On the day of the gala, Gu Congjue was dragged into the fitting room for a full makeover the moment he finished lunch.
“Oh, this one looks great the ‘white noble’ look,” Xiang Yuyan said, picking through the outfits laid out by the stylist. “But black fits his vibe better. He walks around with a scowl all day and loves wearing black anyway. He looks like a little thick-headed bird.”
Sitting there bored out of his mind, Gu Congjue looked up. “A thick-headed bird?”
What on earth is a thick-headed bird, and why am I one?
“A raven. Huge head, massive body, pitch black all over,” Xiang Yuyan clicked his tongue. “Just like you, it belongs to the little chick family. You’re a spitting image.”
Gu Congjue was speechless. Does the raven know you’ve classified it under the chick family?
“Black it is, then! Pingyue and I are wearing black too. We can match as a family.”
Xiang Yuyan made the executive decision, grabbing the garment bag and stuffing the suit into his son’s arms. “This is the one. Go try it on. We still need to do your hair afterward, so hurry up!”
Both Gu Pingyue’s and Xiang Yuyan’s stylists looked on with indulgent, maternal smiles.
Utterly helpless, Gu Congjue took the clothes and headed into the changing room.
Gu Pingyue and Xiang Yuyan were massive stars. They had the talent, popularity, and household recognition to command respect from anyone in the industry, who would naturally address them as “seniors.” They had walked countless red carpets and attended endless fashion galas; they were seasoned pros who didn’t even need to prepare in advance.
Their teams were top-tier, handpicked industry elites. But because the celebrity couple’s career path was so incredibly smooth and stable, the crew rarely got a chance to flex their creative muscles. So, when they heard the young master was also attending the fashion gala tonight, both teams erupted with excitement.
No stage to show off our skills lately? Well, here’s our stage!
“The young master is so handsome!” Gu Pingyue’s stylist raved, taking Gu Congjue’s naturally neat, straight black hair and styling it into a trendy, idol-style parted look. “With the suit and the styling, he is the absolute spitting image of you two!”
“Right?” Xiang Yuyan watched from the side, stepping forward to fix his son’s collar. “It’s all thanks to Pingyue’s and my great genetics. Pingyue, come look! Doesn’t our boy look like a proper human being?”
Gu Pingyue evaluated the look and nodded approvingly. “Yes, he looks good looks like you.”
“Looks like you too,” Xiang Yuyan replied sweetly. “He’s a mini version of you!”
Gu Congjue remained silent throughout the exchange. He couldn’t help but think that “looking like a proper human being” didn’t exactly sound like a compliment. Besides, he failed to see how he looked like either of them.
Fifteen years of living together had built a deep foundation of trust. He knew these two people would love and care for him unconditionally. But was this the “blood bond” between parent and child? Was this what family felt like?
Gu Congjue didn’t know, and he couldn’t put it into words.
Deep down, he still functioned under the “old order” of his past life, relying entirely on the knowledge and experiences he had accumulated before. The reason he loved burying himself in schoolwork and ranking first in his grade was simply because academics were familiar territory. He had enough reference points to navigate it comfortably and without worry.
He often wondered: if he hadn’t reincarnated into this strange world where men could give birth, but instead into a “normal” world that aligned with his past experiences, would everything have turned out differently?
“Aw, so cute~” Once the styling was done, Xiang Yuyan snapped photos on his phone, secretly plastering the pictures with all sorts of colorful cartoon stickers. “Even though our little slacker is hopeless at everything else, he’s got a great face perks of having two top-tier visuals for parents!”
Delighted by his own thoughts, Xiang Yuyan put down his phone and planted a loud kiss on his son’s cheek.
Drowsy just moments before, Gu Congjue’s eyes snapped wide open in sheer shock. “Ah?!”
“What do you mean, ‘ah’?” Xiang Yuyan put his hands on his hips, completely unfazed. “Look at that look on your face, like it’s killing you. I’m your own mother, I can’t kiss you? What a brat. Now that your makeup is done, go play somewhere else. We leave at three, don’t miss the time.”
Gu Congjue let out a weak compliance. The moment Xiang Yuyan turned around, he quietly wiped his cheek with a tissue.
He really, truly could not adapt to this world.
Because they had to shoot promotional posters, Gu Pingyue and Xiang Yuyan had to leave more than three hours early to hit a shooting location near the venue. While they were busy shooting, selecting, and editing photos, Gu Congjue stayed in the production van, scrolling through his phone and zoning out.
Eventually, he drifted off to sleep.
When he slept, he usually fell into one of two states. The first was a total blackout like suddenly falling into hibernation with zero awareness until he opened his eyes again. The second was dreaming, specifically dreaming of “himself.”
A physical manifestation of his subconscious.
That was how Gu Congjue defined it. He believed it was the part of his subconscious that had followed him through reincarnation, keeping his past perceptions and habits intact. Because of this, the figure in his dreams was stubborn, constantly lurking in the shadows to remind him: Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget to find Shen Yanxing.
He was very obedient to this “subconscious self.” He had never forgotten who he was, and he had never stopped looking for Shen Yanxing. Yet, occasionally, doubt crept in. Was what the voice said true?
