Just then, the man turns around.
It's as though he'd detected Yuying's presence behind him. Almost like he has some sort of sixth sense or something.
He locks eyes with Yuying.
His gaze is so intense that Yuying momentarily feels self-conscious, especially in the fancy get-up that she's in. She unconsciously folds her arms and rubs the sides of her arms as though her actions would magically make her invisible.
"Ming'er? Is that you?"
The man suddenly calls out to Yuying.
Yuying widens her eyes slightly.
/Oh, he knows me./
"Why are you just standing there?" the man asks as he tilts his head to the side.
"I...I..." Yuying doesn't know what to say to this mysterious man.
The man chuckles softly as he extends a hand towards Yuying as though he's asking her to take it.
Yuying can see his hand trembling slightly.
The man is so pale that he seems to be illuminated under the dimming light.
"Come on over," he prompts, patting the side of his wheelchair as though he's inviting Yuying to take a seat down beside him.
"You know I don't bite, Little Brother."
/Little Brother?/
/That's a first. I've been getting called 'Big Brother' so far, by both Mingsan and Mingwu./
/And so, this must be.../
"Mingyi," Yuying says aloud.
Mingyi chuckles in response. "Yes, Little Brother. I'm well aware that's my name," he jokes.
"I'm just sickly, Ming'er. Not dumb."
Yuying doesn't know why, but she feels like she'd crossed a line or something. And so, she immediately goes over and bows her head.
"I'm sorry, Big Brother," she apologized, "That's not what I meant."
"Woah, woah," Mingyi immediately waves his hand, promoting Yuying to stand back up. "Relax, man, I was just joking around with you."
Mingyi rests his elbow on the side of his wheelchair and props his chin up with his hand. "Since when did you become so formal, anyway?" he quips, "Did the air at Qilin Academy do something to you?"
"Maybe," Yuying shrugs, deciding to play along with Mingyi. "And the congee. The cooking there is pretty sick."
Mingyi chuckles. "Yes, it is," he replies. "I must admit that I'm guilty of sneaking into the kitchen on several occasions just to get a few more helpings back when I was still at the academy."
/Back when he was still at the academy?/
Yuying furrows internally at this new piece of information.
/Mingyi used to attend Qilin Academy?/
Yuying decides to dig into it more.
However, just as she's thinking about how she can approach the question of why Mingyi had dropped out of the academy in the most subtle way possible, the latter speaks up.
"Anyway," Mingyi shakes his head, as though he was trying to stop reminiscing about his days at the academy, "How have you been, Ming'er? How's everything back at the academy?"
"I've been really good," Yuying immediately replies, beaming at Mingyi reassuringly. "Just learning new things and getting better and better day by day, along with Chen Jun and Ruofei."
Yuying decides to throw in Chen Jun and Ruofei's names so that her answer wouldn't sound bland and generic.
"Ah yes, your two best friends," Mingyi chuckles, "The three of you have practically been joined at the hip ever since you were born."
/So Chen Jun and Ruofei has been friends with Ming'er ever since they were young./
Yuying quickly absorbs this new piece of information.
"I hope you haven't been giving Headmaster Qi too much trouble," Mingyi jokes, "I still remember how mischievous the three of you used to be, playing pranks on pretty much anyone and everyone."
"Nah, we're mature adults now," Yuying drawls even though she isn't quite whether or not this is true, "We've grown out of that phase a long time ago."
"Says the one who'd stuck myyrh (gum-resin) to the wheels of my wheelchair like, what, just two or three years ago?" Mingyi teases.
"I still remember the palace maids and the eunuchs taking turns to try and push me out of my room to no avail," he hums.
"I was just sitting there, thinking, 'it must be the doing of those three troublemakers again!' you know, haha."
"You knew that it was us?" Yuying widens her eyes and pretends to be shocked. "Why didn't you say anything to the palace maids and the eunuchs then?"
"Nah," Mingyi drawls as he waves his hand dismissively, "It was pretty fun to see them scratching their heads and racking their brains, trying to figure out what the problem was."
"You should've seen the look on their faces," Mingyi snickers, to Yuying's surprise. Despite his obviously sickly state, the older man carried himself in such a regal and poised manner that it seems completely out of character for him to be snickling like that.
"It was absolutely priceless," Mingyi laughs as he recalls the events of that day, "It was absolutely gold!"
Mingyi is laughing so hard that he's slapping his knee. Yuying was caught rather off-guard. She didn't think that a person who looked as elegant and noble as him would behave like this.
/I guess he must be pretty comfortable with and close to Ming'er./
"Oh my God," Yuying groans, "You're so evil, Big Brother!"
"Says the one who'd been part of the trio to stick gum up my wheelchair," Mingyi shoots back with a smirk.
