Lin Shenzhi pulled his hand away from where Wei Ran was stroking his stomach, stood up, and walked over to sit on the nearby sofa.
There was a private set of sofas in Lin Shenzhi’s office, dark-colored upholstered pieces that were exceptionally wide and comfortable.
Ever since meeting Wei Ran, that spot had practically become Wei Ran’s exclusive seat. Every time Wei Ran came over, he would wait for Lin Shenzhi on that sofa.
Wei Ran felt a slight pang of confusion, but he did not dwell on it.
Wei Ran followed him over and sat down beside Lin Shenzhi, looking right at him. “Can you tell me in detail about your parents?”
Lin Shenzhi had mentioned a few things about his parents before, but they were only brief fragments, and Chen Jiyun’s previous remark about waiting for over twenty years had left him curious.
Lin Shenzhi looked at the smiling God of Wealth figurine placed on his desk. He still remembered the radiant smile on Wei Ran’s face when he had hugged that figurine and said he wanted to give it to him. That smile made his mood improve every single time he looked at it.
After a moment of thought, Lin Shenzhi began to speak. “They fell in love freely. At first, the two of them were deeply in love, but it did not last.”
After a brief pause, Lin Shenzhi continued. “One day, that person took advantage of the time my father went out to secretly pack their things and leave. After that, they never came back.”
“My father spent over twenty years waiting for him to return. He kept living in the house they used to share, terrified that the person wouldn’t find the place if they came back, but until the day my father passed away, that person never returned.”
After his father passed away, Lin Shenzhi moved out of that house.
Wei Ran was speechless. Lin Shenzhi spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone without the slightest ripple of emotion, as if he were describing the weather.
Yet beneath that plainness, Wei Ran felt a sour ache in his chest.
Lin Shenzhi had begun taking over the Lin Corporation during his college years, officially joining the company right after graduation, and his father had passed away around that exact same time.
Lin Shenzhi was in his early twenties when he graduated. Even if his father had been older, he couldn’t have been more than fifty.
Fifty years old, waiting for over twenty years, that was half a lifetime.
A person spending half a lifetime waiting for someone else.
“Did you guys ever look for him?” Wei Ran asked.
“No.”
“Why?” Wei Ran could not understand.
Lin Shenzhi looked at Wei Ran with calm, deep eyes. “What good would finding him do?”
For someone who was determined to leave, what good would it do even if they went looking? Would the other person suddenly have a change of heart?
Wei Ran was at a loss for words, finally managing to squeeze out, “But you are his son. No matter what, she cannot just pretend she doesn’t know you.”
Lin Shenzhi remained silent, offering only stillness.
Chen Jiyun was an orphan, but his father and dad were still alive, though his father had never known all along that he had such a son.
Chen Jiyun’s father had chosen to hide the pregnancy and, after secretly giving birth to Chen Jiyun, left him behind to be raised by other members of their clan.
When he was little, Chen Jiyun was allowed to see his father once a month. Each visit was very brief, and every time they parted, Chen Jiyun would cry for several days.
When Chen Jiyun was in middle school, he stayed as a guest at their house. In the second year of junior high, Chen Jiyun secretly sneaked off behind their backs to go see his father and dad.
The two of them were living wonderfully, decades like a single day, respecting each other like honored guests.
It was just that their lives could not include him.
Chen Jiyun’s father discovered him and was scared completely pale.
Chen Jiyun looked very much like his father.
A few days later, Chen Jiyun’s father came to their house, scolded Chen Jiyun thoroughly, and ended up crying while shouting at him.
Chen Jiyun did not cry, but after that day, he refused to see his father ever again. He completely treated himself as an orphan, and he grew to intensely despise that kind of situation, believing that if two people couldn’t accept the whole package, they shouldn’t be together in the first place.
Lin Shenzhi could understand Chen Jiyun’s perspective, but that person was Wei Ran.
Having witnessed his father’s agony, Lin Shenzhi had once thought it was impossible for him to fall in love with anyone in this lifetime, believing he could never follow in his father’s footsteps. Yet, he had met Wei Ran.
