strictlysupreme Chapter 1290 Yun Rui's Heart: Yan Wanqing's Memory
Chapter 1290 Yun Rui's Heart: Yan Wanqing's Memory
The liquid in the infusion tube dripped very slowly. Yan Wanqing stared at the string of crystal water droplets, and her fingertips repeatedly outlined a vague outline on the sheets.
The wind that Gu Yunqian brought in when he walked into the ward had not yet dissipated. The scent of cedar mixed with the smell of disinfectant reminded her of the crumpled orange candy that the little boy handed her under the cedar tree in the old house when she was seven years old.
"Dean Lu said you're awake." Gu Yunqian put the thermos on the bedside table, and the metal shell collided with the wooden tabletop with a light sound. "Auntie stewed bird's nest, you try it."
Yan Wanqing didn't move, her eyes still on the IV tube: "When I was unconscious, I kept thinking of some fragments."
Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something. "A woman held me and sat under a cedar tree. She held a notebook full of ginkgo leaves, but I can't remember her face clearly."
Gu Yunqian paused as he opened the thermos.
He looked at Yan Wanqing's drooping eyelashes. The thick eyelashes cast a light shadow under her eyes, which looked very much like the ink orchids that Qi Zhifang always loved to paint back then.
"There was also a man smashing things in the study," Yan Wanqing continued, her fingertips wrinkling the sheets, "he was shouting 'Why should I let her forget', and the voice sounded very similar to..." She paused and didn't say anything else.
In fact, she wanted to say "very much like your father". The back figure that appeared repeatedly in the dream was wearing a dark grey suit, holding a photo frame in his hand. The woman in the photo frame was smiling with curved eyebrows and wearing the same ginkgo leaf necklace as Gu Yunxi.
Gu Yunqian leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands on his knees.
This posture made him look much more distant, and the emerald cufflinks glowed coldly under the fluorescent light.
"Memory can be deceiving sometimes." His voice was as steady as the surface of an icy river. "The doctor said that you just woke up and are prone to hallucinations."
"But that wasn't an illusion." Yan Wanqing raised her head, with tiny lights flickering in her eyes. "I remember there was a crescent-shaped gap on the edge of the page of the ginkgo leaf book, just like... just like the title page of the 'Plant Atlas' in your study."
Gu Yunqian's pupils suddenly contracted.
That book, "Plant Illustrated Book", was Qi Zhifang's relic. The gap in the title page was made by him with a utility knife when he was a child. No one knew about it except the Gu family.
The ward fell into silence, with only the dripping sound of the infusion tube spreading in the air. Yan Wanqing looked at his tense jawline and suddenly understood something - he knew those memories existed, but was just deliberately avoiding them.
"I heard that the Gu family has a doctor named William," she softened her tone, as if she was talking about something insignificant, "who specializes in helping people with memory regression therapy. Can you..."
"No." Gu Yunqian interrupted her, his voice as cold as ice, "Wanqing, forgetting some memories is actually a good thing."
What should he say? Should he say that he had known for a long time that Qi Zhifang's death was also related to the Gu family?
Qi Zhifang's belongings appeared in his home when he was so young, so when he later helped Qi Ruixiang find the truth, he didn't dare to dig deeper!
He did not bring it up clearly with Gu Mingcheng, and Gu Mingcheng did not talk to him seriously about it. After all, the plant atlas was just an ordinary book.
The Gu family had been through so much, and he just wanted the family to be together and live happily. He knew that Gu Mingcheng must have thought the same...
"But I want to remember." Yan Wanqing's voice was filled with tears. "I always feel that there are important things in those memories, related to my mother, and... related to your Gu family."
Gu Yunqian took a deep breath, and his chest felt like something was blocking it.
He looked at Yan Wanqing's red eyes, and could vaguely make out the shadow of Qi Zhifang in the stubbornness in those eyes - even though he knew there was a cliff ahead, he still had to walk towards it step by step.
