Chapter 26

Yang Yunran never even considered the fact that the prosthetic eye was made by Jiang Yihua overnight.

In his mind, Jiang Yi was an MIT doctor, yes, very clever, perhaps even approaching genius.

But the ability to create such a product overnight, like a miracle, would require someone extraordinary, perhaps a professor or a big shot in academia.

Yang Yunran had learned about the technology of making prosthetic eyes with simulated eye movement tracking in Germany. He knew that the smaller something appeared, the more precise it had to be, something not achievable by ordinary people or companies.

If Jiang Yi had the ability to earn a million in one night, then why go into the entertainment industry? Although the entertainment industry is profitable, it’s not the same as dealing with public opinion storms and conducting scientific research.

So, Yang Yunran never doubted the non-existent identity of Professor Alex.

In his imagination, Professor Alex was probably in his fifties or even sixties, a bespectacled old scholar.

Jiang Yi couldn’t explain, so he didn’t ask again. The two had a spicy hot pot, and Yang Yunran saw a message on his phone showing the transfer from Wan Yan, which lightened his mood considerably.

Jiang Yi drove him home.

He got out of the car and walked Yang Yunran to the door, asking casually, “Have you finished your homework?”

Yang Yunran: “…”

Yang Yunran: “Not yet.”

Jiang Yi lowered his head, his tone calm, “Any unfamiliar words?”

In the past, Yang Yunran would have treated him as a translator and asked him many questions.

But now Yang Yunran said, “Yes, but I use Google Translate and GPT.”

Jiang Yi found that he didn’t even have the qualification to be a translator anymore.

He had always advised Yang Yunran to use a translator, and now that he was really using it, Jiang Yi felt annoyed and uneasy, even the air around him seemed restless.

“You,” Yang Yunran noticed that Jiang Yi was still there, “Aren’t you going home?”

“I am,” Jiang Yi made a clumsy excuse, saying, “I just wanted to use your bathroom.”

Actually, Yang Yunran was not very convenient. His house was in a mess, as if it had been ransacked, and he hadn’t had time to tidy up.

He hadn’t even let Jiang Yi in when he came back from walking the dog.

But his ex wanted to use the bathroom…

Yang Yunran turned sideways, and Harry finally squeezed out from the crack in the door. Yang Yunran grabbed the neck rope and said, “I’m rearranging things, it’s a bit messy, please don’t mind.”

Jiang Yi glanced around and saw that the whole room was filled with things on the floor, drawers pulled out, cabinets opened, and Yang Yunran probably couldn’t

Looking for a spare prosthetic eye.

The incident seemed to have happened suddenly last night, and you can imagine how panicked and frightened he must have been.

Although Jiang Yi had known about his eye condition all along, this was the first time he had found out. The trauma and impact on Yang Yunran were much deeper than he had imagined.

But Jiang Yi couldn’t comfort him, let alone tell him that he was “Alex”. He could only pretend to know nothing.

“I’ll help you tidy up later.” Jiang Yi went in to wash his hands, and after a few minutes, he came out to find that Yang Yunran had already started cleaning the room.

Jiang Yi came over to help, telling him to go and do his homework, but Yang Yunran said, “No need, I’ve called someone to help me.”

Jiang Yi immediately stopped what he was doing. “Who, the dog walker?”

Yang Yunran was puzzled for a moment before he realized who he was talking about. “…He has a name, he just walks my dog, how can you casually give people nicknames.”

Jiang Yi whispered, “Sorry, I didn’t know his name.”

Yang Yunran didn’t tell him Zhao Youmo’s name, nudging his shoulder out, somewhat helplessly, “You should go home, Jiang Yi, the person I called will be here soon, it’s not convenient for you to be here.”

He didn’t want to stay with Jiang Yi any longer, afraid that one more glance might make him lose control. Who would end up hurt again if he turned back?

Yang Yunran pushed him out of the door, and Jiang Yi turned back, “Who did you call over, Jimmy?”

Yang Yunran: “Yeah, you don’t like him, I’m afraid you two will argue, so it’s not convenient.”

Jiang Yi stood still on the carpet in front of the door. “No, I have no problem with him.”

Yang Yunran: “But he has a problem with you!” Yang Yunran took out his wallet, “I noticed your car is out of gas, you should go and refill it.”

Jiang Yi pushed away his two hundred dollars, gripping his slender wrist, his eyes two points of pitch black, “What problem does he have with me?”

Yang Yunran wanted to pull his hand away, but couldn’t. Seeing Jiang Yi standing so close, he didn’t dare to look him in the eye, instead quickly lowering his gaze, afraid of being caught by him. He said, “Don’t stand so close to me, Jiang Yi, go back.”

Jiang Yi knew his current state, his lips moved slightly, and he took a step back, “Okay, I’ll go back, call me if you need anything.”

Jiang Yi left, Yang Yunran closed the door and sighed.

Of course, he didn’t call Jimmy to help him clean up, but a housekeeper. He didn’t know that Jiang Yi was sitting in the car downstairs, not leaving.

