After the Reborn Young Master Embraced a Life of Wellness – Chapter 57

Qi Lin’s mood had already hit rock bottom before his disastrous encounter with his “girlfriend.” The fiasco left him humiliated, clothes stolen, and his dignity in shreds. As Xi Siyan aptly put it, “He deserved it.” Of course, the deception was cruel and deeply wounded Qi Lin’s innocent heart, leaving a scar.

Chen Mo, however, found himself wondering about Qi Lin’s sexual orientation. Although Qi Lin adamantly denied catching feelings during his escapade, Chen Mo remained skeptical.

“He’s going to take the wrong path,” Chen Mo remarked to Xi Siyan on the swaying bus, their destination nearing.

“What kind of wrong path?” Siyan asked, his tone as calm as ever.

Chen Mo hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Well, let’s say he doesn’t get over this and starts acting recklessly… you know, a chaotic private life.”

“The Qi family won’t let that happen,” Siyan replied matter-of-factly. Seeing Chen Mo’s skeptical look, he elaborated, “You probably don’t know this, but the Qi family is extremely strict. Qi Lin might act carefree, but he’s terrified of his father. And if you think about it, did you notice? He was loud about wanting revenge, but he didn’t call the police, nor did he try to retrieve his lost belongings. Deep down, he doesn’t want the other person to suffer too much.”

Chen Mo blinked, surprised.

He hadn’t considered that. Qi Lin’s behavior didn’t align with the typical reaction of someone out for vengeance. It was clear now—Qi Lin wasn’t entirely over the incident, but he wasn’t ready to condemn the man either.

Chen Mo fell silent.

He thought back to Qi Lin’s transformation in his previous life. As an adult, Qi Lin had become the quintessential playboy, constantly surrounded by gossip. And yet, Chen Mo had never actually seen him with anyone.

Was it possible that Qi Lin’s infamous reputation was just an exaggerated rumor?

Judging by Siyan’s confidence, Chen Mo decided to let it go. He trusted that Siyan, who knew both Qi Lin and the Qi family better than anyone, was probably right.

By mid-August, summer vacation was nearly over.

The day they set out for Yuhuai Village dawned bright and sunny, with clear skies overhead. After taking the high-speed train, they transferred to a local bus that would take them to the town nearest the village.

The bus was old and packed with people, carrying the distinct smell of worn seats and the countryside. Chen Mo opened the window to let in some fresh air, allowing the summer breeze to cut through the heat. The bus rattled along winding roads, its swaying movements oddly relaxing.

More passengers boarded at each stop, chatting loudly in their local dialects. Farmers carried live chickens and heavy bags. The scene was a stark contrast to the polished city life. Watching Siyan, squeezed awkwardly in the crowded aisle, made Chen Mo chuckle.

“Let’s switch seats,” Chen Mo suggested, smirking.

“There’s no need,” Siyan replied coolly, moving a chicken cage away from his feet.

An enthusiastic aunt sitting nearby noticed their predicament. She leaned over and said loudly, “Young man, don’t mind it! This black chicken is for my grandson. He’s about to start high school and has been working so hard over the summer. I bought it in the city to nourish him.”

“It’s fine,” Siyan said politely, shaking his head.

The aunt wasn’t finished. “You two look like students too! Going home after make-up classes?”

Seeing Siyan’s discomfort, Chen Mo jumped in, flashing a smile. “Yes, we’re seniors in high school, just finished our summer classes.”

The aunt nodded knowingly. “It’s not easy being young these days. You both work so hard!”

After a few more minutes of polite chatter, the aunt leaned back, muttering, “They must be city kids.”

Siyan glanced sideways at Chen Mo, raising an eyebrow. “You’re a senior who just finished your college entrance exam, huh? Where were these mythical extra classes?”

