Chapter 33#
Just a mistake that any man in the world would make.#
In the video, Jian Yunchen’s eyes were slightly red, his slender and frail frame trembling incessantly. With a panicked expression, he stammered: “I don’t know… why Young Master Jiang would say the person in the photo is him, but… that was clearly… me.”
He lightly caressed his own cheek, his expression bitter. “I didn’t expect there to be someone in this world who looked so much like me. I’m just an ordinary person; I’ve never had contact with high society, and I’ve never even heard the name… Jiang Yunhan.”
He suddenly turned toward the screen, the look in his eyes becoming increasingly shattered, as if he had suffered a world of grievances, yet also like the low whispers of a lover: “Qin Mu, what did you promise me? Have you forgotten it all? Or… did you merely treat me as a substitute for that Young Master Jiang?”
Jian Yunchen suddenly covered his face, his shoulders twitching slightly, seemingly suffering an emotional breakdown and unable to continue recording.
Seeing this, Qin Mu let out a cold, sharp laugh.
His eyes darkened, his mind filled with the image of Jian Yunchen’s reddened eyes and aggrieved narration.
The second half of the video played an audio clip. The dialogue was ambiguous, making the relationship between the two seem blurred and mysterious. On the internet, opinions were divided, and everyone held immense curiosity toward this suddenly appearing mystery man.
The things they were most curious about were:
What exactly was the relationship between Jian Yunchen and Jiang Yunhan?
What exactly was the relationship between Jian Yunchen and Qin Mu?
This time, even the Jiang family remained uncharacteristically silent.
When the video finished playing and the phone screen went black, Qin Mu even replayed it with great interest.
Jian Yunchen’s voice once again drifted over the silent dining table. Without realizing it, everyone had stopped using their knives and forks, their gazes uniformly fixed on Qin Mu.
When it reached the most exciting part of the video again, Qin Mu even chuckled under his breath. He looked up at Qin Zheng and said in an intimate tone, “Thanks for the reminder. I almost forgot I was in a relationship.”
Qin Zheng had long expected Qin Mu’s “dead pig unafraid of boiling water” attitude.
He let out a light snort, then turned his head toward the dazed Yu Shu. “Auntie, it looks like you’ll probably have to give that piece of land to Jian Yunchen.”
“Do you know who Jian Yunchen is?”
The corners of Qin Zheng’s lips curled up, his eyes filled with unrestrained delight. “He’s the person in the video.”
With a “clatter,” Yu Shu slammed her knife and fork onto the table. Her fair, soft hands were clenched into fists, the pain allowing her to maintain a sliver of rationality. she swept a cold gaze over Qin Mu, her voice frozen: “Qin Mu! Just what is going on here!”
Qin Mu turned off his phone and leaned back against his chair nonchalantly. He looked up and scanned the expressions of everyone at the table.
Some showed disdain, some indifference, some schadenfreude, and some sheer rage.
Qin Mu had good luck in his previous life; his parents had died early, so he never had much chance to experience the “warmth” of such a large family. In this life, he was certainly getting his fill.
At this moment, his gaze grew colder. Qin Mu began to try and remember—it seemed that as long as he didn’t kill off the “protagonist”… this world should be able to keep functioning.
Just then, the old man sitting at the head of the table spoke:
“Qin Mu.”
The deep, heavy voice brought him back to his senses slightly. Qin Mu looked at Qin Linze. The old man was relatively fond of this grandson; he had previously given him a large sum of money to provide the capital to start a company, and even “Zhaohui” had been successfully established with his tacit approval.
He remembered Qin Linze’s ending in the original script. Less than three months left.
Qin Mu responded with a hum, his eyelids drooping slightly.
“Who exactly is the person in the photo?”
The majestic voice suppressed everyone else’s movements. At this moment, everyone was waiting for Qin Mu’s answer.
Qin Mu remained silent and didn’t answer.
Under these circumstances, it was no different from a confession.
Yu Shu slammed the table hard. “You actually went behind Xiao Han’s back and messed around outside. Who taught you to do that?”
It was self-evident who this statement was directed at.
Qin Yanchen, sitting nearby, suddenly felt as if he had been slapped; his cheeks began to flush red.
Just then, the phone Qin Mu had placed on the table rang.
Qin Mu picked up the phone to check the caller ID. Since everyone had lost their appetite anyway, he simply answered it in front of them.
“Hello. Xiao Mu.”
Qin Mu sneered inwardly. He had heard “Xiao Mu” more times today than in his entire previous life combined.
“Yes, Uncle Jiang.”
The caller was indeed Jiang Sheng.
The video that had exploded in popularity online had startled Jiang Sheng. The video’s popularity remained high, and not only was someone operating in the shadows to push Jian Yunchen in front of the public, but they were even guiding the comments to speculate that Jian Yunchen’s background was linked to the Jiang family.
A face identical to Jiang Yunhan’s was ironclad evidence.
At this time, no matter what Jiang Sheng said, it would only look like a cover-up.
Even if he produced a DNA test proving no relation to Jian Yunchen now, he would be accused of using money to make the wheels turn.
And Jiang Sheng needed to know if this person was Qin Mu.
“Xiao Mu, have you seen the video?”
Qin Mu’s voice was as unhurried and lazy as ever. “Yeah, I saw it.”
The video of Jian Yunchen was playing in front of Jiang Sheng. The comments below said all sorts of things. For so many years, Jiang Sheng had kept his reputation clean, and the company had almost no negative news, but because of Jian Yunchen’s appearance, they had already been on the trending searches several times.
“How do you plan to respond?”
He didn’t ask who it was; he was merely testing Qin Mu’s attitude.
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and let out an ambiguous laugh. “What do you mean ‘how to respond’? The person in that photo is Jian Yunchen.”
“I know.” A calm voice came from the other end of the phone.
“I just haven’t figured out how you ended up entangled with Jian Yunchen.”
Qin Mu deliberately dragged out his tone. His words were directed at the phone, but his gaze was fixed straight on Qin Yanchen. “I couldn’t help it. I like Xiao Han too much, but I really couldn’t win him over. When I saw someone who looked so similar for the first time, I couldn’t resist.”
“Uncle Jiang, you have to allow me to make a mistake.”
“I merely made a mistake that any man in the world would make.”
As his words landed, Yu Shu’s cold laugh pierced through the final layer of pretense.
“…”
Jiang Sheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: “No one is opposing you and Xiao Han. Helping to expose Jian Yunchen’s background provides absolutely no benefit to you.”
“True…” Qin Mu let out a low laugh. “Even you say it has no benefit for me. Uncle Jiang, why don’t you try to guess who the MVP player currently flaunting their power in front of me really is?”
Qin Mu switched the phone to speaker and looked at Qin Zheng. “Qin Zheng, don’t you think you have something you need to explain to President Jiang?”
Qin Zheng’s body stiffened imperceptibly. Pursing his straight lips, he took the phone. “Hello, President Jiang.”
Jiang Sheng gave a cold “mm.”
He hung up without saying a single word.
Qin Zheng’s fingers tightened, his hand clenching into a fist beneath the table. He maintained his original posture for several seconds before slowly putting down the already disconnected phone and handing it back.
Qin Mu took his phone and stood up leisurely, the sound of the chair dragging across the floor long and piercing.
Seeing that Qin Mu was about to leave, Yu Shu quickly spoke up: “Qin Mu, where are you going?!”
“Huh?”
Qin Mu’s footsteps paused slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint, indistinct smile. “To go find my boyfriend.”