Chapter 279: Those In Eternal Slumber (5)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
However, Mu Zi had only been popular for a few years. Rumor had it that after that she could not cope with the pressure and fell into depression, she jumped off a building to end her life.
After that, her name slowly left the attention of the public.
Even though Xi Xiaye did not follow celebrity news, it had been huge news. Back then, it had been quite shocking too. However, everything that came after was hearsay, and she had been quite young then, so she obviously did not remember anything.
How unexpected that Mu Zi would turn out to be Mu Zixi, his aunt!
“Aunty left us not too long after giving birth to Lings.h.i.+. Just like that, so many years have pa.s.sed and some memories have even faded. I can’t remember much either.”
He reacted rather calmly. Of course, when he looked at the other picture beside Mu Zixi, his handsome face darkened. His eyes held an unfathomable gloominess which seemed to be mixed with emotions. She saw that he could not help but cough several times, and a bleakness colored between his brows.
When he saw the questions in her eyes, he calmly explained, “He is Aunty’s son, Lings.h.i.+’s brother. He was a few years younger than me. He grew up with Lings.h.i.+, Su Chen, Zhou Zimo, and I.”
Xi Xiaye frowned at him as she asked softly, “Mu Lingtian… Mu Lings.h.i.+… Then, their father…”
“I don’t know. Aunty herself has never mentioned him to anyone. Grandfather, Grandmother and my parents spent so much effort but they couldn’t find out who their father was. Nevertheless, it’s true that Lingtian and Lings.h.i.+ are biological siblings,” he plainly responded. After a pause, he continued, “When Aunty was younger, she was very rebellious. She was determined to go down the path of acting, but you know that taking this path…”
When he said this, he suddenly sighed, “Now you know why I’ve never been impressed by show business. My father said that Aunty fell in love with a man that couldn’t marry her… In the few years before she pa.s.sed away, she fell into severe depression after she gave birth to Lings.h.i.+.
“Grandfather and Grandmother are strict with their upbringing. When such a thing happened, they were furious. They even wanted to kick my aunt out of the house. It was Father who persuaded them to compromise, and then she fell pregnant with Lings.h.i.+ again. Grandfather and Grandmother… Aunty was already in a bad situation then. Even if they didn’t forgive her, she was still their daughter, so… Unexpectedly, not long after Aunty gave birth to Lings.h.i.+, she ended her life. Grandfather and Grandmother were heartbroken. While Aunty never mentioned who the father of Lingtian and Lings.h.i.+ was, she only told Father that they share the same father.”
As Mu Yuchen said this, he suddenly leaned a hand against the cold tombstone. His long fingers picked up a yellow leaf that had fallen on the tombstone as he smiled sadly. “Remember I told you before that my family has strict demands of us children? Actually, a part of it was also because of my aunt. They all think that Grandfather adopted Ah Mo from the orphanage for me… but actually, that’s not the case. It was because of Lingtian… Lingtian was a reserved person who didn’t like to talk. He could not seem to blend in with us, that’s why Grandfather found Ah Mo, and let Ah Mo be Lingtian’s playmate. So, Ah Mo and the siblings, Lingtian and Lings.h.i.+, are very close.”
After he said this, he suddenly fell silent. He took out a cigarette box from his pocket and lit three sticks, putting them on Mu Lingtian’s tombstone.
Xi Xiaye quietly listened to him in a daze.
Who would have thought that the Mu family would have had such a sad past?
She fell silent for a really long time before she finally could not help but ask, “What about him? How did he pa.s.s away?”
Mu Yuchen was startled. His dark eyes flashed with a cold light that seemed odd and complicated. An unfathomable bitter smile graced the corner of his lips, and even his gaze darkened.
“Because of that car accident,” he plainly answered word for word, “Four years… No, five years, the car accident was five years ago.”
A car accident?
Xi Xiaye was stunned. She could not wrap her head around it, yet he did not wait for her to return from the shock. He had already turned around and no longer looked at the two tombstones. Then, he coldly walked past her. “Let’s go home. It’s very cold here. You shouldn’t be getting cold too. Whatever I’ve told you today, never mention it in front of my grandparents.”
Then, he started making his way down the stairs. His handsome and tall figure disappeared in the bleak, misty rain just like that. As she watched him, there seemed to be an indescribable sadness and distance.
She quietly watched his figure that walked away gradually for a long time. Then, she could not help but sigh. At last, she looked to the two pictures on the tombstones, then caught up with him.
However, they did not know that just as their figures vanished in the rain, a tall man in a black outfit had walked up to Mu Zixi and Mu Lingtian’s tombstones. The man wore black sungla.s.ses and his face could not be seen clearly.
He held an umbrella in his hand, and in his arms were two bouquets of the same beautiful lilies.
He walked up to the tombstones. Stopping, he stared at the bouquets in front of the tombstones and seemed to smile bitterly. He picked up the two bouquets and tossed them away. Then, he swept the three cigarettes that were still lit on Mu Lingtian’s tombstone away before he put the bouquets in his arms onto the tombstone…
On the way home, it was Xi Xiaye who drove. Sitting shotgun, Mu Yuchen kept coughing from time to time. It felt a little bleak listening to him hacking in the narrow s.p.a.ce.
Xi Xiaye still felt a little dizzy, probably because they stood in the cold rain earlier and braved the cold winds. Now, she felt quite sick.
Qingshan Cemetery was in the suburbs of the west of the city. It was very far from their Maple Residence and a one-way trip toook more than an hour. Xi Xiaye did not dare to drive quickly either. Furthermore, now that it was close to 5 p.m. on the outskirts, the roads started to get busy too.
Many cars were driving towards Qingshan Cemetery too. When she slowly drove past the weeping willow path, she noticed that the weeping willows had turned green, and many people walked past them with fresh flowers in hand. Those plain-colored bouquets looked fresh in their arms…
She took a glance at the many still tombstones above, and then at the green weeping willows that they were leaving behind. In that instance, she felt that —
It turned out that life and death were just that distinct. As she remembered the black and white of death and then observed this lively abundance, the difference was striking and distinct, so distinct that it made her feel a little pained…
She turned to look at him seeming so lonely and remained silent. Suddenly, she reached out without thinking and gently clutched his slightly cold hand that lay by his side.
He breathed in and suddenly looked at her.