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Chapter 35

Editor: Princess

He Jingyi walked into the Mo residence carrying two document folders.

From afar, he saw Qi Fengyu playing badminton with Mo Siyuan.

The corners of his hard-lined mouth twitched, and his grip on the document folders tightened continuously. This guy was really becoming more childish by the day. He could actually play so enthusiastically even with a six-year-old child.

He walked behind Qi Fengyu and poked the man who was jumping around holding a badminton racket with one finger.

“Who is it?” Qi Fengyu turned around abruptly. Then seeing him, rolled his eyes and turned back to Mo Siyuan. “Xiao Yuan, let’s continue. We’ll ignore this weird uncle. Come on, I’m going to serve the ball. You better catch it properly.”

Mo Siyuan immediately assumed a serious expression and gripped his racket with both hands. “Uncle Fengyu, I’m ready.”

“Here it comes, catch it well.” Qi Fengyu bent down and gently tapped the shuttlecock toward Mo Siyuan’s racket.

The corners of He Jingyi’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch again.

He coughed lightly with an expressionless face, then snatched the racket from Qi Fengyu’s hand. Before Qi Fengyu could explode in anger, he slapped the two thick document folders against Qi Fengyu’s chest. “Take these to the boss in the study.”

“Damn, why don’t you take them up yourself?” Qi Fengyu scrambled to catch the sliding document folders.

He Jingyi pushed his glasses and tossed the badminton racket back to him. “I still have official business to handle.”

Qi Fengyu glared at He Jingyi and picked up the document folders to flip through them. “What are these?”

“You’d better not look.” He Jingyi said coldly.

“You’ve already looked at them? Why can’t I look if you can?” Qi Fengyu was very dissatisfied.

He Jingyi just gave him a cold look and turned to leave.

Qi Fengyu was furious and silently cursed He Jingyi several times.

He looked down at the document folders in his hands multiple times. Although he was curious, thinking about the expression on He Jingyi’s face when he said those words, he ultimately suppressed his curiosity.

He turned back to Mo Siyuan. “Xiao Yuan, go sit in the hall and rest for a while. Uncle Fengyu will be right back to continue playing badminton with Xiao Yuan after delivering the materials to Daddy.”

“Okay!” Mo Siyuan nodded and obediently ran into the hall.

Qi Fengyu carried the document folders upstairs. When he entered the study, he saw Mo Shaoheng leaning back on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting. He placed the document folders on the coffee table in front of Mo Shaoheng. “He Jingyi just brought these. He said he still has official business to handle and left first.”

Mo Shaoheng opened his eyes and straightened his posture to look at the document folders on the coffee table. Then he nodded. “There’s a project that just started construction, and he needs to oversee it personally.”

Qi Fengyu nodded and curiously glanced at the document folders several times.

Mo Shaoheng noticed his expression and said lightly, “You really want to look?”

Qi Fengyu shook his head hurriedly. “No, no, no, I don’t want to look at all. Xiao Yuan is still waiting for me to play badminton with him. I’ll go out first. Boss, take your time looking.”

After saying this, Qi Fengyu ran off in a hurry, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

Mo Shaoheng withdrew his gaze indifferently and picked up one of the document folders, pulling out a thick stack of materials from inside.

The first page prominently displayed a person’s detailed personal information, and this person was none other than Ning Xue, who had passed away many years ago!

Mo Shaoheng’s gaze moved from top to bottom and finally stopped on the two words “unmarried”. His pupils suddenly dilated, and his brows slowly furrowed. He could be one hundred percent certain that Mo Siyuan was Ning Xue’s biological son.

However, this document indicated that Ning Xue had never been engaged. The person who had helped him investigate this information was absolutely trustworthy—there was no way such a major error could occur.

He immediately flipped through the materials. This document was extremely detailed, encompassing almost all of Ning Xue’s life events from birth to death, including detailed investigations of everyone close to Ning Xue.

