CH 19

Yu Hong nodded silently and pushed Mo Jingxuan back to his room.

Mo Heng followed behind Mo Zhenhao and explained, “Brother just wanted to see the roses planted by Auntie.”

Turning his head, Mo Zhenhao’s mood fell even further, “Stop mentioning that woman in front of me. The only mistress I recognize in this family is your mother.”

Yu Hong curled her mouth as she walked in front of them, and Mo Heng stepped forward to walk besides his father, “Dad, how is the bidding situation for the land in the western suburbs?”

“The other side withdrew their bid and we got it without much effort.” He looked sideways at Mo Heng, “Because there was no competition, the price this time is much lower than we had expected, it’s saved our company a lot of money. If the Xiao family was always so quiet, our Mo family would definitely not be stopping here, we could even take their place in the top four families in the capital!”

Mo Heng frowned, thinking of how Xiao Ying had not been at school for the past few days, “Dad, do you know why the Xiao family suddenly held back?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but there have been a lot of doctors going in and out of their house recently.” Smiling calmly, Mo Zhenhao continues, “I’ve already asked some people to check who they’re coming for. It’s always a must to understand the situation of your opponent, and have a plan for how to deal with it once they are in trouble.”

Mo Heng nodded and didn’t say more; he knew that with his father’s arrogant attitude recurring, anything he said in front of him would be an excellent way to invoke his anger. Letting him know that he actually cared about the son of the Xiao family would never happen.

Before they entered the house, Mo Zhenhao patted Mo Heng on the back and said earnestly, “The Xiao family has been fighting with the Mo family ever since we can remember. Dad knows that you won’t let me down when it comes to this matter either, soon it will be your responsibility to care for the family.”

Mo Heng agreed, “Don’t worry, don’t you believe in my capabilities dad?” Xiao Ying….will definitely bow his head for him. Mo Heng’s love and his father’s thoughts had no conflicts; after all, love is a different language for everyone. And Mo Heng’s just so happened to be extremely unreasonable.

“Haha, of course dad believes in you.” Mo Zhenhao brought his son into the house with a bright smile, “I still have papers to deal with and will be having dinner in my study.” He headed upstairs before stopping again, “Don’t forget, tell your mother not to allow Jingxuan out from now on. He will embarrass us.”

After a proper silence, Mo Heng nodded, “I understand dad. You go work, I’ll go and see brother.”

Mo Zhenhao heard the answer he wanted and left in satisfaction. Mo Heng was not in a hurry to see Mo Jingxuan and sat quietly in the living room for a while; he needed to calm down the surging excitement he felt first.

The excitement of being able to completely inherit the Mo family, the excitement of kicking the original son out of the game without any effort, and…the excitement of standing next to Xiao Ying at the same height in the future. He had quietly watched him for so many years, but soon he would be able to stand proudly and take what he wanted without fear. He would no longer be the tiny ant not worth even looking at.

After taking a few deep breaths to suppress his boiling emotions, Mo Heng got up to go see his older brother.

“Woo–woo–woo–monster! Monster—ugly, ugly monster!” Mo Jinguan, who was pushed back to the servant’s room, was choking on his sobs in a low voice.

Yu Hong held the mirror persistently and kept it in front of his eyes, “Xiao Xuan is not ugly, look up, Xiao Xuan is very cute. Xiao Xuan is not a monster at all.”

“No!” Mo Jingxuan rejected the mirror in front of him, desperately hiding in the corner of his bed.

“Ma’am!” Aunt Wang, who had just entered the room and was still carrying a tray of medicinal food, yelled before she had time to think. She put the tray down and stepped forward, snatching the mirror away, “What are you doing?!”

Yu Hong acted innocent, “Don’t be nervous Aunt Wang, Xiao Xuan thought he was ugly so I was helping him see the truth. I don’t think he’s ugly at all, and I hope he can learn to love his appearance too.”

Aunt Wang protected Mo Jingxuan behind her, “Madam, dinner is ready downstairs. Please go and eat while I help the young master.”

Yu Hong got up and sighed, “Alright…But remember to coax him well, Xiao Xuan was clamouring for a mirror today and I couldn’t help but give him one. If I knew it would be like this I wouldn’t have done it, blame me for being too negligent.”

“Don’t worry ma’am, I will take good care of the young master.”

Yu Hong nodded, obviously in great spirits, and left the room. Meeting Mo Heng on her way down, she pulled him along with her to eat instead.

“Young Master Xuan!” Aunt Wang hugged Mo Jingxuan, who was huddled in a heap. “My poor child,” Her voice was filled with pain, “Why can’t this family be kind? If the miss was still here, everything would be different! It’s all my fault, I’m useless. I can’t protect you, I can’t protect you at all….”

Mo Jingxuan struggled desperately in Aunt Wang’s arms, “Don’t look, don’t look!”

Heartbroken, Aunt Wang wiped away the tears on his face, “Young master is not ugly, you’re just not healthy yet. Believe me, the young master will look better once some time has passed.”

Mo Jingxuan was immersed in his own world and could not hear these comforting words at all, just blindly curling himself up and whispering to himself.

