Xie Qingmian blinked again. “Brother.”
There was nothing left in Xie Chenque’s mind. It was as if something had exploded inside his head.
His hand trembling, he hurried over to Xie Qingmian in three steps and grabbed his hand, asking again, “Mianmian is calling me ‘Brother’?”
Xie Qingmian wrinkled his nose, thinking about how to tell Xie Chenque that he was no longer a fool.
But before he could say anything, Xie Chenque suddenly pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly.
“Mianmian, you’re better?! Daoist Qingyun was telling the truth!”
Xie Qingmian immediately caught the four words “Daoist Qingyun.”
He had just opened his mouth to ask what Daoist Qingyun had to do with this when the police outside came rushing in.
Xie Chenque shielded Xie Qingmian behind him.
“What happened?” he asked in a low voice.
The police officer who had spent the entire night helping Xie Chenque review the surveillance footage looked solemn. He turned to Xie Chenque and said, “Someone reported a murder here.”
Xie Chenque frowned and hurriedly asked Xie Qingmian whether he was hurt.
Xie Qingmian: …
He was fine. He had not expected the police report to come at exactly the same time Xie Chenque found him.
Seeing this, Xu Keke tactfully stepped forward on his own. “That was me. I made the call.”
The police officer stared at Xu Keke for a long while, apparently trying to decide whether he was reliable.
“Come with me for a moment.”
Zhou Kai followed them. “I’ll come too.”
Xie Chenque took Xie Qingmian to a corner on the other side of the room. As soon as they got there, he grabbed Xie Qingmian and gave him a thorough once-over. “Are you hurt? Let your brother take a look.”
After turning Xie Qingmian this way and that and examining him carefully from head to toe, Xie Chenque finally let him go once he had confirmed there were no injuries.
Xie Qingmian lifted his head dizzily and looked at Xie Chenque’s face, waiting for him to say whatever came next.
But nothing came. After finishing his examination of his younger brother, Xie Chenque merely pressed his lips together, as though trying to figure out how to begin.
The atmosphere between them suddenly became strange. The yin-filled living room seemed to split into two halves. On one side, the police were seriously questioning Xu Keke. On the other, the two men stood close together in silence, neither of them speaking.
It was not until the police finished questioning Xu Keke that one of them came over and quietly said something to Xie Chenque.
Xie Chenque broke the silence. “Then I’ll take him home first.”
“Of course, of course.”
Xie Chenque rested a hand on top of Xie Qingmian’s head and gently ruffled his hair. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Xie Qingmian gave a soft “oh” and obediently followed Xie Chenque.
Once he was sitting in the passenger seat of the Maybach that Zhou Kai had watched with such burning intensity, Xie Qingmian lowered his head and fiddled with the seat belt, trying to figure out how to fasten it.
A shadow suddenly leaned toward him. The next moment, there was a crisp click.
“There.”
Xie Chenque withdrew, pressed the accelerator, and turned the car around onto the asphalt road.
Xie Chenque did not take Xie Qingmian straight home. He first took him to the hospital for a complete examination. Only after confirming that nothing was wrong did he bring him home.
The car was silent on the way back. It was not until they stopped at an intersection to wait for a red light that Xie Chenque suddenly spoke.
“When did you get better?”
Xie Qingmian did not want to keep pretending to be a fool. Xie Chenque had realized at a glance that he was no longer mentally impaired, and it was not merely because of that “Brother,” which had come twenty years late. It was also because of his eyes.
“After I fell from above, I was still very confused when I woke up. Then I slept, and when I woke up, I was completely better.” Xie Qingmian lowered his head and looked at the seat belt fastened across his chest.
“Was it that kindhearted young man named Xu Keke who took you home?”
“Mm.”
Xie Chenque let out a heavy sigh. “All right. I understand.”
He had thought Daoist Qingyun was a fraud. Now it seemed he would have to have a serious talk with their parents when they got home.
The Xie family home was a hillside estate in the center of the city. The car slowly drove into the estate and finally stopped in front of a fountain that was constantly spraying water into the air.
Xie Qingmian had spent the whole journey studying the seat belt. By the time they arrived, he could undo it with ease.
As soon as he got out of the car, Pei Junshu threw her arms around him with a sob.
“Come here and let Mom take a look. Our Mianmian has suffered so much.”
Well, he had not really suffered. All in all, he had only been gone for a day.
Once Pei Junshu released him, Xie Fu reached out and patted Xie Qingmian on the head. “You’re home.”
Xie Qingmian had never experienced such warmth before. He felt a little undeserving of it.
What puzzled him most was that neither Xie Fu nor Pei Junshu seemed surprised in the slightest that the original owner had suddenly regained consciousness.
As he was thinking about this, he heard Pei Junshu say, “Daoist Qingyun was telling the truth. Our Mianmian is finally better.”
Daoist Qingyun again.
Pei Junshu led him into the house by the hand. As soon as he sat down, Xie Qingmian seized the opportunity to ask, “Mom, who is Daoist Qingyun?”
Pei Junshu patted his hand. Instead of explaining right away, she turned to Xie Fu.
