Chapter 19

P.S. I’d like to thank Alxenia123 again for the generous donation! You make me feel all the long nights are worth the effort! ❤

~~~

Qi Le ended up drinking too much tonight, not because of how much alcohol he had earlier but because he pulled Gu Bai back into the bar once again to continue drinking. Gu Bai, who had already cleared up his emotions, turned to look at him. “Why are you crying?”

“Who said I’m crying?” Qi Le found a place to sit down. “I was just caught in the rain. You must be blind.”

Gu Bai reminded, “You admitted you were crying just now.”

“I said that because I saw you crying alone and I was afraid to hurt your self-esteem,” Qi Le side-eyed him, “Got it?”

Due to the effect of alcohol and the dim lighting, his eyes appeared a little flirtatious. Gu Bai secretly sized him up. Although he knew that this person was most likely Qi Le, he hadn’t adapted to the change in body yet, especially since it was a face that he actually knew. Fortunately, the feeling Qi Le gave him remained unchanged. He could slowly get used to it.

“It doesn’t look like it’s raining heavily outside.”

Qi Le poured two glasses of alcohol and remained stubborn. “It’s because of the rain.”

The corners of Gu Bai’s lips curled slightly. He didn’t refute Qi Le. The latter raised his glass and said, “What are you looking at? Drink!”

Gu Bai had no choice but to accompany him to drink. After downing another glass, Qi Le topped both their glasses with alcohol again and asked in a low voice, “Why were you crying?”

“I was upset.”

Qi Le was silent for a moment before he said, “Just because the letter made you believe that he knew you liked him?”

“You can say that,” Gu Bai sighed, suddenly remembering how he felt after reading the letter a few days ago. “Xiao Le was always in poor health so I never dared to tell him. But to find out later that he actually knew, and I... I loved him so much. But even till the day he died, I never told him that myself. Up till the day he died... I didn’t even know what he thought about this."

Qi Le listened quietly, holding his glass up to his lips. He felt his chest tighten. He hadn’t thought about it carefully at the time and only wanted to make sure that this person had a good life. But he forgot how much this love meant to Gu Bai. It could very well end up becoming this person’s lifelong regret.

“Sometimes I wondered if he wanted me to say it out loud, but I didn’t make it in the end. So I locked myself in his room these past few days, thinking that he might visit me in my dreams.” Gu Bai looked at him. “I want to know if he blamed me for hiding such an important thing from him."

I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to torture you, I really want you to move beyond the pain and look to the future... As Qi Le drank, tears rolled down his face again because of how strong the alcohol was.

Gu Bai raised his eyebrows and felt as if he had been through too much. But who knew that there were still all these twists and turns. He was really so heartbroken after reading the letter a few days ago. He grabbed a tissue paper from the table and handed it over with a smile, “Is it raining again?”

“Mmm,” Qi Le casually wiped his face. “Um... You should look at it from another angle. He actually hopes that you will live a good life. Life is so long, you have to believe that you will find someone that you like.”

Gu Bai stared at him. “I believe that.”

“That’s good.” Qi Le continued to pour more alcohol into his glass.

“That’s enough,” Gu Bai stopped him. “You’re drunk. Let’s go back.”

“No, Laozi is in a bad mood...” Qi Le protested, but he was forcefully pulled up from his seat and dragged out. The rain outside was heavier than before. He glanced at the rain and held onto the doors of the bar. “No.”

“...What do you want to do then?”

“You’re drunk, you shouldn’t be driving. What if you got into an accident? Never mind if it was just an accident, but if you were admitted into Shen Ai Hospital, even crying isn’t going to help you...” Qi Le pulled out his cellphone and called Ye Shuichuan, “Gē, come and pick us up... Gu Bai and I. We drank quite a bit. Hmm? What did you say? Hmm?” He looked at the call that had been dropped on his cellphone, then slowly looked up, “He said that he was suffering from diarrhea and constipation. He feels extremely uncomfortable and can’t come out. He told us to get a room.”

