ALL NOVEL Chapter 26: In His Past Life, He Couldn't Tell Friend from Foe
Chapter 26: In His Past Life, He Couldn’t Tell Friend from Foe
When Su Mu felt a shadow fall over him, he shot the guard an icy look that made him hesitate.
“Think carefully. I’m still the Su family’s young master, and you’re just their security guard. If you lay hands on your employer and I shout to attract the neighbors’ attention, it’s the Su family that loses face.”
“Everyone around here is wealthy and influential. If word spreads that even a Su family guard can bully their young master, guess what Su Yuanshan will do to quiet the rumors?”
“This…” the guard helplessly looked to the butler.
Butler Qin’s expression flickered. Su Mu’s behavior was already drawing attention from passersby.
If Su Mu really shouted and drew people over, they couldn’t explain why a butler and guard were manhandling a young master.
After all, until he was officially expelled, he was still nominally their young master.
Without the master’s word, the butler couldn’t announce this “fake young master” status – his master would skin him alive for that.
But with Su Mu lying here, how could they carry out the master’s orders?
After consideration, the butler decided this was beyond his authority and went to report to the master.
With Butler Qin gone, the guard naturally withdrew too.
Lying in his chair, Su Mu narrowed his eyes darkly. So it would be today.
In his past life, the Su family had deceived him for a long time, hiding his competition qualification letter and replacing him with Su Ning.
He’d thought he hadn’t been selected until much later when he heard about Su Ning winning. It seemed strange since Su Ning’s terrible playing made him want to vomit.
That’s when he discovered the identity theft.
But it was too late – what’s done was done. He had no evidence; the Su family had destroyed all proof.
Worse still, they gaslighted him into being Su Ning’s stand-in, competing under Su Ning’s name in later competitions.
Chu Hanting had tried to stop him, even offering to help find lawyers and evidence to reclaim what was his.
But back then, he’d been so foolish that he thought Chu Hanting, who cared for him wholeheartedly, had ill intentions and was trying to drive a wedge between him and the Su family.
Instead, he’d protected those heartless Su family members.
He really wanted to go back and slap some sense into his past self.
Not only could he not tell friend from foe, he’d spurned true kindness. What a sin.
Lost in thought, the gentle breeze and warm sun made Su Mu drowsy for a morning nap.
“Finally decided to come in? Sitting at the entrance like that – are you trying to completely shame the Su family?”
Su Mu’s lips curved in a mocking smile. “If anyone’s losing face, it’s just me. Nothing to do with the Su family. Don’t worry, if anyone asks in the future, I’ll never say I’m from the Su family.”
“Su Mu, as long as you behave, you can stay with the Su family. After raising you for so many years, we do have feelings for you.”
Of course Father Su wasn’t speaking out of sentiment. He still saw value in using Su Mu, since his own son had been raised in the countryside without any skills, while Su Mu was different.
Earlier that morning, when Manager Qin reported to Father Su in the study, he had pressed his fingers to his temple in frustration.
“You’re saying he refuses to leave the entrance no matter what?”
“Yes,” the manager nodded repeatedly. “I wanted the guards to bring him in, but his arguments made sense. I couldn’t make the call without your input.”
Father Su paced behind his desk, wondering why Su Mu would suddenly sunbathe at the entrance.
He suspected Su Mu did it deliberately – had he learned about the invitation letter arriving today?
But he’d blocked all competition information to Su Mu, who should believe he wasn’t selected.
Had Su Mu called to confirm himself? This was troublesome.
The plan had been to quietly intercept the invitation, fill in Su Ning’s name, and handle everything else accordingly.
Finally, after lounging all morning, Su Mu saw the postal worker arrive. He quickly got up to meet them, introducing himself and receiving the invitation letter he’d never seen in his past life.
The New Youth Cup Piano Competition required individual registration on their official website and submission of a qualifying video for online judging.
Those selected online could participate in two offline rounds – preliminaries and finals, one month apart.
The preliminaries would be mid-April, with finals in mid-May.
Su Mu had excelled in his studies since childhood and was skilled at piano – they hadn’t spent all these years cultivating him for nothing. Letting him go would be too much of a loss.
Su Mu pretended not to notice the calculation in Father Su’s eyes and didn’t expose it. “You want me to stay in the Su family, but have you asked for my opinion?”
“By the way, Su Ning has been back with the Su family for so long, yet I haven’t gone to see my birth father. I really am unfilial.”
“Rather than disturb your happy family of three, I should go find my real dad. Everyone back to their own homes, everyone with their own fathers, letting everything return to the beginning. I won’t come back to the Su family.”
Father Su’s eyebrows nearly knotted together. He never expected Su Mu to suddenly say something that amounted to cutting ties with the Su family.
“How can you think this way? When did I ever say I would drive you out? Do you really want to go back to that pauper father of yours in the countryside?”
When Su Mu heard Father Su insult his birth father by calling him a “pauper,” murderous cold instantly flashed in his eyes.