A cold breeze blew in from the end of the alley.
“You… you wait a minute,” Zhao Haonan, afraid that Ye Ning might shed two more tears, frantically fumbled in his pocket for his phone. “At this time, Huai-ge should have already returned to Yuanjiang. You… you can see him.”
Hurry and steady your hands! Stop shaking!
Raindrops splattered against the phone screen with a crackling sound, but Zhao Haonan didn’t have time to worry about it. He wiped the screen while trying to unlock the phone, yet no matter how much he wiped, the water stains wouldn’t clear. He ended up entering the six-digit lock screen password incorrectly twice in a row.
Damn it!
Zhao Haonan cursed under his breath and couldn’t help but look up at Ye Ning.
… What kind of expression is that?
Oh no… Don’t tell me you’re going to cry again?
Zhao Haonan’s stiff expression was so obvious that both parties almost subconsciously followed his movements and turned to look at Ye Ning.
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
“Nan-ge, hurry up!”
“Under the rain, the phone’s touch screen isn’t responding well… Um, Young Master Ye, please don’t worry.”
Currently, even the group of thugs behind Ye Ning couldn’t help but speak up.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.”
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
As soon as Ye Ning heard Zhao Haonan’s words, ‘I’ll call Huai-ge,’ all his thoughts were dragged into the mud, unable to function. He couldn’t even process the sounds around him until the noise surrounding him instantly grew louder—
“Alright, alright, it’s unlocked!”
“Call quickly!”
Wait, don’t!
Ye Ning suddenly came back to his senses.
Zhao Haonan even forgot to look through the contacts and directly open the dial pad, swiftly typing down a string of numbers.
He struggled to enter the six-digit lock screen password correctly after three tries, but for the eleven-digit phone number, it was strangely fast, accurate, and smooth.
As the final digit ‘9’ was pressed, the phone retrieved the number’s details and automatically displayed a contact.
Ya Ning lowered his head, and the sight of the name ‘Huai-ge’ immediately shocked him.
Ye Ning: “……”
Zhao Haonan’s fingers flew across the screen, just as he was about to dial the number, a pair of hands, pale to the point of being almost blinding, appeared in his line of sight.
Ye Ning pressed down on Zhao Haonan’s hand that was about to dial. “Don’t call.”
The surroundings fell silent once again.
Ye Ning’s hand was very cold, perhaps soaked in the rain for a long time, without any warmth, like a piece of inorganic white jade. Zhao Haonan could clearly feel the trembling on the back of his hand.
… His hand was shaking, shaking violently.
The young master, raised by the head of the Ye Family with utmost care, like a precious gem, was now trembling so much just because of dealing Huai-ge’s number!
Ye Ning’s heart pounded fiercely, unable to stop the overwhelming sense of dizziness.
Only a second away.
Just one second, and the call would have been made.
Fortunately, fortunately, it was stopped in time.
Zhao Haonan couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy when he looked at Ye Ning, who was heartbroken by love. “Didn’t you just want to see Huai-ge?”
Ye Ning: “.”
No.
He, not, even, a single, bit, wanted to.
With so many gazes on him, both in front and behind, Ye Ning almost couldn’t keep up the act several times.
In that moment, the word ‘regret’ came to his mind.
What ‘love turning into hate’? It would have been better to just be straightforward—throw away the steel bar, turn around, and leave, or even just hit his own leg. Anything would be better than the current situation.
But there’s no such thing as ‘If only one had known’ in this world.
Thinking positively, maybe tomorrow he might be dead.
Ye Ning, who was comforted, sorted out his thoughts and withdrew his hand.
“With me like this,” he lowered his head, really unable to think of any reason, and could only speak randomly. “How could I face him?”
However, when those words fell on the ears of the crowd, plus with Ye Ning’s dazed and distraught expression, they clearly took on a different meaning.
Damn it, this thing called love actually makes a person so humble!
Even someone like Young Master Ye…
“Young Master Ye, don’t… think too much. You don’t look pathetic at all right now.”
“Yes.”
“Even when soaking in water, you still looks good.”
“Uh… yes, yes.”
Ye Ning: “……”
This is insane!
Ye Ning could no longer bear to listen and took a step back. When he spoke again, his voice carried an undeniable exhaustion. “All of you, just leave. I want to be alone for a while.”
The earlier part was just an act.
But currently, he was extremely exhausted.
Ye Ning even started to doubt if what he was listening to was a pirated version. Why did the plot seem so completely unrelated to what was supposed to happen?
Zhao Haonan, using the dim light of the sky, looked at Ye Ning. After hesitating for a long while, he waved his hand and said, “Alright, let’s call it for a day…”
Done speaking, Zhao Haonan led Luo Guang and the others towards the end of the alley. Seeing this, the group of thugs behind Ye Ning histiated for a moment, then also chose to leave.
Therefore, one group walked towards the front of the alley, and the other towards the back, but both walked unusually slowly and frequently turning their heads to look at the person in the middle of the alley.
