After returning home, Lin Mo took a quick shower and curled up on the sofa, watching the dusk settle outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The living room of the luxury apartment was spacious. The cleaning lady always kept the place spotless, which only made it feel more empty.
How long had this kind of life lasted?
Lin Mo thought carefully about the past and realized his memories of the first 18 years were blurry — so blurry they felt like a brief illusion. In contrast, the final 10 years of his previous life felt incredibly long, a weary stretch of constantly changing jobs to hide from Su Ran.
Looking back now, it was almost funny. No matter where he ran, even to the ends of the earth, she always managed to find him.
In his previous life, he had died on a rainy night on his 28th birthday. That day, he had been assigned to handle Su Ran’s concert. She was truly haunting him.
In his eyes, she was the one who wouldn’t leave him alone. But in the eyes of those around her, he probably wasn’t a saint either.
Lin Mo thought about the last thing he saw before he died. That truck had come straight for him with no brakes, no steering, and no intention to stop. The driver wore a hat and a mask, making it impossible to see his face.
He didn’t believe for a second that it was an accident. But if it was murder, who could it be?
This wasn’t the first time Lin Mo had pondered this question. His first suspect was Su Qingwan. Her desire for control was so strong, and knowing her daughter was relentlessly entangled with him for 10 years might have pushed her to physically eliminate him.
However, today’s interaction made him dismiss that thought. Although Su Qingwan was forceful, she wouldn’t abandon her daughter, so she wouldn’t resort to the extreme of murder.
Then who?
Lin Mo thought it over and felt that the most likely suspects were Su Ran’s many suitors. Su Ran had countless fans after she became famous, especially since she had gained recognition at such a young age. Her natural elegance, combined with her flawless face and stunningly sexy figure, made her the type who stoked a deep desire for conquest.
Because of this, some of Su Ran’s fans were quite obsessive and had done many out-of-line things. Lin Mo had suffered because of them, the most serious incident being when he was stabbed two times.
He still remembered lying on the hospital bed, feeling as aggrieved as a child. He really wanted to cry. It was like… ‘I’m not even your boyfriend. It’s one thing that you’ve stirred up my life until there’s no peace, but why the hell do I have to get stabbed for you?’
Focusing on the fans, Lin Mo realized a key detail. On the day of the concert, he had been temporarily transferred by the company to manage it. He didn’t need to think twice to know Su Ran was behind it, but not many people would have known about the last-minute change.
In the case of a temporary assignment, someone trying to kill him would have to meet certain conditions — they would need to be very close to Su Ran’s private life to know her secret moves, and they would need to be familiar with his movements to hit him with a truck.
The list of fans who met those criteria suddenly became very short. Su Ran didn’t have close friends or “besties” among her fans, and Su Qingwan was already ruled out. That left her assistants and her manager.
‘Manager…’ Lin Mo frowned as a name surfaced in his mind: Zhou Muyuan.
He was a young pianist, Su Ran’s piano teacher, and later her manager. He was 7 years older than Su Ran and had remained single, possessing an extraordinary obsession with her. At Su Ran’s concert when she was 28, Zhou Muyuan was the artistic director.
Where was he at the time?
Lin Mo tried hard to remember. The concert started at 8:00 PM and he died at 10:00 PM. It was entirely possible for Zhou Muyuan to have slipped away.
But what was the motive?
If Zhou Muyuan liked Su Ran, but Su Ran only had eyes for him…
Lin Mo suddenly felt a chill. In his memory, Zhou Muyuan was always elegant and refined, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with a gentle smile. If he was the killer, when had he started plotting for Su Ran?
*Bzz — bzz —*
His phone suddenly vibrated, snapping Lin Mo out of his thoughts. It was a text from Su Ran.
“Did you get home?”
Lin Mo sat up and, for the first time, gave a completely irrelevant reply: “Do you know Zhou Muyuan?”
“He’s a friend of my mom’s from the Music Conservatory Middle School and also my piano teacher. Why?”
“What’s he like?”
“Very professional, very strict, but a bit strange.”
“Strange how?”
“He’s always giving me gifts — expensive ones. He gets angry if I don’t accept them. Also, he seems to pay a lot of attention to me. Every time I have a competition, he’s there, sitting in the first row.”
Lin Mo’s heart sank, and his typing speed increased.
“Does your mom know?”
“She says Mr. Zhou just cherishes my talent and tells me to learn well from him. But I don’t want him to touch me.”
“Touch you?”
“He touches my shoulders when he’s instructing me, though he claims he’s correcting my posture.”
Lin Mo clenched his fists and didn’t reply for a long time.
Su Ran’s message came first: “How do you know about him?”
Lin Mo hesitated. There was no evidence yet to prove Zhou Muyuan was a killer; speaking too bluntly might scare her.
“I heard about him from some classmates at the affiliated school. I’m a bit worried.”
“Worried about me?”
“You’re a girl; you need to protect yourself.”
“Mhm. With you here, I’m not afraid.”
Even through the screen, the five words “With you here, I’m not afraid” had a huge impact.
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment before something occurred to him. “Do you have a lesson with him soon?”
“Every Saturday afternoon. Mom arranged it, so I can’t get out of it.”
“Can I go with you?”
