In fact, I was very restrained at first, and didn’t carry out my plans for a long time.

Because back then, I was obsessed with my relationship with A-Zhen every day.

From the moment I discovered that I liked him, that was the beginning of the journey that entrenched me step by step.

To be honest, during the first half of my life when I was still half human and half monster with incomplete humanity, I was not confused by emotion or desire. I looked at mine and other people’ desires with cold objectivity, so my plans never failed.

In high school, I found a lot of portraits of me in his room. That was when I knew I had succeeded once again.

From that day on, our inhuman love began.

The love I had for him was the most beautiful emotion I had ever experienced as a freshman in high school. We would hold hands, kiss occasionally, and walk together in the flourishing world.

I always asked him to say that he liked me. When he said this, he always lowered his head and turned his head to the side without looking at me. It seemed casual, but from my angle, I could see that his cheeks were red and his eyelashes were trembling.

I couldn’t help but touch his face and hair.

The feeling was indescribably wonderful.

For the first time, I deeply felt the beautiful, positive emotions of being a human being. I fell into it completely, and because I couldn’t help myself, I just indulged in it and enjoyed it.

He was like my soul outside my body. I couldn’t leave him for a moment, and I had no time to care about anything else in this world except for him.

And after going to university, the last friend around him, Wen Mingyi, also disappeared. He completely belonged to me.

When I was eighteen or nineteen years old, I was so arrogant that I thought I had him completely. That I had complete control over a living human being.

Even if he moved to a new school and new people wanted to get close to him, it didn’t matter. They were all fireflies who could be easily crushed to death.

Until White Day during my freshman year.

The festive atmosphere was very potent, whether inside or outside of school. The whole city was full of roses and lovers. Snowflakes floated through the sky as young couples hugged and kissed, and the air was full of love and romance. 

I intended to take our relationship further. In my opinion, this was a natural thing. Additionally, ever since I became his boyfriend, his attitude toward me had been a bit unnatural. I knew that this was because we had been friends for years and he momentarily couldn’t adapt.

Therefore, I needed an opportunity for him to get closer to me and fully accept me.

That day, I took him to watch a romance movie that was currently popular, the theme of which was love and freedom. The main actor implicitly expressed his frank and positive attitude toward sex. Afterward, we went to a lively and passionate concert and had dinner at a rose-themed restaurant in the evening.

The atmosphere was just right. We didn’t return to school that night.

I had prepared in advance and booked the best room in the most upscale hotel in the city.

This room faced the sea and had huge floor-to-ceiling windows. I intended to spend a quality night with him and then greet the morning sunrise together.

He was still a young man, with a body so slender and light, but he was well-proportioned, his skin fresh and tender. His waist and abdomen were coated in a thick pink, and his limbs were like lotus roots, the undulation of his contours smooth and charming.

Stunned by his beauty, I couldn’t help but hold his calf, squeezing the soft white flesh between my fingers…..

Youthfulness, bewilderment, shyness, everything was displayed before me.

When our passion was intense, he cried and called out, overwhelmed. I had placed his hands on my back, but found that in the end that he had endured very hard, not having the heart to scratch me.

So pitiful and cute.

My body and soul were greatly stimulated, and I almost wanted to hold him until death.

But in the middle of the night, he had already fallen asleep tiredly. I looked at his extremely graceful feet exposed outside the blanket and couldn’t help but hold them in my hands and play with them.

His feet were no less beautiful and lovely than their owner. The soles of his feet were slim and soft, the toes round and neat. I couldn’t put them down.

I barely slept that night. Holding him in my arms, I felt the touch of his skin and the temperature of his body. Sometimes I put my ear against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, and sometimes I placed my fingers on his neck to feel the flow of his blood.

Finally, I buried my head in his neck and pressed my cheek against his hair, then contentedly fell asleep with him in my arms.

He was like my regained soul, and I could not let go for a moment.

I wanted to watch the sunrise on the sea with him and do all the sweet, romantic things lovers did, but it was a pity that it was cloudy that morning by the time the sun came out.

And when he woke up that morning, I unexpectedly saw regret and fear in his eyes.

It was like a basin of water had been poured over me from head to toe, washing away all of my passion.

I didn’t know why he regretted it.

Could it be that I lost control of myself and went too far, making him uncomfortable?

Or…..did he not like me?

This conjecture made me feel the taste of fear.

This was the first time I had felt afraid. The feeling was unfamiliar and painful, and he should have also felt such pain at that time.

I didn’t want him to be emotionally tormented. I wanted him to be happy, but I didn’t know what he was afraid of or why he regretted it.

So I measured him according to my own values. I thought he was like this because he was afraid I didn’t like him, so I held him in my arms and promised him over and over again that I would love him forever.

He gave me a forced smile.

I buried my head in his neck, our chests touching, hearts beating together.

Love me. You will love me forever, Wei Zizhen.

But he was stuck in his own emotions, and didn’t give me the same response.

However, he wasn’t even upset for a few days before he became happy again.

Seeing him smile once more, I breathed a sigh of relief at last.

Once the incident had passed, I pondered it again and eventually attributed his negative emotions to my poor performance.

Perhaps my lack of restraint caused him to suffer. In the future, I should not overdo it.

We began to enjoy a sweet relationship again, and after physical intimacy, our souls became more and more compatible. There was no longer any strangeness or discomfort in his eyes. He had completely accepted me.

We mutually possessed one another and became a true couple.

At that time, neither Mingyi nor marriage were anything to fear in my eyes.

A-Zhen only regarded Mingyi as his little sister, and marriage was just a combination of interests. I would not be stingy with the benefits the Wei family wanted, and could give more than Mingyi. I believed that the Wei family understood this.

And because matters that arose out of interests were the easiest to solve.

In fact, according to common sense, there was nothing wrong with my plan. But things don’t usually work according to common sense, and there are always things in this world that you can’t foresee.

What shattered my dream was the presence of my father.

Without letting A-Zhen know, he came to my school alone to find me.

---

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Chapter 30 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 32

The main criminals involved were directly detained in cells within Song Xingmu’s other courtyard. Qin Yu and He Lan were responsible for guarding it, and they would be escorted by special personnel from the capital.

With a creak, the cell door opened. Zhao Haicheng looked up, but still didn’t see the person he wanted to see.

“Where is he?” Zhao Haicheng asked.

Song Xingmu raised an eyebrow and said: “He couldn’t be bothered to see you. And why do you need to see him, ah? Did you really fall in love with him, and you want a glimpse of him before you die?”

Qin Yu and He Lan were originally guarding the single entrance outside, and Song Xingmu called them to join him. Hearing this gossip, Qin Yu was uninterested, but He Lan winked at him. “Xiao Liu is quite charming. He deserves to be the person Zhanyuan likes.”

Qin Yu looked at He Lan speechlessly. Recently, it felt like He Lan was always looking for opportunities to emphasize in front of him that Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing were a couple. He wasn’t blind. He could see it.

Zhao Haicheng said coldly: “If I don’t see him, no matter what you ask, I will not cooperate with you.”

Song Xingmu smiled. “I’m not in charge of interrogating you. Whether you say anything or not has nothing to do with me.”

Zhao Haicheng’s face went white. He clearly understood that his threat was useless against Song Xingmu.

“Who…..who is he, and what role does he play in this matter?!” He knew everything about this business very clearly, and Liu Zhenqing was the only one he couldn’t understand or see through. He didn’t want to die without knowing what kind of person had moved his heart.

Song Xingmu thought for a time, and then said: “His surname is Liu.”

Zhao Haicheng’s pupils quivered. He jumped up suddenly, and the chains restricting his movements were yanked loudly.

“He is…..”

“Strictly speaking, he is Liu Zhenqing’s distant cousin,” Song Xingmu said deliberately.

Zhao Haicheng’s entire person froze: “No wonder…..no wonder he looks so similar…..”

Song Xingmu’s eyes narrowed for a moment, and he finally confirmed one thing. “You’re the boy who sent flowers to Liu Zhenqing on the island, right?”

Zhao Haicheng instantly became agitated: “Shut up!”

“Sent flowers?” He Lan began to gossip upon hearing this. “This guy gave flowers to Prime Minister Liu? Could it be that he loved him?”

After all, Prime Minister Liu was good-looking and resourceful back then, and had countless admirers. It was normal for him to be liked by others.

When He Lan finished speaking, the sound of footsteps could be heard. As he turned his head to look, he was dumbfounded. Huo Fenglie and Yi Chuan could be seen walking down the corridor in the distance.

“Why are you here?” He Lan asked.

Huo Fenglie came to a stop without opening his mouth. Song Xingmu asked with a smile: “Looking for him?”

Huo Fenglie nodded. After the treatment, he went out to look for Liu Zhenqing, but he wasn’t there. Yi Chuan said he had gone out with Song Xingmu, so they came together.

“He has some personal matters to deal with and will return soon.” Song Xingmu raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you go back and wait? Otherwise, you can help interrogate this child who once had a crush on Liu Zhenqing.”

“I didn’t! How could I admire that sort of evil person! He and I only had a blood feud!” Zhao Haicheng spoke fiercely, as if stimulated.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I say, you yourself have been a navy officer for so long. Even if the pirates we killed back then came back for revenge, you can’t blame Liu Zhenqing. He did his best for hundreds of islanders like you back then. He also arranged for relocation and created communications devices. If you don’t feel grateful, then forget it, but…..”

“Nonsense! He clearly did it for his own selfish desires and to gain military power, I heard it all. In order to achieve his goals, he even planned to assassinate the emperor during his tour to the south! We civilians were nothing in his eyes, only victims of his power-seeking!”

Everyone was taken aback when these words came out, aside from Song Xingmu, whose expression remained unchanged.

“What, you don’t dare to speak? Song Xingmu, you can be regarded as someone who heard this but didn’t report it, and you can’t escape the relationship between you two. There are several people from the Imperial Court present. I wonder which one will file a complaint against you!” Zhao Haicheng said with a ferocious smile.

Yi Chuan instantly pulled out a blade and pressed it to Zhao Haicheng’s throat: “You’re courting death!”

Song Xingmu curled his hair and opened his mouth to say: “Don’t make trouble, there are a few lords watching here.”

As Song Xingmu spoke, he looked at the people around him. Huo Fenglie was expressionless, while He Lan and Qin Yu were full of doubts. After all, they had already changed their views on Liu Zhenqing and really felt that something was fishy, so they could only look to Song Xingmu for the truth.

Song Xingmu faced Zhao Haicheng with purpose and said: “I shouldn’t tell this to you, an outsider, but now that it has come to this, I have a few words to say for my brother. General Huo, do you still remember the first time your group went south?”

Huo Fenglie was slightly surprised. Of course he remembered.

Yi Chuan put away his blade and asked: “Was that the time you caught me?”

Song Xingmu nodded with a smile and slowly spoke of what happened that year.

On the first trip south, Liu Zhenqing, Huo Feihan, and Song Xingmu teamed up to capture Yi Chuan’s pirate ship. 

At that time, Liu Zhenqing and Huo Feihan learned from Song Xingmu how difficult it was for the fishermen and islanders along the coast.

As a member of the Song family, Song Xingmu had been inspired to be a navy officer since childhood, and his life-long goal was to fight against pirates. However, the Zhou Dynasty invested too little into the navy. They had the will, but not the strength.

At that time, Huo Feihan vowed to Song Xingmu that he would persuade the emperor to allocate troops to him after he inherited the family duties and took charge of the military. After all, Liu Zhenqing had not thought about actually embarking on a career as an official at that time, nor did he know that he would become the powerful Prime Minister Liu. So he just watched the two officials as they excitedly discussed how many troops would be needed to intimidate the seas of Great Zhou.

“The original purpose for mobilizing troops was indeed not for clearing out pirates.” As Song Xingmu spoke, he looked into Zhao Haicheng’s increasingly confident eyes and smiled. “On the pretext of clearing out pirates and protecting the islanders, he would then use the emperor’s assassination to blame thieves and pirates so that he could justifiably silence the courtiers and seize the 30,000 soldiers. That assassination was indeed arranged by Liu Zhenqing.”

When he heard this, Zhao Haicheng began to laugh wildly. “Just as I said…..he’s an evil person, an evil person!”

“No way, really?” He Lan couldn’t accept it.

Qin Yu frowned slightly and glanced at Huo Fenglie.

But Huo Fenglie’s expression didn’t change at all, as though he was just listening to a past event he was unaware of.

Song Xingmu slowly walked up to Zhai Haicheng, giving him a contemptuous smile as he said: “That year, you were still on the island and didn’t know about the situation outside at all, but then you joined the navy and likely heard some things. For example, at that time, the wife of King Huai, whose family had the strongest military force of thirty thousand, was in the capital of a neighboring prefecture.”

Zhao Haicheng was slightly shocked. “You…..what are you talking about?”

Suddenly, Huo Fenglie said from the side: “King Huai secretly hid his private soldiers with his maternal family in case he was trapped in the capital and needed to mobilize troops to rescue him. And there were no other troops in the area at that time.”

“So those thirty thousand naval troops were actually set up to prevent King Huai’s private soldiers from rebelling?” He Lan asked in astonishment.

“At that time, the three kings were still fighting amongst themselves. Once something happened to King Huai, it would inevitably lead to chaos in the military and the people here would suffer accordingly,” Qin Yu analyzed.

“As the prime minister, he supported the emperor and had to find a way to deal with King Huai’s private soldiers.” Song Xingmu said slowly, “Every step had to be taken carefully back then, with legitimate reasons and military power, so combating pirates was the best excuse. There was fear that the ministers would object. After all, nobody was really worried about the pirate problem at that time and just wanted to maintain the status quo, swaying from side to side. Liu Zhenqing had no choice but to arrange for a muddled assassination, while secretly pointing the finger at King Huai and openly blaming the pirates, killing two birds with one stone. The thirty-thousand troops were implemented, but his name was allowed to ferment in public opinion, and it was said that he wanted to seize military power from the Huo family and intimidate and control the young emperor.”

“He wasn’t afraid that the Huo family would do the same to him…..” He Lan was alarmed to hear this, and was quick to ask curiously.

Song Xingmu glanced at Huo Fenglie and said: “Only with extreme trust would he dare to act like this. I also believe that the Huo family didn’t misunderstand him. Is that correct?”

“My older brother and I have always believed in him,” Huo Fenglie said directly. Even though they didn’t understand, they still believed in him, but…..no one in the world understood, and he didn’t defend himself.

Huo Fenglie lowered his eyes, clenching his fists slightly. At that time, he was only a minor military official, so weak that he could only hold one territory and share a little bit of the pressure.

Suddenly, Song Xingmu said distantly: “Did the emperor believe in him? Did the emperor believe…..that it was a deliberate arrangement?”

“He said that whether the emperor believed or not was a different matter. After all, for it to be legitimate, the emperor had to be injured, right?” Song Xingmu’s voice was soft. He looked at Zhao Haicheng and said: “What you heard at the beginning was probably the quarrel between me and Liu Zhenqing. Because I didn’t think he should do this. Accompanying a ruler is like accompanying a tiger. Even if he did all he could, arranging something like this would always leave a thorn in the emperor’s heart.”

