Chapter 21: Telepathy
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yun Shishi whispered beside his ear, “I’m sorry... Youyou...”
Youyou opened his little mouth to speak but hesitated. He really wanted to ask: Did his daddy really not like him – not want him – so he threw him away and did not bother with him anymore?
Was he really what those adults said? ‘Born to a father but acknowledged by none’?
These questions sprang to his lips, but he forcefully swallowed them back.
Youyou flipped his hand and held Yun Shishi’s delicate fingers. He lifted his small face and gazed up at the night sky, speaking softly, “Mommy, even if Youyou’s daddy doesn’t want Youyou, Youyou still has mommy! Youyou loves mommy the most, so don’t be sad! It’s all because of daddy that mommy is sad! When Youyou grows up, Youyou will definitely protect mommy!”
Yun Shishi raised her eyes, followed his line of sight, and gazed outside as well. She eventually gave a long sigh and hugged him even tighter.
“Youyou is such a good child....”
The Mu residence.
In the living room, Mu Yichen, who was sitting on the sofa, suddenly felt a strange throbbing pain in his heart. It was unbearable.
With slightly knitted brows, he gently caressed the area where his heart was located before laying his palm over it. He felt rapid heartbeats inside.
His heart was in pain, and it was almost suffocating.
A maid, who was tidying up his toys, saw him place his hands over his chest, with his face contorting in pain. She frantically knelt down in front of him. “Young master, what’s wrong?”
“Heart... painful...” Mu Yichen was covered in cold sweat. “Just like... I was pricked by a needle... uncomfortable....”
“Just like in the past?” The maid was momentarily at a loss.
The young master had always experienced these heartaches. His heart would suddenly beat rapidly and he would be in pain. However, every time he was sent to the hospital, no cause of pain was detected. He was healthy.
Even the best doctors could not tell what was wrong with him.
Mu Yichen curled up on the sofa and took a deep breath of cold air, looking reserved.
“What’s the matter?”
Mu Sheng slowly walked down the stairs with the support of his cane. The elderly man donned a crease-free set of traditional Chinese garments. Despite his old age, he still looked energetic. Under the shadow of his brows, it was not difficult to realize that he was a charming and elegant man during his prime.
“Great grandpa...” Mu Yichen glanced up at him and called out meekly.
No one could shake Mu Sheng’s position in the Mu family. He had interacted with so many powerful figures throughout his life that his every word and gesture made people tremble in fear or be in awe.
Therefore, for a rich man’s son like Mu Yichen, he also feared his great grandfather.
Mu Sheng, for his part, doted on this little guy with all his heart and soul.
Mu Yazhe was his favorite grandson, and Mu Yichen was his flesh and blood, so it was natural that he doted on him more.
Seeing his beloved great grandson relapsing, his facial expression changed. He hurriedly inquired, “Is your body not feeling well again? Is your heart in pain again?”
His great grandfather showed concern for him, but Mu Yichen instinctively shied away from him. He was clearly afraid of him. He was afraid of Mu Sheng’s ever taciturn and stern face. Therefore, he never liked staying close to him. “Nothing!” He replied.
“Nonsense! Look at you! You’re in so much pain that you’re breaking out in cold sweat!” Mu Sheng was extremely heartbroken.
“Great grandpa, I – I will go upstairs to read books!” Mu Yichen leaped down from the sofa and dashed upstairs.
Mu Sheng looked at his great grandson’s back and slowly sighed.
The night deepened.
On the road, a black Bugatti Veyron raced with the wind. Neon lights were projected on the car’s streamlined body and the tunnel lights transitioned from light to dark consecutively. Mu Yazhe, who was in control of the wheel, had his deep-set eyes filled with intense rage. The cold moonlight reflected a silvery glow on his perfectly carved face.
He stepped on the accelerator hard with his foot. The engine revved and drowned all other noises.
Tonight, for some reason, he was not in control of his emotions.
Chapter 22: He Had a Younger Brother
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
For some reason, tonight, he was not in control of his emotions. Previously, even if he was in a bad mood, he could still maintain his calm in the face of a difficult-to-handle development project. However, right now, he was unfathomably annoyed – weary even.
His phone rang.
Mu Yazhe picked up the call and Mu Yichen’s babbling voice came through. “Daddy....”
“Hm? What’s the matter?”
