Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 69
Extra 2: Sincere Heart Works Wonders
In the second half of the year, Gu Jiahe and Li Zhao had been busy with the furnishings for their new home. Finally, they turned the north-facing secondary bedroom into a multifunctional room. In the thirteen to fourteen square meter room, there was a 1.5-meter-wide sofa bed against the wall, and on the opposite wall hung a large projection screen.
On the other side was a walnut desk over three meters long. Each of them used half of it occasionally for work. Of course, most of the time, they played new games together.
Li Zhao left quite a few things in his own three-bedroom apartment, so they found some time to go back and move his belongings.
Li Zhao’s clothes weren’t that many, just a few sets of suits and shirts he often wore, along with some personal items. There were more electronic devices and various reference books he used for work.
Gu Jiahe stood in front of Li Zhao’s huge bookcase, carefully opening the glass door and helping him organize the books.
He found a transparent plastic storage box and carefully placed each book inside.
He quickly walked to the last vertical section of the bookcase, where Li Zhao’s numerous trophies were placed.
“Do you want to move these trophies?” Gu Jiahe asked without turning his head.
Li Zhao was busy in the bedroom and didn’t hear clearly, “What?”
Gu Jiahe asked again loudly, “I said, are you keeping these trophies?”
Li Zhao, busy with something else, replied, “Up to you! The bookcase can be cleared.”
Gu Jiahe opened the cabinet door and took out each trophy carefully. Behind the trophies, there was a thick book.
He struggled a bit to pull it out; the book seemed to have been untouched for a long time and was covered in dust.
He gently blew on it, dusting off the dirt.
There were only four numbers written on the cover of the book, “1990,” followed by a hyphen.
There were no other years written after the hyphen.
Gu Jiahe gently opened the book and looked at the first page. He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
It was a childhood photo of Li Zhao, sitting shamelessly on the ground wearing open-crotch pants. There was even a little tuft of hair tied on his forehead, with two round lipstick marks on his cheeks.
“Hahaha—” Gu Jiahe laughed louder and louder.
Li Zhao walked into the room and immediately saw what he was holding, immediately taking it from him, “What’s so funny about this?”
“It’s hilarious! Let me see a few more pages.” Gu Jiahe reached out to grab it.
Li Zhao, unusually embarrassed, refused to yield.
As they tussled, two thin sheets of paper fell out from the middle of the book.
Gu Jiahe squatted down to pick them up and held them up to take a look. One sheet had a photo attached to it.
The background was mostly white, with a small figure in the distance.
Gu Jiahe immediately recognized it—it was Li Zhao’s old WeChat profile picture.
“What’s this?” Gu Jiahe looked at the photo, not understanding why Li Zhao would use such a meaningless photo as his profile picture.
Li Zhao was about to say something but then stopped himself, swallowing his words, and finally said, “Taken in high school.”
Gu Jiahe stared at the photo, not knowing what to think.
The clarity of the printed version was clearer than what he saw on his phone. The figure in the distance looked somewhat familiar no matter how he looked at it.
He took a few seconds to react and recognized that cotton-padded jacket.
It was the one he often wore when he was 18.
“Is this… me?” Gu Jiahe raised his eyes to look at him.
Li Zhao nodded only then.
Gu Jiahe suddenly felt like memories were flying towards him like endless snowflakes.
He tightened his fingers holding the photo.
Under the photo, there was another piece of paper. He took it out and saw that there was a thin, old-style movie ticket attached to it.
The ink on the movie ticket was almost faded, with only a few radicals left sporadically. The date at the bottom was vaguely May 2008.
That was the movie ticket for the first time he went to see Iron Man with Li Zhao.
Gu Jiahe didn’t expect Li Zhao to keep these things for so long, together with his childhood photos. They hadn’t been lost despite so many moves.
The two of them didn’t speak for a long time. Gu Jiahe’s eyes were fixed on these two pieces of white paper.
It was already difficult for him to recall at which moment he had started to faintly like Li Zhao. Was it the first glance he took at him on a rainy night, or when Li Zhao hugged his shoulders while playing games at his house?
Time had blurred everything into a confusing account.
Gu Jiahe felt his heart tightening and a strange excitement that he couldn’t suppress. He didn’t even know what he was happy about. It seemed like suddenly being confirmed that he wasn’t just a lonely admirer back then.
