Rebirth: Different Way [(重生) 殊途]

Chapter 3

Shen Xi walked aimlessly on the empty streets of Zhongjing all night. Unbeknownst to him, the sky was gradually getting lighter.

Shen Xi was surprised to see the word "Cemetery" appearing in the mist ahead of him. He actually walked by accident to the place where his mother was sleeping.

Speaking of which, if you counted the previous life, Shen Xi had not been here for ten years. Judging by the relationship between his father and his mother, his father must have rarely visited his mother in those ten years. Was his mother lonely lying here alone?

Thinking of it, Shen Xi walked around, exploring. The cemetery was silent in the early morning and there was no sign of anyone. Shen Xi climbed over the wall and followed his memory to his mother's grave.

On the white marble tombstone, his mother smiled brightly, neither as unhappy as Shen Xi remembered, nor as scornful as when she argued with his father. His mother was really a beautiful woman, but it was a pity that his father didn't love her. All her beauty was no different from a painting hanging on the wall in his father's eyes.

Shen Xi slowly knelt down and placed his hand on his mother's face, tracing her eyebrows on the picture. The stone under his fingers was very cold, but Shen Xi felt a warmth well up in his heart and smiled slightly.

Shen Xi's mother came from Zhongjing's Han family. Her father, Han Fuli, was a famous jewellery tycoon in China, and the family had been in the jewellery business for generations. Although the Han family was wealthy, they did not have many children, and in Shen Xi's mother's generation, there were only two of them, his mother Han Rou, and his uncle Han Yu.

Shen Xi didn't have much of an impression of his uncle. Before he was six years old, his uncle Han Yu was busy taking over the family business and Shen Xi could only see him during the New Year holidays. When Shen Xi was six, his mother jumped from the window to her death and his uncle was killed in a car accident while rushing to his mother's funeral. In the end, the only impression Shen Xi had of his uncle was of a tall and thin figure.

At that time, with his children passing away one after another and the Han family's business in trouble due to a major mistake made by Han Yu during his lifetime, Grandpa Han's body collapsed under the double blow, and soon the news of his critical illness spread.

Before the young Shen Xi could understand the meaning of his mother's death, he had to face the fact that his grandfather was also leaving him. At his deathbed, his grandfather took his hand, trembling and repeating over and over again, "From now on, you will be the only one left, Xiao Xi."

Over the years, many things had gradually faded from Shen Xi's mind, but this was the only thing he had always remembered. Since his grandfather had passed away, he was really alone.

Thinking of this, Shen Xi let out a soft sigh, rubbed his numb legs, and sat down leaning against his mother's tombstone. This was Shen Xi's favourite pose in the past. Every time he did this, Shen Xi would have the illusion of leaning into his mother's arms. Shen Xi liked to talk to his mother about his thoughts and all the bad things that happened to him in the Shen family as if this could give him the strength to fight against all the cold treatment.

But this time, Shen Xi suddenly did not know what he should say. He had thought he had a lot of grievances to talk to his mother about, but when the words reached his lips, Shen Xi realized that not all of the grievances could be told. Some things, some pain, were too heavy and light words could not bear that weight.

Shen Xi sat in silence against his mother's tombstone for a whole morning, until the sound of footsteps reached him. Only then did he snap back to his senses.