In the late afternoon, the bitter cold seemed to grow increasingly unrestrained, the temperature dropping so low it chilled one straight to the bone.
Pedestrians on the streets were few and far between, all bundled up in thick cotton coats, walking in a hurry with their heads tucked into their collars.
Only Lin Sui stood shivering by the roadside, wearing nothing more than a thin hoodie.
He had just found a new part-time job distributing flyers. His only thick coat was still hanging wetly in a corner of his rented room, having been soaked through by rain the previous night. Yet he did not fear the severe cold; in his heart, he only hoped to gather enough money as quickly as possible to pay for Meng Chengyuan’s medical treatment.
“Hello, please take a look.”
“Thank you. Please take a look at our new promotion.”
Lin Sui gritted his teeth, mechanically repeating his promotional pitch.
His hands were red from the cold and his lips lacked all color, yet he remained focused and dedicated to his post.
He failed to notice that a familiar figure had already been standing quietly nearby for a long time, taking in the entire scene.
It was Meng Chengyuan, who happened to be passing by and had stopped there, thoughtfully staring at Lin Sui for quite a while.
However, he had not come to pick Lin Sui up from work, nor did he have any intention of taking off his warm coat to lend it to him.
Meng Chengyuan was only there to watch Lin Sui suffer.
Meng Chengyuan’s younger brother, Meng Yan, had been killed by Lin Sui’s elder brother, Lin Mian. Meng Chengyuan had approached Lin Sui and fallen in love with him for the sole purpose of making Lin Mian pay the same tragic price he had endured.
Lin Sui’s figure grew increasingly thin, looking on the verge of collapsing in the biting cold wind. At times, he managed to hand a flyer smoothly to a passerby; at other times, he faced their harsh rejections.
The supervisor had made it clear: if this stack of flyers was not completely handed out today, Lin Sui would not be allowed to finish work on time.
Lin Sui felt anxious because he still had to hurry back to cook dinner for Meng Chengyuan.
Checking the time, Lin Sui took a moment to place a call to Meng Chengyuan.
The phone rang for several seconds before it was picked up. Meng Chengyuan’s voice came through, carrying a trace of imperceptible indifference: “What’s wrong?”
Hearing Meng Chengyuan’s voice, Lin Sui couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in joy, answering with a smile: “Brother Yuan, I might get off work a bit late today. If you’re hungry, grab a bite to eat first.”
Meng Chengyuan was silent for a moment before replying faintly: “Got it.” With that, he hung up the phone.
Lin Sui’s hand holding the phone paused, a wave of disappointment rising in his heart. He could feel that Meng Chengyuan’s attitude had been somewhat distant recently. Those once-tender words seemed fewer and farther between, replaced by brief and lukewarm responses.
Yet Lin Sui harbored no resentment. He curved his lips slightly, letting out a smile of understanding and relief.
He could understand that a patient’s mood was naturally fickle. Meng Chengyuan was enduring the torment of an illness, so his mood was bound to be affected.
Lin Sui took a deep breath, composed himself, and threw himself back into handing out flyers.
Meng Chengyuan withdrew his gaze from Lin Sui, his calm eyes as cold as if they had never held warmth.
He turned and stepped into a luxury car.
Under the streetlights, the luxury car gleamed with opulent light, forming a stark contrast to the freezing street where Lin Sui stood.
Driving the car was Meng Chengyuan’s subordinate, Xu Zhi. He cast a faint glance into the rearview mirror, which reflected the deep, unreadable expression of the man in the back seat.
Xu Zhi couldn’t help asking, “Mr. Meng, how long do you plan to keep up this charade? Why not just get it over with and deal with him directly?”
After all, for the sake of revenge, Meng Chengyuan had been with Lin Sui for nearly three years. During this period, to gain Lin Sui’s trust and sympathy, he had been forced to conceal his true identity and financial standing, humbling himself to live frugally alongside Lin Sui in a damp, dark rented room.
The air in the car stagnated for a moment. Meng Chengyuan’s eyes darkened slightly, though no clear emotion could be read from his face. He then said calmly, “It’s not time to close the net yet. Sometimes, the torment of living is far more painful than immediate death.”
Xu Zhi did not fully grasp Meng Chengyuan’s exact meaning or plan, but his only choice was to obey.
The car pulled up to the entrance of a high-end restaurant. Meng Chengyuan stared at the prominent restaurant sign outside the window, a flicker of complex emotion flashing through his eyes.
He intended to finish dinner here before returning to continue this game full of hatred and calculation.
By the time Lin Sui finished work, the night had grown late, and the clock hands quietly pointed to nearly eight o’clock.
Dragging his exhausted body home, he first carefully prepared Meng Chengyuan’s meal. Standing in the small kitchen, enveloped in dim light, he expertly stirred the dishes in the pan, the rising steam blurring his tired face.
Next, he reheated the soup he had taken time to stew at noon, a chicken soup meant to nourish Meng Chengyuan’s body. The rich aroma filled the humble rented room.
Once everything was ready, Lin Sui walked to the refrigerator and retrieved two mantou buns to heat up, which served as his own dinner.
When Meng Chengyuan arrived home, it was already nine o’clock. Lin Sui had just managed to swallow the dry mantou bun with difficulty. The bun had caught in his throat, making him frown in discomfort as he forced it down, causing a sharp sting in his throat.
