Chapter 51

With Fan Nannan's information, Zhou Mo had a preliminary profile of Wei Huai.

The next day, Zhou Mo met Wei Huai. Wei Huai himself wasn't as exaggerated as they said. He was indeed unapproachable, but he still had basic manners.

Wei Huai seemed to be meeting Zhou Mo for the first time. He answered Zhou Mo's questions fluently and didn't make things difficult for her. The interview was simpler than Zhou Mo had imagined, and she completed the task in less than an hour.

Just when she thought this encounter was about to end, Wei Huai took the initiative to invite her to dinner.

The reporter from the news agency gave her a frantic wink, and Zhou Mo, who also wanted to get to know Wei Huai better, accepted the dinner invitation.

The restaurant, owned by Wei Huaiding, is a Japanese-style izakaya with a bar counter. Chefs are busy at the counter, and you can occasionally see fireworks going off. It's a place with a charming atmosphere.

"You know why I called you out, right?"

"I roughly know."

"You shouldn't have gotten involved."

Zhou Mo scraped away the condensation on the outside of the glass. A green leaf floated on the transparent liquid, its cool tone tinged with a touch of vibrancy. Zhou Mo couldn't quite describe the feeling, but she thought it was beautiful and could be used as wallpaper.

“I thought you wouldn’t say such meaningless things. Based on your experience, you’re the kind of person who wouldn’t even glance at meaningless people or things.”

Wei Huai downed the liquor in front of him in one gulp, revealing an expression completely opposite to his earlier one, with a touch of roguish elegance. He unbuttoned the top button of his collar and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt a few times. No one would guess he was a college student. "Is that so? I was just being nosy."

"Since we both know who the other is, there's no need to beat around the bush."

"What did you do to Sun Zhe in Ming'an? After he came back, he stayed at home and refused to come out. He even turned down Li Zhenliang's invitations several times."

"I didn't do anything?" Zhou Mo opened her innocent eyes and helplessly spread her hands. "I just apologized to him. Maybe he realized he was wrong, so he started to reflect on it."

"Don't be ridiculous." Wei Huai didn't believe it at all. He first heard the name Zhou Mo from Li Zhenliang. It seemed that she was related to Yu Xi in Ming'an City. At first, he just thought that Yu Xi wanted to date so he hooked up with a pretty girl. But later, things developed and he noticed Zhou Mo.

"I'm really curious about you. Why did you choose Yu Xi as your family member?"

Zhou Mo has been asked this question by many people, and she has asked it herself as well, but not all questions necessarily have a single, unchanging answer: "Why? Is there always a 'why'?"

"Is there no reason for making a choice?"

Are all your choices justified?

Faced with Zhou Mo's question, Wei Huai smiled but didn't reply.

Wise people speak only to the point and never go too far.

Zhou Mo picked up the glass; it was as cold as she had imagined. But she merely held it without drinking, waiting for the warmth of her hand to cool the wine down a bit before letting go. Then, she waited for her hand to warm up again before picking it up again, repeating this cycle over and over.

Wei Huai silently observed Zhou Mo, unable to understand what she was thinking.

Just like when he was in Ming'an, he couldn't understand what those people were thinking.

"You know Qi Xiao."

"Yes." Wei Huai did not deny it.

"She doesn't seem to remember you."

“We were in the same orphanage when we were little, but the difference is that she only stayed for less than ten days before finding a new home for herself, so naturally she wouldn’t remember me, her playmate who was just passing through.”

Zhou Mo looked at Wei Huai, trying to see nostalgia or some other expression on his face, but to her disappointment, there was nothing.

She is surrounded by people who like to keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves.

"Don't get too close to her, she doesn't like that."

"OK."

The two parted ways.

It was supposed to be dinner, but Zhou Mo only ate a skewer of yakitori. She digested that little bit on the way back. Zhou Mo was never one to treat herself badly, so she went into a small restaurant that served stir-fries and ordered one meat dish and one vegetable dish.

During a break from her meal, she opened a monitoring app on her phone that she had downloaded long ago but had never used.

The initial monitoring interface showed the camera view facing the living room. It was 10 p.m. Yu Xi was sitting in the chair that Zhou Mo had sat in, leaning on the table and writing something. Zhou Mo tried to zoom in by using two fingers, expecting to see a blurry image, but the image only paused slightly before becoming incredibly clear.

Zhou Mo guessed that the software might have been made by Yu Xi.

She watched Yu Xi's study monitoring videos as if they were TV shows to watch while she ate, and that's how dinner time passed.

After leaving the restaurant, Zhou Mo checked the navigation to see how far she was from the school. It was still 1.5 kilometers away. The dormitory closed at 11:30 p.m., so she had about an hour to walk back. Zhou Mo decided to digest her food and walk back.

In the surveillance footage, Yu Xi moved his body slightly, stretching and twisting his sore neck.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked towards the location of the camera.

For reasons unknown, he smiled at the camera.

Less than half a minute later, the phone on the table rang; it was a video call from Zhou Mo.

Yu Xi instantly understood. He answered the phone and found Zhou Mo outside. As Zhou Mo walked, he could see the restaurant signs flashing behind her and people chatting and laughing together on the street.