Song Xingmu spoke very bluntly. But He Lan and Qin Yu had no intention to refute, because they felt the same way. Using the emperor as bait was not a good method, no matter how effective it was.

“I scolded him for being brainless and acting regardless of the consequences, but he said this was the only way. He had to do it, and since his reputation was so bad, how much of the emperor’s trust in him remained? Back when he was the dignified prime minister, he was just so…..” Song Xingmu became increasingly agitated the more he spoke, and he stopped abruptly at this point when Yi Chuan pulled him back.

Yes, ah, the rest should not be said.

Qin Yu and He Lan looked back at Huo Fenglie with worry, but they could only see his face concealed in the shadows cast by the light in the cell, making it difficult to see clearly. They knew very well what Song Xingmu was alluding to. They were loyal to their families and to the emperor, but Huo Fenglie was even more so.

Because Huo Fenglie was not only the emperor’s top general, but also Yuan Jue’s good brother who treated him with sincerity. They also knew that Huo Fenglie had admired Prime Minister Liu and never held a grudge, missing him all the time.

How would Huo Fenglie feel now?

Song Xingmu calmed himself and looked at the already lifeless Zhao Haicheng, saying: “Back then, the two main reasons the pirates returned were because of Liu Zhenqing’s death and my departure.”

When Liu Zhenqing, who had all the power in the world, passed away, there were so many people ready to make trouble. Everyone wanted to come and take a bite of Great Zhou.

Thieves like the pirates were akin to rats, burrowing into holes whenever someone spotted them. Knowing that Song Xingmu wasn’t there and the leader of the navy had been replaced, they immediately began to look for opportunities to retaliate.

“But isn’t it your own fault that you were attacked? Why didn’t you leave back then?” Song Xingmu asked coldly.

Zhao Haicheng was frozen for a long moment. With an ashen face, he said: “That was our home. We couldn’t leave just because we were told to. Why should we just do whatever you arranged? Even if he…..he wasn’t a traitor, he also implicated us in his fight for power.”

Song Xingmu sneered. “If someone else were standing in his place as prime minister and obtained those thirty thousand troops, who would actually lead those troops to clear out pirates? Who would actually care about the lives and deaths of you islanders and think of a way out for you?”

Although this was cruel to say, it was a fact. For those in powerful positions, their struggle for power used the world as a chess board. Who cared about a few small islands and the lives of hundreds of people? They probably wouldn’t spare them a thought, but in terms of major world events, could it be said that these people were wicked?

He Lan and Qin Yu to the side could only nod. As a senior official of the Imperial Court, Liu Zhenqing had done many things that were impossible for others to do, but still suffered resentment. It was ridiculous. Nobody could protect the people of the islands at all times. Shouldn’t they change their own fortunes?

But Zhao Haicheng stared angrily, seemingly unwilling to admit it. “No, it wasn’t like that. Do you know what it feels like to have all of your relatives, friends, and kinsmen die tragically in front of you?!”

At this moment, Yi Chuan said abruptly: “You people are very strange.”

Zhao Haicheng was taken aback, and looked at Yi Chuan.

Yi Chuan was simple and direct. “You were so willing to maintain the original situation because the people offered as sacrifices were not your young brothers and sisters.”

Zhao Haicheng paled. He opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

Yi Chuan had revealed the simple, ugly fact. Although his fleet had never done such a thing at the time, they had seen other pirates do it by demanding young men and women to be trussed up and played with on their ships. And these people were often orphans left behind on the islands by parents who were shipwrecked at sea.

Yi Chuan said: “The ones killing people were pirates, but you didn’t want to wipe out all of the pirates and avoid future troubles forever. It’s strange that you blame others, but even colluded with pirates. I really don’t understand.”

Song Xingmu chuckled and said: “It’s actually very simple. It was easier to blame the kind of people who wouldn’t hurt them. How could they dare blame the pirates? After all, the pirates would actually kill people.”

Yi Chuan didn’t understand, but the others seemed to.

Zhao Haicheng was shamed into anger, shaking all over. “No matter how much you quibble, it doesn’t change anything. This disaster was caused by you. It was you who killed so many people.”

Likely because he was too agitated, bloody foam appeared at his mouth when he shouted.

Song Xingmu raised the fingers that were holding the tips of his hair and fiddled with his earring.

“Then let me tell you the truth that I just discovered.” Song Xingmu slowly said: “Back then, did you rescue a rebel who floated to the island shore?”

Zhao Haicheng was taken aback, and looked at Song Xingmu in confusion. “So what. If not for the so-called rebels who knew how to be grateful and came back to save us when they learned something was wrong, there wouldn’t be a single person left alive on our island.”

Song Xingmu laughed and shouted loudly: “Someone, bring the prisoner in room five.”

Nobody knew what was going on, but they soon saw soldiers bringing over a prisoner who had been tortured. 

Zhao Haicheng recognized him at a glance. “Uncle Hai!”

Uncle Hai raised his head. His eyes were averted, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Song Xingmu kicked him forward and said: “Speak! Say everything you told me before!”

Zhao Haicheng looked at the person before him blankly, with the worst premonition in his heart.

“Back then…..back then, we were hunted at sea. I was….I was…..saved by them. After living there for a while, we got in touch with our own people. We needed a place to hide our identities and avoid being hunted, so after discussing it, we decided to hide on that island.”

Zhao Haicheng looked lifeless, and said in an almost pleading tone: “So when you came back, you saw us being attacked and came to our rescue?”

“Yes…..it was when we returned that we saw pirates intending to make a sneak attack, but because of the devices left behind by Prime Minister Liu, they dared not venture forward. So we…..we thought of a good way to hide our identities.”

The blood in Zhao Haicheng’s face faded almost visibly, and his pupils shook uncontrollably.

“Tell us, what was that method?” Song Xingmu urged.

Uncle Hai shook his head and no longer dared to look in Zhao Haicheng’s direction. Turning his head aside, he said all at once: “We wanted….we wanted to completely replace the people on the island with our numbers. So…..we assassinated the guards in the tower and informed the pirates that they could attack. Once the pirates attacked, we would wait for an opportunity to wipe out the pirates so that the islanders would be grateful to us, agree to take us in, and let us exist openly as those dead islanders. This way, we could avoid being hunted by the Imperial Court. We could also have loyal subordinates who could bring us information from the outside world.”

After these words fell, the entire cell became eerily quiet.

The evil of human nature and the turn of events were jaw-dropping.

Those who heard it could only sigh in disbelief.

And as the cause of everything, Zhao Haicheng stared blankly at the man he had rescued with his own hands. His voice was almost lifeless as he asked hoarsely: “Why? I saved you…..why were you so ruthless to us?!”

Uncle Hai was originally a court official. Faced with Zhao Haicheng’s questioning, he did feel guilty at first, but still said: “Those who achieve great things are not constrained by trivial details.”

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Chapter Ninety-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Seven

He heard my name and introduced himself to me, “Hello, my name is Wei Zizhen, with the ‘excellent’ character Zhen. My older brother’s name is Wei Zijin. This is my mother. Her name is Su Lin, and my father’s name is Wei Shenzong…..”

He had a child’s clean and pure voice. Perhaps because he had just run here, there were a few wet strands of crow-like hair on his temples. The ears under his hair looked white and thin.

As he spoke, he scratched the ear that was irritated by his hair.

He was a very innocent child.

He was not overly introverted either, but very much like a gentle and agile young deer.

His father was a tall, thick-browed middle-aged man with dark skin, sturdy enough that he didn’t look like a scholar. Hearing these words, he hugged his beautiful wife and laughed. He grasped his son’s shoulders with his big hands and said lovingly: “Little brat.”

His parents loved him and doted on him very much.

The eyes of the adults were drawn to him, and my father had been looking at him since he appeared. When he finished speaking, he smiled and stepped forward to hug him, gently stroking the back of his head and his earlobes with broad palms. “What a good boy. Call me Uncle Wen.”

He seemed to cower as he was hugged by a strange uncle. One hand was forced to hold my father’s shoulder, and the other curled up in a reserved manner. I saw him looking at his father for help.

Uncle Wei gave him a look of encouragement, so he softly called out, “Uncle Wen.”

My father touched their foreheads together. I saw in his eyes a love I had never seen before. He leaned down and picked up Mingyi with his other arm, just like a loving father holding his beloved child. “Uncle Wen will treat you as his own son. Play with Mingyi from now on.”

The grown-ups walked past me with their children in their arms, smiling broadly. Their conversation topics revolved around their children, and they walked toward the living room on the first floor while talking and laughing.

Of course, the uncle and aunt of the Wei family cared more about their child, and my parents never really liked me.

So nobody seemed to notice that I was left behind.

They were all drawn to the youngest son of the Wei family.

But actually, so was I.

I stood there and turned around, looking at the boy being held by his father for a moment. My mother said that the way I looked at people was scary, but I knew nobody would notice me, so I followed with impunity.

But to my surprise, the boy lying on my father’s shoulder turned back to look at me.

I wasn’t sure if he was frightened by me, but he only glanced at me once before turning away.

I feared that he would complain, so I lowered my eyes. I quickly thought of some words of defense, but I heard him say to my father: “Uncle Wen, Mingcheng-gege hasn’t caught up, let’s wait for him……”

Uncle Wei also noticed me after hearing this. “Yes, ah. Haha, why did Lao Wen leave his own son behind?”

My father smiled and said nothing. My mother also gave an awkward smile and turned around, saying: “Mingcheng, ah, hurry up.”

I looked at the boy again and walked forward quickly.

. . . . . . .

I was very interested in him.

So much so that I no longer paid attention to the beautiful fish in the fish tank.

Because we were both boys and were about the same age, he initially liked being near me more than my sister.

It was a pity that my parents didn’t support us being friends. Whenever he came near me, my parents would find a reason to call him away and have him play with Mingyi.

And the main reason was still me.

At first, he always came to me with a smile on his face, but he gradually became less cheerful and began to be afraid of me.

His eyes were clear and pure like beads of glass, and you could see to the bottom at a glance. So even if he didn’t say anything, I could see a touch of fear and resistance in his eyes.

It was actually not his fault. I was just different from normal people at that time. As my parents said, I looked at people very strangely, and the aunties at home were very frightened of me. And it was normal for him as a child with normal intelligence to be afraid of me.

So he later ran to play with Mingyi, and didn’t want to get close to me.

He was not a fish in the fish tank, and could not be caught by my hands at will. At that time, I already had a certain understanding of human nature. I knew that forcing him would only make him more afraid of me, so I didn’t stop him when he left.

They played happily in the courtyard or inside every day, and I would stand nearby and secretly watch them.

Over time, it caught my father’s attention.

He warned me to restrain myself. If I dared to hurt the children, he would not let me off.

I humbly agreed.

They all knew that I was interested in him, but in fact, no one knew that the person I secretly watched the most at that time was my sister.

I watched how she got along with Wei Zizhen as a normal person. I watched her expressions, the way she talked, the way she carried herself.

In the evenings, I would watch cartoons with her that I had no interest in. When she laughed, I laughed along with her, and when she cried, I tried to look as sad as possible.

I would secretly observe in the mirror whether my expressions were normal or not. And to practice, I would read some adult novels to understand the psychology of the protagonists.

For me, whether it was my sister or the characters in the books, they were all normal people, so they were my learning goals.

Although I was emotionally different from normal people, I was very intelligent and had a strong ability to learn and pretend.

Active change was much more effective than taking psychological classes every day. Soon, I understood how to act out the emotions of normal people and understand human nature.

Because of my poor ability to empathize, being a lively person was too difficult for me. And being an introverted and silent person was not conducive to getting the person I wanted, so I chose to pretend to be a gentle, kind, and good person.

My disguise was very good. I was specific down to the details, such as when to smile kindly and say nice words, and show that I liked beautiful things like flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

I even learned to blush and look shy like my sister.

Years later, this disguise was etched into my bones. I didn’t even know if I had truly become a normal person, but I indeed felt happy, angry, sad, and regretful, and was obsessed with emotions and desires.

So for a period of time, I wasn’t sure whether I was wearing a mask or not.

But I later understood that everyone had their representation, so it didn’t matter if that representation was real or not. The important thing was……my love and hate were real.

At that time, I was focused on changing myself, until one day I discovered that Wei Zizhen was always secretly looking at me.

He was clearly playing with Mingyi, but his eyes always drifted toward me.

And on New Year’s Eve that year, he finally took the initiative to approach me again.

“Mingcheng……let’s play together. Can I take you to cut window decorations together?”

He stayed with me for a long time that night. He took me to cut various window decorations, watched TV with me, and went to the snack room to steal something for me to eat.

He also apologized to me.

I thought at the time that my disguise had caused this effect, and couldn’t understand his apology.

It wasn’t until many years later that I realized that he had never discovered how abnormal I was. He always left me behind because he was afraid of me, and he felt guilty about it.

So in fact, when I was watching him secretly, he was also watching me back. He always came to me.

But my changes were not in vain, and I kept him.

Because of his initiative and my disguise, I still became his best friend even though my parents hindered me.

My disguise also became better as I grew older. When I was in middle school, I couldn’t tell whether it was a disguise or not. I had normal emotions like a normal person.

Although, it was more like observing myself from the perspective of a third party.

Wei Zizhen seemed to have magical powers. He made me, who wore the skin of a monster, grow skin and blood in the vacuum of my chest, and turned me into a human being.

When I was in high school, I was awakened one night by an abnormality with my body and beautiful dreams about him.

Because I didn’t have emotions like normal people at first, reason came first, and then emotion. So my analysis of emotions had always been clear and calm.

I lay in bed thinking for hours, and knew that I was in love with him.

This person, ah, he was so miraculous. It was wonderful to feel like this. As long as I thought of him, my soul felt light and my whole body was numb.

During the day, I couldn’t help but cast my eyes upon him.

I was happy because every time I looked at him, he looked back at me, and our eyes often met.

But I was not satisfied. Perhaps my mother was right and I was the son of Satan, and evil was in my nature.

He was always surrounded by people, which made me uncontrollably angry.

I knew myself very clearly, so when someone looked at him with the same eyes as mine, I understood what that person was thinking.

For example, his deskmate. The son of a mere actor, he already showed weakness to me when I rolled my car window down.

And those so-called friends were either afraid of me or hated me. I would give rewards, or rather bribes, to those who were afraid of me, and would intimidate those who hated me.

I drove them all away.

Most of the children in upper-class schools had extraordinary backgrounds. Naturally, they were not fools. Gradually, the people at school understood my intentions.

They were afraid of me, so they could only stay away from him.

He was finally alone.

At that time, he thought it was his fault. He doubted himself a little, and was unwilling to play with others.

And at that time, I had not completely lost my nature as a monster, and it was difficult for me to sympathize with him.

I didn’t understand what friendship was, and didn’t know how painful it was to lose a friend. I thought that his downcast mood was the same as when he watched TV, and would disappear after a while, so I didn’t take it to heart.

I hugged him to comfort him, sniffed his hair, and felt his body in my arms.

