Adhering to the principle of not making a big fuss, Shi Huai also kept things to himself, giving vague answers.
“Mu Mu found out about the illness five years ago. Because Yang Youlan, his biological mother, came to the hospital to do bone marrow matching. I told her to stop making trouble, but she insisted that she could save Mu Mu... Later, when I asked her again, she admitted that she was Mu Mu’s mother.”
"It was around that time that I found out the two children had been switched. You've heard what happened after that. They were both my children, and I didn't want Mumu to be restless in the afterlife, so I chose to let it go."
Fu Xuanliao thought for a moment: "Was the decision to keep it a secret made by you alone, or did Shi Mu also ask you to do so?"
Shi Huaiyi seemed somewhat embarrassed: "That's what I thought, and I've already told you the reasons. But Mu Mu didn't want this matter to be made public. He was almost dying at that time, and I really couldn't bear to refuse, so I promised him that I would try my best not to let anyone know."
Fu Xuanliao pursed his lips. This result was within his expectations, but it still made him feel disheartened.
"As for stealing the painting..." Shi Huaiyi asked hesitantly, "Is it the one called 'Flame'? Isn't that Mu Mu's painting?"
“No,” Fu Xuanliao said. “That painting was done by Shi Meng; he painted it back in middle school.”
Shi Huaiyi rarely interferes with the children's drawing, and it seems that he is indeed unaware of it and does not think it is important.
He paused for a moment, then sighed, "That's probably because she heard I was going to transfer the shares to Mengmeng... I'm in a difficult position too. They're both my children, and I should at least give Mengmeng some assets to rely on. Mumu probably felt I was being biased, and knowing her days were numbered, she did it in a fit of anger..."
"Sigh, we're all family, how could this child treat her brother like this?"
Before leaving the hospital, Fu Xuanliao went to Shi Meng's ward again.
Still unable to find anyone, he resorted to asking, "Could you please pass on a message for me?"
Jiang Xue stood with her arms crossed, blocking the doorway. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "What did you say?"
“That painting… is the one called ‘Flame,’ which I already know was painted by Shi Meng.”
Jiang Xue was taken aback at first, then scoffed, "You're only finding out now? But I heard that painting is gone. What, you want to ask Mengmeng for one?"
“No, no,” Fu Xuanliao said. “I want to say sorry to him.”
He was a proud man, and after being dragged to the brink of death, he not only didn't pursue the matter, but also came to Jiang Xue's door several times to apologize in a humble manner. Even Jiang Xue's attitude softened a bit, after all, he had been kept in the dark about the stolen painting.
However, Jiang Xue glanced back into the house, then turned back to her cold demeanor: "You should have said that to his face. Besides, what's the point of saying it now?"
Fu Xuanliao didn't know whether she meant the apology came too late when she said "useless," or something else entirely.
Remembering Jiang Xue's earlier comment that Shi Meng "always keeps everything bottled up inside," Fu Xuanliao opened his mouth for a long time before finally asking, "Doesn't he... feel wronged?"
After being misunderstood for so many years and subjected to his trampling and humiliation without even a chance to explain, why not take this opportunity to get revenge, beat him up, scold him, or simply throw him into the sea?
The more Shi Meng ignored him and didn't respond, the more overwhelming the guilt made Fu Xuanliao feel suffocated.
"Feeling wronged?" Jiang Xue laughed. "He wouldn't understand what feeling wronged means."
"Being falsely accused of stealing a painting... how could I not feel wronged?"
“But for someone to believe he’s innocent, to believe he’s been framed,” Jiang Xue said. “Did you believe him?”
“I…” Fu Xuanliao was speechless.
Over the years, he never believed in Guoshi Meng even once.
In fact, Shi Meng's reaction back then was entirely reasonable—Shi Mu had made a false claim that the painting had been stolen, and Shi Meng's first reaction was anger, and he was eager to snatch the painting back.
So he snatched it and tried to tell others that the painting was his, not Shi Mu's.
But everyone believed Shi Mu, thinking that only a despicable person like Shi Meng, who was jealous of Shi Mu's talent, would do something like stealing paintings.
Jiang Xue turned her head to look again, and only after confirming that Shi Meng was still asleep did she say, "When he was awake just now, I asked him if he was sad, and he said he wasn't sad anymore."
Lost in dark and muddy memories, Fu Xuanliao's body suddenly trembled.
"He's not sad because no one cares about him; similarly, he doesn't feel wronged because no one is on his side."
