Chapter 468: Chapter 468

Hearing Song Qiao’s words, Chu Munan was first taken aback, then the look in his eyes became somewhat probing, but he didn’t immediately refute her. It seemed like he was conceding, yet it also seemed like he wasn’t.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, but his gaze still fixed on her, Song Qiao began to feel extremely uncomfortable and couldn’t help but shift her eyes away, breaking eye contact with Chu Munan.

She moved her lips before finally speaking, "Could you take the fruit plate to my grandfather and your grandfather? They’ve been playing chess for such a long time, they must be thirsty..."

Before Song Qiao could finish speaking, Chu Munan already directly said, "What if I told you that you matter to me for reasons other than Lu Jingchen?"

Song Qiao, "..." was utterly stunned and didn’t know how to respond. For a moment, she remained silent, just staring at the man in front of her without speaking.

Seeing Song Qiao’s reaction, Chu Munan knew she definitely didn’t believe what he said. He didn’t elaborate further and, after pursing his lips, he took the fruit plate and walked towards the two elders engrossed in their chess game.

Lu Yulin had been observing Song Qiao and Chu Munan the whole time, worried that this man had set his sights on his own aunt. He hadn’t forgotten the instructions given to him by his second uncle.

Although they weren’t very far apart, because Song Qiao and Chu Munan were speaking softly, he hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying, which made him somewhat anxious. He wanted to move closer to them, but seeing as they were on a sofa, he couldn’t really lug the sofa backward, could he?

Mu Shinian, who was initially focused on eating chips and watching the movie, habitually reached to offer her box of chips to Lu Yulin again. When no one took the chips for quite some time, she couldn’t help but turn her head to look and indeed found that Lu Yulin wasn’t watching the movie, but was turning his head to intently watch in one direction.

After a moment of astonishment, Mu Shinian waved her hand in front of him and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Faced suddenly with an unidentified object and hearing a voice right next to his ear, Lu Yulin, whose heart was already on edge, was startled. He turned his head to look at Mu Shinian next to him and patted his chest, "Mu Shinian, what are you doing scaring me like that? Are you jealous because I’m more handsome than you?"

Mu Shinian, "..." If you’re not going to be arrogant, we can still be good friends.

Lately, he didn’t know if it was because Lu Yulin hadn’t taken his medicine or had hit his head, but the latter kept saying how jealous he was of Lu Yulin’s handsomeness.

When had he ever been jealous of him?

Now, Mu Shinian was becoming somewhat used to it and directly ignored the remark, knowing well that Lu Yulin having his occasional quirks was quite normal; it would be strange if he didn’t.

Following his gaze, Mu Shinian realized that Lu Yulin was actually watching his own sister and that uncle. He immediately twisted around and, while casually crunching on chips, asked offhandedly, "You couldn’t possibly have fallen for my sister, have you? My sister is now regarded as your second uncle’s wife, your aunt. It’s wrong for you to like my sister, although I know my sister is very likable..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yulin looked at Mu Shinian as if he was looking at a little monster, with undisguised disdain in his eyes, "What nonsense are you sprouting? How could I possibly like your sister? And of course, I know she’s my aunt. It’s precisely because she’s my aunt that even if I liked her, I wouldn’t dare to compete with my second uncle for his wife..."

Unless he was tired of living or didn’t want to live anymore.

Moreover, he just found his second aunt to be beautiful, gentle, and approachable, that’s all.

Besides, he wasn’t the least bit supportive of relationships between sisters and younger brothers.

Mu Shinian watched him skeptically, silently.

Lu Yulin immediately felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, nearly jumping in irritation, "With what kind of eyes are you looking at me? Keep looking and I’ll hit you."

Is this kid tired of living, daring to look at me with such eyes?

Mu Shinian grunted in acknowledgment and stopped talking, turning his head to glance at his sister not far away. As Chu Munan turned to walk towards his grandfather, perhaps it was a reflex or something else altogether, but the two kids seamlessly turned their heads again to continue watching the movie.

Master Chu had come specifically to visit Elder Mu, so he decided to stay a few more days before returning to Beijing. Back when the Mu Family had gone bankrupt, Master Chu was overseas receiving medical treatment for a life-threatening heart condition relapse. Therefore, he was unaware of the sensational news of the ’Mu Family’s fall’ that had stirred up An City at the time. Had he known, he definitely wouldn’t have stood by idly.

