Chapter 62

As this memory surfaced in his mind, Qin Qingzhuo was even more astonished, almost incredulous. “So, the boy I met all those years ago… was you?”

Jiang Ji murmured a “yeah.”

“So, this guitar is the one I gave you back then… You’ve been using it all these years?”

Another “yeah” from Jiang Ji.

“Wow…” Qin Qingzhuo sighed, not sure what else to say for a moment. After a while, he asked, “When did you recognize me?”

As the words left his mouth, he suddenly had a guess. “The night after the first recording session ended, when you drove me home, was it because you recognized me?”

“No,” Jiang Ji glanced at him. “Actually, I don’t really remember what you look like.”

“Then…”

“I gave you a ride because you seemed in a hurry. If I had known you were in a hurry to see…” Jiang Ji frowned. “I shouldn’t have given you a ride.”

Qin Qingzhuo chuckled and was about to say something when Jiang Ji continued, “And, even if I had recognized you that early, I wouldn’t have taken that photo. I wasn’t lying just now, the lighting was too dim that night, and you had your cap pulled down low. Besides your eyes and contours, I didn’t really see what you looked like, and with so many years in between, even if I had seen clearly, I probably wouldn’t have remembered, let alone recognized you.”

“That makes sense…” Qin Qingzhuo nodded. “So, it was the melody at the music festival night that made you recognize me?”

“Perhaps.”

“Hmm?”

“When you went to the bar to return my clothes, and when you helped Peng Keshi with the music score, you used that tune to tune the guitar. It sounded familiar to me, but you only played a line, so I wasn’t sure if it was the same song. Also, you seemed to have no impression of that guitar at all, so I was more inclined to think it was just an illusion. Then, you played it again at the music festival, and I could confirm it was the same song. Later, I watched the video of your performance at the Runcheng Music Festival, and you were holding the guitar I used. That’s when I was completely sure it was you.”

“I see…” Qin Qingzhuo nodded, feeling even more incredulous. That such a coincidence could happen to him…

For a moment, Qin Qingzhuo didn’t know what to say, but he felt a sense of sentimentality.

After returning from Runcheng that night, his life quickly underwent a dramatic change. A fan uploaded a video of his performance at the music festival to a video platform, and not long after, he suddenly received an invitation from the movie “Thirteen Days” crew, saying that director Cao Xiuyuan specifically requested him to sing the movie’s theme song and ending song.

Shortly after, “Thirteen Days” was released in major theaters, and the film’s OST spread everywhere, catapulting Qin Qingzhuo to fame.

After that, he signed with Huanyang, busy every day with making albums, meeting the media, participating in programs, organizing tours, and holding concerts… The memory of that night meeting the boy and giving away the guitar gradually faded away amidst the noisy voices and overwhelming invitations, pushed to the extreme periphery of his mind, never to be recalled again.

During these ten years, his life had been so turbulent. Looking back, that night in Runcheng seemed to be the starting point of everything.

And for Jiang Ji, being able to appear before himself with a guitar now, and having his own band, should also have started from that night.

It was truly… quite magical.

Just as he marveled at the mysterious workings of fate, Jiang Ji spoke up from across: “That night, before leaving, you said if you ever had the chance to meet again, you would recognize me when you saw this guitar.”

“I said that?” Qin Qingzhuo had completely forgotten.

“Yeah,” Jiang Ji looked at him and said, “Turns out it was a lie.”

“Not exactly, I…” Staring straight into those eyes, Qin Qingzhuo felt a bit embarrassed, unable to defend himself.

Thinking about the casually spoken words that had been taken seriously by a nine-year-old child and remembered for ten years, Qin Qingzhuo suddenly felt like a faithless deceiver, unexpectedly feeling a sense of guilt.

“I probably didn’t expect myself to forget back then,” Qin Qingzhuo found an excuse for himself as Jiang Ji continued to stare at him without speaking. “But even if I remembered, I couldn’t possibly link the little boy from back then with you. It’s too far-fetched…”

Comparing the present Jiang Ji with the boy from ten years ago, Qin Qingzhuo found it even more unbelievable. “You’ve grown up like this…”

“What do you think I should have looked like?” Jiang Ji asked.

Actually, Qin Qingzhuo couldn’t remember the appearance of the little boy from back then clearly, only remembering that he was a rather beautiful little boy. Although initially stubborn and unwilling to say much, he behaved quite obediently when Qin Qingzhuo taught him to play the guitar.

“Like Zhong Yang, maybe,” Qin Qingzhuo’s tone was somewhat uncertain.

Saying so wasn’t very accurate either; it’s just that Zhong Yang’s appearance seemed relatively well-behaved, resembling the little boy from back then a bit more.

