[Title here]

by Spring Trees

  Nan Ge Er was initially stunned when his earlobe was sneakily attacked by Mo Shu. His face flushed red in an instant.

  “If I have to give an irresponsible reason, I think that it is a surprising incident from fate,” Mo Shu continued muttering, “a miracle given to me by Guang Tian.”

  Actually, since Mo Shu was sucking on Nan Ge Er’s earlobe, his words were slightly muddled. However, he just was able to hear it distinctly and understand it clearly.

  The vague, unclear reply couldn’t be discerned at all.

  Yet, Nan Ge Er’s lips curled up involuntarily.

  Well, I adore you; but I don’t even know the exact characteristics you have that I adore, I just adore you.

  Well, I adore you; but I don’t even know when exactly did I start adoring you, I just adore you in any case.

  Perhaps I love every part of you, so I can’t determine the best quality you have. Maybe I fall for you unknowingly, so I don’t know when my feelings for you peaked. /em>

  Since he used ‘miracle’ to describe my arrival…even if you give me such an unsatisfactory answer, I’m still content.

  “I’ve already shared all of my secrets to you.” Mo Shu released his earlobe and faintly laughed, “What about yours?”

  Nan Ge Er thought for a bit, replying with a slight hesitation, “…I didn’t…everything…” Strangely, he found himself incapable of finishing his sentence.

  It made him think he wasn’t sincere enough.

  He felt that Mo Shu might be displeased by it.

  However, Mo Shu simply smiled, “It’s alright. So long as the future parts of Xiao Nan’s life are shared together with me, it will be sufficient.”

  “Let’s hurry back home.”

  Since I’m chosen, and encountered Mo Shu, then, I’ll just accept it calmly and peacefully continue on hand in hand.

  Chapter 50

  * * *

  When they returned to Guang Tian, Zhu Xi was the one welcoming them at the gates.

  He even brought along a huge group of people, who circled Nan Ge Er and the others that came back.

  Noticing Nan Ge Er, although a bit listless, was obviously much more intimate with Mo Shu than before his departure from Guang Tian, Zhu Xi raised his brows.

  Nan Ge Er guessed he probably had something to say to him, but at the moment, he wanted to speak with the doctor even more than him.

  Once Mo Shu stepped into Guang Tian, he was dragged towards the government office straightaway by Zhu Xi—allegedly, the whole office was crammed with documents that needed to be handled…

  Perhaps because they had returned to Guang Tian, the rest of the group, except for the deliverers, scattered like a pile of sand in an instant. Each of them chit-chatted noisily, as they cheerfully made arrangements with one another to have some tea and drinks, or hunt in the mountain.

  When Nan Ge Er found the doctor busying himself with inspecting everyone’s health among the crowd, he moved towards him and pulled on his sleeve.

  Since the doctor was busy, he didn’t even lift his head up, “If you have no business with me, go somewhere else.”

  “Doctor…” Nan Ge Er twitched his lips as he called out to him softly.

  The doctor only raised his head when he heard Nan Ge Er’s voice, before glancing at him reluctantly, “What is it?”

  “…I want to meet his mother.” Afraid that others might eavesdrop, Nan Ge Er lowered his voice and made his words vague.

  The muscular guy, who was having his pulse currently taken by the doctor, perked his ears up, his face plastered with gossip.

  “Go look for the advisor.” The doctor clutched the fellow’s wrist tightly, dragging him away at once, “Kiddo, you still want some gossip even when you are already injured?!”

  “Heeeeelp! I don’t want bitter medicineeeee!” The macho guy wailed while being dragged away by the skinny doctor.

  I just feel that, Guang Tian is filled with air that can be described with ‘囧1’

  Nan Ge Er thought silently in his heart as he looked at that scrawny yet fearless back of the doctor a little speechlessly.

  Although he slandered the poor atmosphere of Guang Tian, he still tactfully went over to the government office in search of Advisor Zhu Xi.

  Ignoring Mo Shu’s eager and expectant gaze, Nan Ge Er walked out of the study room with Zhu Xi and started their conversation in front of the fake mountain outside.

  After the tiny gradual changes in the passing years, that dilapidated government office in the past had become presentable too.

  Of course, now, Nan Ge Er knew the government office wasn’t poor at all. The decrepit appearance the office had then was just because Mo Shu was too much of a wastrel and didn’t have much sense in managing finance.