“Can you? It might be boring, just a lesson.”
“I want to hear you play.”
In the practice room on the other side of town, Su Ran, who was taking a break, clutched her phone. her eyelashes fluttered, and her cheeks and ears quickly turned red. She stole a guilty glance at Su Qingwan before replying as fast as she could: “I’ll call you when the time comes.”
The two chatted for a bit longer before Su Ran returned to her practice. Lin Mo sat in the darkening living room, his expression growing colder the more he thought. Eventually, he opened his contacts and found a name he hadn’t spoken to in years.
“Can we talk?”
A short while later, the phone rang.
Lin Mo’s heart trembled. A long-lost flutter surged like a tide, and those troublesome emotions instantly flared back to life as if trying to drag him back to that darkest summer. Fortunately, he was no longer the person he used to be. The things he once couldn’t understand or see through had long been settled after the harsh beatings of society.
He quickly calmed his emotions, answered the phone, and took the initiative to say, “Dad.”
—
Monday morning, Lin Mo arrived at the classroom early. Before morning self-study, Chen Yu leaned over with a gossipy heart.
“How was the first meeting with the parent? Is Su Ran really not transferring? What happened?”
“Yeah. Her mother agreed, but there are conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“Six hours of practice a day, no dating, and no losing in competitions.”
Lin Mo didn’t hide anything. After stating the facts, he added, “Otherwise, she takes her away immediately.”
Chen Yu instantly conjured up an image of a strict mother not much different from Su Qingwan and couldn’t help but shiver. “That’s pretty brutal. In that case, being able to stay is already lucky enough. There’s no rush for dating or anything.”
“By the way, do you really plan to stay by her side forever?”
“Mhm.”
“Even if… even if she might always be that way?”
For some reason, Chen Yu didn’t dare to be too blunt. He felt like he was stepping on a landmine, so he quickly explained after speaking, “I mean, psychological issues don’t get better overnight. You might have to be with her for a long time, maybe even a lifetime.”
Lin Mo looked out the window and nodded. The leaves of the plane trees were starting to turn yellow, drifting down like golden rain.
“Then it’ll be for a lifetime,” he said.
Chen Yu froze, then clapped him hard on the shoulder and sighed. “Fine. If even the future mother-in-law has spoken, what can I say? I support you. But let’s get one thing straight: when you guys get married, I’m the best man.”
“How can a son be his father’s best man? Get lost,” Lin Mo joked.
When the bell for morning self-study rang, Su Ran walked into the classroom. She looked different today — not in appearance, but in spirit. Her posture seemed more upright, her gaze was firmer, and she no longer deliberately avoided the eyes of others.
She walked to her seat, put down her bag, looked at Lin Mo, and smiled. It was a tiny smile, but it was enough. Lin Mo returned the same smile.
The first class was math. After the teacher finished the new lesson, he announced a monthly exam in two weeks.
“This monthly exam is very important. It’s a city-wide joint exam, and the results will be used as a reference for independent university admissions. Everyone must prepare seriously.”
When the bell rang at the end of class, Su Ran stood up and walked to Lin Mo’s desk.
“Can you explain a few problems for me?” she asked, her voice as natural as if she were asking about the weather.
The whole class went quiet for several seconds. This was likely the first time Su Ran had taken the initiative to speak to someone in public.
“Of course. Which one?” Lin Mo pulled over a chair for her.
Su Ran sat down somewhat nervously, spread out her workbook, and pointed to a function problem.
Lin Mo began to explain. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for the people around them to hear. He explained in great detail and with much patience, punctuating it with some lighthearted jokes.
For instance: “For the Learning Committee member to consult a bottom-tier student like me, the world must be turning upside down.”
In reality, everyone knew Su Ran’s grades were extremely uneven, and Lin Mo wasn’t a bottom-tier student at all; he was a true top student in all subjects. Gradually, the atmosphere between them became light and harmonious. This vibe infectiously spread to their surroundings, completely erasing any negative lingering impressions from the past.
Once the problems were explained, Su Ran’s eyelashes trembled, and she sat there, seemingly reluctant to leave.
“Thank you. Oh, and my mom told me to say thank you to you.”
“Thank me for what?”
“Thank you for helping her understand some things. Although she didn’t say it directly, she made sweet and sour pork ribs last night. She only used to make those when I won a competition.”
As she spoke, Su Ran took a small box out of her pocket. “This is for you.”
It was an exquisite, deep blue velvet box. Lin Mo opened it to find a small silver badge inside. It was shaped like a piano, with the letters ‘SR & LM’ engraved on it. Below those was a line of small text: ‘First Listener.’
“I made it myself,” Su Ran said, her ears turning red as she twisted a strand of hair in front of her chest. “I melted down some old piano strings and recast them. It might be… a bit ugly.”
“Ugly?” Lin Mo took the badge in his hand and examined it carefully. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
He pinned the badge directly onto the chest of his school uniform, which was perhaps the most prominent position. Su Ran’s face turned even redder. The speed at which she twirled her hair increased, and her finger was quickly tangled.
“You don’t… you don’t have to wear it out in the open.”
“Why wouldn’t I? I really like it.”
Several nearby classmates peeked over. There was envy in their eyes, along with the annoyance of people being teased by a couple.