“What are you thinking?” Li Zhao took the booklet and carefully put the two pieces of paper back.
Gu Jiahe smiled after a long while and asked, “You didn’t fall in love with me at first sight, did you?”
Seeing him starting to grin again, Li Zhao casually replied, “Yes, so what? Surprised?”
Gu Jiahe didn’t expect him to be so straightforward.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“What’s there to like about me?”
Li Zhao pinched his cheek, “Because you look a lot like Li Qiuqiu.”
Gu Jiahe was puzzled by this statement, “Who is Li Qiuqiu?”
Li Zhao didn’t answer, just smiled. Then he turned around and continued to tidy up his things.
Two years ago during the Chinese New Year, Li Zhao didn’t go home, but this year he made early plans. His frequency of returning to Pingcheng was higher than before, mainly to check on Li Guoyi’s health.
After Li Guoyi returned home from the hospital, his health was still not very good. Fortunately, it didn’t affect his daily life much, but Song Ling also needed to be vigilant at all times.
On the evening of the 28th, the statutory holiday began. Li Zhao took Gu Jiahe on the high-speed train back.
This was Gu Jiahe’s first time going back for the New Year with Li Zhao, and it would be false to say he wasn’t nervous. His relationship with Li Zhao’s parents was limited to the occasional video calls, and there were no deeper interactions.
He hadn’t experienced a normal parent-child relationship for a long time, so he inevitably felt a bit at a loss.
However, to his surprise, Song Ling and Li Guoyi got along much better with him than he had imagined.
Everything in the house was prepared in duplicate, and they didn’t buy seafood for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Song Ling even drove to pick up Gu Jiahe’s grandmother to spend New Year’s Eve together. They sat together and talked about many embarrassing moments of Li Zhao’s childhood. Except for Li Zhao, everyone laughed happily.
After dinner, Li Zhao took Li Guoyi downstairs to set off fireworks.
Gu Jiahe escorted his grandmother back home. As soon as he returned, he saw Song Ling sitting on the sofa packing luggage.
“Auntie, what are you doing?”
Song Ling looked up at him and tapped her forehead, “Look at my memory. Tomorrow we’re going to Nanshan Temple. I wanted to mention it when you guys came back, but I forgot. Li Zhao, this kid, also forgot.”
Gu Jiahe tilted his head, “Temple?”
Song Ling nodded, “Yes. Li Zhao was born on New Year’s Day. His father and I have been doing business for years and have always had the habit of worshiping Buddha. Since you guys are rarely back, let’s go together.”
Gu Jiahe nodded. It was good; he didn’t have to visit relatives on New Year’s Day, so he might as well accompany the two elders to Nanshan for a change of pace.
Outside the window, fireworks burst in the sky, illuminating the dim living room.
Gu Jiahe bent down to help Song Ling tidy up.
Halfway through, he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Song Ling, “Auntie, who is Li Qiuqiu?”
“Do you know him?” Song Ling was surprised that Gu Jiahe even knew this name.
“I heard Li Zhao mention him.”
“Li Qiuqiu passed away many years ago. He and Li Zhao were very close before.”
Gu Jiahe was confused. Was this person Li Zhao’s cousin or childhood friend?
Instantly, countless melodramatic scenarios flashed through Gu Jiahe’s mind.
“It’s a pity. Qiuqiu got sick from somewhere and couldn’t be cured. After struggling for a few days, he passed away. Later, we buried him in the backyard of our countryside house.”
“Ah?!” Gu Jiahe’s brain exploded with information.
Song Ling put down what she was holding, “After that, we never kept another dog.”
Gu Jiahe’s mouth froze in place, and after a few seconds, he awkwardly smiled, “Oh, I see.”
“You look a lot like Li Qiuqiu,” Li Zhao’s words echoed in his ears.
When Li Zhao finished setting off fireworks and returned, Gu Jiahe pushed him into the bedroom in one swift motion.
Li Zhao stumbled a bit, almost losing his balance, “You scared me, acting so suddenly.”
“Li Qiuqiu was a dog?!”
“Yes. So what?”
“You said I look like a dog!”
