When Huo Fenglie stood up, his expression was very ugly.

Liu Zhenqing felt somewhat embarrassed, and reached out to drag Huo Fenglie back.

Huo Fenglie turned and glanced at Liu Zhenqing with a restrained expression, but seemed unable to hold back his anger as he said in a deep voice: “I’m a bit stuffy, so I will go to the deck for some air. Apologies.”

After saying this, he turned around and walked out the door. He had to force himself to leave and go out alone to calm down.

That movement like thunder and wind was comparable to a suppressed volcano that might erupt at any time.

Once he left, the temperature in the room that had been lowered by Huo Fenglie stabilized.

Xi Ran said softly: “Did what I said about Young Master Liu offend him? As an acquaintance of Young Master Liu…..”

“How could this be?” Song Xingmu was also puzzled, and turned to look at Liu Zhenqing. After all, he was not familiar with Huo Fenglie, but Liu Zhenqing would definitely know what was going on.

“What is wrong with him?”

He saw Liu Zhenqing slowly sip his tea, looking a little relaxed and complacent. He said shamelessly: “It’s because he liked that person. And…..he was almost promised by his brother to be that person’s wife. With a relationship like that, you can’t blame him for being rude.”

The three people present were stunned when these words came out.

Goosebumps immediately rose on Yi Chuan. “He liked Liu Zhenqing?”

Liu Zhenqing nodded heavily.

“Were they a couple?”

Liu Zhenqing said seriously: “Not yet.”

“Yes, that person died,” Yi Chuan said directly.

But Song Xingmu was in a bad mood. Staring at Liu Zhenqing, he said in disbelief: “Wait, what did you say? Are you telling the truth? Seriously? That little demon?”

Liu Zhenqing said with dissatisfaction: “What, do you think that person didn’t have enough charm to attract a little demon?” He was so good, wasn’t it normal for Er-gou to be obsessed with him?

Song Xingmu nearly choked to death. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly, still so loathsome and shameless! But no matter what, that person had the capital to be shameless. He gritted his teeth and said: “But…..Liu Zhenqing was not a cut-sleeve.”

Liu Zhenqing said innocently: “That is not wrong, but feelings are something different.”

“You!” Song Xingmu was alarmed. The good brother who accompanied him to admire beauties and the didi of another good brother? This stimulation was almost equal to his brother’s rebirth.

“Ai, stop that.” Liu Zhenqing feared that Song Xingmu’s stimulation would expose him. “I’ll go out and talk some sense into him.”

Xi Ran to the side finally returned to her senses. She naturally understood that a person like Liu Zhenqing must have countless admirers, but didn’t expect to meet one. And he was a formidable man who was rather different in age from them. She said in astonishment: “Sure enough, Young Master Liu back then really had countless peach blossoms, and was famous all over the country. After so many years, there are still people who miss him. It is my fault. Please tell that young master that I was only joking. Young Master Liu indeed stayed with me for three days and three nights, but he was very polite and did not cross the line. Young Master Liu and I…..just had a platonic friendship.”

As she spoke, Xi Ran’s eyes dimmed.

“En, all right.” Liu Zhenqing chuckled and gave Xi Ran a respectful gentleman’s salute.

Startled, Xi Ran instantly recalled the time when Liu Zhenqing stepped into her Fragrant Pavilion for the first time. The seemingly wanton and lazy dandy actually bowed respectfully to her like a gentleman. This was a very ridiculous thing. After all, which wealthy scholar would perform this etiquette for a prostitute?

She had only encountered this twice in her life. 

The first time, she was shocked and forgot to return the gesture. She often woke from her dreams feeling lost, and in her imagination, she returned the gesture over and over again countless times.

But this time, Xi Ran was caught off guard and quickly stood up to reciprocate. When she did so, the jade pendant around her neck fell out.

And after waiting for Xi Ran to return the gesture, he turned around and left. His eyes did not linger on the jade willow leaf pendant.

Seeing this, Song Xingmu wanted to call out to Liu Zhenqing and stop him, but he saw him walk out with a smile on his lips, as if he was looking forward to something. This truly made Song Xingmu feel indescribably complicated.

“This young master is quite interesting. Are you unable to say his name?”

Song Xingmu sighed. “What a coincidence, his last name is Liu.”

Xi Ran was taken aback. “I thought he looked familiar.”

“It is true that he is a distant relative of Liu Zhenqing.” Song Xingmu smiled and raised his cup to drink tea.

Xi Ran’s eyes flashed, and she suddenly said: “Oh? Can Captain Song help bridge the gap between us?”

“What?”

Xi Ran smiled sweetly and said: “I wonder if he would like to stay the night?”

Song Xingmu froze in his tea-drinking posture and stared at Xi Ran in astonishment. Yi Chuan beside him spurted out a mouthful of liquid.

Xi Ran smiled, her expression charming and free. “I was not lucky enough to get Young Master Liu. Now that I have met this person who is so similar, perhaps the heavens intend to compensate me. If Captain Song becomes my lobbyist, I will definitely provide better information to Captain Song in the future.”

Song Xingmu was stunned for a long moment, and finally couldn’t help but laugh. “All right, I’ll ask him later. Ai? Wait, that fellow really didn’t do anything for three days and three nights back then? So what did he do?”

Xi Ran smiled and said: “He told me stories.”

At this time, Liu Zhenqing had already found Huo Fenglie standing alone at the guardrail on the deck. The night wind caused his black hair to flutter, dispersing the cold hardness of his body, but it could not dissipate his loneliness.

For a moment, he was like a pitiful guard dog crouching in the night and waiting for his master to return.

Liu Zhenqing crossed his arms and looked at him for a while, feeling a little regretful. He usually just let it go, but this time it seemed to have been too much and made him this unhappy.

But he didn’t blame himself, ah. Who made Huo Fenglie stay frozen and not say anything? It was unknown what was holding him back.

Liu Zhenqing had not stood there long before Huo Fenglie turned around, apparently having noticed him come.

“Er-gou, are you still stuffy?” Liu Zhenqing strolled forward with a pure white smile on his face.

“Why did you come out?” Huo Fenglie asked in a dull voice: “Don’t you want to reminisce about the past?”

Liu Zhenqing stopped teasing him and took the initiative to explain: “Song Xingmu and I had old history to talk about, but I wasn’t familiar with Xi Ran. She didn’t know my identity and it was inconvenient to speak, so I simply came out.”

Huo Fenglie watched Liu Zhenqing approach, but then turned his back, seemingly unwilling to face him.

“The first taste of love, three days and three nights of companionship. You don’t think that is familiar?”

It seemed like a question, but he severely restrained his emotions, and the sourness almost turned the river water into vinegar.

Liu Zhenqing suppressed a smile. “What nonsense are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you before? When I was in the capital, I only went to places like that to watch performances. Your brother would vouch for me.”

“It was Da-ge who brought you back.” The implication was that Huo Feihan couldn’t possibly have known what he had done.

Huo Fenglie was not here at the time. Later, when Liu Zhenqing returned from his hometown and stayed in another courtyard here, he heard the exaggerated rumors about Liu Zhenqing and the entertainment house. At that time, he just instinctively felt it was troublesome. He disliked it and was unhappy. But they were busy catching pirates, and Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing spent little time together, so the matter was just a rumor and passed quickly.

When they met again this time, Fuo Fenglie was reminded of the incident and felt like he was being given acupuncture at all times.

Just as Song Xingmu had said, he was worried that Xi Ran had a special place in Liu Zhenqing’s heart.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes became dark when he thought of this.

Liu Zhenqing scratched his head helplessly and then pretended to be mysterious, gesturing to Huo Fenglie: “Then let me tell you a secret.”

Although Huo Fenglie had a stomach full of emotions, he still couldn’t resist any of Liu Zhenqing’s demands. He leaned over with a sullen expression and felt Liu Zhenqing reach out to pull his ear, getting closer as he said: “Actually neither body has ever tasted the fruit of love. You must keep it a secret.”

Huo Fenglie was stunned for a moment, and the feeling of desolation vanished into nothingness. Turning his head to look at Liu Zhenqing, he saw the other’s happily smiling face and sparkling eyes. “I am absolutely not trying to trick you, I swear. In two lifetimes, your Qing-ge has never touched a man or a woman. Even his first kiss…..is still there.”

When Liu Zhenqing said this, he got stuck. It was true that he didn’t have any experience kissing even in his previous life, but in this life, cough, cough, he was infatuated with Huo Fenglie.

It was just that Huo Fenglie was completely muddled-headed and didn’t notice Liu Zhenqing’s dilemma at all. He didn’t expect that Qing-ge had observed such etiquette in his previous life. After all, it was completely different from his daily behavior, ah. Then it could be said that Qing-ge’s first time was with him…..Thinking of this, Huo Fenglie’s eyes suddenly widened.

Liu Zhenqing was still thinking about what had happened when Huo Fenglie went crazy, and was a little surprised. Yes, ah, it was such a fierce attack for a first time. Was he self-taught or did he have personal experience?

Liu Zhenqing felt a little mentally uncomfortable, but he was still a twenty-six-year-old man, and it was not something worth worrying about. But he was still curious, so he couldn’t help but say: “What about Er-gou? Have you ever been close to a woman? Do you still have your first kiss?”

When Liu Zhenqing inquired straightforwardly, Huo Fenglie looked extremely uncomfortable. Liu Zhenqing had a pretty good idea that Huo Fenglie had experience.  Suppressing his psychological discomfort, he couldn’t help but say: “Oh? Who is so lucky that General Huo was on intimate terms with them?”

Huo Fenglie quickly lowered his eyes to hide his panic. He had only…..only done something bad once.

It was on the wedding day of his brother and his sister-in-law. Qing-ge was so happy that he ended up drinking too much. In the end, he fell drunk on the rockery and was found by Huo Fenglie. He didn’t know if he was influenced by the happiness of his brother and sister-in-law’s marriage, or by some women who were close to Qing-ge attending the wedding. Perhaps he was drunk that night too. Gathering his courage, as Qing-ge was holding onto him in a daze, he lowered his head and kissed him. 

At that time, Liu Zhenqing sobered up and saw Huo Fenglie squatting beside him with a red face, looking at him. He didn’t know that his first kiss had been stolen by this puppy, and only asked with a smile: “Did Er-gou secretly drink? His face is all red.”

And at present, Huo Fenglie only buried it in his heart and did not dare to admit it. “I. Haven’t. Really.”

With such an obvious lie, Liu Zhenqing thought he had but was too embarrassed to tell him. After all, he was the one he liked now.

Liu Zhenqing was also a little dissatisfied that Huo Fenglie had traces of someone else in his heart, so he said teasingly: “Ah, I remember, didn’t you give me your first kiss?”

Huo Fenglie was so frightened that his whole body stiffened. “Qing-ge, I…..”

“You forgot, I took it as soon as you were born. Hahaha,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

Huo Fenglie choked, and could only change the subject awkwardly. “Then what about the rumors?”

“Haven’t you heard? Your brother and I were working with Song Xingmu to investigate a case about a local tyrant official. Back then, Xi Ran was the entertainer and person closest to the wicked official. He wanted to take part in the night Xi Ran chose her customers, and in order to buy time to deal with the enemy, Song Xingmu and I wanted to retain Xi Ran. As a result, I was selected and entered the pavilion. When I went in, I asked the girl to play the pipa for me, and when she grew tired of playing, I told her a story. Little did I know that the girl had never heard fairy tales before. She got so excited that she practically didn’t let me sleep, and insisted that I tell them. I don’t even remember how many hundreds I told. In any case, I passed out in the end and when he finally finished his work, your brother came to take me back.”

“Fairy tales…..stories?” Huo Fenglie said.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “Want to hear one? I’ll tell it when I give you acupuncture tonight. I’ll prepare One Thousand and One Nights for you.”

Huo Fenglie stared blankly for a moment, then nodded agreeably. “Then…..the jade pendant.”

“Oh, you saw that too. I stayed with this girl for three days and three nights, so of course I was too embarrassed to leave directly. Don’t all benactors use silver as a reward? I just gave her the most valuable jade pendant I had on me. After that, I was busy catching pirates, but then I discovered one thing.”

“What?”

“Xi Ran is not an ordinary woman. In fact, we were taken advantage of by her. Back then, the wicked official was not a good patron, and often tormented her. She didn’t dare to offend him, and just wished that something would happen to him. So when we showed up, she used the situation to choose me and played along with our acting in hopes that the bully would be caught without damaging her reputation. She is an extremely intelligent woman.”

“Then afterwards…..”

Liu Zhenqing spoke slowly: “We met again many years later. When I went south with Yuan Jue I stayed behind to deploy troops with Song Xingmu to continue catching pirates. When discussing things with Song Xingmu, we tried to keep away from eyes and ears, so we went to Xi Ran’s place. The relationship between us can only be regarded as…..the friendship between gentlemen, as light as water. Before leaving, I asked if she wanted to be redeemed. I wanted to help her regain her freedom. She refused, saying that she would leave by her own abilities. Then I never saw her again.”

Huo Fenglie could probably understand why Xi Ran refused at the outset. Because Qing-ge said he would give her her freedom, not…..take her away.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes flickered, and he said suddenly: “She never forgot you.”

“Who let your Qing-ge be so charming?” Liu Zhenqing gave a charming smile, then said deliberately, “Although I didn’t think much about it in the past, do you think I should renew our relationship now?”

Liu Zhenqing was only teasing Huo Fenglie to make him feel a little threatened. But the moment he said it, he didn’t even have time to tell Huo Fenglie it was a joke. As if he had been stabbed, his face became extremely frightening. That pair of eyes abruptly switched from restrained to wild and dangerous, staring at Liu Zhenqing like a wild beast.

Seeing Huo Fenglie this way shocked Liu Zhenqing. It was like if he spoke the wrong word, Huo Fenglie would pounce on him and bite his neck.

Look at this possessiveness, this jealous expression. So cute. Yet you still say you don’t like me.

Liu Zhenqing was frightened at first, but quickly shrugged it off and gave Huo Fenglie a provocative look.

Huo Fenglie suddenly said in a deep voice: “Qing-ge, don’t joke like that to me.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “How can you be sure I’m joking?”

“Because I know Qing-ge. Although you spare feelings everywhere…..”

“Hey, hey, hey.”

“…..If you really do fall in love with someone, you will stay with them until death. You said that you firmly believe in this kind of love, just like my brother and sister-in-law’s.” Huo Fenglie spoke very seriously, and his tone contained a warning. “You aren’t just casually talking about renewing a relationship, are you?”

If he could renew his relationship with Xi Ran, if he could be with someone else…..why couldn’t it be him?!

If Qing-ge wanted to choose someone else, wouldn’t his restraint and concealment be a joke? He could not, would not, tolerate it any longer. He would…..

