Chapter 1357 - Racked Her Brains? 7

“She just racked her brains and overestimated herself!”

His sneer of disdain rang through every corner of the room while those depth-filled eyes of his brimmed with cold indifference.

“Want to see who’s more callous? She can never beat me. She’s always overestimated herself.”

“Callous? Mr. Gu, she’s the one who put you in here. Without Master’s help, when do you think you’ll be able to walk out of here?” Li Si smiled, and when he recalled everything that had happened, he could not help but lament, “All these years, everyone hasn’t had it easy, especially Master. But, Mr. Gu, you know best the root of all these tragedies. Even the old Madam, she...” At this, his voice turned heavy.

No matter what, Wang Hui’s incident was a thorn that could not be removed in everyone’s hearts. Only they themselves knew how deep the thorn was buried in their hearts.

At the mention of Wang Hui, Gu Qiwu’s expression fell silent. His hand that set before him clenched into a slight fist. After a while, he sighed and said solemnly, “I couldn’t have expected for that to happen either, but about the thing between Zixi and I, the responsibility lies on me.”

Gu Qiwu was not the kind to explain too much either. He knew he was wrong, though the mistakes were already made, so there was no point nitpicking who was wrong and who was right.

“Yes, that’s why when it comes to this, Mr. Gu, I’m hoping that you can think of a way to compromise, at least, in a way that doesn’t make it difficult for everyone. Even though Master is coming from Lingshi and Ah Mo’s standpoint, he could be less petty with many things. As for the old Chairman and Minister Mu...”

At this juncture, Li Si did not continue while Gu Qiwu did not look too happy, but he did not say anything.

“Alright, Mr. Gu, I’ll let Master know your thoughts. As for the outcome, I cannot guarantee anything,” Li Si said, then got up.

“Mmm, tell him. He might be interested in some things,” Gu Qiwu said, then got up, and silently looked at Li Si.

Li Si stared at him in a pensive manner, nodded, then quickly turned and left too.

...

The cold rain that had wreaked havoc for quite a few days gradually calmed down, but the weather seemed to continue with the cold gusts, especially since they were deep in the wild mountains.

Standing by the wooden window, you could already hear trickles of the stream. It was the sound of the water from the mountains, streaming into the rivers. Early in the morning, you could vaguely see a faint layer of white. It seemed like last night’s rain came with some snow.

Ah Mo lifted a corner of the curtain by the door and slowly walked in. From afar, he could see Qi Lei standing quietly by the window and looking out.

“What is it? You seem deep in thought. Are you thinking about going home? Aren’t we leaving quite soon already?” Ah Mo walked up to Qi Lei in a few huge strides as his mellow and rich voice was heard.

While Qi Lei smiled calmly, he breathed in and looked fondly out the window, and said in a lowered voice, “When we just got here, I was thinking of leaving, but now, I suddenly don’t quite want to leave. Life here is peaceful and I’m fond of it, unlike the restless dog-eat-dog world out there. This place is a good place to rest, especially with this beautiful scenery too.”

Upon hearing that, Ah Mo smiled cheerfully too. “Such a place is great for resting and spiritual cultivation once in a while, but if one were to stay here for a long time, you’d probably fall sick, especially for people like us. So, the next time if you’ve got the interest, you can come over to visit. Otherwise, it’s best that you stay outside. After all, we aren’t people who plan on cultivating spiritually.”

“I’m not like you. You can’t stand loneliness. You have people who miss you outside while I...while I’ve got nothing at all. It’s quite nice to be on my own. If I could have a few dogs, that’d be just nice,” Qi Lei said as a faint bitter smile flashed on the corner of his lips.

When Ah Mo heard that, he paused, and then said softly, “That’s not true. Master and Missus definitely miss you. Besides, you’re only 30 and that’s the start of a man’s prime time. You’ll bump into someone you like just as Master did. I remember when he just returned from abroad, he was like you too. Who would’ve known that he’d bump into Missus afterwards? Now, they lead quite a happy life.”

Qi Lei knew about Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye’s story. Back when that incident had happened at West Park, he could still recall it all quite clearly.

After a while, Qi Lei said, “Your Master’s much luckier than I am. However, I’m also very lucky that he turned out to be the way that he is today.”

His dark eyes flowed with a faint light as Ah Mo watched him, but he could not seem to see through him. He always marked this gaze on Master’s face, but he could not fathom it then either. Of course, he seemed to understand what Qi Lei meant now though.

Ah Mo thought about it, then said, “Brother says he admires you a lot too, Master Qi. Actually, you click quite well with Brother and Sister-in-law. My brother chooses his friends quite strictly. In the past, not many people could get this kind of attention from him apart from Master Su and Master Mo.”

“Looks like I’m considered quite lucky then?” Qi Lei smiled, then he turned to Ah Mo. “Say, did Mu Yuchen describe me as one who’d grow out of the mud unsullied[1]?”

“Huh?” When Qi Lei said that, Ah Mo did not quite know how to react, but he soon replied, “Well, I don’t know about that. You can ask Brother when we get back.”

“Don’t say that I said it. Just ask him subtly with skill, got it?” Qi Lei cleared his throat and then said softly.

Ah Mo raised his brows. Moments after that, he laughed and said, “Got it, got it!”

When Qi Lei heard his reply, he laughed out loud too. “Good. You catch on quite well!”

Ah Mo chuckled along with him. “Right, Yang Sheng’s health is looking much better, so he should be fine to walk. Uncle Chen has gotten us two vehicles for convenience. Since the rain has stopped, let’s get moving after breakfast. I’ve just come from Yang Sheng. He’s pretty much ready. You should put on an extra layer too. It’s cold in the mountains. By the looks of the weather, it’s definitely going to rain again,” he reminded.

“Okay, don’t worry. I’m fine. I can leave anytime, but they haven’t found us after searching for so many days, so they’ll definitely be watching out at every entrance. Let’s see if there’s anywhere we can make a call when we get out. It’s really quite inconvenient with the rainy weather.” Qi Lei frowned and looked out at the gloomy sky while his tone was heavy.