Chapter Eighteen

Yu Xi is like a mirror, easily reflecting everything in her heart, her emotions, and her thoughts.

Zhou Mo couldn't help but wonder, how did this person grow up?

Shouldn't someone with this skill be liked by everyone? Why do people who have known Yu Xi give him such negative feedback?

"Yu Xi, is there anything you care about?"

"No." Yu Xi still leaned on her arm, but her bright eyes were no longer focused on Zhou Mo. Instead, they were scattered, aimless, and without a destination. "But there are people I care about."

"who?"

Yu Xi laughed, "You, the head of the family."

"Leave the finding to me, and the questioning to you."

Yu Xi's thinking was really unconventional, but fortunately Zhou Mo was already used to it. She immediately understood what Yu Xi was talking about. Logically speaking, she should refuse, but that was not the best way to handle it. If others found out, it would probably be sensationalized into some extreme news report.

But she has no better solution right now.

Aren't they family?

Asking for help from family members should be a very common thing, right?

There's no need to make a fuss.

With Yu Xi's help, Zhou Mo saw the strange boy in the office again.

He was being held by the back of his collar by Yu Xi, his feet dangling in the air. They were in a two-story building under construction, and there was no one there today, for some unknown reason.

The boy gripped Yu Xi's hand tightly in fear, afraid that Yu Xi might accidentally throw him off the second floor.

"Don't scare him." Zhou Mo disapproved of this behavior, and she frowned.

Yu Xi shrugged and, following Zhou Mo's instructions, tossed the boy aside. The boy shrank back in fear, moving further away from the boundary where there were no safety railings.

"What do you want to do?! If my parents don't see me for half an hour, they'll call the police."

Yu Xi leaned against a pillar, seemingly having no intention of participating in this 'interrogation'.

Zhou Mo stood in front of the boy, her expression indifferent. "I just want to know the truth. That day in the office, I spoke the truth. Can your lies last a lifetime? You're still young. When you grow up one day and realize that what you did today was wrong, you won't have the chance to make amends..."

The boy interrupted Zhou Mo with a loud shout, "That's all bullshit!" Then he looked at Zhou Mo and laughed. The laugh didn't seem like that of a middle school student, but rather like that of a man who had been navigating the complexities of society for several years. "You wouldn't dare to really do anything to me. If I die, your father will never be able to clear his name as a murderer."

"Does your survival absolve him of all responsibility?"

Zhou Mo's reaction was unexpected by the boy. He had expected to see Zhou Mo get angry, furious, and lose her temper, but from beginning to end, Zhou Mo remained frighteningly calm.

"If I really can't change anything in the end, then you can only die."

When Zhou Mo said this, it was no different from saying hello; she could even adjust her expression to show a friendly smile.

The boy was stunned.

"You...you." He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Yu Xi remained as nonchalant as ever, completely unconcerned about Zhou Mo's state; he even had the leisure to yawn a few times.

The untimely voice really ruined the atmosphere, but no one questioned Yu Xi's 'mistake'.

The boy then turned his gaze to Yu Xi. He scrambled to Yu Xi's feet and pleaded, "Take me away! I can give you money, you can have anything you want. Just take me away from here, please, please."

"Can't you tell? He listens to me." Zhou Mo slowly walked up to the boy, squatted down, and smiled, all in one smooth motion.

The boy was quite frightened by Zhou Mo, and seeking a sense of security, he pressed himself against the rough cement wall, "I..."

"Last chance. What happened back then? Why did you frame my father?"

Intimidated by Zhou Mo's imposing presence, the boy didn't even have the courage to look down and avert his gaze. He opened his mouth, but just as he was about to speak, Zhou Mo's phone suddenly rang.

Zhou Mo turned off her phone without even looking at it, but not long after, Yu Xi's phone rang.

Zhou Mo immediately knew who had made that phone call.

Yu Xi answered the phone, casually humming in response, but her gaze remained fixed on Zhou Mo.

He rarely frowned over anything, but during this phone call, his brow remained furrowed the entire time, except at the very beginning.

Zhou Mo closed her eyes, stopped looking at the boy, and walked out without looking back.

Look, she has learned the hardest thing for adults to learn: compromise.

"Zhou Mo, you have to be understanding."

“It’s not that we don’t want to clear things up for your father, but we assure you that this matter will not be publicized any further. We will take care of things with the media, the internet, and the school, so that this matter will not affect you anymore.”

"You are a senior in high school. Your top priority right now is the college entrance examination. If you get into a good university, you can start your life anew."

"They apologized to you. It was against the rules for you to go to see him on your own, but they won't pursue it because of your father. Don't be afraid."

"Afraid?" Zhou Mo's calm demeanor was finally broken. She looked up and stared directly at Zhang Xing. "What am I afraid of? I'm just afraid that if I see my father after I die, he might slap me for not clearing his name!"

Zhang Xing was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.

