Chapter 11: Qi’s Mother
Wen Xubai had enjoyed a rare, peaceful night’s sleep, only to be rudely jolted awake the next morning by an alarm clock…
Ding-ling-ling— Ding-ling-ling—
The early morning alarm rang frantically. Accompanied by the vibration of the phone, it dragged Wen Xubai straight out of his dreams!
Wen Xubai: “???”
His consciousness still blurry, Wen Xubai instinctively reached for the phone beside his pillow to check the time.
It wasn’t his.
The alarm continued to blare, the noise grating on his nerves.
Accompanied by “earth-shattering” snoring, Wen Xubai turned his head. Sure enough, he saw Qi Zui sprawled out on the floor in a “limbs akimbo” fashion. The blanket and pillow had been kicked to who-knows-where during his slumber.
Wen Xubai: “……”
He scratched his head irritably, his voice still raspy with sleep.
“Qi Zui…”
No response.
“Qi Zui!”
Still sleeping.
Tsk.
Wen Xubai threw off his covers and found the phone wrapped inside the quilt on the floor.
Without the quilt muffling the sound, the sharp, piercing alarm was even more deafening!
Wen Xubai covered his ears tight, then shoved the phone right next to the ear of the person on the floor and shouted:
“Qi Zui!!!”
“Ah… Ahhhhh! What? What is it?!”
Qi Zui leaped up from the “bed” in a panic, sporting a head of messy hair that looked like it had been bombed. His face was filled with terror!
“What happened? What’s going on??? Is there a fire?”
Wen Xubai said flatly, “Earthquake.”
Qi Zui: “Huh?”
Qi Zui looked bewildered. Only when he saw the phone Wen Xubai was shoving in his face did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
He let out a massive yawn, casually switched off the alarm, and flopped back down to sleep.
Wen Xubai: “……”
But in the next second, as if something suddenly clicked, Qi Zui sprang upright from the floor like a reanimated corpse!
“Holy shit…” Qi Zui gasped in horror.
Wen Xubai: “???”
Before he could even ask, Qi Zui was instantly wide awake. He threw on his clothes in three seconds flat, pulling up his pants while simultaneously jamming his feet into his shoes, his hand already reaching for the doorknob.
Wen Xubai: “???”
It can’t be that serious, right? I just scared him a little; surely he doesn’t actually believe there’s an earthquake?
By this point, Qi Zui was fully dressed at lightning speed.
“I’m late, I’m late!!!”
“Late for what?” Wen Xubai asked, puzzled.
Good, at least he hasn’t gone stupid.
“Late for work! I agreed to help Boss Wang at the alley entrance move stock today!”
Without waiting for Wen Xubai to react, Qi Zui’s figure flashed out the door like a bolt of lightning!
Half a second later, he rushed back in!
Wen Xubai: “???”
Slap! Qi Zui slammed fifty yuan onto the table and shouted hurriedly:
“I don’t have time to cook, go buy yourself some breakfast!”
With that, he ran out again like the wind!
Wen Xubai: “……”
Slowly standing up from the floor, Wen Xubai stifled a small yawn.
He was a light sleeper to begin with, and after that commotion, he couldn’t fall back asleep.
He glanced at the fifty yuan on the cabinet, shook his head helplessly, and ultimately didn’t take it.
It was still early. When Wen Xubai got dressed and walked out of the room, he saw that the door to Qi’s mother’s room opposite was still closed; she likely hadn’t woken up yet.
He mentally calculated the time; there shouldn’t be anything urgent this morning.
Since he was idle anyway, Wen Xubai went downstairs to buy some breakfast.
Breakfast in the small alley consisted mostly of steamed buns and youtiao. In the early morning, smoke curled from the stalls, and the scent of oil and flour drifted everywhere…
When he returned to the Qi home, however, he found that Qi’s mother was already awake.
“Auntie, good morning,” Wen Xubai greeted politely from the door.
“Ah… it’s you.”
Qi’s mother seemed to be in much better condition today, not at all like her erratic state yesterday. Her hair was pinned up neatly, no longer disheveled, and there was even a faint smile on her face.
However, from beginning to end, she didn’t ask about Qi Zui’s whereabouts.
Thinking she didn’t know yet, Wen Xubai took the initiative to explain, “Qi Zui went out early to work. He asked me to buy breakfast for you.”
He shook the bag of buns and youtiao in his hand.
“You are thoughtful.”
Qi’s mother smiled, hurriedly coming over to take the bag from him and placing it on the table.
“You haven’t eaten yet either, right? Sit down and have some together?” she invited.
“Okay.”
Wen Xubai didn’t act coy; he simply sat down.
Qi’s mother picked up a steamed bun and placed it in Wen Xubai’s bowl, smiling. “This is from the shop downstairs, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Wen Xubai replied.
“Their buns are the best…”
Wen Xubai listened silently, observing the smiling woman before him without making it obvious.
Although the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes betrayed her age, it was still evident that Qi’s mother must have been a beauty in her youth.
