Qi Shaorong got dressed and walked out, and everyone was present in the hall.
Qi Shaorong glanced at Mu Tingxuan, and said concernedly, "Tingxuan, are you okay?"
Mu Tingxuan looked the same as usual and said, "Don't worry Young Master, I'm fine."
Qi Shaorong looked at Mu Tingxuan and comforted him, "If you're not feeling well, I can let you take some time off. You know, it's rare for me to be this generous!"
Mu Tingxuan smiled and said, "Young Master, I'm really fine."
Mu Tingxuan lowered his head and some warmth flashed through his heart. These days, Qi Shaorong has been discussing the matter of cooperating with the Business Alliance, and he was very busy. Qi Shaorong had sacrificed a lot in order to let Mu Tingxuan get his revenge, so how could Mu Tingxuan possibly hinder Qi Shaorong's work at this time?
Everyone was gathered together and eating, when there was a sound of someone knocking on the door.
Qi Shaorong pulled his chopsticks, frowned, and said, "Who would visit us at this time? Could it be that they're looking for a free meal?"
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Mu Tingxuan clenched the chopsticks in his hand and suddenly stood up, saying, "I'll go see who it is!"
Yi Fan grabbed Mu Tingxuan's hand and said, "Let me go, maybe it's…"
Mu Tingxuan glanced at Yi Fan and said coldly, "If it's something that I have to do, then no matter what, I'll have to face it eventually."
Mu Tingxuan freed his hand from Yi Fan's grasp and walked out.
Looking at Mu Tingxuan's back, Yi Fan's heart felt empty.
Mu Tingxuan opened the door and saw Mu Xingzhi standing there.
Mu Tingxuan looked at the visitor and asked, "Who… Who are you looking for?"
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan, and his eyes suddenly became moist. Mu Xingzhi's lips were trembling and he said with a hoarse voice,"I'm looking for you!"
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi, lowered his head, and said, "Me? What for?"
"Can I talk to you alone?" Mu Xingzhi asked.
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi and said, "I don't think that there's anything for us to talk about!"
During Mu Tingxuan's childhood, he had never seen his father, not even once.
When he was younger and he saw all the other children being held in their fathers' arms, and he had also dreamed about his father appearing one day too. He didn't have any excessive demands for his father to be like other people's, but sometimes he still hoped that he and his father could at least have a chat, and just talk a little, but that never happened.
Mu Tingxuan remembered that when he was a child, there was a dog named A-Bao who always accompanied him. Back then, even if he was really hungry, he'd still share some of his food with the dog. Loneliness was really something that was hard to bear, but in his childhood, that dog was the only thing that stayed by his side wholeheartedly.
When he was five years old, Mu Yueshan cut open his body to take his wood-spirit core. At that time, in order to protect him, A-Bao had rushed forward and bit the people who came to catch him. As a result, it was beaten to death.
Mu Xingzhi lowered his head, his voice was shaky, and he said, "I'm sorry."
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi and said, "You don't have to tell me this." In any case, it was Mu Xingzhi who gave him this life, letting him see all the things in this world. He should still be grateful towards Mu Xingzhi.
"It won't take long, I just want to say a few words to you." Mu Xingzhi said sincerely.
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi, and finally took a deep breath, and said, "Although I don't think that there's anything worth talking about, but if you insist, then come in."
Qi Shaorong ate a piece of meat and said, "I wonder what Tingxuan and that old guy are going to talk about?"
Zhuang Hao moved to Yi Fan's side and said, "Hey, you're not going to go and eavesdrop on their conversation?"
Yi Fan, "��Eavesdropping isn't a very nice thing to do!"
Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan and said, "Are you really not going to? If you don't go now, then when they're done talking later, even if you want to eavesdrop on them, you would've already missed your chance!"
Yi Fan looked at Zhuang Hao and stood up and left.
Zhuang Hao approached Qi Shaorong and said, "Look at Yi Fan, this guy! He's not honest and upright at all!"
Qi Shaorong tilted his head, looking at Zhuang Hao, and said, "So if A-Fan isn't honest and upright, then you are?"
Zhuang Hao said matter-of-factly, "Of course, I'm the most honest and upright!"
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Chen Yuan silently gnawed on a steamed bun, pretending to be invisible. Chen Yuan sighed in his heart. As Chen Yuan was exposed to more and more of Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong's interactions, he felt that his bottom line was constantly being refreshed. Chen Yuan never would've expected that there was actually such a lively side to Zhuang Hao.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "I'm drinking water right now. If you continue telling me these corny jokes, be careful or I might accidentally spray a mouthful of water into your face."
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Mu Tingxuan stood at the side and said, "Just tell me what you want to say. Hurry up and leave when you're done."
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan and somewhat apologetically said, "How have you been these years?"
Mu Tingxuan crossed his arms and said lightly, "I've been well, the people I'm following are very good to me. I also have a few companions whom I trust with all my heart [1]. I think you already know that the Young Master even risked offending Yuan Country's Emperor for my sake, in order to let me get my revenge. Although I'm not liked by many people, there are still people who care about me."
Mu Xingzhi clenched his fists and said, "It's good that you've been doing well."
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi and said, "You didn't come here today just to ask me how I've been doing, right? If you came to ask me to be more lenient towards the Mu Family, then please leave. Young Master sacrificed so much for my sake, I can't do anything to drag him down at this time. Besides, deep in my heart, I don't want to let the Mu Family off either. The more miserable the Mu Family becomes, the happier I'll be."
"Am I really that kind of person in your eyes?" Mu Xingzhi asked, his voice trembling.
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi indifferently and said, "Then what should I think? When I was younger, I only ever heard about the things that you did for the family, and what contributions you made, that's it."
