"I apologize but right now, our company is unable to cooperate with you."
"There's a few things we have to verify in the contract so it will take a while. Do you mind waiting a bit longer?"
"We've very sorry, CEO Jing. It's not like we can't collaborate with your company, but it will be a little difficult."
"May I ask the reason why?" Jing Xuehao gritted his teeth, frustrated.
He had gone through one rejection after another. At first, he thought that it was his own incompetence and everything would gradually turn better. However, one year, two years, until five years passed, his company still couldn't earn any profit! Why?! What the hell was wrong with this situation?! He was sure that he would be able to do an excellent job! If the problem didn't lay on him, then...then someone must have been controlling everything behind the scene!
"Once again, I'm very sorry, CEO Jing." Head Secretary Bing bowed, his face apologetic. "Your proposal is very interesting and the prospect it can bring is very promising too, but…"
"But…?"
Head Secretary Bing glanced around and leaned forward to whisper. "This will stay only between us." After receiving Jing Xuehao's desperate nod, he continued carefully. "Our CEO indeed has decided to cooperate with your company at first but in the end, when he saw your name, he instantly forfeited. CEO Jing, have you...offended someone you shouldn't have?"
"What...What do you mean?" An incredulous laugh escaped his lips. "Who have I—" The words stuck in his throat. Speaking of offending someone, he had done it once. Only once in the past yet it had cost him everything; his reputation, dignity and popularity. Until now, he regretted the stupid thing he had done. "It can't be…" He stuttered, his voice shaking. "Are you talking about the CEO of Lu Group, Ren Zexi?"
Head Secretary Bing only stared at him silently but that was all it took for Jing Xuehao to confirm his doubt. Despair and helplessness crawled up from the soles of his feet to his head, rendering him unable to breathe.
Even when he went out of the building and roamed the street aimlessly, Head Secretary Bing's words still reverberated in his mind. "CEO Ren has put a blacklist on you. He has given his ultimatum; whoever stood on Jing Xuehao's side will become Lu Group's enemy. You know, we can't possibly go against such a giant like Lu Group."
Ren Zexi…
That name had become a bane of his life, a fishbone stuck in his throat, unable to be removed nor obliterated. After Ren Zexi's birthday party, his shameful deed was exposed and he turned into a laughingstock in the school. Without even waiting for the Principal's decision, he dropped out of school and moved to another country to start anew. He tried many ways to sell the photograph in his possession but just like Lu Yizhou said, those people either didn't believe him or they didn't dare to go against the Lu Group.
Even if he posted it anonymously on the internet, it wouldn't receive any traffic as if something supernatural was blocking his way. The evidence he had thought was able to lift him up to ninth heaven turned into a piece of useless trash in the end.
No matter if it was five years ago or now, Jing Xuehao was unable to reach Ren Zexi, not even in his wildest dream. The other soared high to the sky at lightning speed, becoming a figure that everyone looked up to. While Jing Xuehao...he was still stuck in the mud, struggling helplessly to free himself. All he could do was to look up at the sky and wonder when he could finally find his place there.
Or maybe...he never had a place since the beginning.
How did everything turn out like this? He had a feeling that it should have been his fate to spread his wings, to stand at the highest place and look down at everyone who struggled their way up.
Everything should have been his…
***
Maple trees lined along the stony path, painting the scenery with a breathtaking hue of earthy brown and golden. Wind blew and ruffled the leaves. The breeze was soothing and gentle, blowing the hair of the man who climbed his way up to the cemetery.
He was tall, yet his figure was so thin and slender that a slightest gust seemed to be able to blow him away. Gray painted strands of his hair and his forehead was etched with perpetual frown from the years he spent knitting his brows, reducing the charm in his otherwise attractive face. Forlorn and melancholy spoke from his eyes and the way the corner of his lips curled downward. However, as he made his way up, his lips gradually curled into a smile that was rarer than snow in summer.
Arriving at a single gravestone atop of the hill, he paused and spent a few moments taking in the sight of the person in the black and white photo, longing and affection oozing out of his every breath.
"Lu Yizhou…I'm here again." Ren Zexi said in a murmur. "It's my 42nd birthday today." He chuckled hoarsely. "But compared to you, I look so old and ugly. How can you manage to look so captivating and charming? I still wonder about it up to this day."
His phone rang in his pocket and he took it out to find Huang Zhihe calling. His high school best friend was now a renowned director at Huang Pharmaceutical and their friendship was still as strong as ever. "Hello?"