Zhou Mo sneered, "He won't, my father won't do that, and I won't do anything again." She was like a deflated balloon, her previous sharpness gone, her voice weak and feeble, making it hard to hear, "If only I had pushed him down back then."

Zhang Xing didn't hear it.

Yu Xi heard it.

Since that day, Zhou Mo has become less talkative. It was also from that day that she suddenly understood why Yu Xi said she couldn't be a lawyer anymore.

She can't do it.

She doesn't even know how a person with a life should act.

Before, life pushed her along, but now life has completely abandoned her, giving her no pressure, no motivation, and not even letting her glimpse what life is like.

Without seeing oneself, one cannot see the world.

Yu Xi's interactions with her also decreased. Then one day after school, Zhou Mo stood at the entrance of the small courtyard. She vaguely remembered that day when she accidentally wandered here. The door was pushed open from the inside, and someone said to her, "You're back."

Now, no matter how long she stands here, she will never hear such a sentence again.

A sense of fear and emptiness welled up in Zhou Mo's heart. Was this game of making up going to end? She pushed open the courtyard gate, only to be greeted by complete darkness. Yu Xi was not at home.

From that day on, Zhang Xing never came again, only occasionally sending some things over. Perhaps he didn't know how to face Zhou Mo.

Zhou Mo had lived here for almost a month and knew the layout of the house and Yu Xi's little habits very well, so she could easily tell that Yu Xi hadn't been home all day.

Where did he go?

Zhou Mo's taut nerves were jolted by Yu Xi's absence.

Where did he go?!

Zhou Mo threw down her schoolbag and went out to look for Yu Xi. She suddenly realized that she didn't know Yu Xi at all. The only places she could look were the places where they had met, but there was nothing there.

Zhou Mo squatted in the corner, looking like an abandoned puppy, hiding in the shadows and licking her wounds alone.

She wondered why Yu Xi wasn't comforting her.

My family would do that.

Why is she the one who has to compromise and suffer? Why is she the one who is all alone and helpless?

Zhou Mo wiped away her tears, sobbing softly, "Dad, they're all bullying us. Does the dead have no value? Are we just supposed to sacrifice ourselves to protect the living?"

"I don't understand, I really don't understand, can I just stop thinking about it?"

"Dad, I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you."

There was no moon or stars tonight. When it was pitch black all around, Zhou Mo suddenly realized that she had been there for a very long time. Her legs were numb from squatting, and she couldn't stand up for a while. So she simply sat down on the ground. The physical reaction eased some of her mental pain.

She seems to have gotten used to being alone.

The nights that used to require companionship are no longer so frightening.

Just as Zhou Mo was waiting for her legs to regain feeling, a familiar voice came from not far away. Almost the instant the voice rang out, Zhou Mo's mind automatically recognized whose voice it was.

Yu Xi.

She looked up and saw Yu Xi chatting and laughing with a group of people under a streetlamp not far away. The words they were saying were flashing in and out of their mouths. Zhou Mo didn't call out to Yu Xi; she remained quietly in the corner.

At this moment, she finally caught a glimpse of Yu Xi's true self.

She watched Yu Xi laughing and joking with the group, listening to them talk about things in the 'jianghu' (江湖, the martial arts world) and his insights on these things, and hearing them say that they were going to have a good time in a couple of days. Yu Xi kept laughing, laughing very happily.

My eyes get sore after looking at it for a long time.

Zhou Mo rubbed her eyes, and the scene before her blurred for a moment.

She cried.

Because of Yu Xi.

Under the streetlights, Yu Xi politely declined the cigarette offered by the person next to him. He had never liked the smell of tobacco, and this would evoke some of his few childhood memories. The person didn't seem to mind being refused, and put the cigarette in their own mouth. With their other hand, they deftly flipped open the lighter, took a deep breath, and smoke rose. The whole sequence of movements was fluid and graceful.

"Ah Xi, have you had enough fun lately?"

Yu Xi didn't react.

The man remained unperturbed, reaching out to hook his arm around Yu Xi's shoulder. "I think that girl is quite pretty."

"Really." The man was afraid that Yu Xi wouldn't believe him, so he stretched out his hand, showing the pattern he had just tattooed on his wrist. "See it? Jasmine."

"If you really like it, let your brother watch it, okay?"

The words, though seemingly a question, actually carried an undeniable certainty.

Yu Xi finally reacted, "Is this flower jasmine? It looks more like a peony to me."

"Damn it, did I get scammed?!" the man cursed, rubbing his wrists and rubbing off a few small black stripes. The others saw this and crowded around, yelling, "Get a temporary tattoo! How childish are you?!"

"Hahahaha, just trying to scare Ah-Xi."

"Trying to scare me with her?" Yu Xi smiled. "Does she even have the power to scare me?"

"I don't know," the man said, shrugging his shoulders with an indifferent expression.

"I don't know either. Could you please explain it to me?"