Because my desire for exclusivity was greatly satisfied, I was so excited that I shook.

When I was twenty-eight years old, I regretted this immensely. To be precise, I regretted many of the things I had done, but it was already too late.

……I didn’t have time to do anything.

But when I was eighteen and could actually do something, I felt that it wasn’t enough. 

Like a bloody executioner, my eyes became red in this struggle.

My attention turned to my family. Although they didn’t tell the outside world, and even Mingyi and A-Zhen didn’t know, I did.

They planned to marry Mingyi and A-Zhen. 

I talked to my father alone, and asked him to change the marriage partner to me.

I didn’t think this was anything at all. If Mingyi could do it, why couldn’t I? Same-sex marriage had long been legal.

But he reacted very violently. He smashed a pair of bone china vases against the wall and strangled me to stop my delusions.

He didn’t like me, but I still didn’t understand why he was so opposed to it since he didn’t necessarily like Mingyi very much.

This angered me to such an extent that I became very unscrupulous and directed my antagonism toward my family.

I was young and inexperienced, but an extremely ruthless person.

I achieved my goal, but the blade of my weapon was too sharp, and I accidentally hurt both A-Zhen and myself.

---

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Chapter 29 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 31

Having grown to this age, He Chuzhou had been praised by many people, using various words.

From lively and positive energy as a child, to an outstanding and cheerful temperament as a teenager, to a young, promising, and handsome adult.

Sometimes his parents would even praise him, saying that only when the top beam is straight will the lower beam not go aslant.

It was just that among these words that encapsulated basically all of the smooth-sailing growth of a successful person, none of them had any relation to cuteness, let alone called him cute outright.

But today, someone did.

Someone held a squeaking little pig and said with a voice full of favoritism that a man with a height of 1.886 meters and ab muscles was cute.

And it was ‘very cute.”

Very cute?

What did this mean?

In He Chuzhou’s eyes, only furry animals less than a meter tall such as kittens, puppies, and birds could be called cute. The only two exceptions were Pei-calico and He Xingxing.

Could this be applied to He Chuzhou?

It could not.

But it was Pei-calico who praised him for being cute.

Pei-calico praised him for being cute.

Pei-calico praised his good looks and even said he was cute.

“Chuzhou?”

“En?”

“Is this document difficult? You’ve been reading it for a long time.”

“…….”

He Chuzhou returned to his senses and coughed uncomfortably: “It’s fine. This is a special project, so it must be considered carefully.”

Pei Xi gave an understanding nod, and soon discovered something. His gaze was locked on the other’s ears, and just as he was about to speak, He Chuzhou deftly cut off his words: “Do you want to rest first?”

Pei Xi raised his eyelids: “Rest?”

Seeing that his attention had been successfully averted, He Chuzhou breathed a sigh of relief: “Yes, it’s still early now. You can take a nap first. I’ll wake you after my work is done.”

Pei Xi said nothing, and appeared to be thinking about it.

But after some thought, he brought up another thing: “Chuzhou, who called you just now?”

“Who else could it be? It was He Aiyue.”

After answering, He Chuzhou remembered that Pei Xi may not know He Aiyue, and added: “My meimei.”

Pei Xi, pensively: “How old is Meimei?”

He Chuzhou: “Seventeen. What’s wrong?”

Pei Xi: “She just said she wants to swallow a monkey in the ocean?”

He Chuzhou: “Swallow what—”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou: “……..”

“What is going on in the heads of you two?”

He Chuzhou was speechless: “It’s ‘give birth,’ not ‘swallow.’ What monkey can be swallowed, and why should it be swallowed in the ocean?”

Pei Xi: “Give birth to a monkey?”

He Chuzhou: “It means having a baby.”

Pei Xi: “In the ocean—”

He Chuzhou: “Not in the ocean! On land! Giving birth to your…..not…..tsk, forget it. She was just talking nonsense, don’t pay attention to her.”

Pei Xi gave an oh and asked softly: “Do you like children?”

The jump in topics was large, but fortunately, He Chuzhou could still keep pace: “In general.”

Pei Xi was not satisfied with this answer: “Don’t split the difference. Like or don’t like, you can only choose one.”

If he had to give a definite answer, He Chuzhou really couldn’t, so he simply asked: “Why are you suddenly asking this?”

“Because I don’t like them,” Pei Xi said.

He Chuzhou: “Why not?”

Pei Xi was quiet for a couple of seconds, and then his voice went lower: “No reason, I just don’t like them.”

His mood had conspicuously changed. He Chuzhou didn’t understand why, but didn’t delay stroking his hair: “I don’t like them either. Children make an unnecessary racket. They’re disobedient, and it’s hard to teach them.”

Pei Xi looked at him: “Really?”

He Chuzhou: “Really. Why would I lie to you?”

Pei Xi: “You just said ‘in general.’”

He Chuzhou: “My ‘in general’ is…..very average, not very good. I don’t like them.”

Pei Xi looked at him for a moment, then lowered his head and squeezed the rubber pig with fixed interest, not saying anything.

He Chuzhou could do nothing about him, so he looked around the table to find something that could coax him. Suddenly, he remembered something and took the bracelet out of the drawer.

“Play with this, don’t you like it a lot?”

Pei Xi looked at the bracelet on his wrist and wondered: “What is it doing here?”

What could He Chuzhou say? He could only say: “It’s not the same bracelet as the one at home.”

Pei Xi: “Why buy two of the same thing?”

He Chuzhou: “Because the second one was half price.”

Pei Xi fell silent.

After saying this, He Chuzhou felt that the excuse was ridiculous and wasn’t sure if he would believe it or not. He was thinking about whether to change the excuse when the top of his head felt warm.

It was Pei Xi, who had learned his techniques and followed suit to rub his head.

“I know you’re coaxing me.”

Pei Xi’s voice was filled with a clear smile again. His mood had improved, and the ending tone of his words rose slightly: “But thank you, Chuzhou.”

There was one less person next to him, and one more person in the lounge.

Pei Xi had gone to the lounge to rest, while He Chuzhou sat alone behind his desk and stared at the document page over and over again before finally breaking out into laughter.

With no rules or regulations, he still learned pretty quickly.

*

*

The weather in the afternoon was not good. The sun was gone and the clouds were getting thicker and thicker. It looked like it was going to rain.

Pei Xi didn’t like this sort of weather.

He tightly pulled shut the curtains of the bed in the lounge to cover the large area of gray sky, then turned to go to sleep.

But this sleep was still restless.

Not long after falling into a deep sleep, dreams came one after another.

He went back to his freshman year in high school, when Pei Zhen’s illness was becoming increasingly serious, and he would go crazy whenever he saw him.

Pei Yansong made a choice between his two sons with hardly any hesitation.

The day after Pei Zhen threw half of the porcelain in the living room, he transferred Pei Xi, the son of his ex-wife, to another school in a completely unfamiliar city.

He left home, living alone far away from any family and friends, in a strange environment with nobody he knew around.

All of these unknowns were enough to terrify Pei Xi, who was still underage at the time.

That was the first time his mask of indifference showed signs of cracking, facing the father who had turned his heart in a different direction after remarrying.

It was also the first time he bowed his head to Pei Yansong, and even knelt down, begging him not to send him away. He would avoid Pei Zhen and try not to appear in front of him.

But throughout the night, Pei Yansong’s attitude did not soften at all.

He had done nothing. He had done nothing wrong, and was even trying to be the best at everything. But Pei Zhen just went crazy and easily determined the trajectory of his future life.

Why?

For what reason?

Kneeling on the ground, Pei Xi thought for a very long time.

At last, he figured it out. It was probably because there was no one in the family who loved him anymore.

He couldn’t remember exactly how he walked out of the house that day. He only remembered that the weather was very terrible.

Cold wind blew and clouds gathered. Soon, it began to rain with a steady patter, and the coldness soaked into his bones.

The car parked at the door was wet and shiny from the rain, reflecting the thin, pale Pei Xi beneath his umbrella. And behind Pei Xi was a distorted figure, running out into the rain while holding a celadon incense burner.

The driver got out of the car in a panic, but it was too late. Pei Zhen ran swiftly toward Pei Xi, teeth gritted, and threw the incense burner at him—

Bam.

There was a muffled sound, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

In the office.

He Chuzhou clicked his tongue and bent down to pick up the cellphone he had accidentally knocked down with his elbow.

The contents of several documents were so similar that they made him dizzy, and he removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. Suddenly, he heard the sound of disordered footsteps in the lounge.

Before he could raise his eyes to see anything clearly, a figure rushed straight into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“Ai, please be a little gentler. You’re going to strangle me to death.”

He Chuzhou held onto the careless Pei Xi.

Pei Xi said nothing, and didn’t loosen his grip at all.

Only then did He Chuzhou realize that his breathing was a bit rapid and unsteady, and the body against him was even trembling slightly.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

He simply lifted the person into his lap with all of his strength, placing a palm on his back: “What did you dream about that was so frightening? A volcano, tsunami, or zombie siege?”

“It’s only a dream, it’s not real. It’s just a small problem, and everything is fine when you wake up.”

“Were you scared to tears?”

“Ai, it’s okay. Be good, be good. You won’t remember the things from your dreams for long. They will be forgotten soon.”

“Were you really scared to tears?”

“Come, look up and let me see.”

He leaned back slightly and turned his head to look, but Pei Xi was buried so tightly that he could see nothing except for the back of his head and his ears.

He Chuzhou sighed helplessly, then thought for a while before saying abruptly: “You know, He Aiyue has also been scared to tears in a dream. She said that in her dream, two hundred geese chased her and pecked her butt, and she couldn’t get away.”

“And after she told me, she made me sign a confidentiality agreement stating that I was not allowed to tell anyone else about it. But she was still somewhat illiterate at that time and spelled ‘confidential’ as ‘honey,’^[1] and she hasn’t discovered it even now.”

Slowly, the person in his arms seemed to be shaking less.

He Chuzhou stroked his back and continued calmly: “She cried much harder than you do. It was like an atomic bomb had exploded in a fish pond, and the entire sky collapsed.”

“I wanted to stay out of it at first, but my mom was upset by her howling and threw us both out, saying that I wouldn’t eat that night if I didn’t coax my sister well.”

“Fortunately, we were at our grandfather’s farm at that time and there were quite a few geese, so I took her over and had her pick out the one she disliked the most and come up with her own revenge.”

“…..How did she take revenge?”

Pei Xi had lifted his head at some point.

He wasn’t crying, and his eyes were not red, but his face was pale and bloodless as he slowly peeled himself away from the bad dreams of the past.

He Chuzhou raised an eyebrow: “Didn’t the big geese in the dream peck her butt? She just pecked it back.”

Pei Xi was stunned: “She pecked it back?”

He Chuzhou: “Yes, ah.”

Pei Xi: “Then what happened next?”

He Chuzhou: “She took a bite of goose feathers and was pecked on the head by the angry goose. Then she cried even more miserably.”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi: “Didn’t you help her?”

“Of course I helped.”

He Chuzhou said matter-of-factly: “I had to help her hold the goose, ah, how could she bite it otherwise?”

Pei Xi: “………”

Pei Xi: “Did you get to eat that night?”

“I ate.” He Chuzhou said: “I ate a beating, then the dried sweet potatoes my grandfather gave me in the middle of the night.”

Pei Xi was speechless, but the corners of his pursed lips curved.

He Chuzhou tilted his head to look at him: “You’re not afraid anymore?”

Pei Xi nodded.

He Chuzhou: “How about you sleep some more? I’ll probably take another hour to finish up.”

Pei Xi nodded his head, then shook it.

He Chuzhou: “What does that mean?”

Pei Xi: “I don’t want to go to sleep in there.”

He didn’t want to go in there and sleep, but it wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep.

He Chuzhou understood. He put his left arm around the other’s waist and pulled him closer into his arms, freeing up his right hand to work: “Okay, if you don’t want to go in there, then don’t go in. Just sleep here.”

Pei Xi obediently leaned back into his shoulder, not closing his eyes right away.

He Chuzhou: “Can’t sleep?”

Pei Xi shook his head softly: “Chuzhou, you’re so good.”

He Chuzhou was amused: “Good at what, catching geese?”

“Good everywhere.”

Pei Xi closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the side of He Chuzhou’s neck, breathing out: “If it were me, I would have definitely let you eat.”

“If I was there, I would have stewed that goose and secretly cooked you a feast.”

As Pei Xi’s words came to an end, the office became quiet once more.

The cold wind outside was blocked by the glass, but it seemed as if some of it had slipped inside, causing one’s heart to ripple. 

Feast or no feast, He Chuzhou didn’t know. He only knew that he didn’t dare to move now.

Pei Xi’s attitude conveyed a strong sense of intimacy and dependence. He couldn’t ignore it, and felt a slight numbness and stiffness subtly spread from the side of his neck to his entire body.

The hand holding the pen froze mid-air, unable to move up or down, and for a moment, he forgot where to sign next.

It turned out that having a person in his arms could affect work efficiency, which He Chuzhou had not considered.

But it was still fine. He just couldn’t move too much for fear of waking this person up, and looked down from time to time when he was distracted. Once he got used to it, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Ten minutes before the end of work, he found the contact information of a restaurant in order to make a reservation. He didn’t call, and just sent a message.

Afterward, he set his phone down softly. Just as he was about to process the remaining things quickly, he suddenly felt a gaze fall on him.

Turning his head, he found that the person who was supposed to be asleep was already awake and looking at him expressionlessly.

His eyes were clear and without waves.

---

[1] ‘Confidential’ is Bǎomì (保密), while ‘honey’ is Fēngmì (蜂蜜). ⮐

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Chapter 13 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 15

“Mingcheng?” 

“Wen Mingcheng?!”

“What are you doing? Oh my god, Husband—”

The woman’s frightened cry sounded behind me, and she quickly ran upstairs in high heels while shouting.

Very quickly, I heard garbled voices coming from upstairs.

“Mom, what happened with my brother?”

“Mingyi, be good. Play with your teddy bear and don’t come out. Husband, Mingcheng seems to be…..”

Soon, the man and woman came down and gathered around me, asking me why I had done this.

The scissors in my hand were snatched away by my grim-faced father. My mother looked at my bloodied hands and cried until her makeup ran.

At that time, I could not understand their anxiety and the way they fell apart. I tilted my head slightly and gazed at them, trying to understand their emotions.

Was this something serious?

I was just interested in the ornamental fish in the fish tank, so I stood on a chair and fished out the biggest one with a net, and happened to see a pair of scissors on the table…..

My father yanked me hard and asked me with an extremely cold expression: “Do you not understand that this is wrong?”

“This doctor is truly useless, I want to replace him…..”

I staggered as I steadied myself. What was wrong?

Clearly you told Mingyi to have the courage to try things she is interested in, so why can’t I?

I was also a little angry, but I still apologized to them: “Sorry, Mom and Dad.”

My mother looked at me expectantly: “What did you do wrong?”

I said: “I shouldn’t have taken the fish out of the tank.”

After that, I took the initiative to pick up the fish my father had knocked to the ground.

