Chapter 69

Because Yang Yunran was young and still growing, if he wore a prosthetic eye, it would need frequent replacements and realistic-looking prosthetic eyes are often expensive.

His mother, who ran a barber shop, raised him alone and couldn’t afford the best prosthetic eye for him. Regardless, anyone who saw him would immediately notice something unnatural about his appearance.

Yang Yunran’s memories of his early childhood were already fuzzy. But from the time he could remember, he knew he was different. He had no friends, and no peers to play with. He would bury himself in his own world, studying or listening to music.

Adults, on the other hand, were more tolerant of his appearance. After the initial shock, they would show sympathy.

As he grew older, he helped out in his mother’s barbershop. After finishing his homework, he would stand on a stool to shampoo customers’ hair. Some people would intentionally stare at him, others would glance briefly and then look away, only to sneak another glance.

They probably found his motionless black eye terrifying, not quite human.

The barber shop had a steady stream of customers every day, all sorts of people. Some were polite, others less so. Some would rudely ask the owner, “Is this your kid? What’s wrong with his eye?”

“Why did you hire such a creepy child worker? Are you trying to scare people?”

His mother’s expression would change, but she wouldn’t answer, just saying, “Today’s wash and blow costs 18 yuan.”

His mother told him not to pay attention to others’ stares.

Yang Yunran would always calmly say, “It’s okay, I don’t mind. I just want to study hard and get first place.”

His journey wasn’t entirely malicious; there was also kindness and tolerance. However his long-standing isolation due to being different prevented him from growing into a mentally and physically healthy individual.

His normalcy was first and foremost based on a solid foundation. Later, as he gained fame at a young age, with a custom-made prosthetic eye from Germany, Yang Yunran could finally achieve an appearance almost identical to that of a normal person.

At this point, Yang Yunran finally mustered the courage to start making friends and enrolled in a music school, interacting with various people in his circle and presenting himself as a confident and sunny singer in front of his fans.

However, when he finally earned enough money to repay and make up for his hardworking mother over the years, his mother was hospitalized due to advanced-stage cancer.

In Yang Yunran’s memory, his mother was still in good health, once beautifully dressed for a blind date. There was no sign of weariness or fatigue from life on her face, just a shining confidence.

Doudou saw Yang Yunran clutching her phone with whitened knuckles and eyes red and moist, feeling extremely unsure. “Ran ge, Ran ge, what’s wrong with you? Don’t scare me…”

Yang Yunran still stared at the photo, saying in a low voice, “She’s the one, the Yang Wanyu who has been searching for her missing child for so many years, right?”

Doudou nodded, sensing that something was amiss with Yang Yunran, and handed him a tissue. “Yes, yes, but what’s wrong with her? Why are you crying? Don’t cry…”

“I’m okay.” Yang Yunran wiped his eyes and said quietly, “Doudou, give me my phone back.”

Indeed, in this world, Yang Yunran, who looked exactly like him, proved that their genetic links were similar, so his mother also looked exactly like him.

Even though they only looked alike and weren’t the same person in a true sense, this fact made Yang Yunran uncontrollably excited and joyful.

He called Xu Xing. It was early morning in Vancouver, and Xu Xing was very surprised to receive his call, as Yang Yunran had always been polite and not very communicative. This was the first time he had called on his own initiative.

Xu Xing walked from the hospital ward to the terrace and answered, “Ran Ran, Dad is watching Mom. Why did you suddenly call?”

Yang Yunran’s voice was nasal and suppressed as he said, “I… I want to go to Toronto. What illness does Mom have? Does she need surgery?”

“It’s… cancer,” Xu Xing lowered his voice and lit a cigarette. “But it was caught early enough. They need to perform multiple surgeries to remove the tumors. They’ve already done one, but it’s not enough.”

Yang Yunran couldn’t suppress his emotions anymore. “Is it lung cancer?”

Xu Xing was astonished. “Yes… how did you know?” He hadn’t told Yang Yunran about this.

