The meeting lasted until 4 p.m.

In the latter half of the meeting, Fu Xuanliao was absent-minded, frequently drifting off into thought while holding his phone. Finally, after the meeting ended, an increasingly strong sense of foreboding prompted him to dial Shi Meng's number.

The first call didn't go through, so I called again five minutes later, but still no one answered.

Fu Xuanliao thought Shi Meng was playing some kind of game of feigned indifference, so he called home directly. Jiang Rong answered and said that Shi Meng had gone out that morning and hadn't returned yet.

"What is he going out to do?" Fu Xuanliao asked.

“He got his hand scratched by a cat while getting vaccinated,” Jiang Rong said.

Fu Xuanliao frowned: "A cat?"

He ran out last night, came back soaked in the rain, just so the cat could scratch him?

Is it that cat named Mumu?

Fu Xuanliao remembered that it was Shi Meng's biological mother's cat, which Shi Meng had entrusted to take care of for a period of time.

And his biological mother...

The only time I remember meeting that woman surnamed Yang was when I was in elementary school.

Once, when the school organized a spring outing to the countryside, the middle and upper grades sat together. Fu Xuanliao saw Shi Meng run out of the group and call the woman "Mom". The woman ignored him and instead asked him to call Shi Mu, a classmate. She stuffed a big bag of snacks into Shi Mu's hand and smiled very lovingly.

Mumu, a woman surnamed Yang, has a misplaced love—each item on its own is unremarkable, but when strung together, they become rather strange.

However, now is not the time to think about these things. Fu Xuanliao instructed Jiang Rong, "Call me when Shi Meng gets home."

"And when are you coming back?" Jiang Rong asked.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Fu Xuanliao felt quite apprehensive about the upcoming social occasion.

"I'll be back after dinner," he said. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

In fact, once he sat down in the private room, it was no longer up to him when he could leave.

Li Bihan hosted a dinner at a high-end hotel in the city, extending a warm invitation to her friends who had helped her that day. She knew Fu Xuanliao would need her help later, so she had to give them face no matter what.

Shi Sihui arrived before the banquet began, generously punished herself with three cups of wine, expressed her gratitude, and then specially poured a full cup of wine for Fu Xuanliao to thank him for coming to support her today.

"Luckily you're here." Shi Sihui couldn't hold her liquor, and her cheeks flushed after just two drinks. She was clearly very happy. "The mountain that has been weighing on my heart for so many years has finally been lifted today."

Midway through, he received a call from Shi Huaiyi. After a moment of silence, Shi Huaiyi did not criticize Fu Xuanliao's defection today.

“Anyway, even if the shares end up in Sihui’s name, they will still belong to the Shi family.” Shi Huaiyi sighed and said, “Why did you have to pull this stunt on Mengmeng? He has nothing left.”

He had nothing left.

Even after the party ended that night, Fu Xuanliao's mind was filled with that sentence.

At first, he thought that Shi Meng was so powerful and capable, what couldn't he get?

Upon closer reflection, I realized that Shi Meng actually possessed very little.

He had no happy family, no loving parents, and was just a "bastard" in other people's eyes, unable to even get a decent identity.

Not to mention the love he desperately sought, which was like trying to catch the moon's reflection in the water; in the end, it all came to nothing, and now he's been "betrayed" without even realizing it.

Only after everything had settled down did Fu Xuanliao begin to have some similar thoughts of reluctance.

On the way back, Jiang Rong messaged him saying that Shi Meng hadn't returned yet. Fu Xuanliao called him several more times, but he didn't answer.

As his unease grew, Fu Xuanliao scrolled through his phone's contacts again while waiting at a red light. There was a long list of names, but none of them were related to Shi Meng.

In the past, Shi Meng would always pester him, calling him incessantly, and he would only answer if he was in a good mood. Now the situation has reversed, and aside from feeling unaccustomed to it, Fu Xuanliao is only surprised that after nearly five years of getting along, he knows so little about Shi Meng.

So little that even Shi Meng might not know where he might go.

After a moment of confusion, Fu Xuanliao suddenly remembered that Shi Meng had an agent and friend named Jiang Xue, and quickly dialed Gao Lecheng's number.

At this time of day on weekends, Gao Lecheng is usually out partying, answering his phone whenever he calls, with the background music often being decadent jazz.

For some reason, it took two tries to get through, and the background noise was eerily quiet, making Gao Lecheng's voice sound particularly jarring.

"Old Fu, I was just about to call you." He was breathing slightly faster, and his footsteps were clear, as if he were walking quickly on a smooth road. "Come to the Third Municipal Hospital. Jiang Xue and I just arrived. Your family... Young Master Shi's condition is not good."

Shi Meng didn't know if he was asleep, awake, or already dead.

Before us stretched a long, winding road, with scattered lights in the distance, guiding us in the right direction.

The drowsiness grew stronger as he was swayed, and Shi Meng heard someone call him: "Wake up, don't sleep, we'll be there soon."

He shook his head to clear his mind, looked around, and found himself in a desolate mountain. The night was quiet, and the only sound was the rustling of branches and leaves.

The person carrying him was only the size of a teenager. It must have been incredibly difficult for him to carry the weight of another teenager on the rugged mountain path. He was so tired that his breath turned white, which actually helped to alleviate the cold of the low temperature.

