Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 167 - 167 164 Hes in the Plan (Third Update)

Chapter 167: Chapter 164: He’s in the Plan (Third Update) Chapter 167: Chapter 164: He’s in the Plan (Third Update) “No, my third brother just asked me to think about it, he didn’t say I must go,”

Jiang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but then asked, “So, are you considering it?”

Song Jiawen nodded, “I am.”

Jiang Yan’s heart immediately rose again, and just as he was about to say something, he then heard her next sentence, “He said that during the winter break, we could visit his laboratory, but the lab and all that doesn’t matter much, since we can have a free trip abroad. Do you want to go or not?”

Huh?

We both?

The heart that had just risen in Jiang Yan’s chest thudded back down, and he raised his hand to touch his heart, finding the whole back-and-forth really unbearable!

“Can you not gasp like that when you speak? You’re scaring me to death.”

Song Jiawen turned her head, looking at him with a puzzled face, and Jiang Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sure, when the time comes, I’ll tell your third brother to invite us both for a trip abroad,”

If it were just a trip for the two of them, that would be even better, but he loved the idea that there was always a place for him in her plans. Had he never realized that Song Jiawen always included him in anything she did?

Could it be that she cared about him more than he thought?

……

Today was the day to eat at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. When Mu Zhe and Mu Wan arrived at the old house, their parents and their second uncle’s family were already there.

“Mu Zhe, why are you so late? Come look at the list, do you have any friends you want to invite for your grandfather’s birthday?”

In two more weeks, it would be the eightieth birthday of the Mu family patriarch, and they had booked banqueting tables at the Jinfulai Restaurant in Beijing. At the moment, the family was discussing the guest list.

As soon as Mu Shaotang, the eldest of the Mu family, saw his son come in, he waved him over and asked, “Should I put down that friend of yours from the Ji family?”

Mu Zhe was not in the mood to look at that and just vaguely agreed, “Put him down. I’ll send him an invitation later.”

Mu Shaotang, seeing his son’s perfunctory attitude, was not very pleased and reminded him, “Mu Zhe, this is your grandfather’s eightieth birthday!” It’s important. The old man is right there, watching.

Mu Zhe had no choice but to muster up some energy and went to Mu Shaotang’s side, taking the list and seriously adding a few names.

“Mu Wan, where did you and your brother go today?”

The moment they walked in, Li Qingyan felt that something was off with the expressions on her son and daughter’s faces, especially her son’s.

She glanced back and forth between the two and finally decided to ask Mu Wan, “Did things not go well with that internship place you visited?”

Mu Wan was a senior at Beijing University’s Chinese department, and since she was not interested in postgraduate studies, she needed to intern after the New Year. Mu Zhe had found her an editing department in the city center, right across from the cafe they visited today.

Li Qingyan asked this just as Mu Zhe was in the midst of writing his name, his hand freezing momentarily. Then he heard the unable-to-hold-back Mu Wan blurt out, “The internship unit went very smoothly, but we ran into our aunt today.”

At the word “aunt,” the entire living room fell silent.

Mu Shaoning, the second son of the Mu family, reflexively reached for his face. The shadow of the beating he had gotten from his sister years ago still lingered; whenever he heard about Mu Chenyan, his first sensation was his face hurting.

Li Qingyan looked at the silent elders and asked Mu Wan, “Was it just your aunt alone? Did you two greet her? After so many years, I guess your aunt probably doesn’t even recognize you anymore.”

“How could we not recognize her? She recognized us as soon as my brother called her, but …”

“Mu Wan!”

Mu Zhe looked up, warningly at his sister, but Mu Wan still couldn’t help saying, “Our little cousin was right there, yet Auntie still ignored us, why can’t I say something?”

Upon hearing the first sentence, the old Master Mu and the old Madam Mu were instantly invigorated. They looked up eagerly at Mu Wan, “What did you say? Your cousin has been found?”

Mu Shaoning, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa, suddenly stiffened before sitting up straight.

The old Madam Mu was exceptionally excited, “Wanwan, clarify what you mean. The child has been found? How? Did you see her?”

Grandma asked so many questions at once that Mu Wan didn’t know which to answer first, but she still nodded, “Yes, I saw her. She looks to be about seventeen or eighteen, and very beautiful. As to how she was found, Auntie and her family won’t speak to us, how could we possibly know?”

Li Qingyan frowned, but all of the old Madam Mu’s attention was focused on “the child being found”, and she had no concern for whether Mu Chenyan was speaking to the two younger ones or not.

She turned to the old Master Mu, “Should we go look for Chen Yan? Since the child has been found, she must be able to forgive us now.”

At the mention of this, the old Master Mu couldn’t help but cast a cold glance at Mu Shaoning and his spouse. Had it not been for them, how could his elder daughter have had such a falling out with him?

Mu Chenyan had gained fame early in life, her reputation in the Chinese Painting circle was not even less than his, a former president of the Beijing Calligrapher’s Association.

If father and daughter had been on good terms, his eightieth birthday celebration would have been bustling with excitement. After all, there were countless people who would go out of their way to seek a painting from Mu Chenyan, and even more who would queue up to deal with him.

But because of the child’s disappearance and the death of Lady Yu, friends who knew the inside story were aware that his eldest daughter had fallen out with the Mu Family. He didn’t know how many times they had laughed at him behind his back over the years.

What could he do?

The child had been lost and couldn’t be found; was he supposed to just watch as she grew to hate her brother to death?

Remembering the past, the old Master Mu also had a lump in his throat. Thankfully, now that the child had been found, she should be able to let go of the past, shouldn’t she?

So, hearing what the old Madam Mu said, the old Master Mu nodded, “Prepare some generous gifts for the child, and a big red envelope as well, besides… how old is the child this year?”

Before the old Madam Mu could reply, Mu Shaoning hastily said, “She won’t turn eighteen until December.”

The old Master Mu glanced at him, “You remember quite clearly!”

Mu Shaoning said with a somber face, “How could I forget? I’ve been feeling guilty for fourteen years. My sister has been searching everywhere each year, and I haven’t been idle either.”

His wife, Yong Ruifang, didn’t dare to utter a sound.

The old Master Mu snorted coldly and ignored him, continuing to plan, “Still not eighteen, then she should be in her senior year of high school. Mu Can, find some college entrance examination papers and materials, and later give them to your cousin.”

Mu Can was the only son of Mu Shaoning. It was his junior year at the Beijing University Fine Arts College, majoring in Chinese Painting, the only one in the younger generation who followed the same profession as Mu Chenyan and also had achievements in calligraphy. He was his grandfather’s most cherished grandson.

Hearing his grandfather’s instructions, Mu Can was about to agree, when Mu Zhe interjected, “Grandfather, have you forgotten that Auntie skipped grades when she was in school? And not to mention the three brothers of the Yu family. Yu Feng is the same age as me, but he had already completed his doctorate when I was in graduate school. Do you think their family does things by the book and follows the normal academic sequence?”

As these words were spoken, the room fell silent again, particularly for Mu Shaotang, who remembered the agony of being eclipsed by his sister, two years his senior, in their school days—an irritation that lingered even to this day.

Li Qingyan was equally uncomfortable. Before the two families fell out, each encounter made it clear—Mu Zhe, once outstanding among his Beijing peers, was left far behind when compared with Yu Feng.

Who could feel comfortable with that?