Did Shen Yanxing even exist? Was the “fated encounter” the fortune teller mentioned truly about Shen Yanxing? Was all that talk about intersecting past and present lives, and complementary fortunes, actually real? Could he have been tricked?
What if it was all a grand delusion? What if he just had a split personality?
Caught in this mental tug-of-war, the connection to his dream suddenly snapped. Gu Congjue jolted awake, his forehead and back drenched in a cold sweat.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Cong?” Gu Pingyue asked, stepping into the van with his suit jacket in hand. “Tired of waiting?”
The aftershock of the dream left Gu Congjue dizzy and disoriented. He buried his face in his hands for a long moment before panting softly, “A little. It might just be too stuffy in here.”
“Are you sure it’s just the air?” Gu Pingyue frowned, looking at him closely. “Your face is so pale. Are you dehydrated or low on blood sugar?”
“What’s wrong with our boy?” Xiang Yuyan leaned in, visibly startled by his son’s sickly complexion. “Oh my god, Gu Congjue, why is your face so white? We didn’t even put foundation on you!”
“He says it’s stuffy, but it doesn’t look like it to me,” Gu Pingyue said anxiously, quickly unscrewing a bottle of an electrolyte drink. “Drink some of this. It was the same way last time his face goes pale if he sits in the car for too long. Is he outgrowing his nutrition during this growth spurt? Is his immune system weak?”
Xiang Yuyan was so panicked he wanted to feed him the water himself. “Heaven knows! His school physicals never showed any issues. Once I’m done with this busy streak, I’m taking him for a full-body checkup myself. Seeing him wilt like this out of nowhere gives me a heart attack.”
Gu Congjue drank the water in silence, nodding along in his head. He agreed completely—he definitely needed a full checkup, especially a psychiatric one.
Time truly had a way of blurring memories and shaking resolve. Back when he had first reincarnated into this world, he didn’t have this many worries. It was only as his past memories slowly began to fade that his self-doubt intensified.
He doubted his past life, he doubted his present life and he doubted the very existence of Shen Yanxing.
Terrified their son might collapse, the couple didn’t dare delay any longer and hurried to the venue.
The red carpet was set up right outside the main entrance of the stadium hosting the gala. The carpet itself wasn’t very long, and the plaza out front was cramped, packed to the brim with media, reporters, and a crowd of staff members wearing matching uniforms with flowers pinned to their chests.
They looked like ushers guiding the celebrities. Gu Congjue glanced at them indifferently, then turned to his parents. “Where’s the restroom?”
“It should be around the back of the stadium, want to look for it?” Xiang Yuyan was about to sign in and line up for the red carpet, leaving him no time to accompany his son. To make matters worse, the boy still looked completely out of it. “Go ask a staff member, or have someone from our team take you. You know what, sweetie? How about you just go to the restroom and then head straight home? I’ll call Nanny Rong to pick you up. I wanted to walk the red carpet with you, but you look like you’ve lost your soul tonight. I can’t leave you alone here.”
Gu Congjue didn’t reject the offer. He genuinely despised these high-profile entertainment events that required nothing but superficial posturing. Perhaps he was born with a rebellious streak against the Gu family trade; he felt allergic to everything showbiz.
Come to think of it, he shouldn’t have agreed to come just based on some vague prophecy about a fated encounter. If he had gone somewhere else, maybe a miracle could happen. But in a restricted, star-studded event like this, how could he possibly run into Shen Yanxing?
Seeing him agree to go home, Gu Pingyue immediately dialed Nanny Rong. Taking advantage of his father being on the phone, Gu Congjue stepped out of the van and headed toward the back of the building.
He didn’t bring his phone, nor did he ask for a guide. Relying on his sense of direction, he walked halfway around the stadium, but the restroom was nowhere to be found. The area had been heavily modified for the gala; the restrooms might have been cordoned off for other uses.
After 7:00 PM, the night fell rapidly. The faint twilight in the west vanished completely, plunging the area into darkness.
The shifting light triggered another wave of dissociation. Gu Congjue kept his head down, staring at the lines on his right palm, desperate to wash his face and clear his head.
The moment he looked up, a staff member dressed in a white formal uniform walked past. A scent indescribable yet intensely familiar wafted from the person. Driven by pure reflex, Gu Congjue reached out and tapped the person on the shoulder.
“Excuse me…” The moment he opened his mouth, he realized he hadn’t even thought of how to ask for directions.
The person paused, slightly startled, before turning around. A bright, warm, and highly professional smile bloomed across their face. “Hello?”
Perhaps it was the poor lighting at the edge of the stadium, or perhaps it was just Gu Congjue’s mind playing tricks on him, but the person’s turn felt like it happened frame by frame. The face came into focus gradually first a blurry silhouette, then the rough outline of their features, until finally, a crystal-clear face materialized before him.
The moment he saw that face, Gu Congjue’s breath caught in his throat.
“Hello, my name is Shen Yanxing. I’m a guest usher for the CAUSE Gala. Is there anything I can help you find, or are you having some trouble?”
Gu Congjue didn’t process a single word the person said. But that face, the micro-expressions, and the way they smiled became instantly branded into his brain. It violently awakened a flood of buried memories the precise details that time had so ruthlessly eroded.
This was the face he had thought of day and night, yet could never quite visualize.
More importantly, it was a face he had known in his past life.