Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Mrs. Jia led Nan Mu through the entire house, not even skipping the bedrooms.

Wen Tangtang had been called in by Professor Hu to discuss their research.

So only Wen Miao and Wen Xin followed behind Nan Mu. As they listened to him chat away with Mrs. Jia about feng shui layouts, both of them were a little stunned.

While Mrs. Jia went to get them some water, Wen Miao hurriedly asked, “You actually know feng shui? That’s amazing. Didn’t you just say your ancestors were feng shui masters? Then how did your father end up becoming a geologist?”

Seeing Wen Miao’s sincere curiosity, Nan Mu couldn’t help laughing.

Wen Miao was baffled. “Why are you suddenly laughing?”

“Because you’re silly.” Nan Mu patted Wen Miao on the head. “Believing everything you hear is only going to hurt you.”

Wen Miao didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

Nan Mu leaned close to Wen Miao’s ear. “Didn’t Wen Tangtang ever tell you about my family?”

“She did. That’s how I knew your father was a geologist. Wen Tangtang said your family is full of highly educated intellectuals, all of them…” Wen Miao suddenly stopped, her expression slowly turning strange.

“All of them what?”

“Either professors at universities or researchers…” Wen Miao hesitated. “Then what are you, Great Feng Shui Master?”

Nan Mu spread his hands.

“You…” Wen Miao almost shouted in surprise, then quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice. “You were bluffing her…”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it bluffing,” Nan Mu explained. “When our company’s new factory was being built, the directors insisted on bringing in masters to read the feng shui and whatnot. I heard enough of it that I remembered some.”

No wonder he had sounded so convincing earlier. Even she had been taken in. Still, Wen Miao patted her chest with lingering fear. “You’re way too bold. Thank goodness she believed you.”

Nan Mu let out a soft, amused snort. “She was definitely going to believe me.”

Wen Miao glanced at him. Seeing how confident he looked, she grew curious. “Why? You’re that sure?”

A contemptuous curve appeared at the corner of Nan Mu’s mouth. “The museum across the street is the City Museum. When it was newly built, the city promoted it heavily. Basically everyone knew it took three years to build and was completed four years ago.”

“Gu Zhishu had his surgery after the college entrance exam, so Jia Lingyuan must have started showing symptoms four years ago.”

“Xu Ziran told Wen Xin that Meng Ran’s condition only started seeming off recently. That shows that as soon as Meng Ran’s illness was discovered, Xu Lei decided to make a move against you. Combine that with how unbearable Gu Zhishu’s symptoms were when he fell ill, and by the same logic, Jia Lingyuan must have targeted Gu Zhishu not long after he became sick. So the time when he first fell ill must have been around five years ago, and it definitely happened after construction on the City Museum began.”

“So as long as Mrs. Jia does a little math, she’ll know Jia Lingyuan really did start getting sick only after construction on the City Museum began. And when there’s a sick person at home, who can sleep well? Even little things you could normally put up with would start feeling like torture. When you’re in a bad mood, it’s easy for conflicts to flare up, and you’ll feel like nothing is going your way…”

Wen Miao stared blankly at Nan Mu.

She had no idea how much feng shui Nan Mu actually knew. But when it came to grasping people’s thoughts and guessing at human nature, he had absolutely reached the pinnacle.

===

Using feng shui as his excuse, Nan Mu practically got a complete look at the layout of the Jia Family home.

Mrs. Jia even took Nan Mu through the bedrooms, to say nothing of his questions. She answered almost everything he asked, holding nothing back.

But Mrs. Jia had stayed at home for years and rarely asked about Jia Lingyuan’s work, so she knew very little about what he did outside.

All she knew was that Jia Lingyuan, Xu Lei, Professor Hu, and Meng Ran had all attended the same university in the same year.

After graduating from university, Jia Lingyuan went abroad for graduate school. After graduation, he stayed at the Roslin Institute and became a student of Ian Wilmut.
Later, Huangfu Junsheng, the chairman of Wisdom Biotechnology, got in touch with Jia Lingyuan through Xu Lei and extended an enthusiastic invitation for him to return to China to continue his career. As it happened, Jia Lingyuan’s parents had been in poor health around that time and spent every day talking about how much they missed their son and grandson. Jia Lingyuan wanted to spend more time with them too, so he came back.

Mrs. Jia took Nan Mu to see Jia Lingyuan’s study. With Mrs. Jia standing right there, Nan Mu couldn’t very well start rifling through things, so he could only sweep his gaze over the room’s layout.

Following behind them, Wen Miao spotted a Bible on the bookshelf at a glance. Beside it was a statue of Jesus. Curious, she asked, “Are you Christians?”

Mrs. Jia looked back at the statue of Jesus. “We’re not. Only my husband is.”

Wen Miao was a little surprised. “So Professor Jia is Christian? I thought highly educated intellectuals like him were all staunch materialists.”

Mrs. Jia smiled. “Actually, my husband didn’t believe in religion before either. But after he fell ill, especially after his surgery, he began to believe in Christianity… I suppose after a person has walked through life and death, some beliefs and ways of thinking become more likely to change.”

Nan Mu froze slightly at that and instinctively exchanged a glance with Wen Miao.

After the surgery? Why? Was it out of guilt?

Just then, a teenage boy suddenly walked in through the doorway.

“Mom.”

Mrs. Jia looked up, and a smile immediately appeared on her face as she went to meet him. “Son, you’re back.”

“Why are there so many people here?”

“These brothers and sisters are all top students from A University of Science and Technology. Didn’t you say you wanted to go to A University of Science and Technology for college?” Mrs. Jia turned back with a smile and said to Nan Mu and the others, “This is my son.”

The boy politely greeted them, then turned back to Mrs. Jia. “Mom, my classmates asked me to go play basketball tonight. I’m heading straight out in a bit, so I won’t eat dinner.”

“How can you skip dinner?”

“If I eat dinner, I won’t make it in time.”

“Then I’ll have someone make something for you right now, all right? Eat first, then go!”

The boy had no choice but to agree.

Mrs. Jia led Nan Mu and the others out of the study, then said to them, “You can look around for now. I’m going to find the housekeeper.”

With that, she took the boy and walked away.

“Don’t you think the timing of Jia Lingyuan converting to Christianity is rather suspicious?”

Nan Mu watched Mrs. Jia’s retreating figure and asked the two people behind him in a heavy tone.

But after waiting for a long moment, he still didn’t hear either of them answer.

Puzzled, he turned around and saw that both of them were staring at the departing boy’s back, lost in thought.

Nan Mu nudged Wen Xin, who was closest to him, with his elbow. “What are you thinking about?”

Wen Xin came back to himself. “Huh? Oh… I just thought… that boy looks really familiar… Who does he look like?”

Wen Miao’s voice trembled slightly, as if she were desperately holding back some kind of pain. “Gu Zhishu. He looks so much like Gu Zhishu.”

Nan Mu paused. He had only ever seen photos of Gu Zhishu, so he hadn’t had that feeling at first. But now, hearing Wen Miao mention it and recalling Gu Zhishu’s appearance, he realized the two really did look alike.

Jia Lingyuan’s son looked a lot like Gu Zhishu…

Gu Zhishu’s organs had been a highly compatible match for Jia Lingyuan…

So what exactly was the relationship between Gu Zhishu and Jia Lingyuan?

A bolt of lightning suddenly split the sky outside the window. Only then did they realize that at some point, the light clouds beyond the glass had turned dark and heavy, pressing down over the sky in a black mass. When the lightning flashed, it tore a bright gash through the clouds.

It was going to rain.