This incident took place almost eight years ago.
Yun Cheng has a younger sister named Li Cun, nicknamed Yi Yi.
When Yun Cheng saw Yi Yi in the ward, the young girl looked almost unrecognisable, but still managed to smile at him. "My busy superstar brother, you came to see me," Yi Yi said with a hint of teasing in her voice, despite no hint of joking on her face.
It was during the most successful period for Yun Cheng, after participating in a competition and releasing a new album that received widespread acclaim, with three hit songs.
Yun Cheng pulled up a chair by the bedside, and Li Cun held onto a few of his fingers, saying, "Brother, I want to tell you a story."
Although not blood-related, the two had a close bond since childhood.
Yun Cheng gently held Li Cun's slender fingers, careful not to apply too much pressure, " I'm listening." The warmth of one palm and the coldness of the other's fingertips intertwined.
That year, Li Cun was seventeen.
On her way to buy study materials at a bookstore, she saw her father walking with another man and entering a hotel a few hundred meters away. Li Cun followed silently behind, feeling puzzled. Her father had gone on a business trip two days prior, so why was he here? Did he just return? But why didn't he go home? She waited at the hotel entrance until dark, but her father never appeared in the lobby. That night, her father didn't return home, and the next day either. It wasn't until four days later that Li Cun finally encountered her father, who had just returned from his trip.
The father is considered a "good man" in everyone's eyes. He has a successful career, loves his wife and daughter, and maintains a harmonious family. Every time he returns from a business trip, he brings gifts for his wife and daughter, and this time is no exception.
Li Cun took the gift handed by his father blankly and asked softly, "Dad, did you just come back?"
The father did not notice her unusual behaviour, as usual, he patted her head and asked, "Missed daddy?"
Li Cun snapped out of her thoughts and continued, "Yes, dad, you've been away on a business trip for so long."
Since she could remember, her father's business trips ranged from a week to a month, but what if every time he returned early without coming home?
Li Cun made many speculations, good and bad, but when the truth was revealed, it far exceeded her imagination.
It was the summer of the following year, Li Cun did well in the college entrance examination and received an admission letter from a prestigious university. Her father rewarded her with a trip to the island.
On the eve of departure, Li Cun was in the study picking up books to read during the long flight when her father's phone rang on the desk.
It was her father's phone, and he was in the bedroom taking a shower. By a twist of fate, Li Cun walked over to the desk.
Eight years ago, WeChat was an emerging product that had not yet been widely popularised, and people mostly used text messages to communicate. Text messages kept flooding into the phone. Following her father's unlock pattern, Li Cun unlocked the phone.
—— How about visiting the estate for our 20th anniversary?
—— Mr. Chen said the fruits in the orchard are growing well this year.
—— The jar of wine we buried has been twenty years, let's open it this year.
—— Remember to remind Yi Yi of safety precautions, and don't forget to give the card I gave you to her.
—— I should be returning early, the Paris meeting will end the day after tomorrow.
—— L'amour rampe lorsqu'il peut pas marcher.
The discourse containing no intention of exceeding is full of loopholes. Li Cun glanced at the sender and noted "Amour." Intuitively, it seemed like a woman's English name, or perhaps the name of a foreign woman. She scrolled through the messages, mostly casual conversations resembling that of a long-married couple, with occasional French phrases interspersed.
Li Cun tapped the mouse, only translating the last French sentence and the recipient's name.
"It crawls forward when love can't walk, "
"Beloved."
Her mind went blank, and hand shaking uncontrollably on the mouse.
Her father entered the study at that moment. The secret buried for eighteen years was about to be revealed.
He took a few steps closer, "Yi Yi," his voice hoarse yet calm, as if prepared to confess everything.
"Dad," Li Cun pushed his phone forward, "who is your beloved?"
The air froze like strands of ice, making it unbearable to think further. The phone screen nearby remained lit, as his father's hoarse voice softened, "Yi Yi, when you come back from the island, I'll tell you. This matter has been buried in my heart for a very long time."
After a long pause, Li Cun replied with a simple "Okay."
On the day Li Cun returned from the island with his friend, his father came to pick them up at the airport.
Having toured the island, she also lost weight, experiencing torment every minute and second on the island. Instead of taking Li Cun home, her father took them to a private room in a teahouse.
In the room sat a man, brewing tea with graceful and elegant movements. Li Cun recognised him is her Uncle Ding, a close friend of her father for decades and someone who had watched her grow up. "Hi, Uncle Ding," Li Cun called out nervously, feeling puzzled.
"Yi Yi,," Ding Xiang handed Li Cun a cup of tea and then told her father, "I'll wait for you in the outer room, call me if you need anything."
"I know."
"Yi Yi, I'm sorry," her father's voice was low and relieved, "I made a mistake in this matter, but now that you're an adult, I feel responsible for being honest about everything."
"The 'Amour' you saw was not someone else, but your Uncle Ding Xiang."
Li Cun's father's name is Li Wang.