“Your mother… was she not willing to give birth to you?” Wei Ran asked tentatively, still tangled in his thoughts.
“No.”
“Then why did she leave?” That made it even harder for Wei Ran to understand; he simply couldn’t fathom how parents could abandon their child and leave them behind after bringing them into the world.
Even if Lin Shenzhi’s father had done something wrong, even if she hated Lin Shenzhi’s father, she shouldn’t have completely abandoned Lin Shenzhi as well, ignoring him for twenty years.
Unable to make sense of it, Wei Ran looked at Lin Shenzhi.
Lin Shenzhi lowered his gaze slightly, quiet and silent like an ancient pool abandoned by time, where the sunny skies and singing birds had nothing to do with him, leaving only gloomy solitude.
Unable to bear that atmosphere, Wei Ran cupped Lin Shenzhi’s chin and kissed him.
Tracing Lin Shenzhi’s lips, feeling his breath and heartbeat, Wei Ran’s movements were both gentle and forceful. He wished he had met Lin Shenzhi sooner, wished he could knead Lin Shenzhi directly into his own flesh and blood.
When the kiss ended, both of them were slightly out of breath.
Lin Shenzhi leaned back against the sofa with his head tilted slightly, his dark hair messy, and a flush gracing his sharp-featured face that completely clashed with his usual detached demeanor.
Wei Ran quietly watched the man whose eye rims were reddened from the kiss, wanting nothing more than to pounce on him and kiss him hard all over again.
Before Wei Ran could act on the thought, Lin Shenzhi kissed him back.
Lips brushed against lips. Feeling Lin Shenzhi’s movements, Wei Ran felt as though he were plunging into the deep sea, his mind turning completely blank as all his senses shut down, leaving only the Lin Shenzhi right before him.
Wei Ran returned a fierce, passionate kiss, with a force so intense it felt as though he wanted to devour Lin Shenzhi whole.
When that kiss finally ended, Lin Shenzhi’s lips were ringed with red.
Seeing this, Wei Ran burst into bright laughter. The gloom in his heart melted away, replaced by a subtle wave of heartbreak and fondness.
Lin Shenzhi brushed his fingertips over his lips, feeling the lingering heat, and looked at the gloating amusement and smile in Wei Ran’s eyes with utter helplessness.
“Does the company still have things to do this afternoon?” Wei Ran asked with a smile.
Lin Shenzhi shook his head. He had already finished handling everything that needed attention. He had originally planned to visit Chen Jiyun’s house later, but since Chen Jiyun had come looking for him instead, things had actually become simpler.
“Then let’s go back.” Saying this, Wei Ran reached out to take Lin Shenzhi’s hand, but as he extended it, Lin Shenzhi avoided it.
Lin Shenzhi touched his still-red and swollen lips, looking outwardly cold and indifferent, yet the gaze he directed at Wei Ran carried a trace of innocent reproach.
Wei Ran was just like a little puppy, he bit people.
Wei Ran laughed even more happily. “What are you afraid of? Who in this company doesn’t already know about us?”
During the period right after they confirmed their relationship, Wei Ran had been so excited he practically wanted to write that Lin Shenzhi was his and they were dating across his forehead and announce it to the whole world. He used to run to Lin Shenzhi’s office every day, smiling at everyone, and had quickly blended in with many people at the company.
Long before they got married, everyone in Lin Shenzhi’s company already knew of his existence.
Wei Ran reached out to pull Lin Shenzhi along, but Lin Shenzhi stayed glued to the sofa, refusing to get up no matter what.
“Are you embarrassed?” Wei Ran returned to the sofa, kneeling with one leg in the space between Lin Shenzhi’s legs, cupping Lin Shenzhi’s face and looking down at him. “We are holding our wedding the day after tomorrow. If you are this shy, are you going to hide away and refuse to come out when the time comes?”
Wei Ran squeezed Lin Shenzhi’s face inward, squishing his features into a bun and pushing his lips into a pout.
