CH 20

Mo Heng hesitated, “Brother—? You—?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, Mo Jingxuan pointed to the phone on the ground with an irritated expression, “My dear brother, can I borrow your phone?” The words he spoke may have been intimate on the surface, but the sarcasm leaking through couldn’t have been colder.

Mo Heng was stunned, his brain still unable to comprehend what was happening, but he mechanically picked up the phone and handed it to his brother who suddenly felt like a different person. He was still just as thin and ugly, but he seemed to have an aura belonging to those naturally above everyone else.

Opening the phone, Mo Jingxuan typed in the number he knew by heart with shaking fingers, “The number you dialed has been turned off————–”

Frowning, Mo Jingxuan was more anxious and pressed a series of landline numbers, “beep—beep—” As he waited, his worry grew, every second bringing more suffering.

“Hello, this is the Xiao residence.”

“Butler Qin,” a slightly hoarse and tired voice spoke. The roughness of the voice only added to its charm, but the listener didn’t have time to appreciate it.

“Who are—?”

“What is baby–Xiao Ying’s mental state right now?” Mo Jingxuan didn’t waste any time and cut the other off, getting straight to his point.

Qin Yong frowned on the other side of the phone, “Who are you?” The news of the young master’s mental illness had been tightly sealed; no one should have known any details yet.

Qin Yong’s vigilance left Mo Jingxuan pressing his head in impatience. His current state suddenly came back to him; he was unable to stand on his own and had idiotically believed in Yu Hong and his brother…and his father had grounded him.

“Uh–” The headache his past actions brought him left Mo Jingxuan gasping in pain.

“Brother?” Mo Heng stepped forward to support him with a worried face.

“I’m fine.” Waving away Mo heng’s hands, he put the phone back to his ear and said sincerely, “Please tell me the specific situation of Xiao Ying! You need to trust me, I’m doing this for his own good. I can help him, I know him better than anyone else!”

“Sorry, I have no comment.” Dismissing Mo Jingxuan with a few words, Qin Yong was about to hang up the phone.

“Is he looking for his shadow?” Mo Jingxuan quickly asked one more question.

“You—” Hesitating for a few more moments, Butler Qin decided to compromise. This man knew about the shadow and said he could help his young master; even if it was a shot in the dark, he was willing to take it at this point; Xiao Ying was falling apart more and more each day. “The young master is in a very bad mental state, he often talks to himself and has self-harm tendencies. He even regards his own shadow as his lover….the doctor said it was delusional disorder. But that can’t be right! The young master has been fine up until now, why would he suddenly become mentally ill for no reason? If you really know anything, please tell me! Please help the young master!”

“Heh–” Mo Jingxuan smiled bleakly, his eyes full of sorrow and self-blame, “You’re right, he’s not crazy. Tell Xiao Yao to let Xiao Ying sleep, don’t give him a chance to wake up and hurt himself. If you give me time, I will definitely bring what Xiao Ying wants to him.”

Qin Yong agreed, “I will tell the master.” Even if this man was lying to him, it wouldn’t do any harm to believe him for now.

Mo Jingxuan pulled the corners of his mouth up in relief and had just hung up the phone when he fainted from the pain of over-exerting himself.

Xiao…wait for me.

Xiao…it turns out…I love you.

Mo Heng frowned, a little unable to digest all the inexplicable things in front of him. He bent down to take the phone from his older brother’s limp hand and looked at the number still flashing on the screen….that number was one he knew as well. It was one that he had never dared to save in his phone but would never be able to forget.

Suspiciously looking at the fainted man on the bed, Mo Heng couldn’t figure out why Mo Jingxuan suddenly became so strange or how he knew so many things he should have had no exposure to. His familiar tone with the housekeeper of the Xiao family just now was uncanny, but the arrogance and sudden power felt behind his manner of speaking was much more puzzling. He seemed to know Xiao Ying very well…even better than himself, who had been silently chasing after that person for many years.

Taking a deep breath, Mo Heng shook his head and stopped thinking about it. It would not be too late to question things once Mo Jingxuan woke up, and rather than jumping to conclusions, that sounded like a much safer solution. Fortunately, he had confirmed from the phone call that Xiao Ying was not as insane as Xiao Yixiu had implied. It was not for nothing that he lent Mo Jingxuan his phone.

As Mo Jingxuan slept, all the memories, past and present, slowly came back to him.

He opened his eyes, saw the familiar servant’s room, and closed them again.

“Young Master Xuan, you woke up! Are you uncomfortable? Why did you suddenly faint?” Aunt Wang had been watching him closely and seeing his eyes flutter, asked a series of questions anxiously.

“Is he really awake?” Yu Hong’s eyes were red as she confirmed, her face seeming as if tears would drip down the next minute.

Mo Zhenhao had nothing to say to Mo Jingxuan, preferring to hug his wife distressedly instead.

“Big brother, how do you feel? You really scared me earlier when you fainted,” Mo heng was sitting on the edge of the bed with concern in his eyes as he reached to hold Mo Jingxuan’s hand. “Those useless doctors say that everything is fine each time they come. You were so dizzy earlier and they still think nothing’s wrong!”

Mo Jingxuan quirked the corner of his mouth and tilted his head as he squinted at the hand being held in his lap, “How do you think I’m feeling?” Pulling the hand that was holding him back and forth a few times, he raised his eyes and asked with a smile, “Brother Xiao Heng, how do you want me to respond to this question? Would it be better if I were in pain?”