Luo Guang, who was beside Zhao Haonan, scratched his head anxiously and asked, “Haonan-ge, are we going to leave just like that?”
“Otherwise, what?” Zhao Haonan said.
“But I just feel leaving like this doesn’t seem right.”
“What else can we do? Look back and see who that person is—Ye Ning! He has everything, yet did you hear what he said? He said he envies us, envies that we can follow Huai-ge.”
The more Zhao Haonan thought about it, the more bitter he felt. “He didn’t even envy those who are closer to him—he only envied us. He just wanted to be by Huai-ge’s side!”
“And in front of so many people, he exposed his own scars. Tell me, if it were you, would you be willing to let others see?”
“Ge, what you said makes a lot of sense, but this should be called ‘revealing’ not ‘exposing’.”
Zhao Haonan was about to speak, when suddenly, a sound of footsteps came from behind.
Luo Guang was the first to react. He quickly turned around, saw who was coming, and immediately pushed Zhao Haonan beside him. “N-Nan-ge, the scar[mfn]T/N: In this context, the ‘scar’ is likely a playful or teasing nickname for a person. Luo Guang is using that nickname on Ye Ning.[/mfn] is here; uh, the little young master is here.”
Luo Guang’s voice was muffled by the curtain of rain, and Ye Ning couldn’t hear clearly. He called out, “Zhao Haonan.”
A group of people turned around.
Ye Ning: “About what happened today…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Haonan interrupted him, “I know. I’ll explain everything to Huai-ge. I won’t let him… misunderstand you.”
Ye Ning felt a lump in his throat. “…”
It’s not even over yet?
“Don’t explain, and don’t tell him about… me.” Ye Ning paused strangely, unable to bring himself to say the words, I like him.
Zhao Haonan looked at Ye Ning. “Are you sure? Huai-ge is very…well-informed.”
Although Huai-ge currently doesn’t have much influence in Yunjiang, the Lu Family’s connections in Jianjing was far beyond just Jianjing.
Zhao Haonan couldn’t bring himself to say those words. After pondering for a moment, he continued, “Even though Huai-ge didn’t come today, he’ll find out about the fight sooner or later. When that happens, it might…”
It might be your fault, Zhao Hoanan thought in his heart.
Ye Ning didn’t say anything.
Zhao Haonan and the others’ attitudes completely exceeded Ye Ning’s expectations. His intuition told him that this matter absolutely couldn’t be known to Lu Sihuai.
“Don’t tell him,” Ye Ning repeated.
After a long while, Zhao Haonan gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, we won’t tell.”
Ye Ning: “Thank you.”
Zhao Haonan, “…You’re welcome.”
Ye Ning turned around and started walking back.
Luo Guang covered his mouth and said, “The little young master really loves Huai-ge! He would rather take the blame for the fight than let Huai-ge find out.”
“But Huai-ge…sigh.”
“He’s already crying! If we really consider it from all angles, isn’t Huai-ge also at fault in this?”
“As soon as I see Young Master Ye, I know this isn’t his fault!
“Alright, stop talking.” Zhao Haonan glanced back, paused for a moment, then said, “Let’s go.”
The sound of footsteps gradually faded, and the alley returned to its calmness.
Ye Ning walked to the corner under the eaves where he could barely avoid the rain, stopped, crouched down, then covered his head with his hands.
Heaven.
What has he done?
Ye Ning’s mind was so chaotic that it felt like it was about to explode. He couldn’t even dare to replay in his head what he had done earlier.
He squatted there, holding his head for a good while, repeatedly trying to calm himself down mentally before he finally gathered his poise.
Ye Ning made up his mind not to stay in this world.
He needs to find a way to go back.
And it had to be as soon as possible.
Ye Ning collected his thoughts and finally lifted his head to check his body.
Using the puddle as a mirror, he could clearly see his own face.
…Exactly the same.
Clothes, hair, eyes—everything was the same.
Ye Ning almost instinctively raised his hand, urgently reaching for his ears.
The cold touch reminded him that the earring was still there, and the ‘reunion mole’ on his ear was still present.
It was his own body, yet Ye Ning couldn’t find the happiness about this.
He pulled a phone out of his pocket. The phone seemed to be his, with the same password, but everything inside was completely unfamiliar.
Ye Ning fell silent and opened a search app, typing ‘An City’ —the world he came from.
It displayed that the area couldn’t be found.
It was hard to say whether it was disappointment or the helplessness of having his doubts confirmed.
Ye Ning casually opened the contact list on his phone. There were only a few contacts, and after scrolling down a couple of times, he reached the end. Most of them were assistants, drivers—just like a work-related list.
Until he scrolled to the very bottom and saw a word—Grandpa.
Ye Ning’s heart jolted.
It took Ye Ning a moment to realize there was no trace of any messages from his parents on the phone. The only contact related to family was his grandpa.
Even the situation was the same as his
Ye Ning took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and tapped on the number marked ‘Grandpa’.
It was completely different from the number he remembered in his memories—an unfamiliar set of digits.
A wave of weakness surged over him.
This was clearly an entirely strange city.