Chen Mo elbowed him playfully. “What do you want me to say? If I didn’t deflect, she’d be asking for your whole family history by now. They’re just being friendly, you know. You should’ve gone to a beach resort or a luxury hotel instead of tagging along with me. This is on me.”

“Who says vacations have to be on a beach or in a hotel?” Siyan replied, his voice softening. “The destination doesn’t matter. I’m here for you.”

Chen Mo looked out the window, hiding his smile.

The further they traveled, the more familiar the scenery became to Chen Mo. These winding roads had been part of his life during his junior high and early high school years, routes he once took every month.

For others, he’d only been away for a year.

But for Chen Mo, it felt like over a decade.

Despite his familiarity with the area, he hadn’t planned on revisiting his childhood home. After the Chen family’s downfall, their old house had likely fallen into disrepair, and with his adoptive parents in jail, there was nothing left for him there.

So, the first thing Chen Mo did upon arriving at the town was book a room at the only decent hotel in the area.

Thanks to the town’s proximity to a popular tourist attraction, the hotel was often fully booked. Luckily, someone had just checked out that morning, leaving one available standard double room.

The room was clean, albeit simple, with a modest charm.

After checking in, they grabbed lunch at a roadside noodle shop Chen Mo remembered fondly.

“I’ve been here before,” Siyan commented as they settled into their seats.

Chen Mo looked up, surprised.

Siyan gestured toward a nearby breakfast stall. “Over a year ago, I was here with a group of reporters and local leaders. We stopped there early in the morning on our way to Yuhuai Village. It was still dark, and it was raining. I had two buns and a cup of soy milk from that stall.”

Chen Mo blinked at him, a strange feeling washing over him.

Listening to Siyan’s account of his brief visit to this place—a place so deeply etched in Chen Mo’s memory—was almost surreal.

It was as if Siyan had inadvertently carried a piece of Chen Mo’s past with him, making it feel less distant and isolating.

“How was it?” Chen Mo asked.

Siyan thought for a moment. “I can’t remember much. I didn’t eat much of it, but the soy milk tasted… strong.”

Chen Mo laughed. “That’s a shame. Their buns are actually really good.”

Siyan studied him intently for a moment before responding softly, “Yes, it is a shame. I should’ve tried them.”

After lunch, they stumbled upon a tricycle heading to Yuhuai Village and decided to hitch a ride.

The road to Yuhuai Village, a relatively new addition to the area, was quiet and rarely used except by locals.

The tricycle rattled loudly as it moved, the driver occasionally making small talk with Chen Mo. When asked why they were visiting, Chen Mo simply smiled and said, “Just visiting some relatives.”

The tricycle driver dropped Chen Mo and Xi Siyan at the entrance of Yuhuai Village before driving off, his payment discreetly tucked into the corner of the truck bed by Chen Mo after the driver refused to take it.

Chen Mo had no specific plans; he merely wanted to wander and take in the scenery. But before they could move from the large locust tree at the village entrance, a voice called out, “Chen Mo? Is that you?”

Turning around, Chen Mo spotted a middle-aged woman with a basket of vegetables approaching. It took him a few seconds to recognize her before he tentatively replied, “Auntie?”

“Oh, it’s really you!” The woman rushed over, grabbing his sleeve and inspecting him from head to toe. “You’ve changed so much! Taller, fairer… Auntie almost didn’t recognize you!”

Chen Mo allowed her to fuss over him, smiling faintly. “How have you been, Auntie?”

“Good, good. Everything’s fine.” Once her excitement settled, she turned her attention to the tall young man standing next to Chen Mo. “And who is this?”

Chen Mo introduced him. “This is my classmate, Xi Siyan.” Then, turning to Siyan, he explained, “This is Auntie, Xiao Hei’s mother—the one I mentioned before.”

“Hello,” Siyan greeted politely.

The woman awkwardly wiped her hands on her clothes and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Before they could chat further, a small group of villagers, carrying hoes and chatting, walked down the nearby path. Unlike Auntie’s sincere warmth, their excitement seemed more performative, laced with curiosity and gossip.

