0109 109 The most controllable element is people.
After class, Qin Zhuohan picked up his phone and called Qi Shuyao before even leaving the classroom. He tried several times but no one answered. He panicked and ran out.
Both the school and hospital are designed to be open-plan, without walls. The teaching buildings and hospital buildings are scattered across the street, and you can step out of the gate onto the main street. Today, another group of bikers came to the street.
Moreover, this group today was extremely unethical. The shop across the street was looted, and the first motorcycle had a beautiful girl they had snatched wrapped around its neck. The men's primal shouts echoed through the street, making Qin Zhuohan even more panicked. He searched for Qi Shuyao's voice along the street, his hands and feet turning ice-cold.
In the tallest building on the street, Qi Shuyao stood by the window watching dozens of motorcycles fly by, then expressionlessly drew the curtains.
Without the glaring sunlight, the screen on the wall became clearer, and every face that appeared on it was a familiar face. She found it amusing to watch them act in front of the camera, but this person who sat here watching them every day was really making trouble for herself.
She walked around half the room, finally stopping in front of him with her hands in her pockets.
Does your son know you're still alive?
The old man slowly raised his head and leaned against the specially designed cushion of his wheelchair. His face gradually overlapped with the photo on the wall behind him, and he looked even more energetic than in the photo.
No wonder Pei Youwen is quite handsome; even his father, who is so old, doesn't look bad.
The scene was very strange. A stranger suddenly barged into a place where no one else knew. Pei Yuzhou didn't find it strange. Qi Shuyao saw that the person she had watched being buried and attending the funeral was still sitting there alive and well. She wasn't scared at all, and they could even chat for a bit.
"You mean Pei Youwen? He's not really my son anymore. He has his own life, he doesn't get involved in my affairs, and he's not close to me."
His voice was hoarse, as if it came from an old radio. He was panting heavily after saying just a few words, but his overall aura remained unchanged, even stronger than when he was in power.
However, none of this mattered to Qi Shuyao.
"Pei Youwen, isn't he already dead? The King of Hell must have taken him a long time ago. Does he know that you severed ties with him after his death?"
Pei Yuzhou was only surprised for a moment, then he understood. He nodded and slowly sighed.
"Actually, it wasn't a big deal. It's just that my enemy mistook Yoo-wen for his brother and killed him. Tan-xi was there at the time. He couldn't handle the shock and has been believing himself to be Yoo-wen ever since. So we just let him be."
"What's Pei Youwen's personality like? I mean the real Pei Youwen."
When she asked the question, she didn't expect Pei Yuzhou to answer her; he might even get angry. But this stern and ruthless man, who had been serious his whole life, actually tilted his head slightly, a smile on his face as he recalled the past.
"Youwen, he's the most obedient, and he's very sunny, like a little sun. He just stays at home quietly drawing and doesn't participate in anything else."
Would someone who quietly paints at home go to an underground dance hall to drink? Does the father really not know or is he pretending not to understand? Qi Shuyao didn't intend to tell everyone, but she discovered that the relationship between father and son was mixed with deception and concealment, from Qin Zhuohan and his father in the first place to Pei Yuzhou and his son in the second.
"As for Tanxi, he's a madman. He wants to destroy everything. When I look into his eyes, I feel that he is a more suitable successor to me than his brother. But he has a bottom line. He never does anything criminal because he feels that his father is a policeman. He can be a little willful, but he cannot commit crimes."
When he said these things, he was like an old father showing off his son, his eyes full of pride, which left Qi Shuyao stunned.
I was so suffocated in this little room that I started hallucinating and actually thought I was a good policeman.
"So this is all karma. You lied to your son, and your son cheated on you. But your reputation is already like this, so it doesn't matter if you do this. In fact, it makes your character more well-rounded."
“I can understand that children are immature. It’s also my fault. I forgot to give my child the pocket money he deserves.”
"Oh, you're quite generous."
"How old is that child? Is it a boy or a girl?"
He transformed into a grandfather eagerly anticipating the arrival of his grandchildren, every wrinkle brimming with doting affection, his eyes half-closed as he rocked his wheelchair like a rocking chair.
Qi Shuyao, who had just been relaxed in his presence, became cautious. She slowly straightened up, her eyes darting around rapidly.
How would I know about your family's affairs?
"Really? I thought your relationship would get closer after my funeral. I'd always heard Youwen say he liked your paintings and wanted to meet you to have a good chat. It's a pity we didn't get to meet. But I bought his favorite painting."
Qi Shuyao suddenly looked up. On the wall behind Pei Yuzhou, his own portrait was not hung directly on the wall, but above a painting.
That was her song "Cold Sky".
Pei Yuzhou maneuvered his wheelchair around.
“I also really like this painting. It’s cold and icy, but you can still see the shadow of the sun behind the clouds. It’s like most people in the world who never see the sun in their lives, but still live in its shadow and depend on it for survival. They might even silently think, ‘The sun will shine on me one day.’ How ridiculous.”
His persona has changed again; this time it might be himself—an ambitious madman who wants to seize all the power in the world. He wants to grasp the sun; he wants to become the sun.
He wanted to be the sun, disguised even with countless power sources plugged in, but now it seems some of the wires have been unplugged.
"And what about you? Don't you also not see the sun now?"