It really was! “I… I want to come to Toronto immediately to see her. What do I need to do… Yes, I need to get a visa, which might take a few days.” Yang Yunran’s words were a bit disjointed. “I’m busy with work, but I can put it aside. I’ll get the visa as soon as possible and buy the fastest plane ticket to come over. How long is Mom’s surgery?”

“It’s scheduled for next week. First, get your visa sorted. I’ll call the immigration office; it should be straightforward. My secretary has already prepared the necessary documents. It’ll take just two days.” Xu Xing hadn’t expected Yang Yunran to suddenly want to come over. Although he had always wanted him to come, he didn’t want to force the child he hadn’t spent much time with since childhood.

Xu Xing continued, “I’ll arrange the flight as well. Don’t worry, there’s still time.”

Yang Yunran nodded twice, his voice heavy with nasal tones. “I want to see her, see Mom. I want to video call…” During the toughest times when he had once considered suicide, his mother had been his only pillar of support.

Xu Xing hesitated for a moment and then agreed, “Okay. She’s sleeping now. To avoid upsetting her and having her impulsively return to China, I haven’t told her about you. Let’s video call first. Once you’re on the plane, I’ll tell her.”

Xu Xing was still a bit worried about Yang Yunran’s overthinking: “The person your mom and I have been looking for all along has always been you, not Zhao Youmo. Don’t blame yourself. I haven’t been able to show much care for you lately because of the time difference between Canada and you, so I couldn’t message you frequently. Please rest assured and don’t worry about your mom. Her first surgery was very successful, and the second surgery has a very high success rate too. Don’t worry.”

Before, Yang Yunran and he exchanged messages fairly politely. Although he also asked about his mother, he asked very little. Most of the time, Yang Yunran used his busy work as an excuse.

In the video, Yang Yunran saw the mother lying on the hospital bed, sleeping, filmed by Xu Xing.

He covered his mouth, breathing unevenly.

Xu Xing whispered, “Look, your mom sleeps soundly.”

Yang Yunran “Hmm”ed and said he would come as soon as possible. He got in touch with Xu Xing’s secretary to prepare for the visa. Yang Yunran went to handle the recording of the program in Tai Li.

Because he was in a hurry, he asked Mr. Lin to call and pressure him. Mr. Lin didn’t ask anything and went to help him. Yang Yunran got away easily.

Mr. Lin didn’t know why he went to Canada and asked a few more questions: “Your current schedule needs to be reported. You can’t act alone. Bring your assistant. If something urgent happens, she can help you.”

“It’s a family matter at home. Thank you, Mr. Lin, for letting the station let me leave.” Yang Yunran was simply grateful for this matter.

Mr. Lin said, “What’s the big deal? Your voice doesn’t sound right. Take care of your throat. There’s a competition coming up, and you need to be in good shape. By the way, what about Harry when you’re away? Should I let my son take care of him for half a month?”

Yang Yunran hadn’t thought about it yet and thanked him even more when he heard this: “You’ve helped me a lot. I’ll leave my dog to Lin Wei.”

Yang Yunran’s visa was issued quickly, but there was a small problem before flying.

Xu Xing’s secretary didn’t arrange the private plane properly because the route was too long. Yang Yunran had to transfer two or three times, communicate with each airport, and make appointments with the crew. Especially at one airport where their private plane had never landed before.

It was said that there were military exercises nearby recently, and flight management was very strict, so it took three days to sort out. The secretary apologized and offered to book a flight ticket for him. Yang Yunran said, “It’s okay. My assistant has already booked it for me.”

On the morning of departure, Doudou panicked and said, “Oh no, Ran Ge, my visa didn’t come through! I was worried it wouldn’t, so I booked economy class tickets for both of us, thinking you could upgrade using your miles. I can’t fly and accompany you.”

“It’s okay, I’ll upgrade at the counter. I can fly on my own too. Right now, no one recognizes me without my mask, so it’s fine.”

