Chapter 77

The next day, Yang Yunran went with Jiang Yi to look at some properties. He wore a mask the entire time and decided on a community that was most convenient for Jiang Yi’s commute.

After that, they went to walk the dog at the new house Yang Yunran’s father had arranged for him. According to Xu Xing, it had been bought but never lived in, and the furniture had been specially rearranged to make it convenient for Yang Yunran’s work.

Doudou was helping him walk the dog, and when Yang Yunran and Jiang Yi arrived, she happened to be carrying a box of deliveries back.

“Ran-ge! You came just in time!” Doudou glanced at Jiang Yi.

Every time she saw the boss’s boyfriend, she couldn’t help but recall the dramatic scene in the studio a few months ago… the day when her idol’s image collapsed right in front of her.

Yang Yunran noticed the packaging on the box: “Yuduo?” Isn’t that his mom’s brand?

Doudou said, “Oh, right. Their PR suddenly contacted Brother Kevin and said they wanted you to be their spokesperson. They sent a whole bunch of stuff, and two more boxes were sent to the company.”

Yang Yunran was taken aback, thinking it was his mom’s idea.

He wanted to do it but…

Yang Yunran said, “I’m a singer who wears a mask all the time and never shows my face. How can I endorse skincare products? That would ruin our brand’s reputation.”

Doudou replied, “Brother Kevin said the same, but their PR was very enthusiastic, saying they really like you, especially their boss. They sent a lot of high-end products over.”

She hadn’t opened them yet and asked Yang Yunran. Yang Yunran said, “Open it up. The extras can be given away in a lottery later. I’ll do the ad for free.”

“What? Why do the ad for free?”

Yang Yunran said, “Because it’s my family’s brand.”

Doudou: “???”

As Doudou opened the packaging, a promotional poster of the current spokesperson, Jiang Fan, fell to the ground.

Jiang Yi: “…”

Yang Yunran: “…”

Doudou: “…”

Doudou quickly said, “Uh… Ran-ge, I’ll go get another delivery!” and ran off.

Yang Yunran looked at the expressionless Jiang Yi and said, “…Let me explain!”

Yang Yunran continued, “I’ll immediately get the brand to change the spokesperson!”

Jiang Yi said, “Do as you wish.”

Yang Yunran crouched down, crumpled Jiang Fan’s poster, and threw it away. Not knowing the contacts at Yuduo’s brand, he could only call Yang Wanyu.

This matter was easy to handle. He only mentioned it, and Yang Wanyu agreed without asking why. Yang Yunran said, “But Mom, I can’t be your spokesperson. My assistant said your business team seems to be preparing for me to be the spokesperson. But I’m a singer who doesn’t show his face, endorsing skincare and cosmetics has no credibility and would harm the brand.”

Yang Wanyu thought for a moment and understood the reason. A few days ago, Yang Yunran’s album went on sale, and she mobilized the entire company to support him. An album cost only 12 yuan, and she bought them and gave them to all the employees. She also had all the brand live streams under her company play Yang Yunran’s songs on repeat, constantly promoting him.

The people below thought it was the boss’s preference and quickly contacted Yang Yunran’s agent, Zhou Kai.

Yang Wanyu said, “I’ll have the spokesperson changed immediately. Ranran, who do you like? I’ll replace them with whoever you want. The entire group’s brands can be changed. There are 25 sub-brands in total, all can be switched to the star you like.”

Twenty-five sub-brands? That many?

Yang Yunran thought there was only one, Yuduo, and felt a bit overwhelmed. He said, “Just not Jiang Fan… I don’t have any particular favorite stars.”

Yang Wanyu said, “I would like to replace them all with you, but since you don’t want to do it, I’ll let the business team find someone and report to you. The assistant will add you as a friend shortly. Everything will be according to your preference.”