"William has retired." He finally chose to lie, his fingertips leaving deep red marks on his knees, "And memory recall is risky, back then..." He paused and didn't say anything else.
Those who underwent memory intervention back then inevitably fell into confusion.
The doctor said that her subconscious mind was resisting that memory, just like Yan Wanqing now, perhaps she was also afraid of the truth deep in her memory.
Yan Wanqing didn't ask any more questions. She lowered her head again and watched the bubbles slowly rising in the infusion tube, as if she was watching a silent farewell.
She knew Gu Yunqian was lying, but she didn't blame him. Some secrets are like bombs buried deep underground, and no one knows how much damage will be caused after they are detonated.
"Then I won't look for it anymore." She said softly, with a hint of disappointment in her tone. "The bird's nest is cold. Can you heat it up for me?"
When Gu Yunqian stood up, his shirt on the back was soaked with cold sweat. He walked to the door with the thermos and heard Yan Wanqing's voice behind him: "Gu Yunqian, if you remember the woman under the cedar tree, you must tell me."
He didn't look back, but just gently closed the door. The wind in the corridor blew into his collar, bringing the coolness of late autumn, reminding him of what his father often said: "Some memories are curses that will haunt you for the rest of your life."
And now, this curse seems to be coming to Yan Wanqing. He leaned against the wall, looking at the blurred light and shadow reflected on the door of the ward, and suddenly felt that this entanglement across two generations was like a net that was getting tighter and tighter, and no one could escape...
The vermilion lacquered gate of the old house exuded a chilly air in the twilight.
When Lin Junze took his coat, he whispered, "The master is waiting for you in the study and said you will be back today." Gu Yunqian paused - Gu Mingcheng is always like this, like an actuary who can see through people's hearts, and can even predict his sudden decision to talk about Qi Zhifang.
The scent of sandalwood in the study was stronger than I remembered.
My father sat on the armchair, gently lifted the teapot and put it into the sea twice. When he heard footsteps, he didn't look up, but pointed to the chair opposite: "Just came back from the hospital? How is the girl from the Yan family?"
"You've recovered well." When Gu Yunqian sat down, he subconsciously glanced at a certain place on the bookshelf!
Gu Mingcheng placed one of the cups of tea in front of his son. His eyes behind the lenses were cloudy but sharp. "You want to ask Qi Zhifang?"
Gu Yunqian’s Adam’s apple rolled.
He had prepared a lot of words along the way, but now they were all stuck in his throat. It was his father who spoke first, his voice so light it sounded like a sigh: "Do you still remember that I was a mercenary? At that time, I had no memory, and I returned to you."
How could he forget? That was the year when his parents' relationship was the most difficult. Because of the intervention of Su Xingya's mother, his grandfather passed away and his mother became a widower. The mother and son left their hometown and went to France to depend on each other.
And his father is alive but he can't be himself...
"Why did she die?" Gu Yunqian finally asked this question.
"Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?" Although Gu Mingcheng pretended to be calm, the trembling in his voice could still be clearly heard by Gu Yunqian.
Gu Mingcheng just mentioned his experience as a mercenary, which means that Qi Zhifang had become his target invisibly, so he was afraid!
"I checked the files." Gu Yunqian leaned forward. "On the night of October 10, she drowned in the Thames, the same date as Lin Xu's disappearance. Is this also a coincidence?"
My father's face instantly darkened, like a deep pool into which a stone had been thrown. "No investigation!" His voice suddenly rose, shaking the tea set on the table. "What happened back then is over. Do you want to make everyone suffer again?"
Gu Yunqian looked at the white hair on his father's temples - all these years, he always thought that his father was strong and could bear all the secrets, but he forgot that he would also grow old.
Just like the surprise and heartache in Yan Wanqing's eyes when she looked at Yan Taifeng's back.
"Wanqing wants to find William's doctor to restore her memory." Gu Yunqian changed the subject, tapping the table unconsciously with his fingertips, "She said that in her dream there was a man smashing things and shouting 'Why did you let her forget?'"