Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

102. Playing Dumb

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

This was a very ordinary restaurant. Li Qinghao looked at the symbol displayed outside the restaurant, wondering why Wilbert Dom chose to have lunch here.

Wilbert Dom’s special assistant standing at the front door said politely, “Mr. Li, my master is waiting for you in the restaurant.”

“Thank you for reminding me.” Li Qinghao nodded at him and went in.

It was lunchtime, but the restaurant was almost empty.

“Qinghao.” Wilbert Dom waved at Li Qinghao with a smile. “I don’t like staying in any noisy place, so I booked the whole restaurant. Do you mind being alone with me?”

He seemed to be asking for Li’s opinion, but his tone was affirmative. In fact, he was just telling Li his decision.

“No.” Li Qinghao sat down. “I prefer quiet places too.”

After they took their seats, a waiter offered them the menu. Wilbert Dom was German, while Li Qinghao was Chinese. They differed in tastes, but strangely, the dishes Wilbert ordered were all to Li’s taste. Li Qinghao didn’t think that Wilbert took a fancy to him. After all, he didn’t think anyone except Nancheng Lie in the world knew his taste so well.

Wilbert Dom turned from a guest into a host. He said enthusiastically, “Make yourself at home. It’s my treat. You can order whatever you want.”

Li Qinghao didn’t know what Wilbert was playing at. He replied politely, “Mr. Dom, you are my guest. As the host, I should entertain you. So, let me pay the bill.”

Wilbert Dom raised his eyebrows and gave a little chuckle. “Just call me by my first name. Don’t stand on ceremony, Qinghao. Er, since you said that, this is your treat, and I will pay next time.” He was hinting that he wanted to have dinner with Li Qinghao again.

Li Qinghao responded with a smile.

There was an awkwardly long silence. But they both looked calm. They picked up chopsticks and began to eat gracefully.

“I heard that there was something wrong with your leg. Are you better now?” asked Wilbert in a casual tone. He sounded like an old friend.

“I’m feeling no better. I can’t walk long distances; otherwise, my leg will be sore.” In fact, it was not as serious as he said. Li Qinghao told a lie because he wanted to keep away from Wilbert. On the one hand, Nancheng Lie had given him adequate warning. On the other hand, he could feel that Wilbert was a very dangerous man.

“Oh? Have you ever hurt your leg?” Wilbert asked casually. Li Qinghao was so smart that he immediately understood the real intention of Wilbert.

Wilbert’s purpose was to test him. Anyone who was rich or powerful, such as Wilbert Dom, could easily find out the truth behind his injury. Li Qinghao was sure that Wilbert knew how he had hurt his leg. So, why did Wilbert ask as if he did not know?

Li Qinghao was instantly on the alert, but he didn’t show it. If he talked about his injury, he would have to mention Han Mingxu and Nancheng Lie. Was Wilbert targeting the Han family or the Nancheng family?

He guessed Wilbert was targeting the Nancheng family. In view of the fact that Nancheng Lie knew Wilbert so well, something must have happened between the Nancheng family and the Dom family. Although it was improper to pry into other people’s business, Li Qinghao decided to go and ask Nancheng Lie about it after the lunch.

Li Qinghao knew clearly that Wilbert Dom was testing him, so he gave an answer that Wilbert wanted, “Yes, two years ago I had a car accident and rolled down a hill. I was at my last gasp when I was sent to the hospital. Doctors rescued me, but I became a vegetable. Fortunately, two months ago I finally woke up,” Li Qinghao said, studying Wilber’s face out of the corner of his eye.

A look of surprise came over Wilbert’s face. “God! You are so lucky. You must have been blessed by Bodhisattvas.”

“Haha, do you know what?  I was completely stunned when I woke up finding two years had passed.” What surprised him most was that he became Li Qinghao.

“It’s a miracle!” Wilbert Dom’s eyes were bright and deep. He was not as handsome as Nancheng Lie, but his features and unique temperament added to his manliness. “I had several car accidents before, but I was luckier than you. I thought only people in business circles would threaten their opponents with assassination. I didn’t expect you, a college student, to encounter such a terrible thing.”

“Although my father’s company operates well, I don’t think anyone would try to threaten my father with my safety. I have no memory of that car accident. It’s said that I was not the target of the killers. I had bad luck.” Li Qinghao shook his head. He was unlucky, but not the unluckiest person. Anyway, he was reborn as Li Qinghao.

“You have no memory? What happened to you?”

“I lost my memory, because there was a blood clot in my brain. It constricted my nerves. Afterwards, the blood clot disappeared, but I became a vegetable. According to the scientific explanation, I have suffered damage to the brain. To put it simply, I lost my memory.” Li Qinghao noticed that Wilbert was wide-eyed with astonishment.

It seemed that Wilbert didn’t yet know who was behind the car accident. Should he tell Wilbert the truth? Li Qinghao got an evil idea.

“Quacks!” Wilbert Dom gave a snort. “From a scientific point of view, the so-called ‘memory loss’ is nonexistent. There must be something wrong with your body, but your doctor hasn’t found it. I know some famous doctors. What about going abroad for a general check-up? Despite the continuous improvement of China’s medical level, it still can’t compare with that of foreign countries.

