After eating until he was about ninety percent full, Qi Xu finally set down his chopsticks and casually picked up the wine in front of Shen Fengkai to pour himself a glass.
Shen Zhuohai and Zeng Yun looked at him in surprise again.
Zeng Yun called out carefully, “Xiaoxu.”
After Qi Xu finished pouring himself a drink, he poured some for the Shen couple too. “Dad, Mom, do you want some too?”
Zeng Yun noticed the arm bared by the motion of lifting his sleeve while pouring. There were several burn scars on it.
Light brown, starkly visible against the pale skin around them.
And under his clothes, who knew how many more scars there were that she did not know about.
In a place like Qijia Village, raised by someone like Qi Guohui, what on earth had Qi Xu gone through over the past eighteen years?
Hearing that, Shen Zeyu looked up. “Dad and Mom aren’t in good health, they can’t drink alcohol.”
Zeng Yun dabbed at the corner of her eye. “It’s fine.”
Shen Zeyu insisted, “The doctor said no drinking.”
For some reason, Qi Xu thought again of the scene from back then when Shen Zeyu would not let Xie Huai and him toast to him.
He was brimming with confidence, with everyone able to back him up, all of them firm support at his back.
Qi Xu gave a soft “oh,” then poured both of the newly filled glasses into his own and said carelessly, “Still have to follow the doctor’s orders. My younger brother is still little, he needs someone to take care of him.”
Shen Zeyu did not like the way Qi Xu spoke to him like that. After hearing it, it felt like a stone was lodged in his chest, making it hard to breathe. Clearly they were both born on the same day, so why split things so clearly?
Shen Fengkai remained silent, but there was a little more scrutiny in the way he looked at Qi Xu.
This younger brother had hidden his ambition away and gained a bit more restraint. That was indeed more useful than throwing a tantrum.
Zeng Yun handed Shen Zeyu and Qi Xu each a gift box. “I prepared these gifts for you.”
Shen Zeyu said delightedly, “Mom, when did you secretly prepare gifts behind my back?”
Qi Xu already knew what was inside, because he had once rejected it with disdain.
He accepted it with both hands. “Thank you, Mom.”
Zeng Yun said, “Open it and see if you like it. These are two sapphires. I hope that as descendants of the Shen family, you can join hands and move forward together in the days ahead.”
Shen Zeyu froze halfway through opening the box at those words, then closed it again. “Mom, I already have a lot of gemstones. Can I donate them to build schools for children in the mountains? There are many younger than me who can’t go to school because their regions are underdeveloped. It’s so sad.”
Shen Fengkai said with relief, “Don’t you like gemstones the most? Keep them. The company has a charity association and is already donating to mountain development projects.”
Shen Zeyu linked his arm through Zeng Yun’s and looked at her with determination. “Mom, I want to do my part too.”
Zeng Yun gently rubbed Shen Zeyu’s head. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
This was the first gift Qi Xu had received in his eighteen years of life. He stared at the sapphires without blinking. They were clear and translucent, like glass.
He had liked collecting glass marbles since he was little. Qi Guohui would not give him money, and even the red envelopes he received for New Year were snatched away. He could only help the convenience store owner sweep up melon seed shells at the door every day. The broom was taller than Qi Xu himself, and after sweeping for a week, he could get one glass marble.
Back then, Qi Xu had felt as if he were seeing the jewel of life itself, his eyes shining. But when he heard Shen Zeyu’s selfless words, he gave a cold laugh, threw the gem onto the table, and said he did not want it, take it all and donate it then.
“Mom.” Qi Xu’s eyes were clear, even more transparent than the sapphire in his hand.
Zeng Yun answered, “What is it, Xiaoxu?”
Qi Xu smiled and said sincerely, “Can you buy me a safe to keep the gemstones in?”
Everyone at the table froze.
Shen Zhuohai said, “It’s not anything that valuable. Just keep it yourself.”
Qi Xu said, “I’ve never seen one. I’m afraid I’ll lose it.”
In the end, they still did not buy him a safe, because the Shen family felt it was unnecessary. How much could a sapphire even cost?
The Shen couple did not linger in the dining room for long. After dinner they went upstairs to rest, and Shen Zeyu glanced at Qi Xu before going upstairs too.
