Chapter 22: The Ways of Heaven are Hard to Fathom
Normal work resumed the next day. He spent half the day looking at stocks at the company. In the afternoon, as expected, Wei Xun had Mu Jia Shu go out with him.
The two went downstairs to get the car. He didn’t state a specific destination, only directing him to go straight, turn left, go around the park… it was as if they were following a fixed route looking for something.
Mu Jia Shu didn’t ask further questions, simply driving obediently.
After driving for a short while, Wei Xun suddenly said, “Here… it was you that day, wasn’t it?”
His question was out of the blue. Mu Jia Shu followed Wei Xun’s gaze out the window and found that it was exactly the place where he had been beaten on the day of his rebirth.
On that day, he had just woken up, his vision filled with fog and without a relative in sight. He had been beaten until he was crawling on the ground, unable to get up. When he looked up, he saw Wei Xun standing in front of him, dressed impeccably, still looking the same as in the old days.
Mu Jia Shu gave a small smile. “Young Master Wei has a good eye.”
His smile was clean and refreshing, his attitude composed, and his manner elegant. He was a world apart from the thief who had been covered in mud and blood, struggling on the ground over a month ago.
Wei Xun suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. Born into wealth, he had never experienced what it was like to worry about a livelihood. Yet Shen Shu seemed to let him touch a different kind of life.
Before, he had never thought that someone who grew up in such a way could live with such dignity and poise, neither humble nor arrogant. That feeling was like personally witnessing a seed gradually break through the mud, sprout its tender tip, and slowly bloom.
It was a kind of tenacity of life, just like when he watched Mu Jia Shu slowly carry himself through pain and illness as he grew up.
Mu Jia Shu didn’t know what he was thinking. He continued to drive seriously, his side profile elegant and delicate. It was so beautiful it made one want to… give him a kiss.
Wei Xun abruptly turned his head toward the window, letting the blinding sunlight hit his face without obstruction. In that moment, he broke into a cold sweat, feeling like he was waking from a dream.
Xiao Shu, Xiao Shu! Please let me clear my head! What exactly is going on… even if you’re gone, I absolutely won’t fall for someone else. How could I possibly like someone else? This is too terrifying.
I just feel… he really makes it easy for me to think of you.
Mu Jia Shu said, “Young Master Wei, we’ve reached the fork in the road.”
Wei Xun looked at the surroundings. “Turn in, park behind that big tree. Right, right, right, keep it hidden.”
Mu Jia Shu: “…”
It sounded like they were staking someone out. The young master of the Wei family, personally going out to stake someone out?
However, even though he was quite surprised, he didn’t casually inquire about the other’s private business. He simply sat quietly to the side, accompanying Wei Xun in his wait.
After an unknown amount of time, a car drove out of the residential area ahead. The window was open. Mu Jia Shu heard the horn and looked up. From a distance, he saw the person inside was actually Pang Xing!
Wei Xun saw him too and said succinctly, “Follow.”
At the same time, he took out his phone and called Liang Pingzhao. “Pingzhao, contact Pang Xing. Tell him to wait for me at the company around three o’clock; I have something I need him to accompany me for.”
After hanging up, Liang Pingzhao soon called back. His voice from the other end was so clear even Mu Jia Shu could hear it: “Young Master Wei, Pang Xing says he ate something bad and has an upset stomach. He probably can’t make it.”
A cold smile swept across Wei Xun’s handsome face. “Fine, I understand.”
He hung up the phone, but Mu Jia Shu’s heart was in a mess. He suddenly discovered that many things were not as simple as they seemed. Why exactly was he murdered? What exactly was Wei Xun trying to do? Living again, the information he could grasp was simply too meager.
Mu Jia Shu gripped the steering wheel and glanced at Wei Xun, finding his expression very grim. With a thought, he spoke up “kindly” to persuade him: “Young Master Wei, don’t be angry. I think Brother Pang must have some private business that makes it hard to ask for leave, so he said that.”
Since Wei Xun had brought him out, he didn’t intend to hide much from him. He let out a cold laugh. “Hmph, if it weren’t for his ‘private business,’ would I have brought him into the company?”
He said only this one sentence and spoke no more. However, Mu Jia Shu captured something very important from it—this meant Wei Xun hadn’t discovered something was wrong after Pang Xing joined the company. Rather, he had a purpose for hiring him from the start. That would explain his exceptionally warm attitude toward Pang Xing… but what had he discovered about him?
The streets on both sides were lined with sycamores. The light outside the window flickered. Mu Jia Shu narrowed his eyes slightly.
He definitely didn’t know about Pang Xing kicking the medicine bottle away before he died. Wei Xun wasn’t him; if he really knew about that, no matter how great the purpose, he could never fake such a warm attitude toward Pang Xing. Mu Jia Shu was certain of that much.
