Chapter 137#
The Right to a Choice#
He stood up and walked over to Liu Yi. Jian Yunchen frowned slightly: “Aunt? Why are you here?”
Liu Yi nervously fiddled with the hem of her clothes. After her eyes caught a glimpse of Qin Mu sitting on the hospital bed, she lowered them quickly as if she had been burned. Her lips trembled, and her voice was as low as a mosquito’s hum. Jiang Yunhan kindly took over the conversation: “She came to the company looking for me, and when she saw me, she chased after me, calling out ‘Xiao Chen.’ She said she had something important to tell you, so I brought her here.”
Liu Yi looked at Jian Yunchen and nodded repeatedly, her tightened knuckles turning white.
Jian Yunchen looked at her flat abdomen, his brow relaxing slightly. He then turned his gaze back to Qin Mu, who was half-sitting on the bed.
Jiang Yunhan said with a smile: “Xiao Chen, go ahead. I think she must have something urgent to have chased you all this way. I’ll look after Qin Mu for you; if anything happens, I’ll find you immediately.”
Qin Mu felt there was more to his words than met the ear. After giving Jiang Yunhan a meaningful look, he turned to Jian Yunchen and smiled: “I’m fine, you go. It’s only as far as the next room; it’s not like I’m going to run away.”
A flicker passed through Jian Yunchen’s eyes. Seeing the expectation on Liu Yi’s face, he finally nodded.
After the two left the ward, the atmosphere became slightly tense. The smile on Jiang Yunhan’s face vanished, replaced by a cold gaze. He looked at Qin Mu, closed the door, and walked slowly to sit next to him. Folding his arms, he looked straight at him.
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and allowed himself to be scrutinized. After a long while, Jiang Yunhan was the first to lose patience and spoke: “Qin Mu, don’t you have anything to explain to me?”
Qin Mu propped his face in his hand and looked at him with a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes. He feigned ignorance and asked with a light laugh, “Explain what?”
Jiang Yunhan clenched his teeth and stared intently into Qin Mu’s eyes: “The one who acquired ‘Jiang Ming’ was you. Why did the information my father received point to Qin Zheng? You were the one pulling strings behind the scenes. You deliberately incited the conflict between my father and Qin Zheng, leading my father to cause trouble for him, which triggered everything that followed.”
The curve of Qin Mu’s smile stiffened slightly, and his gaze turned completely cold. He looked away and said indifferently, “Do you have evidence?”
Jiang Yunhan’s eyes reddened, and his voice trembled with a loss of control: “Why? Jiang Sheng is also Xiao Chen’s father. Weren’t you worried that doing this would make Xiao Chen sad? Do you want Xiao Chen to live in guilt for the rest of his life?”
“Why should he feel guilty?!” Qin Mu swept a cold look over him, his voice bone-chillingly cold. “Did Jian Yunchen ever have the right to choose? Whether it was Jiang Sheng or Jian Xin, did either of them ask for his opinion before bringing him into this world? Did Jiang Sheng ever accept him? Why is it that you can live a life of noble privilege and affection, while Jian Yunchen had to live the exact opposite? Does Jiang Sheng feel guilt? Do you feel guilt?”
Jiang Yunhan’s heart tightened. “I do feel guilt, which is why I’ve always wanted to compensate Xiao Chen!”
“Is your condescending charity considered compensation? Have you ever asked Jian Yunchen what he actually wants?”
Jiang Yunhan frowned slightly. Looking at Qin Mu’s mocking eyes, his voice stalled: “What Xiao Chen wants… he wants to replace me, to become the heir of the Jiang family. He wants the company, he wants…”
Qin Mu gave a cold laugh, interrupting his unfinished sentence.
“See, you’re still so arrogant, always projecting your own thoughts onto Jian Yunchen. You think he wants to replace you and become a second ‘Jiang Yunhan’?”
He looked indifferently into Jiang Yunhan’s amber eyes, watching as confusion slowly emerged within them.
“What he wants is the right to a choice.”
“What Jian Yunchen has ever wanted was never a specific thing or to become a specific person. It was the power to choose whether he wants something or not—the power to choose what kind of person he becomes.”
“So…” Qin Mu looked at him and asked softly, “Why should he feel guilty? I am merely placing that power of choice into his hands. He can choose to hate me. You have no right to decide for him whether he should bear that guilt.”
Jiang Yunhan’s pupils shrank suddenly. His clenched hands trembled violently. He bit his lip hard, swallowing all his words back down.
After the two reached the next room, Liu Yi sat on the sofa, looking extremely restless.
Jian Yunchen didn’t rush her. He poured her a glass of water. Seeing her now-flat abdomen, his attention couldn’t help but wander. He leaned forward slightly, his tone subconsciously softening: “When did you give birth? Is it a boy or a girl?”
Liu Yi’s fingertips tightened around the porcelain cup, and a trace of a sincere smile appeared on her haggard face.
She lowered her head and said softly, “It’s been almost three months… It’s a girl. Her name is Jian Dan (Simple).”
Liu Yi fidgeted with her fingers uneasily. Facing Jian Yunchen, she always felt instinctively guilty and nervous. She looked up at Jian Yunchen’s curious eyes and smiled slightly: “I hope she can live this life simply and purely. I don’t ask for her to be wealthy, only that she can be safe and sound.”
Jian Yunchen was stung by the motherly love radiating from Liu Yi’s eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed instinctively. He took a sip of water from his teacup and said dryly, “Yes, ‘Simple’ is good. Safe and sound…”
The atmosphere fell into an awkward silence. After hesitating for a long time, Liu Yi’s mind was in a mess: “Jian Jinbao, he…”
At the mention of this name, Jian Yunchen’s face instantly went cold. He gave a faint “mm,” but his brow had already begun to knit together.
“He got out of prison a while ago. I don’t know where he got it, but he brought back so much money…”
Liu Yi kept her eyes down, her expression frantic: “It was too much. I’ve never seen so much money in my life. He was bringing stacks and stacks of cash home. Every day he brings a different woman back with him…”
Money? Jian Yunchen pondered. Jian Jinbao was not an honest or law-abiding person. This mysterious influx of money, combined with what Liu Yi said next, made Jian Yunchen’s heart race inexplicably.
When Jian Yunchen pushed open the door again, he keenly sensed that the atmosphere between Qin Mu and Jiang Yunhan was not quite right.
It was as if a layer of invisible ice had formed between them. Their gazes were averted from one another, and neither was speaking to the other.
Jian Yunchen paused, his searching gaze falling upon the two of them.
Seeing him return, Jiang Yunhan forced a smile, though his voice was somewhat dry: “Xiao Chen, you’re back…”
Jian Yunchen’s gaze narrowed, resting on Jiang Yunhan for a long moment until the smile on Jiang Yunhan’s face gradually stiffened. He spoke softly: “I know the whole truth about that day now.”
“Jian Jinbao admitted it himself. It was Qin Zheng who pushed Jiang Sheng down the stairs.”
Jiang Yunhan’s pupils shrank instantly. He stood up, his emotions agitated: “Your aunt told you? Jian Jinbao told her personally? What exactly was the truth of that day?”
Jian Yunchen closed the door behind him and walked slowly to Qin Mu’s bedside.
He looked down, his long, thick eyelashes hiding all the emotions in his eyes.
Just as Jiang Yunhan couldn’t help but urge him to speak, Jian Yunchen asked softly:
“Qin Mu, don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”