Only, its belly was broken. Some messy things had fallen out of it, leaving a mess on the floor. I didn’t mind, and handed it to my mother with both hands. “Mom, I’ll give it back to you.”

My mother screamed as she stared at the disemboweled fish. She covered her mouth and retched a few times, then backed away in disarray. The fish in my hands was once more knocked to the floor by my father, and he roughly took me to the bathroom to wash my hands.

My hands hurt from his scrubbing. This should be a punishment.

So I seriously thought about several possibilities regarding my mistake, and apologized to him again: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have chosen the biggest one. I didn’t understand how to be modest. Next time, I will definitely choose a smaller one.”

My father gives me a slap to the face.

“Monster!”

My parents didn’t let me go to kindergarten or play with Mingyi. They got me a new doctor and made me stay with him.

He was an elderly man, and looked very old. Both his beard and hair were white. I thought there would be nothing to say between us, but I didn’t expect him to smile and enjoy talking to me.

I ignored him at first, but day after day, I found what he said interesting, and he was the only one in the family who was willing to read fairy tales to me.

In fact, it was my mother who would read storybooks to me before, but I always asked questions that scared her. I didn’t understand why she was afraid or why she hit me. Afterwards, she would only read to my sister and refused to read to me.

But this old man was not afraid of me. After I asked some questions, he just stayed silent for a moment and then answered me with a smile.

He was very patient, and I felt that his face was very round, his hair was all white, and he looked like a snow-white rabbit when he smiled.

He read me stories every day, and I reciprocated in courtesy by telling him the fish story and asking why my parents blamed me.

He explained to me a lesson about life and death.

I listened silently. I didn’t understand some of it, but I didn’t care. There were still issues I was concerned about. “Mom says I’m the son of Satan. Do you think I’m a monster too?”

“No, you are not.” He knelt down and looked at me levelly, his expression very firm. “You will understand in the future. You will understand the preciousness of life, that you should revere life. You will understand compassion, and know how to love and protect. You just understand emotions a little slower.”

His expression looked earnest and trusting, something I had never seen before.

So I thought I should also trust in him.

I began to take the initiative to learn from him, and learned some of the emotional terms he spoke of. Of course, what he talked about most was life and love.

I learned everything very quickly. The home tutor for cultural lessons was always very surprised by me, but I always did poorly in psychology class.

Later, he died.

As he got older, he fell and lost his life.

He lay amongst white lilies. There were many people surrounding him. I walked to his coffin and placed a white chrysanthemum next to his face.

His face was tranquil, as if he was asleep, but I never saw him again.

After returning home, I waited for him to come and teach me. I waited in the classroom that had been set up for him at home for many days, but he never showed up.

One day, my mother happened to discover that I sat in the psychology classroom every day. The expression on her face when she looked at me was confused to begin with, but then it turned into pleasant surprise. She rushed over excitedly and asked why I was staying here, and if I missed my teacher.

I couldn’t really understand what she meant. I felt like I was just waiting for him to come back and teach me a lesson, so I didn’t answer her.

Later, when I was alone and bored, I once again thought of my fish tank idea.

Those fish were still in the tank, but the biggest and reddest one I took out had disappeared.

I focused on the yellow beta, which had a beautiful tail and fins, like a fairy wearing a gauze dress.

I fished it out and held it firmly in my hand to observe it. It could not break away from my strength, and desperately opened and closed its gills in an attempt to breathe.

I stroked its beautiful fins and felt its body struggling in my palm. I wanted to clutch it hard, but after a few minutes, its struggles became feeble, and the opening and closing of its gills did as well.

I tossed it back into the fish tank.

It took a long time to calm down, then slowly regained its vitality and swam leisurely with the other fish in the tank.

I counted the fish in the tank again and there were still the same few fish. The yellow beta still existed, but the red goldfish had disappeared. 

Suddenly, I understood what life was. Life was a very precious thing. If it disappeared, it would never exist again.

Both my teacher and the red fish had lost their lives.

They would never appear again.

The psychology teacher had taught me lessons about life and love for a long time.

When I was seven years old, he used his own death to make me understand life. I began to cherish and respect life, and another person made me understand love.

“A-Zhen, this is Mingcheng-gege. This is Mingyi-meimei. You can go to school and play with them from now on. Go on, say hello.”

A gentle-looking woman wearing a cheongsam introduced us to a boy.

The boy was about ten years old. He raised his head to look at me. His face was red and rosy, his eyebrows were thin and light, and his eyes were round but slender at the tips, looking like lilies in the sun.

He called me quickly, coy and embarrassed: “Mingcheng-gege.”

It was so fast that it was almost inaudible.

He seemed to be about the same age as me, and maybe that was why he was embarrassed to call me “gege.”

But my attention was on his eyes. The way he looked at me was very special, something I had never seen before in my father’s circle. It was like melting snow in early spring, very pure and soft.

He also looked like the lambs and finches I had seen in the pastures.

There was no vigilance nor questions, no flattery nor attentiveness. He was full of childlike tenderness and curiosity.

It was said that he was the beloved son of a calligrapher. I saw dried ink stains on his fingertips.

For the first time, I smiled from the bottom of my heart. 

“Hello, my name is Wen Mingcheng.”

---

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Chapter 28 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 30

Gege.

Gege.

Gege.

From going downstairs to getting in the car, from getting in the car to parking, He Chuzhou felt no peace with his mind filled with Pei Xi’s gentle “Gege.”

Fuck, it was so sweet.

It went to his head.

How could it be so sweet???

Fortunately, he was quick to stop Pei Xi from calling him that a second time, otherwise he would have become dizzy from the sweetness!

He didn’t understand. Was Pei Xi the one being bullied or was he?

Was it possible that the human body automatically activated some functions after its consciousness was damaged?

Similar to how a pregnant woman’s sense of smell became sensitive to protect her unborn child, Pei Xi confused the enemy to protect himself…..

“Gege.”

Pei Xi turned away from the window to look at him: “Aren’t we going home? Why are we at the company?”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Okay, he was dizzy.

He was truly impressed!

He Chuzhou clicked his tongue and finally stopped resisting. He reached out and pressed Pei Xi’s head hard.

Whatever!

What was there to worry about?

What did the crimes Pei Xi committed have to do with Pei-calico?

Pei-calico, whose head was being held, didn’t know what was going on. But he still behaved well and continued to express his doubts with innocent eyes: 

Aren’t we going home?

“We’re going back. I was distracted and drove to the wrong place, I’ll go back now.”

He Chuzhou retracted his hand. Accepting his fate, he restarted the car and prepared to turn around: “You have a good rest when you get back, and I’ll take you to dinner after I get off work.”

It seemed he was destined to suffer this calamity. This thankless work was his fate.

Pei Xi: “You’re not going home?”

He Chuzhou: “I still have some things to deal with at the company.”

Pei Xi hesitated: “Then won’t it take up your time?”

He Chuzhou: “Fortunately, I have—”

Pei Xi: “Then I won’t go back.”

He Chuzhou: “…….”

He Chuzhou: “What?”

“I’ll go with you to the company.”

Pei Xi suggested earnestly: “This way, your time won’t be wasted going back and forth, and it also saves you from having to go home and pick me up after work.”

Pei Xi, going to his company?

He Chuzhou had never considered it.

In fact, it was not impossible, but if someone from the company saw them at this time…..

Pei Xi: “Is it not possible?”

He Chuzhou shook his head briefly and tapped the steering wheel, about to open his mouth.

Pei Xi lowered his voice: “But I want to see your office, Gege.”

He Chuzhou: “…….”

He Chuzhou raised his hands in surrender: “Okay, okay, you can go if you want. Whatever you want. Feel free. I was just thinking about whether you would be used to drinking the company drinks.”

The car approached the underground parking lot from the side entrance. He Chuzhou intended to take Pei Xi directly to the top floor in a special elevator to avoid the possibility of bumping into people.

Of course, he didn’t forget a certain matter when he got out of the car. He opened the car door for Pei Xi and coughed: “Um, don’t call me gege casually in the future. I was just teasing you, don’t pay attention to me.”

Pei Xi interpreted his words as: “So you actually don’t like it, right?”

While He Chuzhou was too stunned to reply, he continued: “Okay, I won’t call you that anymore.”

“…….”

A certain person’s mouth twitched, and he tried to mend the situation before it was too late: “If you like it, it’s fine if you all me that once in a while—”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

Pei Xi interrupted him and said seriously: “Like you said, it’s important that the person being called something enjoys it.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou: “………”

His foot suddenly hurt as if it had been hit by a boulder falling from the sky. What was happening?

When he stepped into the elevator, he was already at peace with himself.

More accurately, he regretted that the established facts could not be changed and had no choice but to accept them.

The special elevator went directly to the president’s office on the top floor, so he could take this person back to the office right after getting off the elevator. The same thing applied after he was done with work, so nobody would realize that Pei Xi had been there.

It was the perfect plan.

As long as nothing unexpected happened.

By the time He Chuzhou discovered that the administrative department had borrowed the top floor conference room for its equipment, it was too late.

As soon as the elevator door opened, the group of people waiting for the second elevator glanced over and went numb.

Fine. It was over.

If he pretended to be unfamiliar with Pei-calico now, how long would it take to coax him back?

But if he didn’t pretend, would Pei Xi come and tear him apart when he heard about it later?

Although with his small body, he may not be able to tear him apart.

He thought all this in an instant, and even wondered why he didn’t ask Pei Xi to change into a suit before going out. If nothing else, at least he would still have his aura.

He was currently wearing casual clothes, with clear eyes that were no different from those of the company’s new interns—

When he glanced over with an aching head, his expression suddenly froze.

Standing behind him, when Pei Xi noticed the attention of the group of people, his expression was cold, his eyes indifferent, almost no different from the sober Pei Xi.

He Chuzhou: “……?”

Likely because he had paused for so long, Pei Xi looked back at him: “What’s wrong?”

He Chuzhou: “……Nothing.”

Pei Xi: “Then let’s go.”

That said, he took the lead in stepping out of the elevator and headed toward the office area, which had a conspicuous sign.

He Chuzhou’s eyes moved slightly.

If he hadn’t seen this person walking toward his office, he would have thought he had suddenly recovered again.

Not forgetting the crowd of onlookers to the side, he asked why they were all here without changing his expression. Then he turned around and quickly caught up with Pei Xi, taking him into his office in full view of everyone.

The remaining group of people looked at each other.

After entering the elevator, they continued to look at each other.

Then an uncertain voice sounded, breaking the silence: “Xiao Wei said a couple of days ago that President He paid a high price for a piece of jewelry and gave it to President Pei. Is it true?”

*

*

A complete set of stories quickly spread among the employees from all walks of life at He Group headquarters. 

They originated at the front desk, where a valuable item sent from Pei Group’s office was received.

According to an insider, the bracelet inside was bought by President He at a high price and given to President Pei in private. And President Pei did not appreciate it, so he sent it back.

Then President Pei called President He for some urgent matter. At first, President He got angry and put on airs after the bracelet was rejected, but in the end, he lasted less than a minute and left the management employees in the conference room to go and pick that person up.

As for why it was said that he picked that person up, it was because President He came back with President Pei just two hours after leaving the company.

He also chose a populated place to walk, as if he was proud of himself and feared that other people wouldn’t see them.

And compared to President He’s attentiveness, President Pei’s attitude was as frigid as ever, with a less obvious hint of……the impatience of being pestered repeatedly.

To sum it up, it could be concluded that President He was spreading his peacock tail in pursuit of President Pei.

He spent money for no profit, urgent and unprincipled, but it was a pity that the falling flower yearned for love, but the heartless brook rippled on.

The rumors were very lively, and attracted countless people on both sides. But one of the protagonists of the story was still amazed by the other protagonist’s superb on-the-spot reaction abilities.

“You’re capable, ah.”

He Chuzhou locked the door and turned to pour water for Pei Xi: “Is this how you deceived your friend last night?”

Pei Xi didn’t understand: “What do you mean?”

He Chuzhou handed him the water. His tone was relaxed, with a lazy smile: “I’m praising your shrewdness and your ability to pretend in front of others.”

Pei Xi frowned slightly: “I’m not pretending.”

He Chuzhou raised an eyebrow in obvious disbelief: “Then what was with your cold attitude toward those people at the elevators just now?”

Pei Xi: “It’s because they’re not you.”

The smile on He Chuzhou’s lips froze.

Pei Xi was puzzled: “Why should I be warm toward people who don’t matter?”

He Chuzhou lowered his eyes to look at him. His throat seemed to be blocked by a ball of cotton, and he was suddenly speechless.

Pei Xi didn’t notice his abnormal mood. After taking a sip of water, he found that his stomach was empty and couldn’t help but take another sip. Then he raised his head again: “Chuzhou, I’m hungry.”

Unexpectedly, his vision dimmed as his eyes were covered.

Pei Xi: “?”

Pei Xi tilted his head in confusion: “Chuzhou?”

In the next second, the hand moved up to the top of his head and rudely ravaged it, ruffling his hair into a mess.

At the same time, a cellphone was stuffed into Pei Xi’s hands.

The person who gave it to him seemed very generous, but also like there was nothing he could do about him: “The password is 049123. See for yourself what you want to eat.”

“Choose something more expensive, and gege will treat you to a big meal after work.”

Yun Ji had sent detailed meeting notes to He Chuzhou’s email, along with the schedule for the coming week.

Pei Xi did not disturb He Chuzhou’s work. While eating quietly, he hung up a phone call that inexplicably reminded him to go back for a meeting.

After eating, he began to explore the office.

It was difficult to make a workplace interesting, and the president’s office was no exception.

It had a simple style in black, white, and gray, with two white walls sandwiched between huge, curved floor-to-ceiling windows with a panoramic view of most of Wancheng.

One of the walls was mostly blocked by a huge white bookshelf. Various books and greenery were scattered across the shelves, and the lower three shelves to the left were filled with a dazzling array of…..small animal figurines?

Pei Xi: “?”

He stared at them with considerable interest for a while, eyes scanning the small animals round and round before he finally picked out a pink rubber pig.

The soft, waxy texture felt good, and the base squeaked when it was squeezed.

It was fun and fit well in his hand.

On the other side, He Chuzhou quickly scanned the meeting minutes and marked several areas that needed improvement. Just as he was about to process documents, He Aiyue called.

He Chuzhou glanced at the time on the lower right side of the computer, and when he picked up the phone, he asked He Aiyue a soul-tormenting question: “You brought your phone to school? Does Mom know?”

He Aiyue paused, then shouted over the phone: “Day after day, you’re telling on me. Boss He, I despise you, and I’m going to settle accounts with you!”

He Chuzhou’s eyes did not leave the documents: “What accounts? You can’t figure something out, and you want me to find a person in finance to help you?”

He Aiyue: “……”

He Aiyue: “I’m going to tell Mom that you’re spreading rumors about me outside.”

He Chuzhou: “What rumors have I told about about you?”

He Aiyue: “You told everyone that I want to give birth to a monkey^[1] for Pei Xi! And that after being rejected, I cried an ocean of tears at home!”

He Chuzhou: “?”

He Chuzhou hissed and stopped writing: “Who told you that?”

