Chapter 29

Bai Wei immediately regretted it the moment the child fell onto him.

Snot! Dirt! And the crying, squirming, and tears!

Reaching out to grab this child was undoubtedly the worst decision he made today… just like when he tried to use the piano lid to kill Lu Sen. Bai Wei’s face contorted in pain as he covered his hand, and Lu Sen helped him up. In front of him, two children and a mother were crying, and the buzzing sound of crying was almost enough to explode his head.

“Oh no! Your hand!” a nurse exclaimed.

The person being rushed into the emergency room went from Lu Sen to Bai Wei. The doctor, surprised upon seeing Bai Wei, asked, “Wasn’t it your husband who got hit by the piano lid on the neck? How did your wrist get dislocated?”

Bai Wei: …If possible, I’d like to know the reason too.

“Your wrist is dislocated. The bone isn’t broken, but the ligament is torn. You’ll need a small surgery, rest for two weeks, and avoid any strenuous activities,” the doctor said after examining Bai Wei.

Bai Wei’s eyes welled up with tears. Finally, he received some good news today.

—–

“Change of clothes, my laptop, charger… do you remember everything?” Bai Wei sat on the hospital bed, instructing Lu Sen. When he thought about how Lu Sen was a monster, he found himself feeling a bit more patient with him. “Especially the clothes.”

He didn’t really want to rely on Lu Sen, the monster. But there was no choice—since he was injured, he could only depend on Lu Sen to bring his things back.

Lu Sen was about to leave, and his dirty jacket was taken off, replaced with a clean hospital gown in the disinfectant-smelling single room. Bai Wei lay in the single room he had paid extra for, looking at the spotless, white walls, feeling like life had never been so good.

Lu Sen wrote down everything he needed to bring back in a small notebook but didn’t speak. Bai Wei thought that today, Lu Sen was unusually silent. Even when that mother and child came to apologize and thank him earlier, he said nothing.

“If your wife hadn’t grabbed that child, he would’ve definitely fallen and died,” the nurse said when she came in to change the dressing. “I used to believe the town rumors, thinking your family was cold and didn’t like to interact with others. But now I see it’s all just gossip! I’ll tell everyone you’re really kind people.”

“Thank you.” Bai Wei smiled at her from the hospital bed. “It’s just what I should do.”

Bai Wei truly felt that it was his duty. It was an unexpected joy that the nurse praised him so much.

“I wish he hadn’t done it so well,” Lu Sen suddenly said.

Bai Wei froze for a moment. He looked at Lu Sen with a puzzled expression. This made him remember the look on Lu Sen’s face when he looked at that mother and child earlier—he was clearly suppressing disgust and disdain.

The mother and child must have noticed too, and when they left the room, they seemed hesitant.

After the nurse left, Bai Wei instinctively said, “Your attitude toward them was very rude…”

“Was it rude?”

Lu Sen turned to look at him. This was the first time Bai Wei had seen Lu Sen show such a gloomy and angry expression.

All along, Bai Wei had only seen gentleness, cheerfulness, and smiles on Lu Sen’s face… or confusion and puzzlement. It was as if Lu Sen had long decided to rid himself of all negative emotions, using only positive expressions to face the new life he had decided to build as a human.

If, before Bai Wei poisoned him for the first time, Lu Sen had been somewhat lazy about life, after that, it seemed like he found a new goal in life. He decided to build a respected and happy family in Snow Mountain Town.

He became more energetic, listened to everyone’s advice, renovated the house, and tended to the garden. When facing the townspeople, he became more talkative and generous than ever before, trying to build a good reputation for their family. Even when they went to the antique shop a few days ago, he gave the owner more tips and praised their taste in decorating the shop.

The feeling that Lu Sen gave Bai Wei was always stranger than terrifying.

But now, Bai Wei felt as if Lu Sen had ripped off his human skin. This made him not only scared but also somewhat confused.

Could it be because of his background?

Now that Lu Sen knew about his past, did he feel it was only natural to be impatient with him?

“Don’t you feel any pain? Why do you still smile at them?” Lu Sen said again.

“Are you blaming me?” Bai Wei subconsciously began to defend himself.

“…No. I’m just very angry,” Lu Sen said. “They came to thank you, but I felt like they were forcing you. You clearly don’t like that child, and clearly, you were the one who got hurt. But you still had to smile at them, accept their apology.”

“I’m angry,” he repeated. “It makes me sad to see you smile at them after you were hurt.”

Bai Wei was stunned by his words. What was there to be angry about?

It was an accident, and Lu Sen spoke as if he had been bullied.

He furrowed his brows. “This is just politeness, isn’t it? Like how you’re patient with the antique shop owner, or thank the milk delivery man…”

Lu Sen said, “I did those things before because I saw other people doing them. I wanted to fit in with Snow Mountain Town and build a respected family. Being kind to them would shape my reputation.”

Bai Wei: …

Suddenly speechless, who could understand?

Even though he now knew Lu Sen was a monster, couldn’t he at least pretend to be human while talking?

