Chapter 75: Mother Jiang Qingran — “This Is Where Your Mother Jumped Off the Cliff”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already handled it for you. I’ll give them to you once you’re better.”
The woman made no mention of the phone, nor did she offer to let Lu Xunye use hers to let his family know he was safe. It was as if she were certain of his family situation.
His mother had passed away, but in the eyes of outsiders, his father should still be alive.
What else could Lu Xunye do? Regardless of whether Fu-yi was sincere toward him, as long as they didn’t have a falling out, he had to keep playing along.
He just didn’t know how Shen Yunqian was doing.
————
That night.
“He’s dead.” Su Zhuo’s expression was heavy with gloom. He checked Shen Yunqian’s expression, and only when he saw that there were no violent emotions did his brow smooth out.
Li Qiulian had come forward to testify and provided a series of evidence regarding Uncle Zhang’s suspected motive for the murder of Shen’s parents in the car accident four years ago.
Uncle Zhang refused to plead guilty, and the first trial ended in defeat. At the same time, he was reported for having properties of unknown origin and income that was disproportionate to his earnings. He was taken back by the police for investigation.
But the man remained silent. Su Zhuo was still worried and tried to comfort him: “Don’t worry, we have other entry points.”
“How did he die?” Shen Yunqian asked.
“On the way home after Uncle Zhang finished his statement, he was stabbed to death by a murderer who had been wanted for about five years. The killer was finally caught.”
“We followed this lead and found that a large sum of money had been transferred to his wife’s account.”
“During his five years on the run, he was probably thinking that since he couldn’t live anyway, he might as well give his family a better life.”
Shen Yunqian was noncommittal. “That person moved faster than us.”
“What about Li Qiulian and her son?”
“They know too.”
Speaking of this, Su Zhuo sighed with emotion.
“As soon as that woman named Xiao Wei heard Uncle Zhang was dead, she took all the money and ran. What could that son do? With such a thing happening before the wedding, he could only shamelessly find Li Qiulian, hoping to awaken her maternal love.”
Shen Yunqian was surprised. “That girl agreed to continue with the wedding?”
Su Zhuo shrugged helplessly. “Who knows what she’s thinking.”
“But, compared to what she’s thinking—”
Su Zhuo drew out the last word, propped up his chin, and raised his eyebrows with interest.
“I’m more interested in what you’re thinking about Lu Xunye. I’ve never seen you so persistent with anyone. What kind of love potion did he give you? Give me a tip; I want to chase someone like that too.”
“You have no idea how much Old Dog Pei treasures that boyfriend of his. He won’t even come out to drink anymore.”
Shen Yunqian ignored the teasing.
Su Zhuo stopped bothering him and moved on to something else. “The person watching Si Jingyan reported that he took a man away. It seems to be related to the Lu family’s banquet that night.”
“I remember that banquet was held for Lu Xunye. Do you think the Lu family will be anxious now that he’s missing?”
Shen Yunqian knew he had more to say, so he didn’t speak.
“The cancellation of the marriage alliance between the Wen and Lu families was scandalous. Lu Yan is under house arrest. After Wen Luoxi took Old Man Wen back, the old man fell seriously ill and hasn’t recovered.”
“While her uncles were busy trying to gain favor by showing filial piety in front of the bed to get the inheritance, this girl held a press conference and tore off the old man’s mask of kindness. The public opinion that was originally biased toward the Wen family is now completely ruined.”
“She first bought up the scattered shares at a low price when the Wen Corporation’s stock plummeted. Using the reputation of Lu Feng wanting her to compensate, she took advantage of the Lu family’s momentum and recruited other shareholders who intended to curry favor with the Lu Corporation.”
“Combined with the shares her grandmother left her before she died, she can now compete with those uncles of hers in the company.”
“Unfortunately, her father is a muddled person. Even though people are bullying him, he’s still thinking about ‘brotherly affection’ and ‘fatherly love’.”
Shen Yunqian offered no opinion. He turned and asked about something else: “Has Shen Qizhao made any moves lately?”
Su Zhuo shut his mouth sheepishly, remembering that Shen’s father was also murdered by Shen Qizhao because he cared too much about brotherly affection.
He hurriedly replied: “It’s a wonder you could think of it, causing so much trouble for him. How could he have time for any small moves? He’s probably too scared to close his eyes at night.”
