Brother Song comforted Shang Junxiao, "Junxiao, you’re an adult now, and you need to take these things in stride. Brother Song knows you’re upset, but you also don’t have that much time to be upset, you still have quite a bit of work to do."
Upon hearing this, Shang Junxiao snapped back to reality, turned to Brother Song, and said hastily, "Brother Song, I need to take the day off!"
Brother Song was taken aback, "Because of Ning Mu’s incident?" He looked at Shang Junxiao but didn’t refuse, "If you want to go and see how things are on Ning Mu’s side, that’s fine; I’ll give you two days off."
"Thank you, Brother Song!"
Shang Junxiao bowed gratefully to Brother Song.
As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator came to a stop.
Brother Song patted his arm and said, "Take good care of yourself, don’t hurt your body, and take it easy."
Shang Junxiao nodded.
Brother Song turned and exited the elevator.
Shang Junxiao immediately pressed the elevator’s down button.
Before long, he ran out of the company, got into his car, and as he started the vehicle, he called Fu Shiyan.
Fu Shiyan was also quite busy that morning with some international video conferences, and just as they had ended, he received Shang Junxiao’s call.
As soon as he answered, before he could speak, he heard Shang Junxiao’s low, listless voice come through,
"Third Brother, I, I think I did something wrong!"
Fu Shiyan moved his phone away a bit, placed it on the desk, turned on the speakerphone, and while looking at computer files, he asked, "What did you do wrong now?"
Shang Junxiao’s voice was tense, somewhat hoarse, "I, I think I may have caused someone’s death..."
Fu Shiyan’s hand, which was moving the mouse, paused, "Shang Junxiao, are you out of your mind? Speak clearly about what’s going on."
Realizing his words might have been ambiguous upon hearing this, Shang Junxiao took a breath and tried to calm himself down.
"I, my friend, Ning Mu, he’s dead, he committed suicide! But, but actually I saw him yesterday, and he wasn’t in a good state, yet I thought he was fine... If I had persuaded him more yesterday, maybe he wouldn’t have killed himself..."
By the end, his voice grew more and more hoarse.
Fu Shiyan slightly furrowed his brow, "Shang Junxiao, you’re a grown man; are you wanting to cry?"
When Shang Junxiao heard this, he choked up instead, "Third Brother, I, I caused someone’s death..."
Fu Shiyan shut his laptop, picked up his phone, "His death has nothing to do with you. Since it was suicide, don’t take the guilt onto yourself. Are you so grown up that you need me to tell you this?"
Shang Junxiao whimpered in distress, "But, but I always feel like if I had paid more attention yesterday, he wouldn’t have committed suicide... Isn’t it said that suicide is often an impulsive act? If I had just talked to him properly, maybe everything would have been fine..."
Fu Shiyan changed his sitting position and said, "What do you want to do now?"
Shang Junxiao knew what Fu Shiyan meant.
What happened had happened.
No matter how much he blamed himself, the dead would not come back to life.
But Shang Junxiao still couldn’t help but blame himself.
If he had really talked more with Ning Mu, had done more for Ning Mu, maybe Ning Mu wouldn’t have taken his own life.
He couldn’t imagine that Ning Mu, such a good person, would end up dying by suicide.
Shang Junxiao was silent for a long time.
Fu Shiyan, hearing the low and suppressed breathing on the other end, didn’t hang up the phone and just sat quietly, keeping him company.
After a moment, Shang Junxiao took a breath and said, "Third Brother, could you do me a favor?"
Fu Shiyan made a sound of affirmation, "Go ahead."
Shang Junxiao stammered, "I, I want to go find the Abbot."
Fu Shiyan raised an eyebrow, "He committed suicide."