Chapter 51 - Hatching a plan

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 - Hatching a plan

It was already past midnight when Ying Rui stepped out of his room with a small box in his hand.

He had spent most of the evening going through the CCTV recordings again, but the more he watched, the less satisfied he became. The cameras installed around the house were mainly for security. They covered the entrances, living room, hallways and a few other common areas, but there were still many blind spots. More importantly, everyone in the house knew where the cameras were.

If Yuxin really had something to hide, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it directly in front of one.

Ying Rui had ordered several small cameras earlier that evening. They were tiny enough to hide among the decorations around the house, and he could access all of them through his phone.

He had just reached the stairs when he heard a door quietly open somewhere behind him.

Ying Rui glanced back.

Ying Mao stepped into the hallway carrying his pillow under one arm.

The boy was still supposed to be resting after leaving the hospital, so Ying Rui instinctively frowned when he saw him wandering around so late. He was about to call out when Ying Mao walked directly toward Jua’s room.

Ying Rui stopped.

Ying Mao didn’t knock properly. He gave the door two very light taps and immediately pushed it open.

"Jua Ge?"

A muffled voice came from inside.

"What?"

"Are you asleep?"

"What do you think?"

Ying Mao slipped through the door anyway.

Ying Rui stared after him for a moment before slowly walking closer.

He knew Mao Mao had been sleeping in Jua’s room occasionally. He had already seen it once himself. Still, he found himself stopping outside the door again.

Perhaps because he could hear his son talking.

"I had that dream again."

There was a brief silence before Jua answered.

"The weird one?"

"Hmm."

"What happened this time?"

Ying Rui leaned slightly against the wall.

Inside, Ying Mao seemed to be settling onto the bed. There was the sound of blankets being moved around before his voice came again.

"I saw you when you were little."

Jua gave a sleepy hum.

"How little?"

"About my age."

"That’s very unfortunate."

"Why?"

"I was probably ugly."

"No!"

Ying Mao answered so quickly that Jua laughed.

"You were really cute."

"Then it definitely wasn’t me."

"It was you."

"How do you know?"

"Because you looked like Jua Ge."

"That is excellent evidence."

Ying Mao didn’t seem to notice the sarcasm.

"You had longer hair too. Really long. And you were wearing those old clothes. Like the ones people wear in historical dramas."

"Hanfu?"

"Yes, that."

Ying Rui remained outside the room, listening quietly.

He didn’t understand why Mao Mao was taking a dream so seriously, but his son clearly wanted to talk about it.

What surprised him more was that Jua wasn’t brushing him off.

The young man sounded tired, and sometimes he only answered with a quiet "hmm," but he was still listening.

Ying Mao continued, "There was a red mark here too."

"Where?"

"Between your eyebrows."

"Maybe you dreamed about someone else."

"No, it was you."

"All right."

"And you gave me a flower."

"What flower?"

Ying Mao went quiet.

"I don’t remember."

"So you remember my face, my clothes and a mark between my eyebrows, but you don’t remember the flower?"

"That part isn’t important."

"All right, then what happened?"

There was another short pause.

Ying Mao’s voice became quieter.

"You called me Master."

This time Jua didn’t answer immediately.

Ying Rui could hear Ying Mao shifting around on the bed.

"Jua Ge?"

"I’m listening."

"There was another person too. He called you Little Eight. He picked you up and teased you because your cheeks were chubby."

"...My cheeks were not chubby."

"They were."

"You’re making this up."

"I’m not!"

Jua chuckled softly.

"All right. My cheeks were chubby. Continue."

Ying Mao seemed satisfied with that.

"Then everything changed. I was in another place, and you were older. You were wearing those clothes again and gave me dumplings."

"Why do I keep feeding you in your dreams?"

"I don’t know."

"Even in your dreams I have to feed you."

Ying Mao laughed quietly.

After that, his voice softened again.

"But it felt strange."

"What did?"

"When I looked at you."

Jua didn’t interrupt him.

"I knew it was you. I don’t know how, but I knew. Then when I woke up in the hospital and saw you, it felt the same."

"What felt the same?"

Ying Mao took a while to answer.

"My chest."

Ying Rui straightened slightly.

"Does it hurt now?" Jua asked immediately.

"No. Not like before."

"Are you sure?"

"Hmm."

"If it hurts, tell me."

"I will."

There was another rustle from inside.

Ying Mao continued after a while. "Do you think dreams can be memories?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t?"

"No."

"I thought you knew everything."

"Who told you that?"

"I did."

"Then you were wrong."

Ying Mao giggled again.

Jua didn’t try to convince him that the dream meant something. He didn’t make fun of him either. He simply listened whenever Ying Mao spoke and answered when the boy asked him something.

The conversation slowly became less frequent after that.

Ying Rui heard Jua tell him to move over.

Ying Mao complained that there was plenty of space.

"This is my pillow."

"I brought my own."

"Then why is your head on mine?"

"Yours is softer."

"They’re the same."

"No, they’re not."

Ying Rui waited until their voices became quiet.

He shouldn’t have been standing outside listening for so long in the first place, but before leaving, he gently pushed the door open a little wider.

The room was dark except for the faint light coming from the hallway.

Ying Mao was already tucked beneath the blanket.

His own pillow had somehow ended up pushed to one side despite him carrying it all the way here.

Instead, the boy was lying close to Jua, one arm around the older teenager’s waist and his face pressed against his chest. Jua’s arm rested around him almost absentmindedly.

They looked comfortable.

Used to it.

Ying Rui remained there for a few seconds.

He couldn’t remember ever sleeping beside Mao Mao like that.

Actually, he couldn’t remember holding him for very long either.

When Mao Mao was born, Ying Rui had held him a few times. But the older the child became, the harder it had been to look at him without remembering Feng Yao.