As Huo Fenglie thought, he couldn’t help but grab Liu Zhenqing’s shoulders, and his tone became deeper and deeper. “Qing-ge, do you really want to be with someone else…..”

Liu Zhenqing regarded Huo Fenglie blankly, feeling that his words were a bit strange. He didn’t understand for the moment, but Huo Fenglie knew him quite well.

So he nodded and said sincerely: “You’re right. If I really fall in love with someone, I will definitely stay with them until death.”

Liu Zhenqing felt that he should reassure Huo Fenglie. Although there were rumors outside that he was romantically involved, he had to let Er-gou know that once he started a relationship, he would never change his mind. He didn’t want Er-gou to misunderstand that he was a frivolous person.

But Liu Zhenqing was unaware that his words were not a reassurance, but a critical hit, which silenced Huo Fenglie again.

But at the same time, he was relieved. Right, ah, hadn’t he known about this matter for almost nine years? What was there to be surprised about? He would only be surprised if Qing-ge fell in love with someone else.

Huo Fenglie slowly lowered his hands, and everything returned to how it was before.

However, Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes with a mischievous smile in front of him, then suddenly took a step forward, almost touching Huo Fenglie.Huo Fenglie was so startled that he instinctively moved back, but Liu Zhenqing grabbed his arm.

Liu Zhenqing raised his head and drew very close to Huo Fenglie’s face. He raised his eyebrows and said: “Er-gou, ah, what happened just now? So impolite? Someone who didn’t know better might think you were jealous.”

Huo Fenglie’s expression gradually stiffened, his eyes looking straight at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help becoming nervous.

But in the end, Huo Fenglie avoided Liu Zhenqing’s eyes and said: “Qing-ge misunderstands. I respect Qing-ge. Hearing such a frivolous story, I felt that I was not the person to hear it.”

Good boy, don’t say this. Liu Zhenqing nearly laughed out loud. He stretched out his hands and tugged Huo Fenglie’s lapel, forcing him to come closer. Liu Zhenqing’s eyes were like lightning. “Er-gou, ah, you…..”

But as soon as he spoke, the previously stable boat suddenly shook violently.

Huo Fenglie was able to keep his figure completely steady, and his whole body responded to guard Liu Zhenqing, who had been planning to interrogate him.

Neither of them ever thought that such an impossible situation would occur on the smooth water of the river. Now the boat was swaying, accompanied by sounds of chaos throughout the boat.

The two of them fell to one side at the same time, one leaning back and one leaning forward. The distance continued to get closer. Huo Fenglie’s well-trained body still instinctively reached out to grab the railing next to him to prevent the two of them from falling, supporting Liu Zhenqing’s body with the other hand. But his strength still couldn’t prevent it.

In an instant, Liu Zhenqing’s pupils shrank, and all he could see was Er-gou’s handsome features close at hand.

They had discussed their first kiss not long ago, and now this was happening.

---

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Chapter Seventy-Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-One

When Lu Qi woke up, his throat was dry and sore. His head was still dizzy, and he felt nauseated.

He was lying down stiffly, and when he tried to move his hands and feet, he realized that his hands were tied behind his back, his legs were tied together, and there was something firmly stuffed in his mouth.

The colorful patterns in his vision slowed down after a while. Only then did Lu Qi notice that something like a silk scarf was covering his head.

He simply pretended like he hadn’t woken up yet and listened to what was going on around him, recalling what had happened before he fell unconscious.

He had returned to the Garden Community and got the things the young girl had sent him from the landlord. In addition to photos, there were also some origami works folded by the girl herself, all kinds of small animals lying colorfully in the shoebox, each one from the young girl’s heart.

Lu Qi liked them very much, and walked toward Mingqi Secondary School with the shoebox under his arm. When he was about to leave the community, he found an injured stray dog in an alley between the buildings.

He thought about investigating the situation, but he didn’t have the energy to take care of an extra puppy, so he intended to call Xu Hengxing.

He crouched in front of the puppy, and was about to lift it using bathroom tissue in order to check the wound on the little thing’s leg when there were sudden footsteps behind him. There was more than one set, and they were all heavy and forceful adult footsteps. Lu Qi instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and while turning around, took a subconscious step back.

At this moment, an opponent’s hand chop sliced down and Lu Qi looked at him with some astonishment.

Lu Qi couldn’t spare any more attention for the puppy, and put it down, stepping aside quickly. He regarded the tall man warily and shouted loudly to ask him who he was.

He knew the other party wouldn’t tell him, and only asked in order to delay time. His eyes were searching for something to defend himself with or a gap to escape through.

But several more people appeared behind the man. Lu Qi looked at their figures and temperaments, and suddenly thought of their identities. These people were probably private bodyguards!

Then this wasn’t about money.

The alley was narrow, and the few people were unable to swarm up. Even though Lu Qi couldn’t find any tools or chance to escape, he also didn’t sit still, shouting directly: “Fire! Fire!!”

This sort of incident that might endanger someone personally was the most likely to attract attention and commotion, while shouting “help” or “robbery” might make people avoid it. This was what his mom told him when he was a child, but he never foresaw having to use it now. However, the other party didn’t give him a chance to shout. The man who missed hitting Lu Qi just now stepped forward again and reached out to grab him. 

Lu Qi punched him in the nose.

His boxing practice these days was not in vain. Unprepared, the opponent screamed and covered his nose, crouching down. And thanks to the narrow alley, the others couldn’t surge forward, and got stuck.

But in the end, there were many of them. Noticing Lu Qi’s shout of “fire,” someone had already pushed open a window to investigate. One of the group members said: “Hold him down and knock him out! Don’t worry about his face for now!!”

This was the last sentence Lu Qi heard. The group behind seemed to have no scruples, and swarmed over him to hold him down. Lu Qi punched one person in the eye, kicked another one down while struggling, and was finally pinned to the ground. His cheek hurt from the gravel on the ground, and then his mouth and nose were blocked by a pungent-smelling towel.

He didn’t know what happened after that.

He was scared, but comforted himself and calmed down. The other party’s words “don’t worry about his face for now” seemed to reveal their purpose for kidnapping him. Lu Qi never thought he would be sexually harassed one day, but it couldn’t be ruled out that the other party feared that he would be unrecognizable with his nose and face bruised and swollen, and he wouldn’t be able to blackmail Mu Nanqiao…..

He had been awake for a while, but there was no movement here. Lu Qi carefully rubbed his head and opened a small gap in the head covering, looking at the surrounding environment through it.

This seemed to be a KTV lounge. He had seen this kind of layout before when Li Yimiao worked at one. There was a private room at the front and a lounge in the back for drunken guests to rest, and he had recently been tossed onto the bed in the lounge. The room was dark and windowless, with only dim, blue-purple lights on.

There was the faint sound of conversation outside the door. It wasn’t obvious at first, but then one of them seemed to become angry. The other person was unresigned, and started to argue as well.

“Are you fucking crazy!” Along with the sound of things smashing, the man yelled: “Haven’t you watched TV?! The Mu family treats this kid as their daughter-in-law!! Why are you playing with him?! Aren’t you playing with someone else’s wife?!!”

“What kind of TV should I watch, ah? I only watch movies on TV…..” The other boy with the gruff voice didn’t care. “Besides, what daughter-in-law? He has such a big family business, so how can he find a male partner and not have children? In the end, he will have to find a woman to give birth so that he doesn’t lose his bloodline…..”

“Fuck bloodlines!” The other party interrupted him, “Wang Liang! You’re trying to get yourself killed! If this continues, our family’s bloodline will be cut off!”

Wang Liang…..

Lu Qi silently noted down the name.

He had an anesthetic-resistant constitution, and the other party probably didn’t expect him to wake up so quickly. The quarrel was still fierce.

“What? Could Mu Nanqiao fall out with our family because of him?” The gruff voice scoffed coldly, “Wang Duan, you are afraid of him, but I’m not. I have never been afraid of anyone since I was a child! I’ve gotten my way all over Shanghai, so what’s the problem with sleeping with a little duck? It’s impossible for Mu Nanqiao to love him! Where the hell is there love! Why can’t I touch this plaything!”

The man named Wang Duan fell silent, and Lu Qi heard him breathing very heavily, as if he was very angry.

After a long moment, Wang Duan said: “Did you touch him? Did he see your face?”

There was no telling what Wang Liang was thinking, but after a moment, he gave a contemptuous laugh and said, “I touched him, he feels so good. He’s worthy of being the one Mu Nanqiao likes, the best quality! He also saw my face. Let’s put it this way, Brother – it’s impossible to send this person back. You had better figure out how to cover up for me.”

Lu Qi moved his butt, but there was no discomfort. Wang Liang was obviously lying, just to drag the Wang family into trouble and let them take care of the consequences.

This man was selfish, arrogant, and stupid, and it might not be the first time he had done this!

Once he regained some strength in his hands and feet, Lu Qi twisted his wrists a couple of times and found that what was binding him was not rope, but circles of tape. 

This tape stuff was indestructible when intact, but as long as there was a small tear, it could be broken at once. Lu Qi first scratched at it with his nails, but he couldn’t use any force, and the tape didn’t move at all.

At the same time, he heard a person saying outside: “Wang Liang, I’m taking away the bodyguards. From now on, whatever you’re going to do has nothing to do with the Wang family. Do you understand?”

Lu Qi’s heart was ringing with alarm. Wang Duan had not left Wang Liang a way out. It was hard to say what a desperate man would do.

. . . . . .

In Mu Group’s chairman’s office, Mu Nanqiao called the police and was about to go to the police station while carrying his clothes. His expression was overcast and terrible. Mu Chuanbai was sitting on the sofa, also on his phone. Seeing that his son was about to go out, he said: “Son, don’t panic. The other party will make demands after kidnapping him. No matter what they ask for, you must agree first in order to stabilize the other party. If necessary, the company’s interests can be sacrificed. Once we get him back, everything else will be easy to deal with.”

Mu Nanqiao exhaled. He said with a nod: “I understand. Thank you, Dad.”

He took Assistant Zhang down in the elevator and went straight to the underground parking lot. Assistant Zhang opened the driver’s seat door, but his collar was grabbed and he was pushed back. “I’ll drive.”

Assistant Zhang was afraid that something might happen to his boss in this state, but after looking at his cold and solemn expression, he ran to the back without saying a word. Before he could sit firmly and close the car door, the boss had already stepped on the accelerator and was driving out.

But before they left the underground parking lot, a flirtatious pink convertible slowly drove in from the other side. A carefree young man with chains everywhere was driving the car, and blocked Mu Nanqiao’s way.

The sound of the horn startled the other party. He took off his sunglasses and looked over. Only then did Assistant Zhang realize that this was the second young master of the Gao family.

Speaking of this Second Young Master Gao, he was also a bit lucky. He flirted with Boss Mu’s boyfriend, and even if he didn’t die, he should have been skinned by Boss Mu. But according to Boss Mu, his boyfriend was very kind-hearted and thought that being offended by this man was not a big deal. Afterwards, the playboy young master’s reaction when he saw Mu Nanqiao was enough to make him laugh for a week.

Lu Qi did not agree to Mu Nanqiao’s retaliatory punishment. As for Mu Nanqiao, seeing as the other party made Lu Qi laugh, he decided to let him off.

Thus, the matter was lightly unraveled, and Second Young Master Gao was able to drive a sports car here with his body and family property intact, instead of being thrown into a small African country by Director Gao for training. This playboy who bobbed his head in a self-satisfied manner was startled, and looked like he was about to curse someone. Seeing that it was Mu Nanqiao, he revealed a flattering smile and wandered over with a fruit basket to knock on the window of Mu Nanqiao’s car.

Assistant Zhang feared that Mu Nanqiao would run over these second-hand goods with his car, so he quickly rolled down the window and stuck his head out, saying: “Young Master Gao, you’ve come at the wrong time today. Move the car quickly. Our Mr. Mu has something urgent to do.”

“Ohhhh…..” Young Master Gao was embarrassed upon his flattery being rejected, and quickly returned to the car. While reversing, he suddenly thought of something and asked loudly: “Xiao Zhang, since Brother Mu is in a hurry to get out, could it be that…..something has happened to his boyfriend?”

Mu Nanqiao’s expression went cold. He pushed the door open and got out of the car, then lifted the jingling and clanking Young Master Gao out of the convertible. He asked in a cold voice: “Do you know where Lu Qi is?”

“I, I, I’m not sure…..” Young Master Gao was about to cry, stumbling to explain: “It’s, it’s like this, Brother Mu. Some time ago when Wang Liang was drinking with us, he was a little drunk and said he was interested in a babe, but unfortunately he had an owner, and it would take some time to get him and try him out…..”

Glancing at Mu Nanqiao’s expression, he swallowed his saliva and said: “Could…..could it be your partner?”

At that time, he had just been scolded by his father and big brother about how Mu Nanqiao would react, so he always thought of Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi with fear. So much so that when he heard Wang Liang say this, his first reaction was: Lu Qi has a “master.”

Mu Nanqiao narrowed his eyes.

Wang Liang, he knew, was the third eldest son of the Wang family and was said to be a twin at birth. The older one had a congenital defect and did not survive. On the contrary, the smaller Wang Liang made it, so Mrs. Wang regarded her youngest son as the apple of her eye. He was used to behaving badly from a young age, and had been placed into ordinary people’s homes several times.

Wang Liang fell in love with a male university student the last time, but the person wouldn’t be with him, so he used some tricks and finally forced him to jump off a building. He became a paraplegic when he fell, and the Wang family paid his family a huge amount in compensation. It was a sum that ordinary people couldn’t earn in a lifetime, so the matter was settled. Up to now, that man was still lying in a high-end ward of a private hospital, burning money every day to stay alive through the support of the Wang family.

If Lu Qi was taken away by such an unscrupulous scumbag…..

He had dark intentions, and was about to contact the police to provide these clues. Then Young Master Gao, who had wandered around several times, seemed to have come to a decision and ran over again to say: “Boss Mu, you let me go after what happened last time. Thank you. Otherwise, my father would have beaten me and sent me to Africa to work as a supervisor. I appreciate your kindness in this matter, so let me give you another piece of news. Wang Liang has his own bar. He always does some wayward things there…..the location is in…..in…..aiya, I can’t remember, but I know how to get there. I can show you the way?”

Mu Nanqiao looked at him with bloodshot eyes. He nodded solemnly and said: “Thanks.”

Thus, the troops were divided into two groups. Assistant Zhang drove to the police station, while Mu Nanqiao drove Gao’er in the supercar to the bar he had mentioned. Even though he repeatedly overtook other cars on the road and frightened Gao’er into a screaming chicken, Mu Nanqiao did not run a red light.

While waiting at the red light, Mu Nanqiao said in a hoarse voice: “You should actually thank Lu Qi.”

It was Lu Qi who said with a smile that he didn’t care, and asked him not to take such a trivial matter to heart. Although he indeed felt offended at the time, when he saw Young Master Gao scared to the point of kneeling and crawling by Mu Nanqiao, he felt that this person had learned his lesson and there was no need to be so petty.