Jiang Yi leaned back in the driver’s seat, his long legs bent, his eyes slightly closed, but he didn’t see Jimmy coming over, wondering if he had entered the apartment through another door.

Vaguely seeing the room where Yang Yunran lived, there was indeed

The two of them were on the move.

Yang Yunran probably found Harry’s running around bothersome, so he locked the dog on the balcony.

The Samoyed squeezed its black nose out of the gap in the glass railing, peering at Jiang Yi in the car, sticking out its tongue.

Jiang Yi hadn’t rested for a long time, so he dozed off in the car for half an hour.

As the sky darkened, stars began to appear, and the lights in Yang Yunran’s house also lit up, with thin curtains drawn, making it hard to see inside.

Jiang Yi sent him a message asking, “Has he finished cleaning up for you?”

Yang Yunran: “Almost.”

The housekeeper worked quickly, helping Yang Yunran tidy up and even taking out the trash a few times.

Jiang Yi: “Has Jimmy left?”

Yang Yunran was nestled on the sofa, planning to rest for a while before going out to walk the dog: “Not yet.”

Jiang Yi lowered his head to type: “Is he staying overnight at your place?”

Yang Yunran: “…”

What was his ex trying to do, it’s really funny!

Yang Yunran tilted his head and lay down sideways, “Guess.”

Jiang Yi: “I can’t guess.”

Yang Yunran typed, “You’re so smart, you must be able to guess,” Before he could send the message, he received the second message from him—

Jiang Yi: “I can only confirm it with my own eyes.”

Yang Yunran’s eyes widened, and he quickly sat up straight.

“No no no, don’t come!”

Jiang Yi: “I’m here, can you open the downstairs door for me?”

Yang Yunran opened the balcony door to confirm and indeed saw Jiang Yi’s license plate.

Why was Jiang Yi doing this after they broken up? Yang Yunran felt a bit at a loss and flustered. He dimmed the room lights, opened the door, and let him in.

In the dim light, his eye defect wasn’t very noticeable.

Jiang Yi first looked at the shoes on the floor and asked, “Has he left?”

Yang Yunran nodded, “Yeah, what’s with the sneaking around, and why are your shoes still so stylish? Could it be you haven’t gone home and have been waiting downstairs all along?”

Jiang Yi fell silent, saying it wasn’t the case.

Yang Yunran thought it was unlikely too because Jiang Yi said, “There’s something of yours in the car, I brought it over for you.”

“What is it?” Yang Yunran asked.

Jiang Yi lowered his gaze, confirming his lips, which showed no traces of intimacy with anyone, “The electric piano I bought for you.”

Yang Yunran was stunned, “You actually bought it, why don’t you return it.”

Jiang Yi said, “You wanted it, didn’t you.”

Yang Yunran leaned against the door frame and said, “I don’t want it now, I don’t want to keep the things you’ve given me.”

“Stop.”

Jiang Yi paused for a moment and asked, “Why?”

Yang Yunran turned his face away. “Don’t ask knowingly. I’ve already decided not to like you anymore, and we’ve broken up. Why do you always make simple things complicated?”

Jiang Yi’s heart skipped a beat. He stepped closer, lowering his head. “Is it a decision not to like or have you already stopped liking?”

He was too close, close enough to hear his heartbeat. Yang Yunran felt a bit flustered. He said, “Once a decision is made, it’s already happened. Don’t… don’t stand so close to me.” He reached out to push Jiang Yi’s chest, but he caught his hand. Yang Yunran thought his chest muscles felt good.

Jiang Yi gazed at him for a long time. “Is there still a chance to change your mind?”

Yang Yunran held his breath, looked up at Jiang Yi, and saw his focused expression, his eyes black with a hint of sadness.

Did he want to reconcile?

He couldn’t be toying with him, could he? He didn’t want to misunderstand and feel embarrassed again. He asked Jiang Yi, “What do you mean?”

Jiang Yi pursed his lips, unable to articulate because he couldn’t confirm his own feelings, let alone whether Yang Yunran was simultaneously dating many people.

After staring at him for a while, Jiang Yi asked, “Are you going to the dance with Jesse?”

Yang Yunran: “…”

“Enough, what do you want to say? What does it matter if I go to the dance with Jesse or not?”

Jiang Yi lowered his gaze. “It’s nothing. Jesse’s character is much better than Jimmy’s. He’s more suitable for you than Jimmy, but there are better options.” He hinted but didn’t say directly, “What I mean is, you don’t have to go to the dance with Jesse.”

“Thank you for persistently introducing potential partners to me, but I’m doing well on my own for now, so I don’t need it. If I do need it in the future, I’ll ask for your help.” Yang Yunran politely asked him to leave for the second time. “You’ve helped me a lot today, Jiang Yi, but I’m a bit tired now. I’d like to rest for a while, is that okay?”

“Okay.” This time Jiang Yi didn’t say anything more and left.

He went home and fell asleep, having not slept for over thirty hours.