"We could've done worse, just so you know," Yuying drawls nonchalantly, bantering with Mingyi, "You should thank your lucky stars that we'd chose to let you off easy."
"It was more of a punishment for the poor palace maids and eunuchs than it was for me, you know," Mingyi shrugs, amused. "Actually, it wasn't even a punishment for me. It was entertainment."
Mingyi leans back against the backrest of his wheelchair. "I have the three of you to thank for that," he confesses as he smiles up at Yuying, "After all, I'd been staring up at nothing but the blank ceiling for the past week back then."
Even though Mingyi had said this rather light-heartedly, Yuying could tell that his condition bore a heavy weight on his shoulders.
"Anyway, I digress," Mingyi murmurs, waving his hand again. "We were talking about Headmaster Qi, right?"
"Yeah," Yuying replies, "We were."
"I wonder if he still remembers me," Mingyi half-jokes, "Did you remember to send my regards to Headmaster Qi?"
Yuying recalls the old man with white hair and white beard that she'd spotted in the crowd at Qilin Academy. The one who was dressed in the most easily distinguishable and elaborate clothes.
/That must be Headmaster Qi./
"Yes, of course," Yuying smiles at Mingyi as though she isn't lying through her teeth. "And yes, he still remembers you."
No, Yuying doesn't know whether or not Headmaster Qi still remembers Mingyi. But she's sure he does. After all, what headmaster would forget about their students, present or past?
"Headmaster Qi wants you to know that he and everyone else at the academy has been doing well," Yuying continues, "And he hopes that you've been doing fine."
Mingyi becomes quiet for a while, as though he's slowly taking in all of the words that Yuying had just said to him.
"I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean anymore," Mingyi chuckles dryly.
Yuying furrows, not quite following him. "What's what supposed to mean?" she asks.
"I don't know what the definition of 'doing fine, is anymore, to be honest," Mingyi admits.
"Perhaps it means the days that I don't get any headaches or migraines that are so bad that I can't even get up and drag myself onto my wheelchair."
Yuying grimaces internally.
/That sounds terrible./
Yuying notices that Mingyi is shaking slightly. Just like how his hand had been trembling when he'd held it out for her earlier.
She instinctively goes over and places her warm hand on Mingyi's freezing one. Yuying nearly withdrew her hands at the touch, not expecting him to be so cold.
He's so cold that Yuying feels like she's touching a block of ice rather than another person.
"Perhaps it means the days that I don't start heaving and gasping for breath so badly that I start coughing blood." Mingyi continues monotonously as he stares at the tranquil and clear lake in front of him.
Yuying grimaces internally even more.
/Gosh.../
/That sounds awful.../
It takes everything in Yuying to hold herself back from enveloping Mingyi in one big hug. She figures that it'll come off as weird to the older man, given Asian family values and all that.
Instead, Yuying squeezes Mingyi's hand reassuringly, trying to soothe and comfort him even though he doesn't explicitly state that he needs it.
"Perhaps it means the days like these," Mingyi mutters, "That I can still find the strength and energy to pull myself up onto my wheelchair and wheel myself outside to admire beautiful views like this one."
As Mingyi continues to gaze out into the lake, Yuying follows his gaze.
It's a truly breathtaking view go behold, one that's even more magnificent and gorgeous than the Chinese garden back at Yuying's university in Singapore.
"Views that aren't within the four walls of the prison that I call my bedroom," Mingyi mutters under his breath so softly that Yuying barely catches it.
Yuying's heart aches for Mingyi.
Although she'd only just met him, she could more or less figure out what was going on with him.
/So, he's the oldest son of the Emperor.../
/And he used to attend Qilin Academy.../
/But ended up dropping out.../
/And now, even if he isn't bed-ridden, he can only get around using a wheelchair.../
Yuying puts two and two together and infers that it must've been Mingyi's unknown illness that had ultimately taken him out of Qilin Academy, as well as robbed him off the use of his legs.
Just then, she recalls what Ruofei had said earlier.
/"You know, we may as well just call you the Crown Prince."/
/"No one ever says it out loud, but we all know that the actual Crown Prince..."/
Yuying frowns.
/What did he mean by that?/
However, before she could try and figure it out, Mingyi breaks his silence.
"Yeah, it must be days like these," Mingyi grins as though he wasn't sad at all. Yuying is surprised at just how quickly his mood can change.
"Days like these when I can..."
Mingyi gets cut off before he can finish his sentence.
"Big Brother, there you are!"
A voice cries out. Yuying immediately recognizes the owner of this voice as Mingsan.
Sure enough, Mingsan is approaching the two of them. However, he's only looking at Mingyi with a look of disapproval on his face.
It reminds Yuying of the look that an owner would give his or her disobedient puppy.
"Big Brother," he groans,
"Did you sneak out of your room again?"