After saying this, Yang Wanyu, without waiting for Yang Yunran’s reaction, changed her tone and said, “Mom is about to get on a plane to come back. Ranran, I’ll be able to see you soon. Your father has told me everything. Mom supports you wholeheartedly, no matter if you like boys or girls, and will always be your strongest support. You don’t have to be afraid or anxious.”

“Mom…” Yang Yunran felt a lump in his throat and turned his face away so Jiang Yi wouldn’t see, thanking her softly.

Shortly after, she boarded the plane, and he hung up the phone.

Jiang Yi came over, holding his face gently, frowning slightly. “What did your mom say to you? Why are you crying?”

“I… came out to my family recently. She agreed, she has no objections,” Yang Yunran said softly, hugging Jiang Yi. “She’ll definitely like you. When I was a kid, she wanted me to do well in school. She was happy when I got perfect scores. She likes smart kids, and you’re very smart. So she’ll definitely like you.”

Jiang Yi asked, “When you were a kid? Your childhood was…” He noticed the inconsistency in Yang Yunran’s words but stopped himself from saying more.

He mistakenly thought Yang Yunran was imagining things. Not being loved as a child, and being raised by nannies and relatives, Yang Yunran might have created a series of fantasies about his biological parents, mistaking illusions and dreams for reality.

He patted Yang Yunran’s head. “Are you under a lot of stress lately? Do you need to see a doctor?”

Yang Yunran looked up, his eyes misty. “See what, doctor? I haven’t had any memory loss lately. Every time you ask me, I remember clearly. I’ve forgotten many things, but I remember you.”

“A psychologist,” Jiang Yi’s gaze was deep. “I can also be your doctor, but you have to tell me everything.”

However, Yang Yunran clearly had things he found difficult to talk about, such as physical deficiencies, fantasies, pressure, memory confusion, and emotional ups and downs.

Yang Yunran looked at him and slowly said, “I don’t think I need to see a psychologist. When I’m with you, I have no stress and no worries. Talking to a doctor, does it help? No… I’ve seen doctors before, took some medicine, got better, but after a while, without the medicine, it was the same. I still feel happier being in a relationship with you.”

Jiang Yi looked at him intently for ten seconds, ruffled his hair, and then said softly, “Let’s leave it for now. I’ll help you make an appointment with a good doctor next time. I can’t be your psychologist; I don’t have a license, and doctors can’t have relationships with their patients.”

Yang Yunran’s eyes lit up. “Oh, they can’t have relationships, but can they have physical relations?”

Jiang Yi: “…”

The next day, the seventh, was Jiang Yi’s birthday. Yang Yunran planned a date at Universal Studios, buying two wizard robes and two wands. Jiang Yi was a bit resistant but wore them anyway, holding a wand, and let Yang Yunran take pictures of him in various scenes. He complied, despite his reluctance.

From behind the camera, Yang Yunran peeked out and said, “My parents’ flight lands tonight. Can you dress nicely?”

“Like this?” Jiang Yi pointed to his green wizard robe, which Yang Yunran had picked out for him, skeptical. “You call this nice?”

Yang Yunran said, “Of course, it’s better than your black marathon tank top.”

Jiang Yi didn’t respond, looking a bit helpless.

Yang Yunran continued, “But we can’t wear this to the airport. I bought new clothes for you, we’ll change later.”

Due to picking them up at the airport, Yang Yunran’s original plans were disrupted. He hurriedly gave Jiang Yi his gift: “Clothes, and a ring! One for you, one for me.” He then put on his ring, saying, “I have to rush to the airport now, I’m almost late. I won’t be with you tonight, but we’ll have dinner together tomorrow. Remember to wear the clothes I bought you, you’ll look handsome.”

After saying this, Yang Yunran turned, then quickly turned back, fumbling to take off the ring on his finger and put it on Jiang Yi’s. “I got it wrong, this one is for you. I’m off. Happy birthday, gege!”

“Wait,” Jiang Yi pulled him back, leaned down to kiss his lips, and slid the ring onto Yang Yunran’s finger. “The ring should have been given by me. Let me see you off to the car. You’ll be with your parents tonight, right? Can you leave tomorrow night for me?”

