with your father?" Zhuang Shubai's voice came through.

"There's nothing between us. Don't worry about it."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end before he slowly responded: "Okay. If you need a bodyguard, feel free to contact me."

Zhao Yu glanced back at the bodyguard who'd been following him the whole way: "Thanks, but I don't need one right now."

He hated being tailed, having every move watched. But Gu Hansheng clearly didn't care what he thought. That man was like that—he'd never changed.

On the other end, Zhuang Shubai hung up and set the file down on the desk, his expression complicated.

This file contained a lot of information about Zhao Yu, including the fact that he'd reported his father, leading to his imprisonment. Zhao Lianfeng had been charged with robbery, theft, and intentional injury—a string of crimes that painted him as a vicious, desperate man.

Zhuang Peiying rested her chin on her hand and said, "He doesn't want a bodyguard? His dad doesn't seem like a good guy."

Zhuang Shubai asked, "Why did you investigate him?"

"Doesn't he have claustrophobia? To understand the root of his condition, you have to understand the person. So I did a little digging on him for you."

"Stop investigating him. Yingying, as a doctor, don't you know the most basic thing about respecting privacy?"

Seeing that Zhuang Shubai wasn't smiling, Zhuang Peiying knew she was in trouble. Zhuang Shubai was indeed a kind person, but when he stopped smiling, he was genuinely angry.

Zhuang Peiying sat up straight and gave an awkward laugh: "Got it, got it. I won't do anything on my own again. Should I go destroy the file?"

"Forget it." Zhuang Shubai sighed. If he hadn't known anything, he would have patiently talked with Zhao Yu until he opened up. But now that he knew everything, how could he pretend nothing had happened?

Zhuang Peiying asked again, "So what about the bodyguard?"

Zhuang Shubai pondered for a moment, his eyes gazing at the gently swaying leaves outside the window. Zhao Yu had repeatedly made it clear he didn't want him interfering. He probably shouldn't interfere, yet he still couldn't stop worrying.

"Have the bodyguard follow Zhao Lianfeng instead. Make sure he doesn't get spotted."

"What?! Why would we follow that old man?" Zhuang Peiying grew anxious. "Aren't you trying to win Zhao Yu over? You could at least show your face around him!"

Zhuang Shubai poked her forehead with his finger: "He doesn't like people interfering in his life. You just said you understood—what exactly did you understand?"

Zhuang Peiying still felt it was a waste and couldn't help asking, "Do you really have to be this selfless? What if your efforts never pay off?"

Zhuang Shubai stared out the window for a moment: "Even if I do everything I can to save every patient, not every case ends well. How could effort always pay off?"

"You're so philosophical. Have you really made peace with it all?"

Zhuang Shubai was silent for a long while, his gaze brightening and dimming as clouds passed over the sun.

He wasn't as selfless as he claimed. He liked Zhao Yu, but he always held back his feelings, like the kiss he could have given but never did.

It wasn't that he didn't want to cross the line, but every time he wanted to throw caution to the wind, he thought of the wounds Zhao Yu had suffered. And he didn't want to hurt Zhao Yu any more than he already had been.

Whether or not things would turn out well, Zhuang Shubai still couldn't help wanting to do something.

As for whether his feelings would be reciprocated, he didn't want to tally up gains and losses, turning his feelings into a business deal.

...

To pass as Zhao Yu, Chen Xitong also had to cut his hair. Zhao Yu had bought a set of hair clippers for this purpose.

When Chen Xitong heard the snip-snip of the scissors, he quickly shielded his head and asked cautiously, "Bro, can you actually give me a decent haircut?"

He sat in the chair while Zhao Yu stood behind him, the silver scissors in his hand glinting, ready to go.

"Don't worry, I won't mess up." Zhao Yu smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, I've trimmed corn silk before, and I made it look like art."

"Corn silk?!" Chen Xitong hugged his head, desperately clutching his smooth, black hair, and said nervously, "That doesn't seem like a good idea, does it?"

"It's fine, just let go." Zhao Yu pretended to cut.

"No, no, it's not fine!"

Chen Xitong jumped up and ran, but Zhao Yu grabbed him by the collar, and the two of them wrestled around. Eventually, Chen Xitong was cornered and had no choice but to wrap his arms around Zhao Yu's waist, begging, "What if you screw it up and it looks like a dog chewed on it? I still have to perform on stage; I won't have any face left to show!"

"Don't worry, I'll hook you up with my exact style." Zhao Yu laughed.

"But yours wasn't cut by you either!"

The scissors stayed raised in the air, and Chen Xitong looked up to see sunlight spilling across Zhao Yu's profile, his smile even brighter than the sunlight.

It was like being back in childhood, his brother still so cheerful, never having changed.

The doorbell rang, and Zhao Yu put down the scissors to answer it. It wasn't until a barber walked in that Chen Xitong snapped out of it.

"Just messing with you, I booked a barber." Zhao Yu pushed him into the chair and gestured for the barber to trim his hair short.

The barber followed Zhao Yu's instructions, slowly trimming Chen Xitong's hair until their hairstyles were almost exactly the same.

Zhao Yu's reflection appeared in the mirror, but Chen Xitong paid no attention to his own haircut, his eyes glued to Zhao Yu as he messed with a chef bear figurine.

"Bro, who gave you that figurine?"

"Dr. Zhuang." Zhao Yu placed the bear on top of the fridge and carefully adjusted its angle so the bear's face faced the living room.

"Is he into you?" Chen Xitong asked.

"Yeah."

"And you agreed?"

Zhao Yu didn't reply, just fixed the bear's chef hat and gave its cute face a little pat.

Chen Xitong watched his back and felt a twinge of jealousy.

Since childhood, people had always gathered around Zhao Yu, a bunch of friends who adored him and never left his side. Sometimes Zhao Yu would bring friends home, but Chen Xitong hated it. Their space got invaded by outsiders, and their time practicing piano together was taken up by them.

He found those people annoying, and now he found Zhuang Shubai just as annoying.

After the haircut, Chen Xitong looked almost identical to Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu's hair had grown out a bit, so he didn't need his cut as short.

Once the barber left, Zhao Yu plucked a stray hair from the back of Chen Xitong's neck, but suddenly Chen Xitong grabbed his hand.

"Bro, do I look like you yet?" Chen Xitong looked up at him.

"No," Zhao Yu said. "It's just a haircut. You're still you."

Zhao Yu hated when people compared him to others, so he wouldn't hurt Chen Xitong the same way. They were twins, but they had their own personalities and shouldn't be compared.

Yet Chen Xitong was silent for a moment before speaking. "After you went abroad, I kept trying to become like you. It seemed like only by being like you could I be liked. So I've been living my life imitating you. It felt great being the center of attention, but what they liked wasn't the real me—it was you. When you came back, I was terrified. I got everything I have by copying you, so what if you came back and took it all? I was so scared that I said hurtful things to drive you off. Bro, I'm sorry."

Zhao Yu looked down at him. "Didn't I already forgive you? Why do you keep apologizing?"

Chen Xitong tightened his grip on Zhao Yu's hand, his lips parting as if to say that he was the one who had brought Zhao Lianfeng back, but the words wouldn't come out.

No matter how many times he said sorry, it never felt like enough. He was drowning in regret, but it was too late to undo anything.