Qi Le looked at Gu Bai innocently and played dumb. “What do you mean?"
“Erquan,” Gu Bai reminded, staring straight at him. “You called me by this name before you fainted. How do you know about it?”
“…” Qi Le blinked unceasingly as he trembled.
He and Gu Bai had lived together for so long so he knew more about him than the average person. Gu Bai’s family was very large and had many branches. The older generation liked to use numbers to rank the younger generations according to their birth order. Each generation used different characters. Gu Bai’s father used “Mao” so it went as "Damao," "Ermao," and so on. Gu Bai’s generation had used “Quan." Of course, this was only for the boys, the girls usually used two-character baby names, such as “Nan Nan” and “Tuan Tuan," etc.
Gu Bai was the second according to birth order so he was called "Erquan."
The name was rather convenient and was used at home all the time but his teachers and classmates didn't know about it. Naturally, his parents wouldn't call their son by such a tacky name so they all called him "Xiao Bai." Later on, the older generation had passed on and several branches had moved away. By fifth grade, there was basically no one left to call Gu Bai by that name. However, Qi Le had heard others calling him “Erquan” when he was little and felt that it was easy to remember, so he had been using it all this while.
But just like all boys, Gu Bai also cared about how others saw him. So, after several discussions, Qi Le agreed to only called him by that name in private and had always kept his word. He never told anyone else about it either. Although several people in their class had heard the name before the two had reached an agreement, they had moved and lost contact with those people. There was no way those people would remember that name either.
If he didn't include the time when he was pushed into the operating room, and had only called out that name because he wasn't sure if he would make it, thus far, excluding the relatives of both sides, only Xiao Ying knew that name. And that was only because she had accidentally overheard him. Qi Le had even been a little afraid that Gu Bai would be unhappy. But after careful observation, he found that the man wasn't angry and was rest assured.
Later on, out of curiosity, Xiao Ying had asked Gu Bai if he really cared so much about it and Gu Bai had explained that back then he was young and felt that it sounded bad so he was a little bothered by it, but it didn't matter now. So, apart from his family members and Xiao Le, he wouldn’t allow anyone to call him by that name in the future. At the time, Xiao Ying's expression had darkened and she didn't say anything else.
Of course, Qi Le didn't know about the above-mentioned dialogue. He only understood two things now: First, Gu Bai may suspect that he was Qi Le but this scenario was too ridiculous for ordinary people to conjure up. And second, Gu Bai realized that Qi Le hadn't kept his word and told others about the name behind his back.
These two situations weren't at all good for him.
This buddy of his had been in love with him for so long. If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, then that would be the end of the matter. But he just had to overhear it in person! It would be too embarrassing to tell him the truth now. Besides, what should he do if Gu Bai started to pursue him? The worst case scenario was that their friendship would never go back to the way it used to be, so he definitely couldn't come clean.
But if it was the second scenario, he was already dead and yet, he still had to endure being branded as dishonest after his death. He really was so unlucky. Never mind if it was just bad luck, he had also accidentally spit on Qi Le’s tombstone. According to this person’s character, he wouldn't let him go easily. He would eventually be beaten.
So right now, he sat in bed, faced off in a staring contest with Gu Bai. He was dumbstruck and didn't speak at all, so much so that even Yi Hang and the Taoist priest on the side were affected by the awkwardness.
Gu Bai looked at him, “How much longer are you going to think?”
Qi Le coughed dryly. “You have to give me time. I've lost my memory and can’t remember many things. I vaguely remembered that I was friends with Qi Le. Maybe I heard the name before,” he explained patiently. “At the time, I thought you were going to hit me and had subconsciously said it out loud. I really can’t remember the details. Why don’t you wait for me to recover my memory before you ask again? Or should I look for you instead?"
Gu Bai didn't answer. He merely looked at him in silence.
Qi Le felt guilty immediately. “I'm not lying. I really have amnesia. You can ask the nurse if you don’t believe me.”
Gu Bai sized him up and down, got up and walked away, obviously not intending to speak anymore.
Qi Le saw from Gu Bai's expression that wouldn't let himself go so he quickly added, “I just remembered that I have a letter with me. Qi Le wrote it to you.” He secretly thought to himself that when the time came, the letter would specifically mention not to hit Zheng Xiaoyuan, and he would be able to avoid this crisis!
Gu Bai's footsteps stopped at once. He suddenly turned and picked him up. “Where is the letter?”
Qi Le immediately felt a headache from being shaken. “I feel dizzy…… Let go of me first……”
Gu Bai threw him back down. “Where’s the letter?”
Fuck! Can't you be a bit more gentle? Qi Le, who was mercilessly thrown onto his bed, couldn't help but sigh in his heart. This person seldom behaved on impulse, but was actually agitated to this point over one sentence. This only showed how important he was to Gu Bai, but he couldn't reveal his real identity. This whole matter left him at a loss.