The Unfinished Bedtime Story

"Mm~ what should I do?" Fugui was deep in thought. Even though he was dressed in men's clothing, every move he made carried a soft, effeminate air. The habits that had shaped him over the years could not be changed overnight—they were almost etched into his very bones.

"An artist," he finally answered.

"An artist?" Everyone, including Ye Shuang, froze for a moment. After all, Fugui did not have the slightest bit of talent for painting—well, it wasn't that he had no talent at all, it was just that Fugui was completely out of touch with the world of painting and art. The only thing even remotely related to it might be the hair dyeing in the hairdressing industry.

One involved splashing pigments onto a canvas, the other splashing pigments onto hair.

"You know how to paint? What can you even draw? Do you even have the skill for it?" Chen Hai piped up from the side.

"..." Fugui shot Chen Hai a sharp glare.

He almost felt like rendering Chen Hai into lard right then and there.

"Let's go eat first, then we'll wrap up the remaining business," Chen Qin said at that point. After all, there were still plenty of loose ends to take care of later, and people needed a full stomach to get things done.

"Alright."

...

After the funeral, life seemed to settle back into its usual calm.

The only difference, perhaps, was the tiny bookmark on Ye Shuang's desk, framed neatly after he had carefully restored it. Even though the five-leaf clover on it had wilted, the love it held would never fade, never wither away.

Tap tap tap. Ye Shuang tapped away at his keyboard, and every now and then he would glance over at that bookmark, his gaze lingering a little longer than usual. Right next to the bookmark was a group photo from everyone's childhood—Fu Yao, true to her quiet, gentle nature, had always stood in the very corner of the picture.

"If none of that had ever happened, what would you have looked like when you grew up?" Ye Shuang propped his cheek up with one hand, lost in thought. Just then, he suddenly sensed someone standing behind him.

He turned around—

A young girl holding a pillow stood there, silent and still. Only after her eyes met Ye Shuang's did she lift her pillow a little higher. "Sleep with me, Ye Shuang."

"Okay." Ye Shuang did not refuse. He reached out and switched off the desk lamp.

The room dimmed a little, and soon Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou lay down on the bed to rest. Sensing that Ye Shuang was in a strange mood, Bai Yuyou simply curled up in his arms without doing anything else.

In the moonlight, her curious eyes traced the side of his face. Noticing that he seemed lost in thought, she asked softly,

"What are you thinking about, Ye Shuang?"

"Mm..." Ye Shuang gave a faint smile. "Nothing, just remembering some old times."

All those memories flooding back made Ye Shuang tighten his hold on the girl in his arms. Feeling his emotions, Bai Yuyou looped her arms around his neck and whispered, "Do you want me to get closer, Ye Shuang?"

Ye Shuang just reached out and pinched her little face, saying nothing more.

"Silly girl."

"Ye Shuang, what are you thinking about?" Bai Yuyou asked again. She seemed to have already figured it out, and added, "Is it about that bookmark?"

Ye Shuang looked at her in surprise. "How did you know?"

"That bookmark looks really important to you, you even put it in a frame," Bai Yuyou said. She had noticed that tiny detail carefully—her memory was excellent, and she could remember every new thing that appeared in the room, including that special bookmark.

Ye Shuang had no intention of hiding anything from Bai Yuyou. He just slipped both his hands under his head, stared at the dim ceiling, and memories came rushing in like a tide.

"Ye Shuang, tell me a bedtime story," Bai Yuyou said.

Ye Shuang was taken aback for a second, then smiled softly. "Alright, what do you want to hear?"

"The story about Fugui and... Fu Yao," Bai Yuyou said. Hearing her question, Ye Shuang paused for a few seconds, then slowly started telling her the whole story behind the bookmark.

"You already know why Fugui turned out this way. Fu Yao's passing, his father's accident... all of that forced him to step up and take responsibility for taking care of his mother."

"..."

"That bookmark was actually a gift Fu Yao was going to give me," Ye Shuang continued. Bai Yuyou looked surprised—for her, Fu Yao had been gone for a very long time, so why would this bookmark turn up now out of the blue?

"Why?"

"Didn't I tell you before? Fu Yao had that accident at school," Ye Shuang said. He didn't really want to revisit that past, but he spoke on patiently and calmly anyway.

"She tripped on a small step, hit her head, and the intracranial hemorrhage was too severe for the doctors to save her."

"And the reason Fu Yao was at school at that hour after class? For the longest time, Fugui thought it was because they had gotten into an argument."

After Ye Shuang told her the whole story of the bookmark from start to finish, Bai Yuyou finally understood why Fugui had been blaming himself all this time.

"Fu Yao never liked to stay mad at anyone. Even if she did get upset, she'd get over it on her own in a few minutes," Ye Shuang said. He knew Fu Yao's temperament pretty well, and went on,

"So by that time, she was already long over their fight. Fugui just never realized that."

"No one ever knows what's coming tomorrow, or if an accident will come first. Fugui doesn't have to keep chaining himself to the past."

"Auntie Qiao's passing hit Fugui really hard, but it also gave him a chance to start all over again."

Ye Shuang spoke softly, and Bai Yuyou listened intently—she was always very curious about the parts of Ye Shuang's past that she hadn't been there for.

"There's something else written inside that bookmark, isn't there?" Bai Yuyou's sudden question made Ye Shuang, who had half-closed his eyes, open them wide a little.

Ye Shuang had skipped over the part about the text inside the bookmark when he was telling her the story. When he heard the girl ask that, his expression froze for a moment. "Yeah."

But he still chose not to hide it.

"What it says..." Bai Yuyou murmured, but didn't press him to finish.

She already understood. That timid young girl back in their youth had mustered up all her courage and still never gotten to give that thing away. Of course she knew what it was. Bai Yuyou wasn't clueless about matters of the heart, and she had grown so much more mature now.

Sensing the strange shift in Ye Shuang's mood, the girl didn't dig for more details. Instead, she nuzzled against his chest, trying to give him a little warmth.

"Ye Shuang..."

"Mm?"

"Good night—"

Hearing the soft murmur against his chest, Ye Shuang's eyes turned gentle. He held Bai Yuyou a little tighter, and whispered back,

"Good night."