“Fuck!”
Wei Xun suddenly blurted out a curse, striking the seat with a frustrated fist.
At the intersection ahead of them, several cars with similar appearances suddenly pulled out. After weaving through several turns, they each drove off in different directions, making it impossible to tell which one was which.
Mu Jia Shu said, “Were we spotted?”
Wei Xun gnashed his teeth. “Unlikely. It’s probably a routine trick; I was careless today. Dammit, tailing him is giving him face. He doesn’t just sit there honestly and wait to be caught—he actually dares to be on guard!”
Mu Jia Shu: “…”
“Young Master Wei, why do you need to follow him personally? Besides, there are only two of us and we aren’t professional. Wouldn’t it be better to hire someone to help?” he said.
Not only was Mu Jia Shu’s speech becoming more casual, but Wei Xun didn’t show much resistance to his suggestions. He only said irritably, “You heard it that day too. My old stubborn dad won’t let me get involved. I have to do this secretly.”
Mu Jia Shu: “…Oh.”
He pulled the car over to the side of the road to make way for the cars behind. After a moment, Wei Xun suddenly sighed. The anger on his face gradually faded, replaced by a sense of dejection. He whispered to himself:
“Actually… I know my dad couldn’t possibly ignore Xiao Shu’s matter. But I have to do something too. If I don’t do anything, I’ll go crazy!”
Mu Jia Shu suddenly remembered. Today was April 6th—the day after the Qingming Festival, his birthday, and the day he died.
It really had been two whole years.
His hand on the steering wheel tightened unconsciously. He closed his eyes to steady his breathing and made a decision.
When he went back today, he would tell Wei Xun his true identity.
It was just that how to say it and how to prove it were very difficult problems. This wasn’t a fantasy drama; any normal person wouldn’t believe something as lightning-striking as returning from the dead.
Moreover, countless people wanted to suck up to the Wei family. From what Wei Xun and Uncle Wei said, it seemed that since he died, many people had used his identity as a pretext to get close to the Wei and Mu families. If he spoke up rashly and Wei Xun didn’t believe him, even if he wasn’t sent to a psychiatric hospital, it would inevitably cause a bad influence.
But although it might not be a good time right now, there was no other choice. Watching Wei Xun continue to be anxious like this, Mu Jia Shu felt his conscience would hurt.
While thinking, he asked Wei Xun, “Young Master Wei, should we head back to the company now?”
Wei Xun said, “This is Lanshi Road, right?”
Mu Jia Shu: “It is.”
Wei Xun’s eyes went blank. He looked ahead for a while, then suddenly opened the car door. “I’m going out for a bit. You go back. Let me be quiet.”
Mu Jia Shu instinctively wanted to disagree. He hesitated, the words on the tip of his tongue taking a turn: “Alright.”
Spring in the north was always brief. It was currently the transition between spring and summer. The mornings and evenings were still cool, but the afternoon sun was already very intense, carrying a faint scent of summer. Wei Xun took out a pair of sunglasses, put them on, and got out of the car.
One side of the street was lined with skyscrapers, while the other was the quietly flowing moat.
Wei Xun walked along the riverbank. The river breeze stirred the hair on his forehead, and a corner of his shirt fluttered. He stopped, hands on the railing, silently watching the river water rushing east.
After watching for a while, he crossed the bridge. Directly opposite the bridgehead was the City’s First Central Hospital.
Wei Xun didn’t dare get close. He took off his sunglasses and hooked them on his collar, standing on the opposite side looking from afar, feeling very miserable.
The greenery at the hospital entrance was well-maintained. On the green lawn grew a patch of very lush flowers. Wei Xun couldn’t name the flowers; they weren’t any precious variety, just a hodgepodge of all sorts of colors. But growing together with such vigor, they were quite dazzling.
He remembered Mu Jia Shu was very delicate when he was little and especially liked these flowers and plants. For a while, Wei Xun treated him like a little girl, bringing home anything beautiful to show off to him.
Even when Mu Jia Shu was just a tiny bundle and didn’t really understand human speech, no matter what Wei Xun said, he would wave his little hands and laugh, calling him “Ge! Ge!” with slurred speech. He was very supportive.
So Wei Xun loved talking to him most.
It was just that the kid’s health was poor. He had never been chubby since he was little, and the meat on his body was pitifully sparse, nothing like other children. He only had a pair of large eyes that flickered, making him exceptionally lovable.
Mu Jia Shu was always being dropped off at the Wei house. The boys in their family were raised rough, each one being wild outside. Only this outsider was exceptionally refined. Not only were they very careful about what he ate and used, but there were even rules for how long he had to nap every afternoon.
At that time, Wei Xun was only six. He didn’t know about Mu Jia Shu’s illness; he was just very angry about not being able to play with his brother every day at noon.
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