He Aiyue: “Yun Ji!”

He Chuzhou: “Are these his original words?”

He Aiyue: “Of course not, but in summary, it’s pretty much the same!”

He Chuzhou ground his back molars: “With those reading comprehension skills, can you really pass the university entrance exams next year? Do I need to tell Mom in advance to find a remedial class for you?”

He Aiyue: “? ? ?”

He Aiyue: “Boss He, you @*#T@#&(@&#..&*……you help me do the mathematics olympiad exercises, or else *&%…#+!……”

He Chuzhou hung up the phone.

Feeling uneasy, he typed a brief message for Ms. Chu, notifying her that He Aiyue should be signed up for an after-school tutoring class.

Just as he clicked send, there was a flash of light and shadow in front of his eyes, and with a squeak, a pink-skinned pig appeared before him.

Pei Xi liked this pig very much. Unable to put it down, he kept squeezing it, pointing the base that emitted the squeaking sound toward He Chuzhou. A gust of wind blew, making He Chuzhou’s nose itch.

“Can I take it home?” Pei Xi asked He Chuzhou, leaning on the armrest beside him.

He Chuzhou recognized it as a toy He Aiyue got with a delivery order when she came before: “You can, ah. I recall that there are quite a lot of them. You can take them all back.”

Pei Xi shook his head: “No need. I just want this one.”

That was fine too. He Chuzhou didn’t force it, and asked casually: “Why do you like the pig?”

Pei Xi: “Because it seems very similar to you.”

He Chuzhou: “…..What?”

With a question mark over his head, he looked at the pink-skinned pig again: “Where does it look like me?”

When Pei Xi heard this, his eyebrows curved.

Ice and snow melted nearly within reach, and a face that rarely wore a smile now looked so beautiful that it almost took his breath away: 

“It’s very cute.”

---

[1] “Give birth to a monkey” is humorous slang for bearing a child. ⮐

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Chapter 12 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 14

Three days later, Song Xingmu had time to take Yi Chuan back to the other courtyard.

All 30,000 sailors were captured and convicted one by one according to their participation. And all of the rebels, except the ones who committed suicide, were arrested. Qin Yu and He Lan were worried that another problem would arise, so they took personal custody of them.

Ming’an County finally returned to calm.

Only this courtyard was still shrouded in uneasiness.

When Song Xingmu returned, he saw Liu Zhenqing sitting on the steps in front of the courtyard.

Looking at the dark circles under the man’s eyes, he knew he had not been resting well.

He stepped forward and said: “Don’t wear yourself out. I heard Qin Yu speak of the King of Hell, which proves that the kid won’t die.”

Yi Chuan on the side said: “En, the King of Hell is very capable.”

Liu Zhenqing nodded slightly and said: “I know. I got some rest, but I just couldn’t sleep much.”

Song Xingmu removed his armor. Yi Chuan took it and helped him to the courtyard next door. He was still injured, so Song Xingmu had him apply medicine.

Then he sat down with Liu Zhenqing and said: “Everything is going well outside. Don’t be anxious.”

“I haven’t been anxious at all the past three days,” Liu Zhenqing murmured.

Song Xingmu looked at Liu Zhenqing with a smile. Yes, ah, he was not the former Prime Minister Liu. He was only worried about his puppy now, and nothing else could enter his eyes.

“It sounds like fate. I didn’t expect that the King of Hell would come to my door. I haven’t seen this little miracle doctor for many years. It’s strange, why did he come so suddenly? Was he looking for us?” Song Xingmu spoke with self-satisfaction.

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback for a moment before reacting: “You know each other?”

Song Xingmu nodded with a smile: “Fate brings people together. When we met him, he did not have the title ‘King of Hell.’ He is the young doctor who saved me and your guard nine years ago. Had we not met him in the capital, we would have both died there.”

Liu Zhenqing’s expression changed several times, and he gave Song Xingmu a look of astonishment.

“What is it?” Song Xingmu asked.

Liu Zhenqing hesitated for a moment before saying: “Actually…..he was my apprentice.”

This one sentence was like thunder in a clear sky, and instantly made Song Xingmu freeze.

“The King of Hell is your disciple? What about your poor medical skills?” Song Xingmu couldn’t believe it.

Liu Zhenqing also sighed with emotion. If he hadn’t recognized him as Xiao Ye, he would have worried about wasting these precious three days.

Song Xingmu was scratching his head. He grabbed Liu Zhenqing and asked: “Just what is going on, ah!”

Liu Zhenqing said speechlessly: “Is it so difficult to understand? After all, I am the disciple of a miracle doctor, and he is from Medical Valley, so we are related. It’s not that surprising.”

“Then how did you manage to have such a good master and apprentice, yet you’re the only one who’s half-assed?” Song Xingmu said indignantly.

Liu Zhenqing choked. He explained: “Isn’t this all due to the rules of Medical Valley?”

In fact, the disciples of Medical Valley could originally only accept two apprentices, one male and one female, so the review process for accepting new apprentices was very strict.

At that time, the miracle doctor came to the capital. He was originally invited to test Li Xingruo, but Liu Zhenqing suddenly appeared and fooled the miracle doctor. He mistakenly thought that Liu Zhenqing was a medical genius, and found out after he became a disciple that he had been tricked. But it was too late.

Later, a young child named Han Ye was born into the Medicine King family. He was extremely talented and was supposed to study medicine in Medical Valley. But everyone in Medical Valley was haughty, feeling that only a miracle doctor was qualified to teach Han Ye, otherwise it was better to teach him at home.

“So when people found out that the miracle doctor had a half-assed apprentice like you, it was like you cheated the other person’s family in advance?” Song Xingmu said.

Liu Zhenqing gave an innocent nod, saying: “The Medicine King family sent Han Ye to the capital to ask the Master to find a way to take on another one. Master was very upset when he discovered Han Ye, but the inheritance of Medical Valley cannot be broken. And back then, I wasn’t even studying medicine anymore, so he rolled his eyes at me eight hundred times a day. Then I thought of a compromise. I accepted this disciple, but he learned from my master. It didn’t count as an exception.”

“That was a good idea.” Song Xingmu nodded.

“This fellow is extremely talented, even more than Junior Sister. Master was very happy to be able to teach such a disciple,” Liu Zhenqing recalled.

“Then what happened?”

“Then, the two of them combined rolled their eyes at me 1,600 times a day,” Liu Zhenqing said helplessly.

Song Xingmu laughed out loud. He pointed at Liu Zhenqing and said: “That little prodigy with a master like you…..rolling his eyes can be considered a light reaction.”

Liu Zhenqing touched his cheek and said: “That’s why I never told anyone about our identities. And by that time, I had already entered the Imperial Court as an official, so we didn’t spend much time together. After staying in the capital for a while, he returned to Medical Valley with Master to concentrate on his studies. Later, he would occasionally go back and forth to the capital with Master. I prepared lots of gifts for him every time, but he wouldn’t spare me a good look. He was a very proud brat who was difficult to please.”

Song Xingmu suddenly said: “He really cared about you.”

Stunned, Liu Zhenqing said nothing. He knew it as soon as Song Xingmu said that it was Xiao Ye who saved them.

There were no coincidences in this world. Han Ye was only fourteen or fifteen years old at that time, and hadn’t finished his apprenticeship. But he came to the capital alone, went to Liu Zhenqing’s grave, and rescued the two people who were being pursued by the Jinyiwei and Dongchang…..

“Do you intend to tell him who you are?” Song Xingmu asked.

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s lips twitched. The look in Han Ye’s eyes and the words he said at the end made him afraid that…..

Suddenly, the door behind them opened.

Liu Zhenqing and Song Xingmu quickly stood up and watched as Han Ye staggered out. He had clearly expended a lot of energy.

Han Ye was not tall. Although he was in his twenties, he looked younger. He had cold features and seemed like someone it wouldn’t be good to provoke.

Just as he came to a stop, he fell forward. Liu Zhenqing and Song Xingmu quickly stepped up to support him.

“Doctor Han, are you alright? Do you need anything?” Song Xingmu asked at once.

“Tired.” Han Ye spoke one word, then turned to look at Liu Zhenqing and said: “I stabilized his condition. After a period of treatment, you will need to go to Medical Valley so that my master can treat him himself.’

Liu Zhenqing breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Please go and rest right away.”

Han Ye stopped talking and just looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

Song Xingmu looked left and right before saying awkwardly: “It didn’t expect that it would really be Doctor Han. Do you still remember me? You saved my life back then. By the way, why have you come…..”

“Master told me to come,” Han Ye said directly.

Liu Zhenqing frowned slightly and could only look toward Han Ye. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Han Ye sneer: “Still the same half-baked skills. It was no use telling you eight hundred times to learn medical skills quickly. You still have to rely on others to save the people you want to save?”

Trembling all over, Liu Zhenqing felt helpless and embarrassed as he said: “Xiao Ye, it’s fine if Master reprimands me like this, but you can’t. I have seniority.”

Han Ye simply rolled his eyes with that familiar expression.

With a slight smile, Liu Zhenqing released Han Ye and crouched down in front of him.

Han Ye was momentarily stunned. His eyes flashed, and his voice was almost unsteady as he said, “What are you doing?”

Liu Zhenqing patted his shoulder.

Song Xingmu saw that Liu Zhenqing intended to carry Han Ye. After all, Han Ye couldn’t stand up straight, so he thought this would be fine.

He heard Han Ye say: “Do you still think of me as a child? Your foundation is so weak now that you can’t even carry me.”

“I’ll give it a try. The elder should carry the junior,” Liu Zhenqing said softly. He patted his shoulder again.

The scene before him was just like a memory that flashed through Han Ye’s mind.

The master had two apprentices. One had no talent and did not like to learn, and one was talented and had a bad temper. All of this left the master dissatisfied while teaching, but then he showed up and the master taught him everything he knew. Li-shishu saw a companion who could finally discuss medical skills with her, and ordered him around to her heart’s content. Although he was willing to study, he was still young and far away from his family. Sometimes he was so tired that he would lay down on the floor of the medical center and fall asleep on the spot. However, the master and Shishu were both medical fanatics and didn’t know how to take care of people.

Thus, Liu Zhenqing would often appear in the middle of the night and take him back to his room. While carrying him back, he would complain about the unreliability of his master and shishu.

But if he spoke harshly, he would reply, “Don’t teach me bad lessons, you’re unwilling to learn!”

Liu Zhenqing always just smiled and instructed him on how to speak, no matter how impudent he was. 

He didn’t like this shifu, because he was such a disgrace. But…..this shifu was very capable. At least the people outside said so. And he was very kind to Han Ye. Therefore, he reluctantly recognized this shifu.

Until…..there was no more shifu.

Now he was lying on Shifur’s back again. There was no longer the grace and steadiness in his memories, but that reassuring aura was still there. It made him feel at ease where he lay, and he wanted to sleep.

But now, he was a little afraid to sleep.

“Why are you still so light, ah? This year, you should be…..twenty-three. Are you focusing on studying medicine at the expense of your health?”

“You’re worrying about me when your own health isn’t that good?” He lashed back.

Liu Zhenqing said innocently: “I can’t be blamed for taking over duties halfway, ah. Right, Master said I was here? You came to find me?”

Han Ye said with an annoyed tone: “I wasn’t just looking for you, but also for General Huo. After all, he is Master’s key patient, and I must keep an eye on him. It is fortunate that I’m here. Your medical skills aren’t good, and you can’t even take care of patients well. You really are regressing more and more.”

But Liu Zhenqing laughed and said: “Yes, ah, it is fortunate that you’re here.”

Han Ye was stifled.

“So why did you go to the capital back then?” Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but tease him.

But after he asked, there was silence behind him, and Liu Zhenqing regretted bringing up this topic. Fortunately, they had arrived at the room.

Han Ye was silent for a long moment before saying calmly: “Because you had no heirs, and I was your only disciple. According to secular customs, a teacher for a day is like a father for life. It was my duty to mourn you and show filial piety. Who made me unfortunate enough to recognize you as my shifu?”

Liu Zhenqing smiled: “En, thank you.”

The person at his back said suddenly and hoarsely: “I didn’t accomplish anything, so what are you thankful for?”

“It’s good that you remembered me.” As Liu Zhenqing spoke, he carried him to the bed and set him down.

“Have a rest.” Liu Zhenqing gave Han Ye a soft look.

Han Ye sat on the side of the bed and raised his head to watch him leave. Abruptly, he called out: “Shifu.”

“En?” Liu Zhenqing turned his head.

Han Ye’s eyes flashed, and he hmphed: “He isn’t sleeping well, so get him some soothing incense and light it.”

Liu Zhenqing gave a soft smile and said: “All right.”

Not sleeping well, ah. Even soothing incense couldn’t help Huo Fenglie, who had strong defenses and vigilance.

“What should be done? He’s still grimacing.” Song Xingmu remained in the room after the soothing incense was lit, then began to feel sleepy.

Liu Zhenqing took a breath and said: “Go out. I still have another trick.”

“What is it?” Song Xingmu asked curiously.

Liu Zhenqing’s lips rose in a smile: “Of course it’s to sleep with our family’s Er-gou.”

Song Xingmu: You just want to take advantage of this opportunity.

But he watched Liu Zhenqing climb into bed and lie next to Huo Fenglie, and after he called out ‘Er-gou’ a few times and hugged him, Huo Fenglie actually exhaled, and his features relaxed. There was really nothing to say now.

Song Xingmu clasped his fist in one hand and said farewell!

Thus, when Huo Fenglie awoke, he saw the two of them in nightclothes lying on the bed and sleeping together.

He thought he was dreaming.

Huo Fenglie stared blankly at Liu Zhenqing for a while. He couldn’t help but stick to him and feel his temperature with his cheek. Liu Zhenqing woke up as soon as he moved. Rubbing his eyes, he processed for a moment and said in pleasant surprise: “Er-gou, you’re awake!”

“Qing-ge, I…..” Huo Fenglie knew that his body was in bad shape before, but he felt fine now.

Before Huo Fenglie could ask, Liu Zhenqing practically threw himself into his arms.

Huo Fenglie took advantage of the situation to embrace Liu Zhenqing. Sensing his familiar temperature and scent, he felt much more at ease. Fortunately, he didn’t break his promise, and he could still accompany Qing-ge.

The two of them were hugging each other, or rather, Liu Zhenqing unilaterally hugged Huo Fenglie, and a sound of surprise was heard.

“What are you doing!”

Liu Zhenqing looked back and saw Han Ye staring at him in shock. It was clear that these words were directed at him.

Looking at his expression, which seemed as if he had seen a ghost, Liu Zhenqing suspected that his master had not gossiped with him.

In fact, the master had told him, but Han Ye didn’t hear anything else from the moment he heard about Liu Zhenqing’s resurrection. 

At this moment, he gazed at his resurrected shifu. He used to be surrounded by beauties who were infatuated with him, and would occasionally smile and ask what sort of shimu he wanted. At this moment, he was hugging his Shishu’s brother-in-law, still wearing underwear and sleeping in the same bed? For a moment, he had a strange sense of deja vu. 