Yang Yunran met his deep gaze, blushing slightly, and said, “I’ll try my best.”

Yang Yunran took the company’s nanny van to the airport.

His album sold well, elevating his status, and the nanny van was upgraded accordingly.

It was past ten in the evening when he picked up Yang Wanyu, who came down from the private jet wrapped in a gray cashmere shawl.

“Ranran.” Yang Wanyu, only a bit over 1.6 meters tall and wearing sneakers, looked well-rested and hugged Yang Yunran for a few seconds.

“Mom,” he called out.

“Did you come alone? Where’s your boyfriend?”

“I thought it would be too late tonight, and you might want to rest as soon as you arrive, so I didn’t ask him to come,” Yang Yunran replied, calling Xu Xing, who was standing nearby, “Dad,” and draping the coat he brought over Yang Wanyu’s shoulders.

In the car on the way home, Yang Yunran briefly introduced Jiang Yi. Yang Wanyu accepted him well, continually praising him, saying he looked upright, seemed intelligent, and had excellent academic credentials. Xu Xing remained silent throughout; while he respected his child’s preferences, he didn’t fully understand them.

When they got out of the car, Xu Xing came around to help her, “Xiaoxue, you just had surgery. This car is a bit high; take your time.”

Yang Yunran’s mind went blank for several seconds: “Dad, what did you just call Mom?”

Xu Xing, steady but slightly embarrassed, replied, “What’s wrong? Your mom’s former name was Yang Xue; I’ve always called her that.”

Yang Yunran was stunned, “Mom changed her name; she used to be called Yang Xue.” That’s his mom’s name!

Yang Yunran’s tone quickened, “The name Yang Wanyu, was it changed later… why did you change it?”

“It’s a long story,” Yang Wanyu said. “Ranran, let’s go upstairs and talk.”

Once they were upstairs, Yang Wanyu explained, “You were switched at birth. I named you Yang Yunran. You have the surname Yang because your dad didn’t know I was pregnant, and we were separated for many years. You took my surname. At that time, I was working as a nurse in Beijing, living in a rented house with you. The pressure was immense, so I returned to my hometown shortly after and got married. The child’s name was changed to Tao Ran. To make ends meet, I opened a barbershop.”

“Later, the child got lost. My ex-husband… he was a heavy drinker,” Yang Wanyu’s voice turned flat as she recalled unpleasant memories, “The year after the child got lost, we divorced. He got into a drunk-driving accident, was paralyzed, and I paid for his treatment for several years, but he never woke up. I left my hometown. Later, his family kept looking for me to take responsibility, so I changed my name and phone number.”

Yang Yunran was immediately recalled.

He remembered the surgery to remove his eyeball as a child, which was due to a car accident at the age of three. His father, Tao Guangfeng, had been paralyzed in bed for as long as he could remember.

The accident happened because Tao Guangfeng, who was driving drunk, got into the accident on the highway with him.

Yang Yunran did not have a deep memory of this; it could be said that he had almost no memory at all.

His mother occasionally took him to the hospital to see the paralyzed Tao Guangfeng. Her gaze toward Tao Guangfeng was always very strange, not like love, but more like hate and resentment.

At that time, he also had a grandmother, an elderly woman with a red, alcoholic face. She sat by Tao Guangfeng’s bed crying, and every time his mother brought him there, his grandmother would stand up and hit her, saying, “Why didn’t you just kill him? You knew he was drunk and you let him drive! Why didn’t you stop him? Were you trying to get him killed?”

Yang Yunran was protected by his mother, and he was timid and inferior. He liked to cover his face with a hood and hide behind her. His grandmother would hit him, too, being very unkind, saying, “Why didn’t you die too? You’re a jinx, a harbinger of doom!”

Yang Yunran kept silent and didn’t speak. His eyes were very painful, so he cried.