Twenty years ago, Li Wang met Ding Xiang. In their early twenties, they fell in love with each other under a tacit understanding but kept it a secret. They had two very happy years together. Ding Xiang always knew that Li Wang's family was pressuring him to get married, which had recently escalated into forced marriage.
It was at this time that Li Cun's mother, Fang Yiran, appeared.
Unlike the college-educated Li Wang, Fang Yiran had only completed a vocational school.
"Li, I understand the pressure from your family and that you may not have feelings for me, but I still hope you will consider my request." after many years, Fang sat in front of Li and expressed,
Some people are like that; meeting at a young age leaves an indelible mark, no matter how many others they encounter later on.
During that meeting, the two talked for a long time. Afterwards, he took Fang Yiran to meet Ding Xiang.
"Even if you have to become a tongqi(gay's wife), do you have no regrets?" Ding Xiang asked Fang Yiran.
"No regrets," she replied with determination, "Li's family wants heirs, and I want to give him a child."
Ding Xiang was at a loss for words. He harboured no blame towards anyone, not even Li. While he didn't want Li to marry a wife, their situations were ultimately different. He knew he was inherently different and that Li was not like him.
Choosing a heterosexual partner to conform to societal norms was perhaps the most satisfactory solution at the time, though it conflicted somewhat with moral principles. When an identity is legal, people do not question the ability to change it. Conversely, when an identity is illegal, people do not consider the possibility that it could be legitimate.
Despite everything, he loved him, loved him deeply, so he watched events unfold before his eyes, resigned to his fate.
Afterwards, Li Wang and Fang Yiran still got married, with him attending as the best man. Amidst the lively crowd, he couldn't express his blessings, only keeping his heartfelt love deep inside.
Half a year later, Wang Yiran became pregnant. Over the next twenty years, they never fulfilled their marital duties, but treated each other with respect, keeping their true relationship hidden from all relatives and friends.
After marriage, Li Wang frequently went on business trips, but only two people knew that most of the time, he wasn't actually away on business.
Li Cun felt her whole body go limp, trying to drink some water to steady herself, but herhands were shaking too much to hold the cup. This story seemed too absurd, too laughable.
She looked up at the man who had been called "Dad" for eighteen years, her throat so dry he could barely speak.
"Dad, did you ever love my mom?" As the question left her lips, Li Cun felt how ridiculous it sounded.
After a few seconds that felt like ten minutes, or even longer, Li Wang finally found his voice. He said, "I'm sorry..."
Tears rolled down his cheeks like surging waves, reaching her neck and shoulders, Li Cun was numb, her vision blurred.
"Then what am I?"
"You are my daughter," Li Wang wanted to hold his daughter's hand, but Li Cun avoided him.
"No matter what stories, conflicts, or grudges exist in our generation, you are still the daughter that I love the most."
"No! I'm not!" Overwhelmed by emotions like a flood, Li Cun could no longer control herself. If her dad didn't love her mom, if her father wasn't heterosexual, then what was her existence? Were the three of them just a perfect link in a web of lies? Or a ridiculous abandoned child?
She opened the door, ran outside, only to find her mother waiting at the doorstep, embracing her tightly.
'One night, she went to a gay bar alone and a situation similar to what happened with Little A occurred." Yu Cheng narrated like a storyteller, slowly recounting the lengthy story. "Later on, she fell ill, hospitalised for treatment, with fluctuating health indicators. I still remember the day she told me... She said, 'I met a sister there who thought I was one of them. She said people like them, in such a narrow world, walking alone is more painful than not having someone to love or be loved by, the greatest pain being unable to be with the one you love. My mom said, being able to stand by my dad as a wife in this lifetime is enough.' Although I still cannot fully comprehend this pain and my mom's willingness, I know that my parents' love for me has always been genuine. Yucheng, if you ever find someone you deeply love, please remember to bring him to see me and share your story with me."
Two years ago, Yu Cheng came out to her family, and Li Cun knew about it.
"So regarding this illness," Yu Cheng looked at Zhong Shao with appreciation, "I consider myself quite knowledgeable about it."
Due to its mode of transmission, some describe AIDS as 'contamination,' but whether it truly is contamination remains undefined. Zhong Shao understood the meaning behind Yu Cheng sharing this story with him; he turned the laptop around and asked, "Are you familiar with this organization?"
"I am," Yu Cheng replied. The screen displayed the official website of "WAT." Founded six years ago, WAT, short for We All Together, is currently the largest public welfare organization in China dedicated to assisting AIDS patients. It not only provides aid to a minority group or AIDS patients but also collaborates with numerous renowned experts and scholars from both domestic and international sectors to publish the latest global research on AIDS.
Zhong Shao didn't beat around the bush and straightforwardly stated, "I am the mastermind behind it."
It dawned on Yu Cheng the significance of Zhong Shao's words. This was Zhong Shao's way of making a difference.
Yu Cheng chuckled lightly, suddenly feeling that the world was small and full of twists and turns. "Shao, is there any other role of yours that I am unaware of?"
Zhong Shao smiled subtly, "Yes, I will tell you after finishing the film."