GBT Chapter 123

In the morning, Qi Yi Liao sat at the dining table in the living room, eating his breakfast. Across from him, some food scraps remained on a plate, and a child’s phone lay beside a cup.

Qi Yi Liao ate a few pieces of fruit, his eyelids lifting slightly as his gaze swept over the keychain on the phone.

After a while, he glanced at it again, swallowed the mouthful of steak, and made a call: “A Zhen.”

“Hey.” Zhang Zhen was still in bed, not yet up. To be precise, he hadn’t slept much. He was worried, both about his Third Brother recklessly fighting despite his injuries, and about his brother’s old tailbone injury recurring, or him becoming depressed remembering that dark period. The two of them had alarmed “Di Ye’s” medical team in the middle of the night.

He had just finished talking to his brother and breathed a sigh of relief before his Third Brother called.

“Where did the little keychain on your brother’s phone come from?” Qi Yi Liao reached across the table, grabbed the young man’s phone, hooked his index finger around the cool keychain, and gently flicked the delicate little key with his middle and ring fingers slightly bent.

“I don’t know,” Zhang Zhen threw back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. “I asked Bai Bai, but he didn’t tell me, only said it was important.”

Qi Yi Liao’s expression didn’t change. A Zhen hadn’t overlooked this detail; he simply didn’t know. Come to think of it, his two old friends and closest relatives were probably equally unaware of the metal cage incident.

The most secret things could only be shared with the most intimate people.

Zhang Zhen’s voice came from the phone: “Bai Bai doesn’t have any boxes or anything that need to be unlocked. He usually likes to touch that little key, constantly fiddling with it in his hand. I suspect you gave it to him, Third Brother. It’s your little secret. Besides you, I can’t think of whose thing he would value so much.”

The lines between Qi Yi Liao’s brows relaxed: “Hang up.”

The little key was caressed between his fingers for a moment, then tossed aside. He leisurely finished his breakfast and instructed his subordinates to deliver the phone to the medical university.

It was a little after four in the afternoon when Qi Yi Liao woke up from his research at the academy, already over fifty hours in. He threw the documents in a fit of pique, utterly lacking composure.

Whether it was the tie being too tight or the sudden emptiness in his heart, a sense of palpitations grew stronger and stronger, or the illusory images in his brain were like a boiling pot of water, making it difficult for him to calm down while sitting in the office.

Qi Yi Liao crossed his hands and pressed them against his lips, scraping his teeth against the knuckle of his left index finger, his eyelashes lowered, his eyes filled with impatient restlessness.

The office chair was turned towards the French windows. Qi Yi Liao put down his crossed legs, his polished business shoes touching the ground. He stood up, his tall, broad figure unfolding, his fingers, with their distinct joints, pressed against the tie, tugging it loose to the left and right.

The pressure of the restraint lessened, his Adam’s apple was released, and he could swallow normally.

But he still felt oppressed.

Qi Yi Liao looked at the rain on the French windows, his heart filled with nameless fire. He thought of the tattoo on the young man’s ankle, that firefly seeming to fly onto his retina.

Regarding the tattoo, he could try to probe A Zhen or others around him, but the chances of getting an answer were slim.

So why not ask the person involved directly?

Qi Yi Liao’s expression suddenly became strange. He vaguely realized that his train of thought just now was very much like finally finding an excuse to dial that string of numbers on his phone.

A callow youth just beginning to experience love would be full of vigor, doing whatever he wanted, not needing to design a reason for a call or a meeting. Only a seasoned virgin who had tasted blood would be like this, knowing he was spiraling out of control, his patience exhausted, his heart full of unlocking desire, yet still worrying about face and dignity.

Qi Yi Liao absolutely refused to admit he was the latter. He had held several meetings during the day, listened to progress reports from several subordinates, and processed many documents; his work hadn’t been delayed.

Although last night’s kiss was very good, that taste lingered between his lips and tongue, impossible to dispel.

The amnesiac version of himself would also steal kisses, this skill not disappearing with his memories.

Even kissing ankles, his tongue licking and caressing inch by inch.

——Restrained half his life, celibate half his life, becoming a pervert exclusively for one person.

Qi Yi Liao had just turned to Jiao Bai’s number when a knock sounded outside the office. He immediately exited the interface.

Feeling as if he had been caught cheating, his face darkened, and he said loudly, “Come in.”

