Lin Yue was bombarded with such a flood of pitiful complaints that, for a moment, he did not know what to say. By rights, he ought to comfort him. After a brief hesitation, he said quietly, “But I’m alright now, aren’t I?”
Gu Yun gave a muffled hum of agreement.
Lin Yue asked again, “When did we start having feelings for each other? And why?”
“Two years ago, I went to the temple with my mother to offer incense. I went out alone for some air and ran into you, who had likewise gone to the temple with your aunt and slipped out alone for some air. We didn’t know each other’s identities and fell in love at first sight. As for the rest, I’ll tell you slowly in future.”
In truth, Gu Yun had not yet fully thought through his fabrication and feared that if he continued, he would expose flaws in his story.
To keep Lin Yue from growing suspicious, he took hold of the other man’s hand, interlocking their fingers, and said softly, “Husband, don’t trouble yourself over the memory loss. Perhaps it won’t be long before your memories return. And even if they never do, it doesn’t matter. I’ll stay with you always.”
That soft, warm hand pressed lightly against his own, far too close, far too intimate.
Lin Yue paused for a moment, yet did not shake him off. Without betraying anything, he replied, “Alright.”
The sorrow faded from Gu Yun’s face and he smiled at him.
Lin Yue avoided his gaze. “After we eloped, did we marry?”
Gu Yun had not anticipated this question, nor had he prepared a fitting answer. Yet after a brief moment of thought, he immediately understood what answer would benefit him most.
“No. We were fleeing, there was no heart for a wedding. But we already shared intimacy.”
After saying this, he cautiously added, “You’re my husband and I’m your wife. You said that even if we weren’t married yet, as long as we were together properly, we were no different from a real married couple. You also said that once we reached the prefectural city and took on new identities, you would definitely marry me properly and hold a grand wedding for me.”
Lin Yue: …
Was that truly the sort of person he used to be?
Daring to touch someone before marriage?
What if she became pregnant? Becoming pregnant while eloping was no small matter. If anything went wrong midway, lives could be lost.
Furthermore, before settling down securely, they might not even be able to afford to raise a child. And if a woman was not cared for properly after childbirth, it could leave lifelong ailments behind.
Still, considering that he had already dared to elope with someone, such behaviour was not entirely unbelievable.
He and Gu Yun had developed feelings for one another two years ago. If he had truly cared, he should have spent those two years trying to ease the hatred between their families.
Gu Yun had not mentioned any such thing. Which meant he had done nothing.
At the very least, he ought to have prepared a way out and quietly acquired some private assets. Had he done so, they would not be in such a miserable state now. Judging by Gu Yun’s bearing, appearance, and manner, as well as his own, neither family should have been poor.
Although Lin Yue could not remember what had happened to him, he assumed his own circumstances had been only slightly better than Gu Yun’s. Otherwise, he would not now be unable to produce even a single copper coin.
Lowering his eyes, Lin Yue let countless thoughts run through his mind.
He said to Gu Yun, “Anything I once said to you still stands. You needn’t worry.”
Gu Yun had been watching his every reaction. Before he even had time to show any delight, Lin Yue suddenly tugged on their clasped hands and pulled him into his embrace, saying with deep feeling, “A-Yun.”
Gu Yun: “……”
In all his seventeen years of life, only his mother and his idiot friend had ever called him that. And after his friend had called him that, Gu Yun had beaten him up so thoroughly that the man ended up calling him Dad instead.
Gu Yun had weathered enough storms by now that his composure had improved greatly. He forcibly steadied himself.
With equal emotion, he replied, “Husband.” Then, steeling himself, he leaned over and kissed the other man lightly on the ear.
Cold and cool. He felt nothing at all.
Lin Yue thought to himself: it seemed the other party had not lied to him.
The person Gu Yun described was rather different from the version of himself he instinctively imagined. Too foolish. Surely one could not lose one’s memory and somehow become cleverer instead. Combined with Gu Yun’s speech problems…
Now that he had lost all memory and knew nothing, he naturally had to be more cautious. After this round of probing, the other party’s reactions appeared normal enough. He could tentatively be trusted.
But not entirely trusted. A living person always had something worth scheming over.
For now, he would temporarily believe him. If anything proved amiss later…
As though nothing were unusual, Lin Yue rested a hand against his little wife’s waist. Taking advantage of the embrace, he discreetly gauged the other person’s size, firmness, and strength, confirming that Gu Yun was no match for him physically.
The moment he considered how he might subdue him, fragments of common knowledge naturally surfaced in his mind. Unfortunately, memories of the past still remained absent.
Still, if more such knowledge emerged in future, perhaps he could eventually infer his own identity from it. After all, no one could regard something they had never previously encountered as common sense.
Unaware of all the calculations running through his mind, Gu Yun was silently counting the seconds in agony.
After ten counts, Lin Yue asked, “Your hair?”
Gu Yun understood immediately. Releasing one hand, he touched the hair that now hung just below his neck.
“I ran into some bad people on the road. They wanted to keep me as a wife. I refused and tried to escape, but they grabbed my hair and dragged me back. Later, with the help of a kind person, I managed to escape. After that, I thought long hair was… troublesome, so I paid someone to cut it like this. Is it ugly?”
“You’re overthinking,” Lin Yue replied, releasing him. “It’s late. If you’re sleepy, then sleep.”
Gu Yun hesitated briefly, then curled himself into a corner and shut his eyes. The other man clearly had no intention of sleeping. If he stayed awake too, what if Lin Yue suddenly felt inspired to continue questioning him?
He truly did not want to deal with any more of it. Even if he had to fake it, he was going to pretend to sleep.
Besides, if Lin Yue eventually wanted to sleep, such a large space had deliberately been left for him.
