A lifetime at his fingertips and undercurrents

Only a day had passed since Wang Long and the others were sentenced to death.

Cheng Yu closed the script and let out a deep sigh. At last, it was time to take on the final boss.

With that thought, Cheng Yu opened his door. He had preparations to make.

But the moment he opened it, he saw Yog dressed in casual clothes.

Cheng Yu froze. Wasn't the big shot always sitting on the sofa drinking tea whenever he saw him? What was different today?

Then Cheng Yu looked toward the sofa where Yog usually sat. Miss Puppet was still in her usual spot, so what was the big shot doing today?

Seeing Cheng Yu look over, Yog smiled and said,

"Perfect timing. Come out with me."

Cheng Yu nodded. He had no idea what the big shot wanted to do, but the man had spoken. What else could he do? ╮( •́ω•̀ )╭

Yog strolled along the street as though he had no destination in mind, with Cheng Yu following behind him.

Yeah, I have plenty of questions, but I don't dare ask. (°ー°〃)

As Yog watched the scenery slip past him, he felt as though he had returned to the days of his previous life.

Back then, though, he had leaned on a cane, walking slowly, step by careful step, along sidewalks with few pedestrians.

He spoke softly.

"How long has it been since you stopped to look at the scenery beside the road?"

Huh? (‧_‧?) Cheng Yu froze, then asked cautiously,

"Big shot, are you asking me?"

Yog shook his head.

"No, I'm asking 'myself.' Another me, one who's been suppressed."

Yog continued walking. Utterly bewildered, Cheng Yu could only follow. What else was there to say?

As they passed a music shop, Yog stopped. Through its glass window, he watched the children learning inside and their teachers.

He said quietly,

"I was once someone who pursued music, too."

Cheng Yu said nothing. He had noticed that the big shot seemed a little different today.

After saying that, Yog entered the music shop and softly addressed a woman who seemed to be in charge.

"May I try playing?"

The woman looked up to find an ordinary middle-aged man asking her a question.

She paused, then smiled.

"Of course. What sort of instrument are you looking to buy?"

Yog shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not here to buy an instrument. Seeing them just reminded me of the past."

The woman smiled at that.

"Then you must be a musician with a story to tell."

Yog chuckled.

"You could say that."

The woman stood up and said,

"This way, please. I hope I'll hear an interesting story in your music."

She led Yog to a somewhat old piano and said,

"This piano may be a little old, but it's one of the few in our shop with a truly wonderful tone."

Yog gently stroked the old piano and smiled.

"Thank you."

Yog slowly sat down and rested his fingers on the black and white keys.

Cheng Yu was honestly panicking inside. How many people could survive listening to the big shot play? Were they putting their lives on the line?

But that thought soon vanished.

As Yog's fingers danced lightly, notes began to flutter beneath them. Rather than a piece of music, it was a story.

It was a white-haired, frail old man with clouded eyes telling a simple yet warm story.

A baby entered the world amid its own cries, followed by the carefree joys of childhood and the first stirrings of love in adolescence.

Then came the grief of losing his parents in his teens, the free-spirited abandon of youth, and the maturity and steadiness of middle age.

There were the doubts and questions as he entered old age, the loneliness and quiet of his final years, and the peace and lack of regret as death arrived.

By the time the piece ended, Cheng Yu had no wisecracks left in him. The woman's eyes brimmed with tears, and everyone in the music shop had fallen silent.

The woman asked in a choked voice,

"May I ask what that piece was called?"

Yog smiled.

"A lifetime."

The woman hurriedly asked another question.

"May I ask which master you are? Would you leave your name on this piano?"

After a moment of silence, Yog said,

"I'm no master, but I can leave my name."

"Please write it on the piano. We'll have someone engrave it."

The woman spoke hurriedly.

Yog took the pen and wrote a name on the piano.

Yog.

On the way back, the memories and emotions of his previous self began to settle into silence.

Cheng Yu asked quietly,

"Big shot, that name was...?"

Looking at the river beneath the setting sun, Yog answered,

"My previous self's name. As for that piece, he spent seventy-two years composing it. Now perhaps he can truly 'let go.'"

Cheng Yu asked again,

"What about that piano?"

"Leave it there. Its destiny is to be played by the next person who composes a lifetime."

A little earlier, at the Lin Group.

Lin Mo slammed his fist onto his desk.

Bang!

"Who the hell was it?!"

"Who put Wang Long behind bars?!"

Lin Mo didn't even notice that his hand was bleeding.

He roared his questions, almost screaming.

He couldn't help it. Wang Long had always been his trump card for intimidating Jiangcheng's families.

It was fair to say that Wang Long was responsible for at least eighty percent of the Lin Group's growth to its current size.

After all, its early business deals had all been secured through Wang Long's intimidation.

Of course, Lin Mo knew that couldn't continue. So even with projects obtained through threats, he put his heart into them and did his utmost to make them perfect.

But that couldn't hide the fact that the Lin Group had built its business on intimidation.

Wang Long had fallen too quickly, so quickly that Lin Mo hadn't had time to react. It was as though someone had spent ages carefully preparing before delivering a single fatal blow.