Qi Huai delivered a cup of coffee to the desk, keenly aware that the chairman’s aura was unstable. In fact, every time he came to the office during his first half-day back at work, he noticed changes in the chairman. The chairman at this moment was more volatile than the last time he had seen him.

The closer the storm was to breaking, the darker the sky became; it would be better after it rained.

Once the chairman recovered, that young man would be happy.

Qi Huai withdrew.

Qi Yi Liao sipped the coffee, his finger tapping the number to dial it, only to be met with a prompt that the call couldn’t be connected.

The bitterness in his mouth left him with a gloomy expression. He didn’t try again.

Qi Yi Liao occasionally glanced at his personal phone during the meeting, not hiding his distraction and irritability from his subordinates, showing it to them openly.

The executives on both sides of the conference table pretended not to notice.

Everyone didn’t know that the chairman’s four years of memory hadn’t awakened with him and were still dormant. They attributed his abnormality and instability to emotional problems.

The Bai young man was young, had a good personality, was a university student at a prestigious school in West City, and possessed immense wealth, while the chairman…

Everyone was worried about the chairman.

If the chairman went from being the boss to a working stiff and his little boyfriend still ran away, that would truly be heartbreaking for those who heard it and tearful for those who saw it.

Qi Yi Liao supported his head, his phone lying quietly on the table in front of him.

The sound of vibration came suddenly.

A faint commotion rose in the huge conference room.

However, it wasn’t Qi Yi Liao’s phone that was ringing, but that of a senior executive. He cut it off in a panic: “So, sorry, Chairman. My wife is in postpartum confinement, and she has a bit of depression, so I keep my phone on all the time. I just forgot to put it on silent…”

“Get out.” Qi Yi Liao nodded. “Come back in two minutes.”

The executive responded and hurriedly walked out of the conference room, standing in the corridor to return the call to his wife.

Dog food being slipped through the cracks.

The superiors and subordinates in the conference room collectively fell silent.

A meeting that lasted less than half an hour left Qi Yi Liao sweating profusely. He was still meticulous and tidy from head to toe, his temperament calm and elegant, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were gentle, yet he gave off a sense of extreme violence.

Qi Da walked to the door of the lounge and said respectfully, “Qi Master, they told me from Lan Mo Mansion that Little Ling sneaked into the graveyard in the backyard and fainted.”

Qi Yi Liao’s eyelids twitched slightly on the massage chair, and a haze overflowed between his brows: “Why haven’t you sent her away yet?”

An indescribable oppressive atmosphere descended, and Qi Da’s heart grew damp. He swallowed hard: “You said yesterday to send her away, but you never said where to send her. We didn’t dare to presume to send her away without instructions.”

After an indescribable silence, a faint sound came from the massage chair. Qi Yi Liao, whose joints were aching, stood up and strode out with even and heavy steps.

Qi Da at the door stepped aside slightly, sensing a bloody scent from Qi Master. He looked at Qi Master’s complexion and his heart tightened.

Qi Da was about to send a message to Bai Shao for help when he suddenly realized that the person in front of him had stopped and tilted his head slightly. He was so startled that he quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

It seemed Qi Master didn’t want Bai Shao to know about his physical condition.

Qi Yi Liao went to the research institute. He had personally assigned a task to the researchers at a little after ten o’clock last night, and now he was here to check on their progress.

The researchers all had dark circles under their eyes, unkempt and haggard. They had been working continuously at high intensity for more than a dozen hours without rest.

Qi Yi Liao said softly, “Thank you for your hard work.”

The researchers were busy saying it was no trouble. They were receiving unimaginable paychecks, doing research they enjoyed, and using top-notch equipment and materials. It was just tiring; one couldn’t have everything in life.

“Chairman, this is the agent you wanted.” The team leader’s gloved hands took out two small vials containing a clear liquid.

Qi Yi Liao lowered his head to unbutton his cuffs.

The team leader exchanged a look with several researchers, their bloodshot eyes filled with solemnity and tension.

A soft sound attracted their attention. They saw two cufflinks placed on the table, the refracted light making them dizzy.

A bland voice came from beside the table: “Inject it.”

No one spoke.

Qi Yi Liao folded up his cuffs, revealing a section of his forearm, and raised his eyebrows: “Hmm?”