When Lu Qi said he was being petty, Mu Nanqiao was dissatisfied, and pressed him down to kiss him over and over again.

However, if Lu Qi had not dissuaded him at that time, he would have suspended cooperation with the Gao family. After careful investigation, Old Mr. Gao would have definitely sent the culprit to the frontier.

And then today, no one would have sent him this important and timely news.

Mu Nanqiao lowered his eyes, thinking of Lu Qi’s beautiful curved eyes and the red lips he had kissed.

Lu Qi had not been let down. The world finally gave him back the gentle kindness that he showed to others.

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Chapter Forty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Nine

Soon after, Pi Gao runs toward us with his undergraduate diploma and suitcase.

He has thick eyes and his looks are not outstanding, but his skin is very white, his hair is light brown with natural curls, and he has a youthful appearance.

I roll down the window and smile at him.

He also purses his lips and smiles at me, and the moment he lowers his head, his face reddens.

I didn’t expect that he would be so outgoing on social media but so shy in person, so I’m a little surprised. 

After getting in the car, he eagerly hands me various certificates for his undergraduate degree. There is a dazzling array of these things, but I flip through them and find a lot of valuable awards in the painting world. This level would also be considered very good in the actual art department. It seems that he has indeed made a lot of effort in the past few years.

I organize these things neatly and return them to him. He is stunned for a moment, and seems to have misunderstood what I mean. His eyes dim for a moment, then he takes something out of his bag and hands it to me: “Teacher, here’s more. I have a positive personality, and I’m hardworking…..”

I take it and read through it, finding that it is actually a university diploma. There are even English 4 through 6 and Mandarin. I interrupt him with amusement: “Classmate Pi, I can see your efforts.”

Maybe because I particularly like people who blush, in order to make him less nervous, I ask him as gently as possible: “Come with me to the school logistics department in a moment to register. Are you familiar with the institute?”

“I’m familiar!” He replies instantly, and his grin reveals a pair of small tiger teeth, his eyes and glasses flashing with light. “I’ve been aiming for the University of Fine Arts for a long time, and I’ve studied it thoroughly.”

En, I find that he doesn’t seem to be very shy……

It is already noon after registration, and the three of us have lunch in the faculty canteen. Dr. Zhao helps to the end and delivers Pi Gao to the East Campus, where he is staying.

Pi Gao saves a day’s travel expenses, and is deeply moved by Dr. Zhao. When he gets out of the car, he bows to him and says: “Uncle Zhao, you are such a good person.”

‘Uncle Zhao’s’ face darkens.

I laugh out loud without shame.

Before leaving, I hold Pi Gao back and tell him that I have been busy with art exhibitions in the past six months and rarely came to the school. For some courses, he should bring his own tools and come find me at my home. “I will send you the address later.”

He asks me: “Will this be okay, Teacher?”

I consider it and agree.

I knew he would come to me, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.

At noon, I am taking a nap on the sofa. Not long after I wake up, I suddenly hear the doorbell. I get up to open the camera on the courtyard door, and see that it is Pi Gao.

I’m still wearing house clothes and my hair is messy from sleeping, so I only open the far courtyard door for him and leave him waiting outside. 

Ten minutes later, I am wearing clothes appropriate for seeing outsiders, and open the front door for him. 

He stands outside the door with his back to it, holding a large oil-painting bag in one hand, while the other hand holds a bag of dried fruits and the like. When he hears the door open, he turns around with a round face and round eyes, like a lively puppy.

Even though I’m not very happy about his sudden appearance, I can’t get angry.

After entering the door, he hands me the bag of dried fruits with some embarrassment. “Teacher, these are persimmons I dried myself.”

I actually don’t like to eat sweet things, but I am unable to refuse this student’s good intentions. So I accept the bag of dried persimmons after thanking him, “You are really good. What do you want to learn this afternoon?”

When Pi Gao is exposed, his face turned slightly red as he says: “Actually, it’s nothing…..I can’t understand the ‘Desolate Girl and Saka’ you lectured on last year.”

This 19th century painting tells the story of the devil Saka, who fell in love with a pure girl playing under a tree and tried to subdue her with the power of evil. I spend nearly two hours explaining the composition, human anatomy, light and shadow, and the background of the era. When I finish speaking, Pi Gao thanks me very gratefully and takes the initiative to go to the kitchen and pour me a glass of water, as if this is nothing out of the ordinary.

I take the warm water he poured and pick up a piece of dried persimmon, biting into it. It is soft and sweet, worth eating.

Pi Gao leans over the coffee table to write something in his notes, drawing a few strokes with the pen from time to time.

I watch him for a while and say: “You have really worked hard these years.”

Beihua doesn’t like interdisciplinary students, and I hadn’t planned to enroll any students this year, but he insisted on applying to Beihua University and wanted to be my student. It took a lot of hard work to get to this point.

He smiles proudly after I speak, a little happy and pleased with himself: “Actually, I didn’t have much hope. This year was my World War II, and I planned to take the exam for the last time. I thought I had no chance, and if I failed this time, I would go home and be a music teacher. But I didn’t expect that the person who took first place was rejected by Beihua, so I filled the slot.”

When he finishes speaking, he narrows his eyes and asks me mysteriously: “Teacher, do you know who came in first place?”

I see the light of gossip in his eyes, and find it interesting. Although I don’t know who first place was, Beihua Academy of Fine Arts rarely rejects students. Being rejected must be confirmation that something was wrong.

Pi Gao puts down his pen, saying, “He was first place in undergraduate art school!”

His words surprise me. Although I don’t remember Pi Gao very well, I was really impressed by this first place student. He was a tall, silent kid who was extremely talented in oil painting. I was not surprised that he was able to enter the Academy of Fine Arts graduate school and make great achievements in the future, but I didn’t foresee that he would be rejected.

The withering of talent makes me extremely regretful: “Why?”

And what Pi Gao says absolutely shocks me.

“It is said that the things he created were possessed by evil spirits.”

I am astonished, and then I frown. “What are these words? Can superstitious rumors be taken seriously?”

I really couldn’t accept it if the school rejected a student for this reason.

Pi Gao puts down the notebook and sits up straight, his gaze very direct: “It’s not a rumor, many students have seen it. He rented a house outside with a few classmates. His talents were very average at first, and later, it was said that he requested something from abroad, and that thing turned out to belong to a deceased painter…..”

After getting this kind of thing, the student’s ingenuity really improved by leaps and bounds. He won several awards and was even famous on social media. His ranking in the university skyrocketed.

But a few years later, he suddenly became taciturn, and it was as if he had become a different person. He was no longer on social media and often talked to himself in corners, speaking in a foreign language that nobody could understand.

This incident caused a big fuss at school, and Pi Gao bumped into him several times because he often ran to the Academy of Fine Arts.

“Later, he disappeared for a long time. Neither his teachers nor his parents could find him, and the police were helpless. One night, a roommate renting with him suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. The roommate opened the door, looked, and – holy shit! That person was back, and he asked the roommate very strangely if he could come in.”

When I hear this, my heart suddenly tightens. I put the water in my hand back on the table. “What happened next?”

“Do you still need to ask this, Teacher?” Pi Gao pats his notebook and makes a door-closing motion. “Of course the roommate closed the door and locked it several times. He was so scared that he didn’t sleep until dawn.”

I open my mouth and look at the door of my house. My throat is a little tight. “…..He finally came back, so why not let him in?”

He is a little surprised to see that I really don’t know. “Teacher, do you rarely read things that aren’t academic? It was because there is a folk legend that apart from gods, whether they are big monsters or small ghosts, they need the owner’s permission to enter a person’s house. With the owner’s consent, they can come in and out and make contact with the people in the house as they please.”

I think of something, and my heart skips a beat.

“Teacher…..you don’t seem to look well…..”

I pick up the cool water on the table to hide my reaction, then put it down again. My heart is pounding. When I hear this, I look at the boy and say to him: “Xiao Pi, I’m feeling a little uncomfortable. Can you go back first?”

The boy notices my abnormality and stops talking. He stands up holding his things and asks me worriedly: “Teacher, are you okay? I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

“I’m fine…..it’s not your problem…..” I comfort him briefly.

He walks to the door in three steps and turns back to me: “Teacher, next time…..”

“Can you come back next time when I call you?”

“En, en, en, okay!” He nods again and again and says to me apologetically: “I’m sorry, Teacher, I talk a lot and can’t keep my mouth shut. If I say something that makes you uncomfortable, please disregard it. What I mentioned is just a rumor. Strictly speaking, he should have been rejected from Beihua because of his long-term truancy. Also, you can just wear house clothes when I come next time, whatever makes you comfortable. You don’t have to change clothes for me.”

I nod, trying to force a smile for him, but as soon as I raise the corners of my mouth, I freeze: “How did you know I changed my clothes?”

Only then does he scratch his head as if recalling something. “Because the peephole on your door is backwards. I accidentally saw you going into the bedroom to change clothes from the outside. I didn’t peek at anything else. When I realized it was backwards, I turned my back and stopped looking…..”

He is still explaining nonchalantly, but my brain is already fried as I remain on the sofa.

“Teacher, what’s wrong? Didn’t you know?”

“Didn’t you know the peephole is reversed?”

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Chapter 6 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 8

His rare inability to explain makes me feel a little distressed. I pull him to sit on the sofa, bring him the hot dinner, and pour him a glass of warm orange juice.

Mingcheng likes juice very much.

I put his dinner on the coffee table, but he is not in a hurry to eat. Rather, he remains sitting on the sofa with his hands gently holding my waist. He raises his head and looks at me with a smile, as if enjoying it when I lean over to wipe his dirty suit jacket.

“What trouble did you encounter tonight?” My mind is still fixated on this sentence.

Since my family member came home so late, I restrain myself from asking questions. But my worry is unavoidable, and he has a responsibility to give me an explanation.

He smiles wryly and shrugs, taking one hand back to place it on the back of my hand. “The car in front of me hit someone, resulting in a hit-and-run. It took me some time to cooperate with the police investigation, otherwise I would have still been back with you after five o’clock today.”

A hit-and-run?!

I frown. These people who hit people and run away in broad daylight are truly disgusting. Although the car accident did not happen to Mingcheng, him being there is enough to make me scared. I digest the information, but feel that something isn’t right: “Then why did Secretary Li say you were having a board meeting around seven o’clock?”

According to Mingcheng’s statement, his off-duty hours should be the same as usual, and he would have been cooperating with the police investigating the traffic accident after seven o’clock.

Mingcheng’s movements as he kneads my fingers are almost imperceptible. I’m a little confused, but the helpless expression on his face remains unchanged: “I was afraid you would be worried about me.”

It was because of this?

“Are you stupid?” I pull my hand away angrily. “You didn’t tell me because I would be worried, but I would find out sooner or later. If there was something wrong with you and I didn’t know about it, how painful would it be when I found out?”

A night full of worries and concealed emotions break out all at once, making me furious. I angrily push away the hand on my waist, step out from between his knees, and walk toward the room with a sullen face.

Seeing that I am truly angry, he quickly stands up and takes my arm.

I look back at him then, surprised to find that he is actually smiling.

Before I can get even angrier, he hugs me tightly from behind.

I’m so angry that I want to break away and throw him over my shoulder, then let him lie on the couch tonight.

But unexpectedly, I discover that his strength is unshakable.

Although I am not in very good health and don’t have the habit of exercising like Mingcheng, I am also a young man, after all. When we were roughhousing in the past, if I struggled with all of my strength, it would not be easy for him to completely subdue me without hurting me.

But now he is holding me with a smile and a relaxed expression, but his body and arms are like iron. Even when I try my utmost, I can’t break away at all.

Oh my god, is this the strength normal people have?

Was he always holding back before?

I suddenly feel that he would have a better chance at becoming a world boxing champion than Mingyi.

When he sees that I have given up struggling, he lowers his head from behind and nuzzles my face. “A-Zhen, I’m so happy.”

I am not happy. “Happy my ass!”

“Haha.” He laughs and turns me around, hugging me from the front.

I’m forced to lean against him like a pancake. From this angle, I can see his smooth jawline and the sleek lines of his profile, so delicate and perfect that they almost seem unreal.

His eyes are ink-dark to the very tips. I raise my hand and push his head away.

And he follows the trend to kiss my palm.

“So this is how it feels when you worry about me. It’s so wonderful.” He looks sideways at me. The tails of his eyes are curved up, and his eyes are sweet and soft, but very bright. “I’m really addicted to it.”

His eyes are bottomless, like dark holes that could swallow a person. My scalp feels inexplicably numb as we stare at each other.

“It’s like you’re finding out for the first time that I worry about you.” I think this is the reason he’s making me nauseous with his sweet talk in the middle of the night. It is nothing to be angry about. “Hurry up and eat some food to shut your mouth.”

He blinks and glances back at the dinner on the table.

Unsurprisingly, I watch as he takes a sip of his favorite orange juice first.

Then he suddenly turns to look at me, and before I can react, he pulls me to his side, grabs my chin, and lowers his head to kiss my lips.

“You let me go—mmph!”

He is strong. When he forces me to accept the sip of orange juice, I punch him in the chest.

During the struggle, the two of us fall on the sofa together. Because we are so close, the scent of fringed flowers also begins to wrap around me…..laying on top of him, I keenly sense the change in the atmosphere. I try to get up, but my wrists, which are propping me up on the sofa, are held by him.

Mingcheng relies on his size advantage to easily turn over. He gives a long exhale, “A-Zhen…..”

. . . . . . .

“I thought it would be easy just being your personal doctor, but I didn’t expect that I would be your part-time driver as well.” Dr. Zhao parks the car in front of my house and turns to speak with me through the car window.

All year round, he only wears gray. It’s fortunate that he is still good-looking. This kind of outfit makes people think that a doctor has rich qualifications and a stable personality.

I put the lacquered wooden box containing my painting tools into the car first, then get into the passenger seat with a smile. “It just so happens that I need to see you for a follow-up consultation today, so why not take me to work on the way? There’s a new student I need to meet today.”

This year, I am busy with art exhibitions and haven’t gone to school, only getting up mid-morning. Mingcheng is not at home, and since I don’t go out very often and don’t know how to drive, I just freeload when I go out. 

Dr. Zhao glances at me sideways.

I blink innocently at him.

He grunts and starts the vehicle, no longer looking at me.

I went to bed very late the night before. Wen Mingcheng made me mentally anxious and physically exhausted all night long, and the more I thought about it, the more irritated I felt. After washing up, he actually tried to go back to the bedroom with me, but I reached behind me and locked him out in the living room. 

It was already two o’clock in the morning when I dragged my weak body back to the room. I threw down my phone and collapsed on the big, soft bed, ready to sleep like this. But I didn’t expect that there were people not sleeping in the middle of the night, and someone actually sent me a message at two o’clock.