Around 8 p.m., Shi Meng woke up from a short sleep and saw Jiang Xue sitting on the edge of the bed fiddling with her laptop.
The two looked at each other for two seconds, and Jiang Xue laughed and said, "Were you woken up by the sound of me typing on the keyboard?"
Shi Meng denied it, saying, "No, I woke up on my own."
Jiang Xue put down her laptop and came over. She pressed a button to raise the bed, placed a pillow under it so that Shi Meng could comfortably lean against the headboard, and asked him if he wanted anything to eat.
"I'm not hungry." Shi Meng still didn't seem very energetic. "Sister Xue, you should go back. I can take care of myself."
"Tsk." Jiang Xue rolled her eyes. "I finally got you to say something more than ten words, and all you do is tell me to leave."
She said, "I'm doing just fine here. This care bed is even more comfortable than my own bed at home, so don't worry about me. Just focus on getting better."
Seeing her insistence, Shi Meng said no more.
Neither of them felt sleepy, so they chatted for a bit.
“The commemorative coin you gave me,” Shi Meng said, “was used to exchange for a boat.”
He believed that someone should give an explanation for taking a gift without permission, but Jiang Xue didn't care at all: "Just exchange it. When I gave it to you, I said that gold is valuable and can be exchanged for money. That ship must be pretty big, right?"
Shi Meng thought for a moment: "About ten meters long."
"Not bad," Jiang Xue said with a smile. "At least it's being used to its fullest potential."
After a few minutes' pause, Jiang Xue, who was sitting on the edge of the bed peeling an apple, asked seemingly casually, "That painting, was it really burned?"
Shi Meng hummed in agreement.
Jiang Xue sighed and said regretfully, "It was acquired for ten million after all."
After a moment of silence, Shi Meng said, "In the past, he was priceless."
"And now?"
"Worthless."
"So you burned it?"
"Yes." Shi Meng took the apple Jiang Xue handed him with his left hand. "I said goodbye to him."
Jiang Xue wasn't sure if Shi Meng was referring to "he," "it," or both, but seeing that Shi Meng had truly let go this time, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"However, I don't think he's completely indifferent to you..."
Perhaps inspired by Fu Xuanliao's actions these past few days, Jiang Xue realized halfway through her sentence that she had brought up a sore spot and changed her tune, saying, "Forget it, why bring this up now? When you get out of the hospital, I'll throw you a huge party to celebrate being single again and regaining your freedom!"
Shi Meng thought about it seriously for a moment: "No need. He and I were never really together anyway."
He was the one who insisted on it all, so he is now accepting all the retribution and consequences.
Hearing this made Jiang Xue feel sad. Thinking of herself, her eyes welled up with tears. She forced a smile and said, "That's even better. Our Mengmeng has always been single and still has her first love!"
The two tacitly avoided discussing Shi Meng's background, but Jiang Xue felt sorry for the shares and asked Shi Meng if there was any way to get them back.
“That’s a share of the Shi family.” Seeing Shi Meng’s nonchalant attitude, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but worry like a mother. “With this 10%, even if you lie at home and sleep all day, money will still be pouring into your head.”
Shi Meng blinked slowly, unable to imagine the scene.
However, he could roughly understand that Jiang Xue was worried about his future livelihood.
“I can draw, so I can support myself,” he said, raising his left hand that was holding an apple. “If my right hand isn’t good enough, I can use my left.”
Seeing that he did not have any suicidal thoughts because of his hand injury, Jiang Xue breathed a sigh of relief.
She told Shi Mengma that he had visited during the days he was in a coma, and that the two of them had discussed the issue back then, and had even talked to the attending physician about it.
Jiang Xue only shared the good news and not the bad: "The doctor said that as long as I do proper rehabilitation, there is still a great chance that I can recover to my original state."
Shi Meng nodded, seemingly convinced: "I will rehabilitate."
"It's important to do proper rehabilitation."
"I will do my rehabilitation well."
"Good girl."
Later that evening, Jiang Xue, finally at ease, decided to go home.
"You have no idea how bad the quality of the products sold in the shops here is. I bought a towel yesterday to wipe my face, and today my face is covered in pimples."
As Jiang Xue walked out, she didn't forget to tell Shi Meng, "I've put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign for you, and I've also spoken to the nurses' station. At this hour, no one should be so inconsiderate as to come looking for you. If anyone does, just press the call button and ask the nurse to kick them out."
