Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chen Mo took off his coat and slumped into the large chair in the corner, lighting a cigarette in silence.

The smoke permeated his lungs, awakening his somewhat dulled thoughts. After immersing himself for a long time, he finally felt the reality of being back in high school.

All around him were the cursing voices of teenage boys. The summer sweat mixed with the smell of cheap cigarettes and instant noodles, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

A message came in on his phone.

The contact labeled "Big Brother" asked: Where are you?

Chen Mo ignored it.

Two minutes passed.

Big Brother: Uncle Li, the driver, said he didn't pick anyone up after school. Don't be upset just because Mom and Dad withdrew the lawsuit. You want to kick Shule out of the Yang family, but that's impossible. I advise you not to cause trouble.

Another two minutes passed.

Big Brother: Reply. Can't you even use a phone?

Patience was clearly wearing thin.

At twenty-five, Yang Zhi was already recognized as the successor of the Yang family.

Father Yang Qi'an had taken over the Yang family business from among four siblings by marrying Zhou Yaoqing, the second daughter of the equally powerful Zhou family. Over the years, their marriage had been strained, barely held together by mutual benefits.

Chen Mo and Yang Shule were born during a particularly precarious period in their parents' relationship.

Thus, both sets of elders doted on Yang Shule like he was their treasure.

Yang Zhi, eight years his senior, had been raised to be serious and rigid, yet he genuinely cared for and protected Yang Shule for many years.

Chen Mo was different.

He appeared later, with no emotional ties to the Yang family.

Except for a bit of guilt and some debt.

They sent him to the best high school, the most elite class.

They gave him an endless supply of pocket money.

So they couldn't understand, or even wondered, what more could he possibly want?

Chen Mo remembered the incident mentioned in Yang Zhi's message.

It started when the Yang family accidentally leaked news about searching for their son, causing fluctuations in the company's stock prices. With Yang Shule sick for over half a month, the couple became worried and withdrew the lawsuit against Li Yunru, clarifying publicly that it was a mistake made by a nurse at the hospital, not a child swap.

In the clarification report, the Yang family portrayed Chen Mo as a rural success story.

Ambitious, understanding, though poor, his family was harmonious, and his parents worked hard to send him to school, hoping he would succeed. He was grateful and saw his newfound identity as simply gaining another home.

In his previous life, Chen Mo had caused a scene in the Yang family over this.

He demanded that if the Yang family wanted to withdraw the lawsuit, Yang Shule must leave the family.

That was his childish revenge against Li Yunru.

Because from the day the Yang family found him, Chen Mo realized that Li Yunru did not love him. That meager, remaining maternal affection was something he did not deserve.

But somehow, the news that he wanted to kick Yang Shule out of the Yang family spread to the school.

Li Rui and his gang cornered him in an internet cafe.

His parents thought he was jealous and resentful, and Yang Zhi sent a warning message.

Ironic, wasn't it?

Even after two lifetimes, thinking about it still felt ironic.

Moreover, before he was cornered in the internet cafe, he was already running a high fever. In the end, it was the cafe owner who sent him to the hospital for an IV drip.

For the entire night, no one in the Yang family asked where he was.

When he returned the next day, he encountered the similarly feverish Yang Shule, carrying a suitcase, ready to leave the Yang family.

The Yang parents held him, heartbroken: "Where are you going in this condition? You're not allowed to go."

Big Brother Yang Zhi took the suitcase from his hand, looking at Chen Mo meaningfully: "Shule, this is your home. No one has the right to make you leave."

The driver and servants gathered around, whispering.

"Why should Little Le leave? He's my favorite."

"Yeah, so what if he's biological? Coming back and pushing people around like this."

"Trying to send his adoptive mother to prison, what a thankless brat."

"Grew up in the countryside, being mean is normal."

Yang Shule, surrounded by everyone, was a victim disliked by Chen Mo: "I will move out. Chen Mo, can you please stop upsetting our parents and stop causing trouble with Big Brother?"

All of Chen Mo's pent-up emotions exploded in that moment.

"Move out? Sure." Chen Mo sneered: "Then remember to love your real parents just as much."

Did he end up moving out?

Of course not.

Instead, Chen Mo, from that day on, truly understood his situation.

Unable to keep up with the pace of learning in the city's high school, he studied desperately.

Those things he wanted, originally belonging to him, he fought for them fiercely.

The anger burning in his chest, without an outlet, turned into an obsession to rise above others. It grew stronger over the years, eventually becoming a raging fire that burned him beyond recognition.

By the time he was twenty-eight, many people hated and feared him. He had amassed enough wealth and status, but at the cost of a body riddled with ailments.