As Meng Chengyuan approached, he noticed the leftover crumbs of mantou at the corner of Lin Sui’s mouth. He raised his hand slowly and brushed them away gently with his thumb, his brows furrowing as he asked, knowing the answer full well: “What did you eat for dinner?”
The handsome face of the man filled Lin Sui’s vision, causing him to involuntarily break into a bright smile. He put on a lighthearted front to hide the truth: “I had a big bowl of beef brisket noodles! What else could it be? You know that’s my favorite.”
Witnessing Lin Sui’s nonchalant demeanor, Meng Chengyuan felt as though a wad of cotton was stuffed into his chest, making him feel so stifled he could hardly breathe.
I can’t soften my heart. These people deserve this.
Meng Chengyuan reminded himself inwardly. Then, putting on an affectionate smile, he said hypocritically, “Mm, eat well. Don’t make me worry.”
After all, Meng Chengyuan could not be entirely cold; he occasionally needed to use a shred of false affection to keep Lin Sui tethered to him, devoted and unwilling to leave.
Because he loved so deeply, a simple word of care casually uttered by Meng Chengyuan was enough to set off ripples in Lin Sui’s heart, so much so that he once again overlooked the fact that this man was no longer as attentive as he used to be.
Lin Sui brought out Meng Chengyuan’s dinner. Having already eaten, the man had no appetite for the food. He could only make an excuse to dismiss Lin Sui, after which he dumped all of Lin Sui’s hard work into the trash bin.
When Lin Sui returned, he assumed Meng Chengyuan had finished the meal, so he went to prepare the chicken soup.
“Brother Yuan, try it and see how it tastes. I simmered it for three hours,” Lin Sui said joyfully, ladling all the chicken soup into a single bowl and handing it entirely to Meng Chengyuan, unwilling to taste even a single drop himself.
Without hesitation, Meng Chengyuan took the bowl from Lin Sui and drank it spoon by spoon.
In reality, he was not sick at all. The so-called massive medical fees were merely a lie he had bribed a private clinic doctor to tell Lin Sui.
And the fool before him was completely oblivious to it all.
After Meng Chengyuan drank every last drop of the soup, Lin Sui took the empty bowl and ran to the kitchen to wash the dishes. His hands turned bright red in the icy water, but he had long grown accustomed to it; the word “fragile” was never an option for him.
Meng Chengyuan turned to grab his clothes and went to the bathroom to wash up. He threw his laundry into a bucket, knowing Lin Sui would take care of it later.
After washing the dishes, Lin Sui quietly retrieved the clothes Meng Chengyuan had tossed into the bucket to wash them by hand.
He fetched a basin of cold water and soaked the clothes inside. The moment his hands touched the water, the piercing cold spread through his entire body.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Sui endured the discomfort and began to scrub the garments.
He washed every piece of clothing meticulously, his fingers turning white from prolonged immersion and exertion, while his knuckles turned slightly red.
As he washed the clothes, Lin Sui thought about Meng Chengyuan’s condition, praying silently in his heart for his speedy recovery.
By the time he finished, Lin Sui’s hands had gone almost entirely numb from the cold.
He stood up, stretched his stiff body, and began tidying up the room.
Though the rented room was humble, Lin Sui always did his best to keep it neat and orderly.
He wiped down the tables and made the bed. Every movement betrayed his willing devotion, for this place was the home he shared with Meng Chengyuan.
Sitting nearby, Meng Chengyuan watched Lin Sui busy himself. He looked at the increasingly frail figure kneeling by the sofa to sweep away dust, punctuated occasionally by a few coughs.
Meng Chengyuan’s face remained expressionless, yet the heart in his chest felt strangely tight for no apparent reason.
After finishing up, Lin Sui walked over to Meng Chengyuan and asked with concern, “Brother Yuan, how are you feeling today? Any better?”
Collecting his scattered thoughts, Meng Chengyuan replied indifferently, “Same as usual.”
A flash of disappointment crossed Lin Sui’s eyes, but he quickly regained his optimism, offering encouragement: “It’s alright, we will definitely find a way to cure your illness. Please don’t worry about the money; just focus on getting better.”
Avoiding eye contact with Lin Sui, Meng Chengyuan offered a faint reply.
That night, after Meng Chengyuan went to sleep, Lin Sui quietly brought out his manual handicraft work.
Even though it was a simple task, just snapping two iron buckles together, Lin Sui had been working hard all day, making even such simple steps a heavy burden on his exhausted mental state.
Under the light, he worked attentively, his fingers already calloused from labor.
Before meeting Meng Chengyuan, although Lin Sui could hardly be called wealthy, he could at least make ends meet and only needed to work one job a day.
When he went home, he could sleep early without worrying about anything else.
Outside the window, the night was as dark as ink and completely silent. Lin Sui sat hunched in the freezing living room, his frail shadow looking exceptionally lonely under the dim lamp.
He had caught a cold and was coughing slightly, but to avoid disturbing Meng Chengyuan’s rest, he tried his best to suppress the noise. His body trembled slightly, whether from the cold or from discomfort, his complexion looking even more haggard than that of Meng Chengyuan, the supposed patient.
Yet, Meng Chengyuan was not actually asleep.
He heard Lin Sui’s faint movements and his suppressed coughing, recalling the exhausted figure he had seen earlier that day.
He had thought his heart would be filled with pleasure, but Meng Chengyuan only felt as if his heart were being squeezed tight, an unspeakable emotion spreading deep within his soul.