Mo Heng frowned secretly; this person was obviously still an idiot earlier; why did he suddenly change and no longer listen to him? After that phone call, nothing was going right. He seemed to have grown up in an instant, and the look in his eyes made it seem as if he could see through all of his scheming. 

Suppressing the strangeness in his heart, Mo Heng laughed dumbly, “What are you saying? Of course I don’t want you to feel bad! It would be horrible if you had any health problems Xiao Xuan!”

Yu Hong replied angrily as well, “You child, your brother cares about you so much. Why would you say something like that?”

Mo Jingxuan glanced at her, “Really? Then I’ll have to thank my brother for his love.” He looked at the man behind her, finally deciding to address his father, “You married a good woman. All you have to do is sit back and watch and the drama will feed itself to your mouth.” The members of this family truly deserved a best actor award. Maybe one for each of them?

Yu Hong hid the viciousness in her eyes and gritted her teeth silently; this little bastard was so aggressive today. Ever since he woke up, he hasn’t been giving her face.

Mo Zhenhao frowned and didn’t answer but ordered, “Stay in your room for me.” He pulled Yu Hong to stand up and left the room. As he approached the door, he told Aunt Wang, “Don’t let him leave; it’s embarrassing for me to let others look at him.”

“Is it embarrassing…?” Mo Jingxuan looked at his hand in a daze and coughed, “It’s really ugly….would he hate it like this?”

Aunt Wang anxiously looked at the man with gloomy eyes on the bed, resisting the uncomfortable chill on her back as she stepped forward, “Young Master—”

Suddenly raising his eyes, Mo Jingxuan sat up straight, “Aunt Wang, how are you doing? Thank you for taking care of my body in this period of time.”

She shook her head subconsciously, “This is what I should do.” After a moment, she hesitated and asked, “Young Master, what happened to you?” Looking at how much he had changed, she even suspected that he had been possessed by a ghost.

Mo Jingxuan raised his eyebrows, “Aunt Wang doesn’t like me like this?”

“No—no, it’s just….”

“Don’t worry, I’m still your young master. Although this body fell asleep for more than ten years, I was still awake. The gods let me live as a soul above the body, always watching as you cared for me. Do you understand?” Mo Jingxuan explained his changes simply, finding a story that the old woman would be more likely to believe than the reasoning that he became another man’s shadow.

“But before, you were….”

“It’s just that my memory was suppressed when I first woke up. Today, thanks to my good brother, I was able to remember everything. But Aunt Wang, you don’t need to worry about any of the details, you just need to do what you should with a peace of mind. Don’t worry, your young master won’t let that mother and son take what’s not theirs.”

“Young Master!” Aunt Wang almost cried; this child was finally sensible. No wonder he suddenly disregarded that mother and son pair, it turns out he had already seen everything they’d done these past years. Thinking of this, Aunt Wang frowned and said, “But should you still act like this in front of the master? He is–” 

Mo Jingxuan was calm. “Do you think I care about the Mo family? Care about that so-called father?” He smiled at Aunt Wang comfortingly, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Since this family didn’t want him, there was no need for him to stick around only to be bullied. If they wanted him to disappear so badly, he would let the Mo family disappear in his stead, at the very least, they wouldn’t have to see his face anymore. He didn’t care about the family properties in his last life, let alone the people who despised him. And if he ruined the Mo family, he would be killing two birds with one stone. He would be paving the way for Xiao Ying to grow while relieving the hatred of two lifetimes.

“But—” Aunt Wang wanted to say something but was interrupted by Mo Jingxuan.

“Aunt Wang doesn’t need to think too much.”

Sighing, Aunt Wang nodded. This child had been through so much, it was better to let him resolve these debts himself.

“Help me prepare for rehabilitation, and increase the amount of medicinal diet. I need to recover as soon as possible.” He frowned and pressed his temples, “That woman gave me fried pork many times, it will take several days for my stomach to recover. Aunt Wang, be sure to ask the doctor if there are any other ways to speed up my recovery, no matter how painful they are, as long as they allow me to recover faster we will begin to implement them immediately.” Without a healthy body and normal appearance, how could that good father of his allow him to go out? And without intact legs, how could he stand by Xiao Ying’s side?

“Why is Madam so intolerable?” Aunt Wang retorted, “Young Master, don’t worry; I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to bear it before, so the rehabilitation was previously reduced. Now that you are willing to cooperate, we can adjust everything so that you recover quickly.

Time flew, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Mo Jingxuan was recovering at an astonishing speed. No matter how Yu Hong and Mo Heng tried to interfere, Mo Jingxuan brushed them aside mercilessly.

The current Mo Jingxuan left everyone dumbfounded. His previous childlike innocence had disappeared without a trace, and except for Aunt Wang, he was cold to everyone. His dislike for his family remained obvious as well, so while his body recovered with leaps and bounds, his relationship with his family became more and more turbulent.

After half a month of hard, painful days, Mo Jingxuan was finally able to run and jump smoothly and stood in front of a mirror with a dazed expression on his face.

In the mirror, the young man’s smooth and fair face revealed a sharp-edged indifference; his deep black phoenix eyes were full of a charming luster; he had thick eyebrows, a high nose, and full lips. Even wearing a casual, loose sweater and blue jeans didn’t conceal his aggressive aura at all. Compared with his previous zombie-like appearance, the change was simply earth-shaking.