While the female lead returned to the male lead"s side feeling wronged at her failure to get the contract, Jiang Li dropped Ye Xinya home and then he went to his recently bought penthouse to change clothes. By then, it was already past ten pm. His day was not yet over. Not especially after he heard back from the detective that he hired. He wore a simple s.h.i.+rt, pants made out of simple materials, and a pair of black rubber shoes. After fetching his phone and wallet, he went out of the house, rode the elevator down and boarded a night bus heading to Ruby City.
"Are you sure you want to go to a place like that? We"ll get there at midnight. It"s already very late. Why don"t you just come tomorrow?" The taxi driver"s tone had hints of worry since the location Jiang Li instructed him to go was very unusual.
"No. Don"t worry, I"m sure. Just drive there. I"ll double the fare." With a smile, the young man repeated the name of the place again. "Trinity Light Cemetery. If you can wait for me outside and then take me to the Jing"s mansion, I will even triple the amount."
Swayed by the alure of money, the driver did not hesitate to accept. Jiang Li smirked and then contentedly leaned his back against the backrest before closing his eyes to get some rest.
More or less two hours later, at a dead silent cemetery in the southern part of Ruby City, Jiang Li crouched down before a tomb. Using his phone"s flashlight, he shone some light upon the inscription on the gravestone. The words there read "In Loving Memories of Lin Huan".
It was the name of "his" biological mother.
As usual, the Original"s remnant wanted to know about his real parents so Jiang Li was forced to contact a private investigator and commission the task to that person. This was the result found.
Lin Huan died seven years ago when Jing Mo was still fourteen years old. The caused of her death was a s.e.xually transmitted disease she contracted upon going back to the flesh business after giving birth to Jing Mo.
She was never married. But she had several lovers on which only one turned up on her funeral day. The people who buried her here were from the Jings, because funnily, that lover who cared for Lin Huan despite everything she did was Jing Zexi, the man Jing Mo mistook for his real father for sixteen years.
"I don"t know who you are. But in my memories, you have at least visited me once. Yet that was when I was still very small and Jing Zexi used me to force you into meeting him. When you appeared, it"s only to tell him not to bother you. Did you glance at "him" back then? I can"t remember. I"m sorry but in this life, I won"t ever recognize you as my mom. All you ever did was bring "me" to this world. For that, I am very grateful. But that"s it, nothing more."
After saying those words, he stayed for a few minutes to enjoy the uncanny silence of the place, then stood up and made his way back to the taxi that was parked outside of the memorial park.
As soon as he entered, the taxi driver pressed on the gas and drove away. That made him wonder if this middle-aged man heard of anything eerie about the cemetery or if he was just plain scared by the strange atmosphere and the cold light of the lamppost around there.
"h.e.l.lo." The driver only started speaking again when they finally went back to the main road where lights and houses were in great abundance.
"You told me earlier that the next destination was the Jing"s mansion. I"m not familiar with this area since I"m mostly stationed in the capital. Can you give me the exact address or at least a general direction?"
Jiang Li pulled up his phone and showed the address to him. The driver nodded and let him have his peace again. Or not.
Probably bored of the ride, the other guy tried to strike a conversation with him. "Hey, young man. Even though it"s weird you visited a memorial park in the middle of the night, I won"t judge and think that you did something shady or illegal there. Anyway, you don"t look like a graverobber. Hahaha."
The young man felt a bit speechless. Even though the other was laughing heartily, the kind of stares he was getting from him was contrary to what he said. Jiang Li shook his head and chuckled. "Don"t worry, Sir. Even though I wear all black, it doesn"t mean I"m a criminal."
"I"m indeed planning something bad though. Still, I didn"t lie."
The other person defended himself, "Young man, please don"t take me wrong. I"m not judging you. I know there is a reason for your visit there."
"Well, I visited my mother."
The driver smiled wryly, "I"m sorry to hear that. You look very young. It must have been hard to not have a mother tending and caring for you. To be honest, even when I was still in my thirties I was too attached to my late mother. When she pa.s.sed away, I felt like my home became very desolate and lifeless. A mother is somebody who knows every nook and cranny of the house so when you ask something from her, she could immediately answer; she knows where it is located. A mother also knows what to say to you in all sorts of situations. Hah."
The gaze given to Jiang Li was that full of pity.
It made him laugh for a while. When his laughter died down, he indifferently looked outside of the open window of the backseat. "I lost my mom since I was still one year old."
The sad look in the driver"s eyes intensified. For a second he wondered if this gullible dude would burst into tears. "It"s really been hard on you. But since you could go to the extent that you"d visit her in the middle of the night, she must be a pretty wonderful person when she was still alive. Is your father telling you stories about her?"
"No. I lost my real father five years ago. I was then adopted by someone. About my mother, I only found out about her yesterday, a few hours before I hailed your cab."
Now the old dude appeared to be dying to pat him in the shoulder. It was just quite funny. However, he quite liked the fact that even though they were complete strangers, this person showed him sympathy.
He was referring not to the caring words that was said to him. But this: "We"re here, lad, go ahead. The fare is on me."
"..."
Who would have thought while he was on his way to visit the Jing"s mansion to plant some nice stuff there, he would meet a middle-aged man who wanted to give him a free lift just because he told him a tragic story?
He had to admit, he found himself wanting to say sorry.