2.2 - This seems to have become a protracted war
Music from the piano resounded throughout the venue, and everyone’s eyes were attracted to the person on the stage. Even the judges held their breath out of fear that the slightest noise would disturb the genius.
That young man played a piece that seemed to come straight from the soul, that pair of hands that moved ceaselessly with the music, seemed to bring people's hearts with them as they moved up and down.
The man’s golden eyes seemed to be locked on that person's body, his whole aura even softened because of his music. The butler to one side looked at his master with some surprise, then turned his eyes to the man on the stage, and made a decision in the depths of his heart.
When Xue Ling finished his song, standing up to take a bow, nobody had yet recovered from their daze.
He also didn't seem to mind, turning around to step down from the stage. He had booked his ticket before coming onto stage, and now he needs to head to the airport to catch the next flight back to China.
It was not until he stepped off the stage that he heard applause filling the concert hall, endlessly ringing in his ears.
Unfortunately, Xue Ling didn’t really care about the applause. Despite arranging a place to go for his sister and nephew, Xue Ling still had to meet them personally to reassure them, and he had no time to dally here. So by the time the competition staff rushed back to knock at his door, his room was already empty.
The staff member's expression wavered, and the face of the butler who followed him was also strange.
In the VIP room, a man dressed in a slim fitting suit twisted the ring on his finger, and slowly stood up.
The students in the competition were still playing hard on the stage, and the audience had no plans to leave, but the man was already a little impatient, expressionlessly opening the door just in time to see the strange look on the butler's face.
The bowed slightly and gave a very concise apology: “I’m sorry, sir, that young man is not here anymore."
The man didn't spare him a glance, directly stepping forward. The butler looked at him oddly, then heard him say, “Go and investigate.”
“Yes.”
At this time, Xue Ling had already caught his flight, because he was in a hurry, he chose to buy a first class ticket with fewer people. It wasn't until he was settled in his seat that he took a deep breath and held the system into his hands. “There are some things I still need to understand."
The system perched obediently on its host's legs, although it is a fox, it manages to look like a well behaved pet. “The host can ask anything, I will say all that I know without exception."
“I came into this world in order to change the fate of the main characters?”
“Yes, when their destiny is changed, the will of the world will be able to take their luck away." The system has affirmed this point from the outset.
Xue Ling asked again, “Because I am occupying this body, I need to get revenge for the original owner of this body? So when I entered this body, were there any other stipulations? Is it possible that they will show up just before dying, and the next second they've died?"
The system feels that its host is somewhat fanciful, after pondering for a while, finally decides to explain it like this to Xue Ling. “Taking the host adult’s current body as an example, the information you received is his whole life’s fate trajectory, and the will of the world will only arrange you to enter a person’s body after confirming with the other party. That is why you can see his life, and feel his resentment."
“Then won't I be endlessly taking revenge for these people?”
“No, there are some other factors when choosing the body. Sometimes the body that is chosen is not just as unlucky the two that you have gotten so far."
Xue Ling’s face is full of an unspoken sentiment, 'you can say it like that, not just as unlucky, that would mean they are even more unlucky.'
“Then if I fulfill their wishes and destroy the life trajectory of the protagonists, it should be fine if I just leave. Why do I need to live their whole life for them? Although I am not rejecting such a task, but isn't the will of the world anxious for luck?"
“It's not that it's not in a hurry, but while it’s easy to integrate a soul into the world, after you make a big change, it becomes more difficult to separate. And if you leave, the body will die. Besides dying a natural death, I don't think the host will want to experience the other ways."
Xue Ling's lips twitched, that's a good point, working so hard to make a good future for himself so that there will be no worries about happiness in the future, wrecking the protagonists' affairs, with everything going well, and then suddenly dying…
No matter how you look at it, it seems like one was then doing so much work in vain?
At this point, Xue Ling has a good idea regarding what he needs to do.
He just needs to play this role well, living this life and fulfilling the previous owner's wish. For Xue Ling who has always been capricious, this can also be considered an entirely new experience. In the past, although he did go into society and lived a for long time, it was still his own life after all. To live like someone else, can also be seen as a type of challenge for him.
Nevermind that the system only requires him not to rashly expose flaws in order to prevent rejection from the world.
It will take several hours to fly back, Xue Ling took the opportunity to sleep. The feeling of sparing no efforts, and exhaustion from working to death in the previous life has not yet disappeared, he wants to properly enjoy life this time around.
When he gets off the plane, it'll be time to get to work.
News spreads fast in modern times, let alone when Wen Xiuyuan’s “brother-in-law” is the driving force behind the accident. Not answering his wife's phone was also part of his plan, and he purposely scheduled his flight to arrive at the same time as Xue Ling.
He did not realize that everything that he thought was within his grasp was on the point of, or had already begun to collapse. Rather, he was somewhat complacent, lips hooked upwards as he fantasized about the plan that would proceed smoothly once he got off the plane.
