CH 9

Ling Yunfan, “Um… Can you put me down?”

Ji Canghai, “Why?”

“Because about four million years ago, human ancestors learned to walk upright to adapt to the dry grassland environment. So, my legs which evolved over millions of years, are not useless.”

Ling Yunfan, “It’s too awkward…”

Ji Canghai smiled, “But I used to carry you like this all the time, and you never felt awkward.”

Ling Yunfan, “…Put me down!”

Fart!

Ji Canghai, “Put you down?”

Ling Yunfan, frustrated, “Put me down…”

Ji Canghai looked in a good mood, “No, I won’t put you down.”

Ling Yunfan, “…”

He clenched his fists tightly.

Ling Yunfan tried to reason, “…You should know that I have forgotten everything from the past, so you are a stranger to me now. I really feel awkward, so please put me down. I can walk by myself.”

Ji Canghai’s smile faded, and after a moment of silence, he still didn’t let go of Ling Yunfan. He tightened his arms and patted Ling Yunfan’s back, “Your knees are bleeding, why force yourself? Besides, we’re almost there.”

Ji Canghai wasn’t lying.

After the two of them took the elevator directly to the underground parking lot on the negative second floor of the hospital, they walked a few steps, Ji Canghai stopped in front of a car and was finally willing to put Ling Yunfan down.

Previously, when trying to leave while walking, Ling Yunfan didn’t feel any pain in his knees. After taking a break, he bent his knees again, but the sharp piercing pain from the injured knee hit his nerves. Ling Yunfan quickly reached out to steady himself on the car and pretended to be calm.

But speaking of which, Ji Canghai’s car that accidentally crashed into him was a sedan, not the SUV in front of them now.

Curiously, Ling Yunfan looked at the car logo and his pupils trembled.

Damn, just this car alone is enough to pay off all his debts.

Nowadays, he and Ji Canghai were like a phoenix in the clouds or a dragon horse in the water, while he himself was a shrimp in a roof gutter. [1]

“Get in the car.” Ji Canghai gentlemanly opened the passenger seat door and looked at Ling Yunfan.

Ling Yunfan stood in front of the car door, looking at the narrow and closed space inside the car, hesitating.

Reason told him that no matter what Ji Canghai’s purpose was, he should immediately come clean.

He was just pretending to have amnesia for the sake of his pitiful dignity, how long could he keep up the act?

One lie requires countless other lies to cover it up. He would eventually be exposed. What’s the difference between losing face then and losing face now? Why waste time here?

Ling Yunfan took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and turned his head to look at Ji Canghai calmly, “Actually, I…”

Suddenly, Ji Canghai interrupted Ling Yunfan, “Actually, we have been in a long-distance relationship for half a year.”

“Ah?” Ling Yunfan was stunned.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Ji Canghai held Ling Yunfan’s shoulder, pushed him to sit in the passenger seat, and quickly closed the car door.

Ling Yunfan, “No, wait…” Speaking the truth takes courage, and the courage he had just built up was gone like this!

Ji Canghai walked quickly to the left car door and only relaxed a bit after getting in the car. He leaned over to help Ling Yunfan fasten his seat belt and said, “Your name is Ling Yunfan, Ling for soaring, Yunfan for sailing with the clouds. We have been together for more than three years. Half a year ago, I had to go abroad because of the business group, so we started a long-distance relationship.”

“What?” Ling Yunfan was taken aback.

Ji Canghai kept his head down as he pressed the seat belt into the buckle. Ling Yunfan couldn’t see his expression, but only heard him say, “During these days of separation, I thought of you every day.”

“But a month ago,” Ji Canghai sat up straight and fastened his own seat belt, “you called me late at night and said you were in trouble. After that, there was no news from you. I couldn’t contact you no matter how hard I tried.”

Ji Canghai started the car and drove it smoothly out of the hospital parking, continuing, “I was anxious and worried, so I left everything behind and came back to the country, just wanting to find you as soon as possible. Then last night, you finally contacted me again, gave me a location, and asked me to pick you up. I immediately drove to the location, but because I wasn’t familiar with the area, I couldn’t find the place you mentioned, so I could only drive slowly while looking for it on the main road.”

“Who knew that you suddenly rushed out of a small alley, crashed into my car, and passed out. I quickly brought you, who were injured, to this hospital.”

After Ji Canghai finished speaking, he even asked Ling Yunfan, “Do you remember these things?”

Ling Yunfan was stunned, “…”

What the hell was this memory?!

How did Ji Canghai manage to say such true and false things with a straight face?!

If it weren’t for the firm materialism knocking on his head, he would have almost suspected that he had traveled through parallel time and space because of the car accident!

“I…I don’t remember…” Ling Yunfan stuttered and struggled to say anything.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ji Canghai said softly as if he was talking to himself, “I found you anyway.”

“Then…then you…” Ling Yunfan was too confused by the situation and stumbled over his words, finally managing to ask, “You rushed back from overseas for me, what about your company’s business, is it not important?”

After asking the question, Ling Yunfan felt a little crazy, why was he even following along with Ji Canghai’s made-up story and asking about it?

Ji Canghai listened and chuckled softly, saying, “It’s already taken care of, everything has been handed over.”

“That’s good,” Ling Yunfan replied.

“You can rest your eyes for a while, we’ll be home soon,” Ji Canghai said.

“…Hmm,” Ling Yunfan replied.

He suddenly felt curious about what kind of place Ji Canghai called home.

TL NOTE:

[1] “a phoenix in the clouds or a dragon horse in the water,” both of which are powerful and mythical creatures in Chinese culture. The metaphor implies that these two individuals are highly successful, influential, and respected.

On the other hand, the phrase “a shrimp in a roof gutter,” is a very small and insignificant creature. This metaphor suggests that the person is unimportant and lacks power or influence.