Chapter 24 - 1#
A large bouquet of cosmos suddenly appeared before my eyes. I looked up from the original German text, which I barely understood myself, and stared ahead, somewhat stunned.
“I specifically ordered it from the florist; it was only delivered today.” Bai Junrui moved the large bouquet that was blocking his face aside, then took the book from my hands, his handsome face coming into view.
“Are you happy? If you’re happy, come on, give me a smile.”
I complied with public sentiment and tugged at the corners of my mouth.
Bai Junrui sighed as if deflated, tucked the flowers into the vase by the bedside table, and pulled up a chair next to the hospital bed.
“What’s wrong?” I raised the corners of my mouth. “Big Brother Bai, didn’t I just smile for you?”
Bai Junrui rested his chin on one hand while his other reached out to play with my hair, slowly smoothing it neatly behind my ears. “Big Brother Bai had to overcome all sorts of difficulties just to see you, and you didn’t even show any reaction.”
He sighed, his tone sullen. “It’s too heartbreaking.”
Had I not caught the playfulness in his eyes, I might have actually reflected on myself.
“Don’t you come by every few days?” I smiled. “Strange, how is it that there are so many people guarding the outside, yet they can’t do anything about you?”
The corners of Bai Junrui’s mouth lifted slightly as he raised an eyebrow and said, “I was the one who fished their young master out of the water. If it weren’t for me, who knows if they’d even be able to stand there today.”
I paused, looking away noncommittally.
Bai Junrui also fell silent for a while.
I looked out the window, then turned back and smiled faintly. “I’d like to… go for a walk outside.”
I sat in the wheelchair while Bai Junrui pushed me from behind, greeting people we passed by from time to time. Seeing me looking at him with a strange expression, he grinned and said, “Let me show you Big Brother Bai’s charm.”
After saying that, Bai Junrui smiled and waved at an elderly caregiver nearby. A few nurses walked past, blushing as they shyly called out “Young Master Bai” and hurried away.
I looked up at Bai Junrui… tsk, tsk, tsk, he really hasn’t changed a bit.
Having been confined to the hospital room for so long, coming out to breathe fresh air now gave me a lingering sense of “things have changed, and people are no longer the same.”
It felt like I had been in a dream.
As for how I was saved, both Bai Junrui and… Third Uncle Ren, neither uttered a word, as if they had reached a tacit agreement.
I only knew that when I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I had a bullet in my left leg, making it inconvenient to move, and the rest were just surface wounds; the situation was much better than I had expected.
It had been over a week since I woke up. Apart from seeing Third Uncle Ren whenever I opened my eyes in the first few days, I hadn’t seen much of him since. Occasionally, while drifting in and out of sleep, I could feel a familiar chill, but by the time I struggled to open my eyes, the bedside was empty.
Bai Junrui came quite often, and one thing was certain: he was the one who pulled me out of the water.
As for Wang Zheng…
I still remembered asking about Old He two days ago, and Old He had looked surprised.
——Young Master, didn’t you know? Ah, look at my big mouth. Cousin, at the time you… had your accident, he had already gone abroad to study.
——It’s just as well that Cousin went abroad early. If he had known you were in such serious trouble, he would have made a huge scene.
——But Cousin’s departure was quite rushed. Not only were you unable to react in time, Young Master, but even Steward Zhang only found out that day and cried until his eyes were swollen.
Bai Junrui pushed me into the flower garden and leaned down to whisper, “I have a villa in Maryland. I’ve already had a patch of land cleared. Next spring, I… I’ll take you to see it.”
I looked up at him and nodded slowly.
Hearing this, Bai Junrui’s mouth curved upwards, his eyes smiling into crescents.
I smiled along with him, clasped my hands together, and called out, “Big Brother Bai.”
“Could you…” I looked at him.
“Do one thing for me.”
I turned on the television and pushed the wheelchair myself. Although my movements weren’t very fluid yet, I was getting used to it.
I pressed the remote control, flipping through channels in boredom, and finally stopped on a news station.
Listening to the anchor’s clear voice, my gaze landed on the sub-headline, and I froze.
【Ren Corporation holds an emergency shareholder meeting; Third Uncle Ren plots to seize power; mother and son turn against each other.】 The next headline was—
【Ren Corporation stocks plummet; conglomerate faces major crisis.】
I pursed my lips, pressed the off button, took a deep breath, and as I turned my head, I happened to see the jacket Bai Junrui had left behind.
Perhaps wanting to wander a bit more, and holding onto a slim hope of running into Bai Junrui, I placed the jacket on my lap and manually rotated the wheels.
The guards outside wouldn’t allow me to go alone, so I let one follow, though I refused to let him push me.
The elevator went down two floors. As I rounded the corner, I saw Bai Junrui’s figure in the distance. He was standing with a physician, the two of them discussing something with serious expressions.
I was about to call out.
But after a moment of thought, what came out of my mouth was—
“Ren Zhuoyu—”
Bai Junrui didn’t move.
The position I was in happened to be a blind spot from where he stood.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, then handed the jacket to the bodyguard behind me and instructed, “Take this to Young Master Bai for me.”
He looked a bit puzzled but took it without asking questions. Just as he was about to walk over with the jacket, I stopped him: “Remember not to tell Young Master Bai that I was here too.”