Gu Bai, “...”

Qi Le was puzzled. “Think about it. What sort of illness is this?”

“He means that he’s very uncomfortable. Let’s take a taxi back.”

Qi Le thought that was ok too. He was pulled into the car in a state of confusion and turned to look at Gu Bai. “If, I mean, if the person you like isn’t dead and his soul didn’t reincarnate but entered someone else’s body and he switched his face, body, identity and completely turned into someone else, what would you do?”

Gu Bai froze, staring at him. “No matter who he is, isn’t he still the person I know?"

Qi Le sniffled, “Do you believe in the existence of souls and the supernatural?”

Gu Bai pondered over his own character in silence and calmly said, “I don’t believe it.”

Qi Le became angry, “How can you not believe it? I’ll tell you, In fact, Laozi... Ah, ah-choo!” He trembled uncontrollably, sobering up a little, “Where were we?”

“...The supernatural. I don’t believe it.”

Qi Le threw him off, "It’s up to you to believe it or not. Hmph, who cares about what you think?”

“...” Gu Bai asked, “What if I do believe?”

Qi Le looked at him in all seriousness, “You will be sent to psychiatric department.”

Gu Bai, “...”

The two quickly returned to the apartment. Hearing the noise, the Scottish fold cat delightedly pulled at Qi Le’s pants. He dodged and said, “Don’t jump onto me. I’m all dirty. Let me take a bath.”

Gu Bai watched him enter Xiao Le’s room and stopped him at the door. “You can’t enter here.”

Qi Le blinked in confusion. “......What should I wear after showering?”

“Wait,” Gu Bai went to his own bedroom and brought out a large T-shirt. “Here.”

“...What about pants?”

Gu Bai smiled, “I don’t like people wearing my shorts.”

“...” Qi Le turned around, gasping in anger, “Laozi wants to go back!”

“Go back then,” Gu Bai was particularly calm. “It’s raining right now so it’s hard to get a taxi. It’s already ten o’clock. Good luck.”

Qi Le was silent for two seconds before he angrily grabbed the T-shirt and went to the bathroom. He showered quickly. When he came out, Gu Bai was holding a pillow and quilt on the sofa in the living room. He paused and asked, “What do you mean by this?”

The T-shirt barely covered his underwear. Gu Bai looked at him from top to bottom before saying, “You sleep here tonight.”

“...” Qi Le burst out, “Why should I? Aren’t there two rooms?!"

“That’s Xiao Le’s room,” Gu Bai earnestly explained. “You can’t sleep there.”

Fuck you! So this is how you treat me... Qi Le warned him, “He told you to take care of me.”

Gu Bai thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. “Alright then, why don’t you sleep with me?”

After thinking for a second, the spoiled brat immediately agreed and walked to a certain someone’s bedroom, holding the quilt and pillows as he panted furiously, “Let me tell you, you will regret doing this to me today. Sooner or later, you’ll regret this. You better remember what I said...”

Gu Bai stared at him and laughed inside. He turned to go to the bathroom. After he came out, someone had already fallen asleep. He sat on his bed and stared at this person’s face. He only felt that it was so unbelievable. After thinking for a while, he pulled out his cellphone and sent a text message to his friend. Very quickly, he found the contact number he was looking for and dialed. “Hello, is this Mr Lu? This is Gu Bai speaking. Is Mr. Yi there? I have something to ask him.”

Mr. Elite was silent for a moment before he replied, “Wait a minute.” After a few seconds, Yi Hang’s voice sounded from the other end, “Hello, I heard you’re looking for me?”

“Mmm, we met at the hospital.”

“I remember you. What can I do for you?”

Gu Bai touched a certain someone’s face and asked softly, “Xiao Le said that you two are the same. You switched bodies as soon as you opened your eyes, am I right?”

“Fucking hell!” Yi Hang was surprised. “He’s already told you everything?"

Although he was well prepared, Gu Bai couldn’t help shaking when he heard it with his own ears. He took a deep breath, “Thank you.”

