The beeping sound of the machine echoed, and Yu Wanlai felt his head spin, hearing voices around him, but he couldn’t make out any words.

He was pushed into the emergency room and, not long after, was pushed back out. The people around him were bustling, as if everything was very lively. His world was filled with a blinding white, silent and empty. Just as he was about to go mad from this feeling of emptiness, a flash of white light passed by, and then he knew nothing.

When he woke up again, he found himself in a hospital room. A person was lying on the bed, asleep. He blinked, then suddenly realized who that person was. He opened his arms, wanting to hug the person, but found that he couldn’t touch anything. Fear overcame him, and he shouted a few times, but the person on the bed didn’t react. “What’s going on? Mom… Mom!”

Su Yaxin seemed to sense something, suddenly opening her eyes, but there was nothing in front of her. At that moment, there was a knock on the door—”knock knock”—and Chu Yi pushed the door open. He was holding a small baby in his arms, the baby calm and quiet in the swaddling cloth, not crying or fussing, very well-behaved.

Su Yaxin lifted one hand and looked toward the door, “…Quick, bring Shengsheng over here!”

Yu Wanlai leaned in, looking at the baby’s chubby little hands, unable to resist reaching out to touch them. “Shengsheng, Chu Shengsheng, that’s a nice name.” Similarly, his fingers brushed against emptiness. A surge of heat filled his eyes, and with a blink, tears fell one by one, silently hitting the ground and disappearing without a trace.

Chu Yi had just placed the baby next to the bed, thinking that Su Yaxin would be able to see her baby as soon as she turned around. Yu Wanlai followed and returned to the bedside. After the baby was placed on the bed, it made a couple of soft sounds, then waved its little hands and opened its eyes.

Chu Yi quickly placed a finger to his lips and gave two quiet “shh” sounds, not even considering whether such a small child could understand what he meant.

Yu Wanlai couldn’t help but smile slightly, the corners of his lips curling. It had been a long time since he saw his father so flustered. It seemed that obedient children were always favored by their parents. He lowered his head to look at the baby, but after a few seconds, his brows furrowed, and he quickly shifted his gaze. Wrapped tightly as the baby was, he hadn’t seen clearly, but why was it so… ugly? Wrinkled and dark.

Yu Wanlai’s gaze shifted to his dad and then to his mom. Seeing both of them gazing lovingly at the baby, he fell into a brief silence, somewhat doubting the world. Did they not think this child was ugly?

Wow! Then he remembered, he had always been at odds with his parents before, not listening to them, playing dangerous racing games, which made them very sad, but they still saw him as their son.

Yu Wanlai once again turned his attention to Chu Shengsheng. Unexpectedly, he seemed to meet the baby’s gaze. Yu Wanlai was startled, and when he came to his senses, he smiled bitterly and shook his head. How could he see him?

Chu Shengsheng’s big, round eyes blinked steadily, and his chubby little hands reached out in the air. Then, he suddenly began to laugh, “giggle, giggle.”

Chu Yi, following the baby’s gaze, looked around but saw nothing, so he didn’t pay it any mind.

Yu Wanlai furrowed his brows again, but it really felt like the baby was seeing him. He tentatively reached his hand toward the little hand, his heart racing as if it were about to leap out of his chest. Unconsciously, he held his breath. Just as his finger was about to touch the hand, that familiar sensation of weightlessness hit him, and a blinding white light flashed before his eyes. He quickly withdrew his hand, shielding his eyes, and in the next moment, he lost consciousness again. The world returned to silence.

Su Yaxin, inexplicably feeling a sense of soreness in her eyes, gently stroked the baby beside her, who had fallen back into a deep sleep. A tear slowly fell from her eye, accidentally landing on the baby’s forehead. The baby continued to breathe evenly, still asleep.

Not sure how much time had passed, but it seemed like Yu Wanlai’s world had once again returned to being lively. He could vaguely hear some sounds—some coming from doctors, others from nurses—and occasionally, there would be familiar voices near his ears, as if someone were leaning close to his head speaking to him. However, he still couldn’t make out what was being said and couldn’t remember who the voice belonged to.

Yu Wanlai felt an intense pain in his head, as though someone had struck him with a sharp object. He wanted to raise his hand to hold his head, but his hand wouldn’t lift, as though something were tightly holding it down.

Since the hospital couldn’t accommodate many people overnight, after sending Yu Cheng and Qin Shuang away, Yu Qingyue stood quietly alone on the street for a long time. It wasn’t until a “bang” rang out and a colorful firework exploded in the night sky that he suddenly came to his senses. He lifted his eyelids and looked at the sky, feeling a cold breeze brush across his face, stinging his cheeks.

Yu Qingyue furrowed his brows, reached up to touch his cheek, and in the next moment, his fingers touched something wet. The firework from earlier seemed to have triggered something, and immediately after, more “bang, bang, bang” sounds of fireworks began to fill the air. Yu Qingyue seemed to faintly smell gunpowder in the air, though the fireworks appeared to be far away from him—how could that be?

He lowered his gaze and saw a milk tea shop across the street still open. He remembered someone once saying, “When you’re feeling down, you should drink something sweet.” The voice sounded as if it were right in his ear. Without thinking, he walked toward the shop. As he got closer, he saw the “Happy New Year” and snowflake patterns on the window. It was only then that he realized it was New Year’s Eve. In previous years, their family didn’t really celebrate the occasion; they would choose a warm city in the south to stay for a few days and enjoy the trip. This year, they hadn’t gone anywhere, and he had forgotten that today was New Year’s Eve.

