Memories surged like a tidal wave, the current fierce, the embankments collapsing.
Under the astonished gazes of the staff at the pet hospital, Jiang Minyu left in a daze.
He had always been a sensitive person, keenly aware of how others looked at him yet at this moment, he had no strength left to care about anyone’s gaze.
He only felt the blood throughout his body turn icy cold, so cold it filled him with fear, as if he had lost control of himself and was falling endlessly into a depth without a bottom.
He wanted to tell the staff that he was Ran Fan’s boyfriend.
But he was afraid no one would believe him. What he would receive would only be doubtful looks and he himself couldn’t even produce a single photo of the two of them together as proof.
He had never accompanied Ran Fan to his workplace and all those images and traces that once recorded their love had been completely deleted by Jiang Minyu, under the excuse that he didn’t want to see them.
Just earlier, he had still been clinging to his pride, unwilling to take the initiative to contact Ran Fan but at this moment, Jiang Minyu could no longer restrain himself.
With a dry throat, he sent Ran Fan a message. There was no reply.
He then called Ran Fan’s phone number. After a few rings, a strange woman answered. “Hello, who are you looking for?”
Jiang Minyu’s mind roared. “Isn’t this Ran Fan’s phone number?”
The woman replied impatiently, “Ran what? You must’ve dialed the wrong number. This is my new number.”
The call ended and everything fell into silence.
Jiang Minyu’s heart sank into that same dead silence, as if heaven and earth had collapsed, leaving rubble everywhere.
The house had been sold, the job resigned, even the contact information abandoned, what did that all mean?
Ran Fan, had he left? Had he completely given up everything in S City, including Jiang Minyu himself?
Did he… no longer want him?
The moment that thought surfaced, Jiang Minyu’s reason was completely devoured. Boundless panic seemed to turn into something tangible, wrapping around him tightly, forcing him to the brink of madness.
He truly went mad, desperate to find Ran Fan, to know where he was.
He wanted to see him.
But he no longer knew how to find Ran Fan, or how to contact him.
Once, it had been Jiang Minyu himself who, out of irritation and unwillingness to receive Ran Fan’s messages, coldly severed all channels of contact between them.
Now, when he wanted to seek Ran Fan out, Ran Fan responded with a decisiveness even greater than his own.
He had left, quietly exiting Jiang Minyu’s life, disappearing without a sound while Jiang Minyu knew nothing.
That night, it was very late when Jiang Minyu finally returned home.
His manager was waiting for him there, with a pile of matters to discuss. Jiang Minyu couldn’t take in a single word. He shut the manager outside without hesitation, locked himself in his room and refused to come out.
Everything he had forgotten during this period came back to find him on this night.
The root of his existence, the line that had always tethered him firmly even when he soared through the sky, returned to his sight in a blood soaked form.
He remembered. He realized it. He had gone mad, he truly had gone mad.
That was Ran Fan.
How could he have been so reckless, so frivolous, as to throw away even his own roots?
Before dawn broke, Jiang Minyu, with dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his chin, made his way to Li Yang’s company. He knew that Li Yang, because of the unborn child, had recently shifted his main business focus to S City and had been staying at the company, busy day and night.
Li Yang was in his office on a video call with an overseas company. Seeing Jiang Minyu barge in, he apologized briefly to the other side and ended the call, then lifted his gaze to ask, “What is it?”
Elegant, composed, the nauseating ease of someone in a position of power.
But Jiang Minyu had come to ask for help. “Help me find someone. I’m in a hurry.”
Li Yang seemed to look at him deeply, or perhaps it was just an illusion. “Who?”
“Ran Fan. My former boyfriend.”
Li Yang lowered his gaze back to the documents on his desk and said, “Go back.”
This search dragged on for three to five days.
The Li family had always been efficient in getting things done. This time, for some reason, it took unusually long. As Jiang Minyu waited, his appetite dwindled. As he kept waiting, even his sleep became restless.
He couldn’t control himself from thinking about Ran Fan. The more he thought about him, the more he tossed and turned, unable to eat or sleep in peace.
Several days passed. Finally, he received a reply from Li Yang, a string of phone numbers sent to him.
Jiang Minyu immediately copied the number and dialed it.
This time, the voice he heard was familiar, a voice that, through countless nights, had gently entwined around his ears.
When Jiang Minyu made the call, he hadn’t hesitated but now, he faltered, unable to speak for a long moment.
“Minyu?” Ran Fan guessed it was him.
“It’s me.” Jiang Minyu’s nose stung as he took a breath yet his words were still difficult, hard to get out. “You… you changed your number.”
“Yeah. I forgot to top up the old one, so it was automatically canceled. I thought about it and figured that every stage of life requires letting go, so I didn’t retrieve it.”
Jiang Minyu felt that those words seemed to carry an unspoken implication yet he didn’t want to think too deeply about it. After a brief pause, he said, “Fanfan ge, where are you now? Are you still in S City? I want to see you. I want to talk to you for a bit. Could we meet in person?”
A few seconds passed before a reply came.
Ran Fan said, “Okay.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Let’s break upChapter 2 · A hand landed on Ran Fan’s backChapter 3 · Jiang Wenyu’s biological fatherChapter 4 · Li Yang kissed him againChapter 5 · Could you come to the hospital?Chapter 6 · I hope you can give birthChapter 7 · Are you bothered by the fact that I am Jiang Wenyu’s biological father?Chapter 8 · Don’t you think I’m ordinary?Chapter 9 · Don’t consider it me going back on my wordChapter 10 · You are a truly remarkable personChapter 11 · Would you say you’re cold-hearted towards Ran Fan?Chapter 12 · Dr. Ran resigned several months ago.Chapter 13 · Can we meet up?Chapter 14 · You also know the child’s fatherChapter 15 · You are the most important to meChapter 16 · Extra 1Chapter 17 · Extra 2Chapter 18 · Extra 3