Lin Shenzhi’s lips were already ringed with red, and pouting made them look even more vibrant, tempting Wei Ran so much he wanted to take a bite.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Wei Ran moved to do it, but Lin Shenzhi saw him coming and quickly dodged to the side. If he let Wei Ran run wild any longer, they wouldn’t even need to go home today.
Caught off guard by Lin Shenzhi’s dodge, Wei Ran lost his balance and tumbled forward right along with him, pinning Lin Shenzhi underneath him on the sofa.
“Oh, so you’re actually dodging me!” Wei Ran feigned anger, grabbing both of Lin Shenzhi’s wrists and pinning them above his head against the sofa.
Lin Shenzhi struggled slightly, but was quickly pinned back down.
Looking down at Lin Shenzhi from above with a fierce, villainous expression, Wei Ran demanded, “Confess, did you have a change of heart?”
“No.”
“Then why won’t you let me kiss you? You just don’t love me anymore!” Wei Ran bared his teeth, acting as though he was going to devour the unfaithful Lin Shenzhi.
“Stop messing around.” Lin Shenzhi’s long, slightly curled eyelashes fluttered as he turned his face slightly away, his voice cold and clear.
Lin Shenzhi’s tie had already loosened, and the top button of his shirt had come undone at some point. As he turned his head, a large expanse of fair skin was exposed beneath his collar, his prominent Adam’s apple came clearly into view, accompanied by the wave of his usual cool, ascetic yet alluring scent.
Wei Ran’s throat bobbed as his gaze on Lin Shenzhi turned gradually deep and scorching.
With reddened eyes, Wei Ran lowered his head and pressed a kiss to the side of Lin Shenzhi’s neck.
The moment Wei Ran’s lips touched his skin, Lin Shenzhi’s muscles tensed uncontrollably, his body arching slightly upward as a raspy, suppressed yet pleased moan slipped from his throat.
That sound echoed in Wei Ran’s ears like water droplets hitting hot oil, driving Wei Ran instantly wild.
“Don’t, don’t do this here.” Lin Shenzhi panicked slightly, though his body had already turned limp under Wei Ran’s handling, collapsing into a heap on the sofa.
“Be a good boy.” Wei Ran pressed a kiss to the wrist he had pinned above Lin Shenzhi’s head.
Lin Shenzhi wore tailored suits year-round, leaving the wrists hidden beneath his cuffs shockingly pale, with faint blue veins visible.
Wei Ran loved Lin Shenzhi’s hands even more, their fair skin tone, slender and well-proportioned knuckles, and beautiful shape.
Those hands were meant for holding fountain pens, always giving off an impression of cold restraint.
Yet what Wei Ran found most irresistible was the way those hands would grip the bedsheets tightly, fighting desperately to keep their owner from making a sound, making one want to torment that owner all the more until he cried out for mercy and surrendered completely.
“Lock, lock the door. Someone is here.” Fragmented words tumbled intermittently from Lin Shenzhi’s lips. He tried desperately to maintain his reason, but Wei Ran wasn’t giving him any chance.
“No one will come. Be good, we’ll make it quick.” Wei Ran murmured right against Lin Shenzhi’s ear.
When the two of them finally headed downstairs, it was already a little past five in the afternoon.
The orange-red sunset hung slantwise on the distant rooftops, creating an optical illusion where it felt like you could reach out and touch it just by climbing to the top, dreamy and blissful.
Beneath the sunset, Wei Ran pulled Lin Shenzhi into the car.
That afternoon, Wei Yun and Jin Qili had both called them several times. The moment the couple went out, they had vanished completely, leaving all the wedding preparations waiting for them to make final decisions.
Once in the car, Wei Ran quickly called Wei Yun back to let him know they were on their way home.
The moment the call connected and he heard Wei Yun’s voice, Wei Ran instantly turned as obedient as a cat whose scruff had been pinned down.
Seeing this from the side, Lin Shenzhi, still aching and weak all over, wondered if he should ask Wei Yun for lessons on how to raise a cat.
Especially on how to deal with an over-energetic one.