"Because my preordained fate wasn't good and there was a chance that it could put the Mu Family in peril, you sent me away from the Mu Family without even looking into the situation at all. During those five years that I spent with the Mu Family, you carried out numerous tasks for the Mu family, but did you ever care about how I was living? I think that you probably felt that the Mu Family sparing my life was already good enough, right?"
"I'm really sorry." Mu Xingzhi closed his eyes. He was brainwashed by the family from the moment he was born, believing that his sole reason for living was to benefit the Mu Family.
However, everything changed after he heard about Mu Tingxuan's death. At that moment, Mu Xing couldn't understand why he was so loyal to the family, but it's a pity that by the time that he finally became clear-headed, it was already too late.
Mu Tingxuan looked at Mu Xingzhi and said indifferently, "You don't need to tell me this. You gave me this life, in any case, I should still be grateful towards you, but I don't owe you anything. When my wood-spirit core was taken from me when I was five, I had exhausted all my life force and I almost breathed my last. It was Uncle [2] who brought me to Yuan Country, and by a stroke of good luck, I survived."
"I have already died once, and the life that I owe to you has already been returned to the Mu Family that you love so much."
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan, who had a calm expression on his face, and said, "I'm sorry."
"I'm doing well now. If there isn't an emergency or you don't have any particular reason for being here, then I hope you won't come find me again?" Mu Tingxuan said.
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan. He was shaking all over but he couldn't say a word.
"Father, I'm sorry, you take care." Mu Xingzhi still had a bellyful of things that he wanted to say, but in front of Mu Tingxuan's clear eyes, he felt that those words would be feeble and useless.
Mu Xingzhi left in a daze. Mu Tingxuan clenched his fists and stood in the courtyard for a long time.
Yi Fan walked over, hugged Mu Tingxuan, and said, "If you want to cry, just cry. Don't hold back, it'll be better if you cry it all out."
Mu Tingxuan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm too old to cry now."
Yi Fan pursed his lips, and some feelings of grief and distress emerged in his heart.
"A-Fan, you like me, right?" Mu Tingxuan asked, looking at Yi Fan.
Yi Fan's heart trembled, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous, "Yeah."
"What do you like about me?" Mu Tingxuan asked puzzledly.
Yi Fan smiled and said, "I don't know what I like about you, I just like you a lot."
"Thank you!"
Yi Fan hugged Mu Tingxuan, and said, "Why are you thanking me for something like this?"
Mu Tingxuan gave him a weak smile and said, "When I was a child, I always wanted people to like me, but everyone only saw me as a symbol of disaster, so being liked by someone makes me feel very happy."
Yi Fan couldn't help holding Mu Tingxuan a little tighter in his arms, "You've grown up already, that's all in the past now."
"A-Fan, let's do it!"
Yi Fan was taken aback for a moment, and it was as if fireworks had been set off in his head, "I���"
"You don't want to?"
Yi Fan flushed, and said, "No, no, it's just too sudden."
Yi Fan's face was full of embarrassment, and he was in a state of shock. There was someone else who was even more shocked than him. Zhuang Hao looked at Yi Fan and Mu Tingxuan as they left together from a distance, and he felt deeply distressed in his heart.
[T/n: Young people these days sure move quickly, eh? Seriously though, that was unexpected lol.]
Zhuang Hao returned in a daze. Chen Yuan looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "A-Hao, didn't you go tell Yi Fan and Mu Tingxuan to come back and eat? Where are they?"
Zhuang Hao smiled dryly and said, "There's no need to go call them, they probably don't have much of an appetite, they won't feel like eating right now."
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "What's wrong with you? Why do you look like you just received a huge shock!"
Zhuang Hao turned his head and looked at Qi Shaorong, saying, "I look like that?"
Chen Yuan nodded quickly and said, "Yeah, you look like you just received a devastating blow."
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "What happened?"
Zhuang Hao shook his head and said, "It's nothing, it's just that Yi Fan and Mu Tingxuan have gone to roll in the bedsheets together."
Qi Shaorong spat out a mouthful of water, and sprayed Zhuang Hao right in the face.
"Are you sure, could it be that Yi Fan forced himself on Mu Tingxuan? No way!" Qi Shaorong muttered.
"No, Mu Tingxuan was the one who suggested doing it."
Qi Shaorong tilted his head, blinked, and said, "Ah! I really couldn't tell! Tingxuan is actually so unconstrained and open-minded."
Zhuang Hao, "Yi Fan this guy, taking advantage of the situation, what a scoundrel…"
Zhuang Hao thought to himself: Yi Fan this guy's way too devious, taking advantage of Mu Tingxuan when he was emotionally vulnerable, it's really too treacherous. Yi Fan cheated [3]! A few days ago, he even looked down on Yi Fan, ridiculing Yi Fan for not making any progress with Mu Tingxuan. As a result, he never expected that the two would get together this quickly.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "What's the matter with you? Your complexion looks so bad! "
"A-Hao is just jealous, it's nothing!" Chen Yuan said flippantly.
Qi Shaorong, "Jealous, why are you jealous? Rolling on the sheets just means that there's an extra person lying on the bed, and less space for you on the bed when you're sleeping. What's so great about that?"
Chen Yuan: " …"
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "I'll sleep with you tonight!"
Qi Shaorong rolled his eyes and said, "Go cool yourself off, don't overthink it."
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Footnotes:
Trust with all my heart: "To give one's bare heart into somebody else's keeping" (idiom); to trust completely; to confide in somebody with sincerity.
Uncle: Maternal uncle.
Cheated: To practise fraud; cheat; indulge in corrupt practices. Idk what ZH is talking about lol. Maybe he feels like YF just got lucky this time and it's not fair how quickly YF and MTX progressed in their relationship.