Chapter 80: “By the Way, That’s My Secret…”
“Are you thinking about the students from Class Eleven?”
Gu Yang shook his head.
“…Did you see something online?”
Gu Yang made an X with his hand.
“Did something happen at your house?”
Resting his chin on one hand, Gu Yang kept shaking his head.
“Do you have some banquet to attend recently?”
“Feeling unwell?”
“The final exams next month?”
“…”
If Song Yinxing hadn’t brought it up, he would’ve forgotten about that entirely.
“Why don’t you guess that I’m thinking about what to eat tonight?”
Seeing the guesses drifting further and further off track, Gu Yang interrupted him faintly.
Song Yinxing fell silent, closing his mouth. He also knew that the way he had just thrown out guesses in every direction was basically cheating.
Even though Gu Yang had probably just brought it up on a whim again, he was indeed tempted by it.
The sudden silence loosened the bit of momentum Gu Yang had just built up. He rolled over and lay flat on the bed again, messy hair sticking to his face, though the look in his eyes was much gentler than before.
From his perspective, Song Yinxing’s face appeared upside down. Hugging the pillow in his arms, he stared straight at him.
The loose strands that had been covering his eyes had fallen back, washing away his usual gloom. Strangely enough, he even looked a little innocent.
So beautiful.
Song Yinxing was drawn to him in the most straightforward way—not only because of the soul and meaning attached to this body, but also purely because of this beautiful shell.
I want him so badly.
If only they were lovers openly and aboveboard.
Then he wouldn’t have to restrain himself.
He could take his hand right now, lace their fingers together, lean down, and kiss those eyes.
But right now, he couldn’t do anything.
Unlike Gu Yang, who was truly only eighteen, Song Yinxing carried eight extra years of memories.
His heart—once devastated and left barren by Nie Ying—had finally begun to recover bit by bit, allowing the seed of love to sprout in soil that had already grown mature enough.
As Gu Yang lay there completely unguarded, Song Yinxing’s gaze fell on the piercings in his ear.
His left ear alone had three piercings, one of which went through the cartilage. Just looking at it made it seem painful.
Probably because he was at home, he was only wearing transparent studs now.
Feeling his gaze, Gu Yang touched his ear, pressing a finger against the stud and swaying it lightly.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“It looks painful,” Song Yinxing said honestly. “Did they use anesthesia when you got it pierced?”
Gu Yang shook his head slightly.
“Too troublesome. I bought the tools and did it myself,” he said lazily. “If you like it, I can pierce yours too.”
Piercing holes in his own body like that felt a bit too extreme for Song Yinxing.
“Didn’t it hurt?” he asked again.
“It was fine,” Gu Yang said indifferently. “It hurt a little for a moment. After a night, it was fine.”
“Why get so many?”
“So I can wear different earrings,” Gu Yang replied.
Song Yinxing still didn’t understand why that required so many piercings, but he knew asking more would sound like meddling.
“Can you tell me what you were thinking about earlier?” he asked softly.
At that topic, Gu Yang went silent again, only turning his face slightly away.
Thinking of something, Song Yinxing suddenly let out a quiet “ah,” his expression blank.
“I suddenly feel like this isn’t very fair.”
Seeing Gu Yang look back at him, he continued, “I have no way to confirm what you’re actually thinking. What if I guessed right just now, but you just didn’t admit it?”
Hearing the hint of suspicion, Gu Yang looked annoyed.
“But if you could read what I’m thinking, wouldn’t that be even more unfair?”
Song Yinxing felt that argument was a bit unreasonable.
The frustration on his face was caught by Gu Yang. After observing him seriously for a moment, Gu Yang suddenly smiled.
“Why are you making that face? I didn’t lie to you. There really are people in this world who can hear what others are thinking.”
Song Yinxing had been wondering if this was some new trick to tease him, but the look on Gu Yang’s face right now carried an indescribable subtlety.
“…Did something happen?”
“Is that what people were talking about?”
Gu Yang once again acted as if he couldn’t hear him.
“Didn’t we agree before?” Song Yinxing said calmly. “One secret for one secret. I told you about the nightmare I had before. Can I exchange that for some information from you?”
“When you mentioned it the first time, the secret was that you had a nightmare. The second time you mentioned it, it was still about the nightmare. That counts as the same secret.”
Song Yinxing was surprised he still remembered their conversation, but he had something to say about that too.
“But the secret you told me was that Xie Wu’s older brother is… into married women. That’s not very sincere, is it?”
And what exactly happened with Xiao Si’s child?
