Chapter 25 Is this Madam? Go make some tea for the guest...

When Gao Xing came down from Mingtai Mountain, the originally sunny weather had turned cloudy at some point, and the clouds piled up above his head like a piece of paper soaked in water.

She walked very slowly, her heels occasionally hitting the edge of the steps. When the wind blew past, dead leaves fell on her shoulders and then fell back down, rustling and swirling around her feet, but she seemed not to feel any of this.

Hearing the news of Shen Xingjian's death from Shi Yunran and seeing his tombstone in person on Mingtai Mountain were two completely different feelings.

Ten years ago, Shen Xingjian was still waiting for her to return to the villa, but ten years later, he had already turned into a pile of yellow earth. This realization was like a heavy stone, pressing on her and making her breathless.

More importantly, she had thought that even if Shen Xingjian died, it would be a long time from now. She didn't expect the date on the tombstone to be so close, only more than half a year away.

Back at Villa No. 1, Gao Xing was about to use the key to open the gate, but found that the door lock was open. The dark iron gate swayed gently in the breeze.

She walked into the house puzzled, only to find that in addition to Shen Xingjian, there was a man wearing a plaid shirt and black-framed glasses sitting in the living room.

The man stood up immediately when he saw her and nodded to her a little awkwardly.

The happy brain started the recognition program, and after seeing all kinds of faces, it came to the conclusion: I really don’t know them.

She had no choice but to turn her gaze to Shen Xingjian.

The two looked at each other, one didn't expect that someone else would appear in the house, and the other didn't expect that she would come back at this time.

"Is this the lady?" It was Zhang Wei who broke the deadlock first with a flattering smile.

Madam?!

Gao Xing's eyes widened, and just as she was about to explain, she caught a glimpse of Shen Xingjian winking at her crazily. Before she could react, she heard the guy respond seriously: "Ah! Yes! Yes!"

After saying that, he winked at her and said, "Well, can you please make some tea for the guests, ma'am?"

"I...?" She pointed at herself, opened and closed her lips several times, but couldn't utter a complete sentence. In the end, she could only move towards the kitchen with a confused look on her face.

When I opened the cupboard door, Gao Xing was still in a daze. What was going on?

Zhang Wei had just walked in and sat down when his wife came back. He remembered why he came and took the cigarettes and alcohol gifts at his feet and put them on the coffee table. He said embarrassedly, "Mr. Shen, Madam, I'm sorry to bother you. I don't know what you two like, but this is a little gift from me."

Shen Xingjian hadn't expected Zhang Wei to suddenly show up today. After their showdown with Xu Jiakai at Zhongyue, Xu Jiakai had offered to buy his Zhongyue shares at market price. Thinking that people with different ideals couldn't work together, he agreed. Now that the legal representative change process was almost complete, he wondered why Zhang Wei had come to see him.

Zhang Wei went to deliver gifts, and he brought a three-piece set of cigarettes and alcohol. This set was either for visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year or asking someone for a favor, and since the Chinese New Year was still a long way off, it was obviously to ask someone for a favor.

“By the way, Zhang Wei, how did you know I live here?” Shen Xingjian asked.

Zhang Wei thought Shen Xingjian was questioning his privacy, and hurriedly explained: "Mr. Shen, please don't misunderstand! I only knew about this because Mr. Xu asked me to help with the company's formalities. I definitely didn't mean any other things!"

Shen Xingjian nodded, signaling him not to be so nervous, and asked again: “Then who are you looking for?”

Zhang Wei's face was embarrassed, and his ears turned red with embarrassment. He gritted his teeth and said, "Boss Shen, I know you have left Zhongyue. Can I still work with you in the future?"

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I haven't saved any of the money I've earned in the past few years. My wife is expecting a baby in a few months, and now our whole family depends on me. I really... I really have no other choice, so I came to you..."

Shen Xingjian roughly understood some of it: “Are you not going to Guanya with Xu Jiakai?”

Zhang Wei forced out a laugh that was uglier than crying: "How could I have that ability? Mr. Xu took away the best of the company. I..."

"Did the company give you severance pay?" he asked again.

"Yes, Mr. Xu has paid severance pay to all Zhongyue employees. But you know, we've only been in the company for two years, so the severance pay... isn't much. Besides, with my education, it would be hard to find another job with the same pay as Zhongyue..."

He pleaded, “Boss Shen, just say the word, I will follow you wherever you go, and I will definitely work seriously, okay?”

Shen Xingjian understood his meaning completely. He knew that if there was no other way, who would be willing to beg for help? But he was now unable to take care of himself and might die one day. How could he make a promise to others?

Shen Xingjian took a deep breath, sorted out his words, and said as tactfully as possible: “Zhang Wei, I…have no plans to reopen the company for the time being.”

"You're actually quite capable. Even if you leave Zhongyue, you'll definitely be able to find another job. If you really need help, I can lend it to you first."

Before coming, Zhang Wei had thought about the possibility of being rejected. He was not Mr. Shen's confidant, and he did not have a very deep friendship with Mr. Shen. Why would others help him?

After getting the answer, he controlled his bitter expression, tried his best to maintain decency, and said with a twitch of his mouth: "I'm sorry, Mr. Shen, I...I disturbed you."