“Lately, he’s been asking about the Taoist priest who checked the Feng Shui for Old Man Ji a while back.”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
“Do you think you’ve scared him into being an idiot?”
To this, Shen Yunqian merely offered a four-word evaluation: “A guilty conscience.”
His fingertips habitually touched the cold chain on his left wrist.
Su Zhuo noticed his small movement, glanced casually, and teased: “Oho, you actually like this kind of pink, girly thing?”
Shen Yunqian retorted: “I also like shortening your vacation time. Want to try?”
Su Zhuo: “……”
Shen Yunqian won the round. He lost interest in bickering and fingered the bracelet, his eyes growing darker.
————
At the same time, Lu Xunye was under the covers. In the darkness, he caught the faint flicker of a red light in the socket of the wall outlet.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He simply turned on the light and fished the two old photos from the broken glass frame out from under his pillow.
Only now did he see clearly that in this family photo, three children were crouching on the lawn playing with model airplanes.
Behind them, two women were drinking tea in a pavilion. One of them had an elegant posture, her gaze full of tenderness as she watched the children.
Lu Xunye picked up the other Polaroid and deduced that one of the three children was Shen Yunqian. According to the timeline of the photo, another should be Si Jingyan, and the older child was Shen Yunji.
He saw where the two women in the pavilion were looking and quickly concluded that the other woman, whose expression was unpleasant, was Si Jingyan’s mother.
Lu Xunye leaned in to observe for a while. He instinctively felt that Si Jingyan’s mother looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.
Sometimes it was strange; the more he tried to think, the more the fleeting clues in his mind eluded him.
Just like how he didn’t know why this Polaroid gave him a sense of familiarity.
The source of this familiarity wasn’t just because he had taken it himself, but because he had seen it before he even had that dream.
Lu Xunye knew this was eerie. He rubbed his head in frustration. The photo slid from the blanket and fell to the floor. As he leaned over to pick it up, a scene suddenly flashed before his eyes.
The fingertips touching the photo felt a numb tingling. He shivered and curled his hand for a moment before picking up the faded Polaroid.
He remembered. He had seen it in the studio the first time he entered Shen Yunqian’s house.
So, the image had been subconsciously imprinted in his mind back then, leading to that absurd dream. And now, the dream was affecting his brain.
Lu Xunye was speechless.
No, I can’t just wait around anymore.
He emptied his mind, scanning the outlet with the hidden camera several times without a trace. An idea exploded in his heart.
He suddenly sprang out of bed and pulled back the covers. He pretended to be thirsty and went to pour water, rubbing his eyes with an air of utter exhaustion.
He spilled some water on the floor while pouring. Finally, with a glass of water in hand, he “accidentally” stepped on the water on his way back to bed. His feet slipped.
The entire glass of water splashed into the outlet. Instantly, the electricity crackled, the lights went out, and the room was plunged into darkness.
Lu Xunye took advantage of this time to lock the bedsheets together, hang them out the window, and leap out, successfully vaulting over the villa gate and escaping to freedom.
The above was entirely Lu Xunye’s fantasy.
In reality, when he pulled back the curtains and saw the distance to the ground, he silently closed the curtains and crawled back into bed.
This kind of life continued for several days. The medicine Lu Xunye applied to his foot didn’t help; instead, it became even more swollen. Even an idiot could see something was wrong.
While avoiding the surveillance, Lu Xunye squeezed the ointment into the drain and washed it away. He ate and drank as if nothing was wrong, and he actually managed to heal his injury.
Even after he was healed, he still hopped on one foot from time to time while walking, afraid that Fu-yi would break his legs before she broke the white cat’s.
Today, a guest arrived. Fu-yi went to receive the guest and accidentally left her phone on the table. Lu Xunye couldn’t stop glancing at the phone.
He recalled the gesture the woman used to unlock it and successfully swiped through the password. He was extremely nervous.
He kept his eyes on the door, afraid of being caught. In his haste, he made several mistakes before finally sending out an emergency call.
Clearly, he had overthought things.
He saw on the news that a fire had occurred in his residential complex. His heart tightened when he saw that one person had died. Someone is spreading rumors that I’m dead?!
He wasn’t very surprised. He carefully put the phone back in its original place, picked up the fruit knife from the fruit plate, and boldly and stealthily walked outside where the woman was talking to eavesdrop.