Xie Fu understood her look. He silently got up and went to the study on the second floor. When he came back down, he was holding an exquisitely carved wooden box.
“Daoist Qingyun asked us to give this to you. He said you would understand when you saw it.”
Xie Qingmian took the wooden box, which had a slight weight to it.
It was a box with a character lock. It could be opened by arranging the correct password from among the many characters.
While Xie Qingmian was examining the box, Xie Chenque came in from outside after parking the car. “Dad, Mom, let Mianmian get some proper rest first.”
Pei Junshu hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes. Mianmian should rest first. There’s no hurry.”
Faced with Pei Junshu’s concern, Xie Qingmian felt a little flustered. He tightened his grip on the box and gave a quiet hum.
Following his memories, Xie Qingmian returned to his room and closed the door before letting out a long breath. He took the wooden box and flopped down onto the bed.
What a soft bed.
Xie Qingmian rolled around twice and let out a long sigh. Then he sat up and resumed studying the box.
The moment he saw the character lock, he spotted three characters among the many options.
Bo Tingjun.
Xie Qingmian knew that name all too well. It belonged to the dog emperor who had personally appointed him State Preceptor of the Great Yuan dynasty.
Holding the wooden box, Xie Qingmian sank into memories.
He wondered how that dog emperor had fared after his death.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The knock on the door disrupted Xie Qingmian’s memories. He quickly placed the wooden box on the bedside table, then hurried over to open the door.
It was Xie Chenque.
“Brother?” Xie Qingmian asked blankly. “Is there something else?”
Xie Chenque handed him the item in his hand. “A new phone. Didn’t your old one get damaged?”
Xie Qingmian had completely forgotten about that. If Xie Chenque had not suddenly found him, he would probably be following Xu Keke to get his phone repaired right now.
He accepted the phone happily. “Thank you, Brother.”
Xie Chenque’s lips curved upward. “Why are you thanking your brother? Go get some rest, and don’t stay up playing too late.”
“Okay.”
After the door closed again, Xie Qingmian set the phone aside and picked up the wooden box.
Resting was impossible. He desperately wanted to know what was going on with Daoist Qingyun.
Xie Qingmian had heard the name Qingyun before.
More precisely, he had heard it a thousand years ago.
So when that name was mentioned again today, something stirred faintly in the depths of his heart.
It should be… a coincidence, right? There were at least eight thousand people named Qingyun, if not ten thousand.
Xie Qingmian arranged the characters of the password into Bo Tingjun’s name. At last, he placed his fingertip over the switch and paused.
He gently rubbed the wooden box, then finally pressed the switch.
The lid sprang open a crack. Xie Qingmian opened the box and saw what was inside.
At the bottom of the box lay a handkerchief embroidered with a dragon pattern. Resting on it was a wolf-hair brush carved with clouds and cranes.
The moment he saw the contents clearly, Xie Qingmian’s fingers abruptly curled. His wrist trembled, and he nearly dropped the brush.
He hurriedly took the wolf-hair brush out of the box and ran his fingers over the cloud-and-crane carving, as though confirming something.
When his fingertip reached a familiar spot, Xie Qingmian finally confirmed it. This was the brush Bo Tingjun had given him, the one he had used most often in his study.
It seemed he really did need to meet Daoist Qingyun.
…
At dinnertime, Xie Qingmian came downstairs right on schedule.
When Pei Junshu saw him, her heart ached again. “Didn’t you go rest? How do you look even more tired after resting?”
Xie Qingmian held his chopsticks and gave a reserved smile.
He had not slept or rested at all. After seeing that brush, how could he possibly have been in the mood to sleep?
He changed the subject. “Where’s Big Brother? Why isn’t he here for dinner?”
“Your brother went to the company. He won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“Oh.”
Throughout the meal, Xie Qingmian kept thinking about how to ask about Daoist Qingyun.
The dining table was quiet. The only voice was Pei Junshu’s whenever she served food to Xie Qingmian.
“Here, eat this. Look how thin you’ve gotten.”
It really was not necessary. He had only been missing for a day.
“Have some of this too. Eat more. Look how little you’re eating.”
He was not a pig!
“After dinner, would you like to go shopping with Mom, Mianmian? You need some new clothes anyway.”
If he remembered correctly, the wardrobe in his room was already full…
At last, Xie Qingmian could not hold back.
“Mom…”
Pei Junshu put down her bowl and chopsticks. “You don’t want to go shopping with Mom?”
“That’s not it.” Xie Qingmian bit down on his chopsticks. “Mom, what’s the story with Daoist Qingyun? Why aren’t you surprised at all that I’m like this now?”
After Xie Qingmian finished speaking, Xie Fu and Pei Junshu exchanged a look and both put down their bowls and chopsticks.
“If Mianmian wants to know, you can go find Daoist Qingyun,” Pei Junshu answered first. “But he’s very difficult to track down.”
Xie Fu said in a deep voice, “After you were born, you inexplicably suffered from a brain disorder. All your prenatal checkups had been normal, and even after you were born, the best hospitals couldn’t figure out what was wrong.”
“In the end, Daoist Qingyun came to us on his own. He said your heart-soul was incomplete, trapped somewhere, and that it needed the right opportunity.”
