Chapter Four: Cunning as a Fox

Li Mu and Chen Wan took a taxi together to the Municipal Hospital. Along the way, Chen Wan kept apologizing to Li Mu and asked how he had performed in his exams.

“Pretty well,” Li Mu replied.

Whenever he thought about the exams, a silly, blissful grin stretched across his face. In his previous life, even if he hadn’t been hit by a car, he would never have felt so confident about his English exam. This year, he might finally have a shot at getting into a prestigious university.

Chen Wan sighed, guilt coloring her words. “I’m so sorry for delaying such an important event as your college entrance exam. If you didn’t do well today and decide to repeat a year, I’ll cover all your expenses.”

Li Mu stared at her curiously and asked earnestly, “Sis, what do you do for a living? You seem just three or four years older than me, and you already drive your own car.”

In 2001, private cars weren’t exactly rare, but their owners were certainly either wealthy or well-connected.

Chen Wan’s cheeks flushed at his question. “I’m still in school, about to start my senior year. The car’s my dad’s. I just got my license and wanted to practice driving over the summer. Things were fine when I set out today, but then it suddenly started pouring. I kept fiddling with the wipers and, in a panic, switched on the turn signal by mistake. I was caught off guard and couldn’t see outside, and that’s how I ended up hitting you…”

Her hand instinctively pressed to her chest, lingering fear in her voice as she added, “If I hadn’t slammed the brakes instinctively, things could have been much worse…”

Li Mu was left speechless after hearing her explanation. Mistaking the turn signal for the wipers—Chen Wan was indeed the sort of driver who could be called a road hazard.

But Li Mu didn’t pursue the topic further. He had a plan: to get to know Chen Wan and, ideally, become friends. So he purposely asked, “I still don’t know your name, Sis.”

“Chen Wan. Chen with the ear radical, Wan as in gentle.”

Li Mu smiled slightly. “Then I’ll call you Sister Wan from now on.”

“Sure!” Chen Wan laughed. “I’m twenty-one this year, so I’m probably three or four years older than you?”

“I’m eighteen, so three years older.”

Chen Wan nodded, her lips curving into a smile. “If you perform well this year, where do you plan to go for university?”

“Yanjing,” Li Mu replied without hesitation.

“Yanjing…” Chen Wan sounded a little disappointed. “Haizhou is only a little over three hundred kilometers from Shanghai, but Yanjing is a thousand kilometers away. It’s much more convenient to go to Shanghai, and its development is no less impressive than Yanjing.”

“Is distance really an issue?” Li Mu asked.

“Isn’t it?”

“Is it?”

Li Mu shook his head with a smile.

He couldn’t possibly explain that he’d lived in Yanjing for eleven years. Nor could he say that while Yanjing now had only two subway lines, in fifteen years, that number would increase tenfold, bringing endless opportunities. He couldn’t reveal that most of the country’s internet giants would be based in Yanjing in the future—even though Alibaba would be in Hangzhou and Tencent in Shenzhen, the likes of Baidu, Sina, Sohu, NetEase, JD.com, 360, Youku, and Tudou would all gather in a magical place called Zhongguancun in Yanjing. He couldn’t even say that half his previous life’s efforts, his passion, and his regrets were all tied to that city. Compared to Yanjing, Shanghai held almost no appeal for him; so, even if it was far, he wanted to head north.

Chen Wan, helpless and curious, couldn’t resist asking, “By the way, why did you tell me not to speculate in stocks when you got out of the car?”

Li Mu shook his head. “My brain was muddled from the collision…”

When they arrived at the hospital, Chen Wan led Li Mu straight to the emergency department. She made a phone call, and soon a middle-aged doctor came running over. He took Li Mu through nearly ten different examinations, and for each, Chen Wan accompanied him whenever possible—unless the procedure was inconvenient, in which case she waited outside.

After Li Mu had finished his brain CT scan and emerged, not only was Chen Wan waiting outside, but his parents—now more than a decade younger, yet visibly anxious—were there as well.

“Dad, Mom.” From the moment of his rebirth until he stepped out of that isolation door, Li Mu had been nothing short of exhilarated—so much so that ‘excited’ barely captured it; ‘ecstatic’ would be more accurate. But the instant he saw his parents, that ecstasy vanished like a receding tide, replaced by warmth, guilt, gratitude, and worry.

Li Mu hurried forward, embracing his parents tightly as they rose to greet him. He held them close, neither crying nor speaking, simply holding them with all his strength.

His parents were now forty and thirty-nine years old. Both had worked as laborers at the state-owned Xiling Coal Mine since the era of planned economy. Though there had been a wave of layoffs in the early nineties, coal was a stable industry compared to textiles and agricultural machinery, and his parents, though not wealthy, had few troubles and looked much younger for their age.

But everything changed with this car accident.

First came his injury, causing his parents endless worry. Then his poor performance in English, missing the cutoff for top universities. After that, his parents were laid off…

Remembering how his parents seemed to age a decade within a few years by the time he graduated college, Li Mu silently vowed never to let them endure such hardship again.

At that moment, his parents asked him with concern how he was feeling. His mother even wept quietly.

Li Mu choked up slightly as he finally spoke: “Dad, Mom, I’m fine, don’t worry.”

The doctor approached and explained, “I’ve conducted many examinations for Li Mu. He’s basically fine—just some superficial abrasions on his forehead and arm. Since he briefly lost consciousness during the accident, I ordered a brain CT. The results aren’t in yet, but based on my experience, it’s unlikely he has a concussion.”

Chen Wan stepped forward, guilt heavy in her tone. “Uncle, Auntie, this is all my fault. Please rest assured, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Li Mu’s parents, reasonable people, both replied that as long as their child was unharmed, nothing else mattered.

With that settled, Chen Wan felt a bit embarrassed.

Li Mu laughed and said, “It’s really not a big deal. Let’s not say anything so formal. When the CT results come back, if there’s an issue, Sister Wan just needs to help me get treatment. If I’m fine, Sister Wan can buy us a meal. I’m not trying to take advantage of you—it’s just about lunchtime, after all.”

His mother’s tears gave way to smiles at his words, while his father looked at Li Mu in surprise. He was struck by how his son’s playful banter seemed to hint at a desire to befriend this Chen Wan girl.

He glanced at Chen Wan: she was undeniably beautiful, tall, poised, clearly kind-hearted, but she did seem a bit older than his son…

Still, the old saying goes, “A woman three years older is a treasure.” Chen Wan looked to be twenty-one or twenty-two, fitting the proverb perfectly.

Li Mu’s father shook his head, amused at himself. What was he thinking? His son was only eighteen and hadn’t even started college.

Chen Wan, hearing Li Mu’s words, didn’t detect the deeper meaning his father imagined, and simply responded cheerfully, “Of course! Let’s go to Haizhou Hotel. I’ll call now to book a private room!”

Li Mu’s father shook his head again. Such a pure-hearted girl. Compared to her, he realized today that his usually honest son was actually quite shrewd.