“Is that really Chen Mo? He looks so different now. Must be the city life.”

“Yeah, I heard his parents moved to the city too, living the good life.”

“Chen Jianli? Isn’t he the one who used to boast about all the money he got from the Yang family?”

The murmurs grew bolder.

“Did you hear? He even admitted it himself! Said he recognized his son and got so much money it could feed us for years.”

“Lucky for him! Some people are just born emperors.”

Finally, one of them turned directly to Chen Mo. “Chen Mo, why’d you come back alone? Your parents didn’t join you? And who’s this young man? Chen Jianli’s biological son? Doesn’t look like him…”

Before the conversation could continue, Xiao Hei’s mother cut in, spitting twice on the ground. “What nonsense are you all talking about? You all gossip too much!”

She grabbed Chen Mo’s arm, pulling him and Siyan away while muttering about inviting them for dinner.

Once they were out of earshot, Auntie asked carefully, “Chen Mo, tell Auntie the truth—did Chen Jianli really go to the city to look for you?”

“No,” Chen Mo replied calmly. “He’s in jail.”

Auntie’s eyes widened in shock. “In jail? Really?”

“Really.”

“That bastard deserves it!” Auntie exclaimed, spitting again for emphasis.

Chen Mo explained briefly about the Chen family’s downfall and how they had no real ties left in the village. He assured Auntie that any stories about Chen Jianli’s exploits in the city were just drunken bragging.

Hearing this, Auntie sighed. “So that’s how it is…”

She insisted on bringing them back to her house, where her husband, though limping from a past injury, hurried out to the fields to pick fresh green beans to prepare an extra dish for dinner.

Siyan went along to help in the fields, leaving Chen Mo and Auntie alone to chat.

“Where’s Xiao Hei?” Chen Mo asked, noticing his absence. “Shouldn’t he be on summer vacation?”

Auntie sighed, frustration evident. “He quit school a while ago. Said studying gave him headaches. His uncle found him an apprenticeship at a barber shop in the county, and now he’s too busy to come home.”

Chen Mo blinked in surprise but smiled. “At least he’s working. That’s something.”

Auntie, however, wasn’t so easily appeased. “Not everyone’s like you—always good at school, earning your own tuition in junior high. That boy has been a handful since he was young. If it weren’t for you sticking up for him back then, he would’ve been bullied into the ground.”

Embarrassed, Chen Mo quickly diverted the conversation. “Please don’t call him back. We’re leaving soon, and it’d be too much trouble.”

Auntie hesitated, clearly torn. “He misses you, you know. He talks about you often.”

But she relented, sitting back down. After a moment, she looked at Chen Mo seriously. “You shouldn’t have come back. This place has nothing for you. Why come back to this poor mountain valley?”

Chen Mo smiled softly. “I didn’t come back for them. I came back for you, for Uncle, for the ditch in front of the house, and for the big locust tree at the village entrance. If it weren’t for you saving me when I was a kid, I wouldn’t be here today.”

The memory of Auntie wrapping him in a blanket on a snowy day flashed vividly in his mind.

Auntie’s eyes turned red. “Those two… they were so blind and heartless.”

Chen Mo handed her a tissue, offering a comforting smile.

When he turned back, he noticed Siyan standing silently at the doorway, a bag of green beans in hand. It seemed he’d been there for a while, quietly observing.

Siyan walked in, breaking the tension. “Uncle asked me to grab another bag.”

Auntie quickly retrieved one, while her husband, though polite, seemed uncomfortable around Siyan. It was clear he didn’t quite know how to interact with someone so out of place in their village.

After dinner, the sun had set, and with no transportation available, they decided to stay the night and leave early in the morning.

As twilight descended, Chen Mo sat with Uncle in the courtyard, enjoying the cool evening air. They chatted about Xiao Hei’s work and life in the village, with Chen Mo occasionally sharing snippets about his studies, future university plans, and dreams—always careful to keep the conversation light and free of heavy topics.