Who was it? Only an insider could have gathered so much evidence.

And that person couldn't have held a low position, either.

Le Shuya brought over a first-aid kit, took out some gauze, and carefully bandaged Lin Mo's wound.

She said softly,

"Finished venting?"

Lin Mo turned his gaze toward her, but Le Shuya continued dressing his wound without looking up as she spoke.

"I know what you're thinking. Right now, you need to stop the bleeding and take over Wang Long's businesses as quickly as possible."

Once she finished bandaging him, she raised her head, met his eyes, and continued.

"It doesn't matter that Wang Long has fallen. We can groom a Zhang Long or a Li Long to take his place."

"But you need to get his bars, casinos, karaoke clubs, and bathhouses under your control."

Lin Mo fell silent. Suddenly, he pulled Le Shuya into his arms and pressed his lips directly against hers.

Le Shuya shoved him away and demanded coldly,

"What are you doing?! Do you know what kind of situation we're in?!"

Lin Mo looked at her, his expression unchanged.

"Don't you know how I feel about you?"

Le Shuya sneered.

"Of course I know. But don't you know how many women you have?!"

Lin Mo was about to say something.

Le Shuya cut him off and continued.

"I admit it. It's not that I don't like you. But I can't share you with other women! I'd already decided to let you go, and now you say this to me. Isn't that like tearing open a scar that's already healed and rubbing salt into it?! Isn't that too cruel?!"

Le Shuya hurled her questions at Lin Mo, almost shouting.

It was the first time Lin Mo had seen her like this. In his mind, she had always been proud and strong, a cool woman who carried herself like a lone wolf.

But today, he realized that no matter what, she was still a woman, one who needed someone to cherish her and stay by her side.

The faces of many women flashed through his mind before finally settling on the woman before him. He seemed to reach a decision.

He walked resolutely toward the distraught woman, held her firmly in his arms, and whispered into her ear,

"Let's get married."

Le Shuya reacted as though she had misheard him.

"W-what did you say?"

Lin Mo slowly eased her away, though both hands remained on her shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he said each word clearly.

"Let's get married."

Le Shuya said nothing. She gently wrapped her arms around Lin Mo, tears sliding down her face, and said softly,

"Yes."

That night, at Lin Mo's home.

Bowing ninety degrees before Elder Bai, Lin Mo said loudly,

"I'm sorry, Grandpa! No! Elder Bai!"

Elder Bai looked at the bowing Lin Mo and Le Shuya standing behind him, then sighed softly.

"Ah... nothing happened between you and Tingting, and that girl doesn't understand any of it anyway. This is fine, too."

Then Elder Bai continued,

"Since you and Tingting aren't meant to be, it wouldn't be right for the two of us to keep living here. Take care of yourself, then, Xiao Lin."

Lin Mo raised his head to look at Elder Bai, held out an envelope, and spoke quietly.

"There's a small token of my appreciation inside, along with a recommendation letter for an educational institution in a city near Jiangcheng. Tingting can live a normal girl's life there."

Elder Bai seemed to wrestle with something as he reached for the envelope. In the end, he sighed, accepted it, and said,

"Then let me thank you, Xiao Lin."

After a long silence, Elder Bai continued,

"Xiao Lin, an upright man has no reason to fear a crooked shadow. You must be an honest man."

Lin Mo didn't know why Elder Bai had said that, but he nodded anyway.

Early the next morning.

Watching Bai Tingting grow smaller in the distance while still waving at him, Lin Mo sighed softly.

"Do you regret it?"

A cool, clear voice sounded behind him.

Lin Mo remained silent. Just as he was about to say something, the voice continued.

"It would be normal to regret it. If I were a man, I'd regret giving up a girl like her, too. But..."

A pair of slender arms wrapped around Lin Mo's waist as the voice continued.

"Thank you for giving her up for me..."

Hearing that, Lin Mo smiled freely. Those words made him feel that everything he had given up was worth it.

He turned and gently embraced that slender body, resting his chin against her forehead as he said with a quiet smile,

"As long as you're here, everything is fine."

Le Shuya's expression was conflicted, until another figure flashed through her mind, along with those words.

"Adding sugar and milk is like outside interference. It makes sweetness seem like a given, concealing the sweetness that originally belonged to the bitter coffee. Or rather, it replaces the coffee's own sweetness, leaving people lost in the sweetness of sugar and milk."

Soon, twenty days passed in a flash. Though it was only a short span of twenty days, plenty had happened.

First came the sudden downfall of the underworld kingpin Wang Long, then the grand wedding of Lin Group chairman Lin Mo, followed by the group's frantic scramble to seize the assets Wang Long had left behind.

Several major companies in Jiangcheng also launched attacks against the Lin Group. Things changed by the day. Only Rainbow remained unmoved, and the major companies tacitly avoided mentioning it as they hammered the Lin Group with everything they had.

Cheng Yu's stance was simple: Keep fighting. If I so much as show my face, I lose. (´ｰ∀ｰ`)

Looks like another month's gone by, huh.

"System, come online."