Song Yinxing was really curious about that. He should’ve just listened and left back then, but now that the topic had come up again—
“Shouldn’t secrets be about yourself?”
That was a reasonable point. Gu Yang couldn’t refute it. After hearing Song Yinxing’s secret unilaterally, he did feel a bit burdened—though it seemed more like the other party had forced the trade.
“Are you sure you want to know this?” Gu Yang looked at him, his expression strangely empty. “I was thinking maybe I could tell you a more interesting secret instead.”
Song Yinxing’s heart skipped a beat.
“What…?”
Gu Yang pressed a finger to his lips and softly shushed him, looking mysterious.
Song Yinxing could tell he was clearly trying to brush it off.
But he couldn’t do anything about him, so he could only stare helplessly.
“Alright. Actually, if we’re being fair, you weren’t completely wrong just now,” Gu Yang said in the end.
Song Yinxing recalled his earlier guesses. That kind of exam strategy—writing down every possible point when you didn’t know the answer—had never appeared on his test papers before. Yet here he was using it now.
His eyes immediately lit up.
“So you’re going to grant me a request?”
“No,” Gu Yang said. “You didn’t get it completely right, so I’ll reluctantly cut the reward in half.”
Song Yinxing had no idea how a reward could be halved, but Gu Yang was the one who made the rules, so he had the final say.
Clearly, Gu Yang hadn’t thought it through either. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke slowly.
“…Want to go to the aquarium?”
Song Yinxing’s eyes widened slightly.
Just then, his phone buzzed.
He was familiar with that sound—it meant the phone would shut down in sixty seconds due to low battery.
He picked it up and instinctively looked for somewhere to charge it.
“There’s a cable by my bedside, but the connector probably doesn’t match yours,” Gu Yang said helpfully. “There should be a three-in-one power bank in the bottom drawer on the left. Try looking there.”
Song Yinxing stood up and walked over, opening the cabinet.
There were a lot of things piled on top. As he rummaged through them, he didn’t find the power bank—but he found a laminated photo.
He didn’t know what it was, but the man in the photo looked a lot like a younger Gu Yuhui, though his temperament was completely different. Beside him stood a woman leaning close, their posture so intimate it was practically an embrace.
The woman looked vaguely familiar. Song Yinxing felt like he had seen her somewhere in his previous life, but he couldn’t remember where.
“…Do you not know left from right?”
A cool voice came from behind.
At some point, Gu Yang had gotten out of bed. He wasn’t even wearing slippers, and when he approached, he made no sound. Reaching around from behind, he took the photo from Song Yinxing’s hand.
Because of that motion, his chin briefly rested on Song Yinxing’s shoulder.
Then he tapped that shoulder lightly with his chin, as if complaining.
Only then did Song Yinxing realize he had opened the wrong side.
“What’s this photo?” he asked instinctively.
Gu Yang silently put it back.
Song Yinxing couldn’t quite tell what expression was on his face right now. There was a strange gloom and indifference about it that made Song Yinxing’s heart tighten with an instinctive sense of unease.
“Is it inconvenient for others to see?” he asked cautiously. “You could lock it away so no one accidentally finds it.”
“Why lock it?”
It was an abrupt question.
Gu Yang’s lips curled slightly. Looking at Song Yinxing, he smiled again.
Song Yinxing couldn’t keep up with his train of thought. His phone had already powered off.
Gu Yang walked to the other side and found the power bank, handing it to him.
At the moment their hands met, Gu Yang spoke in a dreamy, lilting tone.
“Oh right. That’s my secret.”
His smile widened slightly.
“You’re the first person to discover it.”
Song Yinxing caught the brick-like power bank, and his gaze changed instantly.
Who were the people in the photo? What story lay behind it? If it was important, why leave it lying around so casually?
Countless questions filled his mind, but Gu Yang clearly had no intention of giving him time to think.
“So, are we going to the aquarium or not? If you don’t decide soon, it’ll be dark. I think it closes at eight,” Gu Yang said lightly.
Hearing that, Song Yinxing’s body reacted faster than his mind and he nodded.
Seeing his agreement, Gu Yang went to change clothes.
After going to the walk-in closet to pick an outfit, he returned to the room.
He wore a long dark-green coat with a loosely tied belt of the same color. Sitting at the desk, he began choosing accessories to match.
Jewelry was scattered across the table, some not even in boxes.
Song Yinxing saw the necklace he had given him hanging on a uniquely shaped stand. Among so many beautiful gemstones, it didn’t stand out much—but it still made him a little happy.
