Chapter 103: He’s Lost His Mind!

Thinking of this, Mo Shaoxing turned his gaze back to Lu Chengfeng, as though hoping to read a few more answers from his expression.

Yet from Lu Chengfeng’s angle, with the light in the way, he could not make out Mo Shaoxing’s face very clearly at that moment. Besides, Mo Shaoxing had always been a man who showed little on his face and revealed no anger in his bearing, so Lu Chengfeng could not truly discern anything.

“As you expected, Luo Youzong came to me. But he does not trust only me; he is equally wary of you. In this world, he trusts only the dead and himself. He wanted me to test you. Still, I thought...” Lu Chengfeng paused, then went on. “Rather than testing you, it would be better to work with you directly. That way, my leverage would be greater, would it not?”

What Lu Chengfeng said was both reasonable and heartfelt. Luo Youzong would not help him reclaim the Lu family business; he was merely one among the many cards in Luo Youzong’s hand. Lu Chengfeng had understood this the moment he lost the Lu family business.

If he still wanted to take it back, he could no longer depend on Luo Youzong. He had already lost his value in Luo Youzong’s eyes. If he kept relying on him, not only would he be led by the nose, he would also be despised and spurned. Lu Chengfeng should not have to live so pathetically, though he had long felt deeply wronged by all this.

“Don’t you think coming to me is like adding fuel to the fire and courting your own ruin?” Would he not fear that Luo Youzong might discover that Lu Chengfeng had ulterior motives? Of course, Mo Shaoxing was not that kind of man. He knew what must be kept buried and what must and must not be said. And besides, there was no need for him to worry about such things, was there?

“I know. If it were not for necessity, you would not wish to stay by Luo Youzong’s side for long either. Everyone has his own difficulties. I am the same. We all have leverage in Luo Youzong’s hands, otherwise no one would obey another so slavishly, would they?” Lu Chengfeng spoke with complete conviction. His words sounded upright and proper.

Yet in truth, they were not. He did not actually know why Mo Shaoxing had remained by Luo Youzong’s side. In other words, what he had just said was merely a guess, without any evidence. But he knew that Luo Youzong was adept at exploiting people’s weaknesses and holding their secrets over them. That alone was enough.

“And with Shen Yanlie’s temperament, he would absolutely never tolerate something like this. He hates betrayal and disloyalty above all else. What do you think?” Lu Chengfeng fanned the flames and continued.

At that, Mo Shaoxing raised his brows slightly, lowered his head a little, as if considering something, and then looked at Lu Chengfeng again, a faint, elusive smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“President Lu is being too severe. I became acquainted with President Shen before President Luo. Later, I came into contact with President Luo because Europe and Asia had once cooperated with the Luo Group in previous years. Moreover, my relationship with President Luo is absolutely nowhere near as close as yours, President Lu. Though I do not know what grievances or entanglements lie between you and President Luo, I still very much hope that you can resolve them calmly and properly.” Mo Shaoxing said this in such an unhurried manner, as if he were speaking of the most ordinary matter in the world.

As for lofty, proper-sounding words, who could not speak them?

Yet Lu Chengfeng froze at this, drawing in a sharp breath as though a heavy iron hammer had struck him hard in the chest. Dull and suffocating, it nearly took his breath away.

Lu Chengfeng had come to see Mo Shaoxing without any foolproof plan. He had done so only out of desperation. That time, outside Luo Youzong’s villa, he had caught only a hurried glimpse; in truth, he had not been able to tell clearly whether the person was really Mo Shaoxing. And this time, summoning him here, he had already taken a great risk. But he truly had no better solution left, and had fallen into the present state of reckless abandon.

Lu Chengfeng’s mouth twitched a few times, then he smiled. After all, he had been in business for years; how could he be cut down by a few children younger than himself? “Whether our relationship is close or not, I suspect the truth would not sound so easy when spoken face to face, would it?”

Besides, Mo Shaoxing was only twenty-four. He was eight years his junior. In matters of maneuvering and guile, Lu Chengfeng considered himself to be the better hand. He had not expected Mo Shaoxing to have a move of his own.

Refusing to admit anything. This tactic truly was a fine weapon.

“If President Lu has no other business, then I will take my leave.” Mo Shaoxing smiled and nodded politely, without a trace of rudeness. This was already the last respect he would show Lu Chengfeng, and the last line he would allow himself to stand behind, though Lu Chengfeng was no longer the splendid and noble man he had once been.

He turned away quickly, not giving Lu Chengfeng any chance to speak again.

There were no shortage of Shen Yanlie’s people under the watchful eye of the imperial court. Staying here for long, or even merely appearing here, would bring him no benefit. After all, he knew in his heart that he owed Shen Yanlie something. At the very least, Shen Yanlie had always treated him well and never refused him when he asked for something.