The further Mo Shaoheng read, the more violently his heart beat, and even his hands turning the pages couldn’t help but tremble.

Now, many previously incongruous matters finally had reasonable explanations. No wonder when the Ning family encountered major upheaval, the figure of Ning Xue’s wife was notably absent. It turned out that this person had never existed in this world. Ning Xue had never married from beginning to end.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes, and low laughter slowly spilled from his lips.

At this moment, the sound of a doorknob turning came from outside the study.

He regained his composure and immediately put away the materials, placing them in the coffee table drawer. He stood up and was about to walk to the door when it opened.

Mo Siyuan ran in with quick little steps and threw himself at his legs. “Daddy, big brother Huanxi is here.”

Mo Shaoheng looked down at Mo Siyuan’s small body, his lowered eyes concealing the complex emotions within. He desperately controlled his trembling hands and gently crouched down to pull Mo Siyuan tightly into his embrace, pressing his palm against the back of Mo Siyuan’s head and nestling the child’s small head against his chest.

Mo Siyuan pressed his face against Mo Shaoheng’s chest obediently.

He felt that Daddy was hugging him with particularly strong force today, and Daddy’s emotions seemed a bit strange too.

He had never seen Daddy with such significant mood changes. In his heart, whether Daddy was happy or sad, his face never showed much expression.

“Daddy?” Mo Siyuan extended his small, tender hand and pushed against Mo Shaoheng’s chest, which seemed exceptionally broad and solid to him. He brought his little face close to Mo Shaoheng’s, carefully staring into Mo Shaoheng’s eyes. “Daddy, big brother Huanxi is here. Is something wrong with Daddy?”

Mo Shaoheng looked at the tender face so close to him. Countless people outside were speculating about Mo Siyuan’s identity, not only because Mo Siyuan’s eyes and nose resembled his closely, but also because of his affection and attention toward Mo Siyuan.

In the past, he had never taken this matter to heart. Even if they directly said Mo Siyuan was his son, he had never bothered to refute it.

In his heart, Ning Xue was the only person in this world he cared about and could never forget. Since Ning Xue had passed away, he would raise the child for him. From the moment he adopted Mo Siyuan, Mo Siyuan became his son—Mo Shaoheng’s son, his only son in this lifetime.

But now, he finally understood why his heart ached so much when he first saw Mo Siyuan, and why he became so angry when he learned that after Ning Xue’s death, Mo Siyuan had suffered humiliation in the Ning family.

At this moment, he deeply understood that this was the bond of blood. Mo Siyuan was his own flesh and blood.

“Uncle Mo?” Qin Huanxi looked at Mo Shaoheng’s obviously out-of-control expression, and his heartbeat skipped a beat. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Mo Shaoheng’s shoulder, asking softly, “Uncle Mo, what happened?”

Mo Shaoheng felt the slight weight on his shoulder and instinctively grasped the hand tightly in his palm.

Qin Huanxi was startled but didn’t struggle, allowing Mo Shaoheng to hold his hand. He asked again gently, “Uncle Mo, what’s wrong?”

Mo Shaoheng slowly stood up, staring intently at Qin Huanxi.

There were emotions in his eyes that Qin Huanxi found difficult to understand. It was as if he were desperately suppressing something, yet also as if something was about to break through the soil and take root in his heart. He knew he should avoid the other’s burning gaze that seemed capable of igniting him, yet his eyes were completely unable to move, as if his soul had been captured.

It wasn’t until much later, when Mo Shaoheng felt a small hand gently tugging at the hem of his clothes, that he came back to his senses.

He released Qin Huanxi’s hand, bent down to pick Mo Siyuan up, then guided Qin Huanxi to sit on the sofa with his arm around his shoulder. “Did you come to see this?”

Qin Huanxi breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the document folder Mo Shaoheng handed him.