His stomach was severely damaged, just short of cancer.

He frequently suffered from respiratory infections and would often run a fever.

The knee problems he developed from being forced to kneel in the snow by Chen Jianli as a child persisted even after surgery, causing unbearable pain during rainy days.

A doctor who had known him for years slapped his medical records in frustration, saying, "If you don't quit smoking and drinking, someone will have to collect your corpse!"

Chen Mo, busy with work, replied, "No need, I'll find a place where no one needs to."

"You're sick!"

"Is this the first day you've noticed?"

In fact, not long after that meeting, Chen Mo encountered retaliation.

The middle-aged boss who had been a rival of the Yang family for years brought a dozen men, his eyes filled with malice. "Yang Zhi is ruthless, but what does it matter if you team up to bring me down? This is all you deserve, what your Yang family deserves!"

Leaning against the edge of the fourth floor of an unfinished building, Chen Mo remained surprisingly calm, neither surprised nor shocked by his impending fate.

He said calmly, "I won't deny working with Yang Zhi. Who doesn't love money in this world?"

"But there's one thing you're wrong about."

"My surname is Chen."

"Trying to get back at the Yang family through me will disappoint you."

Chen Mo didn't know if anyone would collect his body in the end.

He thought there probably would be.

After a month or so, someone would likely discover his body and call the police. The Yang family, for the sake of their reputation, wouldn't hesitate to pay for his funeral expenses.

*

Yang Zhi didn't send any more messages but called instead.

Chen Mo let the phone ring, flicking the ash off the cigarette resting on the armrest.

The symptoms of a high fever were evident.

His limbs felt weak, and his head was heavy and dizzy.

A few boys playing games nearby came in later, cursing and discussing passionately.

"Flank! Flank!"

"Damn! Died again. Restart."

During a break, one of them asked, "Did you see the group chat? Li Rui and his gang seem to be blocking someone at this internet cafe today?"

"Who?"

"The experimental class' Chen Mo."

"Oh, he's in the same class as Lao Gou, right? Must be a model student."

The boy called Lao Gou happened to be next to Chen Mo and cursed, "Get lost."

"Tell us about him. There's been so much gossip about him and Yang Shule lately. I'm really curious."

"I don't know him well, can't remember. If you like gossip so much, go buy some melons outside. Three yuan per kilo, they won't kill you."

Amidst laughter, another voice chimed in, "I heard he got in because his family paid. But who knows, some backward counties have education systems like that. Good students are all the same, just bookworms who memorize everything."

Bored, Chen Mo asked, "What do bookworms look like?"

Gou Yiyang was startled by the sudden voice beside him.

Turning to see the person, his first thought was: Who is this guy? Pretty familiar.

Two seconds later, embarrassment, more embarrassment, even more embarrassment...

Was there anything worse than being caught talking behind someone's back?

Someone stupidly asked, "Lao Gou, who is it?"

Gou Yiyang coughed awkwardly, leaning back to make it clear, introducing, "Chen Mo, my classmate."

Everyone else: "..."

Could this be the Chen Mo they had heard about, sitting there with crossed legs, eyes weary from late nights, surrounded by cigarette smoke?

Gou Yiyang's lips twitched.

He really wasn't close to Chen Mo. The central figure of this topic had been in the experimental class for over a month, and Gou Yiyang's impression of him still lingered from their first day of self-introductions.

The person standing on the podium lacked the expected humility and had no hint of pride from leaping through the dragon gate.

Those eyes always seemed cold when looking at others, making him seem not very approachable.

So when he initiated conversation, Gou Yiyang's first reaction was that he was looking for trouble.

Gou Yiyang had no intention of starting anything. Guessing that Chen Mo might have been in a bad mood after being troubled today, he tried to smooth things over for his friends: "Don't mind it, they didn't mean anything by it."

"What if I insist on making an issue out of it?" Chen Mo looked over with a raised eyebrow.

Gou Yiyang was taken aback and let go of the mouse: "Then come at me."

Chen Mo withdrew his gaze and suddenly smiled: "Forget it."

This classmate whose name sounded like "dog-like" was actually the doctor friend Chen Mo knew well later on. However, in his previous life, they only became familiar with each other after university, not in high school.

That Dr. Gou, who always seemed serious but occasionally funny in Chen Mo's memory, was completely unrecognizable in high school.

At that time, Chen Mo's thoughts were elsewhere.

Just then, someone at the door suddenly shouted: "Bald Lai is here!"

"Damn!"

"Quick, run!"

The internet cafe erupted into chaos.

Chen Mo lifted his eyes toward the door.

In the next second, he was forcefully pulled up.