He nodded in understanding.
I let out a soft sigh.
I wasn’t sure if it was disappointment or something else.
In the end, I felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Bai Junrui handled things with great efficiency.
Within a day or two, a small stack of documents appeared before me.
Just as I was about to open them, a hand pressed down on the top. I looked up at him.
Bai Junrui’s expression was strange—hesitant, as if he had more to say. “It was quite a while ago, but there are still traces to be found. Before you read these, Big Brother just wants to understand one thing.”
I nodded.
He asked: “Qiri, how did you come to have such a suspicion? I mean, why would you think…”
I looked at the cover of the documents and twitched my fingers, saying, “Uncle Jing woke me up.”
“There are some things I want to figure out.”
I rubbed my brow. “Big Brother Bai, do you understand? That feeling. It’s like everyone knows something, but the person directly involved is being kept in the dark.”
“When everyone was condemning me, I didn’t know the full story at all; I even felt it was bizarre. And also…”
I looked at Bai Junrui, but it was as if I were looking past him, into the distance—deep into my memories, as if I were standing in front of a mirror, and what it reflected wasn’t the current me, but my previous life…
After a long while, Bai Junrui nodded and pulled his hand away.
He said, “Qiri, no matter what, Big Brother hopes you understand one thing.” He paused, held my hand, and fell silent.
I smiled. Bai Junrui understood and said, “Call me if you need anything,” then walked out and gently pulled the door shut.
I watched him go.
Then, I slowly turned my gaze to the documents.
I reached out and opened them.
In truth, it was all quite ordinary.
Just some old stories.
I have to admit, the intelligence network under Bai Junrui was truly impressive. For this era, the fact that he could make Uncle Shu look at him with such admiration showed he was a rare talent.
There wasn’t much information.
Still, it took me nearly an entire afternoon to read most of it.
It included how my parents met, from falling in love to getting married.
The records were quite complete, some even accompanied by photos, all with detailed dates and years listed.
I leaned back, feeling slightly exhausted, and continued turning the pages.
I had forgotten to close the window, and when a gust of wind blew in, the other small stack of photos scattered onto the floor.
I panicked, hurriedly leaning against the bed and bending down to pick them up—
One photo caught my eye.
I slowly picked it up.
The image depicted… that incredibly beautiful face—it was Third Uncle Ren.
He was holding the hand of a toddler just learning to walk, a smile on his face that was brighter than I had ever seen.
Standing on the other side was my mother.
I stared blankly, then suddenly flipped through the stack of text documents rapidly, searching by year.
That was… when I was one year old.
I swallowed hard.
I hurriedly flipped to the end of the documents, which recorded information starting from when my mother was pregnant with me.
When my mother was pregnant, it didn’t seem to go very smoothly; she went to the hospital many times. That same year, my mother’s illness began. I read it word for word, afraid of missing a single character.
【Ren Xiaoyang holds 15% of Ren Corporation shares; in the same year, eldest son Ren Qiri was born.】【The following year, rumors spread that Ren Xiaoyang and Lin Zixin were having marital problems.】 Marital… problems?
No, that’s impossible.
【In the same year, Ren Xiaoyun’s surgery was successful, and he had a very close relationship with his sister-in-law and nephew.】
In the attached photos, there were many pictures of Third Uncle and me when I was a child.
And… my mother.
『Riwa, do you remember? Third Uncle doted on you the most. When you were little, even your father couldn’t soothe you, but your Third Uncle could coax you every single day.』
I turned to the next page and suddenly felt choked.
【Ren brothers suspected of falling out over a woman.】
【Ren Xiaoyun attempts to fight for custody of nephew Ren Qiri, unsuccessfully.】
【External rumors claim Ren Xiaoyun had an affair with sister-in-law Lin Zixin.】
【Some even pointed out that Ren Xiaoyang’s eldest son, Ren Qiri, is—】
“Clatter—!!”
“Qiri!”
Bai Junrui suddenly rushed in. I turned to look at him, and he hurried over.
I looked at the shattered cup on the floor and said somewhat blankly, “Oh… I lost my grip.”
I stared at the shards on the floor in a daze.
I didn’t remember a single thing Bai Junrui said after that.
I only knew that those words kept flashing through my mind.
【Ren Xiaoyun leaves Singapore for New Zealand to recuperate; in the same year, Ren Xiaoyang holds a total of 25% of the shares.】 『Mom, what are you saying to the child! This is a matter for adults!』
『I should have let Riwa know long ago, to see if he still recognizes you as his father! What’s the matter, Xiaoyang? Are you afraid that truth will be a disgrace?』
——【19XX, Ren Xiaoyun visits his sister-in-law Lin Zixin at Qingxin Nursing Home every month.】
————————
The car drove into a road far from the city center.
I looked outside, occasionally glancing at Bai Junrui in the driver’s seat.
After a while, I couldn’t help but ask: “Will Old He worry…”
Bai Junrui looked back, lifting the corners of his mouth. “Don’t worry, Big Brother has you covered with the old man.” For some reason, Old He’s nagging never seemed to work in front of Bai Junrui; instead, Bai Junrui would say “the old man” left and right, leaving Old He with no way to speak his mind.