“You guessed correctly. The clues from that car accident were basically all destroyed, which is why it took several extra days.” Mo Shaoheng placed Mo Siyuan on the ground to let the child play by himself in the study. He moved imperceptibly closer to Qin Huanxi and lowered his head to gaze at the fair and delicate profile before him.

Qin Huanxi forced himself to focus on the materials in front of him, but Mo Shaoheng’s gaze falling on his face was so intense that it was impossible to ignore.

From the moment he entered this study, he had felt that Mo Shaoheng’s attitude toward him today was different from usual, and there were deeper emotions in the eyes that looked at him.

Especially Mo Shaoheng’s expression when he was holding Mo Siyuan earlier made Qin Huanxi very concerned. It was a kind of shock and excitement that was desperately suppressed yet uncontrollable. Could it be that Mo Shaoheng already knew something? Otherwise, it would be hard to imagine what could have happened to make Mo Shaoheng lose control like this. Moreover, the cause of his loss of control was clearly related to Mo Siyuan.

He took a deep breath. Regardless of whether Mo Shaoheng knew something, judging from Mo Shaoheng’s attitude, even if he knew that Mo Siyuan was the son he had given birth to for Mo Shaoheng, Mo Shaoheng wouldn’t treat him and Mo Siyuan as monsters but would only work harder to cherish Mo Siyuan.

With this thought, he actually calmed down and flipped through the materials in his hands seriously.

The car accident the original owner had encountered several months ago was caused by a collision between two vehicles.

The other vehicle was fully at fault—drunk driving plus speeding, hitting directly from behind. That was why the original owner was so severely injured, while the drunk and speeding driver died directly in that car accident.

On the surface, it indeed seemed to be a simple car accident. The cause of the accident was very clear, and the perpetrator was already dead, so there was no need for in-depth investigation.

After Qin Huanxi woke up, he had also asked Aunt Li about it.

That perpetrator had been drinking with friends at a bar until dawn the night before. A group of them were completely drunk. While his friends weren’t paying attention, or perhaps because his consciousness was already unclear and he didn’t know what he was doing, he drove off alone. The car hadn’t been driven for long before it crashed into the car of the original owner, who was rushing to the airport early to participate in an overseas music concert.

Qin Huanxi touched his chin thoughtfully. “That road was the only route from the Qin residence to the airport, and the bar happened to be on that road. This person had previous drunk driving records. He had crashed into roadside barriers before, fortunately causing no casualties.

According to the investigation of the perpetrator in this document, this person was just a good-for-nothing rich second generation who only knew how to mess around with bad friends all day. More importantly, when he got drunk, he would either pick fights or like to race cars.”

As Qin Huanxi spoke, he pointed to the materials in his hands, indicating for Mo Shaoheng to look.

Mo Shaoheng moved closer to Qin Huanxi and lowered his head to look in the direction he was pointing.

Qin Huanxi’s neck shrank involuntarily. Mo Shaoheng was very close, his burning breath spraying on his neck, making him feel somewhat ticklish. His heartbeat lost its rhythm slightly, and a faint flush crept up his neck.

He tried hard to maintain his composure and continued, “I don’t know if this counts as a coincidence. Among the people drinking together that day, there was someone Qin Cong’an knew, and coincidentally, it was this person who invited them to drink at that bar together. Originally, this group planned to go racing in the mountains. I heard there’s a luxury car club there, and since few vehicles usually pass through, it’s a gathering place for rich second-generation racing enthusiasts.”

Mo Shaoheng nodded. “So they suddenly changed their plans?”

Qin Huanxi looked at him strangely. “Uncle Mo, haven’t you read this document?”

Mo Shaoheng replied calmly, “I had just received this document when you arrived.”

Qin Huanxi didn’t doubt him and handed the materials to Mo Shaoheng. “If the truth is only this, there’s really no way to catch evidence against Qin Cong’an. Moreover, we still don’t know whether Qin Cong’an said something to that person that caused them to change their original racing plans and go drinking at the bar instead. However, this creates a strong element of inducement. Everyone knew that the dead rich second generation liked to race when drunk. That person only needed to time it right and intentionally or more directly leave car keys lying around for the rich second-generation to see. A drunk rich second-generation naturally couldn’t control his emotions. Afterward, everyone was drunk and wouldn’t remember these details, so that person could easily extricate himself from the situation.”