“Daddy, my heart is in pain again. Yesterday, I had a dream; I dreamed of mommy....”
The sports car abruptly came to a stop.
Rolling down the car window, Mu Yazhe’s gloomy face appeared. “Hm? Mommy?”
Mu Wanrou?
“Not that mommy! I dreamed of a pretty lady gently calling a name, but it’s not mine... Oh... I’m not sure! Anyway, I dreamed of her and I felt at ease. It was so warm, just like....” The youthful voice paused for a while before he continued, grumbling, “I don’t like the mommy here! She’s not gentle at all. Yichen doesn’t like her... Daddy, I don’t want the mommy here! I want that mommy in my dreams....”
The little guy was wailing and being willful on the other end of the phone.
Mu Yazhe’s face was sullen, but his voice was unexpectedly gentle. “Be good, Yichen. Be good, okay? Daddy is on his way home to be with you!”
“Okay! I will wait for you, daddy!”
The call ended. The upturned corners of his mouth slowly went down.
Do people... really have telepathy?
The doctor said that since Little Yichen was a twin, he was bound to have telepathy with his other twin. However, when the girl gave birth to two boys for him back then, one was already not breathing upon his birth....
After the delivery, he sent people to that hospital to inquire about the whereabouts of the child’s corpse from the staff in charge of the operation. He wanted to give the child a proper burial. However, everyone claimed that he was already taken care of.
He deeply lamented the loss back then. However, for as long as Little Yichen could remember, he kept mentioning dreams about his younger brother to him.
He claimed that his younger brother had clean and refined features and looked exactly like him. He said that it was as if he were looking at himself in the mirror – completely identical.
Mu Yazhe had previously thought that telepathy between twins was nonsense.
However, there was once when Little Yichen had a high fever and the family doctor had him on an IV drip. While he was confined in bed, he kept calling out unconsciously, “Mommy... mommy...”
He sounded helpless and dependent, but not detached – unlike how he was with Mu Wanrou.
Little Yichen might have called Mu Wanrou ‘mommy’ on a daily basis, but he was never close to her.
When he woke up, he cried out aloud. Mu Wanrou wanted to cuddle him, but he wailed and refused her touch.
He kept on crying, “Yichen has a little brother. My little brother is sick... Yichen is heartbroken... heartbroken....”
The child back then was not saved, so where did this younger brother come from?
No one believed his words because he was a child. Children’s words carried no harm and little weight.
Little Yichen eventually stopped mentioning about his dreams.
However, he was more distant toward Mu Wanrou thereafter.
...
The next day was a peaceful working day.
However, in the afternoon, an unexpected incident made Yun Shishi lose her job.
Yun Shishi was originally planning to pass a proposal to her department head after lunch break. Just as she stepped out, a few aimless youths, dressed like hooligans, boldly injured the security guards by the company entrance. They barged into her department, flung a row of tables, and shouted her name loudly.
Their intrusion frightened everyone in the office. A few noticed the tattoos on their bodies and cowered to a corner. Rumors had it that these youths were well-known ruffians in a certain street in the capital and had powerful backers. Had Yun Shishi provoked these people?
Chapter 23: Being Troubled
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Yun Shishi returned from her meeting with the department head, she was shocked by what she saw, but she quickly regained her composure.
Once the few bossy youngsters saw her, they immediately recognized her to be Yun Shishi. They approached her and forcibly dragged her by the arm outside the office.
One of them, who seemed to be the leader, ruthlessly slapped her on the face. He was evidently vexed. In a threatening manner, he asked, “You’re that b*tch’s sister?!”
Yun Shishi was stunned. She cradled her stinging cheek and studied them. She then realized who the ‘b*tch’ that they were talking about was!
“Y’know how much that sister of yours owes me?” He chewed on gum, his eyes looking her up and down a few times.
Yun Shishi docilely pursed her lips and kept her silence. Very quickly, she sorted everything out and understood the entirety of the situation.
Calling Yun Na to mind, she probably incurred this huge debt while she was out having fun. Her family’s financial situation was still unstable, so she had no money to pay off her debt. When she could not pay them back, she thought of her and gave her company’s address to these people.
Yun Shishi felt a little regretful inside. Worried that her father would meet setbacks at work and would be unable to contact her, she left her company’s address to them. Never did she think that uninvited guests would show up, though.
