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Chapter 23
Editor: Princess
Luo Changzhou frowned when he heard Father Luo mocking him like that, but he just stared at him coldly without saying a word.
Mother Luo smacked Father Luo and scolded, “Luo Lianghui, how can you talk like that?”
Father Luo turned his head away, maybe realizing he had gone too far, but he couldn’t bring himself to apologize.
“I just like him.” Luo Changzhou said firmly for the first time. “And he’ll like me too.”
Father Luo couldn’t hold back and retorted, “Where did you get that crazy confidence from?”
Hearing this, Mother Luo couldn’t help but laugh.
Luo Changzhou was both exasperated and amused by Father Luo’s reaction. He lost the urge to argue, so he softened his tone, looked his father in the eye, and said seriously, “Dad, I really do like him.”
Father Luo knew his son’s personality. He knew this wasn’t something that could be changed, so he also softened his tone, but still looked annoyed as he shook his head and said, “Stop making excuses. You just like men.”
Luo Changzhou said, “Even if he were a girl, I’d still like him.”
He was certain about his feelings for Yu Pei. He liked him purely as a person, not because of his gender or anything else. It was a simple, unfiltered attraction—his soul was drawn to the unique soul beneath that skin.
Luo Changzhou felt that one day, he would bring Yu Pei to meet his parents. But it was still too soon—they hadn’t known each other for long, didn’t understand each other deeply yet, and he was still young. He didn’t know how long these feelings would last. But since Father Luo brought it up today, he decided to just lay it all out. At least in this moment, he was absolutely sure—he really liked Yu Pei.
Really liked him.
Liked him so much that he fell in love with everything connected to him—his school, the streets he walked, the city he grew up in.
But Father Luo’s words still unearthed a lingering doubt in Luo Changzhou’s heart. Did Yu Pei like him back?
Luo Changzhou felt that Yu Pei did like him. Because when he got caught secretly staring, his ears would turn red. He shared his favorite candies with him. And most importantly, who would send a goodnight message to a new transfer student every single night unless they liked them?
Unless he liked him.
Luo Changzhou wanted to find the right moment to confess. Thinking of this, he took out his phone, saw that after Yu Pei sent a “good morning” message in the morning, there had been no activity since. So, he sent a message: [Ah Pei, when’s your birthday?]
*
After leaving Xia Qi’s office, Yu Pei ran into a familiar face in the small garden of the Xia Tian Counseling Center.
“Teacher Bai?” Yu Pei stared in shock at the man in the distance, thinking he must be seeing things. He blurted out the name instinctively.
The man was wearing dark brown pants and a muted pinkish-purple sweater. He was walking slowly with his head down. When he heard the voice, he lifted his head, his eyes hazy like they were covered in mist, staring at Yu Pei in a daze. Then, recognizing his face, his furrowed brows relaxed, and he smiled gently. His voice was soft, “Hm? You are…?”
“Teacher Bai, you don’t remember me? I’m Yu Pei.” Thinking that he might be standing in the shade and Bai Yichen hadn’t seen his face clearly, Yu Pei quickly stepped forward.
“Ah, it turns out it’s Ah Pei.” Bai Yichen did remember him after all. His beautiful, almond-shaped eyes curved into a deeper smile, and the black tear mole below his pupil stood out against his slightly flushed cheeks, making him look more vibrant than ever, completely different from the way he looked before Yu Pei took his leave from school.
Bai Yichen was the deputy art director at the Yu Group Company and an exceptionally talented painter. He had his own studio and had taught Yu Pei for quite a long time, but Yu Pei hadn’t seen him in over half a year.
Thinking back now, Yu Pei realized that the last time he saw Bai Yichen, he had looked almost the same as himself when he was in the hospital. Not long after, Bai Yichen had apologized and told him he needed time to recover and wouldn’t be able to teach him anymore. But at that time, Yu Pei wasn’t doing much better than Bai Yichen either, so he hadn’t given it much thought. He never expected that half a year later, they would run into each other at the same psychiatric hospital.