“But today, I know being kind to them would be better, but I don’t want to do it,” Lu Sen said. “They hurt you, and I can’t smile at them. I think they’re ruder than anyone who’s ever been impolite, and they deserve more condemnation… You don’t have to say anything. I know it was an accident. But I still think there’s no one more deserving of condemnation than them. But there’s no law or rule that says they should be condemned more for this, and that’s why I’m even angrier.”

Bai Wei didn’t understand what Lu Sen was talking about. He just said, “So what’s there to be angry about? Isn’t this a good thing for you… for us?”

Lu Sen paused for a long time, then looked at Bai Wei with an expression Bai Wei had never seen before. Finally, he said, “I suddenly feel like being a good human isn’t really that meaningful.”

Bai Wei: …

Is there any possibility that we humans don’t frequently use the word “human” when speaking?

“Bai Wei, do you like living in this small town?” Lu Sen suddenly asked.

Bai Wei was stunned for a moment, then said, “Of course.”

“Do you really feel happy when the mother and child thank you?”

“Of course.”

“Did you invite them to your home to play in the future because you wanted to?”

“Of course.”

“Of course?”

“Of course. Why are you asking this?”

“I just suddenly thought… you said you grew up in the Bai family, is that true?”

In the end, Lu Sen still wanted to ask this question. Bai Wei sneered in his heart. He smiled gently at Lu Sen and said, “Of course.”

“You said they were good to you, is that true?”

This time, Bai Wei didn’t say “of course.”

He looked at Lu Sen, saying nothing.

He thought Lu Sen would argue with him, but he didn’t.

Lu Sen just looked at him for a long time. Finally, he said, “When you smiled at me earlier, your expression was exactly the same as when you smiled at the apologizing mother and child.”

“?”

“Never mind,” Lu Sen said, “Go to sleep.”

Lu Sen placed his hand on Bai Wei’s forehead. Bai Wei wanted to say something, but a strong drowsiness came over him.

…Lu Sen!! You’re plotting against me!

Bai Wei gritted his teeth. He was planning to argue with Lu Sen. If worst came to worst, Lu Sen would talk about his past, and he would reveal Lu Sen’s lies… but the drowsiness came too quickly.

Finally, he couldn’t hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

After he fell asleep, Lu Sen sat by his bed, carefully looking at his face. For the first time, he noticed Bai Wei’s hair had split ends, his ears had old scars, and his face wasn’t perfectly symmetrical.

Bai Wei wasn’t so perfect. He wasn’t like the art pieces he took. He had a past, secrets, and he would lie. Just like how he didn’t like that child, but would save him because “it’s in accordance with etiquette.” Just like how he was already impatient, but still smiled at the apologizing mother and child and invited them to “visit in the future.”

Just like how he didn’t grow up in the Bai family, how he had such a past… and now, he knew that Lu Sen knew.

He still smiled, without hesitation, and said, “Of course.”

As long as he wore a mask, could he act like nothing ever happened? Could he pretend everything was flawless?

The two of them clearly had such similar goals in life. Bai Wei wanted to maintain decency, Lu Sen wanted to perfectly integrate into human society, to be respected. But Lu Sen realized at this moment, he felt so uncomfortable.

Just as Lu Sen was about to enter the house, his phone suddenly rang.

The call had no number displayed… but Lu Sen’s brows twitched at that moment. He made sure there was no one around and answered the call.

“Yo.” A hoarse male voice came from the phone. “I heard you’ve been doing well lately… quit the business for so long, did you forget about our old friends? Did you find yourself a pretty wife and get addicted to the sweet life and perfect new life, no longer wanting to be a mercenary?”

“Don’t hang up yet. You’ve rested for two or three years, your body should have recovered. I know your personality, living a dull life will make you bored. And what’s a wife? There’s more and better ahead…”

At that moment, there was a rustling sound from the bushes.

Pei Jie was crawling through the bushes. He felt that no one was unluckier than him in this world. He was sneaking around and nearly brought tears to his eyes.

This evening, Pei Jie finally awoke from the basement. His mouth was dry, his eyes clouded, and he knew that if he stayed here any longer, he’d surely lose his life.

But luck had finally smiled on him! The two of them were not at home!

This time, Pei Jie didn’t dare to take the front door—who knew if there were traps waiting to kill him? Dragging his broken leg, he crawled to the piano room, casually picking up a key that had fallen on the floor. The piano room was empty, and some clothes were scattered on the floor. He opened the window, tore the screen, and crawled out.

But just as he left, he saw Lu Sen driving back. Lu Sen was standing and talking on the phone, directly in his path.

Pei Jie couldn’t make out who was on the other end of the call, but Lu Sen seemed unusually alert. He walked toward the garden while speaking, and Pei Jie had to keep crawling toward the garden to avoid being seen.

But now, there was nowhere left to retreat!

Lu Sen was still on the phone and walking forward. Pei Jie saw that there was no escape. Suddenly, he spotted a lock.

The lock to the cellar!

There was a cellar here!

To his surprise, Pei Jie found that the key in his hand seemed to match the lock perfectly!

Maybe he could hide here…