However, she was unwilling to submit to these few hoodlums. Her reluctance did not stem from her having a backbone but, instead, from her being under financial strains as well. If she helped Yun Na pay off her debt, then she would not have enough to pay Youyou’s school fees for the next semester.
Watching her remain silent, the leader became enraged. He grabbed her by her shirt collar and tapped her face. “Are you a mute? Know how to speak? Speak up will ya?! Damn it!”
“Can’t pay up, can you?!” A few of the thugs shoved her around. Several pairs of eyes, harboring evil intentions, peeked at her chest. “It’s alright if you can’t pay up! You hafta behave and come with us! Got no money to pay? There are many other ways to do so!”
“Speaking of which, you, little girl, look pretty good. Interested in playing with us?”
The few of them smiled, their eyes containing malicious intentions.
Yun Shishi maintained a poker face. “Please speak with more respect.”
“Ho! Ha ha! This girl has got an attitude!” The man gave her a sinister smile and then proceeded to slap her again. “Why are you so damn savage with your words?! What’s the reason behind owing money and not paying it back?!”
Yun Shishi slowly turned her face back, her hand furtively feeling for her phone in her pocket. This little move, however, was noticed by the few men. The leader furiously clenched her wrist and flung her phone to the ground. The man stomped down once, and the phone was smashed into pieces.
She was shocked. In her eyes showed agitation.
“Calling the cops on us? Never thought you’d be quite smart!” the man spat. He then pushed her to the ground and sent a hard kick to her shoulder. “Call the cops now! I’ll let ya call the cops!”
“Boss, didn’t that b*tch say this woman has a kid? Come to think of it, which kindergarten is he at?” One of them gave her a meaningful glance.
Yun Shishi frantically lifted her face, instinctively spurting, “Don’t! Don’t find trouble for Youyou! I – I’ll give you the money!”
She could remain rational as long as it did not involve Youyou.
Returning to her department, she hurriedly took out her ATM card with trembling hands and reddened eyes.
Chapter 24: Fired from Her Job
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Returning to her department, she hurriedly took out her ATM card with trembling hands and reddened eyes. She then went to the nearest bank to withdraw a few thousand dollars and paid off Yun Na’s debts entirely. The thugs, satisfied, counted the money while giving her a fierce stare. Eventually, they strutted away without causing further trouble.
Back in the company, the manager summoned her to his office and fired her for ‘bringing massive trouble and loss to the company’. He asked her to pack her belongings and leave the company’s premises as soon as possible.
Earlier, she was able to remain calm despite being surrounded and confronted by those evil men. Right now, with the knowledge that she might lose her job, her eyes instantly turned red.
She did not care about anything else. She pleaded with the manager not to fire her.
She still had Youyou. She could not lose this job. If she were to, then what about their living expenses for this period of time?
The Yun family still had quite a large debt to pay off, and Youyou was still young – a time where money was needed. Nowadays, the school fee for his kindergarten was incredibly high. Adding to this expense was the nutritional needs’ fee for his frail body, which was already exponentially high. Stacking on to this was their living expenses. She was already at her wits’ end.
Seeing her beg this earnestly, the manager was naturally moved. In all honesty, Yun Shishi was a very competent worker. Although she was the only female worker in the IT department, her skills were not inferior to her male colleagues. Moreover, she was hardworking, devoted, and conscientious toward her job.
However, the incident this time had made the higher-ups unhappy, and they came to a decision to fire her. He had no say in this, as he did not have the authority to let her stay.
Therefore, although Yun Shishi pleaded, the result was still set in stone.
When she got off work, she simply packed her stuff and left the company building. Several employees learned of her leaving; many were happy and a few were saddened.
Many of them felt that it was better for this Yun Shishi to scoot off. In the office, she was in the limelight on a regular basis, snatching away their chances of getting a promotion.
With her great capabilities and outstanding visuals, the department head favored her. She even had the highest annual bonus amongst them. Therefore, majority felt more relaxed when they learned of her dismissal. They had one less competition now, after all.
There were a handful of colleagues that she had a pretty good relationship with. Learning of her dismissal, they sympathized and exchanged contacts with her before bidding her farewell.
Yun Shishi left the company and walked on the road looking despondent. Her heart was burdened with sacks of depression.
Perhaps, she had gotten too absent-minded as she walked with her head down that she failed to notice the red light being up and the blasting of the horn of an approaching sports car.