Mao Mao had his features, but sometimes certain expressions looked painfully familiar.

The way he smiled.

The way his eyes curved when he was happy.

Even the way he sometimes frowned when he was concentrating.

Ying Rui had dealt with it in the easiest way possible.

He stayed away.

He told himself he was busy.

He took longer business trips, accepted meetings he could easily have handed to someone else, and spent most of his time at the company.

Whenever he came home, Mao Mao would still approach him.

Ying Rui remembered the boy being much smaller and standing beside him while he worked on his laptop.

Father, what are you doing?

Working.

Can I sit here?

Go play with your brother.

At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it.

There had been another time when Mao Mao had followed him all the way to the entrance while he was preparing for a business trip.

The boy had held onto the edge of his coat.

When will you come back?

Ying Rui had told him soon.

He couldn’t even remember how long that trip had lasted.

Two months?

Maybe three.

He quietly pulled the door back to where it had been and leaned against it for a moment.

"How many times did I ignore him..."

He rubbed his forehead.

There was no point trying to count.

Probably too many.

Ying Rui looked down at the box still in his hand before continuing with what he had originally come out to do.

He started with the living room.

There was a decorative shelf filled with small ornaments, framed photographs and several plants. He placed one camera behind a ceramic decoration, adjusted the angle through his phone, then stepped back to make sure it couldn’t easily be seen.

Another went near the dining room.

He hid one in the hallway leading toward the bedrooms and another near the staircase. He placed one near the back entrance as well, where the existing cameras didn’t have a good angle.

He wasn’t trying to record private bedrooms.

He only needed the common areas where the family and servants interacted.

When he finished, he walked through each feed on his phone.

Living room.

Dining area.

Hallway.

Stairs.

Back entrance.

Everything was working.

Ying Rui returned to his room shortly before morning.

He barely slept.

The following morning, he came downstairs dressed for work.

His suitcase was already packed.

Mo Yuxin was in the foyer speaking to a servant when she saw him.

Her eyes immediately went to the suitcase.

"Rui?"

She walked over.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes."

"But didn’t you say you cancelled your meetings?"

"I did. Something came up."

Mo Yuxin frowned.

"You’ve only been home for a few days."

She glanced toward the stairs before moving closer and hugging him.

"Can’t you stay a little longer? Mao Mao just came home from the hospital. He might miss you."

Ying Rui looked down at her.

She sounded concerned.

If Jua had never said anything to him, Ying Rui probably wouldn’t have questioned it.

He placed a hand against her arm and moved her back slightly.

"Mao Mao said something to me."

Mo Yuxin blinked.

"What did he say?"

Ying Rui bent down and adjusted the handle of his suitcase before answering.

"He said he doesn’t want you as his mother."

Mo Yuxin’s expression changed immediately.

Her lips parted.

For a moment, she simply stared at him.

"He said that?"

"Hmm."

"When?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, I just..."

Her brows pulled together.

There was a brief look of anger on her face before she lowered her eyes.

Ying Rui noticed it.

"He’s still young," she said after a moment. "Children say things when they’re upset. Maybe he’s angry with me because I’ve been stricter with him recently."

"Maybe."

Mo Yuxin looked back up.

"Did he tell you why?"

"No."

Ying Rui paused before adding casually, "The doctor said his stress needs to be controlled. If he’s uncomfortable with the current situation, maybe I should separate the household for a while."

This time Mo Yuxin didn’t answer immediately.

Her fingers tightened around the sleeve of her dress.

"Separate the household?"

"Temporarily."

"You mean send me away?"

"I haven’t decided anything."

Her face visibly stiffened.

Ying Rui watched her.

She looked toward the stairs again, and her mouth tightened before she seemed to remember he was standing in front of her.

When she turned back, her expression had softened.

"If that’s what Mao Mao needs, then of course we should think about it."

"Hmm."

"But Rui, don’t make any decisions because of something a child said while he’s sick. I’ve taken care of him for years. You know that."

"I know."

His answer seemed to calm her slightly.

Ying Rui picked up his suitcase.

"I’ll think about it when I get back."

"When will you be back?"

"I don’t know."

Mo Yuxin nodded reluctantly.

Two servants came over when they saw him heading toward the entrance.

"Master, shall we come with you?"

"No."

"I can carry your luggage."

"It’s fine."

Ying Rui took it himself.

Outside, even the driver approached, but he refused him as well.

"I’ll drive today."

The driver immediately stepped aside.

Ying Rui put the suitcase into the trunk and got into the car.

He drove through the gates normally.

He didn’t look back.

Only after he had driven far enough from the house did he turn onto another road and eventually pull into a quiet parking area.

He switched off the engine.

For a few moments, he sat there thinking about what he had just done.

He had deliberately told Yuxin something he knew would upset her.

He wasn’t particularly proud of it.

But he needed to know.

If he remained inside the house, everyone would behave differently around him. He had already seen that. Servants stood straighter when he entered a room. Yuxin became more attentive toward Mao Mao whenever he was nearby.

He needed them to believe he had returned to his usual routine.

Ying Rui took out his phone.

He opened the camera application.

The different feeds appeared one after another.

The living room was empty.

Two servants were clearing the dining table.

Someone crossed the hallway carrying laundry.

Another servant was near the stairs.

Everything looked normal.

Ying Rui switched to the foyer camera.

Mo Yuxin was still there.

She hadn’t moved far from where he had left her.

One servant approached and quietly asked her something.

Ying Rui turned up the volume on his phone.

For now, he didn’t make any assumptions.

He simply settled back into his seat and continued watching.

He had spent years hearing about what happened in this house from other people.

For once, he wanted to see an ordinary day from beginning to end and find out for himself what his son’s life was actually like when he wasn’t there.