“...Whaa?” Yi Hang was puzzled. “What?”

“It’s nothing.” Gu Bai paused before adding, “I’ll give you a piece of advice. If you meet Xiao Le in the future, you better not tell him I called you, or else he’ll kill you.”

“Why? Is it because he’ll think that we’re having an affair? Will he be jealous?” Yi Hang struggled to understand what he meant, “Well... forget it, I won’t say anything. Oh, are you the one on top? You’re a one, right? “

“Mmm.”

“Oh hahaha, that’s great! The bastard is about to be pressed down!” Yi Hang happily said, “You better watch him well in the future. If there’s nothing, don’t let him out in case he harms other people. If he doesn’t listen, you should press him onto the bed and slam hard into his chrysanthemum. Then, slam his chrysanthemum again, and again, and... “

“...” Gu Bai hung up before Yi Hang finished speaking. He took a good look at a certain someone and suddenly felt as if he didn’t know what to say. Even when this person was in poor health, he had always been hard to control, not to mention now. He rolled over to the other side of the bed, pulled Qi Le into his arms, lowered his head and kissed him on the lips. At that moment, all he could think was, as long as Xiao Le was happy, nothing else mattered. He stretched out a hand, ready to turn off the lights to sleep, but at this moment he heard the ring-a-ling-a-ling of a cellphone. He looked over and found that it was Xiao Le’s cellphone, with the words Xiao on the screen. He raised his eyebrow slightly, brought it over and pressed the answer button.

“A few people said they saw you drunk. Where are you now?”

“He has just taken a shower and is already asleep.”

There was a moment of silence before Ning Xiao’s cold voice sounded, “Gu Bai?”

"Mmm, he’s staying at my place and won’t be home tonight.”

“I heard that you have someone you like.”

Gu Bai narrowed his eyes. “I heard that you don’t like Zheng Xiaoyuan and have never cared about him. You wish he would leave.”

“This is between me and him. It’s none of your business.”

“He isn’t the same person you knew. Now, it’s between me and him. Even if you want to meddle, he won’t appreciate it.” Gu Bai kissed a certain someone again and was in a good mood. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

He hung up the call and rubbed Qi Le’s head. “...What a disaster.”

Qi Le woke up alone in bed the next day. He rubbed his forehead and got up. He was at a loss for a moment. Then, he saw the painting on the opposite wall and jumped over, wishing he could swallow it whole.

When Gu Bai entered his bedroom, he saw Qi Le standing in front of the wall with a glint in his eyes. He arched an eyebrow, “What are you doing?”

Qi Le regained his senses and said, “I think this painting is very beautiful. I just wanted to look at it.”

“Mmm, Xiao Le’s paintings have always been beautiful.”

Qi Le was immediately elated, “Mmm, I can see that.”

“...” Aren’t you modest... Gu Bai turned around helplessly, “Come out, breakfast is ready.”

Qi Le looked at his big screw-up once again and resigned himself to eating breakfast. After that, he changed back into his own clothes to leave. Gu Bai gave him the spare key. “Since this cat is willing to listen to you, come and feed it when you’re free.”

Qi Le nodded and turned to leave.

Gu Bai watched him walk away, called Ye Shuichuan, and asked him to wait for Xiao Le in Zheng Xiaoyuan’s apartment. Ning Xiao’s current attitude was a bit strange. He didn’t want anything to happen. Putting away his cell phone, he looked at the painting in his bedroom, then took off the frame. When he saw the date on the painting, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The man was smart indeed, but he always made little, rookie mistakes.

Xiao Le still didn’t know that he knew the truth. According to the contents of his letter, Xiao Le couldn’t accept his feelings presently. That was why he hadn’t told him his real identity. He could only hide it for the time being and slowly change his mind.

He stared at the painting in front of him, the corners of his lips hooked up in a smile. As long as it was still there, he didn’t have to worry that the man wouldn’t take the initiative to come to his door.