While Chu Munan was already the heir of the Chu Family at that time, he was unaware of the relationship between Master Chu and Elder Mu. Had he known, he would certainly have helped the Mu Family, although when the Mu Family went bankrupt, it was a bottomless pit that couldn’t be filled in a short time. Even if the Chu Family had wanted to financially assist the Mu Family to help them through the crisis, Elder Mu would have absolutely refused to accept such an act.

Elder Mu knew that the downfall of the Mu Family was irreversible, and in a way, it was better to go bankrupt than to be constantly watched by those eyeing the shares and properties behind the scenes.

Now that the Mu Family was bankrupt, he no longer had to busy himself with various matters every day. Although now he had to be mindful about money unlike before, Elder Mu’s life was still more comfortable than many others, even without money.

In the evening, the two old men sat together in the pavilion in the garden behind the Mu Mansion, looking up at the night sky above them.

Chu Elder let out a sigh as he looked at the few stars in the night sky, "Do you remember when we were young, lying on the grass and staring at the star-filled sky?"

Elder Mu also seemed to fall into reminiscence, his lips curling into a smile as he nodded, "I remember, we were only twenty years old then, just like a couple of rash youths. After getting into a fight, we lay there watching the stars..."

"You have the nerve to mention that fight – if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have ended up in such a fierce brawl; I was almost disfigured."

"How can you blame me for that? You were at fault too, weren’t you?"

"Where was I at fault? It was clearly all your doing. You just had to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, not realizing they outnumbered us, not only did you fail to be the hero, you almost ended up looking like a bear."

"Wasn’t it because I saw that girl being bullied by those men and felt sorry for her? I couldn’t help but step in."

"Weren’t you just trying to help because you thought she was pretty?"

Elder Mu, "...Do I look like someone so superficial?"

After scrutinizing him, Chu Elder spoke with certainty, "You’re not superficial now, but you were quite superficial back then."

Elder Mu, "..." What happened to being lifelong brothers? Let’s end this friendship; it seems we can’t play nicely together anymore.

Seeing through Elder Mu’s thoughts, Chu Elder laughed a few times and spoke directly, "But these past years, you’ve really lived through some ups and downs. If it weren’t for my recurrent heart condition, I definitely would have helped you weather the storm. After all, we’re brothers no matter what."

Hearing Chu Elder’s words, Elder Mu couldn’t say he wasn’t moved. His lips twitched as he was about to say something.

But Chu Elder interrupted him once more, "Don’t talk about the unnecessary. Although Mu Group is now beyond salvation, and I don’t know how to help, you refuse the money I offer. Why not just move to Beijing and spend our old age together? We’re both practically stepping into our graves, and I don’t know if we’ll get to meet again if you come to Beijing with me this time – my health isn’t what it used to be..."

Pausing, Chu Elder seemed to be reflecting as he continued, "After all, we’ve been lifetime companions. Now in An City, aside from your grandson and granddaughter, there’s nothing you can’t leave behind. Moreover, the Mu Family’s roots aren’t really in An City - Mu Mansion is actually in Beijing."

"Old buddy, if you trust me, moving to Beijing would be good, right? Now, in the Chu Family Mansion, I’m the only one living there..."

Elder Mu looked at Chu Elder in front of him, obviously understanding that he was considering his best interests. In fact, Elder Mu knew there was really no reason to refuse the arrangement; many people thought the roots of the Mu Family were in An City, but that was not true – the Mu Mansion actually belonged to Beijing.

Perhaps if those events hadn’t happened back then, they’d all still be in Beijing.

Elder Mu sighed, "I can’t give you an answer right away about this matter; give me some time."

Chu Elder didn’t intend to press him any further, nodding, "Okay!"

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Though Chu Munan had been to An City several times, he had never experienced the night market. Song Qiao, who hadn’t been in a long time either, was happy to oblige when Elder Mu asked her to show Chu Munan the night views of An City.

As they were leaving, Lu Yulin, who had decided to stay overnight, tagged along with a pitiful look, "Auntie, can I go with you? It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a night market too."

Chu Munan glanced at Lu Yulin with a slight frown, an imperceptible displeasure in his eyes.

This brat had shown hostility towards him since the beginning, and later he found out that the kid was Lu Jingchen’s nephew.