Only, Lu Chengfeng had chosen the place too cleverly. Why there of all places?

Mo Shaoxing could not help but grow wary. One must be careful in all things. Every word the fortune teller had spoken about the past made him more and more uneasy. He had never once thought that if life were to end one day, what he ought to do before that came. Should he live every day as though it were the last?

He started the engine again, his heart full of confusion. He could not speak of any destination or future path; he simply felt his mind grown lost for the time being, uncertain how he should go on.

What Mo Shaoxing did not know was that just as he drove away, Yu Wensi had arrived in his car...

“How is he here?” Seeing the car that had just departed, Yu Wensi froze for a moment after parking, though in truth he was already astonished beyond words. After much thought, he immediately turned his car around and followed behind Mo Shaoxing.

Yu Wensi reached out and switched off the lights inside the car, then kept close behind Mo Shaoxing’s vehicle. Mo Shaoxing, meanwhile, had one hand propping his cheek against the car window and the other resting on the steering wheel, never realizing that another car had been following him all along.

In a pub in the city center, Mo Shaoxing first found a rather inconspicuous seat and sat down. He did not order a drink, only sat there. He did not seem to be waiting, yet neither did he appear to have come out of loneliness or boredom to pass the time.

Before getting out of the car, Yu Wensi put on a baseball cap, first scanning his surroundings, and only then chose a seat within a safe distance of Mo Shaoxing, watching every one of his movements with care.

Someone came over to serve Yu Wensi. After making his instructions clear and tipping generously, he told the person not to disturb him again. If Mo Shaoxing had only passed by here on a whim and come into the bar for idle drinking, that would still make sense. But if he had come to meet someone he ought not to meet, then Yu Wensi would never let him off. Never.

Sure enough, patience was rewarded.

After a long wait, Yu Wensi finally discovered something. Yet the person walking toward Mo Shaoxing was no one else—it was Luo Youzong.

Yu Wensi quickly lowered his head and pressed down on the brim of his cap. When he looked up again, that spot was already empty.

What was going on?

Yu Wensi sprang to his feet from the bright red leather sofa. Among the bustling crowd, there was no longer any sign of Mo Shaoxing or Luo Youzong.

Mo Shaoxing. So it was true. You really are not to be trusted. But of all people, why was it Luo Youzong? How had Yu Wensi never realized before that Mo Shaoxing and Luo Youzong were so close?

Yu Wensi pushed through the crowd, searching for the two figures, but found nothing.

He strode outside, but Mo Shaoxing’s car was already gone, vanished in a direction Yu Wensi did not know.

Damn it.

Yu Wensi cursed under his breath, hands on his hips, his fury burning without anywhere to go. His teeth itched with hatred. He was certain that Shen Yanlie had gone mad, or else simply lost his mind. It had to be because Mai Xijun had occupied too many of his nerves. So...

In the car.

Luo Youzong drove with a dark, icy expression. “How have you become so careless in your work? You didn’t even recognize Yu Wensi’s car?”

His voice was cold, his brows forever lightly furrowed, as though they had never once relaxed since the day he was born. Luo Youzong always spoke like this, driving people straight into a dead end. That was his method.

Mo Shaoxing did not answer, only secretly broke into a sweat, a hollow unease filling his heart. He had nearly been discovered by Yu Wensi. In truth, if he could have handled this matter well, he had planned never to let anyone discover it.

But even Lu Chengfeng had already sensed something. What about the sharp-eyed Shen Yanlie?

“What did you suddenly call me for?” Luo Youzong asked impatiently, still as cold and expressionless as ever, his features hard and unyielding. Unlike Mo Shaoxing, who was also expressionless but had refined and handsome looks, the sort that could easily inspire admiration in women.

“From now on, we are even. I hope that when you have any further business, you will no longer involve me.” Mo Shaoxing handed over a thick stack of envelopes wrapped tightly in kraft paper.

Luo Youzong did not reach out to take them. “What do you mean?”

His voice was deep, and his brow gathered slightly, carrying only a little gravity; otherwise he remained exactly as before.

Mo Shaoxing was not angered by Luo Youzong’s feigned incomprehension, nor did he show any sign of emotional fluctuation. He remained perfectly calm. “I hope my father’s case can end here. These should be enough.”

He set the envelopes down slowly, his expression indescribably composed and unruffled.

He no longer wished to live this kind of life, the kind of life spent hovering between Shen Yanlie and Luo Youzong. He found it exhausting, and meaningless.

“Hmm. Stone, know when to stop. A wise man submits to the times. That is what you should be doing. Do you really think that even if your wings have already hardened, I still cannot keep you from escaping my grasp?”