"You seem to be going against the flow."

"There's nothing I can do about it. The school is on this side of the road. If I cross the crosswalk now and then cross back later, wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"lazy."

“How can this be called laziness? I’m a person, not a car. It’s okay to go against traffic for a bit. This road isn’t a scenic route; it’s only one-way. Besides, I have a clear goal and I definitely won’t take any detours.”

Having not seen Zhou Mo for several days, Yu Xi suddenly saw her on the screen. For some reason, he felt a little thirsty. Thinking this, he got up and poured himself a glass of water.

"Studying should be balanced with rest. You can't play, but that doesn't mean you can't drink water."

"You're spying on me."

"You let me have that."

The two looked at each other and smiled at the screen.

"How's university life?" Yu Xi asked this question not because she wanted to hear Zhou Mo's answer. In the past, when the two of them were face to face, it seemed like they had endless things to talk about. But now that they were separated by a screen, Yu Xi didn't know what to say.

"It's alright."

"Has Ning Xiangjian come to school?"

"Shouldn't you return the favor and ask me how I've been lately?" Yu Xi raised her chin, looking displeased.

Zhou Mo laughed, "I can tell whether you're good or not at a glance."

"She came to school and told the teacher about changing seats. Now I sit by myself, and it's quite nice."

"Now you can really be the school bully."

Yu Xi clicked her tongue. "How long ago was that? You can still bring it up now."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I remember every single word you said to me."

Yu Xi's heart skipped a beat. He clutched his chest and quietly moved the camera up slightly so that Zhou Mo couldn't see his little movement.

In order to avoid passersby, Zhou Mo missed Yu Xi's unusual behavior at this moment.

"Alright, I won't take up any more of your rest time. Get some rest."

Yu Xi stopped arguing, nodded, and the two hung up the phone without saying goodnight or goodbye.

Yu Xi tossed his phone onto the sofa, curled up on it, and pressed a cushion against his chest. He wondered if it was because the room was too quiet, but he felt that his heartbeat was a little noisy.

This wasn't the first time Zhou Mo had said something like this to him; wasn't his reaction a bit too much this time?

A line suddenly flashed through Yu Xi's mind.

Oh no! You've fallen in love!

Yu Xi sprang up from the sofa like a spring, frozen in disbelief. "I...!"

As if he had just thought of something, he immediately ran back to his room and closed the door.

Now he can only be thankful that he didn't enable Zhou Mo's surveillance of the bedroom. All that talk about passwords is fake; he simply didn't have the necessary permissions.

"Me? Do I like? Zhou Mo?"

If Yu Xi were here right now, he would definitely stare at him with wide eyes and say, "You only just thought of this? Big brother, isn't the premise of indulging someone to like them?"

Before Yu Xi could figure out what was going on, the phone that had been forgotten on the sofa in the living room rang. Yu Xi took a deep breath, opened the door, and picked up the phone.

Once he saw the caller ID on his phone, all the excitement he had felt vanished instantly, and he coldly answered the call.

"What is it?"

Zhang Xing stood in the office, being berated by the man opposite him, "You can't even handle this small thing? What was the point of me going through all that trouble to transfer you back to the city?! Are you just trying to cause me trouble?!"

Zhang Xing dared not refute, and could only stand there obediently, saying, "This was my oversight."

"Of course it was your negligence! Yu Xi left Ming'an without permission, and you were completely unaware. If it weren't for my people seeing Yu Xi at Z University, ha!"

Zhang Xing lowered his head. "He probably just wants to see Zhou Mo."

The folder was thrown heavily at Zhang Xing's face, its sharp edges cutting a deep, bloody gash that immediately gushed out.

"Maybe?! What if he really runs away one day! All my hard work over the years will have been for nothing!"

Zhang Xing pursed his lips. The man could see that Zhang Xing was in turmoil. "Say what you want to say! I have no intention of supporting a mute person."

"Sir, are Yu Songjing's research materials still there? That fire burned his house to the ground back then, didn't we search everywhere and find nothing?"

"Whether it exists or not, it must exist."

Zhang Xing met the man's unquestionable gaze, and a thousand words stuck in his throat.

"I got to where I am today thanks to this information. Over the years, I've found people to do the research in place of Yu Songjing. I won't go into the results, but as long as the project continues, I have a reason to keep going. Anyway, I'll retire in a few years, and I'll leave the rest to future generations. What does it have to do with me? If they can't find it or do it, that's their problem. Of course, if they're smart, they can make it Yu Songjing's problem. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me."

The man patted Zhang Xing on the shoulder and said, "You are jealous, clever but also have many flaws. But in my opinion, these are not problems. On the contrary, it is because of your wickedness that you can accomplish a lot."

"When Zhou Qinian returned home after his military service, didn't you handle things very well? Later, he died because of Ning Ning's matter and was criticized to the point of being unable to defend himself. Didn't you make him bear the blame then?"

"That's why I have high hopes for you. As long as Yu Xi stays in Ming'an before I retire, you'll definitely get a spot for a recommendation from the higher authorities."