Even in his dreams, he was struggling with unclear emotions.

The next day, on the weekend, Yang Yunran went out and bought a pair of glasses with thick lenses.

With the lenses blocking the view, his temporary prosthetic eye was concealed almost perfectly.

Jiang Yi was playing tennis at the gym when he received a call from Professor Chen.

Professor Chen called to thank him for making the prosthetic eye for him. “I’ve reviewed the contract, Jiang Yi. The percentage I offered you for the profit was five percent. I’m thinking of adjusting it. Do you have any thoughts on that?”

Jiang Yi wiped his sweat with a snow-white towel, leaning back on the resting bench, saying, “It’s not necessary, Professor.”

“You often take care of my nephew, it’s only right. I’ll make some adjustments later and send it to you to have a look. By the way, Jiang Yi, since you often see Yunran, do you think he’s been happy lately, both in life and mood?”

Jiang Yi’s hair was damp with sweat as he replied, “I’m not quite sure.”

Professor Chen’s tone was very hesitant, as if he was worried about something significant. He asked, “What about his emotional life?”

Jiang Yi’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

Professor Chen said, “I want to know… if there’s anyone accompanying him.” He didn’t reveal the reason to Jiang Yi.

Yang Yunran was not the biological child of Yang Liming and Chen Fangzhou. So far, only he knew about this matter. He speculated that once the baby was brought home, it couldn’t have been switched, so this would have happened only in the hospital or the maternity center.

Moreover, at the time, his sister had stored a bit of umbilical cord tissue, and Professor Chen had also extracted some tissue from an institution to compare it with Yang Yunran’s DNA, which turned out to be different.

This could only mean that, at birth, at least when the umbilical cord was cut, the baby was indeed born to Lin Fangru.

But for some reason, this child was switched, and no one noticed!

Now Professor Chen was investigating all the samples of babies born around the same time as Yang Yunran, both at the hospital and the maternity center.

This was a massive undertaking. He had the cooperating hospitals collect samples by offering free physical examinations.

But the children born then were all around Yang Yunran’s age now. They were scattered all over the place, both domestically and internationally.

Some mistook the hospital staff for pyramid scheme salespeople and drove them away, while others, upon investigation, were already gone due to overwork at a young age.

The workload was too massive, and it couldn’t be resolved in the short term.

Professor Chen could still keep it a secret for now, but could he keep it hidden for a lifetime?

Even if they didn’t find the real nephew, he would have to tell Chen Fangzhou and her husband the truth. It couldn’t be concealed forever.

At the very least, when the time came, he would take Yang Yunran in and raise him as his own child.

Professor Chen asked Jiang Yi to pay more attention to his nephew. Jiang Yi replied, “Okay, I will.” He hoped things wouldn’t escalate to the point of a falling out with Professor Chen, but it seemed beyond his control…

Jiang Yi picked up his tennis racket and continued to play vigorously, trying to forget about some people and things.

After hanging up the phone, Professor Chen retrieved the profit-sharing contract between the institute and Jiang Yi from his computer.

Several years ago, a project Jiang Yi had worked on brought in two billion in revenue for him and the research institute in just one year.

The professor gave Jiang Yi four percent at first, then adjusted it to five.

With Jiang Yi helping to take care of Yang Yunran like this, it might be appropriate to make an adjustment. Maybe giving him an extra 0.5%?

But that seemed a bit too much.

Professor Chen began to do some calculations.

At one moment, it was 0.1%, then changed to 1%, and then adjusted back to 0.5%.

Compared to research institutes that only gave researchers a bonus of five thousand yuan, Professor Chen felt incredibly generous!

Even though it was a project that Jiang Yi completed independently if Jiang Yi were to take the research results for himself, it would be a bit unethical, but he could earn more. Jiang Yi could easily obtain a professorship at a university, with plenty of people endorsing him and supporting him to establish his own laboratory.

But Jiang Yi hadn’t done any of that.

Jiang Yi wasn’t an ordinary person. He seemed to lack the common desires and attachments of ordinary people… No, perhaps there was a bit of “attachment” there. His lofty ideals in life sciences were somewhat indicative of that.

But at this moment, Jiang Yi’s attachment was evident in a certain chat box.

He couldn’t sleep at night and picked up his phone. After hesitating for a while, he sent a message to Yang Yunran: “Yunran, I can’t sleep.”

Yang Yunran suggested he take some melatonin.

Seeing this, Jiang Yi suddenly remembered something.

About a month ago, when he was back in his hometown, Yang Yunran had messaged him during the day, saying he couldn’t sleep.

At that time, it was 2 a.m. New York Time. Jiang Yi’s reply was simply “Take melatonin.”

So, Yang Yunran was thinking of him back then.

Now, it was the same situation reversed. He was the one unable to sleep, the one thinking of him. He got up, found some melatonin, took two pills, and sent a picture of the pill bottle to Yang Yunran: “Took them, but still can’t sleep.”

He hoped Yang Yunran would understand his meaning.

Yang Yunran replied, “Take some more.”