You Can Do It Pi Gao: Teacher, I passed the exam!! I’ve been admitted to the Beihua Academy of Fine Arts as a graduate student. I can finally be your student!

You Can Do It Pi Gao: Even though you’re probably dreaming right now, Teacher, I’m so happy…..

He sent a lot of texts, but I stared at this Pi Gao and couldn’t remember who he was for a while.

Mingcheng and I had worked as graduate tutors at the Beihua Academy of Fine Arts when we returned from studying in the UK, and I had also been invited to attend special classes at many universities. There were many students who called me teacher, but I actually remembered very few of them.

After my graduate students graduated the year before, I was busy organizing art exhibitions and didn’t have any more students. So I wanted to congratulate him out of politeness, but didn’t know who he was. 

But I soon discovered that this was not a problem.

You Can Do It Pi Gao: Oh, by the way, Teacher, you may have forgotten me. I’m Pi Gao, ah. I used to be a music major at Beihua University. Back then, you advised me to be careful not to jump into a profession I wasn’t prepared for, and specifically allowed me to take a semester of your graduate course at the university. I am very grateful to you. I was the one in the middle of the first row!

Oh, I remember…..

A few years ago, a graduate student from the music department contacted me via email and asked me to please allow him to attend my class for one semester. This was an interdisciplinary student, but his eyes were very bright during class, and he always sat in the center of my sight. After one semester, I never saw him again. I thought he had given up, but didn’t expect that he had actually passed the exam. 

So I sincerely congratulated him: “Congratulations, Classmate Pi…..”

I always see new students in person before they take my class. Before going to the university, I complete a basic checkup with Dr. Zhao, and after that, he gives me medicine as usual.

I look at the medicine he gives me, and after some thought, I describe to him my experience with suspected auditory hallucinations.

He frowns upon hearing this: “You heard Mr. Wen calling you?”

I nod: “I heard it as if it really happened, but there was definitely no one at home.”

Dr. Zhao gives me a deep look when he hears this, and then leaves for a moment. About two minutes later, he pushes the door open and puts a document and a pen on the table in front of me: “Please fill this in.”

I look at the title of the document, ‘MMSE Brief Mental Status Scale.’

He also suspects that my symptoms are getting worse.

About an hour later, he picks up the scale I filled out and browses through the items. Looking at me behind his glasses, he asks casually: “How is your sleep lately?”

I know that he is checking on my condition, so I consider it seriously and tell him: “It’s okay.”

He uses the tip of his pen to go over the items on my scale, assessing my mind through words. “Besides hearing him call you, have you heard anything else? Was it just this once, or does it happen from time to time?”

“I didn’t hear anything else, and it was just once,” I answer him.

After checking the scale, there aren’t any problems. Dr. Zhao ponders for a moment before saying: “Actually, ordinary people sometimes have auditory hallucinations, but your situation doesn’t let me completely rest assured. You should return to your normal life first. If this happens repeatedly, I suggest another systematic brain exam and a CT scan.”

His words make sense. That is all that can be done for now.

It is now noon, and he picks up his car keys and sends me to the Beihua University of Fine Arts. I haven’t been to school in a long time, and today I need to meet my student and deal with work matters.

The car stops in front of the Hui-style flower pavilion as we had arranged. It is a summer afternoon, and the car smells bad when the sun is shining on it. I lower the car window next to me and talk with Dr. Zhao.

“I thought you weren’t going to take students this year.”

I look at the lotus buds that are about to bloom out by the lake and raise my eyebrows: “I didn’t plan to, but this student has been working very hard across majors for many years, and I can’t bear not to.”

Dr. Zhao leans back in his chair and says in a very calm tone: “You can’t do this kind of thing only through hard work. It seems to me that he is very lucky.”

I am a hard-working person and don’t believe in luck.

He doesn’t speak, but takes a cigarette out of the cigarette case. He prepares to smoke, but remembers that I’m at his side and sighs with a frown, tossing the cigarette onto the dash.

Adhering to the principle of not littering, I pick up the cigarette and play with it between my fingers.

Perhaps it is because the school’s staff is quite mixed after the recent graduation season, or maybe the action of holding a cigarette between my fingers causes a misunderstanding, but as I lean against the car window and look out, a well-dressed man lights a cigarette and bends down to hand it to me.

“Sir, you are gorgeous.”

Dr. Zhao frowns deeply and closes the window before I can say any words of refusal.

And I am momentarily stunned by this conversation. It’s not that I was offended, but this sentence reminds me of Mingcheng many years ago.

He had not quit smoking at that time, and I caught him smoking behind my back in the yard. His face was gorgeous in the haze of smoke, and used I this sentence to tease him. 

I recall that his face instantly turned red, and when I still wanted to tease him, he quickly kissed the side of my face, his lowered eyelashes trembling…..

Mingcheng was really gentle and pure at that time.

There is a dull pain in my waist as I lean back in the chair, and I change my posture unnoticeably. Mingcheng’s bottomless eyes when he pressed me down come to mind, and I belatedly realize that his personality seems to have changed a lot after getting married.

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T/N: I won’t always be able to update daily, but I’ve been working on this for a while and have a considerable amount of chapters stocked up!

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Chapter 5 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 7

“What…..what did you say?” Stunned, Song Xingmu looked at Liu Zhenqing in complete disbelief.

“I said, you don’t have to come take care of my body, but do you intend to fulfill your other promises?”

It was the first time Liu Zhenqing had taken the initiative to admit his identity to someone. He was really embarrassed and uncomfortable beyond words.

Liu Zhenqing believed that Song Xingmu should remember this, just as Liu Zhenqing remembered it, but what if he didn’t believe him? After all, he was cautious by nature, and rebirth was too bizarre.

“I….” Liu Zhenqing was a bit powerless. Just as he was thinking about what to add, Song Xingmu’s eyes seemed to gleam with moisture as he looked at him. 

But he said: “Who is this young master, ah? Why are you talking nonsense to me? When did I make such a promise to you?”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched. He suddenly pointed at Yi Chuan beside him and said: “Then what is the reason for keeping him by your side? You remember, right? Do you need me to remind you? You said that his waist…..”

The expression on Song Xingmu’s face was confused for a moment, but the instant Liu Zhenqing opened his mouth, he immediately rushed forward to cover it.

Liu Zhenqing glanced at him sideways: Don’t force me to reveal your old ways.

Song Xingmu looked back with wide eyes: Do you intend to expose the truth now and let me die?

However, when the two exchanged glances, their deep friendship surfaced. They stared at each other speechlessly, but the other two couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Hey!” Yi Chuan shouted in confusion. “What’s going on? Do you know each other?”

Huo Fenglie naturally understood that they had recognized each other, but the way the two of them were so close right now was really an eyesore.

Song Xingmu withdrew his gaze and said anxiously: “Release him. Both of you go out and stay there. Me and this…..little friend have something to talk about.” When Song Xingmu finished speaking, he looked at Liu Zhenqing, who was clearly ten years younger, and suddenly felt awkward.

Although Yi Chuan was puzzled as he put down his swords and wanted to say something, he was pushed out by Song Xingmu.

Liu Zhenqing nodded toward Huo Fenglie, who had no choice but to go out and close the door for them.

When the room became quiet, Song Xingmu found it difficult to look back at Liu Zhenqing.

It was Liu Zhenqing who stepped forward and patted Song Xingmu on the shoulder. The force and feel were the same as before.

Song Xingmu choked and said with difficulty: “Would you like to give me some more evidence to prove it? I really can’t recognize you.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “Okay, ah. Let’s talk about Yi Chuan. He was once a young pirate captain, but we used a marriage “honey trap” to get onto the ship. At that time, he was very young, and was encouraged by his companions to make us become ship wives. We had to go to the worship hall to be married on the spot. At that time, he liked you more in women’s clothing than he liked me in mine. He said he wanted you to be his legal wife, and even kissed you. When he found out you were a man, he immediately retched in disgust and was captured by Huo Feihan’s troops before he could even hold his sword properly.”

Although Song Xingmu did not look back, his entire body began to tremble slightly. There were many details back then that only the two of them on the pirate ship knew.

“As I just said, I asked why you wanted to keep Yi Chuan to train him personally.” Liu Zhenqing slowly recalled, “You didn’t praise him for being good on the water and suitable for learning naval warfare, or that his character was not bad. Instead, you said: The waist is thin, the legs are long, and the butt is upturned, a feast for the eyes. If I keep him next to me, I can touch him from time to time.”

“Enough…..enough. What the hell is this…..” Song Xingmu rubbed his head in vexation, obviously finding it difficult to accept. “I used to think you were different from others. How could something like this happen to you? This….can you look at the sun? Do you need to replenish your yang energy through intercourse?”

Liu Zhenqing smacked Song Xingmu on the back of the head. “You’re sick, go see a doctor!”

Song Xingmu then turned around and looked at Liu Zhenqing without words. Upon closer inspection, he looked a bit similar. Especially the look in his eyes, which was almost exactly the same as Liu Zhenqing’s.

“Your body is…..”

“Liu Xiaozhu, a member of the same clan. He was kidnapped and died accidentally a few months ago, and I just woke up after nine years.” Liu Zhenqing shrugged and sat down to pour tea.

Song Xingmu also sat down quickly. He still couldn’t help but reach out and poke Liu Zhenqing’s cheek, then feel for a pulse.

“This is truly mysterious.” Song Xingmu sighed and said: “Sure enough, the gods also cried out against injustice and gave you a chance to be reborn, so that you could come back to clear your name and take revenge.”

When Song Xingmu finished speaking, Liu Zhenqing had frozen and looked unresponsive.

Song Xingmu could only reach out and flick Liu Zhenqing’s forehead. “You…..were really reborn in vain. Are you worthy of the gods?”

“I feel that it is not what the gods let me be reborn for.”

“Then for what?”

“To…..” Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but glance at the door. “To let me live a simpler and happier life.”

When Song Xingmu saw Liu Zhenqing looking toward the door, he said curiously: “Then why are you with that kid Huo Fenglie…..”

“Er-gou is very good, extremely good. Don’t misunderstand him,” Liu Zhenqing said seriously.

“Since you yourself approve of him, what can I say? I remember hearing news before that he came south to investigate the Imperial Examination case. It seems that your Liu family was also involved in it, and there were two more major cases. But isn’t the case over? Why did you come here to me?” Song Xingmu asked.

Speaking of the key point, Liu Zhenqing said directly: “Then let’s ask the others to come in and discuss it together.”

Song Xingmu nodded, opened the door, and called the two of them in. Yi Chuan could be seen playing with his blades in boredom at the door, while a silent Huo Fenglie held his sword at the side. The two stood quietly in the corridor, and people who were nervous about the previous arrests were even more afraid to approach.

When they were called in to sit down, Yi Chuan couldn’t help but pull Song Xingmu aside and say: “What the hell is going on?”

Song Xingmu returned to his relaxed and insouciant appearance. “Aiya, I am old and have a bad memory. I forgot, they are both friends, friends. Let me introduce you: this is Liu Xiaozhu.”

Yi Chuan was surprised. “His surname is Liu?”

Liu Zhenqing hadn’t expected that Yi Chuan would react so much to his surname. Except for when he was captured in the first place, Liu Zhenqing was not familiar with Yi Chuan. Even when he went south to deploy troops for the second time, Yi Chuan was still learning martial arts from Song Xingmu’s master in the mountains and did not come down.

“Cough, cough. Yes, he is my good brother’s distant cousin, so he is one of our own. The misunderstanding with General Huo just now has been cleared up. Sit down.” Song Xingmu took a seat next to Yi Chuan.

Although Yi Chuan appeared puzzled, he cooperated.

Sitting next to Liu Zhenqing, Huo Fenglie looked over at him. Liu Zhenqing smiled at him and then said: “Not long ago, although we handled and concluded the disaster relief funds and tax fraud cases, the money vanished. We followed it all the way and found that the money was used for ore, the ore was turned into weapons, and the weapons were transported to the port here via the Liu River transport to go to sea.”

“What!” Song Xingmu was shocked. “Making weapons privately and transporting them out, isn’t this an attempt to rebel against the country? Who is it?”

Yi Chuan also looked over with a frown.

“We don’t know.” Liu Zhenqing shook his head. “We went all the way south to investigate privately, and encountered assassins on the way. We have two companions following them secretly, but there has been no news yet.”

Song Xingmu soon came to a realization. “So you are following Wang Qi. Wait, there are…..pirates among them. Could it be…..”

Liu Zhenqing did not fully disclose Huo Fenglie’s mission and Imperial edict. After all, it was Huo Fenglie’s. He only gave the information currently available, but Song Xingmu knew close to eighty percent of the truth.

“We don’t know everything yet. Why did you arrest them?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

Song Xingmu said with a frown: “There are three reasons. First, we have found that the pirates attack ships in a regular pattern. Commonly, this sort of situation proves that there are local profiteers colluding with the pirates, which is strictly prohibited by law. Secondly, the few times I went to sea to meet the enemy were very strange. It seemed like the pirates had a purpose, but they would not target my uncle’s ships. Thirdly, there is a problem with the port entry and exit records. That military official is also my uncle’s subordinate, and is specifically responsible for this matter. I initially thought that they were colluding with the pirates for profit, not that they were transporting weapons by ship. Could it be that my uncle…..”

When Song Xingmu said this, his expression became extremely ugly.

“Let’s go back and interrogate those three people,” Song Xingmu said.

“I’m afraid interrogation won’t work,” Liu Zhenqing said. “The two of us came in earlier and eavesdropped, and it seems they only took money to perform services. We don’t dare question them in detail.”

Liu Zhenqing repeated what they had overheard, and Song Xingmu couldn’t help becoming agitated.

Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard the silent Huo Fenglie tap the table, interrupting the conversation. He looked toward the door.

Yi Chuan, who was closest to the door, instantly slapped it with wind from his palm.

It opened at once, and a figure stood outside the door. Before he could react, he was rolled up by the bead curtain Yi Chuan casually threw out and reeled in.

Everyone stared blankly when they saw that it was a petite woman.

Yi Chuan, the first to react, quickly let her go and said: “Madam Xi Ran’s servant. What are you doing here?”

“This slave is here to deliver a message. The Madam says, if the Captain is done with his work, why doesn’t he go back and listen to the music? Don’t continue to stay in this room, it will scare the guests.”

This was meant to drive them out, but Song Xingmu said with a smile: “We can’t leave yet, my uncle will be anxious, ah. But it is really no longer suitable to stay here. Let’s go back and listen to the Madam play the pipa.”

When Song Xingmu finished speaking, he called for everyone to follow.

The young girl was quite surprised to see this, and wanted to stop them, but Song Xingmu frivolously embraced her and hooked her chin, saying: “Don’t worry, if your family’s Madam doesn’t agree, I promise to take the guests away and not embarrass Meimei.”