“He’s already been abandoned by the Lu family; no one will come to save him.”
Fu-yi was discussing something face-to-face with a man. The man’s smile was fawning, and the two blood-colored jade stones hanging from the end of the Buddhist beads on his wrist glowed.
“Your methods are still the most brilliant. This brat is quite wild; you must teach him a good lesson. He’s very sharp and is likely deliberately acting obedient. Be careful he doesn’t run away.”
The woman’s tone was probing: “It’s really been hard on you to hide these things for me all these years. Now that I’m going to deal with your nephew, do you, as his biological uncle, really not care at all?”
Lu Xunye poked his head out from behind the wall and saw the man’s face clearly. It was Shen Qizhao!
Shen Qizhao hurriedly showed his loyalty: “I killed his parents. That little wolf cub is probably thinking of how to kill me. Instead of waiting for him to come seeking revenge, I might as well kill him first.”
“Only,” he paused, looking a bit embarrassed, “I hope you keep that matter from back then a secret. Don’t let my wife find out.”
“That’s a given. Once my son has completely taken over the family business, I will naturally help you get what you want. This time, I’ll need to trouble you to help me transport something.”
Lu Xunye was unsettled. If he stayed any longer, he would go crazy. Even if he hadn’t been sure of Fu-yi’s character before, there was no mistaking it now.
He carefully thought over the available clues. She said she wanted Shen Qizhao’s help to transport something, then…
……
The car drove out of the villa. The road was rugged and uneven, the bumping quite severe. After an unknown amount of time, Lu Xunye emerged from under the back seat and pressed the knife against the driver’s lifeline.
Everything was going suspiciously smoothly. Lu Xunye suppressed a strange sense of panic. “Don’t move! What’s in your trunk!”
Lu Xunye was stunned when he saw the man’s face in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t Shen Qizhao at all. He immediately realized he had been tricked.
Before he could react, the man swerved the car. Lu Xunye was tossed and slammed against the car door. Dazed, he regained consciousness only to find a dark gun barrel pointed right at him.
The car stopped. The man said with a half-smile, “Please get out of the car, Lu-shaoye.”
Lu Xunye: “……”
He saw what was in the trunk as he wished—a bundle of hemp rope. In the end, it was used on him. He suddenly realized that the “thing” being transported was him.
She had known he would eavesdrop. she had guessed long ago that he would escape.
This wasn’t the road back to the city at all, but a desolate cliffside.
Three people got out of the car that had been following behind. One of them was Fu-yi. She was smiling brightly, more wrinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes. Compared to before, this smile was obviously more genuine.
“Xiao Lu… wasn’t it good staying there? Why run, hmm?”
Her gaze was doting, like an elder scolding a child for running around but being reluctant to punish them.
Lu Xunye: “What exactly do you want!”
He struggled with his shoulders, and the bodyguards behind him almost lost control.
The two bodyguards nearby immediately pinned him down, the gun barrel pressed against the back of his neck. “Behave.”
“Be good. Guns go off easily; don’t want to hurt you.” Fu-yi spoke as she walked a few steps to the edge of the cliff. she clicked her tongue twice and asked Lu Xunye, “Do you know where this is?”
Lu Xunye was pressed to the edge of the cliff. Someone held his head, forcing him to look down. He glared at the woman, refusing to answer.
The woman wasn’t angry either, explaining kindly: “Didn’t you want to know about your mother? This… is where she jumped off the cliff.”
Those words were like a loud slap that dazed Lu Xunye. His lips trembled as he struggled to make a sound: “What… what nonsense are you talking about?”
“Silly child, you still don’t know who your mother is, do you?”
“Jiang Qingran is your mother. Merchants prioritize profit over affection. Why do you think someone would be willing to risk their life to save you?”
Translator’s Note:
- -zong (总): President/CEO.
- -shaoye (少爷): Young Master.
- Fu-yi (傅姨): Auntie Fu.
- Shen-zong (沈总): President Shen.
- Shen-shaoye (沈少爷): Young Master Shen.
- Old Dog Pei (裴老狗): A derogatory/familiar nickname for Pei Huaizhi.
- A guilty conscience (做贼心虚): A common idiom meaning that a person who has done something wrong feels uneasy and suspicious of others.
Enjoy reading!~
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