Ye Ning put down his phone, leaned against the wall, and gazed at the dull sky. He thought, with a rueful sense of humor, that it was a good thing his grandpa had already passed away; otherwise, who knows how worried the other party would be about him disappearing like this.
It had been a long time since Ye Ning thought of his grandpa, and he was even a bit dazed. Yet, his hand automatically reached for the earring in his left ear once again.
He only had one ear pierced, so he wore one earring.
It’s actually quite funny; the piercing was done in a rather careless way.
The cause was a red mole that appeared on the tip of his ear all of a sudden.
He didn’t know when it appeared, and he hadn’t noticed it himself. It seemed to be about six months after his grandpa passed away.
He grew a mole but didn’t pay much attention to it until later, when he attended a banquet as a representative of the Ye Family and met the young master of a certain conglomerate.
Ye Ning still remembered that person’s appearance—a round face with soft and smooth features, the kind of look elders would consider blessed with good fortunes. After he finished his speech, that person suddenly walked over, stared intently at the red mole on his ear, and asked seriously, “This mole is beautiful. Were you born with it?”
Ye Ning: “No.”
“I knew it looked like a developed later; I wasn’t mistaken!” He paused for a moment and continued, “Moles that appear later in life often have special meanings. This placement… let me take a look for you.”
As he spoke, he unexpectedly pulled out a thick, palm-size, dark blue antique book, about 3 centimeters thick, from the breaste pocket of his suit. With extreme focus, he fiddled with it for a few moments before continuing, “This mole of yours corresponds to the 37th hexagram of the Book of Changes, formed by the combination of the Li and Xun trigrams, Li below, Xun above—also known as the ‘Family Hexagram’.”
“Li represents fire, and Xun represents wind, which is like smoke rising from fire. It symbolizes the presence of a family, implying that there will be a reunion of family members.”
“That’s a good omen, a good omen! Do you have family members who are far away? You should be meeting them soon. Congratulations!”
The moment he finished his speaking, the entire banquet hall fell into a deep, prolonged silence. The president of the Chamber of Commerce, who was about to go on stage to deliver a speech, tripped on the stairs and stumbled. Not far away, the sound of three wine glasses smashing the floor echoed one after another.
The entire An City knew that Old Master Ye passed away six months ago, and the members of the Chamber of Commerce almost never mentioned it in front of Ye Ning. But now, it was brought up.
Family renuion? What’s the difference between that and ‘may the Bodhisavatta bless you to die quickly’? And to even come straight up to Ye Ning—this damn child!
So, not long after, this damn child’s father, a man in his fifties, actually grabbed a one-meter-long sword from the sculpture model at the entrance of the banquet hall and swung it toward his son’s head.
In the end, it was Ye Ning who stopped his father.
The next day, Ye Ning called the family doctor and got his ear pierced, right at the spot where the ‘reunion mole’ was.
Then, the family doctor, who was currently acting as a Dermatological specialist, ended up…piercing it crookedly.
The reunion mole didn’t disappear; instead, it had an additional ear piercing.
Ye Ning touched the reunion mole and smiled faintly.
He didn’t know why, but such a convoluted hxagram interpretation had made him memorize every word without missing a single one.
Perhaps it was due to the words ‘Family Hexagram’ sounded beautiful, he thought.
By the time Ye Ning came to his senses again, the rain in the alley had lessened, and even the sky had brightened slightly.
Feeling fatigued from standing, Ye Ning simply sat down on a stone bench in the corner.
The stone bench had been washed clean by the rain.
When Zhao Haonan and the others, feeling uneasy, turned back, what they saw was Ye Ning sitting on the stone bench in the corner all alone, heartbroken and cosumed by a hopeless love.
“Why is he still sitting here?”
“He can’t catch a cold from the rain.”
Luo Guang scratched his head and asked, “Nan-ge, what should we do?”
Zhao Haonan: “We can’t tell Haui-ge. Let me think of a way.”
He thought for a moment and then said, “Leave one person here to keep an eye on him and ensure his safety. Don’t get too close; don’t get noticed. The rest of you go back first.”
The group had no choice but to leave the way they came. The alley wasn’t large, but it twisted and turned with so many branching paths, as if it had no end.
As they passed the corner, Zhao Haonan suddenly stopped, sniffing the air.
The people around him were completely bewildered.
“Nan-ge, what are you doing?”
“Didn’t you all smell it?”
“Smell what?”
“Tabacco scent, the kind Huai-ge usually uses.” Zhao Haonan said, then sniffed again. “And a hint of sandalwood.”
“Just like the sandalwood from temples.”
Luo Guang: “You’ve got a dog’s nose.”
Zhao Haonan turned his head to look at him and suddenly remembered something. “Didn’t Huai-ge go to Fayuan Temple to visit his uncle today?”
“Yes, he did go to Fayuan Temple, but there’s no sandalwood scent in this crappy alley.”
“Really not?”
“Really none. Let’s go; the rain will get heavy again soon.”
Zhao Haonan scratched his head, being pushed by Luo Guang as they were led out of the alley.
