Chang Shang measured the height of the courtyard wall. He could easily climb over it. Only then did he follow them into the house.
In front of him was a dark, sunless old house. Behind him, though, was boundless blue sky.
…
The light inside the house was very dim. Light only came in through the wooden windows. On the sticky and aged wooden table was a water kettle. The old man poured himself a cup of water without caring about the others, then lit a cigarette.
After slowly taking a drag, he closed his eyes and exhaled a heavy breath.
The old man didn’t care about Chang Shang beside him, only looking toward Old Wang, saying expressionlessly: “Shan Zi isn’t here. He died a long time ago, not even bones left. Not even ashes. There’s only an empty grave on the mountain behind.”
Old Wang showed just the right amount of surprised expression. He immediately explained: “You know Shan Zi used to have a girlfriend, right? Recently that girl asked me to inquire about Shan Zi. I also heard from others that Shan Zi’s family lived here, so I came looking.”
The old man sneered, the smoke slightly blurring his face: “That girl, I heard she dumped Shan Zi a long time ago after hearing he was sick. Why would she still ask someone to inquire about him?”
Old Wang’s expression became somewhat subtle, and he lowered his voice: “Maybe she heard that Shan Zi’s family got rich a few years ago, so she asked me to come ask.”
Hearing this, the old man’s face instantly changed. He cursed a few times, his voice unconsciously becoming heavier: “Our family is bound to face retribution! Bound to face retribution!”
Old Wang didn’t continue on that topic, only casually asked: “There’s hardly anyone left in this village, how come you’re still living here alone? Shan Zi’s parents don’t care about you?”
The old man spat, then bit his cigarette and got up to walk toward the door: “Since you’re here looking for Shan Zi, I’ll take you to see him. I even went to the trouble of putting up a grave for that boy, but his parents never came to see him. That boy suffered while alive, after death probably isn’t any better.”
Chang Shang watched as the old man removed the chain lock he’d just locked not long ago. When he left, he didn’t close the door again, leaving the wooden door half open.
Old Wang was still chatting with the old man. Chang Shang turned his head and glanced at the well they had just passed by. Most of the well water was covered by the half-round dome above. A pitch-black shadow flashed across the water.
Chang Shang stared at the water surface for a moment—it was a black fish. Hearing footsteps, the fish hid back to the bottom of the well.
At this time, it was the blazing summer. Even in the mountains, the temperature was very high. After walking only halfway up the mountain, Old Wang’s shirt was already soaked through, while the old man’s stamina was much better than theirs.
That cigarette had long since been smoked up. The old man stopped at the mountainside, turning his head to glance at the small village. From here, one could basically take in the entire village at a glance.
Old Wang watched as the old man took another cigarette from behind his ear and lit it. He wiped his sweat and asked: “Old sir, how did Shan Zi die?”
The old man glanced at him, his tone calm: “Died from illness.”
Old Wang’s heart sank slightly. It seemed the old man wouldn’t say anything more. After smoking a cigarette, the old man led them into an even narrower path. Wildflowers bloomed along the field’s edge, summer insects chirping.
Zhao Chengshan’s grave was set in a corner on the shady side of the mountain. Weeds grew all around, but the area surrounding his grave was very clean—it was obvious someone regularly came to tidy it.
On the tombstone was written “The Grave of Zhao Chengshan” in five large characters. Below there was no person listed who set the stone, but there was a date carved.
The moment Chang Shang saw that date, his pupils slightly enlarged. The date on the tombstone was January 7th four years ago. That was exactly two months before Zhao Chengshan’s death in the plane crash.
Zhao Chengshan had long known he was going to die—was it because of the illness the old man mentioned, or because of some other reason?
Old Wang obviously noticed as well. He put his hands together and quietly recited “Amitabha” a few times. He tilted his head and asked: “Old sir, what illness did Shan Zi have exactly? It couldn’t be treated?”
The old man was sitting by the field edge at that moment. His cloudy eyeballs were staring fixedly at the tombstone. After quite a while, he finally said: “You all go back. Shan Zi has been gone for a long time.”
Seeing the old man unwilling to say more, Old Wang gave his thanks and prepared to take Chang Shang down the mountain. Before leaving, he left all the cigarettes left in his pocket for the old man. The old man just kept looking at the tombstone, not paying attention to him.
On the way down the mountain, Old Wang explained to Chang Shang everything they had said. By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, Chang Shang turned his head and glanced at the old man’s figure. Clearly it was summer, but that lonely figure made one feel a chill all over.
Before leaving, Old Wang turned into the old man’s house and left one thousand yuan on the table.
On the way back, Old Wang lowered his voice and said: “Zhao Chengshan’s death is a bit strange. I’ll go check on that girlfriend of his. Tomorrow I plan to go into the city to find his parents. Are you going back first, or coming with me?”
Chang Shang replied: “I’ll go with you.”
Old Wang smiled: “Alright, tonight come back to my place for dinner. My wife’s cooking is excellent. After eating, I’ll take you to the hotel.”
Chang Shang was silent for a moment. He lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: “Thank you.”
Old Wang waved his hand casually, not paying it much mind.
—
When Shen Lingge and Wen Xian arrived in Licheng, it was already early morning, but Wen Xian was still very energetic. After being wrapped in Shen Lingge’s jacket and carried onto the car, she immediately started playing on her phone with great interest.
Shen Lingge said helplessly: “Xian Xian, if you keep playing for a while more, you won’t be able to fall asleep. Didn’t you say you still have to go to work tomorrow? In the evening you still have to go to the studio for class to catch up on notes. Can you get up tomorrow?”