The team leader said cautiously, “Chairman, the timeline is too rushed. Clinical trials are not yet sufficient. We can only roughly estimate that the drug’s effect will last between thirty-six and forty-eight hours.”

“After the drug wears off, the side effects are also… also lacking a specific understanding.” The volume of his voice in the second half of the sentence was even lower, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

The agent the chairman requested was somewhat similar to morphine. It could numb the body and mind’s pain in a short period, putting one in a state of mental fullness, except its ingredients were non-addictive. That was its advantage.

The disadvantage was that after the drug wore off, the numbed pain would return in several times the amount.

“Chairman, would you like to reconsider?” the team leader asked, risking his life. Dean Qi had secretly tampered with the body of Chairman Qi, that was already a fact. Judging by the chairman’s body, it was not appropriate to resist.

The dreams Qi Yi Liao often had flashed through his mind, that inexplicable, seemingly destined attraction that he loathed, and the mutated drug person he instinctively wanted to consume, the so-called antidote, a place of peace of mind, those two vague and real emotions reminded him in turn, gnawing at his soul and sanity.

He pursed his bloodless lips, swiped his phone, tapped into the encrypted section of his photo album, found a photo of an ankle tattoo, looked at it expressionlessly for a moment, and a sigh wrapped in the smell of iron rust faintly escaped from the depths of his throat.

The next second, Qi Yi Liao turned off his phone.

“Inject me.”

In the evening, when Qi Yi Liao appeared in front of Dean Qi, he was very relaxed in his demeanor.

Dean Qi had grown a lot of white hair. Seeing Qi Yi Liao looking like he had escaped torture, her entire person suddenly revealed a strange excitement.

The current Qi Yi Liao was nearly twenty hours away from the end of his growth period. In her data analysis, even though he was much more stable than when he had just woken up, he would not be in this state.

There was only one possibility: he had taken the antidote she had created, he had touched Little Ling!

Dean Qi looked at her younger brother blankly. She laughed loudly.

That’s how it was, that’s how it should be.

Her brother and the men of the Qi family were all driven by “instinct,” enslaved by it for life, until death.

The geniuses of the Qi family had all become lunatics.

There were no exceptions.

Dean Qi laughed so hard she couldn’t catch her breath, abandoning her usual dignified austerity, looking quite disheveled. She had never liked anyone in her life; her husband was chosen through various data analyses. She didn’t understand ordinary emotions; her data had exhausted her energy, but she had missed one thing: her brother, due to the limitations and constraints of his growing environment, had an unusual level of self-control. Once the desire he released recognized its master, it would not change its owner, and everything would be dominated only by that person.

Her brother was first moved and confused by the contents of the surveillance footage the night before, then stimulated by the scene by the roadside at the medical university yesterday. Plus, the effect of a large amount of alcohol last night caused the resistance he had been building since his awakening to reach a critical point, directly breaking free from the “instinct” she had given him and embracing his “true self.”

The force of the two pulling was too great, leading to the collapse of his originally increasingly stable state. He had been in a state of being on the verge of explosion all day today. He had not succumbed to the guidance in his brain, but had chosen another path.

There was a pinprick on his arm.

The air in the room was very turbid. Qi Yi Liao looked coldly at one of the few relatives he had left. He knew his state better than the researchers, better than the data. That thirst was dragging at his neck, binding his limbs, forcing him to walk towards a false path to life.

If he became like his father, then his mother’s teachings, his persistence over the years, and Jiao Bai’s confidence in him would all become a joke.

Painkillers were useless, so he got the targeted drug.

He was annoyed by that temptation that was constantly eroding his heart, far exceeding his estimate, and decided to end the false guidance on desire ahead of time.

Before his memories recovered, he would become a free man.

“Second Sister, I want to take Little Ling back to the old home for a trip, to see where Mother was born,” Qi Yi Liao squatted down and said with a smile. “Tell me the address, so I don’t have to bother looking it up.”

Dean Qi stopped laughing and stared at him: “Did Jiao Bai tell you to?”

“No, I haven’t seen him,” Qi Yi Liao showed impatience. “I watched the surveillance and knew about your conversation with him.”

Dean Qi said acrimoniously, “Then you must have heard me ask him to persuade you. You risked injury for him, and he’s being selfish and self-serving.”

“You too, if you had chosen Little Ling sooner, you could have suffered less,” she laughed hysterically.