Only when she heard the screeching sound of car brakes – sharp, loud, and grating to the ears – did she return to her senses. However, it was already too late.
The sports car speeding along scraped past her body and came to a complete halt not far from her.
Yun Shishi had yet to react when the car brushed by her and she was knocked down to the ground. Her muddle-headedness disappeared when she felt immense pain radiate from her knee which was scraped on asphalt as she fell.
The documents she originally held in her chest now lay scattered on the ground. Yun Shishi lifted her eyes in shock and saw an extremely posh Porsche with a streamlined body. No matter which angle one looked at it, the car was simply magnificent.
Yun Shishi once saw a description for this sports car in a magazine. Rumors had it that it was a world-wide limited edition, custom-made car. Only three of this existed in the entire world!
Once more, her attention returned to her bruised knee when it ached. The corner of her skirt was torn open by the friction between the car and the fabric, and her knee that was carelessly scraped just now had some dust in it as it bled profusely.
Chapter 25: Meeting Again
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Unsure whether it was the pain or something else, Yun Shishi’s eyes suddenly got filled with moisture. Tears soon rolled unabatedly down her cheeks and steadily dripped onto the ground. She was so upset that she wept.
From a young age, she had led a wandering life. Although she later had a place to call home, other than Yun Yecheng, no one welcomed her in it.
She was, all along, reliant on no one. With her job gone, she really did not know what to do.
Her deeply suppressed indignation finally burst out. The unforeseen events over the past few days had mentally and physically taken a heavy toll on her, and she was already at her limit of what she could endure.
On top of shouldering Yun Na’s debt, she also lost her job. At this very moment, she was without a penny to her name. What should she do now?
All this while, she was very resilient to the point of unyielding. Even when she was in a difficult situation, she fended for herself. No matter how tough or how tiring it was, with Youyou by her side, she thought that there was hope in life.
However, reality knocked her down into a mass of bruises!
Youyou had once told her that when things were difficult, she should smile and everything would be alright. Even a child knew of this principle, but why could an adult like her not follow it properly?
Thus, right now, she was unable to stop her tears from falling!
Yun Shishi, filled with grievances and bitterness, pressed onto her cheeks. She sat on the ground like this and heartbrokenly wept!
Not far away, the Porsche’s engine was turned off. Its door was pushed open, and a pair of expensive leather shoes touched the ground. Mu Yazhe elegantly stepped out from the car and casually closed the door behind him. In his line of sight was a lady in a white dress, stumbled on the ground, motionless. The expression on her face could not be seen clearly with her head hanging low, but one could hear her broken-hearted sobs, making her appear rather pitiful!
The lady seemed young, about 20 years of age, and frail. She wore a simple office dress. Her silky smooth hair cascaded on her shoulders slightly messily and hid most of her face.
Although she appeared bedraggled, it did not do injustice to her beauty. In fact, it only accentuated her stunning looks even more, making others feel sympathy for her.
Mu Yazhe’s eyes slowly narrowed, looking deep and far. This girl made his heart tingle. She seemed somewhat familiar, as though he had seen her before.
However, with her head hanging down, he could not see her looks.
His sword-like eyebrows slightly twitched. He went closer and gracefully half-squatted down in front of her. He slightly lowered his almond-shaped eyes to coldly examine the bruise on her knee. He noted that one of her pair of slender legs was smeared with blood. The blood trickled along the delicate curves of her leg.
He scanned her entire body and saw no other injuries besides that slight skin abrasion on her knee.
Her injury was fortunately not severe, but she was still weeping in grief, as though she had suffered a really big grievance. He really did not know what she was crying so pitifully for! Her current appearance was a little similar to an abandoned kitten!
Mu Yazhe noted that, but he showed no visible reaction toward it.
The frustrated feelings he had were somewhat aggravated. He had a habit of taking the car out for a ride in the mountains when he was feeling down. Just then, with his mind occupied, he had failed to notice her on the road. Perhaps, her frail frame and flimsy white dress made her inconspicuous as well. She looked so delicate, and he drove wildly on the road, so he failed to notice her until it was already too late. It was truly fortunate that nothing bad had happened to her.
Seeing her tears flow non-stop, Mu Yazhe wasted no more time. He lowered his head and fished out his wallet. Removing a few large banknotes from it, he gave them to her expressionlessly.