Mo Jingxuan, who gradually submerged himself into the shadows of his corner, didn’t know that another man had plunged himself into the darkness for him.

Xiao Mansion———-

In the dark room with closed windows and doors, the only source of light was a warm flicker from a candle on the bedside table. Below it, there was a young man sitting as motionless as a sculpture, his head bowed as he kneeled on the ground. The man’s outstretched arms were wrapped with white gauze, a white that was dotted sporadically with bright red and a dull brown….Occasionally the man would move his arms, reaching to grab the dancing shadows below him, and the red spots would scramble to expand their territory.

“Xuan–” The young man murmured, “Are you still refusing to come back?” There was another silence.

Glancing at his arms, the young man smiled, “Then I’ll cut some more for you. I’ll show you this every day, every day until you respond. What do you think?”

The black shadow that had filled the entire room under the candlelight a moment ago disappeared without a trace, as if shy from the words spoken with such love.

No longer seeing the object of his obsession, the unkempt young man got up nervously, searching the ground in a panic, “Xuan-Xuan-!”

After a long time of fruitless searching, he realized it was in vain. He turned ferociously to look at the culprits, the men who had entered his and Xuan’s room without permission.

Xiao Yao returned to his senses, his heart aching as he watched his son go out of control, “Xiao Ying, this can’t go on anymore. Listen to dad, let this doctor help you….he can make you better.”

Glaring at Xiao Yao, there was a trace of coldness in Xiao Ying’s eyes, “Get out! You will scare Xuan.”

Xiao Yao frowned, the circles under his eyes highlighted with the action. “Xuan?” The name sounded familiar, but– “That toy of yours? Are we scaring it?” So, his son’s mental state had deteriorated to the point of hallucinations…

Xiao Ying lowered his head back to the ground, no longer deigning to look at the intruders, “No, Xuan is the man I love. Xuan is my shadow.” He raised his head to stare at his father, “But you scared him away, get out of here–”

Eyes widened, Xiao Yao’s face was full of disbelief, “Xiao–Xiao Ying–you–don’t scare dad like this! –Ying—Xiao Ying!” Xiao Yao finally understood why his son insisted on staying in the dark, why he kept talking to the ground, why he hurt himself while facing his shadow….So this is what happened. Turning, he looked at the psychiatrist, trying to find an answer.

The psychiatrist pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, “Preliminarily judged to be delusional.”

Seeing that those people still hadn’t left, and were even standing there talking, Xiao Ying’s forehead bulged. He got up and walked towards them, punching the nearest doctor in the face as he shouted, “Get out!”

Xiao Yao quickly pulled the doctors out and slammed shut the door to his son’s room.

The psychiatrist frowned at his actions and added, “There also seems to be mania and excessive paranoia.”

Xiao Yao sighed, moving to open the door again, “Give him a sedative, he needs to rest. Treat his arms while you’re in there.”

Xia Chengyu nodded, preparing the injection beforehand and rushing inside to the kneeling man the moment the door was opened. 

Before Xiao Ying closed his eyes, he seemed to see his Xuan calling out to him, “Xuan….I miss you…” He fell asleep with a smile still on his face, looking gentle enough that people wanted to cry.

—————————————————————————————————————–

“Brother, look what I brought you?” Mo Heng shook a puppet in front of Mo Jingxuan.

Mo Jingxuan looked up silently and lowered his head once more without saying a word.

Mo Heng smiled, “Teletubbies, cute Teletubbies! Mom said you liked watching it as a baby, so I bought a doll for you to play with when I’m not here.”

Mo Jingxuan raised his head, “Baby….” But the headache following his words made him frown and retreat back to his corner.

Mo Heng nodded, “Yes! Teletubbies!”

“Buzzz~” The mobile phone vibrated, interrupting their bonding time.

“Hello?” Mo Heng picked up the phone, “What’s going on? Senior Xiu actually called me first?”

“Cooperation?” Mo Heng looked sarcastic, “I’m still a freshman now, so I’m not involved in my father’s company yet.” He paused, “Aren’t you closer with the Zi Bo? He’s one of Xiao Ying’s trusted friends, are you sure you want to ask me over him for help?”

Mo Jingxuan, who had been nestled in his bed, felt a severe pain in his chest when he heard Xiao Ying’s name and fell over sideways. A large number of memory fragments were rushing into his head, leaving him breathless. 

“What did you say? Xiao Ying is crazy?! How is that possible?!” Mo Heng was so shocked that he started directly questioning Xiao Yixiu, forgetting to keep his composure even.

Xiao Yixiu happily reconfirmed, and Mo Heng stood in a daze. “Impossible…” The phone slipped from his hand, and Mo Heng shook his head in disbelief.

“Say that again?” A gloomy, cold voice came from behind, interrupting Mo Heng’s thoughts.

Coming to his senses, Mo Heng turned to look at his brother, “Jingxuan?” Mo Jingxuan had a strange expression and cold eyes, a stark difference from his earlier depression.

Frowning, Mo Jingxuan supported his skinny body and raised his hand to brush the oily hair on his forehead back. He stared dead into Mo Heng’s eyes, “Tell me. What’s going on with Xiao Ying?”