  Strictly speaking, Guang Tian actually was an affluent place. The minor taxes paid every year was enough to cover Guang Tian’s annual development and the government office’s expenses.

  Just that…

  Anyway, all of that was credited to Mo Shu’s talent in being a spendthrift.

  “I went over to the doctor today…wanting to meet…” Nan Ge Er turned his head slightly, looking towards the direction of the study room Mo Shu worked in, “his honorable mother. The doctor directed me to you.”

  Zhu Xi stood beside him, gazing at koi fishes cruising around the crystal clear pond below the fake mountain.

  “Although I don’t know why he said that to me, I guess you probably can give me an answer, right?” Nan Ge Er looked at Zhu Xi as he asked.

  Zhu Xi was completely different from Mo Shu.

  He was handsome, robust and imposing, looking more suited to a heroic knight role instead of an administrative job like an advisor.

  Zhu Xi kept his silence for a long while, without uttering a word.

  Nan Ge Er was patient too. He gazed at the colorful fishes swimming in the pond as well.

  “I wonder if you are free, Xiao Nan.” Zhu Xi spoke suddenly, “My mother said she hadn’t seen you for a long time and wanted to invite you over for lunch.”

  Nan Ge Er turned his sight to Zhu Xi.

  However, Zhu Xi didn’t look at him. He only stared at the pond while speaking calmly.

  “Sure.” Nan Ge Er let out a light chuckle all of a sudden, “It has been a while since I saw Auntie Zhu; I miss her too.”

  “Let’s go then.” Zhu Xi nodded, “Let me notify Mo Shu.”

  Nan Ge Er nodded.

  After promising to Mo Shu that he would return soon, the two of them realized that it was almost time, hence they walked towards Zhu Xi’s house.

  Auntie Zhu was the most famous matchmaker in Guang Tian. Being candid and warm-hearted, she had a fantastic relationship with the people in Guang Tian.

  Of course, she was especially capable too.

  Noticing the sudden arrival of Nan Ge Er, Auntie Zhu was slightly astonished. Nonetheless, she swiftly cooked up a sumptuous lunch, inviting Nan Ge Er, the rare visitor, to eat.

  The weather today was great. Zhu Xi’s father didn’t go out for work either, so the four of them sat around the table in the courtyard, having a pleasant lunch together under the gentle sunlight.

  After lunch, Zhu Xi took Nan Ge Er back to the government office.

  When passing through a quiet alley, Zhu Xi, who was walking in front, turned over abruptly to Nan Ge Er, “I heard that you saw Mo Shu killing people during the trip.”

  Nan Ge Er froze before nodding, “Yes.” After smiling lightly, he continued, “I really was shocked then. I finally realized the reason for the worries you all had when I initially left Guang Tian.”

  “Even though you got shocked, you still ended up standing here calmly.” Zhu Xi turned to the front again and started walking.

  Nan Ge Er pondered for a bit, “Mn, right.” Actually, it was a little strange, but when he thought about the experiences he had, he felt his calmness about it wasn’t really bizarre at all.

  If not for the extreme torment he suffered, the care he got f
rom Mo Shu, and the interest he had in living…

  He definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

  If the one experiencing all of it was him who had just arrived this world, that innocent, pure student might really choose to take that amnesia medicine.

  Not everyone can sleep peacefully beside a ferocious tiger. I can only do that because I had teetered on the brink of death numerous times, so my senses had already become blunt.

  “I heard that you even dispelled Mo Shu’s plans of destroying Bei Jun.”

  Nan Ge Er laughed faintly once he heard that, “I just think there isn’t a need for that much trouble, you know? Do you think it is as simple as a child’s play, you can destroy it just by saying so?” Although Mo Shu might truly have the ability to do it, it is still too much of a trouble, isn’t it?

  “It isn’t child’s play.” Zhu Xi turned towards him abruptly, answering with his eyes fixed on Nan Ge Er, “In the past, a person with the surname ‘Mo’ did destroy a country once.”

  Nan Ge Er was at a loss for words.

  “You probably know this rumor ‘when the tapir emerges, the heaven collapses’.”

  The meaning of the phrase was, when that legendary tapir emerged, everything would fall into ruins. The world would get caught in a catastrophe, while countless people would be buried together with the continent.