And Jiang Ji… no matter how he thought about it, he felt that he might have been a little wolf cub when he was young, completely unrelated to the word “obedient.”

“Do you like people like Zhong Yang?” Jiang Ji asked, looking at him.

“How could that be,” Qin Qingzhuo denied immediately, laughing, “It’s not about what I like. Why bring that up?”

“Then do you like me?” Jiang Ji asked again.

The atmosphere suddenly changed, becoming ambiguous, indescribable, surging between the two of them.

This question left Qin Qingzhuo silent.

Jiang Ji didn’t urge him either, patiently waiting for his answer.

The sky began to drizzle, and the clouds that had previously lagged behind caught up.

Qin Qingzhuo avoided Jiang Ji’s gaze, looked up at the night sky, and said, “It’s going to rain. Let’s get back to the car early; your song hasn’t been written yet.”

After saying that, he stood up, not giving Jiang Ji a chance to continue questioning.

But it seemed that Jiang Ji didn’t intend to ask anything more. He just uttered a “yeah,” also stood up, slung the guitar on his back, and walked back with him.

Several dozen meters away, the headlights of the car shone from afar, glaringly bright.

The rain came quickly. After walking a few meters, the raindrops that had been soft before turned into a dense curtain.

Qin Qingzhuo quickened his pace and said to Jiang Ji, “It’s pouring. Let’s walk faster.”

After saying that, he felt a touch on the back of his hand, warm to the touch. He instinctively wanted to retract his hand, but Jiang Ji turned his palm over and covered it, holding his hand.

Qin Qingzhuo was taken aback for a moment. The breath that had been slightly unstable due to walking paused slightly.

“I’ll run with you,” Jiang Ji said. Without waiting for his answer, he really started running with him.

“Hey—” Before his brain could react, Qin Qingzhuo subconsciously followed his pace. He felt his hair blown up by the wind, and the moist air brushed against his face.

The headlights from not far away were very bright, allowing him to clearly see the fine raindrops passing through the light, like silver threads.

Although he hadn’t drunk tonight, that dizzy feeling, as if stepping into a swaying dream, appeared again.

It felt like running towards the light in the sky.

His heart was pounding fast, as if it had never beaten so fast before.

It resounded clearly, thump-thump-thumping in his chest.

When they reached the car, the raindrops had turned into bean-sized droplets, and he could feel the weight of the raindrops on his skin.

Jiang Ji opened the rear door, letting Qin Qingzhuo sit in first, and then he himself got in.

As soon as the door closed, the rain outside poured down like a waterfall, hitting the sunroof above their heads, making a pitter-patter sound.

Judging by the sound, it was no less intense than the previous rain.

Qin Qingzhuo couldn’t help but be grateful that they had run over just now; otherwise, he would have been soaked to the bone when he got into the car.

However, the ambiguous atmosphere from just now did not dissipate with the change of location. Instead, it became even denser in the confined space of the car.

He had a strong feeling of being on the verge of losing control, and he didn’t like losing control. At his age, he preferred the feeling of being in control and at ease in everything.

Perhaps the decision he made last time, to “wait for the tide to recede,” was wrong. Qin Qingzhuo thought, matters of the heart couldn’t tolerate ambiguity; this repeated indulgence would eventually drag both people into a vortex.

If one wasn’t ready to accept it, then they should resolutely refuse.

It was time to clarify things, but… where to start? Since tonight was about bringing Jiang Ji out to write songs, let’s get back to the point and start with this love song.

“How’s the song coming along?” Qin Qingzhuo asked.

“I don’t have any ideas,” Jiang Ji leaned back in his seat. The back seat was spacious, and his legs were slightly stretched forward.

“Is it really that difficult to write?” Qin Qingzhuo smiled, “It can’t be that bad.”

“I’ve never written a love song, and you’re the mentor,” Jiang Ji turned his head to look at him, “Shouldn’t you guide me in this situation?”

“…Maybe I shouldn’t have brought Jiang Ji out tonight. No matter how you think about it, it feels like I dug myself a hole.”

But even after going through this once, he felt that he would still do the same thing. Could he really make Jiang Ji write a song on his own on this rainy night?

“A love song, huh…” Qin Qingzhuo turned his face to look out the window. “Jiang Ji, do you know why you can’t write a love song?”

Jiang Ji didn’t speak.

“Have you been in love before?” Qin Qingzhuo asked again.

“No,” Jiang Ji replied briefly.

Qin Qingzhuo fell silent. Jiang Ji’s answer surprised him, yet it didn’t surprise him that much.