Shi Meng shone a flashlight on his hand and, through the tiny scratch on his palm, confirmed that he had returned to the winter of his thirteenth year. He had just entered junior high school and was participating in a winter camp organized by his school. During free time, he accidentally wandered off and got lost in the deep mountains.

The person carrying him was clearly curious as to why he had run here. Between heavy breaths, he asked, "How did you get here? Didn't the teacher tell everyone to assemble?"

Shi Meng heard his thirteen-year-old self answer: "No one notified me."

The boy carrying him was silent for a while, then said nonchalantly, "Those people are childish and boring; all they do is bully the newcomers."

He bypassed the main reason why Shi Meng was ostracized, deliberately ignoring the unbearable rumors such as "illegitimate child," "bastard," and "born of a prostitute," and only taught Shi Meng how to protect himself: "Stay away from them usually, and don't take what they say to heart."

It was about what happened before free time. Shi Meng was bullied by a group of older students in the cafeteria. In his haste to escape, he accidentally knocked over his food bowl. Shi Meng felt both embarrassed and upset, but he wasn't good at expressing himself and didn't know how to tell them that he had taken it to heart.

“I wasn’t there for dinner, and I only heard about it later.” The boy carrying him said to himself, “When I have the chance later, I’ll help you put the food bowl on their heads.”

Shi Meng was stunned at first, then her lips curved into a slight smile in the cold wind.

He asked, "Why are you so good to me?"

"It's just that I happened to find you," the person carrying him retorted. "If it were someone else, would you still think he's a good person?"

Shi Meng shook his head, thinking to himself, "You're good in more ways than just these."

In places unknown to anyone, you are a sun, illuminating the path ahead and igniting a warm light for lonely lives. No wonder people go to great lengths to keep you and fight tooth and nail to grab you.

Unfortunately, even the longest road has an end, and even the most beautiful mirage is nothing more than an illusion.

Ahead, the place was bustling with people and brightly lit; their world, which belonged to just the two of them, was coming to an end.

Shi Meng jumped off his back and took a deep breath: "You can go now."

The boy who had carried him all the way turned around, and on his slightly thin shoulders was a face deeply etched in Shi Meng's mind.

With such outstanding features, any expression on her face is enough to captivate Shi Meng.

Sometimes he has no expression, sometimes anger is hidden between his brows, but most of the time he smiles, sometimes arrogantly, sometimes frivolously, and later only self-deprecating sarcasm and cold laughter without much emotion remain.

They had a promising start that rivaled everyone else's, but things ended up like that. It no longer matters who made the bigger mistake.

"You can leave now," Shi Meng said. "I'm letting you go."

Go back to where you belong.

The boy in front of her seemed puzzled and stood still: "And what about you?"

When Shi Meng looked back, the road he had come from was dark and silent, without a single ray of light.

He was no longer afraid; he blinked and saw the darkness more clearly.

The lone boat should return to the sea.

"I'm going back to where I belong."

Occasionally, chaotic noises are inserted into the distorted fragments of memory.

First, his body was constantly being moved and tormented. A group of people surrounded him, poking and prodding him with cold instruments. Then came a series of footsteps, back and forth, without stopping.

Shi Meng heard someone saying "I'm sorry," saying "It's all my fault for neglecting you lately," the sobbing was sad and heartbreaking.

He wanted to speak, to tell Jiang Xue not to cry, how could he blame her for making himself like this? Just as he was about to speak, his uninjured hand was grasped by another large hand, which gently caressed him. The familiar warmth made Shi Meng hesitate and temporarily abandon his thoughts of returning to reality.

Later, more people came. In addition to the police officers who came to investigate, there were also gloating people, people who were just going through the motions, and people who should and shouldn't have all come. There were also quite a few people who genuinely felt sorry for him.

"This child has trapped himself." Shi Meng heard Teacher Ma sigh. "I hope you can find a way out in your dreams."

Shi Meng then wandered comfortably between reality and illusion. When he opened his eyes and all his senses were connected to the world again, he was still confused and could not tell whether he was dead or alive.

A private hospital room with four walls, IV fluids dripping into the body, and a Thursday calendar displayed by the bedside. What seemed like a tumultuous dream is now just a few days in the real world.

Upon realizing he was alive, the first thought that came to Shi Meng's mind was still to escape.

Fortunately, when he woke up, there was no one in the ward. Shi Meng struggled to get out of bed, first using his right hand, which was wrapped tightly in a blanket and difficult to move, to remove the needle from the back of his left hand, and then, supporting himself against the wall, he found a suit jacket on the sofa.

You can tell who the clothes belong to just by their style and size. Shi Meng didn't want to take them, but she had no other choice.

He draped his coat over his hospital gown, pressed his ear against the door to check the situation outside, then turned the handle to open the door and carefully walked through the corridor toward the stairwell.

To avoid bumping into people, Shi Meng chose to take the stairs.

Perhaps because of his nervousness, he did not notice his discomfort for a moment.

Walking down from the fourth floor, pretending to be a passerby, Shi Meng walked out of the hospital gate, crossed two streets, and sat down on a bench in front of a commercial plaza. Only then did Shi Meng's face turn pale from the pain coming from his wound.

After taking a few deep breaths, Shi Meng felt some psychological relief and was able to shift some of his attention away from the pain and focus on other sensations.

Having finally broken free from the shackles of body and mind, we shouldn't waste this precious freedom.