Wen Xian fiddled with her phone and tilted her head to look at him. After hesitating, she still tossed the phone to the side and obediently hugged him, closing her eyes, trying to sleep. She murmured in a small voice: “When I wake up tomorrow, I won’t see you, right?”
Shen Lingge lowered his eyes and lightly kissed her forehead, his voice low: “I’ll be back soon. I’ll come back to accompany you at the end of the month. These more than ten days, you be good, don’t get sick, don’t stay up late.”
Wen Xian didn’t respond, hugging him while pretending to sleep.
There were very few cars on the road at dawn. At the airport entrance, Shen Lingge’s car brushed past a black Santana.
The driver inside the black Santana lifted his eyes and glanced at the oncoming car’s license plate, then didn’t stop, continuing to drive forward.
Only when he reached an empty intersection did he pull over by the roadside.
By the car window was resting an arm. On the wheat-colored arm was a faint scar. The man’s fingertips held a lit cigarette. After finishing one cigarette, he casually flicked the butt out the window.
A few minutes later, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
The man’s voice carried a slight hoarseness: “Miss Xu, Wen Xian has returned to the country. When do we make our move? If we drag it out any longer, the brothers really don’t have much patience left.”
Not knowing what the person on the other end said, the man laughed once: “Alright, I’ll go back and pick a good day.”
…
The car stopped in front of Wen Mountain Villa. Just as Shen Lingge was about to carry the sleeping Wen Xian, he saw the little girl open her bright eyes and look at him, with not even a trace of sleepiness in them.
Shen Lingge: “……”
Wen Xian’s mind was full of her three little ones; how could she sleep? As soon as she got out of the car, she left Shen Lingge behind, already having forgotten he was leaving early tomorrow morning.
Shen Lingge followed her from not too close, not too far behind, walking into the house. The bodyguards and assistants behind were carrying all the things Wen Xian had brought back from London into the villa.
Because they knew Wen Xian was coming back, Duoduo and the butler hadn’t gone to rest yet. The chef was in the kitchen preparing a late-night snack.
As soon as Wen Xian stepped through the door, she smiled and greeted them: “Butler Uncle, Duoduo, I’m back! Where’s Wen Xianxian? Where’s Qiuqiu?”
She glanced around but didn’t see the two little ones. Duoduo looked at her and felt distressed right away: “Miss, you’ve only been gone a few days, but you’ve lost weight. The flesh on your face is all gone.”
Shen Lingge’s calm voice added from behind: “Getting up early in the morning without wearing a jacket to the ranch, catching a cold in the afternoon and getting a fever.”
Duoduo frowned: “Miss, you’re not a child anymore. You can’t do that again. Xian Xian and Qiuqiu are both sleeping in your room. These two little ones have been almost turning the house upside down these days.”
Wen Xian blinked and tugged at Duoduo’s hand, trying to act spoiled and get away with it: “Duoduo, I brought you all so many gifts. I didn’t even buy anything for myself.”
After saying that, she looked at Butler Uncle again: “Butler Uncle, I brought you lots of cheese.”
The butler smiled slightly, then spoke mercilessly: “I’ll go instruct the kitchen to adjust the prepared late-night snack. Miss, do you think drinking porridge is okay?”
Wen Xian wrinkled her face, struggling: “…I feel like that’s not quite okay.”
The butler bent down: “Understood, Miss. I’ll go prepare porridge now.”
Wen Xian: “……”
Wen Xian was thinking about Wen Xianxian and Qiuqiu. After drinking half a bowl of porridge, she slipped upstairs, leaving Shen Lingge alone sitting in the dining room eating late-night snacks by himself. He helplessly curved his lips.
Little heartless thing.
Shen Lingge went to the study to handle documents, then showered before coming back to sleep. When he entered the room, the little girl was already asleep hugging Qiuqiu, and Wen Xianxian was also sprawled out on the window ledge snoring with all four paws in the air.
Shen Lingge sent a message to his assistant, asking him to request half a day off for Wen Xian. Then he double-checked the monitoring for the days he wouldn’t be here—suspicious vehicles and suspicious individuals appearing around Wen Xian.
When he saw that the studio’s surveillance camera had been damaged, Shen Lingge slightly frowned, but the report said it had already been repaired in the past two days, and the back door lock had been changed as well.
As for that driver from the other day, they hadn’t been able to find any evidence or information showing contact with former employees of the Wen Group in the past six months. So on Shen Lingge’s side, they let the man go and handed it over to the police.
Shen Lingge’s face was slightly cold. These people definitely hadn’t just recently started targeting Wen Xian—it was likely they had been watching her for a long time already. But why only recently take action?
He felt a little uneasy in his heart.
After reading all the reports, Shen Lingge finally got into bed, picked Qiuqiu up and put it in its little nest, then pulled Wen Xian into his arms.
He didn’t turn off the light right away. Instead, he lowered his gaze and quietly looked at her sleeping face for quite a while before reaching out to switch off the light.
Maybe because she smelled a familiar scent, the little girl snuggled against him, very consciously finding a comfortable position. Not long after, she quietly stopped moving.
…
On the other side of Licheng.
Xu Chuwei held a wine glass, looking at the heavy night outside the window, and smiled faintly. The color of the red wine in the glass was rich and the aroma mellow. She thought absentmindedly: some things, if you can’t get them, then you can only destroy them.
She could only hope that the people protecting Wen Xian could protect her for a lifetime. Otherwise, she really didn’t know what else she might do.
Xu Chuwei lightly sipped a mouthful of red wine and sighed: “The world is treacherous.”
But when she thought of Shen Lingge, the smile on her face disappeared completely. She wanted to make him taste the pain of loving but not obtaining. If she couldn’t have Shen Lingge, then Shen Lingge also shouldn’t think about having Wen Xian.
The night wind blew past. The bright moon gradually faded.