Later, as he grew older, Yang Yunran gradually learned from the scattered conversations of adults that Tao Guangfeng was a “bad person.”

Beating was an everyday occurrence. Although he didn’t remember it clearly, he had some old wounds, burn marks, or traces of the beating.

His mother asked for a divorce from Tao Guangfeng and asked him to sign the papers. So after getting drunk, Tao Guangfeng took him out in the car and said he would take this wild seed to the wild to fend for himself.

There was no doubt that Tao Guangfeng had an accident. In the part of the road where there was no monitoring, the front of the car was smoke.

Later memories that Yang Yunran could remember clearly were when his mother, Yang Xue, took him away from their hometown to another county where she opened a hair salon to make a living. This lasted until he was seventeen when she was diagnosed with late-stage cancer, suffering for a long time without ever telling him a word.

He was lost in thought.

Yang Wanyu suddenly brought up, “Mom knew about your car accident at age three. Your uncle was driving and took you out to play… and got into an accident with another car. Mom also knew you… had surgery.” She looked at Yang Yunran’s right eye with heartache, because upon close examination, one could still see the difference.

This made her feel heartbroken, and her eyes turned red.

“If Mom hadn’t loved sleeping so much when she just gave birth to you, always holding you in her arms, you wouldn’t have been mistaken for someone else! It’s all Mom’s fault.”

She blamed herself desperately, sniffed, and tried not to cry in front of her child.

Yang Yunran collected his thoughts and hurriedly comforted her. But in his mind, the puzzle persisted.

It was also the first time he knew that the original owner’s surgery to remove the eyeball was also due to a car accident at the age of three, and was also due to a collision with another car. The reasons and timing of his accident were the same.

He only then knew why Professor Chen had taken on most of his medical expenses.

Age three…

Yang Yunran struggled to recall memories from an even younger age, but his head hurt like being pricked by needles.

He held Yang Wanyu speechlessly, his mind blank.

Xing Xing noticed something wrong with him “Ran Ran, why is your face so pale?”

Yang Wanyu’s voice had a nasal sound, “Did Mom scare you?”

“No.” Yang Yunran shook his head and forced a smile.

Xing Xing’s eyes carried concern, and his expression was somewhat serious, “You should rest. Is work too tiring? Is the company exploiting you? Should I have someone buy out your company?”

Yang Yunran felt it was too exaggerated and thought he was joking too, waving his hand to decline.

Back in his room, Yang Yunran took a shower and talked to Jiang Yi on the phone for more than ten minutes, discussing the issue of memories before the age of three. Learning that Jiang Yi remembered things even from inside the womb surprised Yang Yunran for at least half a minute. He said, “I’m different from you. I just can’t remember. All the things before I turned three.”

Jiang Yi spoke in a calm tone, “You had surgery. I saw the CT scan from when you were little. There’s a shadow in your hippocampus, so you definitely wouldn’t remember things from back then.”

Yang Yunran asked, “Why do you have my childhood CT scan?”

Jiang Yi replied, “I got it from your uncle. I was worried there might be something I didn’t know about you, so I wanted to catch it early and treat it.”

Yang Yunran lay on the bed, “So do I have any problems that you don’t know about?”

Jiang Yi said, “I can’t tell from the CT scan. You’ll have to tell me.”

After hanging up the phone, Yang Yunran fell asleep. He had a clear dream after a long absence.

In the dream, he saw Chen Fangru and Yang Liming as a couple.

They looked younger, and the dream was filled with laughter and joy. Chen Fangru was very beautiful when she was young and even more gentle. Her lush black curls were permed, and she wore bright jewelry, looking like a female star from a magazine.

She held him in her arms, rocking him and humming off-key songs. Yang Liming’s broad face also appeared. Chen Fangru said, “Lao Yang, look how cute our baby is. He looks just like me, so handsome, with big, dark eyes. He’ll definitely grow up to be a handsome guy.”