The young girl was dazzled by Song Xingmu’s charming eyes. She could only nod blankly and step forward to escort the guests.

Song Xingmu turned around to look at them. Yi Chuan was already happily following the young girl, but the other two had stopped.

“Come on.”

Huo Fenglie frowned slightly, and Liu Zhenqing looked hesitant. “How about…..”

Song Xingmu suddenly smiled and stepped forward to put an arm around Liu Zhenqing, saying: “You can’t neglect Xi Ran, your old lover, ah. In any case, she won’t recognize you now.”

Although it was a whisper, Huo Fenglie heard it clearly, especially the words “old lover.”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched. “What old lover, don’t talk nonsense.” He and Xi Ran had only met each other a few times.

Song Xingmu didn’t see anything wrong at all, and said directly: “Still shy? Sure enough, even if you are flooded with peach blossoms, there is still a place for her in your heart. After all, she was your first taste of love.”

Liu Zhenqing’s face was full of black lines. As expected, this Song Xingmu didn’t believe what he had said at the outset.

As soon as Song Xingmu finished speaking, he heard a crack, and turned around to see that there was a fissure in the table top by Huo Fenglie’s hand.

“This table was also broken just now. How much more money will I have to pay because of that prodigal Yi Chuan?” Song Xingmu clicked his tongue.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows and looked at Huo Fenglie. He thought, Er-gou heard the rumors from back then and got jealous just now? Since this was the case, Liu Zhenqing suddenly became interested and said: “Let’s go and see Madam Xi Ran.”

The three of them hastened after Yi Chuan and followed the maid to the chamber in the center of the painted boat. 

The shutter opened, and the maid went in to announce them.

“Captain Song is embarrassing this one. But since General Song is a guest, I have no reason not to entertain him. Please come in and listen to me play a song.”

She was far away before and difficult to hear, but now that they were at the door, Xi Ran’s voice sounded better than a pipa, as if it was reluctant to leave her lips.

Stepping in, they saw a beauty who was still hiding half her face behind the pipa in her arms, but this could not conceal her stunning beauty. Liu Zhenqing had to sigh, her beauty had never languished.

She was like a fresh and delicate flower back then, but now she was like a rose in full bloom. Each had its own beauty.

As Liu Zhenqing gazed at the beauty, the beauty naturally looked at the two strangers. Although among them, Huo Fenglie was the one whom a woman would never forget regardless of appearance and temperament, Xi Ran’s eyes could not help but linger on Liu Zhenqing.

Xi Ran put down her pipa and stepped forward to greet them. “The two guests are strangers to me, ah. I wonder who…..”

“There is no need to inquire about their identities. It is not convenient to reveal them,” Song Xingmu said at once with a smile. “We’ll stay here with you for a while and then leave.”

“Captain Song actually regards my Fragrance Pavilion, which everyone wishes to enter, as a tea house,” Xi Ran said with a faint smile.

“I am here to see Madam Xi Ran,” Yi Chuan said as he stepped forward proactively.

Xi Ran gave a charming smile.

Song Xingmu’s mouth twitched and he pulled this person to sit down.

Xi Ran seemed to be accustomed to this, and asked the attendant to step aside as she took the initiative to pour tea for the four of them.

“I thought Captain Song would leave right away after finishing his work.”

“Xi Ran wishes to drive me away?”

“This one is only worried that outsiders will say I colluded with Captain Song, and it is not safe to come to my place and spend money.”

“Xi Ran, don’t worry. I will deal with the aftermath well.” Song Xingmu smiled and said promptly: “I haven’t thanked Madam Xi Ran for the information.”

Xi Ran’s expression changed, and she instantly looked toward the two strangers, Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie.

“They are our own,” Song Xingmu whispered.

At once, Xi Ran did not conceal her displeasure: “Song Xingmu, you paid me to provide information. The money was paid and the goods delivered, so do not cause trouble for me.”

Song Xingmu did not answer, but looked at Yi Chuan and said: “Do you see? This is her true face.”

Yi Chuan rolled his eyes and ignored him. Then he said flatteringly: “Madam Xi Ran, don’t be angry.”

Xi Ran’s expression looked a little better, and her eyes turned again to those two people.

She was obviously still cautious. Even if Song Xingmu said they were their own people, she was still a little anxious. “Captain Song, don’t cause me harm. I can’t afford it.”

If ordinary people saw her changes in mood before and after, they would not believe it.

“Then let me tell you…..they are friends of Liu Zhenqing.”

Upon hearing this, Xi Ran instantly widened her eyes. Ordinary people were forbidden to speak of Liu Zhenqing, so for Song Xingmu to say this, it proved that the two people before her were indeed…..Xi Ran’s eyes shimmered slightly. “You are truly…..fortunate. Young Master Liu had very few friends in this world. What was your relationship with him?”

Liu Zhenqing was a little taken aback to see that Xi Ran really missed him, and said promptly: “To be honest, Madam Xi Ran, we were still young at the time. We treated him as an older brother and cannot say that we had too many interactions with him.”

“Is that so? He liked to play with little children. He had the same mentality as a child, always causing mischief.” Xi Ran’s eyes revealed nostalgia, and the corners of her mouth rose uncontrollably as she sat down slowly. A pair of clear dimples could be seen, and she couldn’t help but raise her hands to touch them, recalling the time when Liu Zhenqing praised her for having fine wine in her dimples, which made him drunk. But in fact, she was drunk and he was not.

So she pretended she was not drunk on him. In any case, such a person could never belong to her, and could only be a friend and confidant. Now that she saw someone related to Liu Zhenqing, she felt it was hard to control herself. Her hand instinctively touched her neck.

There was no beaded necklace around the beauty’s neck, only a simple red string. What hung on the red string was hidden under the neckline of her clothes, but a slight protrusion of green jade could be seen.

Liu Zhenqing scanned over it by chance and was startled. That was his gift from back then…..a jade willow leaf pendant?

How could Xi Ran…..

Huo Fenglie naturally noticed Xi Ran’s movements, and his face darkened at once.

And Song Xingmu, who was very familiar with Xi Ran, looked back and forth between her and Liu Zhenqing as if watching a good show.

Yi Chuan had seen the courtesan side of Xi Ran, as well as her irritable side, but he had never witnessed such genuine feelings. Because Song Xingmu usually met Xi Ran alone and didn’t take him along, he had never learned that Xi Ran had known Liu Zhenqing.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Xi Ran, you actually knew Liu Zhenqing?”

Xi Ran nodded gently. “We were both young when we met. Time flies.”

Song Xingmu smiled and said: “Yes, ah, but I have a question. Did I really lose to Liu Zhenqing like that back then? In those days, Xi Ran took the initiative to select someone to join her in Fragrance Pavilion. Why did she choose Liu Zhenqing and not me?”

Smiling, Xi Ran said: “Because I liked his appearance better.”

Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows in dissatisfaction. Then he glanced at the obviously embarrassed Liu Zhenqing and said: “What good are looks? Good health is everything. Back then, Liu Zhenqing stayed in your Fragrance Pavilion for three days and three nights before coming out. I remember that when Huo Feihan picked him up, his steps were sloppy and he had a pair of dark circles under his eyes. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Having said this, he gave Liu Zhenqing a teasingly disgusted look.

And Liu Zhenqing was about to choke to death on his tea. He didn’t know Xi Ran’s thoughts before, so he didn’t think there was a problem, but now he seemed to see something. In this situation, Liu Zhenqing had no wish to use Xi Ran to stimulate Er-gou, and felt extremely bad.

But Song Xingmu spared no effort and would make fun of anything. He waited for Xi Ran to explain.

But in the next second, Xi Ran covered her smiling lips and said: “It is my fault for being greedy. That was my most glorious time, so how could I be willing to waste time letting him rest? Naturally, every moment must be cherished.”

Liu Zhenqing took a sharp breath, and suddenly, Huo Fenglie stood up sharply next to him and startled everybody.

---

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Chapter Seventy-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty

He doesn’t come home and doesn’t sent me a message, which is rare.

Although Mingcheng loves to work, he never works overtime, and does not support employees working overtime either.

What’s more, even if he had to work overtime, he would have told me.

I wait until seven o’clock. The candles on the table have burned out, white wax flowing down softly, and the dinner on the plate is cold. I’m worried about him, so I give him a call.

The call goes through, but no one answers.

“Hello, the user you dialed is currently unavailable.”

The voice prompt sounds. I hang up and call again.

Nobody answers, and the call automatically hangs up.

I look at the dark mobile phone screen, and my upper eyelid suddenly begins to twitch.

As the eldest son of the Wen family, he has a lot to do every day as the president of the company. I shouldn’t bother him, but perhaps I’m sensitive, because after my eyelid twitches, a strange and ominous feeling arises in my heart.

So after enduring it for a while, I finally send a message to Mingcheng’s secretary.

“Ms. Li, is your boss off work?”

The secretary quickly replies to me: “Mr. Wen has not left work yet and is currently holding a board meeting.”

I feel relieved.

When I see the message, my dangling heart finally returns to my chest.

I am in no mood to eat all night, but now I have finally lost my worries. I go to the bar to get myself a glass of hot water, which warms my stomach and dissipates the strange discomfort I had felt tonight. When I return to the sofa, I find that Ms. Li has sent me a message.

“Since Mr. Wen went out for something during the day and will get off work late, please let me know if you need anything.”

She is always very considerate in her work. I reply to her: “Thank you for your hard work. It’s just that it’s late and I got worried.”

Knowing that Mingcheng will be home late tonight, I stop waiting for him and heat up my dinner to eat, and take his portion to heat it and keep it warm.

After eating, I drift off to sleep. This nap is short, but I sleep extremely well. I haven’t slept deeply and peacefully like I did before for several days. Even though Mingcheng and I slept together the day before, I felt a bit of unreasonable panic, but now I sleep very comfortably alone on the sofa.

However, late at night when I’m deep in my dreams, I suddenly hear an almost broken cry.

“A-Zhen—”

This shout is deafening, like it is exploding in my ears, and instantly wakes me from my deep sleep.

I abruptly open my eyes and get up from the sofa, knocking the water glass on the coffee table to the floor. I gasp wildly with my mouth half open. “…..Mingcheng?”

But Mingcheng is not here, and my response disperses feebly in the room. I look around in disbelief and call for him again, “Mingcheng, is that you?”

There is still no response.

At this time, the wall clock shows that the time is 22:00, which is around ten at night.

Mingcheng hasn’t come home yet, but I actually heard him calling me.

I don’t think I heard wrong. This shout was really loud, and contained urgent emotions. I even heard fear, and it was so forceful that it was almost hoarse.

At this point, my ears are still ringing.

I cover my ears, and my heart continues to palpitate after waking up from my dream.

But there is really nobody inside.

Auditory hallucinations?

I have never had auditory hallucination symptoms before, and have never tried to learn about them. Would auditory hallucinations cause me to wake up? Would they make my ears ring?

Could they still be heard even when I was sleeping well?

I get off the ground and walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Opening the huge curtains, I look into the small courtyard.

The beautiful flowers in the courtyard are sleeping quietly under the moonlight. Although there is nothing there but them, I still turn on the courtyard lights and check every corner. After ensuring that nobody is there, I look through the peephole to the front yard.

Perhaps because it is dark at night, the peephole is black and I can’t see outside.

So I turn on the front yard light and look out again.

I don’t know why, but the peephole is still blurry and I can’t see anything clearly. I can only see that there is light outside.

Having confirmed that I am the only one at home, I can only classify the shout as an auditory hallucination.

It seems that my recent condition is indeed not good. I should go see Dr. Zhao for a follow-up consultation tomorrow.

“It seems that due to the influence of Professor Wei, the topic chosen by the Beihua Academy of Fine Arts last summer was ‘Midsummer.’ This topic sounds very beautiful, ah. Yes, yes…..this kind of theme not only examines artistic conception, but also examines students’ color coordination…..”

On the TV, the host is talking with an education expert about last year’s university entrance examination for art students. My eyes watch the TV, but my mind is somewhere else.

Because of the different nature of my work, I spend most of the time waiting for Mingcheng to come home. This is the first time he’s come back so late.

I really want to call him again, but fear that he will be driving on the road.

At eleven o’clock in the evening, my eyelids begin to flutter. In a daze, I hear the sound of men’s leather shoes on the floor, followed by the sound of a key being inserted into the door.

Yes…..Mingcheng is back home!

I stand up from the sofa, run to the door, and lean toward the peephole to take a look. Unfortunately, the peephole is still blurry, and I can only vaguely see shadows swaying. “Mingcheng, is that you? You came back?”

I wait for him to push the door open, so I can hug him and ask him why he didn’t call me back and made me worry all night.

But after he turns the key in the lock, he doesn’t come in.

“Mingcheng?”

“A-Zhen.” The person outside speaks in a tired tone, “Today was beyond my expectations. I encountered some trouble on the way back.”

He lets out a long sigh, seemingly exhausted. “With me coming back so late, will you blame me? Will you still let me in?”

I had already forgiven him when I heard the word “trouble” from his mouth. I feel sorry for being angry that he was so late, so I open the door from the inside before he can open it himself. “What are you talking about? Come in quickly, what trouble did you run into?”

The man outside the door is dressed as usual, but I notice that the shoulders of his black suit are a little dirty and that a few strands of hair on his temples have fallen in front of his ears. He still smiles softly at me when he sees me, his skin emitting a soft, pearl-like light in the dim illumination under the eaves.

The corners of his naturally raised lips curve elegantly: “Are you sure you want me to come in?”

“Of course.” I comb the hair on his temples neatly with my fingers and take his hand through the door.

---

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Chapter 4 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 6

Before leaving for the TV station, Talia suddenly thought of something and waved Lu Qi over.

She was wearing a dark green dress today with her hair tied up, looking noble and beautiful, like a goddess in ancient Greek mythology. Mu Chuanbai was also dressed very formally, but he would not accompany his wife to the recording. He was wearing such formal clothes for a work meeting.

Lu Qi walked over obediently and couldn’t help but say with eyes full of tiny stars: “You are so beautiful today.”

Talia had multi-faceted and exquisite facial features, and when she was not smiling, there was a sculpture-like coldness and distance. Mu Nanqiao was very similar to her in this way, but once she smiled, there was a gentleness like the spring breeze blowing away the ice and snow. This was a softness unique to women.

“Thank you, dear. Even though I know I’m very beautiful today, your compliment still makes me extra happy.” She lifted her hands and hugged Lu Qi. “Come, let’s take a family picture. I’m going back to Russia in a few days, and I want to take my family with me.”

My family…..

Lu Qi was a little embarrassed, and turned to give Mu Nanqiao an uncertain look.

Mu Naqiao entwined their fingers and lowered his head to ask him: “Do you think this is somewhat offensive since I haven’t proposed to you yet?”