Gu Yun pretended to sleep while his thoughts drifted back to their earlier conversation.
Recover his memory before long?
All gods and immortals above, please, please let him recover his memories only after I’ve secured a way to survive in this world.
And if none of you grant this tiny wish, I’ll spread slander about every last one of you. If you can’t even manage something so small, what use are you? But if you do grant it, I’ll absolutely offer heaps and heaps of incense in future.
Gu Yun had now successfully devolved from a repeatedly wavering atheist into a polytheist.
After thinking through all sorts of nonsense, he eventually fell asleep. Beside him, Lin Yue removed his outer robe and draped it over him.
It was autumn, and once night fell, the temperature dropped. A slight chill spread through the surroundings.
Having done this, Lin Yue sat cross-legged upon the straw mat. Accompanied by the expansive chorus of insects, birds, and barking dogs echoing through the countryside after the harvest season, he silently contemplated the future.
…
When Gu Yun opened his eyes again, what greeted him was a slightly worn modern security door.
Startled, an unbelievable thought rose in his mind. He hurriedly unlocked the smart lock with facial recognition and shoved open the door.
A house unfolded before him bit by bit: living room, dining room, master bedroom, spare bedroom, study, kitchen, balcony, bathroom.
Without even changing his shoes, Gu Yun trampled dirty footprints across the clean floor as he rushed straight into the kitchen.
“Mum! Dad! Brother!”
“What are you yelling for?” came a leisurely scolding voice the moment he entered.
Grabbing the doorframe, Gu Yun looked towards the source of the voice. “Grand-uncle! Why are you here? Where are Dad and Brother?”
He glanced at the other person in the kitchen. It was his mother, Qiong Shu, currently adjusting the oven temperature to bake cakes.
Qiong Jianhua said, “What, I’m not allowed to come?”
“That’s not it. Didn’t you say recently that you were busy taking care of your new pumpkin seedlings? Those precious babies of yours.”
Qiong Jianhua replied, “Studied yourself silly, have you? That was ages ago. The pumpkins are already growing. Look, your mum’s mixed the batter and put it in the oven. Six cakes altogether, one each. The extra two are coming home with me for Bai Xue and Mei Tan as a reward for not destroying the pumpkin vines.”
Gu Yun leaned in and sniffed eagerly, catching the sweet scent of pumpkin cake.
How wonderful.
“What are you, a puppy? Sniffing around? Change your shoes! And those clothes too. What on earth are you wearing? Did you go work as an extra on some film set and pick rubbish for a living? You look ridiculous.” Qiong Shu smacked him squarely on the back of the neck.
Gu Yun hissed.
“Move it, Puppy Gu,” Qiong Shu said with a grin.
“Where are Dad and Brother?”
“It’s not even four forty yet.”
Gu Yun rubbed at his sore eyes happily, changed his clothes and shoes, then checked the clock. Half past five. Dad and Brother should be home by now.
He immediately dashed to the front door.
Sure enough, the sound of the lock opening rang out.
He yanked the door open. “Dad! Broth—”
Before he could finish, his face dropped. He slammed the door shut with a bang.
Standing outside was the prison guard captain who had identified him as a White Python Army soldier and repeatedly tortured him under the orders of the Yanlin County magistrate. Behind him stood a fat-bellied, big-eared man in official robes: the Yanlin County magistrate himself.
At a single command from the magistrate, the guard captain moved to seize him, saying he was coming with them.
Gu Yun shouted, “I’m not going with you! This isn’t Great Xuan, this is China! This is illegal trespassing! I’m calling the police! Mum! Grand-uncle! Call the police!!!”
Someone grabbed him from behind. “You don’t get a choice!”
Gu Yun spun around to see the guard captain behind him, grinning hideously.
Startled at first, Gu Yun quickly became consumed by rage. Snatching up his father’s treasured bottle of collector’s red wine from the display cabinet, he smashed it straight at the man’s head.
“I’m fighting you to the death, you old bastard!”
Just as the fight reached its height, Gu Yun suddenly felt a current jolt through his body, realising something was wrong.
The next moment, dazzling sunlight burst before his eyes, flooding his vision with white.
He jerked awake at once, finally realising that returning home had merely been a beautiful dream.
An immense sense of loss washed over him. Cool liquid slipped from the corner of his eye into his hairline. Raising a hand to touch it, he discovered it was tears.
He wiped them away carelessly and sat up.
The straw mat crackled beneath him. Alongside it lay a thin garment. Picking it up, he realised it was Lin Yue’s outer robe.
Lin Yue?
Not seeing him anywhere, panic instantly seized him.
Where had he gone? Had he decided Gu Yun was a burden and slipped away during the night?
Clutching the robe, Gu Yun scrambled to his feet and rushed off to search for him.
Not far away, he spotted a figure with rolled-up sleeves carrying an armful of wet weeds and reeds towards a sunlit patch of hillside.
Gu Yun hurried after him, but after only a few steps, pain throbbed faintly through his knee, forcing him to slow down. At the same time, confusion rose within him.
Would his leg ever truly recover? Would it only worsen? And if it worsened, would he still be able to survive? If not, then did anything he was doing now even matter?
A chill rose from the soles of his feet, spreading upward until his whole body turned cold. Even the brilliant sunshine offered no warmth.
His pace slowed further and further.
Meanwhile, the figure walked towards him instead, calling him by his pet name. “A-Yun.”
Gu Yun snapped awake as though dragged back into the human world, the coldness vanishing in an instant.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Yue looked him over from head to toe.
Gu Yun smiled brightly. “Why are you doing all this? I can handle these little things myself.”
He no longer thought too much about the future. He only looked carefully at the road beneath his feet and continued walking towards his goal.
