International long-distance calls are very slow.
Chu Mu walked through the noisy hospital lobby, took the phone from his secretary, and strode into the stairwell. He hadn't slept for two whole nights; he looked exhausted, and even his voice was a little hoarse. "Hello?"
Ji Hengdong wasn't in the mood for jokes and simply recounted what had happened that evening. "Boss Chu, I saw Sister Shu at the airport tonight, and she didn't seem to be doing too well. How come she had a fight with you after all the effort it takes for her to visit you?"
Chu Mu paused, his hand holding the lighter still. "How did you know she came here?"
“Who am I? As Grandpa Jiang always said, Dongzi is smarter than a monkey if he grew hair! Sister Shu’s suitcase has an entry visa and barcode from Berlin on it, so where else could it have come from if not from you?”
"She went home?"
"I'm back. I took her to the lakeside garden and watched her go in."
Chu Mu glanced at his watch; the secondary dial showed 11 a.m. Beijing time. True to his brotherly nature, Ji Hengdong sensed something was wrong with Shu Yi'an the moment he saw her at the airport. So, shamelessly, he escorted her all the way home, regardless of her wishes.
"Well done."
Hearing the weak voice on the other end, Ji Hengdong chuckled, "Is there a reward for doing a good job? But speaking of which, what exactly did you do to her that way? Logically speaking, she should be happy that you're being transferred back. Didn't you tell her about such a big sacrifice?"
Chu Mu rubbed his temples in frustration. "Whether we go back or not, we'll see."
As soon as he finished speaking, the secretary peeked in from the stairwell door and waved a yellow file folder to remind Chu Mu. Chu Mu glanced at it and nodded, indicating that he should wait a moment.
"I'll hang up now, I have something to do."
Knowing that Chu Mu was busy, Ji Hengdong sensibly refrained from nagging.
The secretary watched as Chu Mu hung up the phone, then quietly closed the door and came in. She handed Chu Mu a top-secret document bag, saying, "It was stamped and rushed all the way. Don't worry, once you take it out, it'll be in my hands; no one has seen it."
Chu Mu took it and gently traced the tightly sealed adhesive line with his finger, his face ashen. "Tell them to leave the item here and not return it."
"Okay. Shall I go out first?"
"Go."
Separated by a door, listening to the various noises inside the hospital, Chu Mu leaned against the wall of the stairwell, calmly unpacking and opening the file folder in his hand.
The few thin pages were filled with all the awards Shu Yi-an had won in her childhood, as well as all the on-site records and photos of the horrific car accident on the airport expressway six years ago.
Chapter 20
Chu Mu stared blankly at the few papers on his desk. Two days had passed since he received the file, and he still hadn't recovered from the shock of learning the truth.
Looking at the photos of the highway scene, at her parents' mangled bodies, at her legs trapped in the car, Chu Mu felt an intense sense of guilt and heartache for the first time.
It wasn't just sympathy; it was a genuine, heart-wrenching pain. He couldn't bear to imagine the eighteen-year-old Shu Yi'an facing the deaths of her parents, utterly devoid of hope. That scene would be nothing short of devastating.
A torn meniscus. That's a medical term for a condition that can completely destroy a person's ability to walk. Chu Mu searched for related information on his computer again and again, but he found that every entry he found added an even heavier weight to his guilt.
As a child, Shu Yi'an smiled beautifully on stage with her trophy. Only after watching the few video clips did Chu Mu have to admit that he knew nothing about Shu Yi'an's life before she turned twenty.
Chu Mu didn't remember how long he stood in the stairwell that day, only that the heaviness in his heart didn't lessen at all when the dozen or so cigarettes in his pack had turned into cigarette butts at his feet. He desperately wanted to call her, but he didn't know what to say. So he turned the screen on and off more than ten times, but the call log remained with only a long message indicating that the call was incomplete.
It wasn't until he saw those documents that Chu Mu suddenly understood why she had frowned slightly that night, why the hot towel she had thrown at him that night had come from, and why the car he had given her had remained untouched in the garage.
He suddenly realized that it was a conversation the two had had a long, long time ago.
It was a day when the wedding date had already been agreed upon. Autumn had arrived, and Chu Mu was forced by Sui Qing to rush back from Germany to listen to her nagging about the wedding arrangements. In the Chu family's hall, Sui Qing used a fountain pen with a crocodile pattern and a circle of sapphire blue diamonds to mark the exquisite guest list.
"This is the list that your dad and I came up with. Your page is at the end. Once you've filled it out, give it to your sister so she can prepare the invitations for you."
"By the way, I was thinking of showing the list to Yi'an. The reserved spots are at the back so that her family won't complain later. Sigh... Your wedding was too rushed, I didn't have much time to prepare."
Chu Mu couldn't even remember how many times Sui Qing had nagged him since she learned he was getting married, so he immediately took the list and went to find Shu Yi'an.
Shu Yi'an was packing her luggage for leaving school when she received a call from Chu Mu. She rushed downstairs without even having time to put on her coat.
Chu Mu frowned subconsciously when he saw the thin cardigan she was wearing. "Why are you dressed so lightly?"
Shu Yi'an pointed to the long road outside the glass, "I didn't have time, I was afraid you would have to wait too long."
It wasn't cold in the car, so Chu Mu's coat remained untouched on the back seat. Seeing her slightly reddened fingers, he casually picked it up and covered Shu Yi'an with it, then handed her a stack of cards. "The wedding guest list. Check if you've missed anyone. Also, I haven't met your parents yet. I'll go over sometime or pick them up."
After all, when it comes to marriage, even though the two have reached a certain understanding, Chu Mu would never skip the proper procedures and show any respect.
Shu Yi'an stared at the exquisite card Chu Mu offered, hesitating to take it. Her usually clear eyes trembled slightly, as if she had remembered something unpleasant.
"how?"
"Chu Mu." Shu Yi'an suddenly looked up and calmly called his name. "My parents passed away when I was eighteen years old because of a car accident."
After those words were spoken, the already quiet atmosphere in the carriage became even more subdued. Chu Mu only knew that Shu Yi'an was from Jiangnan and had come to Beijing alone to study, but he hadn't expected her to have such a family background. For a moment, even the usually quick-witted and decisive Deputy Director Chu was at a loss for words…
"Yi An..."
"It's alright." Shu Yi'an smiled kindly at him. "It's all in the past. I've been coming here with my grandfather these past few years, but he's too old to come to Beijing anymore. I think... if we have the chance in the future, we can go back to see him together. Also, not many people know about what happened between us. Aunt Sui should have thought things through better than I have, so there's no need to give it to me."
Chu Mu frowned and stared at the card in his hand for a long time before putting the gift list down. He gave a faint smile and said, "Whatever you want."
The knocking interrupted Chu Mu's thoughts. The secretary glanced at the seemingly lost in thought and prompted, "Someone wants to see you."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Chu Zhoutong, dressed casually, walked into the room from behind his secretary. Chu Mu was surprised, "What brings you here?"
Seeing that the two powerful figures seemed to have something to discuss, the secretary wisely closed the door and left.
Unlike his usual serious demeanor on television, Chu Zhou found a seat and sat down. "Can't I come? You're about to abandon me, aren't you? If I don't come, I'm afraid you'll make some demands that I can't handle."
Chu Mu knew exactly what his second uncle was referring to. He deftly deflected the question, saying, "You're being a bit modest. What request could a lowly soldier like me possibly have that you can't fulfill?"