“Child, I don’t need the sun. I am the one who created the sun for them. It’s just that my area is too big. Even if a passerby randomly shovels a shovel of dirt on the ground, it will be within my area. And the reason I am here is because that shovel was dug by your father.”
The wheelchair spun back around, and this time Pei Yuzhou's eyes regained their clarity.
“The goods transported by the Song family were intercepted by people arranged by your father. He followed that lead and found so many of my melons. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
"So, we have to deal with the Song family?"
“No, no, no, child, this is not called treatment. This is just a simple trial. We are a whole from top to bottom. If one link has a problem, it will have to undergo the trial of reconstruction. This is the most normal thing.”
Qi Shuyao rolled her eyes inwardly, ignoring his nonsense, and simply walked back and forth along the wall.
She found the Pei family genealogy in the northeast corner of the wall as she wished. Three thick lines were drawn under Pei Yuzhou's name, two of which had been crossed out with red pen.
"So your eldest son's name is Pei Yuan. Nobody in Jingyang recognizes him anymore."
“Pei Yuan, that is my proudest work. He will always radiate the light I need.”
Qi Shuyao smiled gently, deciding not to argue with someone who was mentally unstable.
She continued looking down at the dense, fine lines. The first few were familiar faces, which seemed to confirm her guess. All the girls, including Pei Youwen and Pei Tanxi, were born in November of that year, ten months after Pei Yuan's death.
However, in this picture, before each girl's name, there is a row of names all bearing the surname Pei.
"You haven't raised any of these daughters even once, and you still have to give them names with your own surname. Aren't you tired?"
“Young man, a surname is a family tradition. Everyone should contribute to the family. That is the meaning of their existence. Your father should have taught you that. You should understand it now.”
Qi Shuyao nodded, but what she was thinking about wasn't Qi Yu, but Shu Cheng's face.
The group's thoughts are remarkably aligned to some extent.
"So, you've gone through all this trouble, played such a big game, your son died because of you, your daughter was sold off like a commodity, and what about you? How much longer can you live?"
Qi Shuyao looked at him. His body was covered with tubes, and his movements were restricted to that small multi-functional wheelchair. His heartbeat in the machine was erratic, and he looked like a skeleton covered with a layer of wrinkled skin.
“I have already sent my name to the King of Hell, and he has crossed it off. Besides, so many people go to worship my memorial tablet every day.”
She suddenly remembered the book in the underground casino in Guanxiang. What it said was probably the same thing he was talking about, but surprisingly, some people actually believed it.
"You're actually superstitious."
“You think it’s superstition, but I’m living a perfectly good life.”
"You might have some misunderstanding about Haohao. You ran away, but what about your wife? You're just abandoning her?"
"When I have accomplished my great task, she will be the most honored woman, and you, they, everyone will have to worship her."
This guy has been possessed by some ancient prince who never ascended the throne. He's just a skeleton and he's still causing trouble. Isn't he afraid of killing himself?
She turned around and saw that the television, which was broadcasting domestic news, had started showing the evening news.
The development of Xiaobei District in Jingyang has been delayed again due to various corruption cases. It's like the country has money but nowhere to spend it. If it doesn't work out here, it will go and ruin other places. The focus of reconstruction has shifted from the northeast corner to the southeast corner, to Xulin, a small town south of Xiayang.
Xu Lin and Changgang are truly separated by the sea, both port cities. For many years, they have remained unknown, seemingly a clean and pure land, without much interference from powerful forces. Today, the news broadcast the groundbreaking ceremony, showing government leaders and the contractor's boss digging the first shovel of earth together. The camera focused on the faces of several middle-aged men, and Qi Shuyao instantly grabbed her arm.
The man in the very center was actually Li Yihe.
The details raced through her mind. Li Yihe was Shen Yan's man, and the Shen family's influence had long since covered Huanye, so it wasn't surprising that they would find a subordinate to pretend to be a businessman. But why would the Shen family cooperate with the government? How many secrets were hidden here?
The news broadcast of the leader's speech gave her some time to think. Her eyes darted around the wall behind the TV, but finally settled on the family tree.
It seems that faking death is a very common thing for the Pei family.
Pei Yuan.
Pei Youwen, Pei Tanxi.
Thinking of the two brothers, Tu Mi's face suddenly appeared, along with her casual remark.
“Pei Youwen’s mother went to Changgang for a trip, and she was originally supposed to be discharged from the hospital a few days later.”
Why was she in such a hurry to go to Changgang? What happened in Changgang recently? Shen Yan gave birth to twins, and they even have safety amulets around their necks...
Only the people of Xiayang have this tradition, so Pei Yuzhou took it very seriously. He even used an oil tanker to send the jade back. This was a blessing from the elders and a necessary procedure. The child's grandfather couldn't be there, so the grandmother, despite her illness, had to go. However, their youngest son didn't know any of this and thought his mother was on a trip.
So, Shen Yan is actually Pei Yuan, right?
He was cultivating dragons in the mountains of Changgang, his head was so big, he must have wanted to go to Jingyang to "become emperor" for a long time. Pei Yuzhou did so much, even ruining his reputation at all costs, just to hold on to his former subordinates and his nationwide network of connections, all to pave the way for his son. Their purpose in doing all this was not for Pei Yuzhou to come back one day, but for Shen Yan to ascend to the throne openly and legitimately, without any connection with the Pei family.
This group of people is really interesting.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