“It’s no use. You know, I was the innocent victim of the murder. The real target of those killers is a son of a rich and powerful family. He had some authorities in medical circles give me a general check-up, but the result showed nothing abnormal. It doesn’t matter to me whether I can regain my memory. After all, my memory capacity is limited. Since I lost my memory of the past, I will look forwards and make new memories.”

Wilbert burst into laughter. It was the second time Li Qinghao had met Wilbert. When they first met, they had spent quite a bit of time talking and laughing, but Wilbert hadn’t laughed as heartily as he did now. Li Qinghao was a bit surprised.

Wilbert seemed to be laughing from the bottom of his heart. Li Qinghao couldn’t help but wonder whether he had misunderstood Wilbert.

Wilbert Dom curved his lips into an ambiguous smile and asked slowly, “Why are you looking at me like that?” His voice was melodious and contagious. There was a charm about his manner.

Li Qinghao was a little embarrassed. “Er, I appreciate a man with a strong personality.” He raised his head and gave a faint smile. A dull red flush suffused his face. He masked his real feelings with shyness.

Wilbert looked meaningfully at Li Qinghao without speaking. After a moment’s silence, he gave a bigger smile and said, “It’s an honor to be appreciated by you. Why do you think I have a strong personality?”

“First, you have a nice figure.” Li Qinghao leaned back in his chair and held up one finger.

Wilbert Dom stretched out two fingers and said, “There are many men with a good figure. What about the second point?”

Li Qinghao blurt out, “You are rich.”

“There are many rich men all over the world.” It seemed that Wilbert was deliberately teasing Li Qinghao. As a 30-year-old man, he was much more experienced than Li Qinghao. Everything he had lived through made him a mature man. So, he knew clearly what Li Qinghao was thinking. Although Li was very clever and cautious, he was short of experience. He didn’t yet meet with people from all walks of life.

There were all kinds of people in the world. For every able person there is always one still abler.

Li Qinghao said seriously, “But I know very few men who are rich and well-built.”

“Hahaha…” Amused by Li’s childishness, Wilbert burst out laughing. “Okay, I agree with you. As you said, I’m a man with a strong personality.”

Li Qinghao rolled his eyes at Wilbert and decided to change a subject. “Mr. Dom, you asked me to come here only because you wanted to lunch with me?”

Wilbert Dom answered his question with another question, “Of course. What else?”

“I thought you had something to talk to me.”

“Why?”

“Sir, I’m a patient. I shouldn’t walk around with my injured leg.” Wilbert was good at playing dumb, just like Nancheng Lie. The thought of Nancheng Lie gave Li Qinghao a feeling of happiness. A smile flickered across his face.

“What are you thinking of? Something funny?” Wilbert Dom captured in Li Qinghao’s eyes a trace of a smile. “Can you share your happiness with me?”

Li Qinghao shook his head and replied, “I don’t like to share my happiness with others.” He turned Wilbert down directly.

Wilbert Dom was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected Li Qinghao to refuse him with such an excuse. When he came back to his senses, he didn’t get angry; instead, he looked at Li Qinghao with blazing eyes, as if trying to read his mind. Li Qinghao was not afraid of Wilbert. He calmly stared back.

“You’re interesting.” Wilbur tomu glanced at his watch. “I want to invite you to go for a walk with me, but I guess you will refuse me on the plea of your injured leg, right?”

Li Qinghao nodded, “It’s not an excuse.”

“Alright, see you next time.”

“If I were alive.”

“Uh-huh?”

“We cannot say for sure what will happen tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you will have a bright future.”

Li Qinghao sneered, with a disapproving attitude. He himself didn’t know what the future held for him, let alone Wilbert. After lunch, they walked out of the restaurant. Wilbert Dom got in the car and left.

Li Qinghao stood his ground, wondering what the purpose of this lunch was. He couldn’t think of a reason for Wilbert’s action.

Sitting in the car, Wilbert refreshed his spirit by closing his eyes. A few moments later he suddenly said, “Make an appointment with Mr. Li. We can sign a contract now.”

“Ah?” His assistant was surprised. “Boss, you said we needed to guard against Li Qinghao.”

“Maybe I’m mistaken about him. Anyway, he’s only 20. He is on guard against me, but he preserves an appearance of nonchalance. Ha! An interesting boy!”

“Well, I see.”

In Wilbert Dom’s view, he had seen through Li Qinghao’s mind.

‘I know he has doubts about the purpose of my invitation to dinner with him. Besides, he must be wondering why I asked about his injured leg. But he feigned ignorance and answered my questions naturally. I admire him for his calmness. After all, he’s still young. He is smart, but he is short of life experience,’ Wilbert thought to himself.

As a matter of fact, Wilbert Dom was wrong. If “Li Qinghao”, or to be more exact, the real Han Mingxu hadn’t encountered those killers two years ago, he would have still been a naive, inexperienced boy. But in fact, he had encountered many difficulties and dangers, and now he was still struggling between life and death. It was hard to see through a man like him.

To Li Qinghao’s surprise, he received a call from Keqi, soon after Wilbert left.