Qi Yi Liao massaged the back of his neck a few times and asked slowly, “Second Sister, where are Mother and Little Ling’s old homes located?”

Dean Qi caught sight of a kiss mark on the side of his neck, stared blankly for a long time, and muttered the specific secret address of that village, which she had discovered by chance, a paradise-like existence.

Qi Yi Liao turned and left.

Behind him was the sound of Dean Qi laughing and crying again, mocking fate and retaliating against fate.

Qi Yi Liao stood outside the room, touched the kiss mark on his neck, which had been sucked out by the little ancestor in the middle of the night, and clicked his tongue, his footsteps light as he walked into the glow of the setting sun.

Soon, the Qi family sent several outstanding bodyguards to escort Little Ling onto the Qi family’s private plane, sending her back to her village.

The bodyguards would undergo hypnosis after they returned.

Including Dean Qi.

Also including Qi Yi Liao himself.

Genetic deformities that shouldn’t exist shouldn’t appear in the world of rampant evil desires. Isolation from the world, returning to one’s roots, was the best place to be.

From then on, no one in this world would know Little Ling’s whereabouts again.

When Jiao Bai received a message from Qi Da saying that Little Ling had been sent away, he was drinking tea with the Yu brothers.

To be precise, it was the chubby, well-behaved, and quiet Yu Xiang, and the much more weathered Yu Ling.

Jiao Bai looked at the message and was stunned on the spot.

Yesterday, he had learned from Qi Da that Qi Yi Liao intended to send Little Ling away, but hadn’t decided on a location.

At that time, he knew that the reason the location hadn’t been decided was because Dean Qi’s guidance was at play, and Qi Yi Liao was still resisting.

Now, Qi Yi Liao had successfully resisted.

Had his emotions grown from newborn to mature in just over two days?

Jiao Bai asked Qi Da where the person had been sent.

Qi Da replied: Qi Master has undergone hypnosis.

Jiao Bai’s heart was shaken. Qi Yi Liao had not only cut off his retreat, but also chopped up the possibility of reconnecting the road. He had made that decision in an unstable state, it must have been very difficult.

An ant was lying on the ground, its small, thin legs struggling to move. It crawled and crawled, crawled to the edge of the avatar frame, stretched out a small, thin leg, as if to touch Jiao Bai’s face.

Jiao Bai gripped his phone and looked up.

Yu Ling met his gaze, his eyes as always firm and resolute: “Are you willing to get out?”

Several question marks popped up over Jiao Bai’s head. Get out? He wasn’t restricted, he was free, so how could he need to get out?

Yu Ling was thinking that Jiao Bai had an unrestrained, eternally sunny soul that wasn’t suited for the circle of the wealthy, which was full of rules and regulations. He tried to finish the draft he had prepared these days: “There are also excellent medical schools abroad.”

Jiao Bai said directly, “I have no plans to go abroad. I will complete my studies and work in West City.”

Yu Ling lowered his eyes and stroked the old black bandage on his wrist, his rough fingertips rubbing over the faded areas.

A fine rain kept falling, and customers in the teahouse left and came, damp and dripping.

Jiao Bai was looking at Yu Xiang, who was curled up in his seat, gnawing on his fingers, falling asleep. His long-term medication had already made his delicate and lovely features puffy and swollen. The one who used to scream and make noise had been killed by drugs, but he could be revived.

If there was a disease, it had to be treated. Curing it was good for oneself and for one’s loved ones.

“I got a message.”

Yu Ling’s low, hoarse voice came from across the table. “Chairman Qi has amnesia, has forgotten you, and now there is no place for you by his side.”

Jiao Bai’s attention shifted to him: “Where did you hear that from?”

“Are you really not going with me?” Yu Ling didn’t answer, but only asked, changing his wording awkwardly. “Are we leaving?”

Jiao Bai shook his head.

Yu Ling gazed at Jiao Bai for a long time: “Even if he has forgotten you?”

“I’m staying in the country not entirely for him,” Jiao Bai patiently explained. “I have my own ideals and plans.”

Yu Ling looked deeply at Jiao Bai, and suddenly smiled with relief: “That’s right.” Your life’s value is embodied in yourself, and you don’t need to depend on others.

Jiao Bai waited for a long time, but didn’t get Yu Ling to reveal the source of the news, and he knew he wouldn’t.