  The smile on Nan Ge Er’s face was frozen solid.

  “Congratulations, you’ve saved the entire outside world.” All of a sudden, Zhu Xi changed his solemnly cold expression, revealing a ghost of a smile.

  “Savior of the world?”

  What the heck. I have nothing to do with that Ha-something Po-something, ok?

  Although Nan Ge Er knew the mindset he had was completely different from Zhu Xi, he still dissed in his heart involuntarily.

  “Anyway, you’re sort of doing a good deed.” Zhu Xi laughed for a short while, “Guang Tian’s leader has the surname ‘Mo’; in turn, the advisor must adopt the surname ‘Zhu’.”

  “Oh…” Since this information was something Mo Shu didn’t talk about, Nan Ge Er widened his eyes

  “As the criteria for the selection of leaders is particularly harsh, basically almost every single leader elected has some kind of emotional deficiency. Thus, an advisor is needed to balance these flaws, to make up for the negative consequences caused by the leaders’ emotional deficiency.” Zhu Xi explained, “So, the advisors need to be someone from a healthy, peaceful family, while also possessing good morals and deep understanding of positive and negative human emotions and relationship.” After saying that, Zhu Xi continued, “Mother and Father are close to each other. When I was five, they brought me together to move to Jun Yao and invited locally famous teachers to educate me. I’ve had quite a lot of friends since young; except knowing that I’m from Guang Tian, I’m rather similar to any other child from the outside world.”

  No wonder I feel that you are normal, something that is exceedingly rare in Guang Tian!

  “Mo Shu is Mother’s eldest son.” All of a sudden, Zhu Xi added that weirdly.

  Nan Ge Er was still processing the explanations Zhu Xi told him just then, so he couldn’t react to it at the moment.

  Mother’s eldest son…what does this mean?

  Oh…

  Nan Ge Er’s eyes broadened at once, staring straight at Zhu Xi.

  “That’s right, as a matter of fact, he is my elder brother.” Zhu Xi stated flatly.

  If an expression must be used to describe Nan Ge Er’s current emotion, he thought using six black dots were the best for it.

  However, as he glanced at Zhu Xi, he felt that he probably should say something.

  “Ahem, you appear to be more mature and steady than Mo Shu.” After a long daze, such a dry, ridiculous sentence squeezed out of Nan Ge Er’s mouth.

  Zhu Xi widened his eyes slightly, before guffawing a little uncontrollably, “As expected of Nan Ge Er…haha…giving an unexpected reaction like this. I thought you’d be flabbergasted…haha…”

  Oi, of course I’m flabbergasted! Which of your eyes see me being unfazed?!

  I’m so stunned, my mind even went blank from it, ok?!

  Even if I have a habitual lack of expression in my face, you can’t just ignore the daze in my eyes!

  Nan Ge Er twitched his lips, unable to utter any words.

  * * *

  1 囧(jiong): a kind of emoticon(as it looks like a face), commonly used to express ideas or feelings such as annoyance, shock, embarrassment, awkwardness, etc.

  Chapter 51

  * * *

  After Zhu Xi and Nan Ge Er stared at each other for a long time, Nan Ge Er suddenly turned around without a word, walking back to Zhu Xi’s house.

  Zhu Xi caught up to Nan Ge Er, blocking his path, “What are you going there for?”

  Nan Ge Er lifted his head up after a brief silence. With his eyes on Zhu Xi, he replied, “I just want to take it away.”

  “Huh?” Zhu Xi’s poker face changed into one of confusion.

  “The lunch leftovers. I want to bring back some for Mo Shu.” Nan Ge Er stated calmly, “I can, right?”

  It was obvious Zhu Xi had no idea what exactly Nan Ge Er was planning to do, so he answered after a short daze, “You can…”

  Nan Ge Er nodded, before circling past Zhu Xi and heading towards his house.

  After being rooted on the spot for some time, Zhu Xi followed along.

  “Are you not planning to say anything about it?”

  “About what?” Nan Ge Er didn’t even turn his head back to him.

  “The truth and all…”

  “Since it’s already forgotten, why still bring it up?” Nan Ge Er simply gave a soft reply without stopping his footsteps, “Besides, as you said earlier, your parents get along well, so why will I want to demolish all of this?”