Yang Yunran packed his bags. There wasn’t much to pack, just a small 20-inch carry-on. These days, he felt somewhat absent-minded, chatting with Jiang Yi on the phone but his mind elsewhere, often thinking about Yang Wanyu’s illness.

Lung cancer…

That’s how his mother passed away.

He dared not think about it, nor could he…

As he searched online, he discovered that Yang Wanyu had also run a hair salon in her early years, back in their hometown. When their child went missing, she put in a lot of effort to find him. Later, as the business grew, she moved to a big city and started specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, cosmetics, and skincare products.

All these intricate details matched up, yet they led to divergent paths, forming entirely different destinies through the intersection of time and space, even causing Yang Yunran to feel a sense of memory confusion.

Yang Yunran slumped wearily into the nanny car’s seat, while Doudou sat upright beside him, saying, “Ran Ge, my visa might only come through two days later. Ran Ge, wait for me to fly to Canada with you.”

“It’s okay, I’ll upgrade at the counter. I can fly on my own too. Right now, no one recognizes me without my mask, so it’s fine.”

Yang Yunran instructed her, “Lin Wei said he’ll take care of the dog for half a month. He’ll come over to pick up the dog later. Do you know what he looks like?”

“Is he… Lin General’s son? I’ve seen him once at the company. He’s a handsome guy who graduated from Harvard!” Doudou’s eyes lit up.

Yang Yunran smiled and said, “Yes, that’s him.” The two hardly had any contact, so he was very grateful to Lin Wei for agreeing to take care of the dog.

The flight Doudou booked was a red-eye, flying to Beijing at night for a layover. After Yang Yunran landed, he could sleep a few hours at a nearby hotel before flying early morning to Hong Kong and then Toronto.

Because it was a three-leg journey, when Yang Yunran went to the counter, the staff said, “Mr. Yang, we can upgrade your Hong Kong flight using miles, but we can’t for the first two legs since they are on medium-sized aircraft. Business class only has eight seats, and they are fully booked. Would you prefer economy class or would you like to change flights?”

“Okay, economy class is fine. Thank you.” Yang Yunran handled it at the counter with his platinum card, with Doudou by his side.

Next to them were some young girls who seemed to think he resembled a celebrity, taking photos of him and asking each other, “He’s so handsome! He looks like someone…”

“There are still such handsome celebrities in our entertainment industry? How come I don’t know!”

“Ask him his name, he’s so handsome!”

Late at night, Yang Yunran felt it was too pretentious to wear sunglasses at the airport, so he didn’t wear them. He wore a duckbill hat and waited at the counter for the ground crew to return his passport.

He had already been photographed from various angles, his profile, half-profile, for at least seven or eight minutes.

“Ran Ge, I’m sorry. I made you squeeze into economy class,” Dou Dou said apologetically, “It’s all my fault… I was trying to save money for myself.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. It’s just a three-hour flight. Saving money is good. I’ll give you a raise, otherwise, where will I get the money to pay Dou Dou’s salary?”

While apologizing, Doudou said, “You’re so kind.”

Doudou escorted him to customs.

Yang Yunran dragged his carry-on suitcase to the queue for security check. Suddenly, in the security line, there appeared a tall handsome guy with fair skin and wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, who took off his duckbill hat to pass through security.

“Oh my god! Who is that, a big celebrity!”

“So handsome! So handsome!”

“Go, go ask for his WeChat!”

“No, no, I dare not. You go, you go.”

These days, Yang Yunran looked a bit tired. He didn’t have an assistant with him and kept a low profile, resembling a celebrity but not quite.

Finally, someone recognized him and said, “Hey, Yang Yunran, isn’t it? The fake second-generation rich guy!”

Yang Yunran didn’t mind strangers not recognizing him and simply taking photos. He even politely smiled.

However, this did indeed create some pressure for him.

He went to the lounge to find some peace and quiet, settling into a corner to call Jiang Yi back.