"Old Ren, where are you?!" Huang Zhihe sounded anxious. "Did you go to...his grave again?"
Ren Zexi hummed. "I have something to do here. Zhi-ge." He suddenly called out.
"W—What? Everytime you call me that, I get goosebumps."
Ren Zexi chuckled. "Lu Group and An Liheng, I will leave them to you. Thank you." Without waiting for the other person's response, he directly hung up on the call. A call came in soon after but Ren Zexi ignored it and turned off his phone.
"That's Huang Zhihe, my former high school classmate. You still remember him, right?" Ren Zexi said to Lu Yizhou's grave. "And An Liheng...he's our Butler An's oldest grandson. I found that he has a good aptitude in business so I taught him a few things. If you see him, I'm sure you will support my decision. He is born to be a leader. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. Butler An...he passed away a few days ago. It was a peaceful death of old age. Have you met him up there?" He reached out and traced Lu Yizhou's face with his fingertips, a nostalgic smile on his lips.
After Lu Yizhou passed away, Ren Zexi utterly fell apart. He couldn't accept the man's death, couldn't accept the fact that he could no longer see Lu Yizhou in his life. He almost wanted to take his own life to follow him. No one — not even Butler An — could convince him otherwise.
But then, right when he was about to lose himself, Lu Yizhou's lawyer arrived, bearing the news of the man's will. Lu Yizhou's will was as curt and simple as his own self. [Everything I have, I will hand them over to Ren Zexi. He's pleased to do whatever he wants with that.]
So nonchalant. So impassive. So...like him.
Ren Zexi broke down crying. At that moment, he suddenly recalled the morning before Lu Yizhou's death. They were still eating breakfast together before he went to the company.
"I'm going now." Ren Zexi said. "Don't forget to take your medicine. If you need something, just give me a call whenever. I will come home as quickly as I can."
Lu Yizhou let out a laugh that was half exasperation and half helplessness. "I got it. Go." However, Ren Zexi hadn't taken a few steps yet when Lu Yizhou called him again. Something indescribable flickered in his eyes. "I've never told you, have I? Good work, Zexi. You have always done a good job. It makes me relieved."
Ren Zexi assumed that he was relieved to hand over the company to him. Beaming from ear to ear, he went to the company with wind on his steps, unaware that it would be the last time he saw Lu Yizhou.
Whenever he recalled Lu Yizhou's words that day, Ren Zexi couldn't bring himself to give up. More than his own well-being, he was more worried that Lu Yizhou would be disappointed in him. The man gave everything he had to Ren Zexi so...if he abandoned himself just like this, surely he would let Lu Yizhou down, right?
"Come to think of it," He whispered sadly. "That's your farewell, wasn't it? Later on, I found out from your lawyer that you have legalized your will a week after you took me in. How could I bear to give up when you trusted me so? You're so sly…"
"Today, I am finally at the same age as you." He let out a sigh as if unloading all of the burden in his shoulders. "I have endured a world without you for twenty five years. It has been enough already right, Lu Yizhou...?" His body trembled and he dropped down kneeling, tears falling down his eyes to the marble surface. "If I go to find you right now… will you still be waiting for me?"
From his inner pocket, he pulled out a handgun and pointed it toward his own forehead with barely any hesitation.
Bang!
The piercing gunshot echoed in the empty space and birds flew away in panic. Ren Zexi's body jerked, the gun slipping out of his hand. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes and let himself fall.
However, a strange phenomenon happened.
A split second before Ren Zexi's body touched the ground, he abruptly shattered into million fragments of lights that illuminate the scenery like an ocean of twinkling stars. He swayed gently around Lu Yizhou's grave as if bidding a last farewell before fluttering up to the sky and slowly vanished without a trace.
The atmosphere stilled along with his disappearance. The flying birds, the rustling trees, the bustling city, the people and animals, the flowing seas and rivers, all of them froze without exception as if someone had pressed a pause button.
[Beep...Beep…]
[Mission accomplished. Clearing cache data... Restarting SSS-01…]
[Warning! An anomaly is detected!]
[Warning! The core energy is missing! Tracing the original source of data...not found.]
[Reboot SSS-01 failed.]
[Level red warning is detected! An immediate action is required! Simulator SSS-01 is unable to restart. Forcing shutdown…]
[Shutdown will be completed in 4 minutes 57 seconds.]
[Contacting Admin God…]
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First Arc — The End