Shi Meng agreed.
After Jiang Xue left, he leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes, and had a very short dream.
In my dream, there was a child with his back to me, who seemed to be badly injured, hugging himself and sobbing.
He wanted to tell the child that since he had survived, he should move forward, go through that door, and never look back. He reached out to pat the child's shoulder when he suddenly heard a few very soft knocks on the door.
This time I was really woken up by the noise.
Shi Meng vaguely thought he had slept for a long time, long enough for Sister Xue to have returned. He propped himself up to get out of bed, then remembered that the door wasn't locked, so he called out to the door, "Come in."
Fearing that Sister Xue would scold him again for not taking good care of himself, Shi Meng moved back to bed, covered himself with the messy thin blanket, and then turned his head to check if the apple had been eaten clean.
During this process, he heard the door being pushed open from the outside, making a very soft creaking sound.
After finishing tidying up, Shi Meng turned around and faced the door. She was stunned by the face that was different from what she had expected.
The woman who entered was a middle-aged woman. In Shi Meng's memory, she was not only tall and beautiful, but also gentle and elegant, like a fairy from heaven.
Even though she was wearing a hospital gown and walking with difficulty, and there seemed to be a few gray hairs hidden among her originally black hair, Shi Meng still remembered that she could make very delicious soup.
It was a delicious soup, and even if he was just given a bowl by chance, he wouldn't waste it because the bottom of the soup was covered with sediment. He would always drink every last drop.
But he doesn't want to drink it now.
Li Bihan stood some distance from the bed, watching him without moving.
Her eyes held trembling tears, and sometimes a tenderness she had once longed for.
Perhaps there were still too many things inside that were incomprehensible to people, Shi Meng's hand reached along the back of the bed sheet, and he began to hesitate whether to press the call button.
In the end, she didn't press it because Li Bihan spoke up first.
"I...I just came to see you." Her voice was trembling. "I'll be leaving in a little while."
Shi Meng had no idea what happened after he left the hospital, but from what Fu Xuanliao said to him on the boat and Jiang Xue’s deliberate avoidance, it was not hard to guess that the truth about his background had been exposed.
It seemed to be close to his guess. Shi Meng didn't know what to say, nor was he good at making small talk. He hesitated for a moment and missed the best opportunity to press the pager.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Li Bihan took it as tacit agreement. She slowly approached, leaned on the armrest, and sat down on the chair by the bed, her gaze still fixed on Shi Meng.
From age eight to twenty-five, time has flown by, and now is the first time she has truly looked at this child.
Shi Meng has a small face and beautiful features. I remember when he was born, the nurse praised him for his good looks, saying that he would be fair-skinned and cute once the redness subsided.
But Li Bihan was so caught up in the grief of her lover's visit and her premature birth that she didn't have time to look at the child again, otherwise...
When Si Shimeng first arrived at the Shi family, some unsuspecting guests mistook him for her son based on his appearance. Li Bihan couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking to herself, what's the use of taking another look? She had covered her eyes and blinded her heart; no matter what others said, she wouldn't listen.
Although Shi Meng, who was 25 years old, had grown to nearly 1.8 meters tall, he was thin and frail. His hospital gown hung loosely on him, with only his shoulder blades protruding from the prominent bones.
His neck was long and slender, so white that the veins were clearly visible. His wrists were also thin, with the wrist bones protruding across the junction of his hand and arm. A patch of bruise that had not yet faded was visible on his sleeve, indicating that there were many more injuries hidden beneath his clothes.
Without thinking, Li Bihan asked, "Does it still hurt?"
She instinctively reached out to touch it, stroking it with the lightest touch, just as every mother would do when faced with an injured child.
Just as he was about to touch him, Shi Meng pulled his hand away to avoid it.
Shi Meng couldn't adapt quickly enough and was clearly unable to emotionally enter a state of taking it for granted.
He hid his left hand behind his back, clasped it together with his right hand, which was wrapped in gauze, their fingers intertwined, his gaze fixed on the blanket covering his legs.
"It doesn't hurt," he said instinctively. "I'm not in pain."
As if knowing that Shi Meng's words were against his will, Li Bihan's breathing faltered, and tears welled up in her eyes again.
He had always been like this since he was a child. In order to gain a space to survive in the Shi family, he was always so "sensible" and his most frequent answers were "no," "it doesn't hurt," and "it's not sad."
