CTS 69

Shen Mo brought the car to a stop, opened the door, and said, “Mr. Ji, we’re here.”

Ji Mingxuan didn’t move. His gaze was dark and unreadable as he looked at Shen Mo and asked, “Why did you bring me here?”

“Have you forgotten?” Shen Mo replied. “Even though you asked Lawyer Chen to take back this property in Jinxiu Villas, I never agreed at the time. So the key has always stayed with me.”

Ji Mingxuan’s expression shifted slightly. “So you kept the key.”

This time, before Shen Mo could say anything more, Ji Mingxuan opened the door and got out.

After all these years, Jinxiu Villas hadn’t changed much, except for a new set of security guards at the entrance. Shen Mo had been coming and going often lately and had become familiar with them, so they let him in just by recognizing his face.

The apartment under Shen Mo’s name was on the seventh floor. Normally, they would take the elevator, but he turned to Ji Mingxuan and said, “Mr. Ji, why don’t we take the stairs? There’s something I want to tell you.”

Ji Mingxuan had no objections.

The two of them climbed step by step, floor by floor.

The stairwell was quiet, rarely used by others, and carried a calm stillness. As they walked, Shen Mo began speaking, recounting what had happened back then.

“After I fell down the stairs, someone took me to the hospital. I wasn’t badly hurt, but I couldn’t remember anything that had happened during the previous six months.”

After finishing, he stopped and looked at Ji Mingxuan. “If not for that, I would’ve already come back to Jinxiu Villas.”

And I would have already stepped into your heart.

Ji Mingxuan listened quietly. His face showed little expression, as if completely unaffected. Yet his calmness felt like it was holding back a storm.

Shen Mo felt a bit uneasy. After a long pause, he finally heard Ji Mingxuan ask, “Did it hurt?”

“What?”

“You fell down the stairs, didn’t you?” Ji Mingxuan’s gaze softened, filled with emotions that eventually settled into something gentle as water. “Did it hurt?”

For a moment, it felt like Shen Mo could hear nothing but the pounding of his own heart.

This was the man Shen Mo had once mistaken for Zhou Yang in a daze, the same man he completely forgot after regaining his memory. Now that he finally knew the truth, he said nothing about the past. All he asked was whether it hurt when Shen Mo fell.

“Ji Mingxuan…”

Shen Mo lost his composure. He blinked hard, trying to force back the moisture in his eyes.

Ji Mingxuan pulled him into his arms, touched his face with a smile, and said, “Seems like it really did hurt.”

Shen Mo clung to his collar, no longer calling him Mr. Ji, just his name.

Ji Mingxuan responded a few times, then said, “There are three more floors. Why don’t I carry you the rest of the way?”

Shen Mo finally lifted his head. His eyes were still red. “I’m just feeling emotional. It’s not like I can’t walk.”

Ji Mingxuan replied seriously, “If the day ever comes when you can’t walk, I’ll still carry you like this.”

Shen Mo couldn’t say no after that.

Ji Mingxuan bent down and carried him on his back. After adjusting to the weight, he began climbing again.

Lying against his back, Shen Mo finally felt a bit more at ease. He asked, “You didn’t know I lost my memory. All those years… did you think I was deliberately ignoring you?”

Ji Mingxuan answered with a touch of self-mockery, “Wasn’t I just a stranger to you?”

Shen Mo murmured, “You weren’t…”

Thinking about what Ji Mingxuan must have felt during that time made his chest tighten painfully. After a moment, he asked, “Did you come to Jinxiu Villas a lot before?”

Ji Mingxuan immediately replied, “Only once in a while.”

Shen Mo knew to take that answer the opposite way. So he followed up, “What were you doing here by yourself?”

Ji Mingxuan didn’t bother answering.

No matter how Shen Mo tried to question him, Ji Mingxuan said nothing. He simply adjusted Shen Mo’s weight and carried him up the remaining three floors in one breath. When they reached the seventh floor and Shen Mo climbed down from his back, he finally heard Ji Mingxuan whisper something. His voice was so soft that if Shen Mo hadn’t been so close, he would have missed it entirely.

He said, “I was thinking about you.”

Shen Mo froze on the spot.

Ji Mingxuan had already walked briskly to the door and turned to wave at him. “Where’s the key?”

Shen Mo snapped out of it and quickly pulled out the key. His hands were trembling so much that he couldn’t get it into the lock no matter how many times he tried.

Ji Mingxuan finally reached over, took his hand, and guided the key into the lock for him.

With a soft click, the door finally opened. Shen Mo and Ji Mingxuan exchanged a look. Neither of them spoke, but both felt something quietly stirring inside.

The apartment had already been cleaned. The furnishings and decor matched Ji Mingxuan’s memories, with only a few small changes. There were padded strips on the corners of the walls, safety covers on the outlets, and some of the appliances had been replaced with ones that included child locks. These were all things Shen Mo had been busy working on over the past month.

Ji Mingxuan opened the bedroom door. The master bedroom remained untouched, while the second bedroom had been turned into a child’s room.

Shen Mo explained, “The furniture is all newly bought. There’s no paint on it, so Xiao Ning can move in right away.”

Ji Mingxuan gave a small nod. Only the study remained. But when he approached that door, his steps slowed. He paced in front of it twice before finally pushing the door open.

The study still looked exactly as he had arranged it years ago. The lighting was excellent. The floor was covered with art supplies, and the walls were filled with paintings.

Only now, the paintings had changed.

Every painting featured the same person. Ji Mingxuan recognized himself immediately. There was one of him smiling, one with a frown, and others where his face showed no expression at all. Each look had been captured with striking precision.

At the bottom corner of every painting was the same signature, two characters he knew better than anyone else.

Shen Mo.

Ji Mingxuan turned around to find Shen Mo standing behind him.

Shen Mo asked, “What do you think of my work?”

He looked a little nervous and added, “A month wasn’t a lot of time, and I had to draw everything with my right hand, so the details aren’t perfect.”

Ji Mingxuan met his gaze but quickly looked away again. “It’s not bad.”

Shen Mo thought he saw a faint blush behind Ji Mingxuan’s ear. He resisted the urge to kiss that spot, instead reaching into his pocket and pulling out something he had prepared long ago. Then he gently took hold of Ji Mingxuan’s left hand.

Ji Mingxuan said, “Shen Mo?”

Shen Mo didn’t respond. He just held his fingertips and slowly slipped the ring from his palm onto Ji Mingxuan’s ring finger. He held his breath, focused as if he were completing a masterpiece.

The ring had been custom-made based on the design he had drawn. It was almost identical to the one he had painted on the island.

Ji Mingxuan lowered his eyes to the ring, momentarily stunned. “What does this mean?”

“Proposal,” Shen Mo replied, quickly slipping on his own ring. He joined their hands together so the matching bands aligned. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Ji Mingxuan had already done so much. This time, it was his turn to take the lead. He still didn’t understand what made Ji Mingxuan fall for him, but now that they were together, the only thing he could do was become someone worthy of that love.

“I’ll work hard and earn money for our family. What do you say?”

Ji Mingxuan didn’t answer right away.

He looked at the ring again, then at Shen Mo. Suddenly, he pulled him close and pinned him against the wall.

A wall that was covered with portraits of Ji Mingxuan.

His expression now was more moving than any of the faces in the paintings. He lifted Shen Mo’s chin with the hand that wore the ring and said, “This is my answer.”

Shen Mo felt slightly dazed. The entire room was filled with Ji Mingxuan’s face, yet the real one was right in front of him, gently leaning in to kiss him.

-The End-