“Then, early this morning, he suddenly sent someone to tell us that your heart-soul had returned.”
Xie Fu had not believed Daoist Qingyun’s nonsense either. As a scholar, he believed only in science and medicine.
But after taking Xie Qingmian to hospital after hospital and hearing that none of them could explain his condition, he had gradually begun to doubt his own beliefs.
What finally made him believe completely was a certain incident.
…
After breakfast, Xie Qingmian returned to his room.
Having listened to Xie Fu’s explanation, Xie Qingmian was completely at a loss.
What was going on? Had Daoist Qingyun calculated that he would wake up, or what?
Xie Qingmian’s breathing grew heavier as he sat on the cushioned window seat, staring blankly at the view outside.
He remained there until Pei Junshu knocked on the door.
Pei Junshu straightened his hair for him. “Change your clothes and come shopping with Mom.”
Xie Qingmian paused, then answered meekly, “Okay.”
Two hours later, at the shopping mall…
If Xie Qingmian had known in advance how much Pei Junshu loved shopping, he absolutely, definitely, under no circumstances would have agreed to come out!
He was now sitting on a bench in the lounge of an international clothing brand, his eyes slightly vacant.
Pei Junshu came over from the other side. “Mianmian.”
Xie Qingmian looked over. When he noticed the pile of clothes in the sales associate’s hands behind her, terror gradually filled his eyes.
Sure enough, he heard the familiar words.
“Go try these on. I think they’d all suit you.”
“…”
Xie Qingmian wanted to run.
But he could not. Pei Junshu pushed him into the fitting room, and he began his struggle against the pile of clothes with a bitter expression.
As soon as Xie Qingmian entered, the smile on Pei Junshu’s face changed. The almost overflowing tenderness became an elegant, cool smile.
She walked over to the other lounge and sat down.
There were several wealthy wives in the lounge who had been whispering among themselves. When they saw Pei Junshu approach, they tacitly fell silent. After exchanging a few glances, they all rose and drifted over to sit at her table.
“Mrs. Xie.”
Pei Junshu gave them a slight nod.
“Is this your… younger son?”
Pei Junshu’s lips twitched. “Yes. This is Mianmian.”
The women looked at one another again. Pei Junshu noticed every one of those looks.
After answering them, she no longer joined their conversation. Instead, she turned to look toward the fitting-room entrance, waiting for Xie Qingmian to come out.
Meanwhile, Xie Qingmian was having a difficult time changing into the first outfit in the fitting room.
More precisely, it was the first outfit selected from this particular shop.
Before entering this store, he had already visited several others and changed into countless outfits and pairs of shoes.
Numb.jpg
Once he had changed into the first outfit, Xie Qingmian came out with a trace of distress between his brows. “Mom, can I just wear this one?”
Pei Junshu: …
Why was her younger son exactly like her older son when it came to shopping?
Pei Junshu softened her voice. “Try on two more. That white jacket is nice, and the red sweatshirt looks good too.”
Xie Qingmian searched through the pile of clothes with difficulty, trying to remember which ones she meant. Then he nodded. “Okay.”
He returned to the fitting room to change, while the wealthy wives beside Pei Junshu were unable to conceal their shock after seeing Xie Qingmian with their own eyes.
One of them was the first to lose control and speak. “Mrs. Xie, your younger son’s… head is better?”
Pei Junshu glanced at them. “Didn’t you see for yourselves?”
Her attitude silenced the woman, who did not dare ask anything else.
Pei Junshu waited until Xie Qingmian had tried on two more outfits, praising each of them with a smile.
“Pack up everything we just looked at. For the jacket and sweatshirt, get another color of each as well. Just deliver them to the Xie residence.”
The sales associate happily agreed.
Xie Qingmian changed back into his own clothes. When he saw Pei Junshu leading him away from the men’s section, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Pei Junshu took him to their usual restaurant for dinner.
“Mom, what was going on with those people just now?”
Pei Junshu rinsed his bowl and chopsticks with water. “You noticed?”
Xie Qingmian did not answer directly.
The malice in those women’s eyes had practically spilled out of the screen. How could he have ignored it?
“Your brother released the news that you’ve recovered. He probably wants to draw out whoever was behind this.”
“The person who pushed me?”
Pei Junshu nodded. Remembering how she had reacted when she received the news, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.
She looked up at Xie Qingmian as he cracked open a crab shell, then slowly exhaled the pent-up air in her chest.
Fortunately, it was all over. Her younger son had a bright future ahead of him now.
They returned home after dinner, and as soon as he arrived, Xie Qingmian found himself facing a mountain of clothes. Fortunately, the household staff handled them, so he did not have to put anything away himself.
Once the clothes had been arranged in the dressing room, Xie Qingmian lay back down on his bed.
He held the familiar wolf-hair brush until exhaustion swept over him and he fell asleep.
A little after midnight, the entire estate was silent.
A figure appeared out of thin air in Xie Qingmian’s room.
The figure stood by the window, watching the person on the bed from neither near nor far. It did not leave until the moon had risen above the treetops.
…