"How...how can it not hurt?" Li Bihan asked anxiously. "I know an orthopedic specialist. You can go there for treatment tomorrow. Your hand will definitely be fine..."
"No need," Shi Meng said. "Thank you."
Hearing Shi Meng thank her so formally, Li Bihan's heart clenched again.
She remembered that Shi Meng had called her "Mom" more than once, at Shi Huaiyi's request. When Shi Meng called her timidly when she was little, she pretended not to hear and never responded. Even when Shi Meng occasionally called her "Mom" at Shi Huaiyi's request, she just took it as an act and didn't take it to heart.
Now, even if I wanted to hear it, I couldn't.
Li Bihan began to understand why she had resisted meeting Shi Meng these past two days. She was afraid that the world would be completely turned upside down, and even more afraid that she could not bear the consequences of years of indifference and neglect.
It wasn't until evening, when she overheard Fu Xuanliao and Shi Huaiyi's conversation in the corridor, that she realized how wrong she had been. The more she had loved Shi Mu in the past, the more she now felt sorry for Shi Meng.
Everyone says that Shi Meng has a gloomy and unlikable personality, but no one has ever put themselves in her shoes and thought that her gloomy and dull personality is because she has not been treated well.
It's not too late, Li Bihan thought. It's not too late now. Heaven has been kind to her, at least it didn't let her make a complete mistake.
"Mom...no, I know you've been bullied. Shi Mu bullied you, and Shi Sihui did too...I'll help you teach her a lesson." She came here with no other options and offered every possible way to make amends. "I'll also return the shares to you. I still have eight percent, which I'll transfer to your name as well. Everything that's mine is yours."
She wanted to say, "Everything that belongs to Mom is yours. Mom will do whatever you want."
However, Shi Meng interpreted it differently. After all, there is no love without a reason in his world; there is more equivalent exchange after full consideration.
So he asked, "Do you want me to help Shi Sihui clear her name, or help Shi Mu cover up the theft of the painting?"
Li Bihan was stunned by the question: "No, that's not what I meant, I just..."
She simply knew she was wrong, wishing she could go back in time and slap herself, and also wishing she could make up for all the years she hadn't given Shi Meng in a single day.
Including maternal love.
In fact, Shi Meng also remembered the past.
He had felt a fondness for Li Bihan when he first arrived at his home and wanted to get close to her for no reason. On a Mother's Day during elementary school, he had drawn a greeting card by hand and given it to her.
Although Li Bihan didn't seem to like him very much, she wasn't bad to him. When Shi Mu got a new schoolbag, he got one too. When Shi Mu learned soccer, he could learn to draw. Every time new toys were bought, he got a share. Shi Meng thought that Aunt Fairy was very kind. After all, even Yang Youlan said that Li Bihan should be very bad to him, not give him food every day, and beat him up all the time.
Later, Li Bihan accepted the Mother's Day card. Perhaps she felt embarrassed to refuse it in front of Shi Huaiyi, but in any case, Shi Meng found the card in the trash can that very night.
He stood by the trash can for a long time, but still couldn't pick up the greeting card that he had spent several hours making.
From a young age, Meng was called stupid by those around him, clumsy in his understanding of social etiquette, and oblivious to his own unpleasantness. But he knew that if the greeting card were given to him now, Li Bihan would definitely not throw it away.
But he didn't have the strength to make a new one.
He didn't think she had done anything wrong; he just didn't want to be abandoned again.
“I can’t help you with these two things,” Shi Meng said.
“It’s not that I need your help,” Li Bihan explained, “it’s that I need your help.”
Shi Meng said expressionlessly, "No need."
"Then what do you want, I..."
"Can you turn back time?" Not wanting to argue any further, Shi Meng asked coldly, "Can you punish those who bullied me?"
Li Bihan was taken aback.
Shi Meng has already died once. To him, this world is no different from heaven or hell. He simply exists here, and what happens to others is no longer his concern.
Moreover, it wasn't just those two who "bullied" the deceased Shi Meng.
Before Li Bihan could say anything more, Shi Meng announced, "I'm going to sleep."
Faced with his abrupt dismissal, Li Bihan felt bitter, but after about five minutes, she still stood up.
Shi Meng lay on her side with her back to her, and it was impossible to tell whether she was asleep or awake just by the rise and fall of her breathing.
After taking one last look through the half-open door, Li Bihan gently closed it.
As I turned around in the corridor, took a deep breath, and swallowed back my tears, I had already made up my mind.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