“No…..” Lu Qi’s ears warmed. “I just feel flattered.”

Thus, Mu Chuanbai and Talia sat on the sofa and Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi stood behind, as well as Xiao Sanhua and the little black pig, who had come to eat tuna. One obediently rubbed against Mu Chuanbai’s trouser leg while the other rested her head on Talia’s lap.

Click—

The scene froze. The chef, who had taken the photo, happily showed it to Talia on his SLR camera and said casually: “Madam, your family is so eye-catching…..”

After taking photos, Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi sent Talia to record the show. Talia asked when they got in the car: “Xiao Lu, I heard that you can ride motorcycles. Why don’t you ride a motorcycle to see me off?”

Mu Nanqiao was speechless for a moment, and then said: “Mom, you got your hair done today. Are you sure you can wear a helmet?”

Lu Qi gave him an approving look.

“Okay.” Talia appeared regretful. “Let’s talk about it next time.”

When they arrived at the TV station, Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi were placed in the reception room while Talia went to the recording hall alone with the staff.

The ratings of the Art Star program were already very low. After all, young people no longer watched TV, with most of them watching movies or variety shows, so its general audience was middle-aged to elderly people.

The people in charge of the program never dared to think of being able to invite Talia, but this excellent ballet artist actually took the initiative to work with them, and also drew in investment from Mu Group.

Talia had already seen the flow of the show. She changed into ballet shoes and danced the solo part in the second act of the ballet “Giselle” after taking the stage. The ghost queen danced in a cold, silent forest, her skirt spread out like pedals. Her leaps were light and graceful, and if you didn’t look at her toes, it really seemed as if she was walking on air.

After a short dance, there was applause from the audience. The female host began to introduce Talia as she went backstage to change her shoes.

When the interview officially started, the host began to ask questions according to the previous process. First, she respectfully shook Talia’s hand. Once the two sat down, she smiled and said: “Teacher Talia looks very ‘slender,’ like a graceful swan. Is this rare in your hometown?”

Talia elegantly smoothed back the hair at her temples and showed off her excellent biceps to the host, saying in standard Chinese: “I can even carry my husband. As we all know, swans are birds of prey.”

There was friendly laughter from the audience, and the atmosphere became relaxed.

The interview lasted an hour, from her opportunity to enter the ballet industry, to mentioning the honors Talia had received over the years, and then talking about her recently announced retirement from the ballet stage. Then she finally started talking about her family.

Lu Qi also learned that Talia was an orphan, and was able to reach this point without any help from relatives. She was truly a determined woman.

The host said: “Your husband is also a legendary person. How did you meet him?”

Talia inconspicuously glanced at the time on her watch, then raised her head and said with a proper smile: “How do you know that I have two sons?”

The host: “…..I don’t, the information says…..”

Talia: “Do you want me to talk about my two sons?”

Host: “…..Then talk about them.”

Talia smiled sheepishly: “Sorry, did I hear the question wrong? My Chinese is not very good.”

The host: ……

I can see that you are not good at Chinese when it comes to topics that you don’t want to talk about, but you are good at Chinese when it comes to topics that you want to talk about.

The staff at the back cooperated very well, and a photo was displayed on the big screen. It was the one of the four of them on the sofa, except that Lu Qi’s face was blurred out.

Talia said: “My other child is not a public figure, and I don’t want his life to be disturbed.”

The host said: “I understand, but don’t you and your husband only have one son?”

In order to prevent the show from being canceled, Talia explained it like this: “Yes, ah, one is biological and one is a very good friend of my son. I like him very much, so I treat him as my own child.”

The host had “this is okay” all over her face, and the hand holding the cue card visibly trembled.

Fortunately, this beauty from the fighting nation followed the process step by step, which made the host sigh in relief.

“One last question.” The host gave an easy laugh. “Do you have anything to say to your family?”

Talia looked toward where the camera was, her eyes gentle and encouraging: “I want to tell my children, don’t pay attention to those who don’t love you. Your life has nothing to do with them.”

Crash—

A plate fell to the floor and broke into several pieces.

Lin Chunhe heard the noise and ran out, exclaiming: “It’s alright, ah, Fangfang. Did you cut your hand?”

But Lu Fanshu stared blankly at the screen, the words still echoing in her ears: Your life has nothing to do with them.

Even though Lu Qi’s face was blurred out, how could she be unable to recognize her own child?

She had thought that Lu Qi’s sexual orientation would cause him to be regarded as a freak, that he would be hurt and discriminated against, but it turned out that this was not the case. He was accepted by others and received a lot of love, but it was his mother who had truly hurt Lu Qi.

Some mothers went beyond faith to accept their children’s differences, but she insisted on hurting Lu Qi because of other people’s prejudiced eyes.

Lu Fangshu abruptly crouched down, covered her face, and cried.

Lin Chunhe was taken by surprise and looked at the TV, at a loss. He could only crouch down awkwardly with his chubby frame and pat Lu Fangshu’s shoulder, saying cautiously: “Wife, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine…..” Lu Fangshu choked out: “Lao Lin, I…..before, you said we should see a psychiatrist…..when are we going?”

. . . . . . .

A week had passed since the recording of the program. Lu Qi never thought that his mom would watch that show. After all, his mom was not very interested in foreign artists. However, he was unaware that the Mu family father and son had activated their superpowers and had been replaying Talia’s interview this week and also bought a push for Yuncheng.

When Mu Nanqiao was about to leave in the morning, Lu Qi greeted him and said: “I’m going back to the Garden Community for a while.”

Mu Nanqiao raised his eyes and looked at him: “What’s up? I’ll drive you there.”

Following Lu Qi’s suggestion, he wore a light gray waffle-patterned sweatshirt, and there was even the outline of a deer on the chest where his heart was. His untended hair hung naturally between his eyebrows.

Lu Qi especially liked it when he was dressed like this. At the thought that this was his boyfriend, he couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss Mu Nanqiao on the face. “No need, la. It’s not convenient. I’ll just go back by myself.”

“Come here…..” Mu Nanqiao caught this person who ran away after a kiss. He held him on his lap and fed him a bun as he said: “What are you going back to do? Is there something you didn’t take? Did you drop the Holy Sword of Physics?”

“The holy sword belongs to the landlord, okay…..” Lu Qi bit into the bun and said, “The little sister I sponsored got into university. She sent me a picture of the admission notice and a handwritten thank you letter, which were mailed to the Garden Community. The landlord called me to pick them up.”

Mu Nanqiao knew that Lu Qi had sponsored a child, but he never suspected that it would be such a big “child.” He frowned in puzzlement and asked: “Baby, how did you sponsor this child before you were financially independent?”

Lu Qi swallowed the bun and explained: “My grandpa was sponsoring her before, and I continued to support her after he passed away. At first it was the New Year’s money I saved, and then I got some income from part-time work…..”

He smiled with satisfaction: “Good, la. Now it’s been successfully accomplished.”

When he smiled, his eyes were clear and curved, looking sweet and good. Mu Nanqiao kissed his small pear dimple and rocked him back and forth like a child holding a doll. He asked half-seriously and half-teasingly: “Baby, are you a small god who came to earth to accumulate merit?”

It was indeed easy for such a good Lu Qi to attract others. No one disliked beautiful things. But fortunately, his little boyfriend only had eyes for him.

“Ride your motorcycle to pick me up tonight…..” He nuzzled Lu Qi’s neck, acting coquettishly.

Lu Qi said: “It’s going to snow soon. You’re really not afraid of the cold.”

“This is the last time,” Mu Nanqiao said. “Don’t ride when it snows, it’s cold and unsafe.”

Lu Qi gave a hum. He wanted to find time to practice driving a car so that he could go pick up the coquettish boss!

The two separated after breakfast, and Mu Nanqiao went to the company. Mu Chuanbai had been very interested in “abdicating” recently, and did not covet the position of Chairman. He wanted to go to Russia to be a househusband, but Mu Nanqiao didn’t want to spend too much time on work, and ruthlessly rejected Mu Chuanbai’s proposal.

During lunch, he went to the cafeteria with the employees. The company’s food was far superior to the standards in the same industry. For lunch, he had Lu Qi’s favorite steamed chicken with chopped peppers, and for dessert, he had coconut milk cake. He took a picture and sent it to Lu Qi.

[ (picture) ]

[ Детка, next time, I’ll take you to experience our company’s canteen ]

He gave the dessert to Assistant Zhang when he finished taking the picture. After the meal, Assistant Zhang gained three pounds with tears in his eyes.

Lu Qi didn’t reply. Mu Nanqiao thought that he might be taking a nap, so he led some others to another conference room in the afternoon.

It was already two o’clock in the afternoon when the meeting ended. He leaned back in the chair and tilted his head up to loosen his tie, then picked up his phone to take a look.

Lu Qi still had not replied.

Mu Nanqiao frowned and called directly this time.

The female voice said: “I’m sorry, the user you have dialed has shut off their phone.”

---

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Chapter Forty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Eight

I don’t know why she said that. We were clearly getting along very well until just now.

But I also know that since we both came of age, my relationship with Mingyi has gotten increasingly distant. I don’t know the reason. Perhaps she is deeply homophobic, because she is disgusted with my relationship with Mingcheng.

This resistance reached its peak in the first half of the year when Mingcheng and I got married. I saw the brother and sister quarrel very fiercely several times. Mingcheng rushed out the door with a cold expression, and she smashed things in anger.

And every time I tried to break up a fight, it just caused the situation to get more and more out of control.

In the next six months, Mingyi would occasionally meet with me, but she rarely had contact with her brother.

In fact, every time I made an appointment with her, it was with the attitude of trying to draw her back, but it obviously ended in failure every time.

I smile faintly in frustration: “If you don’t want to, forget it.”

Adults should know how to touch on a topic lightly. I plan to go home. Mingcheng should be getting off work in a few hours, and if Mingyi is truly resistant, I don’t want to embarrass her. She is Mingcheng’s sister, the sister I watched grow up, even though she may hate me now.

I’m about to leave, but Mingyi suddenly reaches out of the car window and grabs my wrist, saying urgently: “Wait!”

I stop. My eyes light up when she tells me to stay, and I turn back to give her a meaningful look: “How about it? If you’re willing, me and Mingcheng will personally cook for our Mingyi.”

Her brow is furrowed. She is noncommittal about my words and looks at me in a way that I can’t parse. After retracting her hand, she takes a few deep puffs of smoke, crushes the remaining half of the cigarette, and actually opens the door to walk out.

It is a warm summer afternoon. I see her standing tall and slender beside her car, and after I hear her take a few deep breaths, she calls to me in a tone similar to her brother’s: “A-Zhen…..”

Every time I see her, I marvel at how powerful her genes are. Although she is a woman, she looks very similar to her brother Mingcheng in many aspects, and sometimes even her tone of voice is similar.

I motion for her to continue.

But then a phone call interrupts the chat that my sister-in-law and I are about to have.

Mingyi also seems annoyed. She hangs up the phone angrily without even looking at it.

But this caller is very persistent, and calls back in less than two seconds.

The woman frowns and looks down at the phone screen. Her expression changes slightly, and she raises her head to take a quick glance at me, saying: “Wait a minute.” Then she answers the phone and walks a few steps away to avoid me.

Women of this age have secrets of their own, and I’m too embarrassed to listen to them. Fortunately, she took a few steps away to conceal it.

The phone call is not short, around ten minutes. I’m a little awkward while waiting, and just when I can’t help but want to watch a short video, Mingyi finally comes back.

I breathe a sigh of relief and wait for her to come into the house with me, but see her walking in a straight line to her dark blue car.

“Huh?” I stop her and weakly ask, “…..Mingyi, don’t you have something to tell me?”

“I have nothing to say.” She closes the car door and neatly fastens her seatbelt. She doesn’t look at me the entire time, and perhaps because she had smoked, her usually cold voice is slightly hoarse. “…..I parted ways with my brother when you got married. I…..don’t want to come in. If you have time, go back to the Wen family house often to see our parents.”

I pause. I might have said I was disappointed, but I’m used to it. Her softened attitude is already good progress. Seeing that she is about to leave, I can’t help but tell her: “Be careful on the road.”

She still refuses to look at me, taking another cigarette out of its case. After some thought, she tosses it onto the passenger seat and says dully: “En.”

I smile softly: “Stop smoking. Your voice sounded so sweet when you were a kid. Even your brother quit smoking during these years.”

She has already started the vehicle, but after hearing this, she finally looks at me. The eyes of the brother and sister are also similar, but Mingcheng’s eyes are upturned and his gaze always contains a smile, whereas Mingyi’s eyes are direct and clear, sometimes filled with boredom.

Hearing what I said, she suddenly smiles with unknown meaning. The smile is very brief, and passes in an instant. “You really love my brother, ah.”

I am a married adult, and not shy about my feelings, so I nod calmly: “Of course, I love him very much.”

Mingyi leaves.

I watch her leave the residential area, then I turn around and go home.

But then I hear the rumbling vehicle coming back again. I’m confused about her behavior today, and Mingyi’s car stops directly in front of me.

She lowers her car window, purses her lips as if recalling something, and then takes a sachet out of her handbag and hands it to me.

I think it is a small gift from her, but when I take it, I find that the sachet is actually sealed with cinnabar, and there is a faint burnt scent lingering in the palm of my hand. “This is…..”

Mingyi says: “This is the protective jade your mother bought for you. She personally went to the Baichen Monastery and made offerings for two months, and she wants you to wear it day and night.”

“You went out of your way to see my mother before coming here?” I keenly grasp the hidden information.

Mingyi ignores my words and speaks of something else: “Auntie said that the trip you and my…..brother took to Southeast Asia was very ominous, so she wants you to pay more attention…..”

Mingcheng and I got married six months ago. According to the plan, we would go to Turkey and Paris for our honeymoon, but not long before leaving, Mingcheng changed his mind and insisted on going to a small country in Southeast Asia. Most of the time, he was at my whim and rarely insisted on what to do. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I agreed.

This trip was not as difficult as I had imagined. Although that country was small, it was not very backward. It still had the things that should be there, but it was very religious. People believed in all sorts of supernatural beings, and bizarre sacrificial dances could be seen everywhere on the streets. The atmosphere there was indescribably weird.

In particular, when worshiping a statue with Mingcheng, I truly saw the strangeness of that place.

The statue turned out to be double-sided. The front looked like an ordinary god statue with colorful, benevolent gilded features, but the back side had a dark black torso and fangs on its face. The two torsos with completely different identities and temperaments were merged together. When I knelt down, there was a crawling sensation along my back. 

But Mingcheng was very interested, and even chatted with the divine attendant for the afternoon. I didn’t know what they talked about, but in the end, he brought back a black doll.  