When Zhang Wei stood up to leave, Gao Xingcai had just finished making the tea and brought it out. Shen Xingjian asked him to take the things with him, but he declined twice and said goodbye to Gao Xing before taking them away.

Gao Xing didn't return until Zhang Wei's figure disappeared at the edge of the yard. "He was also from ten years ago?"

Shen Xingjian nodded and briefly explained the relationship between them.

"Wait—" Gao Xing suddenly remembered something, "If I'm your former subordinate, then why did you just say I was your wife?"

“Then I can’t tell him that you are from ten years later, right?” Shen Xingjian looked innocent.

Gao Xing curled her lips and deliberately dragged out her tone: "You can say I'm your nanny..."

As soon as the words fell, Shen Xingjian's expression suddenly became serious, and he said solemnly: "Glorious, I have never regarded you as a nanny..." His voice was very light, but every word was clear, "Never."

The sudden solemnity left Gao Xing speechless for a moment. She turned her face away uncomfortably, and a faint blush appeared on the tips of her ears.

“You…” Shen Xingjian coughed lightly, breaking the delicate atmosphere first, “Why did you come back so early today?”

Gao Xing's job was like Zhou Paopi's, she had to get up earlier than the chickens and sleep later than the dogs, and she often had to work overtime. Since she started working, Shen Xingjian had hardly seen her. The two pounds of flesh she had finally gained were lost in a few days.

He really didn't understand why he had to stick with this kind of job. Wouldn't it be better to just take his money and sit back at home? He didn't need her money anyway...

Shen Xingjian’s mind was full of random thoughts, and he didn’t notice Gao Xing’s suddenly depressed expression.

After much hesitation, she finally told the truth: "Today... I saw Shi Yunran again."

Shen Xingjian raised his head and looked at her, with some vague guesses in his mind.

Gao Xing took a deep breath and said, "I saw your tombstone in Mingtai Mountain."

Shen Xingjian was silent when he heard this: “I died in 2015, right?”

Gao Xing was surprised: "You know?"

Rather than saying he knew, it would be better to say that Shen Xingjian had a premonition long ago, ever since he checked his bank statements.

Before he was born, his parents had already planned his assets. They set up a trust for him, and the trust agreement stipulated that he would receive a generous monthly living allowance from the time he came of age until he turned 40 or the beneficiary died.

After my parents passed away, my grandfather took over the trust funds and paid the full amount in a lump sum the year he passed away. But the payments stopped after 2015, and there's only one explanation: he was no longer alive by then.

It's not that Shen Xingjian hadn't thought about this possibility before, but at that time, the time-space overlap had just occurred, and he preferred to believe that it was the time-space disorder that caused his disappearance, rather than that he was dead. After all, how many people in this world can calmly accept their own death?

And now, with all the evidence before him, he had no choice but to believe it.

“Shi Yunran, tell you how I died?” Shen Xingjian’s tone was surprisingly calm.

"Cardiac arrest," Gao Xing replied.

This result was both unexpected and reasonable.

"So what are you going to do next?" Gao Xing asked him.

Cardiac arrest is not like other diseases that can be prevented in advance. However, it is sudden and unpredictable. How can it be easily avoided?

Seeing her worried face, the wrinkles between her eyebrows could kill a fly, Shen Xingjian couldn't help but laugh: "Stop frowning, if you frown any more, the flies will have no place to land!"

Gao Xing really wanted to punch him. How could he still be in the mood to joke at this hour?

"Why don't you get a full physical exam to rule out pathological factors causing the cardiac arrest?" Gao Xing suggested, then shook his head. "No, that's still not safe enough! You might as well get hospitalized two or three days in advance. That way, even if there's an emergency, the hospital can handle it in time, and your chances of survival will be greatly increased..."

Shen Xingjian watched her think about his safety, and the corners of his lips inadvertently rose slightly. He didn't expect that in the last few months of his life, someone would care about him like this.

This feeling is so good.

He reached out his hand as if possessed by a ghost and gently held Gao Xing's fingertips: "Thank you."

The moment their fingertips touched briefly, it was as if a tiny electric current rushed up along the skin, making Gao Xing frozen in place.

In an instant, she seemed to be able to feel the beating of his pulse, which gradually overlapped with her suddenly accelerated heartbeat.

This unfamiliar feeling made her panic. She pulled her hand back so suddenly that she almost stumbled backwards. "Um, Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. Our company gave out mooncakes today. Do you want to try some?"

She spoke very quickly, but her voice was unacceptably light.

As he said that, he violently opened the mooncake gift box he brought back and stuffed one into Shen Xingjian’s hand.

Shen Xingjian had already eaten lunch and usually didn’t have the habit of having afternoon tea, but because Gao Xing gave it to him, he still tore it open and took a bite.

He was just about to say that the welfare in your nursing home is quite good and that this mooncake gift box looks quite beautiful. But as soon as the powdery pastry entered his mouth, his originally confused mind suddenly became clear!

Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting! Undeniably disgusting! He had never tasted such a disgusting mooncake before! Was this a mooncake? This was actually a biological weapon!

Dry and astringent! Sweet and salty! The chef who made these mooncakes should be shot for turning the crops grown by farmers with great effort into this state!

"Is it delicious?" Gao Xing asked him.

Shen Xingjian stretched his neck and swallowed the mooncake with difficulty. His voice was hoarse and he said against his conscience: "It's delicious."