Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 325 - 325 322 Brother and Cousin Brother

Chapter 325: Chapter 322 “Brother” and “Cousin Brother Chapter 325: Chapter 322 “Brother” and “Cousin Brother The reason I didn’t hold Song Xiwen accountable was primarily that Haohao is still too young; Mu Jiawen did not want him to suffer from the stigma of having a mother with a criminal record, with people pointing fingers at him.

Just as people had done to Jiang Yan when his father got into trouble.

But she had not expected that one day Song Xiwen would disregard even her grandmother and trample her reputation underfoot in order to inherit the legacy of a beast.

Even Xie Jingying was better than her.

Zhou Youming was also tired of the lawsuit and had thought about using this issue as leverage to make her compromise, but because Mu Jiawen had finally found some peace, he did not want to drag her back into it, so the idea was abandoned after it briefly crossed his mind.

But now Jiajia had brought it up herself…

“If Haohao ends up with her, his life is ruined. The longer this drags on, the worse the impact on you, right?” Mu Jiawen knew that Zhou Youming often considered her perspective, and advised, “It’s okay on my end, just go ahead and talk to her. If she still won’t budge, my mother and older brother can come over.”

Hearing her say this, Zhou Youming breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Xiwen had already moved out of the family courtyard and bought a small villa in the most upscale district in Yunzhou, currently living there alone.

She hadn’t dared let Xie Jingying know about the inheritance, so she couldn’t bring her parents over.

And Haohao, she couldn’t bring him over either before winning the lawsuit.

When Song Xiwen received Zhou Youming’s call, she was alone in the spacious and luxurious dining room drinking red wine. After listening to Zhou Youming’s words, she was so angry that she smashed the wine glass she was holding onto the floor, grinding her teeth, “Zhou Youming, how despicable! And Song Jiawen, has that brat forgotten…”

“Song Jiawen? Ha, have you forgotten what her real surname is? If it weren’t for Haohao, do you think you’d still be out here leading a good life?”

Song Xiwen was fuming with rage, but the next words from Zhou Youming sent chills down her spine, “Song Xiwen, how exactly did your own sister die? In your midnight dreams, haven’t you ever dreamt of her coming to haunt you? Now, do you even remember what your own sister looked like?”

After hanging up the phone, Song Xiwen sat in the chair, her whole body cold.

Remember what she looked like?

She died at three years old and had not even had a single photograph taken in her lifetime; even in her dreams her face was blurry and indistinct, long forgotten.

It was as if the child had never come to this world, all traces of her erased.

No, there was still one thing; her name still existed.

The next morning, Zhou Youming received a text message: [Haohao is with you now, satisfied?]

….

Ma Jiandong had just been promoted to associate professor, and even during vacations, there were matters to attend to at the school.

When he got home from work, he found only Shu Wan at home. As he changed his shoes, he asked, “Where’s the son?”

Ma Zheng was very attached to Shu Wan and normally wouldn’t go to relatives’ houses. He had just returned from outside and carefully observed that his son was not among the group of children playing in the compound.

“His brother picked him up.”

Ma Jiandong asked in surprise, “Jiang Yan is back?”

“Yes, he was taken away right after his drawing class ended.”

As Shu Wan set the table and served the rice, she looked at Ma Jiandong, “I’m not sure he’ll come back tonight. You… don’t have any objections, right?”

“What objections could I have? He’s with his brother, not with strangers.”

Seeing how obedient Ma Zheng was to Jiang Yan, as soon as he saw him, he would undoubtedly cling to his leg and not let go. So Ma Jiandong was very reassured.

“But should we invite him over for dinner?”

Shu Wan shook her head, “Let’s not. I’ve said before that I won’t interfere with how the brothers get along. Besides, I think this is good, let’s just leave it at that.”

The two brothers, who were being talked about, had just arrived at a restaurant called “Yunliju.”

Jiang Yan parked the car, and Ma Zheng followed closely behind like a little tail.

“Brother, is this Audi yours?”

Boys seemed to be born with an interest in cars, and Ma Zheng was no exception. As soon as he saw the four rings, he knew it was an Audi, but he also knew the car wasn’t cheap.

“It’s your sister-in-law’s.”

Since the van was no longer practical, the Great Wall had given it to the second eldest, who had also been planning to buy a decent one, so he simply went for an Audi.

Mu Jiawen had already gotten her driver’s license, so she could drive it too.

Ma Zheng had a good memory and remembered that pretty sister, so he asked, “How come she didn’t come along?”

As they talked and walked into the restaurant, Jiang Yan hadn’t had the chance to answer his question when he heard someone calling Ma Zheng.

“Brother, it’s Cousin.”

Following the sound, Jiang Yan saw Shu Ruixuan, his eldest uncle Shu Chao’s son, who was two years older than him and currently studying at Beicheng University.

Shu Ruixuan was sitting at a round table facing the entrance of the restaurant. Seeing Ma Zheng with Jiang Yan, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes as he got up and walked over.

“Xiaozheng, Jiang Yan, what brings you two together?”

Ma Zheng spoke quickly, “I came with my brother to have dinner with his classmates. Cousin, are you having a gathering with your classmates?”

Hearing Ma Zheng call him Cousin, Shu Ruixuan paused for a moment and then nodded, “Yes.”

He looked up at Jiang Yan and smiled, “I heard last year that you got into Beijing University. I haven’t had the opportunity to congratulate you.”

“Thank you!”

It had been a long time since they last met, and he didn’t know what to say to Jiang Yan, who didn’t seem interested in making small talk either.

Jiang Yan nodded indifferently and continued walking inside with Ma Zheng.

“Cousin, goodbye.”

Listening to that word “Cousin,” Shu Ruixuan felt a bit bitter.

This kid used to call him brother warmly, but now suddenly adding the word “Cousin” made it sound so awkward, even though it was not wrong. And seeing him sticking to Jiang Yan so closely made him feel even more uncomfortable.

He returned to his original seat, and a female classmate next to him asked, “Is he a relative of your family?”

“Yeah, my cousin.”

“Both of them?”

Shu Ruixuan paused for a moment and then nodded, “Yes, both.”

When it came to Jiang Yan, he felt a bit sentimental; as kids, they got along well. After all, there were only two siblings in his father’s family, and both of them were only children. So by blood, they were the closest of brothers.

But since the aunt got divorced, he seldom saw Jiang Yan again. Now that they had grown up, the intimacy of the past had been replaced by estrangement and indifference, and their meetings had turned into merely nodding acquaintances.

On the other side, Ma Zheng had entered a private room with Jiang Yan. As soon as the door opened, a familiar voice rang out, “Yu Hang, that grandson really loves to put on airs. If it weren’t for Xiao Qi, I would have had no idea this restaurant belonged to his family, making me call repeatedly just for a private room.”

This restaurant belonged to Yu Hang’s family?

Jiang Yan knew that Yu Hang’s family was well-off but hadn’t been aware that they ran a restaurant.

“Yunliju” was a chain restaurant. Aside from this one, there was one each in the southern and eastern parts of the city, both quite large.

When Yin Shen saw Jiang Yan come in, he was about to curse but was cut short by the small head poking out behind him, exclaiming in surprise, “Why did you pick up a kid on the way to dinner? Whose is he?”