At this moment, her expression was gentle and her tone soft. She looked exactly like a tender, quiet mother serving food to her child—a completely different person from the disheveled madwoman of yesterday.
Wen Xubai took a quiet bite of the bun.
He knew that people with mental disorders didn’t stay in a manic state all the time; in fact, for the majority of the time, they were no different from normal people. They would only suddenly flare up when they encountered a trigger.
Unless explicitly told or seen with one’s own eyes, many people would find it hard to believe that the person they lived with day and night was actually insane…
Just like Qin Yalin. Just like Qi’s mother…
But Qin Yalin’s trigger was him. what was Qi’s mother’s trigger?
Was it Qi Zui?
Just as Wen Xubai was lost in thought, Qi’s mother suddenly stuffed another bun into his hand.
“You’re too thin, you need to eat more. When Qi Zui was your age, he was already nearly 1.8 meters tall…”
“Huh?”
Wen Xubai’s thoughts were instantly pulled back. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to explain:
“Auntie… Qi Zui and I are the same age…”
In fact, I’m two months older than him…
“Ah?” Qi’s mother was startled. She quickly said, “Oh my, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I saw how fair and tender you looked, so I thought… I thought you were younger than Little Zui…”
“It’s fine,” Wen Xubai responded with a warm smile, comforting her. “If we’re talking about looking young, you are the one who truly looks young, Auntie. Anyone who sees you wouldn’t guess you have a son that old.”
Hearing this, Qi’s mother’s embarrassment vanished instantly, replaced by laughter.
“You child, you really know how to talk.”
“Not at all, I’m just telling the truth. Besides… I can’t compare to Qi Zui’s sweet mouth. You must be tired of hearing these things from him.”
“Ha, yes, Little Zui is sweet-talking. He’s been sweet-talking since he was little…”
At this point, Qi’s mother’s expression seemed to grow complicated, a flash of indiscernible emotion crossing her eyes.
Wen Xubai took note of her strange reaction.
Ding-ling-ling, Ding-ling-ling—
Just then, his phone rang. Wen Xubai stood up naturally and nodded to Qi’s mother apologetically.
“Excuse me.”
Qi’s mother shook her head, indicating it was fine.
Wen Xubai quickly turned and went to the balcony, his gaze sweeping past the newspaper rack.
Looking down, he happened to spot a familiar figure downstairs.
Wen Xubai paused, leaning out slightly to get a better look.
Unfortunately, the building was too high. The person downstairs was bustling back and forth under the command of a man who looked like a “nouveau riche” boss, so he couldn’t see the face clearly.
The ringing of the phone in his ear pulled Wen Xubai’s thoughts back.
He took out his phone; it was an unknown number.
Wen Xubai didn’t dwell on it. Assuming it was Tan Yu using yet another new number from somewhere, he slid the screen and answered.
“Hello.”
“Hello, is this… Wen Xubai?”
The voice coming from the other end was a woman’s.
It was heavily processed by a voice changer, making it impossible to identify the person by voice alone.
Wen Xubai froze, his brow furrowing slightly.
He didn’t use this phone often; he had only changed to it upon returning to the country. Counting from the day he returned, it had been less than four days.
Yet this person not only found him but also knew who he was. Their identity was definitely not simple.
After a moment of hesitation, he replied in a low voice, “I am. Who are you?”
There was no answer from the other end for a long time, only a burst of electronic static.
Downstairs, the person who had just finished moving a round of goods suddenly looked up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with an arm clad in a hemp glove, baring his teeth as he shook out his sore hand.
It was Qi Zui.
The man seemed to sense something and looked up toward Wen Xubai’s direction.
An eye contact across the empty air.
Even though he knew that at such a distance, the other person probably couldn’t see him—let alone recognize him…
Wen Xubai’s heart still skipped a beat.
However, the man’s gaze didn’t linger long. The next second, he was called back by the shouting of the person behind him. He hurriedly ran back, heaving a stack of boxes that formed a small mountain onto his shoulder, and struggled toward the warehouse.
Coinciding with this moment, the person on the phone who had been silent for so long finally gave an answer:
“You don’t need to know who I am. You just need to know… I have what you want.”
What I want?
Wen Xubai’s finger, tapping on the railing, paused.
“Oh? What I want?”
“The whereabouts of the Wen family’s real Third Young Master, and… the truth about that car accident eighteen years ago.”
“Why should I trust you?” Wen Xubai asked with a frown.
There was another long silence on the other end…
Just as Wen Xubai thought the other party wouldn’t answer, the woman suddenly spoke:
“You can only trust me, Chen Che.”
Wen Xubai’s pupils constricted violently.
His fist clenched unconsciously…
After a long while, he raised his head again, looking toward the blazing sun on the horizon, dazzling and blinding.
He asked in a deep voice, “What do you want?”
“I will tell you in person when we meet.”
“The day after tomorrow, three in the afternoon. ‘Mingke Cemetery’, top row, the independent tomb. Come alone.”
“And, be careful of the people around you…”
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