While they were both on their respective planes, Wen Xiuting had already packed up her things, transferred over most of the common property that they held as a couple, taking her identity card and anything related to her independence with her as she left home with her eldest son. He was only three years old, but he made no reaction towards what she was doing, and did not speak a word.
The youngest son was still in the cradle waiting to be fed, but Wen Xiuting completely ignored his existence.
After hearing her brother’s words, she had subconsciously handled the matter according to her intuition. She had a very mistrusting attitude towards this little life that she had raised for nearly a year, but could not develop any emotions towards. Since her brother had not told her to take him, then she would first leave him behind.
Wen Mo followed his mother obediently, waiting until they got on the plane before asking his mother who had finally started to calm down, "Are we going travelling?"
Things happened too quickly that he didn't even realize that his grandparents, who had always loved him so much, had already passed away. He was only somewhat confused, why did his mother rush around making these arrangements?
Wen Xiuting holds her eldest son in her arms. He’s obviously only a three-year-old child, but he’s quieter than any other other children his age. In the past, although her heart ached the child, she couldn’t take care of him at home every day because of work. She could only ask her husband to find a maid to help raise him, but she didn’t think that the child would become increasingly quiet. She had been thinking about taking him to see a doctor after this busy period, and then take time off work to take good care of him for a while…
Now…
Wen Xiuting touched her son’s small face and kissed him on the cheek. “Mother is taking you out to play. Let’s first go and wait for your uncle, and then we'll have a good time together, okay?"
There was no change in the child’s face. He cocked his head, "What about dad?”
Wen Xiuting was stiff for a while. She was also afraid that the child would miss his father, and could only say awkwardly, “Dad has no time to accompany you for the time being.”
Unexpectedly, her son's response to this sentence was very quick, eyes bright, the corners of his mouth even turned up in a small smile, "Okay, dad doesn't need to come.”
Wen Xiuting’s hands stalled, and her doubts grew bigger and bigger. How was Xu Yongyi taking care of the child for him to turn out like this?
Wen Xiuting is a painter with some small reputation in China. She had just held an exhibition recently, with a gallery and studio also under her name. After giving birth to her eldest son, she recuperated for a period of time before going back to work. Later, she gave birth to her youngest son, but because she always felt mentally fragile at home, she spent most of her time outside, even travelling around the world. The time she spent taking care of her eldest son is truly very little. Holding her eldest son in her arms now, her heart was full of guilt…
She is a somewhat nervous and delicate person. She could tell that after their marriage, her husband's attitude towards herself and their son was a little strange, but she always bore with it. After the birth of her youngest son, she became more tense and agitated, in order to avoid staying at home and making herself unable to sleep every night, she chose to escape, resulting in her child's withdrawal.
Now, she's regretting it to death.
Wen Xiuting held Wen Mo tightly in her arms and comforted him, “Yes, without dad, in the future there will only be mom.”
Ultimately she is still from an influential family, after learning that the car accident was not so simple, Wen Xiuting had filled in the big picture in her head. Putting together her husband’s increasingly indifferent attitude toward herself in the past two years and her own pre-existing doubts, she approximately already understood the reason why her brother had her leave with her eldest son.
It would have been troublesome if she stayed, perhaps she would've become the thing that Xu Yongyi’s threatens her brother with. What’s more, her and her eldest son’s safety would not be guaranteed.
Her parents have already fallen to scheming, the two of them absolutely cannot have an accident.
Xue Ling had no idea how much of the truth his sister had already thought through, his understanding of Wen Xiuting was not very deep. He only knew that her spirit was tortured by Xu Yongyi to the point of committing suicide at home. Her death also left a great psychological shadow on Wen Mo, causing his nephew to become completely withdrawn.
He is not sure whether Wen Xiuting will do as he says, if she does it will be for the best, with her out of the picture he has more space and freedom to move. After all, others are not familiar with Wen Xiuyuan, making it unnecessary for him to fake Wen Xiuyuan's character with them, allowing him to do things as he wants. If she doesn't, then Xue Ling also has alternative arrangements for both her and his nephew.
The plane touched down at the airport in X City, and Xue Ling and Xu Yongyi walked out of the airport at the same time.
Although the length of their flights was different, Xu Yongyi still managed to time it perfectly. Unfortunately, he did not have any chance to see a flustered brother-in-law. In fact, he even failed to make the planned 'chance encounter'.
Even if the airport in X city is very big, the route to the hospital should still be the same. Xu Yongyi thought they would meet, but he totally misjudged Xue Ling.
He got off the plane and went directly to the hotel he had booked. He had never had any intention of going directly to the hospital at all.
The remains of this host body's parents are being dealt with by others anyway, he himself was not in a hurry.
These chapters are 2000+ word beasts! uwu