Chapter 991: Chapter 53: Brilliant as the Stars, Only Deep Affection Must Not Be Betrayed

Gu Zixi realized something was off with Feng Yuxi three seconds later.

But just as he turned sideways, wanting to check if his eyes were playing tricks on him, if Feng Yuxi was actually crying, Feng Yuxi’s eyelashes trembled and his pupils regained their usual calm.

With a faintly mocking smile, he said, "What could be wrong with me? I’m fine, I’m great. It’s you I’m wondering about—your Qi is waiting downstairs for you, and you still ran up here? Hey, Gu Zixi, don’t tell me you’re into guys and have your eye on this young master’s pretty face?"

Gu Zixi was amused on the spot. He patted Feng Yuxi’s leg lightly and scolded, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Feng Yuxi let out a low chuckle and said nothing. Just then he finished another can of beer; as he tossed the empty can, he cracked open a new one...

Gu Zixi shook his head, scrutinized Feng Yuxi a few times, and said, "But you’re the same age as me. You’ve really never liked anyone?"

Feng Yuxi’s fingers paused on the pull tab. After three seconds of silence, he said, "Yeah, I have."

"Who?"

"Your sister."

"...Huh?" Gu Zixi froze.

Feng Yuxi sighed with exaggerated emotion. "Too bad my uncle snatched her up. Now I have to call her ’Auntie.’ Tragic, right?"

A minute later, Gu Zixi, who almost never laughed like this, couldn’t help bursting into especially bright laughter. His shoulders shook, his eyes curving into crescents. "You brat, no wonder my brother-in-law always looks like he wants to beat you up whenever he sees you. But what do you like about my sister? She’s a few years older than you, isn’t she?"

Feng Yuxi looked at Gu Zixi, lips quirking slightly. After a long moment, two words slipped out between his lips. "She’s pretty."

He wasn’t sure if it was because Feng Yuxi’s gaze on him just then was too deep, but for a split second something jolted in his heart.

Yet when he focused on him again, Feng Yuxi had already withdrawn that expression and turned his face away, beer in hand. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Was it...just his imagination?

Gu Zixi wasn’t sure if he’d misread some emotion, but that emotion was too unbelievable. It existed in his mind for only a second before vanishing into thin air.

So much so that when he thought back on this scene many years later, looking at the long scar on Feng Yuxi’s head, at his careless grin, and then at that slightly limp leg of his—

Gu Zixi’s heart would tremble as he thought: no matter what, he wouldn’t say that sentence in this moment... He might even hug Feng Yuxi and add, "I don’t like men, but I really do like you."

But in this moment—

He didn’t sense anything at all.

When Feng Yuxi let those light words slip out, his attention was drawn away along with them.

Feng Yuxi drank his beer and looked out at the sky beyond the window. "The color of the sunset is really beautiful..."

Gu Zixi also glanced at the silk-like, painting-like Rong City sky and nodded. "It is. There’s no sunset anywhere that can compare to our hometown’s."

Feng Yuxi tightened his grip on the beer can. After a long while, a faint smile squeezed out at the corner of his lips. "Little Uncle... Zixi, forgive me for drinking too much today and calling you that. Could you...tell me what it feels like to like someone?"

Gu Zixi never cared much about those hollow titles anyway. At the moment, not noticing Feng Yuxi’s mood, he gave a small smile. "What it feels like to like someone, huh? It’s when you meet someone who makes your face flush and your heart race, when every nerve in your body seems to pulse along. Your eyes just want to follow that person. When you see her looking at you, you’ll smile; when you see that she likes you too, you’ll feel so happy it’s like you’ve gotten the whole world."

"Then...if you know this feeling is doomed to go nowhere, would you still choose to like them?"

"Liking someone is more of a mood, a feeling. It’s not something your rational mind can control. How could you decide whether you choose to like someone or not? But..." Halfway through, Gu Zixi suddenly paused, then looked at Feng Yuxi with his eyes curved in a smile. "...actually, you’ve got someone you like too, don’t you?"

Feng Yuxi tightened his grip on the beer can again and stayed silent.

Gu Zixi’s eyes curved even more as he smiled. "Yeah, I figured. You haven’t seemed quite right lately. I guessed you must have something on your mind. Didn’t expect you to also have someone you like. So who is it? Tell me, I’ll help you analyze the situation?"

Gu Zixi’s smile was as gentle as ever, but each word felt like a knife carving into Feng Yuxi’s heart.

He tipped his head back and took a long swig of beer, then gave a desolate little smile. "What’s the point of bringing him up? He’s already got someone. He’s not gonna like me anyway..."

"He’s got someone?" Gu Zixi raised his brows, paused as if he’d realized something, then shook his head with a faint, disapproving smile. "So what? From the way you’re talking, this is probably unrequited love—you haven’t even confessed, have you? Yu Xi, whether he likes you or not is one thing. But if he’s not married yet and you haven’t even tried to confess, that’s a whole other thing. You’re still young. When you like someone, you should have the courage to confess. The outcome isn’t always what matters. What matters is that while we’re still young, we bravely fight for some things, so that when we’re old we won’t regret it..."