His trembling eyelashes were hidden beneath the towel, and to a large extent, they suppressed the slight tension within him. He spoke softly, “Can you please tell me what really happened back then?”
Bai Jinyan’s hand paused. “Brother?” Qiao Huaiyao tentatively lifted the edge of the towel covering his eyes, looking down.
With so much to say, Bai Jinyan didn’t know how to begin, and his heart tightened when he met Qiao Huaiyao’s gaze. After a moment of silence to collect his thoughts, Bai Jinyan spoke in a low voice, “In reality, it’s not that important, and you probably already guessed most of it.”
Qiao Huaiyao stared at Bai Jinyan intently, not interrupting, silently waiting for him to continue. His guesses were only partial, and he still wanted to hear Bai Jinyan confess it in person.
Bai Jinyan gently guided Qiao Huaiyao’s hand away from the towel and said casually, “The day before the college entrance examination, my mother saw that diary.”
His tone didn’t seem to attach much importance to it, as if he were discussing a relatively minor matter. Qiao Huaiyao’s breath hitched as he realized that Aunt Meng had known about the diary’s existence, but he didn’t expect it to be before the college entrance examination.
With his hand held slightly loose in Bai Jinyan’s grip, Bai Jinyan took it, continuing to use the warm towel to soothe Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes. “In her mind, I was the person she had raised, someone created for the entertainment industry, a person whose love and feelings could be perfectly controlled. So, at that time, she was very emotional.”
“I’m used to her unpredictable moods, but she might have realized something, and in order to maintain this perfect image, she…” Bai Jinyan paused for a moment and explained in a more delicate manner, “She used some things to threaten me.”
Bai Jinyan didn’t explicitly mention it, but Qiao Huaiyao quickly surmised, “It’s about our relationship, isn’t it?”
The conversation fell silent, and Bai Jinyan didn’t deny it.
“As an elder, she decided to disclose the matter of the diary to everyone,” and during this time, Qiao Huaiyao could only imagine the pressure he had to bear.
Revealing this complicated relationship from an elder’s perspective and adding fuel to the fire on the internet.
After all, Meng Zhen was a public figure, and Bai Jinyan had a high profile in the entertainment industry.
Once this matter was exposed, the consequences were unimaginable.
Manipulating someone’s reputation was relatively easy.
Meng Zhen was unlikely to take any action against Bai Jinyan; she would only tarnish his image. But…
Qiao Huaiyao said faintly, “I don’t care about all of that.”
He knew that his brother had carefully filtered and beautified the words he said to him. It wasn’t hard to guess Aunt Meng’s true intentions.
“I care,” Bai Jinyan said lightly. “With your knowledge, your abilities, your future should be brilliant.”
“I don’t want my feelings to become a burden for you. I don’t want you to grow up under the criticism of others,” Bai Jinyan continued.
From start to finish, he knew what he wanted.
He loved Qiao Huaiyao, but if this love would hurt him, he would hide it and not let anyone know.
The college entrance examination was imminent, and all eyes were on Qiao Huaiyao.
His knowledge and research had attracted the attention of many people, and the most important experimental data had not yet yielded results.
At this moment, even a slight disturbance could be magnified by those with malicious intentions.
All Bai Jinyan could do was to quickly calm this matter down, to allow Qiao Huaiyao to finish this trial peacefully, to wait until he smoothly entered a good university, and to wait for everything to settle down.
For Qiao Huaiyao, his exam results had nothing to do with his studies.
But Bai Jinyan wouldn’t allow Qiao Huaiyao’s feelings for him to lead to less than ideal results.
Someone as talented as Qiao Huaiyao should have a smooth life.
Qiao Huaiyao’s vision blurred with the moisture in his eyes, and the pain in his heart made it difficult for him to speak.
He couldn’t imagine Bai Jinyan’s state of mind when he distanced himself back then.
For so many years, Bai Jinyan had quietly watched over him, but never appeared in front of him.
What kind of thoughts had Bai Jinyan had at that time?
“So, does that mean…” Qiao Huaiyao pursed his lips and closed his eyes when the towel covered them. “Are you planning never to appear in front of me again?”
Bai Jinyan wiped away a tear with the towel and explained, “At that time, I thought that after resolving these issues, I would come to find you immediately.”
After a pause, he said, “I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.”
The students who had accompanied Qiao Huaiyao to see him off on the same flight watched him enter the gate before leaving themselves.
However, when Bai Jinyan returned home late at night, he found Qiao Huaiyao, who should have been at school, waiting at his doorstep.
“So, is it resolved now?” Qiao Huaiyao asked as soon as he realized it.
Naturally, it wasn’t resolved; otherwise, why would he have blocked Meng Zhen’s number on his phone?
Qiao Huaiyao squinted his eyes. “You didn’t send me away that time.”
Bai Jinyan put down the towel, ruffled his hair, and said, “At that time, how could I dare to say anything?”
He only dared to distance himself, to go along with the flow. “Hmm…” Qiao Huaiyao narrowed his eyes. “So, you’re not afraid that Aunt Meng will do something…”
Bai Jinyan had prepared everything in advance to protect Qiao Huaiyao. “The signal on the island isn’t good, she’s resting upstairs, she shouldn’t be paying too much attention to the outside world.”