Part 3
No matter how much he usually maintained a serious air, making Wei Xun surprised was still a very pleasant thing. Mu Jia Shu admired his expression with a sense of accomplishment: “That brings up another matter. Do you remember that bracelet you mentioned when you were looking for me the other day?”
Wei Xun’s mind worked very quickly: “So you pawned the bracelet for stock capital?”
“Not just for that.”
Mu Jia Shu leaned toward Wei Xun, his hand naturally resting on his shoulder as he leaned in to scroll through the photos on the phone.
While he wasn’t paying attention, Wei Xun quietly turned his head, staring at Mu Jia Shu’s profile. His heart felt a bit bitter, but a smile spread across his lips.
“Alright, look at this photo.” Mu Jia Shu turned his head and found Wei Xun staring at him intently. He froze for a moment, but being eager to talk about other matters, he didn’t think much of it. “It’s the Shen family bracelet I told you about. Doesn’t it look a bit familiar?”
Wei Xun looked at the photo, and his other hand reached back to hold Mu Jia Shu’s hand that was resting on his shoulder. Mu Jia Shu paused, but the body that was originally going to move away stayed still, continuing to lean against him as the two looked at the phone screen together.
“This is an Icy-type Lavender Jade bracelet, right? It’s very rare.”
Mu Jia Shu said, “What do you think? Look at this pattern, shape, and color… doesn’t it look like it?”
Wei Xun recalled: “Yes, I remember it was… you were seven that year, right? Uncle Mu got a bracelet like this… at that time I happened to be at your house. My dad asked him what he got this thing for, and he said he was going to give it to someone.”
Mu Jia Shu added, “And I remember he didn’t give it away later; he put it in the study. I didn’t pay attention to it after that.”
“…So you knew Shen Shu’s identity long ago.”
Mu Jia Shu replied with a half-smile: “It wasn’t hard to guess.”
Wei Xun involuntarily avoided his gaze. He didn’t know what he was feeling guilty about, but Mu Jia Shu just had that ability.
He thought to himself: It’s really strange. Shen Shu wasn’t born from my affair, why do I feel so guilty? “Alright, it was all within your expectations. You deliberately pawned this bracelet at a pawnshop under your family’s name to catch Uncle Mu’s attention, so that day he sent me over to probe your background. But I never expected it would be you.”
He was quickly calculating something in his heart: “…That’s right, that’s how it fits together. Back then Uncle Mu asked me to go to your house’s address to find someone but didn’t explain anything clearly. I was originally wondering why he thought ‘Nie Qi’ was his child but didn’t know any specific information. So that’s how it was.”
Mu Jia Shu raised an eyebrow with a smile: “Surprised? I wonder if I have made Young Master Wei feel satisfied?”
Wei Xun said irritably: “Satisfied!”
Mu Jia Shu remembered the scene when they met and couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” laugh. At his laugh, Wei Xun couldn’t help but laugh as well, and continued: “After I went back that day, I told Uncle Mu about your general situation. He said he would think about it, but I estimate he will see you sooner or later. After all, if he didn’t want to recognize Shen Shu, he wouldn’t have let me go to your house in the first place.”
He spoke very directly, and Mu Jia Shu didn’t mind. Because for many years, he had long become accustomed to his father’s romantic escapades; these things didn’t affect him at all.
Speaking of which, Mu Yanrui was considered a strange specimen among prestigious families. Although he grew up in luxury, he wasn’t the kind of playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, and gamble. Instead, his personal abilities were extremely outstanding; both his social skills and business mind were top-tier, and he took over the Mu family in his early twenties.
But such a person just happened to have a very problematic lifestyle. He caused quite a stir in his youth until he finally angered Mu Jia Shu’s grandfather, who punished him severely, which finally made him settle down.
But because of this, the relationship between him and Mu Jia Shu had always been awkward.
However, Mu Yanrui’s fooling around was very measured. He had only been married once from beginning to end and hadn’t remarried after the divorce. His two sons were both born of his marriage and were protected very well by him, never suffering even a bit of hardship.
Back then, when Mu Jia Shu first heard that he actually had other brothers and then thought of Shen Shu’s rather unfortunate life, his mood had once been quite subtle.
He instinctively detested his half-brother but couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him.
Mu Jia Shu thought a lot but said nothing, avoiding this topic: “So that’s how I got the capital. You know the price of Icy Jade; I pawned it to get a loan and then bought a few stocks to invest. Currently, the trend looks quite good.”
Wei Xun sighed. While feeling proud in his heart, the anger and pain he had just suppressed became even stronger instead. Mu Jia Shu described his struggle from death to life so nonchalantly, but Wei Xun only had to imagine it to understand how could it have been a simple matter?
He could survive under any circumstances himself, which was indeed a good thing. But putting aside those unusual feelings, just from the fact that he had loved Mu Jia Shu like his own biological brother since they were kids, Wei Xun didn’t want the other to work so hard.
In his mind, Mu Jia Shu should have been high above everyone since childhood, favored by all, unable to suffer even a bit of grievance or hardship.
He knew rationally that Mu Jia Shu didn’t need others to worry for him, and he knew he had grown up with outstanding abilities and a stable personality. But emotionally, he just couldn’t help but feel heartache, to worry, and yet he was completely willing and never tired of it.
Wei Xun said in a low voice: “Then do you think that Song Quan knows Shen Shu isn’t his biological son? If he knows, how much could he know?”
Mu Jia Shu said: “Looking at his attitude, he definitely knows Shen Shu isn’t his own child. As for the Mu family’s affairs, I don’t know.”
Wei Xun tapped the edge of the bed with his knuckles: “…We should investigate it.”
Mu Jia Shu nonchalantly tossed the matter to him: “In any case, I don’t have the manpower right now. Do as you wish.”
“Alright—for Young Master Mu’s affairs, this servant will definitely do his best.”
Wei Xun glared at him with a smile, then couldn’t help but sigh again, looking very melancholy: “Why do I feel like you’ve grown up secretly behind my back… you’ve spent these several months alone, my heart really is, sigh!”
Mu Jia Shu sat leisurely on the bed, gazing at the bright moon filtering through the gaps in the curtains, and shook the beer can:
“I used to spend every day in a daze because I had everything, so I didn’t want to gain anything. Because my health wasn’t good, you all didn’t have high expectations for me either. Actually, those days were comfortable, but also boring. But now, I seem to have found some meaning in life for myself. San Ge, do you know? Only when you treat life seriously can you realize how precious every minute of time passing through your fingers is. When you recognize the value of time, you will no longer use it to complain to God or man, complaining that this matter is unfair or that matter shouldn’t be. This is a very novel experience; my feeling is…”
Mu Jia Shu raised his beer can toward Wei Xun, lightly clinking it against the can in his hand, and drank the last remaining sip in one gulp: “It’s quite good.”
When one is powerless to change the surrounding environment, one should find a way to make it work for them and follow the trend. When one treats every journey as a rare form of training, their pace might slow down, but their steps will become more resounding.
Mu Jia Shu had a smile on his lips, the moonlight reflected on his face, looking quite spirited. It was his breath, his tone, right within reach.
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