Unlike the terrifying statue of the god, although this doll was black, it was exquisitely carved, with strong, exotic cultural colors. It seemed to be very old. The top of the doll’s head was inlaid with Eastern pearls, which had disappeared in the Qing Dynasty hundreds of years ago, and the back was engraved with ancient characters. The whole thing was colored black under the light, a thick ink that could not be melted away.

I praised Mingcheng’s insight, then forced him to put it into a cabinet and not take it out.

I suddenly remember this when Mingyi mentions it.

People always like to look for some kind of supernatural reason when things go wrong. I feel that my abnormal illness these past two days probably has something to do with this little black doll. 

It is really a bit unlucky.

After bidding farewell to Mingyi, I plan to deal with this little black doll.

It’s a little funny that the man who sold it to Mingcheng was an old Chinese national. When we bought it, the old man even stopped me to add his mobile phone number. “Please keep in touch, young sir.”

The old man’s contact information is still in my address book. 

In the end, it is something the divine attendant brought, so when dealing with this, I ask him what to do.

In fact, I never thought there would be after-sale service for this kind of transaction that looked like a money trap at first glance, but to my surprise, the call actually goes through.

After listening to my words, the old divine attendant mutters for a while in a hoarse, heavy voice and says to me: “You do as I say. First place it underground…..”

Underground? Why underground?

Wouldn’t it be bad to dig a hole and bury it??

After much deliberation, I decide to put it in a cabinet in the basement. I am really too kind.

After closing the cabinet, I recite three times according to the divine attendant’s repeated instructions: “Please do not come into my house.”

Although it is troublesome, I do everything that I need to do.

After doing this, I take a comfortable bath and then put the protective jade my mother had bought me around my neck. This is a Hetian Pixiu pendant with a milky white color. The pixiu is innocent and cute, with bright, round eyes. At first glance, my mother had chosen it due to her aesthetic tastes.

The quality of the jade is also very good, its surface smooth and oily, generating warmth.

I can’t put it down, and play with it for a while. I find that today is a good day. Not only did I go out and get a gift, but it is also a day without work. I’m in a happy mood, and decide to cook.

I am busy until 5:10 making dinner. I make a call for candlesticks and white roses, preparing the props for a candlelit dinner.

At 5:25, I light the scented candlesticks. In order to add to the atmosphere, I prepare music in advance, hoping to satisfy Mingcheng’s desire to dance after the meal.

At 5:30, I sit at the table. But Mingcheng doesn’t come home.

At 5:40, Mingcheng is not home.

The sky is dark, and Mingcheng isn’t home……

---

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Chapter 3 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 5

In the evening, he pushes the door open and enters.

The afterglow of the setting sun spills in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and falls on his face so beautifully that it seems unreal.

I can’t control myself, and take a few steps back. My eyes are fixed on him, and the hand holding my phone grips it so hard that my fingertips turn white.

“A-Zhen, did you miss me?” He removes his suit jacket skillfully and takes off his leather shoes to replace them with soft house shoes, which gives his whole person a somewhat languid atmosphere. “It’s more comfortable at home.”

I see him raise his hand to slightly mess up his hair, then loosely unbutton the cuffs and collar of his shirt.

The warm sunlight outlines his tall figure, and the white shirt tucked into his trousers depicts the slender and muscular contours of his body. He walks toward me on long legs, handsome and full of spirit, and I can even see a bit of relaxation and joy in his eyes.

Just like most men when coming home after leaving work.

But I can’t forget the obscure darkness outside the peephole.

I really try to convince myself that it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe the peephole was actually broken, and Mingcheng just so happened to get off work at this time. But when he hugs me and rubs the side of his face against my neck, I don’t hug him back. I say instead: “Is the fingerprint lock broken?”

He doesn’t pause in his affectionate movements. He kisses the side of my face tenderly and gives a slight frown, saying in an uncertain tone: “It’s probably broken.”

I don’t speak.

He seems to notice that something is strange about me, and sets his handbag behind the sofa. He pulls me out the door and closes it, then asks me to try to open it. “I think it’s strange too that it suddenly can’t be opened. You try it, I don’t know if the problem is just with me.”

His attitude is really calm. I hesitate, then press my hand on it.

“Warning, fingerprint unlock is disabled.”

He shakes his head as if he has a headache. “It seems the safety of this thing still needs some consideration. Let’s use keys for the time being.”

It is impossible to check who the problem is.

My heart sinks again.

He reopens the door and turns on the indoor lights. The crystal chandelier was chosen by Mingcheng when we got married, and it has a warm-colored light. At this moment, he stands indoors with a layer of radiance on his broad shoulders. Slender arms reach out toward me, palms spread upward in an elegant gesture of invitation, but I find myself feeling resistant.

It seems that every person has a sixth sense.

Mingcheng and I have known each other since we were very young. We grew up together and fell in love. I have never had negative emotions toward him since then. We’ve had our share of quarrels, but I just found it funny to see his sulking expression, and never had this sense of resistance against him. 

I don’t know why, but although his attitude and personality haven’t changed, I feel like he is a different person today.

I suddenly remember a saying: people are most sensitive to those closest to them.

“A-Zhen.” He calls to me with his eyes curved, “I’m very happy today. Let’s dance together after dinner.”

I have said before that Mingcheng is a very romantic person, and he also attaches great importance to rituals in life.

“Okay, ah.” I breathe a sigh of relief, put my hand in his palm, and raise my eyebrows at him with a smile. “Let’s eat Sichuan food tonight. You order it first, and I’ll prepare it.”

He is very happy when he hears this. With a pair of slightly narrowed eyes, he kisses my forehead and goes to order the food.

Once he leaves, I secretly look back at the peephole.

The lights in the courtyard have turned on in advance, and the setting sun is like blood. My white bird sits tiredly in its cage, and the neighbor’s dog is stretching on the balcony.

The peephole is intact.

And the food is wrong.

In fact, we rarely cook for ourselves at night. I have VIP status at many restaurants in the city, and Mingcheng knows which ones I like to eat at.

But by the time the food delivery person comes in, my heart is completely cold.

“Sir, it is our honor to serve you this food. It is your first time ordering from us, and our manager specifically asked for us to take care of you throughout the meal.” The delivery person’s eyes gleam when he looks at me.

Our wedding villa is in the most exclusive residential area in the city, so most of the restaurants that deliver food want me to apply as a super VIP. I don’t like dealing with overenthusiastic strangers, which is why I don’t like trying new stores.

After sending away the delivery person, I sit under the warm light, feeling chilled all over.

It is also at this time that I begin to have an ominous feeling in my heart.

The food on the table is hot and fragrant. The person opposite selects from the wine cabinet, running his fingers over the dark wine bottles. His skin is so smooth that it seems like it has no texture at all, and such perfection smacks of falsehood.

I look at him from head to toe and ask with some difficulty: “Mingcheng, what time did you get off work today?”

He tilts his head slightly, but his eyes remain on the wine bottles: “Five o’clock. What’s wrong?”

The corners of my mouth twitch. I rub the skin on the back of my left hand with my right one, and my nails make red marks on the skin. My voice is very heavy: “Is that so…..has work been going well at the company recently?”

At this moment, I have a little hope in my heart that it’s just because there is something wrong with the company. Mingcheng didn’t go to work, but didn’t want to burden me, so he stayed outside the door.

But he says: “It is going very smoothly. A-Zhen can rest his heart.”

I fall into silence, and he doesn’t speak anymore after saying this. He seems to have noticed that something is off about me, and the room is quiet for a long time.

Eventually, I give up.

It is truly torturous to feel that something is wrong with your lover.

Perhaps it is the scene of spurting blood during the day that had a serious impact on me. I really can’t forget what happened that day, the blood, the darkness outside the peephole, and the abnormal fingerprint lock.

I can’t take it anymore. Whether something is really wrong with him or I’m crazy, I feel like I need an answer.

I stand up, walk to him in a few steps, and put my hands on his shoulders under his doubtful gaze. I make him look directly at me and say in a serious tone: “Mingcheng, tell me, where did you go this afternoon? Why were you standing in the living room this morning instead of going to work?”

The more I think about it, the more I feel that something is wrong. At ten o’clock in the morning, he was standing in the center of the living room, neatly dressed. Had he just gotten ready, or had he been standing there since early in the morning? How long had he been standing there? And why?

Mingcheng sees my serious expression and stops smiling. “This morning…..I wanted to be at home with you. I did go to work in the afternoon.” He lowers his eyes to look at me. There is some hurt in his eyes, and his tone is certain. “A-Zhen, you doubt me.”

I admit frankly: “I think something is wrong with you.”

He asks: “What do you think is wrong with me?”

My reasoning tells me that I should hide some things for future observation, but when confronted with Mingcheng’s face that I’m around day and night, I really can’t help it. He seems to have some magical power that makes me pour out all of my feelings and confusion.

He looks at me silently and says nothing for a long time.

And when confronting the person closest to me, every moment of silence is piercing.

His silence abruptly undermines my confidence. 

“Tomorrow…..” he says. “No, right now. I will change the peephole right now. If you…..still don’t believe me, you can come to work with me tomorrow.”

He holds my face, not angry at being suspected. His voice is firm: “Or else you can do whatever you want to test me. It was my negligence when ordering food. I just wanted you to try new flavors today. I’m sorry, A-Zhen, I made you uncomfortable.”

He says he is sorry, but I’m the one who is uncomfortable at this time.

I can’t figure it out. I don’t know if there is something wrong with him or if I’m crazy, but now I think that it is most likely the latter.

This makes me very sad.

Mingcheng doesn’t speak empty words. When he’s done talking, he goes to the basement to find the new peephole and comes back. In front of me, he removes the old peephole and replaces it with a new one.

After he’s done, he turns on the yard lights and lets me try out the new peephole.

I lean down, and although the new peephole is a little unclear, I see that the yard outside is brightly lit.

He shows me the old peephole. “It’s dusty on the outside, and it’s really hard to see outside without turning the lights on during the day.”

Having said that, he smiles at me again: “A-Zhen remembered what I said. He remembered to check the outside environment before going out. I’m very glad.”

He is tolerant and generous. Even though he was wronged and questioned for no reason, he doesn’t say anything about it and comforts me.

I cry.

In fact, I rarely cry. All of the tears in my life have fallen in front of Mingcheng.

I cover my face, tears streaming between my fingers. My nose is blocked and my words are a little slurred, but I try my best to say clearly: “I’m sorry.”

I realize that being married to someone like me with a history of mental illness is difficult.

I used to think that my illness would not affect my life. After all, I am optimistic most of the time. I stay up late every day playing with my mobile phone, sleep until I wake up naturally in the morning, and have no cares in the world. I put off my work as much as I can and always go with the flow. Even Dr. Zhao says that my symptoms have been very mild in the past two years, and I should be fine soon as long as I keep taking my medicine.

Mingcheng takes away the hands covering my face, wipes all my tears away, then lowers his head and kisses me.

He pries open my teeth. There is no distance between us, entangled and intimate as we are.

After a long while, his voice comes between our entangled breaths, low and magnetic, as warm as water. “I understand. You care about me so much that it’s difficult for you to ignore anything about me.”

He lowers himself and puts his arms around my thighs, then picks me up and walks toward the bedroom.

I indulge myself in his arms and sniff the cologne on his body. The scent of fringe flowers is elegant and light, relaxing my mind.

I chose a large bed for my bedroom. Laying on it feels like falling into the clouds. 

I lay on the clouds with his arms braced on both sides of my head, his beautiful eyes looking down at me…..

We have a beautiful night.

Later in the night, when I’m sleepy, I hear him say in my ear as he covers me up: “Go out and relax tomorrow.”

Before I fall asleep, I have the vague thought that this is a good idea.

. . . . . . .

I wake up around nine o’clock the next day.

As usual, the sun is shining brightly, there is breakfast in the kitchen, the medication for my mental illness is on a plate, and Mingcheng’s persistent instructions are on the phone.

I feel much better today, so I actively heat up my breakfast and honestly take my medicine after eating. Then, for the first time in a long time, I take out the clothes I like from my closet and feel very comfortable after getting dressed.

Comfortable in both body and mind.

When I go out, I deliberately choose a high-collared shirt and pour a lot of food for my little white bird.

“That bird of yours is just an ungrateful thing and was born to peck people. It was transferred from several homes before it belonged to you, but you’re still keeping it.”

A cold female voice sounds. An extremely tall woman stands outside the courtyard door.

The woman is about the same height as me, a man, with broad shoulders and soft yet strong facial features. She wears a long dress with a mid-length waist and sleeves, and the arms hanging on either side of her look very powerful.

I smile at her: “Mingyi.”

Mingcheng’s sister, Wen Mingyi, is one of my only friends.

I open the courtyard door for her, but she doesn’t come in. Instead, she halfway leans against the wall and raises her chin at me. “I’m very busy at work. What do you want from me?”

Although she has had a bad attitude toward me since she grew up, I still like to tease her. No matter if she is a little girl or has grown up to be a mature 180 cm woman, in my heart, she is still the little sister who couldn’t tie her shoes.

I raise my eyebrows at her: “I want to hang out with you.”

She stares at me and seems stunned for a moment, then gives me a look of disbelief. Although I’m teasing, her attitude softens quite a bit. “I-I really am busy at work…..”

I wave my hand and say sincerely: “It is still difficult to become a world famous female boxer. You should take a two-day break every now and then to relax your body…..”

Mingyi looks at me with a frown: “What?”

I’m very good at reading faces, and shut my mouth.

The summer in Yuhua is beautiful. This city loves flowers very much, and peonies are planted in the green belts. Driving around from the main road, one can see pink and blue clouds of them, very beautiful. We go to the city’s largest Liuli Sunshine Flower Hall to drink rose wine, go to the theater, and eat unhealthy KFC for lunch.

When Wen Mingyi bites into her chicken burger while wearing a dress worth thousands of yuan, many people look at her in surprise. But she sits in her seat, unfazed.

Time is truly a magician, turning a soft and immature little girl into a calm and mature adult.

She drives me back home in the afternoon and I pat her shoulder, reluctant to leave. “We haven’t gotten together like this for a long time. I’ll try to call Mingcheng next time. We can have a meal together, all right?”

Mingyi had her head lowered, smoking a slender lady’s cigarette. When she hears what I said, she suddenly stops smoking. After a moment, she slowly raises her head and gives me a strange look.

There is surprise among the many emotions in that look, which I don’t understand for the moment.

She frowns at me and says with some hesitation: “…..Are you crazy?”

---

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Chapter 2 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 4

“This brother…..looks familiar.”

Song Xingmu spoke up first with a smile, but the person he spoke to was not the body related to Liu Zhenqing by blood, but to Huo Fenglie.

Liu Zhenqing’s heart moved. They were acquainted? That would make this easy to handle. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Yi Chuan say: “That person is very good at martial arts. You just think he looks good, so you’re pretending to be familiar? Be careful you don’t get beaten! Do you know him or not? If you don’t, then he’s dangerous!”