“Hey, you have no idea how cute Li Qiuqiu was when he was young. Fuzzy little head. Eyes just like yours.” Li Zhao said, pulling the corner of his eyes with his fingers, “Big, black eyes, he was like a little beauty among dogs.”
Gu Jiahe crossed his arms, looking speechless. He didn’t know if this guy was praising him or teasing him.
…….
The next morning, the four of them got up early.
It was already past five in the morning, and firecrackers were already sounding downstairs.
Nanshan Temple was on a small island, so they had to drive to the port city first and then take a boat. The journey was quite long.
The cabin was a bit stuffy, so Gu Jiahe excused himself halfway and went to the deck for some fresh air.
The sea seemed to be a bit high, and Gu Jiahe felt a little dizzy when he looked down at the water. It was cold on the deck, so he zipped up his jacket.
Halfway through the journey, Gu Jiahe saw the huge statue of Guanyin on the mountain.
“Remember to report your ID card number to the Bodhisattva later.” Li Zhao appeared next to him at some point.
“Yes, bless Lawyer Li with more big clients.” Gu Jiahe turned around, leaning on the handrail with his elbow.
“It’s rare for you to still be thinking about prospering your husband.”
Gu Jiahe glanced at him, then thought of Li Qiuqiu again, and didn’t respond.
The boat docked after twenty minutes, and the group got off. Song Ling had already booked a tour bus and was waiting for them on the other side of the pier.
It was only eight or nine in the morning, but there were already many people at the entrance of the temple.
Song Ling walked at the front and stopped after a while.
She turned to Gu Jiahe and beckoned, “Xiao Gu, look at this tree.”
Gu Jiahe ran over and looked up at the tall pine tree in front of him.
“I planted it the year Li Zhao was born. It’s grown so tall now.”
More than thirty years had passed, and the small sapling had grown tall and strong, with thick branches and a lush green crown even in winter.
The group continued to walk deeper into the temple, and Gu Jiahe smelled the scent of incense in the air.
Song Ling took two boxes of incense, holding one herself and handing the other to Gu Jiahe.
Gu Jiahe looked up at her, hesitating to take it.
“Pray for your mother too,” Song Ling said softly.
Gu Jiahe was stunned, the smoke from the incense stinging his eyes, feeling a bit sour. After a moment, he took the box of incense and held it carefully in his hands.
Most of the people who came to the temple early on New Year’s Day were middle-aged and elderly. Li Zhao and Gu Jiahe stood out among the crowd, seeming a bit out of place.
Song Ling instructed them, “Light nine sticks of incense and bow once.”
Gu Jiahe nodded and then counted out nine sticks of incense. Li Zhao brought a lighter and helped him light them, and soon sparks were igniting.
Gu Jiahe raised the incense to his forehead, bowed towards the Buddha statue, and closed his eyes for a moment of silence.
In his heart, he calculated that Qian Liyun should be a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl by now. He hoped she was in a wealthy family, with kind parents, and could finish her studies without rushing into love and marriage.
Although the temple was crowded, it wasn’t noisy. Everyone prayed quietly, afraid to disturb the Buddha’s presence.
Gu Jiahe let out a deep breath, opened his eyes, and carefully inserted the nine sticks of incense into the censer.
He turned around but didn’t see Li Zhao’s figure.
After taking a few steps forward, he found Li Zhao standing in front of another Buddha statue.
Gu Jiahe felt it was strange. Li Zhao had told him he was a staunch atheist.
He hadn’t expected him to be making wishes to the Buddha now.
He also lit a stick of incense in his hand, lowered his eyes, not knowing what to pray to the Buddha for this time.
Five seconds later, he lifted his head, inserted the incense into the censer, and turned to ask Li Zhao, “What did you pray for?”
“I prayed Li Qiuqiu to be reborn into a good family.” Li Zhao half-jokingly replied.
“Really?” Gu Jiahe patted his back.
“I’m kidding.” Li Zhao brushed the remaining ashes off his hands, turned around, and walked away.
Gu Jiahe followed him, “Forget it then.”
Li Zhao stopped in his tracks, stood under the beautiful pine tree, and looked back into Gu Jiahe’s eyes.
The rising sun cast the shadow of the pine tree on Li Zhao’s face.
The two stood facing each other.
Li Zhao smiled, “I prayed for…”
“You to be healthy and happy all your life.”