Yu Pei asked him, “Teacher Bai, are you here to see Doctor Xia too?”
“Yes.” Bai Yichen’s voice was as gentle as his smile. “It was your big brother who introduced me to Doctor Xia. I was actually surprised that President Yu knew about Doctor Xia.”
“It’s been a while since I last saw you. Are you feeling better now?” Bai Yichen stepped forward and ruffled Yu Pei’s hair intimately like he used to. But Yu Pei felt something was off about the way he did it. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it felt too careful, almost like he was treasuring something precious.
Yu Pei knew exactly which illness he was referring to, so he nodded and said, “Much better. Doctor Xia said as long as I keep taking my meds, I won’t relapse. What about you, Teacher Bai?”
Bai Yichen also understood without needing to say it out loud. He smiled gently and said, “I’m better too. I’m just here for a follow-up today.”
“Then I won’t keep you, Teacher Bai.” Yu Pei smiled back at him. “Wishing you all the best.”
“Alright, thank you.” Bai Yichen waved at him.
Yu Pei turned to leave, but he had only walked a few steps when Bai Yichen suddenly called out to him, “Ah Pei—”
“What is it, Teacher Bai?” Yu Pei stopped and looked back at him.
Bai Yichen walked up to him again, his eyes shining with intensity, but his voice remained as gentle as ever. “Your big brother told me a little about you. You’re the most talented student I’ve ever taught. No matter what happens, hold on to what you love.”
Yu Pei was stunned for a moment and stammered, “B-but I…”
“Do you remember what I asked you on the first day I taught you?” Bai Yichen rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. “You told me that you love painting.”
Yu Pei remembered.
He actually started out learning musical instruments—violin, piano, he had tried them both—but he was just average at them. But painting was something he had loved since he was a kid. From following his art teacher in elementary school, to taking specialized art classes, to eventually having Bai Yichen teach him at Yu Qing’s arrangement, all these years, he had always loved painting.
The only reason he couldn’t pick up a paintbrush now was because he couldn’t get past that mental block.
Yu Pei’s eyes turned a little red as he looked at Bai Yichen. “I…”
But Bai Yichen asked him, “You still love painting, don’t you?”
Yu Pei nodded.
Bai Yichen smiled, his eyes slightly misty. “Then keep painting. If you still love it, you have to stick with it.”
“I will, Teacher Bai.” Yu Pei said. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the past yet, but deep down, he knew he didn’t want to give up on painting.
Bai Yichen smiled at him again. “Go on. If you ever have any problems with painting, you can always come to my studio.”
“Mm-hmm! Goodbye, Teacher Bai!” Yu Pei waved at him.
Back in Zhang Geng’s car, Yu Pei checked his phone and saw a message from Luo Changzhou. Doctor Xia had told him today that his condition was stable and that as long as he kept taking his medication, he wouldn’t relapse. On top of that, he had run into his mentor, Bai Yichen, so he was in a pretty good mood. When he saw that Luo Changzhou had asked him when his birthday was, an idea popped into his head, and he replied: [It’s on the 5th of next month, right during National Day break! Changzhou… can I invite you over to my place for my birthday?]
He gripped his phone nervously, staring at the screen without blinking. He knew Luo Changzhou might not reply right away, but this was after all, the first time in his life that he had ever invited a friend over, aside from Gu Zheng.
But to his surprise, Luo Changzhou replied almost immediately: [Sure, I’ll definitely come.]
Yu Pei couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes as he quickly typed back: [Mm-hmm! I’ll be waiting for you at home!]
What he didn’t know was that, on the other side of the screen, Luo Changzhou was looking at his message with a mix of helplessness and doting. After setting his phone down, his gaze landed on a deep blue envelope on his desk.
And next to the envelope were a few sheets of off-white stationery, with the top one already half-filled with words. He picked it up, glanced at it, then crumpled it up and tossed it into the wastebasket by his desk, where several other crumpled papers just like it were already sitting.
He stared at the pile, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. Writing a love letter was way harder than he had expected.