Only Shen Fengkai and Qi Xu were left in the dining room.
Qi Xu sipped his wine in small mouthfuls. Shen Fengkai saw how skillfully he swirled the goblet, his movements elegant, and it did not look like his first time drinking at all.
Well, newcomers were curious. Maybe while they were not around, he had secretly opened the wine cabinet and tasted it.
Qi Xu noticed Shen Fengkai’s gaze and kept ignoring him. He picked up his wineglass and stood to leave.
He had only taken one step when Shen Fengkai said, “I’m the eldest brother in the family. You and Zeyu are both my younger brothers. If anything comes up in the future, you can come to me. Mom and Dad are getting on in years, so we can’t let them handle everything.”
Among the Shen family, Qi Xu disliked dealing with Shen Fengkai the most. This man often decided things for him before the fact and forced his own interpretation onto him.
Qi Xu had not accepted the sapphire. After dinner, Shen Fengkai had said to him, “You don’t need to copy Zeyu at every turn. You two are different. If you like it, keep it yourself. The family is not short of one little thing like this.”
Qi Xu could not bear the way he spoke, and he snapped back on the spot. The two of them nearly argued every time they met.
After the parents found out, Shen Fengkai had once again stepped forward as the eldest brother and said that Qi Xu had been wild from a young age, so of course his personality was like that. As an older brother, he would not hold it against him.
Qi Xu took a sip of wine and said calmly, “I don’t have anything I need to find you for, and I don’t need to find them either. As for you, if there’s nothing else, don’t come looking for me either. Let’s each mind our own business, okay?”
Without waiting for Shen Fengkai to answer, Qi Xu went upstairs and returned to his room.
Just now, he had casually taken two cups. After stepping out onto the balcony, he glanced toward the moon and poured the wine from the goblet into the two cups separately.
Different cups filled with red wine were placed facing the moon.
A tribute unlike any before or after began.
On the first day after his rebirth, Qi Xu thought and thought, and still decided he had to thank heaven. He had nothing else on hand to offer as a tribute, so he could only pour three cups of wine as a temporary measure.
Qi Xu rested both hands on the railing and looked up at the moon half-hidden by dark clouds, muttering to himself, “Once I’m better, I’ll definitely treat you to mountains of meat and seafood, all the delicacies of the world.”
The night was deep, the light dim and hazy. The evening breeze stirred the strands of hair at his forehead. In him, there was stillness, there was drift, there was a body, but inside it was all barren.
The dark clouds above dispersed. A bright moon hung in the sky, stars dotted the heavens, and a patch of sanctified light fell on Qi Xu, filling in the empty places little by little, piece by piece.
A moment later, Qi Xu picked up the wine he had finished offering and drank it all in one go. “My turn to drink now. Don’t waste it.”
After a slight buzz from the alcohol, Qi Xu slept especially soundly. When he opened his eyes, it was already ten the next morning, and he was determined to make up for every bit of sleep he had not gotten in his previous life.
The closet was full of clothes the butler had prepared for him. Qi Xu pulled on a black hoodie at random and went downstairs.
Today, he had to go to the bank to get a card, and he might as well buy some necessities.
Shen Zeyu was in the front yard downstairs with Zeng Yun, helping her plant flowers and handing her whatever she needed at any moment. He had always been a thoughtful little cotton jacket.
Zeng Yun wiped Shen Zeyu’s sweat with a handkerchief. This child had been unable to stand the sun since he was small. One little bit of it and his whole face would turn red.
“You don’t have to stay here with me. Didn’t you bring gifts back for your friends when you traveled? Why not invite them over to play?”
Shen Zeyu let Zeng Yun fuss over him. “I can see friends anytime. Right now I want to stay home with you.”
Zeng Yun was pleased to the point of floating. Her eldest son and husband were busy with their careers, and only her youngest son stayed by her side. He had a few little moods now and then, but he always considered her in everything. Every year on her birthday, he and his eldest brother would rack their brains to create a surprise for her.
How could she bear to give up the child she had raised with her own hands and hand him over to someone like that?
Every time Qi Xu came downstairs, he ran into scenes of family harmony. He was used to it.
As soon as Zeng Yun saw Qi Xu, she quickly let go of the hand wiping Shen Zeyu’s sweat. “Xiaoxu, you’re up?”