Jiang Yi had just called him several times, but Yang Yunran had been too busy to answer. Now he had the time to return the call.

Jiang Yi asked him, “Just went through security?”

Yang Yunran sipped on his soda, “Yeah, how did you know?”

“You not picking up the phone can only be for that reason.” Because Yang Yunran usually answers and replies to messages instantly. Jiang Yi understood him well; Yang Yunran couldn’t resist replying if he had seen the messages.

“Flying at 10 PM, arriving at 1 AM, right? I’ll pick you up at the airport, Terminal 1?”

“Yeah, and it’s a different airport. I’ll be taking the next flight at 9 AM tomorrow.” Yang Yunran wore headphones, sitting in a corner. He talked to his boyfriend for a few minutes on the phone before heading to board.

He rarely queued among the crowd like this for boarding. It seemed news had already spread; everyone around knew there was a celebrity on this red-eye flight. They turned to look at him, whispering to each other. Some took pictures, some were polite, some not so much, and some were discussing with each other.

“I didn’t expect the real person to be so handsome. This is my first time seeing a celebrity.”

“He looks quite feminine in the photos.”

Yang Yunran heard various types of comments. He maintained politeness and smiled throughout, not showing any displeasure or a sour face.

“Do celebrities also fly economy class?”

“Didn’t he trend online? Wasn’t it exposed that he’s a fake second-generation rich kid? And he stopped being a celebrity long ago, broke, I guess.”

“Did his public image crash and burn? Hilarious…”

Yang Yunran checked in late, getting a seat towards the back.

Every step he took, people looked up at him, took photos, and recorded videos.

Even though he wore a duckbill cap.

Yang Yunran had a window seat. Sitting next to him were two girls who seemed to be best friends, stealing glances at him. After takeoff, they mustered the courage to speak to him, fetching him fruit and meals.

Yang Yunran thanked them and chatted with them. In the end, there were autographs and group photos, three hours without a break.

The girls even helped him retouch his photos, cautiously asking, “After editing like this, can I post it on Weibo?”

Yang Yunran saw himself transformed by their beauty filters into having a small melon-seed face, big eyes, and a small mouth. The backdrop of the porthole window was distorted. Feeling helpless, he said, “Sure, looks pretty whitewashed. Thank you for retouching my photos.”

The girls exclaimed excitedly, “You’re so handsome in person! Really handsome!”

The two friends didn’t ask why he was flying economy class, but they asked why he wasn’t acting anymore. Yang Yunran said, “Just graduated and came back.”

“Will you still act in the future?”

“Maybe, currently no plans. I’ll let you know if there’s any news.”

“Great! We’ll be the first to watch your drama!! Fighting! We believe you’ll definitely become popular!”

Yang Yunran spent the entire three hours like this. After landing, he underwent another round of flashes from onlookers.

Yang Yunran bid farewell to the two girls, then walked alone out of the airport. He saw Jiang Yi waiting at the pickup point, but instead of walking towards Jiang Yi, he made a call.

“There are too many people. I’ve been recognized. Let’s not walk together. Jiang Yi, where did you park? What’s your license plate number?”

Jiang Yi answered the phone, “In the parking lot. I’ll walk ahead, you follow me.”

Once Yang Yunran confirmed no one was following them, he dared to get into Jiang Yi’s car. It was fortunate that he wasn’t a top-tier star; people were curious about him, not chasing after him.

Yang Yunran accepted this state of travel, casually chatting with relatively innocent girls who weren’t his fans, being talked about more or less by passersby, most of whom said he looked good. Few people said he was ugly or looked strange.

Yang Yunran quickly closed the car door. Jiang Yi’s car had ample air conditioning, making him shiver slightly.

Jiang Yi adjusted the air vent, leaning over to fasten his seatbelt. He touched Yang Yunran’s slightly sweaty hair, which had been under a hat for a long time, and asked, “Baby, how’s Mom doing now?”

