"Is this the place you said you'd take me to?"
Sheng Mumu got out of the car and looked at the man beside her.
Qi Mo's expression was calm, but his tone contained a hint of melancholy. "Yes."
In front of them was the entrance to Floating Snow Mountain Cemetery.
Floating Snow Mountain Cemetery was built halfway up Snow Mountain.
Because the mountain peak was covered in snow all year round, while the foot of the mountain was filled with vibrant greenery, it was naturally divided into two distinct landscapes, like heaven and earth. Hence the name.
The sun leapt out from the clouds, shining on the earth that had been washed clean by yesterday's torrential rain. The air was filled with the scent of damp soil.
Occasionally a bird call or two could be heard. The few people around walked with heavy steps.
A hint of confusion crept silently into Sheng Mumu's heart.
Why did he bring her here?
Was someone buried here?
The cemetery stairs were long. Sheng Mumu followed behind him as they walked up.
The man intentionally slowed his pace to match hers.
Soon, they stopped in front of a tombstone.
Qi Mo took out a handkerchief that seemed to have been prepared beforehand from his coat pocket. He bent down to wipe the tombstone clean.
As the dust was wiped away, Sheng Mumu finally saw the photo of the tombstone's owner.
Her name was Gu Wan.
In the photo, her features were exquisite and charming. Her brows were like willow leaves, her lips like cherries, her nose sculpted like jade.
The corners of her mouth curved up slightly, a smile with pitiable charm, yet also like a gentle breeze that made people feel comfortable.
Sheng Mumu: "She is...?"
Qi Mo looked back at the sound and their eyes collided. She saw a hint of gloom in the depths of his eyes.
"She is Qi Shaobai's mother."
Sheng Mumu was slightly stunned, her eyes widening in disbelief as she scrutinized the tombstone carefully.
According to the inscription, Gu Wan had died at twenty - in the flower of her youth.
Sheng Mumu knew Qi Shaobai's mother had passed away early, but did not expect it would be at such a young age.
She had barely passed the legal marriage age.
Before she could gather her thoughts, she heard the man's low, gloomy voice beside her.
"She was my sister."
Sheng Mumu's mind buzzed.
The large amount of information she had just received in an instant was a bit overwhelming. She did not know how to respond.
Her red lips parted slightly as she gazed at him in a daze, into his deep eyes.
Qi Mo's eyes gradually tightened, his rich voice a little hoarse.
"Qi Shaobai is not my biological son. He is Gu Wan's...that is, my sister's child."
Sheng Mumu was shocked. Her eyes blinked rapidly, exposing the turmoil in her heart.
Just when she thought this was the most astonishing news she had ever heard, Qi Mo's next words once again overturned her perceptions.
"After she passed away, in order to bring Qi Shaobai into my care and raise him as my own son, I added six years to my age."
Suddenly everything made sense to Sheng Mumu.
The puzzles that had lingered in her heart for so long were finally solved.
She finally understood why Qi Mo didn't look thirty-eight at all.
She also understood why she could find no information about him appearing in public during the first few years after he started his company, when she had searched for him online in the past.
So this was why.
This was why!
Of course. With his real age, he was only fifteen years older than Qi Shaobai.
How could a fifteen year old possibly have a son.
In order to become Qi Shaobai's "father", he could only wait until he was older, his face more mature, before he could logically appear in the media and make Qi Shaobai his publicly acknowledged "son".
There was still one thing Sheng Mumu didn't understand. "Why does your sister have the surname Gu, while you..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Angry at herself for being so tactless, for prying into his secrets.
They were only contract spouses. What right did she have to delve into his secrets?
She pursed her lips slightly, her clear eyes fixed on him as she smiled gently, "I'm sorry...I..."
Before she could finish, Qi Mo's gaze slowly shifted to the distance. His long lashes concealed the look in his eyes as he said in a low voice,
"It's fine, don't apologize. I brought you here today because I wanted to tell you everything about Qi Shaobai's background."
Rather than letting her find out from someone else, he preferred to tell her himself directly.
That was his personality.
Straightforward, no beating around the bush.
Qi Mo: "I was adopted by the Qi family and took their surname..."
Hearing this, Sheng Mumu's heart tightened sharply. She stared blankly as she listened to him recount those distant memories, her emotions unable to calm for a long time.
...
Gu Wan and Qi Mo grew up together in an orphanage. She was five years older than him.
The Qi parents came to the orphanage because they couldn't have children of their own. At first sight, they took a liking to him when he was just six years old.
The Qi family at that time was not wealthy and could not afford to adopt another child.
Qi Mo as a child did not have the standing to negotiate with adults either.
Gu Wan had always been frail. Qi Mo was her only kin. Seeing her brother could be taken away by adoptive parents made her happier than leaving the orphanage herself.
Afterwards, although they were separated and seldom met, the siblings maintained correspondence through letters.
When Gu Wan turned eighteen, she became an adult and was admitted into university, finally leaving the orphanage for a new life.
She was kind and gentle. She quickly made friends in her new environment and excelled in her studies.
The story should have gone that both their lives kept improving as they each followed their own paths.
But Sheng Mumu could never have imagined the subsequent developments would go straight downhill...
Gu Wan had just entered university, youthful and hopeful about the future.
Until she met that man during an internship opportunity off campus.
From then on, her life's trajectory was completely thrown off its intended course.
She recklessly fell in love with the man ten years her senior.
Initially, her letters to her brother were filled with the happiness nurtured by love.
But the good times did not last.
The man's wife found out and caused a huge fuss at the school.
Only then did she know he already had a family.
After the man's wife kicked up this fuss, she could no longer continue studying there and left school.
At her most pained and helpless moment, the man disappeared.
He abandoned his family, and abandoned her too.
Gu Wan had been frail since she was little. She was prone to illness.
Going through this ordeal, she seemed to deflate. Her health deteriorated.
It was during this most unsuitable time that she found out she was pregnant.
She had not yet recovered from the blow of the man leaving her.
Stubbornly believing he had difficulties.
Hoping that one day he would come back.
Come back to admit his mistakes, come back to find her.
The story ended in a hurried and messy fashion.
After giving birth, Gu Wan's health continued to deteriorate.
She did not make it to her son's one month celebration, leaving the mortal world.
...
Qi Mo's expression was calm. His cold, sharp profile blended in with the distant snow and ice.
His tone revealed neither regret nor hatred.
He was no longer the tearful fifteen year old boy sobbing outside the hospital room door.
From the day his sister passed away, he was destined to grow up overnight, to become a towering tree.
To protect the last trace his sister left in this world - Qi Shaobai.
Gazing at the man's rigid, unyielding profile, Sheng Mumu's lips moved.
She wanted to say something, but did not know how to offer comfort.
Lowering her eyes for a moment, she saw his fingertips trembling slightly.
Her heart was awash with complex emotions. Someone was grabbing her heart.
That aloof, silent, imposing man.
Even if his heart was filled with fury and grief, he was unwilling to reveal even the slightest bit.
In Sheng Mumu's impression, he was a man of few words. If something could be expressed clearly in one or two words, he would absolutely not use extra words.
This was the first time she had heard him say so much.
It was also the first time she had seen an expression on this man's face with his eternally straight back, that seemed like it could almost be called "desolate".
He turned his head and their eyes met in midair.
She heard his low, hoarse voice.
"I didn't manage to be a good father, did I?"