Qi Xu greeted her naturally. “Mom, good morning.”
When he finished speaking, he did not stop. He headed straight for the door.
Zeng Yun jogged after him. “You’re going out? Not eating breakfast?”
Qi Xu stopped. “I have something to do. I’ll get lunch outside.”
Zeng Yun stuffed a bank card into Qi Xu’s hand. “This is pocket money from your dad and me. The password is your birthday.”
Qi Xu’s fingertips brushed the corner of the card. He looked up and met Shen Zeyu’s dark, unreadable gaze. He accepted it gladly. “Thank you, Mom. If nothing’s come up, I’ll be going now.”
Zeng Yun watched Qi Xu’s departing figure anxiously. Maybe because of blood ties, she instinctively wanted to be good to Qi Xu, but she did not know how to interact with him.
His personality was the complete opposite of Zeyu’s. He did not act spoiled, did not throw his weight around, was too independent, and cold as ice, leaving her, as a mother, at a complete loss.
Qi Xu did not know what Zeng Yun was thinking after he left, and he had no time to speculate.
After getting the bank card sorted out, Qi Xu found a stir-fry shop in the city to solve lunch. Since starting work, he had never gone to the dingy little eateries by the roadside again.
Because places like this did not fit his status. A young master from a wealthy family would never appear somewhere like this.
He would show up in suits and ties every day at all kinds of meetings, slaughtering people across the negotiating table. One day, after working overtime, he was both exhausted and hungry, and had the driver take him to the dingy eatery he used to go to often when he was in college.
He had not even gotten out of the car when Shen Zhuohai called.
“What kind of conduct is it to go to a place like that? Get back here. We have a top chef at home cooking for you, and that still isn’t enough? Qi Xu, just what do you want?”
The identity of a wealthy young master weighed on Qi Xu so heavily that he could barely breathe. He was tense, every move watched, and the Shen family was terrified he would do something embarrassing.
He would never do what was expected of him. What belonged to him would not run away, and what did not belong to him, no matter how hard he fought for it, would never be his.
Shen Fengkai had not been wrong about one thing. He was like this by nature, wild to the point that it had set by age three.
Someone with the surname Qi would never blend into the Shen family’s circle. Blood ties were all fake.
After lunch, Qi Xu took the card Zeng Yun had given him and went to the antique street in the city center.
There was nearly eight million in that card. In his previous life, he had not taken it, and only found out later by chance after overhearing Shen Zeyu on the phone with someone.
“My mom gave him a card with eight million on it. He looked at me and didn’t take it. It was obviously on purpose, trying to make me hate him.”
Whatever the other person said, Shen Zeyu replied, “If he wants anything of mine, I can give him all of it.”
Qi Xu had not taken that card, but after starting school, Zeng Yun had always deposited living expenses into his bank account. Added up, it was about the same amount.
He did not have much desire to buy things, and he had no social activities. He also did not spend much money on campus every day. By the time he graduated, he had only used a tiny fraction of his pocket money.
Qi Xu walked into the antique shop he had visited in his previous life to buy a birthday present for Shen Zhuohai. The owner here was one of the few friends Qi Xu had.
Because Qi Xu could not bargain, and the antique shop owner felt too guilty about making so much money, he gave Qi Xu a fifteen percent discount and made two hundred thousand with tears in his eyes.
Whenever something new came in, the shop owner would notify Qi Xu. After going back and forth like that, the two of them really did end up getting along.
This was also one of the places the Shen family would not stop him from going. Whenever he had time, he would come to the antique shop to sit for a while, drink tea, and sometimes even take home a small item.
Who knew whether Old Qin had grown a beard ten years ago.
A young man who had been napping on the counter lifted his head groggily when he heard the ring of a bell. He casually pushed back his flattened hair and said lazily, “Welcome. We don’t bargain here. If you like it at first glance, take it with you. Miss the chance, and there won’t be another.”
Qi Xu froze at the familiar voice by the door.
Seeing that the customer still had not come in, the young man braced himself on the table and leaned out to look.
He, too, froze for two seconds, then raised an eyebrow.
“Junior, not surfing the net today? You’ve switched to skipping class to buy antiques?”