Qin Huanxi paused and continued, “However, the success probability of this plan was very low. If it really was Qin Cong’an’s doing, perhaps he was just attempting this plan experimentally. But once this plan succeeded, no one would suspect him. Whether it was the dead rich second-generation or the person who changed the racing plan, gathered everyone for drinks, timed it perfectly to bring out car keys, and induced the rich second-generation to drink and race. Both could easily be extricated from the entire incident.”

This Qin Cong’an really couldn’t be underestimated.

Mo Shaoheng said thoughtfully, “The probability wouldn’t be very low. As long as someone knew the time you left, they could accurately calculate when you would pass the bar. Moreover, he crashed into your car not long after leaving the bar. Did anyone check that car afterward?”

Qin Huanxi’s eyes widened suddenly. “Uncle Mo means that car might have been tampered with beforehand?”

Mo Shaoheng nodded. “Because he was drunk driving and speeding, the entire car was basically scrapped, and the person died too. Therefore, no one would investigate deeply, much less check whether his car had been tampered with.”

Qin Huanxi narrowed his eyes. “This Qin Cong’an really calculated everything meticulously. He probably even anticipated that this rich second-generation would die. If the car had really been tampered with beforehand, once the rich second-generation died, Qin Cong’an would have even fewer worries about this matter.”

“Do you need me to investigate further?” Mo Shaoheng reached out to stroke Qin Huanxi’s hair.

“Yes, let’s look more carefully. We should be able to find evidence he couldn’t clean up in time or overlooked.” Qin Huanxi put the materials back in the document folder and placed it on the coffee table. “The materials should still be kept with Uncle Mo. This matter cannot be known by the Qin family, especially Grandpa. Grandpa doesn’t want me to interfere in these matters. Regardless of who masterminded that car accident, now that I’m safe and sound, Grandpa probably doesn’t want me to continue pursuing it. The old man is soft-hearted after all.”

Mo Shaoheng hugged his shoulder and patted it gently. “You still have me. Whatever you want to do, I’ll help you.”

Qin Huanxi turned to look at him.

The two gazed at each other, and he nodded subconsciously. After a moment of silence, he said, “Oh right, we still need to attend Fu Zecheng’s banquet tonight. I had already arranged with Shanshan and Su Yang to go together tonight. Will you come with us?”

Mo Shaoheng replied, “Mm, I’ll accompany you.”

Qin Huanxi smiled and turned to see Mo Siyuan sitting quietly in front of the computer, his small hand gripping the mouse with a very focused and serious expression on his face. He was clearly playing games.

No wonder the little guy hadn’t made a sound while they had been talking for so long. He was completely absorbed in gaming.

Qin Huanxi got up and walked behind Mo Siyuan, then immediately picked up the child from the chair with a helpless expression, holding him in his arms and rubbing his head vigorously. “At such a young age, you dare to play cards!”

Mo Siyuan remained very calm and hugged Qin Huanxi’s neck while nuzzling against him. “Big brother Huanxi, are you and Daddy finished talking?”

“Don’t try to change the subject deliberately. Tell me, who taught you to play cards?”

“No one taught me. I played by myself… Big brother Huanxi, I was wrong. I’ll never play again.”

“Have you finished today’s homework? Did you practice the violin piece I taught you yesterday?”

“No, no, no, I’ll go write my homework and practice my violin right now. Big brother Huanxi, I was really wrong….

“No, I have to punish you properly today. You have to practice one more page of calligraphy and learn one more song…”

Mo Shaoheng smiled as he followed the two figures, one tall and one small, leaving the study, his eyes filled with unprecedented tenderness.

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