The Lost Tomb Vol. 8

Chapter 74: Return to Zero

In the following months, many things happened.

My life slowly returned to normal, and I told the people under me as "Uncle Three" that I would be gone for a long time inspecting other places and that I needed to hand over the shop's business to my nephew.

Xiao Hua's men then came from Changsha and removed my mask at a hotel.

When I saw my face again, I burst into tears. I didn't think I would be vulnerable at this time. I felt as if I had unloaded countless burdens of strength, courage, responsibility, determination, bloodshed, and cruelty. I finally changed back to Wu Xie.

Finally, I was the naive Wu Xie who could shrink back, be weak, laugh and smile, be embarrassed, and be half dead every day. I could ask others "why" and "no" without hesitation and could even scold others without hesitation: "Fuck you, if you don't know, then who am I going to ask?"

I cried for a long time. Was it because I was finally back or having an emotional breakdown? Either way, I did nothing but shed tears and held the girl in my arms as she patted me on the back without saying anything. When I let go of her, I found tears in her eyes, too. She said she had never seen anyone cry so sadly before.

I drank a lot of wine that night. I placed a lot of cups on the table so all those lonely spirits and ghosts could come cheer me up. I hoped there were some people I knew who could see me now and feel really relieved.

Although the mask on my face was taken off, the mask on my heart was harder to get rid of. In the next few days, I often suddenly spoke in Uncle Three's tone, and I suddenly woke up from my sleep, feeling that I had betrayed myself and lost all my achievements. I even felt strange when looking in the mirror. Fortunately, my illusion gradually faded with the passage of time.

Fatty was right, I was at least a very adaptable person.

After the break, I went back to my shop. When Wang Meng saw me, he showed a strange expression and it took me a long time to realize that it was because I was back. He had gained some weight and became decadent. I looked at the rubbings placed on the shelf and saw that there seemed to be less than before. It seemed that if there was no business, there would always be one or two gifts from heaven.

I lay on the reclining chair in the back room, looking at the familiar and unfamiliar surroundings, and began to live as if I were in a daydream again. But I soon realized that it was impossible, as the heavy business on Uncle Three's side forced me to work hard.

Wang Meng offered me his resignation for the first time that night and I had to give him a higher salary before he agreed to continue working.

Even the most stable and simple person's heart was always slowly changing. Of course, this change was positive, and the mistakes were more on my side.

In fact, I wanted to fire him so badly before, but now I just wanted to have more things that could validate my real existence and try not to make any changes. I didn't know what kind of mentality this was, but on the internet, many people called it: getting old.

There were still some difficulties in taking over Uncle Three's business as Wu Xie, and I had to get help from my Uncle Two on some issues. I always stumbled in management, but I wasn't afraid anymore, because even if I lost everything I had now, I didn't care. Once one had this mentality, they could judge those important things more calmly and objectively.

During this period, I also got some information about Xiao Hua. All of this wasn't too hard on him, but there were some difficulties.

His injury was very serious so he stayed in Xiehe for a period of time after returning and then transferred to the United States for treatment. He didn't return until about two months later, and a few days after his return, I received an email from him, in which he told me about his situation.