Jiang Yi didn’t know which mom he was talking about. Yang Yunran didn’t clarify, and Jiang Yi thought he meant his foster mother, Professor Chen’s sister.

Yang Yunran said, “She’s scheduled for her second surgery this week. I have to see her before the surgery.” He feared such a thing happening again.

Jiang Yi looked at him silently. “Are you okay? I’ll accompany you.”

Yang Yunran shook his head. “Both my dad and mom are there. I’m fine. I can go see them on my own. You’re busy with work now, and your lab has just been established. You can’t leave.”

Yes, Jiang Yi couldn’t leave; he couldn’t accompany him outside.

He started the car. Yang Yunran noticed it was a Volvo.

“Is it rented?”

Jiang Yi: “Bought.”

Yang Yunran: “On mortgage?”

Jiang Yi: “…Full payment. What do you think of me? Do you think I’m Jiang Fan?”

“…Don’t bring him up.” Yang Yunran turned away.

“Are you having neurological problems? I’m afraid you might suddenly confuse me with him.” Jiang Yi had been worried about this for more than just a day or two, having looked up a lot of relevant information.

Yang Yunran said, “That won’t happen. How could I possibly get it wrong and be confused when you have told me it?”

“Good to know.” While Jiang Yi drove, he opened the navigation system to discuss light-hearted topics as Yang Yunran became increasingly absent-minded, partly because he felt a bit tired.

Jiang Yi drove to his dormitory and turned off the engine. He opened the car door for Yang Yunran. “Do you want to carry your luggage down?”

“No, I’ll just sleep in your clothes.” Yang Yunran looked up in the darkness. “Is this your dormitory? Do you live with other teachers? May I still go? Will it affect Professor Jiang’s reputation?”

“The school’s faculty apartment complex. I live alone in a two-bedroom apartment. Let’s go; it won’t affect anything.” Jiang Yi reached out to hold his hand.

They had briefly held hands while waiting at a traffic light, and now they truly held hands. His palm was large, offering Yang Yunran an inexplicable sense of security with its warm grasp.

Yang Yunran’s initially anxious heart gradually calmed down.

Yang Yunran whispered, “Professor’s apartment, isn’t this inappropriate…”

“It’s almost 2 AM, everyone’s asleep. Come.” Jiang Yi said softly.

Yang Yunran looked up; the entire building was dark. These families of prestigious school teachers maintained good routines, with no noise after midnight.

The apartment wasn’t the old-fashioned type Yang Yunran had imagined; it had an elevator and was located in a small community built around ten years ago. Jiang Yi explained, “I’ve only moved here a few days ago. There are family members at home; my younger brother is on summer break, so I brought you here to stay temporarily. The apartment isn’t big, and neither is the bed. We’ll squeeze in together.”

“I like sleeping squeezed up with you,” Yang Yunran replied softly.

Jiang Yi’s lips curled slightly, “We’ll buy a bigger one in the future.”

“Even if it’s bigger, I’ll still sleep squeezed up with you,” Yang Yunran chuckled.

“Alright.” Jiang Yi reached out and ruffled his soft hair. He was planning to buy a new house; he couldn’t possibly live with Yang Yunran in the faculty apartment. People would gossip.

But buying a house was not something that could be done quickly. He had already contacted a real estate agent to look around.

They arrived home without encountering anyone along the way.

Jiang Yi turned on the lights and fetched new slippers for Yang Yunran. The apartment was spotless and well-organized, having just been moved into. Jiang Yi casually introduced, “Two rooms—one bedroom, one study room. Living room, dining room, kitchen, that’s about it. Still lacking some furniture. When you move in later, I’ll gradually add more.”

A glance around covered everything.

Yang Yunran just glanced around casually and then couldn’t resist reaching out his arm towards him.

Jiang Yi had been looking for new towels and toiletries for him. Seeing his gesture, Jiang Yi leaned down slightly, his tall shadow looming over Yang Yunran. “Do you want a hug?”