He heard Lao Gou say: "Brother, let's put our grievances aside for now; saving our lives is more important."

Chen Mo calmly reached for his jacket and casually asked: "Are you guys that scared of him?"

"You're not? That's Lai Xianfu, the head of the sophomore year." Gou Yiyang looked at him as if saying 'I wonder how long you can keep up this act,' then stepped forward to grab his jacket and said: "Run first. The experimental class is a prime target. If he catches us in the internet cafe, neither of us will see the sun tomorrow."

Chen Mo was thus dragged away with a group of people out the back door of the internet cafe.

By then, it was already dark outside.

The alleyway was mostly deserted, with scattered shops emitting dim yellow lights. A stray cat, startled, darted out from a pile of garbage.

After running for a bit, Chen Mo felt his heart beating unusually fast.

He held his jacket and naturally leaned against the wall behind him.

Someone, panting and bracing themselves on their knees, asked, "Did Bald Lai not come after us?"

"There should be none."

"No gaming experience at all today, what bad luck!"

"Then let's get going."

"How about having a barbecue together?"

"Shall we go together?"

They asked Chen Mo.

Among guys, sometimes it's simple. Unlike Li Rui and his real gang, they had only heard rumors about Chen Mo before and had no real grudges.

Chen Mo shook his head, as the high fever had already soaked his back with cold sweat.

The wind in the back alley blew, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

"You all go ahead," Chen Mo's voice was slightly hoarse.

Gou, who might have been destined to become a doctor with his astonishing intuition, looked at him and said, "Are you alright? I noticed you didn't look well just now inside."

Upon his remark, the others also turned to look.

Chen Mo, accustomed to dealing with the adult Gou Yiyang, replied habitually, "I won't die."

Just then, a message notification came through on the phone.

Upon a glance, it turned out to be Yang Zhi again.

Yang Zhi: Could you please check the time? Chen Mo, even if you're unhappy, there's a limit to it.

It's uncanny, did Yang Zhi send him so many messages in the previous life?

Chen Mo replied: "Caring about me?"

Opposite, presumably thoroughly disgusted, fell completely silent.

Chen Mo achieved his goal, pressed back, paused for two seconds, and then wrote a sentence on the blank tab.

Retired and at peace, do not disturb.

Then he turned off his phone.

His fingers unconsciously brushed against the cigarette pack in his pocket, and he suddenly felt an urge to light up another one.

Then I remembered that I had left the lighter in the internet cafe, so I gave up on it.

Putting his phone away and looking up, he realized that the group hadn't left.

"Aren't you guys going to have some skewers?" Chen Mo changed his mind and said, "I'll treat you."

"No need for you to treat us."

"Exactly."

"Lao Gou can treat us."

"Go to hell, why don’t you treat us?"

"Then let's split the bill."

The young atmosphere was lively. For a moment, Chen Mo suddenly felt that life wasn't so unbearable, and there was no need to live too knowingly.

Chen Mo got up from the wall, "Let's go, I'll treat you; I’m just worried about having too much money with nowhere to spend it."

"Damn, that sounds so pretentious."

"You’re actually like this, Chen Mo."

"Master Mo is generous."

Amidst the good-natured teasing, Chen Mo had just gotten up when he felt a sudden dizziness.

Lao Gou, who was nearby, grabbed his arm, exclaiming in surprise, "Holy crap! How can you not feel how high your temperature is?"

Chen Mo steadied himself with Lao Gou’s help, looking at his still youthful face, "You’re making such a fuss; you’d scare even a healthy person to death."

"Show me how you die."

"Sorry, but I can’t die yet."

"Bloody hell."

Chen Mo laughed, his shoulders shaking.

Young Lao Gou felt embarrassed, "Shut up, what’s so funny?"

This place wasn’t good for hailing a taxi.

The front door also had the grade headmaster blocking it.

Lao Gou, out of his limited sense of camaraderie, had others support Chen Mo while he called someone to drive over.

Ten minutes later.

A car slid quietly into the alley, and the rear door opened, revealing a long leg first.

The group called out.

"Bro Yan, over here!"

"Class President, you’re fast."

"Awesome, riding in a Maybach so ostentatiously, you’re not afraid of getting caught by Bald Lai."

The newcomer wore a cap, his dark eyes scanning the crowd. His voice was deep and pleasant as he asked, "Where’s the guy from our class who’s too sick to walk?"

Standing in the shadows behind, Chen Mo cursed under his breath upon recognizing the tall figure.

Lao Gou, this unreliable guy, had betrayed him on their first meeting back.

He had summoned the top student and class president, who was also the childhood friend Yang Shule had liked for years.