He was surprised that Jiang Ji had never had a romantic experience before. After all, he looked quite flirtatious, as evidenced by the reactions of the girls in the audience during the recording of the program. But Jiang Ji’s previous personality was indeed very closed-off, a person who completely resisted opening up to others. It was hard to imagine him falling for anyone.

After a pause, he continued to ask.

“Then, have you ever liked anyone?”

“I like you,” Jiang Ji said. “Does that count?”

“Besides me?”

“Only liked you.”

Qin Qingzhuo’s fingers intertwined, gently twisting against each other as he pondered how to phrase his words without hurting Jiang Ji.

Even though rejecting others’ advances had always come easily to him, facing Jiang Ji made him feel an immense difficulty.

Was it because the rainy night softened his heart?

He hesitated before speaking, the words feeling somewhat challenging, but he knew he had to be clear: “Jiang Ji, you’ve never been in love, never liked anyone. To be blunt, you’re completely inexperienced when it comes to emotions, like a blank sheet of paper. You may not even know what real affection feels like…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Ji interrupted him: “Qin Qingzhuo.”

Qin Qingzhuo paused.

“Let me speak first,” Jiang Ji’s gaze fixed on the front windshield, “Let me finish, okay?”

After a moment’s pause, Qin Qingzhuo said, “…Alright, go ahead.”

As the words left his mouth, he realized he was once again indulging Jiang Ji, but he couldn’t restrain himself.

“I don’t know when it started,” Jiang Ji’s voice was slightly muffled by the rain outside, but it sounded unusually clear, “It should have been even earlier than recognizing you at that music festival. As for why I like you, I can’t explain. I’ve never encountered someone like you before, nor have I experienced these feelings. It may seem abrupt, but I hope you won’t mind.

“In the past, I felt that life was incredibly dull, devoid of any excitement, yet I had to keep living because of debts, because my mom hoped I would live on, because of someone I met when I was a kid who told me that as long as I lived well, good things would happen someday. I believed everything else that person said, but I’ve always been skeptical about that statement.

“For so many years, I’ve always loved the night, because when night falls, it means the day is about to end. Another day survived, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. But on the night I returned from the music festival, sitting in the car and watching you fall asleep next to me, I suddenly wished this day could be longer, not end so soon. When this thought occurred to me, even I found it unbelievable.

“I don’t know how others act when they like someone. At first, I thought about hiding these feelings. But after being eliminated from the competition, I realized I felt unexpectedly despondent. I’ve never cared about the outcome of this program’s competition, or what place I would get. The only reason for this sense of loss… is you.”

“Afterwards, upon careful consideration, I felt that I had to tell you about this. Because I hope to be with you, and I also hope that you could feel the same way about me as I do about you… I hope that I could be special to you, different from everyone else. So, Qin Qingzhuo, please don’t reject me so quickly. Give me some time, I will gradually become better, become someone like you. Okay?” Jiang Ji finished speaking, looking at Qin Qingzhuo. “I’ve said everything.”

“I…” Qin Qingzhuo felt he had to say something, but faced with Jiang Ji’s confession that was almost like baring his soul, he was completely thrown off. The words he wanted to say seemed to lose their effect at this moment. He didn’t know how to respond to Jiang Ji.

The boy who confessed was so calm, sincere, and candid, as if he wanted to lay bare his beating, fiery heart for himself.

But it was too heavy, and too hot, so Qin Qingzhuo dared not reach out to take it.

After gathering his thoughts for a while, he finally took a breath and struggled to organize his words. “Jiang Ji, honestly, you suddenly telling me all this has left me quite confused. I don’t want to give you a hasty response, this matter… let me think about it.”

“Is it because you don’t like me?” Jiang Ji asked, looking at him.

Being earnestly stared at by those clear, black-and-white eyes, Qin Qingzhuo almost instinctively denied, “Of course not.”

“Then it’s because you like me.” The other person quickly followed up.

Qin Qingzhuo was speechless.

“But you haven’t figured it out yet,” Jiang Ji finished his sentence for him, “That’s okay, I’ll wait.”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t know what to say. Indeed, he hadn’t figured it out yet. He needed time, and he needed to stay calm.

The silence lingered for a while. Qin Qingzhuo listened to the sound of rain hitting the car body, feeling a little distracted, his mind in turmoil.

“I actually can write love songs, I’m just lacking a bit of inspiration,” Jiang Ji suddenly said.

Qin Qingzhuo turned to look at him.

It was always in these dimly lit moments that his features seemed to radiate a kind of dazzling beauty that intoxicated people.

“Qin Qingzhuo, give me some inspiration,” Jiang Ji looked at him and whispered softly.

Before Qin Qingzhuo could respond, he leaned down and kissed Qin Qingzhuo’s lips.