It was like seeing…..seeing…..his father finding a stepmother for him. Except the stepmother was a grown man, and he caught them on the spot!

Liu Zhenqing called Han Ye over with a smile: “Xiao Ye, come here and take a look at Fenglie. He woke up, and he seems to be in good condition after feeling his pulse.”

Han Ye acclimated and walked over. He found that his shifu didn’t even plan to get out of bed, and just lay there with a man while waiting for him to check his pulse!

Although they were about the same age, couldn’t this be regarded as inappropriate in front of a junior?

The shameless Liu Zhenqing didn’t realize that there was a problem at all, until this scene completely affected Han Ye’s judgment and he roared: “Get down and leave! Don’t disturb me!”

When Liu Zhenqing was kicked out, he saw others approaching. They had likely heard the King of Hell, and looked at Liu Zhenqing suspiciously. Liu Zhenqing said with an innocent face: “I didn’t do anything.”

Soon, Han Ye came to the conclusion that everything was going well. According to the instructions the master had previously left him, acupuncture and medicinal baths should be maintained for a few days, and then they could go to seek out the master.

With Han Ye accompanying them, Liu Zhenqing was absolutely relieved. Regarding the acupuncture and medicinal baths, Liu Zhenqing proclaimed that he would help. It was the first time Han Ye had seen his shifu be so proactive. He was very suspicious. During a surprise inspection, he saw his shifu groping General Huo’s body. His face turned green and he drove that person away to handle it himself.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but rub his chin, suspecting that he Han Ye had some sort of teacher love complex. This caused Song Xingmu to burst with complaints.

“Didn’t he say that you took advantage of another person’s vulnerability and deliberately molested a patient? Aiyo, how cruel. Making your little Er-gou endure so much, I’ll see if you cry in the future.” Song Xingmu raised an eyebrow.

“I was punishing him for taking risks regardless of his body.”

“Yes, that’s right, he almost made you a widow.”

Liu Zhenqing shot a glance at the wildly giggling Song Xingmu.

When he was done laughing, Song Xingmu curled the tips of his hair and said: “By the way, Zhao Haicheng said he wants to see you. Do you want to see him?”

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Chapter Ninety-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Six

T/N: Thank you so much to MephestophelesMuse for the Kofi donation! Here’s a double update!

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Yi Chuan was startled. “What’s wrong?”

Liu Zhenqing’s expression was extremely ugly. He immediately picked up a brush and drew an irregular shape on the map. One side was close to the coastline, and the other line included nearly half the city, specifically passing through the governor’s manor.

Yi Chuan understood after studying it for a moment. “Why did you draw the underground river veins beneath the city?”

“The black powder must have been placed under these lines,” Liu Zhenqing said directly.

Shocked, Yi Chuan said: “How do you know?”

“I don’t have time to explain. We need to notify them to withdraw the troops immediately!”

Yi Chuan realized that the position of the 30,000 troops was just far enough away from the underground river line, and the 50,000 troops would need to pass through the underground river line if they wanted to outflank the enemy.

If the black powder was below, the 50,000 men would surely suffer heavy losses when they passed over.

At this thought, Yi Chuan said grimly to Liu Zhenqing: “You’re certain!”

“Yi Chuan, I know you are injured, but I will definitely not be able to keep up with your speed. You go find them. No matter if you find Huo Fenglie or Song Xingmu, tell them it’s from me and they will definitely believe it.” After saying this, Liu Zhenqing handed the map to Yi Chuan.

Yi Chuan didn’t ask further questions. Taking the map, he nodded and rushed out.

Liu Zhenqing followed him out and saw Yi Chuan’s back as he flew away. He tried to communicate with the guards outside to have them fire a whistling arrow or notify those leading the troops.

But it was no use, because they were different from the navy, and obeyed military orders with the staunchness of a mountain. Without military orders, how could they obey an outsider so easily? But Liu Zhenqing still gave it a try.

However, the guards just asked him to wait for the general to come back.

Liu Zhenqing truly didn’t have the patience to wait any longer, so he borrowed a horse and went out.

Once the black powder detonated, there would be heavy casualties. Many common people would suffer as well, and only the governor moved away.

What they wanted was not to stop the 50,000 troops. After all, when they designed the plan, they never thought that there would be 50,000 troops coming to capture them. Their actual goal was to separate themselves from the dynasty.

Seceding in the true sense.

When the rebels were discovered by the Imperial Court and their assassination failed, when they felt that they could not hide anymore, or when the time was right, they needed a place to be their own territory, and then slowly move out to compete against Great Zhou.

There was obviously no room for 30,000 soldiers on the island, and it could not develop well, so they needed a larger territory and focused on this place.

There were mountains to the south and west, only the north side was relatively level, and there was the sea to the east. This terrain was naturally easy to defend and attack from.

As long as explosions occurred along the underground river and formed a chain reaction, a long canal would be blasted to fill up with groundwater or seawater and make an artificial river.

Although it may be artificial and made with different depths, it could indeed protect this land like a moat. Coupled with long-range weapons, this was the attack style that the navy was best at, so when the enemy came to attack, this artificial river would form a natural obstacle. No matter how strong they were, it would be difficult to conquer this place.

This was all in order to take possession of the land and become kings, no matter the sacrifices. Only, the victims were innocent common people and the 50,000 soldiers who happened to be there.

And it was his good brother and Er-gou who were leading these 50,000 troops, ah. 

There was no way he could bear it if anything happened to them.

Based on his analysis of the terrain, Liu Zhenqing estimated the place that was the most likely detonation point. That was the governor’s manor.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t know where Huo Fenglie and Song Xingmu were now. He had no other choice than to go there and look at the situation first, even though he was weak, and try to buy time.

Liu Zhenqing rode on horseback for a long time before someone appeared with the wind.

Taking a closer look, Liu Zhenqing said with great joy: “He Lan, Qin Yu.”

The two descended and regarded him with surprise.

“Why did you run out? Don’t worry about Zhanyuan, ah,” He Lan said.

Qin Yu was also looking at him with concern. Liu Zhenqing’s hands were already injured and bloody from holding the reins too hard.

At once, Liu Zhenqing spoke quickly and concisely about the black powder, and their expressions instantly changed.

“Yi Chuan has gone out to look for them, but I don’t know where they are leading their troops.”

“It’s too late to find them. I’ll go to the governor’s manor. Don’t run around. Qin Yu, take him and leave the underground river line immediately!” He Lan spoke this firmly, but as soon as he was done speaking, he found that Qin Yu had already flown away.

In fact, there was no need to take Liu Zhenqing with him, ah. He was riding a horse, far away from the battleground, and surrounded by ordinary people doing normal things.

This was just an excuse to get the other party out of danger’s way.

Sure enough, as He Lan watched Qin Yu fly away, he didn’t spare a thought for anything else and ran after him.

Liu Zhenqing watched as the two people left and breathed a sigh of relief. But just as he was hesitating over whether to go to the governor’s manor or seek out Huo Fenglie, or whether he would be too much trouble and should just go back, he heard a roar. The loud sound rattled the sky.

In an instant, the sky and the earth shook.

Those around him were shaken to the point of losing their balance, and fell to the ground.

The horse under Liu Zhenqing was also startled, and began to run wildly.

Liu Zhenqing failed to hold on, and was thrown from the horse. Luckily, there were pedestrians nearby who stopped the animal.

There was chaos all around, and Liu Zhenqing stood up with difficulty, his face pale.

So the explosions had begun! Then next would be the chain reaction. Would…..

Liu Zhenqing’s heart began to race as he silently counted down. But after a moment, the people around him stood up and began talking, but it was still quiet in the distance. Liu Zhenqing’s expression shifted slightly.

There was only the initial explosion, which confirmed that it had been stopped.

According to the time and distance, it was impossible for He Lan and Qin Yu to have arrived. 

Who could it be?

Liu Zhenqing’s heart inexplicably ached, and he had an ominous premonition.

Everyone knew that Huo Fenglie was the God of War. Although he may not be as good at strategy as himself, once he entered the battlefield…..

At the least, for such an important plan, it would definitely not be Zhao Haicheng and others who had run into a problem.

So…..was it Huo Fenglie?

The explosion just now was so powerful. If Huo Fenglie was there, could he be injured?

Liu Zhenqing turned and rushed toward the horse, which was gradually calming down. He mounted it and rushed out nearly faster than before, without a care for being bucked off.

The governor’s manor was near.

The neighborhood was a mess.

He saw…..a group of leaderless troops.

And He Lan and Qin Yu were flying in a rush toward the ruins.

Their movements were somewhat out of control.

For the first time, Liu Zhenqing resented his ability to analyze and make connections. He wished he was just scaring himself, but he could no longer focus on anything else. He rode up and shouted: “Is General Huo here?”

The group of soldiers were about to rush in. When he saw this man and knew that he was close to the general, they said: “General Huo discovered something unusual and brought us here. When he saw someone trying to light a fire, he told us to stay outside and rushed in. And then…..”

Liu Zhenqing stopped listening and got off his horse, rushing into the smoky ruins.

This place was originally the governor’s manor and other surrounding manors and residences, but now there were only ruins that continued to collapse.

There was an ever-expanding pit under the ruins, with the sound of rushing water beneath it.

Standing next to the pit, Liu Zhenqing watched expressionlessly as the people around him shouted for General Huo and rummaged around, but there was no response.

He was dazed and muddle-headed, and instinctively began to follow the sound of running water.

As he walked, the sound of hoofbeats suddenly came.

Liu Zhenqing looked up. His eyes instantly reddened, and he mounted the horse.

“Chen Jiangyue, take me to find him.”

The horse raised its hooves, and Liu Zhenqing vanished from the spot in an instant. Qin Yu and He Lan heard a familiar neigh, and exchanged glances before promptly following it.

On the outskirts of a farmhouse, Huo Fenglie was leaning against the roots of a fallen tree, holding his Chunjun Sword. Because he had come out of the underground river, he was soaked all over. The water dripping from his body was mixed with blood, turning the ground a light red.

A pair of bright red eyes seemed to be exhausted, but were still clear and vivid. The black clothes he wore were either burned or blasted in several places, and blood could be seen continuously flowing from his sleeves. It smeared all over the backs of his hands, then ran down the dark blade of the Chunjun Sword.

Opposite him was Zhao Haicheng, who was also soaked, only Zhao Haicheng was not injured at all, and had his sword pointed at Huo Fenglie.

The tip of the sword was already close and threatening.

“General Huo. I didn’t expect to see you here, let alone like this.” Zhao Haicheng said coldly: “As expected of the God of War, you actually stopped our plan. But don’t you think it’s too much of a loss? You delayed the black powder, but damaged yourself. This is really a loss-making deal. How long can Great Zhou last without you? Let alone this place.”

Huo Fenglie looked at him coldly and didn’t reply. It seemed that he was trying to adjust his breathing, and couldn’t be bothered to speak to him.

As a military official, Zhao Haicheng was naturally curious about Huo Fenglie, but he didn’t speak much at this moment. The black powder had only exploded once, which attracted attention. It needed to be managed as soon as possible and rekindled.

“General Huo, I don’t want to kill you, but it can’t be helped. Remember that the person who killed you is named Zhao Haicheng! You can take it up with me in the underworld!” When he finished speaking, Zhao Haicheng was about to swing his sword down. Huo Fenglie was also ready to strike with all his strength, even though blood had started to drip from the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly, the sharp call of a horse sounded.

Huo Fenglie’s expression changed slightly, and Zhao Haicheng was startled by the sound. No horse could scream with such majesty, like the roar of a dragon.

Turning around, he saw an unexpected person arriving on horseback.

“Qing-ge…..” Astonished, Huo Fenglie quickly tried to stand up, but this time he vomited a mouthful of blood.

Liu Zhenqing could see nothing else. When he arrived, he immediately flew off the horse and supported Huo Fenglie, feeding him a life-saving pill. When he saw those blood-red eyes, Liu Zhenqing’s face paled. He quickly grabbed the other’s wrist to inspect it. The redness of his eyes was just a warning. If…..if…..

For a moment, Liu Zhenqing’s eyes were empty. The worst thing for Huo Fenglie was not that he had been injured by the black powder…..but that in order to stop the black powder, enduring the explosion pushed his body to the limit and caused him to lose control.

“Qing-ge, I’m sorry.”

“Shut up!” Liu Zhenqing said fiercely, “You promised me, but forgot about it? If something happens to you, I really…..really will…..”

Suddenly, he heard Huo Fenglie say: “I won’t die.”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned. Looking down into Huo Fenglie’s eyes filled with attachment and worry, there was no extra energy left to restrain and hide those emotions.

Gritting his teeth, Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie with a heavy gaze. “You had better not. I…..won’t allow you to die. Not ever!”

Huo Fenglie nodded firmly, as if his perseverance could actually determine his life or death. But in the next moment, another mouthful of blood spurted out and Huo Fenglie fell unconscious. Now he was not even in a state of unbalanced internal force.

The thing his master had told them not to let happen had come to pass anyway. Liu Zhenqing didn’t know how far Huo Fenglie’s physical potential could stretch, but every step was like walking on the edge of a knife, and he could die at any time.

Although Zhao Haicheng was disrupted by Liu Zhenqing’s appearance, he immediately realized that he couldn’t miss this opportunity, and moved to kill Huo Fenglie.

But Chen Jiangyue continually raised its hooves to drive him away, rearing to intimidate him, and he struggled for a while.

When Zhao Haicheng slashed furiously with his sword, Chen Jiangyue leaped away.

And at this time, Zhao Haicheng saw Liu Zhenqing embracing Huo Fenglie tightly, with anxiety and fear written on his face.

Zhao Haicheng was slightly stunned. It was the first time he had seen such an expression on Liu Zhenqing’s face, and it seemed that this was his most real self.

Just as he was about to take action, an iron whip suddenly wrapped around his neck and a sword appeared in front of him.

He Lan and Qin Yu had arrived.

Zhao Haicheng was forced to his knees by He Lan, and he and Qin Yu gasped when they saw Huo Fenglie’s eyes.

“How is he?” He Lan asked.

Liu Zhenqing hugged Huo Fenglie, his expression as serious as the two men had ever seen before. He took out the Emperor’s Token from Huo Fenglie’s sleeve and tossed it to them.

“He Lan, take this with you and give it to Song Xingmu. Take Zhao Haicheng with you and force the navy to surrender! Clear out all the black powder and capture the rebels!” Liu Zhenqing made a prompt decision and issued these orders. He Lan reflexively reacted, and when he came to his senses, he stopped thinking about it and sent Qin Yu a look, about to knock Zhao Haicheng unconscious.

“You…..who are you!” Zhao Haicheng suddenly shouted. He had already noticed that Liu Zhenqing’s identity was unusual, and that Huo Fenglie seemed to have been Song Xingmu’s former guard. “What is your relationship with him?”

“None of your business,” Liu Zhenqing said coldly. “You will pay for what you’ve done.”

For a moment, Liu Zhenqing’s cold and aloof eyes seemed to cause Zhao Haicheng to think of someone from his memories.

Without waiting for Zhao Haicheng to say anything, He Lan knocked him unconscious and lifted him up. 