The atmosphere in the yard was calm and harmonious.

Inside the house, Auntie handed the young man a vegetable basket and pointed to the yard, saying, “I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.”

Her voice reached Xi Siyan, and he understood she was referring to her husband.

Seeing how attentively he listened, Auntie began to share stories. “He really likes Chen Mo, always saying that the boy isn’t simple. When he was a kid…” Her voice softened. “Well, it’s hard to talk about. Chen Jianli and his wife treated him like a stray, like a kitten or a puppy. He was so skinny, you could see his collarbone. Your uncle and I even thought about taking him in, but we didn’t have the means. All we could do was secretly give him some food and supplies sometimes.

“But that boy, he’s so honest and self-sufficient. He earned his keep from Chen Jianli, supported himself. When he was in junior high, he beat Chen Jianli so badly the whole village said he was ungrateful. But he’s not ungrateful at all. Three years ago, when your uncle got hurt in the county, he gave us all the few thousand yuan he’d saved from working…”

As Auntie spoke, outside on the stone steps of the yard, Chen Mo squatted down, gently stroking a small yellow kitten. The soft glow of the house lights outlined his figure, making him look almost serene.

From the doorway, Xi Siyan watched silently.

He stood there for a long time, a peculiar sense of familiarity washing over him, as if he’d been in this very place before. The same house, the same words—but the person sitting on the steps wasn’t there.

It was a strange and sudden illusion, empty and unsettling, that left a faint unease lingering in his heart.

The faint rustle of movement broke his thoughts.

“Is it like the one you had?”

Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Chen Mo responded instinctively, “I’ve never had a cat.”

He froze mid-sentence. Shit.

He suddenly remembered the time he told Siyan a made-up story about raising a stray cat named Ada, even inventing a backstory about how it ran away. He could still recall Siyan teasing him, saying he was “fancy” for giving a cat an English name.

Turning around awkwardly, Chen Mo tried to act as if nothing had happened.

“Oh, you mean that one? It ran off after just a few days. I barely even remember it when you bring it up so suddenly.”

But before he could recover, Siyan raised a hand and motioned, “Come here.”

Chen Mo frowned. “What are you doing?”

But he still moved closer, taking a cautious two steps forward.

Before he could react, Siyan pulled him into his chest, wrapping him in a tight embrace.

Chen Mo froze, startled, and hissed in a low voice, “What the hell? Are you crazy?”

As he struggled slightly, he suddenly felt the tension in Siyan’s body dissipate, as if the man had let out a deep, relieved sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Mo stopped fighting and glanced back at the house, checking if Auntie and Uncle were watching. They weren’t paying attention, so he whispered, “You’re acting spoiled again. How come you’re—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Uncle, sitting nearby and listening to the radio, turned around and noticed them. His brows furrowed in concern.

“What’s going on? Why are you hugging him? Chen Mo, is your classmate upset? Come, tell me what’s wrong.”

Caught completely off guard, Chen Mo opened his mouth, unable to respond.

It was Siyan who calmly let go, though his left hand lingered lightly on Chen Mo’s waist.

“Uncle, it’s nothing.” Siyan’s voice was natural and steady, as if this were all perfectly normal. “I’m just worried he won’t be comfortable tonight and won’t let me sleep peacefully.”

Uncle immediately scolded Chen Mo in an elder’s lecturing tone. “Chen Mo, that’s not right. It wasn’t easy for your classmate to come all the way here with you. Tell your Auntie to move the bed. The countryside is hot and uncomfortable, so bear with it for one night!”

Chen Mo glanced at Siyan skeptically. “Are you really that uncomfortable?”

“Yes,” Siyan replied with a straight face. “Stay with me tonight.”

Chen Mo scoffed, clicking his tongue. “You’re joking, right?”