Liu Zhenqing nearly laughed out loud. Had this Yi Chuan grown older but not wiser? How come ten years had passed and nothing had changed? He was still a reckless young man who demolished even his own people on the spot.

The corners of Song Xingmu’s mouth twitched. He looked at Yi Chuan speechlessly and then said in a helpless manner: “Since the two people eavesdropping here are not in the same party as those three people, they should not be our enemies. His martial arts skills are too high, I don’t want to be his enemy, ah.” When Song Xingmu finished speaking, he looked at Huo Fenglie. Although it had looked like a tie just now, the opponent had not shown his weapon from beginning to end. 

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “We feel the same. Apologies, we were hired by the vice president of the Liu Family Chamber of Commerce to investigate Wang Qi. There has recently been a problem with the river transport under Wang Qi’s control.”

Liu Zhenqing tossed out a little bait. As far as the current situation was concerned, Song Xingmu had arrested those people in a reasonable and fair manner. The rebels would at most find it troublesome and not suspect that they had alerted the enemy. By cooperating with Song Xingmu, they would be able to investigate the situation more thoroughly. 

As expected, Song Xingmu looked interested. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss in detail?”

Liu Zhenqing glanced at Huo Fenglie, and he nodded, raising his hand to help Liu Zhenqing walk out.

During this time, Song Xingmu continued to watch Huo Fenglie curiously, still feeling that this kid looked familiar.

Suddenly, his gaze froze. The whole atmosphere condensed at once, and murderous intent shot out unexpectedly. Yi Chuan on the side was the first to sense the change in Song Xingmu. It had been many years since he had seen Song Xingmu truly angry.

At this moment, even Yi Chuan couldn’t help but take a step back with internal misgivings. Just as he was feeling strange, he suddenly heard Song Xingmu scoff coldly.

The approaching murderous intent quickly alerted Huo Fenglie as he was passing by him, and he shielded Liu Zhenqing behind his back. 

“Why…..” Before Liu Zhenqing could finish speaking, Song Xingmu spoke coldly.

“General Huo, why are you visiting in secret?”

Huo Fenglie’s expression remained unchanged, but Liu Zhenqing and Yi Chuan were completely surprised.

Yi Chuan said in astonishment: “Is he really Huo Fenglie? Didn’t you just…..”

Without waiting for Yi Chuan’s question, Song Xingmu immediately attacked Huo Fenglie. Huo Fenglie pushed Liu Zhenqing back and raised his hand to meet Song Xingmu’s black-gloved palm.

Yi Chuan disregarded everything else and rushed forward to catch Song Xingmu and pull him away.

But Song Xinmu said in a cold voice full of murderous intent: “Don’t move!”

When Yi Chuan heard this tone, the look in his eyes instantly changed. He ignored Song Xingmu and pounced directly on Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie judged that the situation would be difficult to resolve, so he drew his Chunjun sword at last to confront Yi Chuan.

Huo Fenglie was actually using his weapon, so if he didn’t need to protect Liu Zhenqing, nobody here would be his opponent.

The shell bracelet could be heard ringing softly with Huo Fenglie’s movements. The battle situation was constantly changing.

Song Xingmu knew at a glance that if he got involved, he would likely be defeated. With this thought, he planned to outwit him, and sent a sharp glance toward Liu Zhenqing.

Taking advantage of the moment Yi Chuan entangled Huo Fenglie, Song Xingmu ducked past him.

Liu Zhenqing had not figured out the situation yet. After all, he, Huo Feihan, and Song Xingmu were sworn brothers. Why would Song Xingmu suddenly try to kill Huo Fenglie? 

As a result, in the next second, a figure flashed in front of him and a black-gloved hand stretched toward his neck. Liu Zhenqing instinctively retreated, but it was already too late.

Huo Fenglie, who was always paying attention to Liu Zhenqing, switched his sword hand and veered toward Song Xingmu. He leaned back to avoid Yi Chuan’s attacking blade, and his free hand on the other side directly grabbed Yi Chuan’s wrist. There was a tug, and the moment Yi Chuan lost his balance, the arm holding his blade was kicked and turned away by Huo Fenglie.

In an instant, everyone’s movements stopped.

Song Xingmu grasped Liu Zhenqing’s neck, and Huo Fenglie’s Chunjun sword was pressed to Song Xingmu’s throat. At the same time, the arm he had kicked forced Yi Chuan’s blade to aim at his throat. Everyone was at a stalemate.

“Don’t touch him!” Yi Chuan shouted.

Huo Fenglie glared at Song Xingmu and said coldly: “Let go!”

Song Xingmu scoffed, unafraid: “You can’t manage both of us at the same time. Even if you kill me, I can take him down with me at the same time and Yi Chuan can still move. I’m not at a loss.”

“But…..you probably don’t want to die,” Liu Zhenqing said, the only one being held hostage. “Let’s calm down and talk about this. Although it was wrong of us to lie before, we had no choice but to do so. Unless your allegiance is not to the current Great Zhou Yuan clan, two military leaders should not fight each other upon meeting, ah.”

Liu Zhenqing’s heart was very disturbed as he said this. He couldn’t understand his brother’s current attitude at all.

Back then, he and Huo Feihan had agreed to guard the territory of Great Zhou together. Why was he suddenly facing Huo Fenglie, who was also guarding the country, with swords?

With a scoff, Song Xingmu just looked at Huo Fenglie and said: “This young master is correct. I truly don’t want to die, and I do not want to kill General Huo, but there must be vengeance. General Huo, why don’t you break an arm and a leg, and then we can sit down and drink tea.”

Huo Fenglie gave Song Xingmu a frigid look and did not answer.

Liu Zhenqing’s head was filled with questions. There was a grudge? They should have only met once or twice. Huo Fenglie was still a young child at that time, and they hadn’t spent time with each other at all. He didn’t even recognize him just now. One had gone to the west while the other went south, and there was no contact at all, so how could there be any enmity, ah?

“Both of you are military leaders serving the country and the people. How can there be personal enmity? There must be a misunderstanding. Is there a troublemaker sowing discord?” Liu Zhenqing spoke calmly.

Song Xingmu finally glanced at Liu Zhenqing. “You are rather intelligent, but a smarter person would do well to beseech his general now. Otherwise, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

“I am faster than you,” Huo Fenglie said calmly. Then his eyes darkened, and in the next moment, he kicked Yi Chuan away. The tip of the sword crossed Song Xingmu’s neck, and he directly used the broad blade of the sword to slap Song Xingmu’s gloved hand down hard. Song Xingmu’s hand strangely lost his strength just then, causing Liu Zhenqing to inexplicably feel that something was wrong.

Without dwelling further, Huo Fenglie turned around and fought Song Xingmu back. Liu Zhenqing was embraced by Huo Fenglie, who pressed the Chunjun sword against Song Xingmu’s neck once more. Yi Chuan was about to attack, but Song Xingmu reached out to stop him.

Song Xingmu’s originally beautiful fox-like eyes were now filled with a chill. “Good boy, your martial arts skills are truly better than your brother’s.”

“I am not familiar with you.” Huo Fenglie bluntly stated that he had no conflict with him.

Liu Zhenqing nodded in agreement.

Ignoring the danger at his throat, Song Xingmu tilted his head and curled his red-tipped hair with his fingers as if relaxed. He said with a chuckle: “Do you know how I recognized you?”

The sudden change in topic threw Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing off for a moment. 

Song Xinmu said: “It is because of the sword in your hand.”

Huo Fenglie frowned, then seemed to have thought of something. However, Liu Zhenqing was still confused.

“Who gave you this sword? Or who forged it for you? I thought at first that you looked familiar, but when I saw this sword, it suddenly occurred to me. Aren’t you that simple-minded, unsociable little brat?”

Faced with Song Xingmu’s insult, Huo Fenglie did not reply. Instead, he slowly lowered the sword in his hand. Liu Zhenqing’s head was buzzing, as if some memory was about to emerge.

Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows and said: “Back then, in order to forge peerless swords for you two brothers, that person specially asked me to collect rare black ore from the outer seas. The amount collected was just enough to forge two swords. The first one was forged in time and given to Huo Fenglie as a coming of age gift. The second one was forged intermittently for several years due to the turmoil at that time, and was finally sent to the capital. It was intended for your coming of age, but that person had no chance to give it over.”

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes widened. He seemed to have just remembered the origin of this sword.

The coming of age gift he gave to Huo Feihan back then was a sword, which he asked the most capable swordsmith in the country to make. At that time, Er-gou was very envious when he saw his brother’s powerful sword, and Liu Zhenqing promised to give him one when he came of age. In the end, when the sword was finished and sent to the manor, he was already a treacherous minister and had no time to care about such unimportant things. Huo Fenglie was not in the capital, so he kept it in the warehouse instead of sending it out. Later on…..

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie, who explained in a low voice: “It was confiscated when the property was searched. The emperor gave it to me.” When he received it back then, he knew that Qing-ge had fulfilled his promise. From then on, he never parted from it.

Liu Zhenqing nodded. Song Xingmu smiled, and his laughter was rather mocking.

“You know its origin and are shameless enough to use the sword. Are you worthy of it?!” When Song Xingmu spoke, he no longer played with the ends of his hair, but folded his hands with one hand stroking the gloved one.

As Liu Zhenqing looked at Song Xingmu, all the contradictions seemed to suddenly become clear. As expected, he heard Song Xingmu say with a cold smile: “You dug up the grave, crushed the bones, and scattered the ashes. You didn’t believe in the person your brother trusted, and only listened to the rumors. Whoever praises you as a god of war is a fool. I didn’t expect that after your ge left, you didn’t protect him, but treated him like this. You deserve to die. If your ge’s spirit in the afterlife saw you treating his brother like this, he would definitely not let you get away with it!”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Song Xingmu, unable to bear it. It turned out to be so simple. Song Xingmu was his good brother. Knowing the rumors, although he couldn’t run thousands of li to beat him, now that person was in front of him. How could Song Xingmu, who placed great importance in friendship and ties of affection, not avenge his brother?

His master had no objection to Huo Fenglie, likely because he knew the inside story from his junior sister, so his attitude was normal. This caused Liu Zhenqing to ignore the matter of worrying about what other people who cared about him would think of Huo Fenglie’s actions.

Liu Zhenqing started to explain.

Suddenly, Song Xingmu’s eyes shifted and a secret signal was issued. He and Yi Chuan attacked at the same time.

But this time, Huo Fenglie seemed to react half a beat too slowly.

At lightning speed, the long and short blades were placed in a crossed position at Huo Fenglie’s neck. Song Xingmu planned to guard against Huo Fenlgie’s reaction, but the other party didn’t respond, so his posture was half-prepared.

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie in astonishment, and saw that he was a in a low mood. His face filled with puzzlement. Hadn’t they cleared things up between them? Why did he still look so guilty?

Liu Zhenqing had a headache, and was about to hold his forehead when he heard Song Xingmu say: “You’re not resisting? Did you discover a conscience? Then don’t blame me. It’s just a broken arm and leg, they can be restored. Your suffering is nothing compared to that of the dead!”

Seeing that Song Xingmu was about to take action, Liu Zhenqing truly feared that Huo Fenglie would be stubborn, so he said quickly: “It was a misunderstanding. He dug up the grave because he refused to believe that person was dead. It was due to excessive grief. His sister-in-law Li Xingruo can prove all of this. And the so-called breaking the bones and spreading the ashes was only because that person said before his death that he did not want to be buried in the ground, but wanted to leave in the form of cremation. He did everything according to that person’s wishes. There was nothing wrong with it at all.”

After speaking, he stepped forward at once and gave Huo Fenglie a fierce glare. “Who told you not to resist? Are you trying to scare me to death?”

But Huo Fenglie just looked deeply at Liu Zhenqing and said nothing.

“You think I will believe that?”

“Then you think General Huo still has reason to lie?”

“I originally thought he was someone who would never dig up graves. In any case, I am not familiar with him, so it is difficult to tell truth from lies. Unless Liu Zhenqing’s ashes are brought to me, my brother has no descendents and can only trouble me to bury him. I don’t need anyone else to help me. So do you have them?”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned. Looking at this person who was a carefree prodigal among the flowers in the past, his eyes were like lightning now, and even his naturally smiling lips were overshadowed by the grim look on his face.

It was rare for Song Xingmu to be like this. He last came here to the south to deploy troops after becoming a treacherous minister and carrying a lifetime of infamy, and met him while exterminating pirates. At that time, he scolded Liu Zhenqing with a face that was totally out of tune with his usual self.

During the final farewell, although Song Xingmu came to send him off, he still had a bad look on his face.

“Liu Zhenqing, our friendship of drinking, eating meat, and visiting the entertainment houses together ends here. Take good care of your body, you have to wear so much clothing even in the summer. When you die, you will have no descendents, so who will collect your body? Shall I do it for you? The capital is too far away, and I’m too lazy to run there! You’re on your own!”

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “That sullen face really doesn’t look good on you at all. Pay attention to your image, ah. But don’t worry, I won’t ask you to collect my body if I die. Song Xingmu, defend the seas for Great Zhou. This is the biggest help to me.”

“Get out of here, you,” Song Xingmu sneered. Seeing Liu Zhenqing put down the carriage curtain, he couldn’t help but say something through the curtain, “Spring is warm and the flowers are blooming. It is more appropriate to go south and cultivate yourself. Your favorite wine and fish are waiting for you.”

“En….waiting.”

The muffled voice sounded from behind the curtain. It was their last conversation.

He didn’t expect that someone as free and easy as Song Xingmu could be so obsessed.

After his master, Liu Zhenqing was no longer so resistant to revealing his identity, but Song Xingmu was a court official, and he really didn’t want his existence to become a knot in Song Xingmu’s heart when dealing with the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But in the next moment, Liu Zhenqing changed his mind.

Song Xingmu regarded Huo Fenglie with contempt: “Huo Fenglie, the last thing you should believe is that he would harm your ge. Your ge wrote to me before the last battle, telling me that if anything unexpected happened, I must protect Liu Zhenqing. He mentioned in the letter that he also told you this. So, are you worthy of your ge and Liu Zhenqing?”

Liu Zhenqing was astonished. He hadn’t known that Huo Fenglie had said such a thing back then. Just as he was in shock, Huo Fenglie said in a heavy voice: “You’re right.”

Liu Zhenqing took a deep breath. This foolish Er-gou!

He saw that Song Xingmu was about to move, and quickly shouted: “Er-gou, if you dare to let yourself get hurt over such a stupid thing, don’t expect me to forgive you.”

The sound of “Er-gou” caused Song Xingyu to pause for a moment. When he turned to look, he saw Liu Zhenqing looking at him with burning eyes.

“Song Xingmu, the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming. Although I am not here to cultivate, the time is just right. Have you prepared my favorite wine and fish?”

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Chapter Seventy-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Nine