Chapter 495 - Karma (1)
Chapter 495: Karma (1)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhao Youlin was stunned. Looking at Mu Tingfeng’s extremely serious demeanor, she let out a bark of laughter.
Mu Tingfeng froze. After he saw the smile in Zhao Youlin’s eyes, a trace of tenderness and helplessness appeared in his eyes.
The atmosphere in the back seat abruptly turned heartwarming and flirtatious. The driver, who was driving in the front seat, was shocked to notice this.
The driver worked for many years in the Mu family. Therefore, he was naturally familiar with the two people in the back seat. However, this was his first time seeing Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng chatting so happily together after so many years. Besides, Zhao Youlin had even teased his eldest young master. Before this, it was impossible to watch a sight like this because the entire Mu family knew how much their eldest young master had hated the madam.
As such, when he learned the news about Mu Tingfeng going to remarry Zhao Youlin, more than half of the servants in the Mu family had found this incredibly unbelievable. Meanwhile, those who actually believed the news were the minority who had witnessed Mu Tingfeng being kicked down by Zhao Youlin from his bed.
The driver was not one of the witnesses on that day. He was, unfortunately, one of the majority who found the news to be incredulous. As a result, he was extremely shocked when he personally saw the two people flaunting their affections in public without a shred of decency.
However, the driver knew his position well. As a driver, apart from growing shocked after learning about this, it was best to not interfere much in their affairs.
Thinking of this, the driver acted calm and shifted his attention back to the road. He resumed normalcy on the surface. However, in his heart, he had more or less convinced that Mu Tingfeng and Zhao Youlin had rekindled their old relationships.
Unbeknownst to Zhao Youlin, her brief replies and interaction with Mu Tingfeng had caused psychological pressure on the driver. After she finished laughing, she did not say anything and only stared into Mu Tingfeng’s eyes.
Mu Tingfeng had gradually developed a tacit understanding with Zhao Youlin. He knew that even though Zhao Youlin was eager to know the answer, she was waiting for him to take the initiative to bring up the topic.
“Xiao Qi is also known as Su He. She’s from the Su family… Well, she’s the youngest in our generation in the main families as well as the side branches of the Mu family. She is the seventh child among all the children from the Su family. As such, the elders are used to calling her Xiao Qi.”
Zhao Youlin nodded, signaling Mu Tingfeng to continue.
“Xiao Qi is the youngest as well as the cutest in the family. Therefore, she is the apple of the elders’ eyes. Likewise, she also becomes… a sitting duck in the eyes of others.”
Zhao Youlin’s eyes flashed. Within an instant, she understood Mu Tingfeng’s underlying meaning.
Su He came from a great family. She was also highly pampered by the Su family. Therefore, many people perceived Xiao Qi as the Su family’s greatest weakness.
Zhao Youlin noticed this from the way Su Jifeng had behaved. A while ago, the killing intent that appeared in that man’s eyes was genuine. Luckily Mu Tingfeng had reminded him that Su He would be unhappy once she awakened. It was only then did he manage to cause the man, who at that point in time seemingly held the power to control countless people’s life and death, had his faith a little shaken. Such a shake of faith was completely fatal for a person like him who was in a high position!
“The reason Xiao Qi is special is because she has to endure many things that most children don’t have to do since her birth.”
God was always fair. When a person gained something, the more he gained, the more he would lose as well.
“When Xiao Qi was five years old, she had been kidnapped and experienced a gunshot once.”
“Kidnapped and shot?!” Zhao Youlin knew the situation faced was dangerous. However, she had never thought it would be that intense.
A five years old child already had to face such danger that would only happen in a cliche setting!
Mu Tingfeng’s expression began to turn dark as he recalled the situation back then.
“Yes. At that time, the Sun family had a feud with a certain gang, and they were involved in conflicts of interest. As such, the gang wanted to threaten the Su family and the most effective way was to lay their hands on Xiao Qi, who was the weakest member in the family.”
Mu Tingfeng paused before he continued, “Even though in the end it was a narrow escape, the Su family paid attention on Xiao Qi’s safety issue since then. That incident had greatly terrified her parents. From then on, the Su family no longer allowed Xiao Qi to simply go out and wander around. They hid Xiao Qi’s whereabouts until she became an adult.”
The smile on Zhao Youlin’s face gradually faded. It was only natural that her parents had subconsciously hidden their child in the safest place for the sake of her safety.
On the other hand, the child was like she had been protected inside an ivory tower built by her family. Wouldn’t this be equivalent to having cruelly clipped her wings and losing her liberty forever?
“As far as Xiao Qi could remember, she had always been staying at home. Therefore, she much looked forward to the world outside. Perhaps it was due to this reason that at that time…”
“At that time?”
Mu Tingfeng turned his head around and looked at Zhao Youlin before he heaved a sigh and said, “When Xiao Qi was eight years old, Eldest Uncle and Aunt held a birthday banquet for her. At that time, Xiao Qi had already disappeared from the public’s sight for three years. A majority of the guests did not know what she looked like. It was also her first time ever since she had memories and saw so many strangers. Therefore, she was more or less a bit excited and scared. By the time we recovered our senses, Xiao Qi was already gone.”
“She was gone?” Zhao Youlin was shocked upon hearing this. She subconsciously furrowed her eyebrows.
“Yes.” A trace of light flashed across Mu Tingfeng’s eyes. “Ever since she had been kidnapped, the Su family knew that her disappearance was equivalent to an imminent disaster. Therefore, they no longer cared much about the guests at the banquet and looked for her everywhere. At that time, my parents and I were at the banquet as well. After we learned about that, we naturally followed suit and looked for Xiao Qi.”
Mu Tingfeng paused once again. His voice was slightly lower than before as he said, “In fact, I was the one who found Xiao Qi. However…”
“However?” Zhao Youlin quirked one of her eyebrows. She instinctively thought that here came the climax.
The truth was, his intuition was correct.
“However, by the time I found Xiao Qi, there was another person with her.”
Zhao Youlin’s eyes flickered. She more or less had a speculation in her heart. “That person is… Ye Yan, right?”
Mu Tingfeng nodded. “At that time, I saw a boy who was slightly older than her standing next to her. I didn’t pay much attention to him. I thought Xiao Qi had coincidentally met one of the guest’s children out there. In fact, I belatedly found that the boy did not mean to be someone as simple as a mere playmate for Xiao Qi.”
Zhao Youlin’s eyes sank.. She mused profoundly, “During the period when Xiao He was lost, did something happen between them when they were alone?”