“What about you?” He Lan asked before leaving.

“Qin Yu, get Doctor Zhang from Wan Hall, Doctor Li from Huichun Hall, and Doctor Wang from the Lu Medical Center and take them to Song Xingmu’s other courtyard.” As Liu Zhenqing spoke, he sat Huo Fenglie up and then called Chen Jiangyue up, mounting the horse with him. “I’ll take Huo Fenglie back to the courtyard. There are plenty of medicinal materials and supplements first. His condition must be stabilized first.”

After listening to his explanation, Qin Yu flew away and He Lan also took Zhao Haicheng to begin work. Riding Chen Jiangyue, Liu Zhenqing carried Huo Fenglie all the way back to the other courtyard.

On the way back, he passed Huo Manor and called Uncle Ding to help.

Once the two had helped care for Huo Fenglie’s injuries, Qin Yu had coerced all the doctors to come over.

At first, they were all a little aggrieved. They thought it was too rude to invite people to Captain Song’s home, and they didn’t see Captain Song when they arrived. They were all strangers, so they became even more unhappy.

They only saw a weak, scholarly young man sitting by the bed and looking at them. “I know that these three are the best doctors in the area. They treated Yi Chuan before.”

One of the doctors cut in: “We did treat him before, but this time you are being too…..”

Liu Zhenqing raised his cold eyes and said directly: “I won’t talk nonsense to the three of you. You should know that there is a war going on outside. The person lying in bed is Huo Fenglie, the current General Who Guards the Country. If something happens to him…..you should know what will happen to you.”

When these words were spoken, the legs of the three doctors instantly became weak.

The General Who Guards the Country…..the great general!

Liu Zhenqing stepped aside, saying: “Even if you can’t heal him, you must save his life.”

The three men immediately stepped forward. Whether it was for the sake of the general or for the sake of their own lives, the three of them did their utmost.

Liu Zhenqing feared that his unstable mood would cause a disruption, so he walked outside with Qin Yu.

“Go and help,” Liu Zhenqing said exhaustedly.

Qin Yu patted Liu Zhenqing’s hand and said: “I’ll accompany you. If you have any orders, just tell me.”

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes flashed, and he said: “In the case that…..that this doesn’t work, I need to take Fenglie to find the miracle doctor immediately.”

“Okay, I’ll escort you there.” Qin Yu said firmly: “The Great Zhou Dynasty cannot survive without Zhanyuan.”

Liu Zhenqing slowly closed his eyes and murmured in his heart: I cannot survive without Huo Fenglie.

The three doctors had good medical skills, but after repeated treatments, they all gave up one by one. Only when the last one came out did he say with trembling hands: “Three days at most.”

Liu Zhenqing’s breath cut off, his face turning blank.

Qin Yu said angrily: “What did you just say! Only three days!”

“This is already the limit! If you hadn’t found us so quickly, we wouldn’t have been able to get these three days!”

The three trembling doctors were gathered together. There was really nothing they could do.

Qin Yu looked at Liu Zhenqing. According to the location Liu Zhenqing had mentioned, it would be impossible to arrive in three days. Even if they took this person from one side and the miracle doctor rushed over from the other, it would take at least five days to meet up.

But Qin Yu couldn’t say that. He could only say: “They said three days, but Zhanyuan’s body is very strong. He will definitely last longer. We’ll find the doctor along the way!”

Liu Zhenqing didn’t seem to be as impacted as Qin Yu thought, nodding as he said: “En, he promised me that nothing will happen to him. Let’s prepare the carriage and set off immediately.”

“I’ll find He Lan. His qinggong is fast, and he can go pick up the miracle doctor!” Qin Yu turned around and left.

Liu Zhenqing went back into the room. Lao Ding shed tears as he said: “Young Master, I’ll go with you.”

Liu Zhenqing stepped forward to help Huo Fenglie and said calmly: “Okay.”

Lao Ding was old, and it felt wrong to see Liu Zhenqing so calm. He couldn’t help but worry: “Young Master, are you all right?”

“What could be wrong with me? Let’s act quickly.”

What could be wrong? He was just thinking that it would be his fault if Er-gou truly left, so he would just go with him.

The more Liu Zhenqing thought, the more he realized that it was no big deal. But his heart…..it hurt so much that it was numb, and even breathing had become laborious.

Suddenly, Qin Yu returned with a black-clothed doctor in his early twenties. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted almost out of control: “This guy suddenly appeared at the gate claiming to be the King of Hell! Do you know him?”

The three doctors and Lao Ding all jumped up. “The King of Hell?”

Nowadays, no more miracle doctors had appeared, and their activities were few. Only this King of Hell was indeed a famous miracle doctor, and he came from Medical Valley just like the previous generation of miracle doctors.

But Liu Zhenqing didn’t quite understand. He had never heard this name, but if he came from Medical Valley, he must be…..

When Liu Zhenqing looked at the young man who had been pulled inside, he was instantly stunned.

And when this young man looked around with an air of disdain, his eyes fell on Liu Zhenqing’s face and narrowed slightly with a gleam.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes reddened at once, and he said hoarsely: “Save him. You can do it for sure.”

The young man was taken aback for a moment, then scoffed coldly and stepped forward to check on Huo Fenglie’s condition.

Then an impatient voice sounded.

“Everyone, scram and stay out of the way. Just let my medicine boy at the door come in.”

As he spoke, the young man gave Liu Zhenqing a cold look and said, as if mocking him: “In any case, this half-assed doctor can’t help.”

---

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Chapter Ninety-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Five

In the morning, He Chuzhou went to the project site where construction had already started to inspect its progress, and at noon, he was dragged into a long lunch by a partner he met by chance.

A valuable lunch break was wasted for no profit.

In the afternoon, he rushed directly to the company. Yun Ji hurried to the data room, holding a stack of portfolios in his arms and saw him when he was passing by. He said quickly, “I signed for your express delivery yesterday and put it in your office for you.”

His steps didn’t pause until his figure disappeared.

He Chuzhou had long been accustomed to Yun Ji’s vigorous temperament. After asking the front desk for yesterday’s and today’s visitor list, he turned and went to his office.

The express delivery was placed in an obvious location on his desk. It was a small cardboard box, with the courier note on it torn in half and signed with Yun Ji’s name.

He Chuzhou was confident that he hadn’t bought something online, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have put the company’s address on it.

This was probably a new product sent by a technology company he had cooperated with.

He walked to his chair and sat down, then took a small utility knife from a drawer and cut through the layers of tape to open the box.

There was a cardboard box inside.

He Chuzhou took out the smaller box and proceeded to open it, putting the larger one to the side.

Inside was another cardboard box.

He Chuzhou: “……”

What was this? Who had sent him nesting doll boxes?

He picked up the outermost box and looked at the message. The sender was a stranger with the surname Gu, and his phone number was not familiar. In addition, there was a row of bold characters:

[Valuable goods! Please handle with care]

It was probably not a nesting doll.

He Chuzhou sighed and continued dismantling it.

One box after another until there was finally a white one, and upon opening it, the box was filled with foam balls.

He reached in and took a handful, and a white jadeite bracelet came out on his index finger.

He came to a sudden realization.

If a person who had recovered his memories wanted to draw a clear line, he must take steps to return this property to its original owner.

But sending a courier to give it to him? 

He was really a cheapskate.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he folded the boxes down and tossed them next to his desk. He put the bracelet in a drawer for now, then opened his computer and prepared to deal with the emails he had not had time to check that day.

There were three rapid knocks on the door, and Yun Ji hurriedly pushed it open and came in: “Cousin, there’s an urgent matter.”

He Chuzhou typed a reply to an email without looking up: “What urgent matter?”

Yun Ji: “Didn’t Mr. Zhang go abroad? Several emerging companies in the industry know that the land hasn’t been purchased yet, so they contacted Mr. Zhang’s assistant privately. It seems they want to have a secret liaison and seize the land while we and President Pei aren’t paying attention.”

He Chuzhou adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and raised his head: “Emerging companies?”

Yun Ji nodded.

He Chuzhou: “The conditions proposed by Mr. Zhang are harsh. Can they all fulfill them?”

“That is not the case.” Yun Ji said: “But I’m afraid that sincerity will lead to success. If one of them somehow meets Mr. Zhang’s appetite, in principle—”

“If they are so easily shaken, principles can no longer be called principles.”

He Chuzhou lowered his head and continued to reply to emails: “Mr. Zhang is not the type of brainless rich man in TV dramas who is moved to tears when helped across the street and wants to give away his family property.”

Yun Ji: “You mean their efforts now are useless?”

He Chuzhou: “If you want to gain the secrets of martial arts, you must first ensure that you don’t die when you fall off a cliff. Do you think they’ll do well in their current condition?”

Yun Ji understood. His worries were relieved, and he was inspired again: “Since they did it, can we also contact Mr. Zhang remotely? Even if we can’t negotiate, we can more or less take the initiative.”

He Chuzhou paused his movements.

Yun Ji: “When Mr. Zhang returns from abroad, we can sincerely offer to sign the contract, and it will be too late for President Pei to intervene.”

Yun Ji: “How about it?”

Yun Ji: “?”

Yun Ji: “Why aren’t you speaking?”

He Chuzhou was stared at by doubtful eyes for a long moment, and finally looked away: “Forget it.”

Yun Ji didn’t understand: “Why?”

With a crisp click of the enter key, He Chuzhou sent the edited email: “A certain person has a bad temper and is difficult to control. If they find out, they may be so angry that they cry to death at home.”

Yun Ji: “?”

Yun Ji: “? ? ?”

Yun Ji: “Who? Aiyue?”

Yun Ji: “Why would she cry? Is she also a fan of Pei Xi? Does she want to give birth to his child?”

He Chuzhou: “…….”

He Chuzhou: “You’re ridiculous, go and do your work.”

He kicked the boxes to Yun Ji’s feet: “Throw these away on your way out.”

*

*

Because He Chuzhou would be present at the 2 o’clock meeting, management proactively filled the conference room five minutes early.

He Chuzhou had no choice but to forgo making a cup of coffee, and went in.

The writer of the summary and planning report was a new employee, and was still a little nervous when explaining the Powerpoint. He glanced at He Chuzhou from time to time where he was sitting in the front seat on the right, and occasionally stumbled over a word or two.

When he saw the cellphone in front of He Chuzhou light up, he subconsciously stopped talking.

However, he found that the other person had no intention of answering. He just glanced at it briefly and continued to look at the Powerpoint projection.

The new employee could only resume talking.

In the following period, the phone lit up repeatedly four or five times, automatically hanging up when no one answered.

Finally, when he was switching to the next presentation file, he saw He Chuzhou press the answer key.

For fear of disturbing his boss’s call, he immediately slowed down and lowered the volume, ready to wait.

From a short distance, he heard He Chuzhou say, when he connected “President Pei, do you have some other advice?” And then he said nothing more.

It was just that after a brief moment of shock, there were subtle and fleeting micro-expressions on his face.

President Pei……?

He held his breath, thinking, it couldn’t be the President Pei he knew of, right?

The call didn’t last long, and He Chuzhou finally hung up after saying, “I’m in a meeting.”

He put down his cellphone and tapped on the desktop to bring the new employee back to his senses: “Continue.”

“O-Okay.”

The new employee immediately clicked play. The full conference room was silent aside from his slightly jerky but clear and logical explanation.

Half a minute later, the person in the forefront suddenly stood up.

Under the gazes of many people, He Chuzhou picked up the phone without a change of expression: “I have another urgent matter. You all continue. Yun Ji, send the meeting notes to my email later.”

*

*

The address for Pei Xi’s home was sent by Yun Ji previously, along with the address and contact information for Pei Xi’s parents.

He Chuzhou hurried to follow the address there. It wasn’t too far. It was a high-rise community, and it was only when he arrived that He Chuzhou realized that Pei Xi was located on the top floor.

He lived alone at such a high place?

Viewing everything from on high was indeed in line with this person’s lofty character.

There was one elevator for each individual household, but the elevator did not lead directly to the living room. After exiting the elevator, He Chuzhou turned into the hallway and knocked on the door.

There was no response.

Had he fallen asleep?

He returned the call that he had just received in the conference room. When the call connected, the person on the other end didn’t speak, but shallow breathing could be heard.

He Chuzhou: “Come and open the door.”

This time, there was no sound of breathing from the other end.

The home’s soundproofing was so good that He Chuzhou couldn’t hear any footsteps inside, but he soon heard the sound of the door lock being opened.

The door was opened from the inside right after, and a figure jumped straight into his arms, wrapping his arms around his waist to hug him tightly.

He Chuzhou was pushed back half a step by this reckless charge and caught him steadily.

“What’s the rush? I’m not going anywhere.”

He Chuzhou grasped the back of his neck angrily: “Stop burying your head, look up.”

Pei Xi didn’t move, and even held him tighter. From He Chuzhou’s perspective, only a section of fair skin on his neck and the dark back of his head could be seen.

He Chuzhou simply picked him up, walked two steps inside, and placed him on the cabinet at the side of the entranceway.

The height was just right. He Chuzhou leaned down slightly and put his hands on both sides of the cabinet, trapping Pei Xi in front of him.

It was also at this moment that he discovered that Pei Xi’s eyelids were a little swollen and his eyes were shining as if he had just cried.

“You cried like this after I didn’t answer your calls a few times. Why didn’t you have mercy when you kicked me?”

Pei Xi said nothing, and looked straight at him with the corners of his mouth pursed, grievance and stubbornness written all over his face.

He Chuzhou clicked his tongue and casually brushed away the small strands of hair stuck to Pei Xi’s forehead: “Weren’t you fine this morning? How did something go wrong again?”

Pei Xi still didn’t speak, but his eyes reddened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the mist in his eyes quickly condensed into tears that didn’t fall.

He Chuzhou: “…….”

He Chuzhou: “I can’t believe you!”

He practically squeezed the words between his teeth, and pinched one of Pei Xi’s cheeks without daring to exert any force: “White-eyed wolf, you’re just determined to take advantage of me, aren’t you?”

When he finished speaking, the tears in Pei Xi’ eyes fell uncontrollably.

“……”

He Chuzhou took a long breath and resigned himself to his fate, then bent down and hugged this person: “Fine. I was wrong, okay? I left behind a room full of employees to come here, so don’t feel wronged.”

Pei Xi buried his face in his shoulder, and his voice was unsteady: “Why did you leave me here alone?”

The fraudulently blamed He Chuzhou was speechless for a long moment, and finally came up with a reasonable explanation: “You ran away from home.”

The person on his shoulder fell silent.

After a while, a small, confused voice said: “I…..I ran away from home? Why?”

He Chuzhou: “Because you said that none of the dishes I cooked were to your taste. You were very angry, and kicked me before leaving.”

“……?”

After a long moment, Pei Xi raised his head. The crimson at the corners of his eyes had not faded, but at least there were no further signs of tears: “I…..kicked you?”

Knowing that this person didn’t remember anything when he was in his right mind, He Chuzhou deceived him without any guilt: “Yes, ah, you kicked me. You kicked me hard. My ribs still hurt.”