  “I thought you were going to tell Mo Shu… or my mother.”

  “Mo Shu already lost his mother years ago; he’s already used to it. As for your mother, she is the one who chooses to forget it. That’s all the more reason not to let her regain those memories.” Nan Ge Er whispered, “The current peace did not come easily.” He continued after a pause, “Moreover, I don’t believe it will be better for Mo Shu to learn the truth.”

  Not every truth was hidden with ill intentions.

  Sometimes, they were concealed to protect the parties involved from suffering any more injuries.

  Nan Ge Er words silenced Zhu Xi momentarily.

  After walking wordlessly for some distance, Zhu Xi spoke again, “That guy…isn’t really close to his father.”

  Nan Ge Er turned back to look at Zhu Xi.

  Zhu Xi lowered his head as he strolled with Nan Ge Er, “Ever since he could climb and run, he was selected to be a candidate due to his talents. So, his chances of meeting his father were slim. Besides, as…” He hesitated a little, seemingly finding it difficult to continue, “as he looked quite similar to Mother when he was young, he wasn’t really well liked by his father.

  “This isn’t really much of a secret, anyone with a sharp mind knows about it. Just that everyone made a coincidental decision to keep mom.” Zhu Xi added, “So, actually, that fellow is just like a monster that grew up without any care, someone with not many openings.”

  “Because his surname is Mo.” Nan Ge Er smiled. He believed it wasn’t only Mo Shu, others with the surname Mo in Guang Tian were raised like that.

  Zhu Xi pulled his lips up, making sort of a smile, “Right; because… his surname is Mo.”

  “Are you trying to put in a good word for Mo Shu, to elicit my sympathy?” Nan Ge Er asked all of a sudden.

  Zhu Xi perked up his head, looking at the person standing in front of him and let out an abrupt laughter, “No, no. I’m just warning you.”

  “Warning me?” Puzzled, Nan Ge Er repeated.

  “When a person’s love is shared among many others, it naturally will become much milder, and gentler.” Zhu Xi explained, “I have
my parents, neighbors, friends, and the responsibility of Guang Tian.” He shrugged his shoulders as he smiled at Nan Ge Er, “Whereas Mo Shu only has Guang Tian…and…” he struck out his finger, pointing at Nan Ge Er, “you.”

  The moment Nan Ge Er was pointed as so by Zhu Xi, he could almost feel his feelings thickening up at that instant. He took a small step back involuntarily.

  It wasn’t certain what Zhu Xi had discovered from Nan Ge Er’s expression. He chuckled abruptly, “Scared?”

  Nan Ge Er shook his head and smiled briefly, before turning back to continue his journey to Zhu Xi’s house, “No. I just suddenly realized, we are about the same.”

  Same for me. I don’t have any family or friends; I only have Guang Tian, a place where I can settle down, and that idiot who only knows how to gaze at me starry-eyed.

  “I’m no better than him.” Nan Ge Er murmured, “So you don’t have to worry. As long as he doesn’t get weary of me, I’ll definitely take him on to the end.” The time limit isn’t really long anyway, it lasting till I slip to my real final slumber is enough.

  “Who-who is worried for that devil?!” Zhu Xi shouted like a tsundere at the back.

  “Yes, yes, yes…” Nan Ge Er replied nonchalantly, “I’m the one who’s worried. I’m worried that fellow will have diabetes real soon because of too many sweets.”

  “Diabetes?”

  “Sweet-ish urine.” Nan Ge Er jabbed mischievously.

  “Ugh..” Zhu Xi let out a weird sound at the back, answering after a long while, “You’re really…”

  “Disgusting.” Nan Ge Er finished the sentence unperturbedly.

  Zhu Xi twitched his lips, criticising in his heart—You know that too?

  “Why did you suddenly think of bringing lunch to that fellow?” After a quiet walk back, Zhu Xi started talking again when they were about to reach his home.

  “Because he probably doesn’t have many chances to eat his mother’s home cooked meals.” Nan Ge Er answered coolly as he stood in front of the door.

  Zhu Xi was mute for a while, before whispering, “As Mother had taken that kind of medicine, lots of her memories became jumbled up. The doctor advised not to let them meet. If not, the surge of emotions arose will lead to worse consequences.” He clarified, as though explaining.