As soon as he stepped into the shop, the clerk greeted him enthusiastically, “Happy New Year! What would you like to drink?” After returning the greeting with “Happy New Year,” Yu Qingyue awkwardly stood in the relatively small store, unsure of what to do. This was his first time coming to a milk tea shop on his own. Usually, Yu Wanlai would bring it to him, and occasionally, if he wanted a drink, he might ask Xu Ran to get one for him.

He looked down at the electronic menu screen in front of him, unsure of what to choose. Luckily, there weren’t many people in the shop, so he had time to make his decision. After a while, the clerk, noticing that the customer hadn’t made a choice yet, tentatively spoke, “Would you like me to recommend something?” Yu Qingyue looked up at the clerk, “No need, I want the one with black pearls only. Do you have that?” He remembered that Yu Wanlai usually bought this kind, and the colorful drinks on the screen, with layers of different ingredients, didn’t appeal to him at all.

The clerk smiled, “Sure, I’ll get you the pearl milk tea. Do you want a large, medium, or small size?”

“Medium,” Yu Qingyue replied. It was late, and he didn’t want to drink too much sweet stuff.

The clerk asked, “Would you like it hot or iced?” Yu Qingyue frowned; was it really that complicated? “…Hot,” he replied. Who would want iced tea on such a cold day?

“Okay, that’ll be 16 yuan. Please scan the QR code to pay.”

Yu Qingyue didn’t expect the milk tea to be so cheap. He wondered if it was because he had chosen the wrong shop. He hesitated for a moment, but under the clerk’s enthusiastic gaze, he took out his phone from his coat pocket and paid for the tea.

A few minutes later, the clerk handed him the packaged milk tea, and attached to the bag was a red New Year’s promotional flyer. Yu Qingyue walked out of the store, and the clerk who had taken his order turned to whisper to another employee.

“Wow, he’s so handsome and so thoughtful, buying milk tea for his girlfriend.”
“Wow, I wish I could have a sweet relationship too!”

Yu Qingyue’s legs weakened for a moment, almost missing the step at the door. His ears involuntarily turned pink, and he couldn’t help but think of someone. His ears turned even redder, and his face gradually heated up.

Yu Qingyue: ………

The milk tea bag swayed as he walked, crossing the wide road and taking the elevator up. Eventually, it was placed on the bedside table in a hospital room. Yu Qingyue pulled up a chair and sat next to Yu Wanlai’s bed. As he had done countless times before, he casually slipped his cold hand under the blanket and placed it into Yu Wanlai’s warm palm. Even after his hand had warmed up, he didn’t pull it out. Instead, he gently leaned down, pulling the blanket back and resting his chin on the side. His head tilted slightly, and his cheek touched Yu Wanlai’s hand.

Yu Qingyue’s eyelids drooped with fatigue, and without realizing it, he fell asleep, hugging Yu Wanlai’s hand by the bed.

……

When Yu Wanlai was jolted awake by the blinding light overhead, he was still a bit dazed. He wasn’t sure if the moments he spent with his parents were a dream or if he had really returned to his original world. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked around.

Sure enough, this wasn’t his parents’ place, and there was no sign of them. But his thoughts were interrupted, possibly because his sudden movements had aggravated his injury, and waves of dull pain quickly filled his mind. He remembered that he had encountered the male protagonist halfway and was struck on the head. So… it must have been a dream after all.

Yu Wanlai had wanted to raise his hand to touch his head, but the hand he usually used seemed to be tightly held by something, and he couldn’t move it. So, he had to raise his other hand and gently touch the back of his head. As he slowly sat up, he saw someone leaning over the side of his bed.

After a few breaths, the pain in the back of his head seemed to gradually ease. He blinked, his gaze settling on this person’s slightly curled hair, and he finally recognized it was Yu Qingyue.

Yu Wanlai: ………

He had always refused to let him touch his face, but now he was sleeping soundly with his hand as a pillow. It felt like that part of his arm wasn’t even his own anymore, tingling as if someone were pricking him with needles.

Yu Wanlai held his breath and slowly pulled his hand back. Just as he was about to finish, Yu Qingyue suddenly woke up. His hand was grabbed again.

When Yu Qingyue looked up, he saw Yu Wanlai kneeling in front of him. His eyes instantly filled with overwhelming joy, but soon, they began to sting, and he gradually couldn’t see clearly.

“Brother! You’re awake! You finally woke up… you…”

Yu Wanlai’s eyes widened, his mind struck with shock, and even the slight pain in his head was forgotten. He leaned forward, raising his free hand to gently touch the corner of Yu Qingyue’s eye, panicking as he spoke, “Don’t cry! I won’t pull my hand away, you can use it as a pillow as long as you want, I’ll keep it there, even if it gets numb.”

Wow, the male protagonist is really crying. Although he had seen his younger brother with reddened eyes before, it was nothing compared to real tears. This person usually had a cold expression, and Yu Wanlai had once wondered what it would be like if Yu Qingyue really cried. Now that he saw it, he was flustered.

Hearing Yu Wanlai’s words, Yu Qingyue’s ears turned red, and he immediately let go of his hand with a “slap” and stood up. His cheeks turned pink, and he wiped away his tears, choking out, “Who wanted to use your hand as a pillow? I just accidentally fell asleep! So narcissistic.”

Yu Wanlai naturally didn’t know how many times in the past few days Yu Qingyue had accidentally done something like this.

He nodded. Fine, Yu Qingyue really didn’t like being touched by him. It was just his own overthinking. Yu Qingyue noticed that Yu Wanlai suddenly stopped talking and felt a bit regretful about what he had said. The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. His gaze suddenly fell on the milk tea that he had forgotten about for a long time.

Yu Qingyue: ………

He hesitantly reached out to touch it, and it was only faintly warm. He wasn’t sure if it was still drinkable. He opened the straw, pierced the seal, and prepared to take a sip to test it.