Pei Xi was dubious: “Chuzhou, I wouldn’t be so unreasonable.”

He Chuzhou: “Would you like to see where you kicked me?”

Pei Xi nodded earnestly: “Okay.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

“Forget it, I’m afraid you’ll feel guilty when you see it.”

He Chuzhou touched the tip of his nose and stood up straight: “Go change clothes and pack your things. I’ll…..take you home first.”

Pei Xi nodded and took He Chuzhou to his bedroom. Taking out a set of clothes from the wardrobe, he began to change.

His body without fabric covering it had little to do with the concept of strength. It was slender, well-proportioned, and extraordinarily beautiful.

He Chuzhou didn’t expect his lack of shyness, and was caught off guard. It was too late to leave, so he could only cover his lips with a light cough and turn away uneasily.

It was quite strange. They were both men, so why did it feel like something was wrong when Pei Xi took his clothes off in front of him?

There was a small suitcase in the corner of the room. He Chuzhou walked over and picked it up to take a look. It was empty.

He thought for a while as he waited for Pei Xi to finish changing, then took the suitcase to the wardrobe and took a few sets of Pei Xi’s clothes to put inside it.

Pei Xi asked no questions when he saw this. Judging from his expression, he probably felt that there was a reason he was doing this.

While He Chuzhou was folding pajamas into the suitcase, he crouched beside him with his arms folded. His expression was indifferent, but his eyes were very focused.

He Chuzhou was once again reminded of his grandma’s cat. It would squat to the side and watch curiously for a long time whenever somebody did something.

If there was any difference between them, perhaps it was that Pei Xi could only stare but not dig into him.

When He Chuzhou was about to close the box, Pei Xi suddenly said: “Chuzhou.”

He Chuzhou: “En?”

Pei Xi: “You said I ran away from home, but why don’t I remember at all?”

He Chuzhou: “Because you drank too much.”

Pei Xi: “Drank too much?”

He Chuzhou: “Yes, ah. You were so drunk that you couldn’t walk steadily. I had to carry you to the car and carry you while walking.”

Pei Xi was silent for a moment: “I was so drunk that I had no strength, so how could I still kick your ribs black and blue?”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou turned to him with a hiss: “You—”

“I’m sorry.” Pi Xi suddenly apologized.

He Chuzhou was taken aback: “What?”

Pei Xi reflected on himself with single-hearted devotion: “I vaguely remember being drunk, but I have no memories after that. It’s possible I don’t remember because of the alcohol.”

“I shouldn’t have disrespected the fruits of your labor, kicked you, or run away from home unreasonably, and shouldn’t have delayed your business at work. I will make amends and never do it again. Can you forgive me?”

This apology was so sincere that He Chuzhou couldn’t answer for a while.

This was too good.

He bit his cheek in thought.

What was the difference between seducing him and bullying him?

But…..

Anyway, he wouldn’t remember when he was in his right mind. Pei Xi had upset him, so it was reasonable for him to bully Pei-calico.

Thinking of this, his lips curved and he reached out to scratch Pei Xi’s chin: “It’s no use calling me Chuzhou. Call me gege.”

Pei Xi blinked his eyes cutely. Under He Chuzhou’s gaze, he changed his words obediently and said in his uniquely soft, clear voice: 

“Gege.”

---

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Chapter 11 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 13

There are good people and bad people in this world, but most of them are difficult to judge. 

I used to think that Wen Mingcheng was a gentle and tender man, but later found out that this was not the case. A lot of what he did was beyond my expectations, but people are inherently incapable of looking closely at something they can’t bear. Perhaps he was like that too.

I was with him firstly because he loved me, and secondly because he was a good person.

Now, I have doubts about whether he was such a good person. Did he love me?

Of course he loved me a lot in the eyes of others, but what about in my eyes?

I’ve been thinking about it for a long time these days. Quite a lot.

I tried to ask him in my dreams, but he just looked at me without answering.

I can’t help but dwell on the half of my life I spent with him.

When we were children, we played childish games and roughhoused, and our hearts were moved by the beautiful emotions of the young. We held hands and blushed with palpitating hearts, fell in love young in a foreign country, and later married.

Together we experienced the cool spring, hot and luxurious summers, the refreshing autumn sun, and the cold, chilling winters.

I heard his heartbeat, looked into his eyes, and felt his hair passing through my fingers.

From the age of ten to nearly thirty, his appearance reflected the passage of time. I appreciated the flowers he planted and felt the changing of the seasons. I slept in his arms and felt him day after day, witnessed his life and death and understood how unpredictable life is.

He participated in the first half of my life, and I walked with him throughout it.

It is difficult to see through the human heart, but feelings are the hardest to hide. If anyone can truly tell whether he loved me or not, I am the only one who can besides him.

I know he loved me.

. . . . . . .

“This is Master Mei Yin. A-Zhen, come and greet the master.”

My mother leads me to a suburban courtyard, where I meet a mage who is said to be able to help me recall the souls of the dead.

A middle-aged man wearing loose, gauzy white robes sits on a futon. When he hears my greeting, he raises his head and smiles at me.

He is quite old, and has many fine lines on his forehead and at the corners of his eyes, but his features are kind and there is nothing uncomfortable about the way he looks at people.

He is dressed like a monk, but I doubt he is a monk, because he has short hair.

But this is not important. What is important is whether or not he can help me recall the souls of the dead.

“Have you brought everything?” He looks me over from top to bottom before speaking.

“I brought it.” I carry the box forward, opening it in front of him. Inside are some of Mingcheng’s clothes from when he was alive, pictures of us as children, and our wedding rings and wedding pictures.

He checks these things one by one. About half an hour passes, and then he raises his head and looks at me.

His eyes are like ice and snow melting after being exposed to the sun, with a very tranquil warmth.

“It is not difficult if you simply want to recall the soul of the deceased.”

I don’t know if what he’s saying is true, but this sentence makes me happy. “What do I need to do?”

But he smiles and shakes his head. “The soul of the deceased needs to have the name and identity of a living person when he returns to the world, but these are already occupied now, aren’t they?”

This sentence makes me pause, and I look at him in disbelief.

He knows there is an imposter.

In fact, I didn’t really believe in recalling the souls of the dead before this. In other words, I didn’t fully believe that someone would have this ability, but even if he was a charlatan, I would still be willing to comfort myself in my brief free time during the day.

But his words truly give me hope. My hands on my knees begin to shake uncontrollably. Although I don’t know if he is a monk or not, he is wearing a Buddhist cassock, so I clasp my hands and beg him, “Yes, please help me and my loved one!”

He doesn’t agree immediately, but motions for my mother to leave first.

My mother hesitates for a moment, but sees my eager appearance and leaves.

After she leaves, Master Mei Yin stands from the futon. He takes a few leisurely steps before me and says to me after a few minutes: “The existence that occupies your husband’s place is different from ordinary dead souls. Logically speaking, it cannot be sent away, but it is not completely impossible. It’s only that, if it fails…..”

“Your soul will leave your body within a few short days. In short, you will die. Do you dare?”

Do I dare?

In fact, I’m really just an ordinary person who longs for simple happiness, but I have experienced the deaths of two close loved ones in this life. I was still young when my father died. After he was gone, my family lost its protection. Later, Mingcheng always protected me, and after he died, I lost my happy life.

What else can I be afraid of?

I answer him firmly: “Please help me.”

About an hour later, I sit in a windowless room, holding a long black awl in my hands.

With me in the center, there is a circle about four meters in diameter with red strips of cloth and white candles. I wear Mingcheng’s clothes on my body, and his birth date is written all over these clothes in my blood.

Master Mei Yin wears red and black ceremonial clothing and dances a strange and abnormal dance around me with his feet bare.

It is like an ancient sacrifice, and I hear murmured words coming from his mouth.

“……Yin and Yang, Eight Trigrams, Qian Radical, Xun and Kun…..”

“If the open fire does not alight, the dark water will return to the pond…..”

The burning candles are extinguished one by one with deer tears mixed with cinnabar, and a strange smell fills the air.

I don’t know how much time has passed when he suddenly stops the ritual dance. He takes out a dark black snake from his sleeve, then feeds the blood he had obtained from cutting my wrist in advance into the snake’s mouth.

Then I watch him kill the snake with a knife, and the blood spurting out of the snake’s body extinguishes the last candle.

At this moment, the wind begins to rise in the windowless room.

The wind stirs up a thick black mist, flooding everything like a tide. Gradually, the figure of Master Mei Yin slowly vanishes, and I can only see the things within the circle of red strips of cloth.

The sound of footsteps slowly approaches from far away.

It is the sound of men’s leather shoes hitting the ground.

I know this voice.

“You came.”

The man behind smiles, his voice without warmth. “How could I not come after all this trouble? You don’t actually have to go through so much trouble if you want to see me. We see each other every day, don’t we?”

I squeeze the long awl in my hand. It is cold, and so are my hands.

Master Mei Yin told me to pierce his heart with it and kill him. As long as I can successfully kill him, Mingcheng can come back. But we both know it will be difficult. I can’t kill him, but I still chose this method.

He goes down on one knee beside me and puts an arm around my shoulders. The other hand grips my hand holding the long awl. His tone is very sad. “You see, this is always how you are. You are obviously very weak, but always so stubborn. You stubbornly love that person, you’re stubbornly against me, and stubbornly unwilling to let yourself go.”

His fingers tap the long awl in my hand. “Do you know what will happen if you fail to kill me?”

I know. “I will die.”

He says: “Do you think I will let you kill me?”

I smile: “No.”

The false smile on his face disappears in an instant, and his voice is extremely cold: “So you are seeking death?”

Even though I’m about to die, I don’t feel afraid. I actually smile and say easily: “I don’t know. I probably don’t want to die. I want to cherish this life, but every day, I don’t know what to do.”

The “person” next to me is silent for a long while. He stands up and walks to me, then leans down toward me. I see the pain and regret welling up in his eyes. “A-Zhen, if I hadn’t pushed you so hard, would you have still done this?”

“I don’t know.” I still say this, because I really don’t know, and it shouldn’t be the reason that is guiding me now.

He slowly kneels down before me and holds my face in his hands, looking at me. “Then, if I become what you like about him, no, I will be gentler than him. I will also learn the oil painting you enjoy and do the things you like with you. Will you……will you slowly accept me?”

This time, I don’t speak.

He looks at me deeply, as if he has received the answer he wants, and suddenly gives me a sincere smile. “A-Zhen, I won’t let you die.”

After saying this, he stands abruptly and stretches his hands toward the thick darkness outside the circle.

“Ah!”

A shrill scream suddenly stops midway. Then the wind once again starts blowing inside the room. The extinguished candle emits a weak flame and then goes out, repeatedly swaying in the wind.

His eyes begin to turn blood-red. His gaze is sharp, his appearance like an evil ghost, and his entire body is full of a murderous aura.

Horrified, I drop my awl and step forward to stop him. “I asked him to do this, don’t kill him!”

He turns back and gives me a solemn smile. “I’ll kill him and put his blood on you. Then you can get out of here.”

“No—”

The sound of breaking bones rings in my ears, and there is also the faint sound of struggling.

A person is dying.

He is determined to kill Master Mei Yin, but in the next second, he lets him go.

Because I kneel at his feet.

He seems stunned, and looks down at me with a rare confusion in his eyes.

Like a child who has done something wrong, he drops that person and takes a few steps back, then hurries forward. “A-Zhen…..”

I kneel on the ground. There should be no expression of grief on my face, but my tears fall like rain. “I know I can’t kill you, so I don’t want to kill you today. I can’t explain why I’m doing this. Maybe I have no way to deal with you. Only in this way will you listen to my opinions.”

He tries to pull me up, but I resist, so he kneels in front of me and looks at me.

“Go. I know you’re not an ordinary ghost. I’m sorry that you’re here because of me and Mingcheng. Go back to your homeland. If you leave me be, you’ll be considered successful and you won’t die. This can be considered as the best of both worlds.”

His palms hold my face, and my tears flow all over his hands.

When I raise my eyes again, I find that he is crying.

It is a very silent weeping. His face is extremely handsome, like a perfect but lifeless handicraft. Two lines of blood and tears flow from the corners of his eyes. Fearsome marks are etched into his white porcelain face, dripping from his chin to the ground.

“I can’t leave, A-Zhen.’

“Your soul is tied to my body. If I leave, your soul will immediately vanish.”

I am stunned. “What…..”

“Didn’t you notice? I can find you no matter where you are.”

His hand moves to my back, pulling me close, and then he slowly lowers his head and gently presses his forehead against mine.

“I used to like the connection between us. I used to think you were uniquely mine, but I didn’t expect that I would be overly conceited and push you to this point.”

“I’m sorry. I became jealous when I saw you paying respects to his portrait.”

He kisses my eyes and whispers: “I can’t leave, but it’s not impossible to get rid of me.”

I watch him take a black doll out of nowhere.

The doll is exquisitely made, with various ancient sacrificial inscriptions and complicated patterns covering its body. On its head are long-lost pure Eastern pearls.

The Black Nanjia.

He never let me find it, so I gave up. Now, he takes it out himself.

“The fake monk’s skills are limited, and I have no heart. The deer blood awl cannot kill me, but it can kill it.”

He places the long awl back into my hand, holding the awl-bearing hand pointing it at the Black Nanjia. He raises his eyebrows and smiles at me. “This is my medium in the world. If you stab it, I will disappear and never be able to haunt you again.”

I raise my eyes blankly and look at him, and I’m stung by the soft smile in his eyes. I have only seen this look in Mingcheng’s eyes. This is an emotion that only a lover can have.

And over the long years, I had accidentally caught Mingcheng gazing at me like this many times, and I can confirm that this person loves me.

I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my heart, and can’t stab down with the awl no matter what.

He is not my Minghceng. I still don’t know what he is, but he knows what it’s like to love someone, so the love in his eyes still hurts me.

“You’re hesitating.” I see his sincere smile again. Curved eyebrows, slender eyelashes, tenderness.

“Don’t forget me,” he says.

In the next second, he grabs my hand and abruptly stabs down.

The black doll is extremely sturdy, and the sharp point of the long awl shatters instantly when it pierces through.

But all of the candles around me suddenly rekindle.

A curtain of darkness rushes toward him, wrapping around his body and face. He lowers his hands to his sides and raises his slender neck. His tall figure is submerged in the darkness, as if he is being eaten away by it.

I suddenly reach out to him and want to call his name, but then I remember that he has no name at all, and my hands only grasp air.

The darkness vanishes, and so does he.

I remain sitting here. The tears on my face are cold.

And the middle-aged monk gets up again, singing with a hoarse voice.

“The darkness is gone, the dead are resurrected…..”

“The dead soul returns—”

At the same time, I hear an urgent cry.

“A-Zhen—”

I recall where I first heard that cry, in a violent collision between two cars. At the critical life or death moment, the person beside me cried out and protected me firmly.

From then on, life and death were only a thin line apart.

I suddenly turn around: “Mingcheng!”

——-

The Author Has Something to Say:

Don’t worry, there will be a happy ending, and no one will die except the father-in-law.

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Chapter 27 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 29