Chapter 37: Sleepless nights

The night was already deep.

The curtains of the hotel room hung low, completely blocking out the scattered lights of the county town and leaving only a soft, quiet darkness.

Gao Hongyi lay on her side in bed, tossing and turning.

She couldn’t fall asleep at all.

It felt as if something had branded her heart.

Heat.

The heat wasn’t scorching, but it lingered and refused to dissipate, spreading from her chest all the way to her limbs, leaving her so tingly and numb that she felt weak.

Yet, within that heat, there was nothing but pure happiness.

It was as if she were being tightly wrapped in some massive, gentle presence.

“Uncle Bai…” she whispered.

Her voice was so soft it was nearly swallowed by the night.

‘From now on, we’ll never be separated again.’

As soon as this thought surfaced, the corners of Gao Hongyi’s lips curled up uncontrollably.

The dream that had been hidden in the young girl’s heart for three whole years no longer needed to be concealed with such caution.

It had finally come true.

Was there anything in the world more blissful than this?

Her phone screen was lit.

Inside the QQ reader group, things were as lively as ever.

Messages popped up one after another, demanding to know why there was no update today and asking if that smelly pigeon of an author was being lazy again.

She glanced at the screen and couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

Him.

To her, he was no longer just an “author.”

This pigeon was already an irreplaceable member of her family.

“Hehe… Uncle Bai… my very own Uncle Bai…”

When she learned that Uncle Bai was the same age as her, and that he was the very child who had been swapped at birth all those years ago, Gao Hongyi didn’t feel even a hint of disappointment.

Instead, there was only a secret, fluttering joy.

‘So that’s how it was.’

‘So from the very beginning, that boy from Linchuan was Uncle Bai.’

Now, she really couldn’t sleep.

She closed her eyes, but her mind uncontrollably began to sketch out the days to come.

Eating together.

Living together.

Walking toward a future that belonged only to them.

Those scenes flickered by frame by frame, so tender they nearly melted her reason entirely.

It wasn’t just a future of walking side by side.

It wasn’t just the daily routine of living together.

There were even more private extensions of their life.

‘We’ll have children.’

The thought surfaced naturally, as if it were only a matter of course.

And before that.

‘Of course, we have to kiss first.’

Gao Hongyi knew very well what kind of existence she had been at school.

Cold.

Aloof.

The high-and-mighty Piano Princess.

She never lacked suitors.

But she had never truly accepted anyone.

Because her heart had long since been occupied by a single person.

‘What will it feel like to kiss him?’

‘The moment our lips touch, will my heart race out of control?’

‘Is it better to keep my eyes open or closed?’

‘If we’re too close, will I really be unable to see his face clearly?’

Then there were deeper matters.

‘Will the first night really hurt that much?’

‘I’ve heard the body trembles uncontrollably. I’ve heard there will be blood.’

Thinking of this, Gao Hongyi’s breathing grew slightly ragged for a moment.

She liked the color red very much.

However, she didn’t particularly like the idea of “bleeding.”

But —

If that person was Uncle Bai.

She was almost certain of one thing.

He would definitely be very gentle.

He would cherish her even while trying to restrain himself.

He would make the pain brief and the shame bearable.

She would stroke his nervous face and tell him she was fine, letting him proceed according to his own preferences and rhythm.

‘That scene would be so wonderful…’

At the thought, her fingertips tightened instinctively.

Her body gave an answer faster than her mind could.

Her strong, slender legs tightened involuntarily.

She clamped the spare pillow on the double bed firmly between her thighs.

She pretended it wasn’t a cold piece of fabric.

She pretended it was Gu Yebai.

She suddenly rolled over with a hint of irritability.

Lying on her side wasn’t working.

She tried lying on her back.

But even then, sleep eluded her.

‘It’s all Uncle Bai’s fault,’ she grumbled silently.

Yet there wasn’t a trace of actual blame in her heart.

‘A girl shouldn’t be too proactive.’

‘I need to be reserved.’

‘I need to be pursued.’

‘I need to play hard to get.’

‘I need to know the thirty-six stratagems of love.’

‘Otherwise, he won’t know how to cherish me.’

But Uncle Bai just happened to be the kind of block of wood who was completely clueless about such things.

She opened her eyes and picked up her phone.

On the screen, the updates were still stuck on yesterday.

Uncle Bai still hadn’t written anything today.

‘Is he… also unable to sleep?’

After returning to the hotel, they had been assigned different rooms.

This was only natural.

In fact, it would have been strange if they were in the same room.

Gao Hongyi slowly sat up.

She changed her clothes.

She pushed open the door.

It was currently 2:00 AM.

The more she tried to calm herself down, the more awake her consciousness became.

She wanted to leave this room.

The hallway lights were dim and quiet.

She put on her shoes and walked across the soft carpet of the Ibis Hotel, her footsteps making no sound at all.

Then, she stopped.

She stood before a single door.

Behind that door was the space where Uncle Bai was.

‘At this time, he must be asleep.’

Gao Hongyi raised her hand.

Her fingertips lightly touched the door panel.

In that instant, her heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

If she could.

She really wanted to quietly open the door.

Just to take a look.

To see Uncle Bai’s sleeping face.

To confirm that he was right here, breathing quietly.

‘Maybe…’

‘Maybe Uncle Bai is awake too, just like me.’

That thought made her breath catch slightly.

She hesitated for a moment.

Ultimately, she leaned down.

She pressed her ear gently against the door.

Holding her breath.

She listened intently.

It felt as though if she just focused a little harder, she would be able to hear that presence that belonged only to him through the door.

‘Uncle Bai…’ she called out softly in her heart.

She was cautious.

It was as if she were confirming some irreplaceable reality.

‘Are you asleep?’

There was no response from behind the door.

Gao Hongyi wasn’t disappointed.

On the contrary, a sense of peace that felt almost like a prayer grew within that silence.

‘When Uncle Bai wakes up, I have to love him even more than I do today.’

All the happiness he once lost.

The everyday life that had been stripped away.

The life that had been crudely interrupted by fate.

She would piece it all back together, bit by bit.

There was no rush.

She would definitely not make any mistakes.

“Hehe, even if we die…”

As this thought surfaced, the corners of her lips curved upward slightly.

“We’ll die together, Uncle Bai…”

The vow was so low it was almost inaudible.

Yet it settled heavily in the depths of her heart.

Later, Gao Hongyi had no memory of how she eventually fell asleep.

She only remembered that it felt as if she had been guarding that door the entire night.

In the space between dreams and wakefulness, a blurry melody seemed to play in her ears.

Soft.

Slow.

Like someone’s breathing.

Or like the lingering echo of happiness finally settling down.

She really wanted to play a piece for Gu Yebai.

There was an unfinished prelude in her heart.

No, calling it a prelude didn’t seem quite right; perhaps “resonance” would be more appropriate.

It was a bit like a piece by Chopin.

But Gao Hongyi was certain that what she heard that night was not one of Chopin’s compositions, but a piano piece that was gradually taking shape within her own heart.

It didn’t matter.

In any case, she needed to wake up quickly and greet Uncle Bai.

Yesterday, her father had mentioned that they would be leaving Linchuan in a few days.

Before that, Gao Hongyi hoped Gu Yebai would take her on a walk around Linchuan.

She wanted to better understand the place where he grew up…

And, of course, the couple who were supposed to be her parents, the ones who had already passed away..

Gu Chengfeng and Lu Xiao’ai.