As a side note, Gu Yang’s preparations before going out were indeed quite tedious. From the moment they decided to go to the aquarium, nearly half an hour passed.
“Do you know how to tie a belt?” Gu Yang asked.
Song Yinxing wasn’t sure, but he tried anyway. When Gu Yang saw the crooked knot in the mirror, he shook his head, untied it, and awkwardly retied it himself.
Finally, they were ready to go out.
Instead of bothering Uncle Huang, Gu Yang chose to take a taxi.
They went to the largest aquarium in Jiangcheng. It had probably been built when they were in elementary school.
Song Yinxing remembered that when it first opened, many classmates had gone there.
He had envied them greatly, but at the time he could already sense problems at home. So he quietly buried that desire and even coaxed his younger brother Song Zihan, who had cried and begged to go.
That restraint lasted more than a decade.
He never got another chance to visit for fun. Thinking about it later, he could only laugh bitterly at how simple childhood worries had been.
Looking at Gu Yang’s back, he couldn’t tell whether this suggestion had been intentional or accidental.
After all, Gu Yang had already changed so many things in his life.
But how could he even know something so trivial?
…They barely had any interaction in their previous life.
“Why does it feel smaller?” Gu Yang muttered while looking around. “It seemed bigger when I came before.”
“Maybe it’s because you grew up,” Song Yinxing said softly.
Gu Yang gave a noncommittal hum.
They walked through a long underwater tunnel.
Perhaps to enhance the atmosphere, there were no lights. Dim blue water shimmered around them, ripples reflecting on their faces while shadows drifted past. Countless marine creatures swam beyond the glass.
It felt like being inside a real underwater world.
“Do you like it?” Gu Yang asked.
In Song Yinxing’s eyes were creatures he had previously only seen on television. A brightly colored fish swam close. He tapped the glass lightly and watched it dart away.
He nodded.
“Is that so? Then I guess it makes up for that regret,” Gu Yang said casually.
Song Yinxing’s attention snapped to him, startled.
Gu Yang didn’t even bother pretending.
So Song Yinxing asked directly, “In this deep blue water with shimmering waves… how did you know this was my regret?”
“Because I can hear it,” Gu Yang said quietly. “I can hear what you’re thinking.”
That answer was clearly beyond science.
But strange things had happened to Song Yinxing himself, so for a moment he couldn’t judge whether Gu Yang was telling the truth.
Seeing the hesitation on his face, Gu Yang smiled brightly.
“So scary, so scary,” he drawled, stepping a little closer to Song Yinxing before retreating again. “Is that what you’re thinking in your heart?”
Song Yinxing stood there blankly as Gu Yang turned and walked ahead.
A long chain earring hung from his left ear, swaying gently with his steps, like a faintly glowing jellyfish drifting in the ocean.
Impossible to figure out.
After a brief moment of confusion, Song Yinxing quickly sorted out his thoughts and caught up.
He wasn’t someone who could be fooled so easily. Although he suspected Gu Yang knew many things, he didn’t believe he could read minds.
“What? You don’t believe me?” Gu Yang smiled, trying to look like a mysterious wizard.
Song Yinxing didn’t know whether he should play along.
“Alright, I believe you,” he said helplessly. “Then can you tell me what I’m thinking right now?”
He neither fully believed nor rejected it. He had a feeling Gu Yang’s mood was related to the claim he’d just made, so he wanted to test it.
Gu Yang pursed his lips, looking Song Yinxing up and down.
Of course he didn’t really have that ability.
“You’re thinking that coming to see this aquarium makes you happy, and that I’m truly beautiful and kind.”
There was clearly some personal bias mixed into that statement.
Song Yinxing’s gaze fixed on Gu Yang’s moving lips, then slid upward to those smiling eyes.
In this dreamlike underwater world, his usual rationality slowly dissolved.
Lost in thought, he accidentally spoke his inner thoughts aloud.
“I want to pin you against the glass wall and kiss your eyes.”
Gu Yang slowly widened his eyes, staring at him in shock.
Song Yinxing: “……”
He felt like he had truly gone crazy today.
A little boy visiting nearby happened to hear them. As he ran past, he made a face.
“Saying stuff like that in public—shameless!”
Gu Yang and Song Yinxing: “……”
For the rest of the visit, they walked in complete silence, finishing the place quickly like they were completing a task, then silently agreeing to leave early.
But on the way back from the aquarium, before Song Yinxing had even recovered from the unbelievable events of the day, he received some news.
Xia Chun had gone missing.