Yu Ling, even if he went abroad, would still pay attention to the movements in the country. He had accumulated some resources over the years, but he didn’t speak about it, he had his own concerns.

This farewell was not purely about saying goodbye.

Yu Ling wanted to persuade Jiao Bai to settle abroad with him. He knew that Jiao Bai had no feelings for him and had repeatedly expressed his position, but he still couldn’t bear to part. He had a bellyful of tenderness with nowhere to go, and could only let time slowly gnaw it away.

And Jiao Bai’s purpose was to send Yu Ling into the group.

The tea was finished, and Jiao Bai didn’t want to add more. He had to go back to school. It wouldn’t be military training tonight because of the rain, but he had to attend evening self-study.

Yes, that’s right, school had only just started, but they already had to attend evening self-study and have their names called, this was a “surprise” Jiao Bai hadn’t expected.

Coming out of the teahouse, Yu Ling led his younger brother, his upright and stalwart figure attracting the sidelong glances of young girls. He gave Jiao Bai a number: “If you want to leave that circle, call this number.”

“It’s always valid,” he added.

Jiao Bai thought that he would soon have the opportunity to leave that circle, which would be after he completed his mission.

And then?

Then he would have to go back in.

He had to fill in the pit he had dug in his youth when he was reckless and impetuous.

Raindrops flew under the eaves, dampening Yu Ling’s overalls and bronze forearm. He turned his military boots, which were facing the traffic, towards Jiao Bai, his voice laced with tenderness: “Jiao Bai, can I hug you?”

Jiao Bai narrowed his eyes at him.

Yu Ling’s heart faltered, and his handsome eyebrows twitched. He turned his head away.

Those eyes were too bright, able to see through his heart at a glance. In front of Jiao Bai, he seemed to have nowhere to hide, from their first meeting until now, always.

The ant, as if it was in a hurry to pee, turned around and around.

Yu Ling took out a cigarette case with one hand, lowered his head and bit a cigarette, he struck a lighter and lit it, his large Adam’s apple bobbing as he took a long puff.

“A farewell between friends,” Yu Ling adjusted his mentality, and met Jiao Bai’s gaze again, saying calmly.

Jiao Bai smiled: “Okay.”

Before Yu Ling could open his arms, he approached and gave the other person a light hug on the back, patting him neither intimately nor distantly. “If Yu Xiang still remembers me after he’s cured, and wants to play with me, then you let him come back. I don’t mind having more friends.”

Yu Ling removed the cigarette and leaned close to Jiao Bai’s ear to say, “You have to take care of yourself.”

“You too, farewell.”

The heartfelt blessing was sent out, and as soon as the words fell, Jiao Bai heard the reminder that his friend had joined the group. Before he had time to be happy, he suddenly sensed something, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Jiao Bai turned back and looked, Qi Yi Liao stood in the rain holding an umbrella, not knowing how long he had been standing there, how long he had been watching.

Crap.

What the hell was going on, why was the old pervert here, why was he so nervous?

It shouldn’t be, stay calm, but he retreated, quickly distancing himself from Yu Ling.

For the first time, Yu Ling witnessed all of Jiao Bai’s senses being alive for one person. He was stunned for a while before putting the cigarette back to his lips, taking a few hard puffs, using the taste of nicotine to suppress the dryness in his mouth.

You couldn’t lie about liking someone.

Yu Ling looked in the direction of the person beside him, the visitor didn’t give him a single glance, only stared at Jiao Bai, his face tense, his eyes dark, with none of his usual elegance and amiability.

Qi Yi Liao called A Zhen in the car and got a rough understanding of Jiao Bai and Yu Ling’s past. He didn’t go over at this moment, but stopped not far from the eaves. He opened his mouth, his voice mixed in with the sound of raindrops hitting the world and the noise of the bustling crowd: “Come over.”

Jiao Bai was in a daze and didn’t move.

Qi Yi Liao mistakenly thought that he didn’t want to leave, still wanting to stand with other men. His aura sank, and he strode up to him.

First, he took away his backpack and threw it to the bodyguard, then he picked him up.

Qi Yi Liao hugged his little boyfriend, and that air of refinement returned.

He nodded to Yu Ling, and said with a graceful smile, “It’s fate that Captain Yu knows my little friend, it’s only right that he came to see him off. Have a good trip, bon voyage.”