WMSR – QT Chapter 45

 

WMSR – QT Chapter 45

By

siofra

Chapter 45

Su Yuanhang’s hand holding the stationery suddenly began to tremble, yet he forced himself, almost coercively, to keep reading.  

[…I know you must be angry that I didn’t go back to celebrate your birthday, but Yingying really wanted to visit that island and has brought it up so many times. Haha, you won’t blame Chen-gege for choosing romance over friendship, right?

Look, do you see the straw hat I mailed back? I specifically picked it out for you on Soft Island. Quite distinctive, isn’t it?

…

Well, that’s enough for now. I still have to accompany Yingying, and I probably won’t be returning anytime soon. Ever since I came out here, I’ve realized there are simply too many interesting places in the world, and I want to walk through all of them. If you can’t reach me by phone, don’t worry; Yingying-jie and I might be getting close to nature in some place without even a cell signal. But rest assured, I won’t forget about you. Whenever I encounter something delicious or fun in the future, I’ll mail it back to you. How’s that? Chen-gege treats you well, doesn’t he?]

Word by word, Su Yuanhang gazed at the vivid words within the letter—at the manufactured illusion that Chen-gege was still alive—until his gaze finally locked onto the signature at the very bottom: April 6th, from Chen-gege, wishing Xiao Hang eternal happiness.

He stared fixedly at the clear, firm date, written as if without a single moment of hesitation, and the flowing, sweeping handwriting. Suddenly, he couldn’t hold back a choked sob as massive teardrops rolled down his cheeks. Yet, even then, he desperately held the stationery out at arm’s length, terrified that his tears might stain or ruin it.

April 6th. How could Chen-gege possibly have lived until April 6th?! The hospital’s absolute final deadline for Chen-gege’s condition had been early March. If that weren’t the case, how could he have brought Chen-gege’s body back without facing repercussions from the Bai family?

Chen-gege… clearly knew he wouldn’t survive until then…

Yet it was precisely at this time that he had received a letter from Chen-gege, along with the flawless, vibrant illusion woven inside it that Chen-gege was still alive…

In that instant, all the anomalies of the past rushed back into his mind. Why was it that after he brought Chen-gege’s body back, everyone seemed to already know about Chen-gege’s illness and treated it as no surprise—everyone except him, who remained completely in the dark…? Unbidden, Song Junchi’s strange smile from a month ago surfaced in Su Yuanhang’s mind, alongside the words he had spoken: You’ll find out soon enough.

So that was what it meant? Was this the arrangement Song Junchi had been talking about…?

From beginning to end… Chen-gege never intended to let him know the truth of his passing…

It turned out that right from the start… Chen-gege wanted to keep it a secret from him…

There were far too many unanswered questions churning in Su Yuanhang’s chest. And now, not a single person connected to Chen-gege would take his calls. The only place left where he could find answers was one… Su Yuanhang pulled out his phone and dialed Song Junchi’s number.

The call connected quickly. After only a few rings, it was picked up. Song Junchi on the other end seemed to have anticipated why this call would come; upon hearing the clearly abnormal, ragged breathing from the receiver, his certainty only deepened, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Looks like you’ve received it already.”

The hand holding the phone turned white-knuckled, yet the words—dropped lower than dust—were spoken without an ounce of hesitation: “I’m begging you, tell me… why…”

Listening to the desperate plea of his former rival, Song Junchi didn’t bother beating around the bush, because he was already burning with impatience to let him know the full truth.

Why should this person, the one truly held in Yichen’s heart, remain so blissfully unaware? Why should he get to enjoy every ounce of Yichen’s lingering thoughts right up to his final breath? With heavy malice, Song Junchi spilled every single detail he knew, holding nothing back, word by word. He wanted him to know exactly what Yichen had once been willing to sacrifice for him!

The truth recounted by Song Junchi felt like a blunt knife stabbing once more into Su Yuanhang’s already bleeding heart. His gaze grew vacant, and the hand holding the phone went so rigid it nearly lost all sensation.

So Chen-gege really never intended to let him know the truth from the very beginning…

So Chen-gege’s engagement to his fiancée was fake after everything…

So everything Chen-gege did was entirely for his sake…

So Chen-gege had even begged his parents not to hold a funeral for him…

Su Yuanhang struggled desperately for air, yet the oxygen felt terrifyingly thin. If the moment he discovered Chen-gege’s death had made him want to follow Chen-gege into the grave, now he realized he didn’t even possess the qualification to do so.

Such a wonderful Chen-gege—the Chen-gege who doted on him so deeply, who right up to the final moment of his life was entirely consumed with thoughts of sparing him pain, even attempting to hide the truth of his demise—what on earth had he done to him during those final two days of his life…?

At that moment, Su Yuanhang wished nothing more than to tear himself into a thousand pieces.

Breathing heavily and laboriously, Su Yuanhang’s body convulsed from the overwhelming agony. Neglected due to his hollow, absent-minded state over the past weeks, his body finally reached its breaking point. A sudden, suffocating tightness gripped his chest, and a sweet, coppery taste surged up his throat…

Ten years later.  

At the cemetery in A City with the best geomantic positioning, a tall, slender youth stood quietly. The youth possessed a refined and ethereal beauty, with clear, elegant brows and an underlying aura of quiet nobility. Just standing there, he made a picturesque sight that no one could bear to disturb.

Before the towering gravestone, the youth gazed silently at the photograph on the stone for a long time before leaning down to gently lay the bouquet he was holding at the base. “Brother, I’ve come to see you.”

The youth’s voice as he spoke that word of address was extremely soft, as though conversing with his most cherished person.

Having set down the flowers, the youth simply sat down right there in front of the gravestone, half-leaning against the stone marker as if resting in the embrace of a trusted, dependable older brother, and began to chatter away.

“Brother, I’m going off to school now. I probably won’t be able to come visit you as often from now on.”

“Do you know which school I’m attending? Take a guess. There’s a prize if you get it right.”

“…Brother, you’re so silly. I knew you wouldn’t guess it. It’s A University! The university you went to. Aren’t you surprised?”

Translator’s Note: Hey everyone! Quick little note regarding the chapter numbering here. If you happen to cross-reference with the original source on JJWXC, you might notice that the numbers don’t quite match up.

For context, JJWXC is a paid platform where chapters tend to be much longer and packed together. To make things easier for free reading, I follow the chapter formatting split used by 52shuku.net, which breaks the original 115 mega-chapters of the novel down into a more digestible 227 chapters.

I really hope this format makes for a smoother, more enjoyable reading experience for all of you. Let me know your thoughts on how the pacing feels, and as always, thank you so much for reading and supporting this little translation project!