Jiang Zhu wanted to go inside to get money for Li Shan. The things he had brought up weren’t cheap—meat and rice and flour, all of it must have cost several hundred yuan!
Li Shan had already helped her so much. Now, she couldn’t take advantage of his kindness.
Fortunately, Fu Shiwen had given her some money, which she could give to Li Shan.
As she was searching for the money in her bag, Fu Shiwen, lying on the bed, asked, “Is he your friend? Does he live at the foot of the mountain?”
Jiang Zhu found the money, hummed an acknowledgment, and was about to head out the door.
Fu Shiwen quickly added, “Does your friend have a cell phone? I’d like to call my family.”
Jiang Zhu stopped in her tracks and said, “He does, but the mountain has no signal.”
It took Fu Shiwen only a second to come up with another plan. “Could you call your friend in here? I’d like to talk to him.”
“Okay.” Jiang Zhu agreed. She went to the door and said to Li Shan, “He’s looking for you.” She pointed inside.
Li Shan had overheard their conversation and walked in, asking, “What do you need me for?”
Fu Shiwen smiled and asked, “Greetings, brother. How should I address you?”
“Li Shan.”
“Brother Li Shan, I’d like you to make a phone call to my family for me. There should definitely be a signal down the mountain. Could you let them know I’m safe?”
Li Shan nodded. “Sure. Write down the number for me.”
Jiang Zhu found him some paper and a pen. Fu Shiwen wrote down his mother’s number, handed it to Li Shan, and said, “I’m counting on you, Brother Li Shan. Call this number—if it doesn’t go through, try a few more times.”
His family situation was unusual; they generally didn’t answer calls from strangers.
He added, “If it really won’t connect, please send a text message instead. Just say I’m trapped on the mountain and won’t be back until next spring.”
Li Shan folded the note and tucked it into his coat. “Alright, I understand.”
Seeing that they had finished talking, Jiang Zhu walked over to Li Shan, took out the money, and said, “Here, for you.”
Li Shan pushed the money back. “No need. Keep it for yourself.”
“Take it, take it. Please.”
“Really, I don’t need it. Those things weren’t worth much. As long as you’re doing well, that’s enough.” Li Shan said as he headed toward the door. “I really have to go now—the snow is getting heavier.”
Jiang Zhu chased after him to press the money into his hands, but he refused no matter what. He quickly led his little donkey down the mountain.
Jiang Zhu ran after him for a while but couldn’t catch up, so she could only stop and call out loudly, “Thank you!”
Li Shan turned around and gave her a bright smile. “No need to thank me! Go back inside! Don’t catch a cold!”
“Okay!” Jiang Zhu sighed and turned back toward the wooden cabin, thinking she would give him the money next year.
Back inside, she quickly shut the door to keep out the cold and hurried over to the fire to warm herself.
Her clothes weren’t very thick, and having just been outside for a bit, she was chilled to the bone.
Fu Shiwen finished his breakfast and said, “You should eat your breakfast quickly, before it gets cold.”
Jiang Zhu only then remembered she hadn’t finished her own breakfast. She picked up the leftovers and sat by the fire to eat, where it was warm.
Meanwhile, Li Shan spent over an hour descending the mountain and returned home.
Mindful of Fu Shiwen’s request and worried that his family would be anxious if he delayed, he immediately made the phone call.
It took three attempts before the call connected. A woman’s voice came through on the other end: “Hello, may I ask what this is about?”
Li Shan thought the voice on the other end sounded quite pleasant, so he said, “May I ask if you’re a family member of Fu Shiwen?”
“Yes, I’m his mother. Has something happened to him?”
Li Shan was somewhat surprised—Fu Shiwen’s mother sounded so young. Her voice seemed to be that of someone in her early thirties, though he couldn’t tell her exact age.
At the same time, a deep male voice came through the phone, asking, “Has A-Shi gotten into trouble?”
Wei Yuxian shook her head gently and whispered to him, “I don’t know yet, I’m asking.”
Fu Xuanyi wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead, saying nothing more.
Wei Yuxian asked again, “Hello, has something happened to Fu Shiwen?”
Li Shan snapped back to attention and said, “Oh right, he’s gotten into trouble. He fell and broke his leg while mountain climbing. He’s staying up on the mountain now, and he probably won’t be able to come back until next spring.”
“He asked me to call you and let you know.”
Wei Yuxian’s brows furrowed slightly, her face full of worry as she asked, “How is he? Is it serious? Is there any danger to his life?”
Li Shan quickly said, “No, no, he’s perfectly safe. He just broke his leg and can’t walk, so he needs to rest. It’s snowing up here, and I expect the heavy snow will block the road by tomorrow, so no one will be able to get up the mountain.”
“But he’s really fine. My friend is up there taking care of him, and my friend knows medicine, so Fu Shiwen won’t have any problems. A—Auntie, please don’t worry.”
Hearing such a young voice on the other end, Li Shan almost couldn’t bring himself to use that form of address—the word “auntie” felt strangely awkward on his tongue!
“Alright, I understand. Thank you, young man.” Wei Yuxian felt relieved after learning the situation. As long as there was no danger to his life, that was what mattered.
She asked one more question: “Could you tell me where he is?”
That brat had run off without a word, only saying he was going out to relax without even mentioning where, making everyone worry.
Li Shan gave her the address, and Wei Yuxian thanked him again, saying, “If anything comes up in the future, feel free to call this number. Thank you for your trouble, young man.”
“You’re welcome, Auntie. I will, Auntie.” Li Shan said, “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now. Goodbye, Auntie.”
Wei Yuxian replied in a warm tone, “Goodbye.”
After hanging up, Fu Xuanyi asked in a low voice, “What happened?”
Wei Yuxian set her phone aside and leaned into his embrace, saying, “Shishi went mountain climbing and ended up falling off the mountain. Fortunately, a kind person found him, so nothing too serious happened.”
“He’s trapped up on the mountain now. He broke his leg and needs to rest, and since it’s snowing, he can’t come down. He won’t be able to return until next spring. It shouldn’t be anything major.”
Fu Xuanyi’s expression darkened after hearing this. It wasn’t that he was worried about Fu Shiwen’s condition—rather, he didn’t want to clean up Fu Shiwen’s mess.
With his son away, he’d have to step up and handle things at the Fu Corporation. That would mean less time spent with his darling.
Wei Yuxian looked at his cold expression—after all these years, she was no longer afraid of it. She reached out and gently touched the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, saying, “It’s fine. How about I go to the company with you? I’ll work alongside you.”
Having been with him for so many years, Wei Yuxian understood him quite well—one look in his eyes and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Only then did Fu Xuanyi’s expression soften. He hummed in acknowledgment.
Wei Yuxian pinched his cheek and said with a smile, “It’s been so many years, why are you still so reluctant to smile? You’ve even passed your aloofness on to Zhizhi. Good thing the other three took after me.”
Fu Xuanyi caught her mischievous hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it gently.