After dinner, Meng Luoyu and Sangsang, both of whom had been to the concert, claimed they were sleepy.
Meng Luoyu had passed the exam for the Longhe District Procuratorate in Longcheng, and her workplace was over an hour's commute from Zhuoyuan. Yawning and struggling with the decision for a moment, she said, "I think I'll stay at my apartment tonight. Getting up early is too hard—I'm afraid I won't make it."
Her rented apartment was only a three-to-four-minute walk from the procuratorate, so she could simply walk to work.
Seeing how late it was and feeling uneasy, Meng Wenjian went with Sang Jinyuan to see Meng Luoyu off.
The villa district was quiet and pleasant. The evening breeze carried the fragrance of grass and flowers, and the temperature was agreeable. Meng Luobai glanced at the house next door. The lights were off, waiting quietly for its owner to return, just as usual.
Meng Luobai turned and went back to her room.
In her first year living at Zhuoyuan, she was about to enter her final year of high school. Because there was a math competition after the semester started, she moved into the school dorms two weeks early for intensive training.
Before leaving, she had put her phone number into Ling Sui's little backpack. She knew Ling Sui didn't trust her yet, nor was she arrogant enough to think she could be some savior to a child she'd only known for half a month.
She simply felt that if a child needed help, giving them one more path and one more option couldn't hurt.
Fortunately, Ling Sui never actually needed to use the number she'd given him. By the time she returned home from school, the legendary Butler Xu had come back.
She saw the commercial vehicle from next door parked at the villa's entrance and was about to greet them when the car door opened. A gentle, handsome young man stepped out, took a backpack from the car, and then a boy jumped down nimbly from the vehicle.
"Hey, Lu Jin," she greeted.
Although his face was still cold, there was a bit more ease in his expression—clearly a sign that he felt secure now.
Before Lu Jin could speak, Butler Xu spoke first. "Hello, you must be Miss Meng from next door."
Meng Luobai replied, "Yes, I am. Are you Butler Xu?"
After they exchanged greetings, Lu Jin silently averted his glass-colored eyes.
Butler Xu: "Thank you for looking after our young master recently."
Butler Xu's tone was sincere and polite, which made Meng Luobai a little embarrassed. "I didn't really do much."
That evening, she also learned from Meng Wenjian that Butler Xu had returned a week earlier, and that woman had left. It was only then that Meng Wenjian couldn't help but sigh, "You have to say, that father really is careless. He's so busy with work that he dumps his kid on his girlfriend, and when the girlfriend's gone, he leaves the kid to the butler. What kind of father does that?"
That was true enough, but looking at it from later on, Butler Xu clearly raised the boy better than his father ever did. Of course, that's a story for later.
After Butler Xu returned, Lu Jin's interactions with their family actually increased. Butler Xu was very willing to let Lu Jin come over to their house. Every time Meng Luobai or Meng Wenjian invited him, even if Lu Jin refused, Butler Xu would help him accept.
Senior year passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was Chinese New Year.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Meng Luobai invited Lu Jin over to play again. She was playing Monopoly with the three children.
After Lu Jin rolled the dice, he looked at the number "3" on the face, and his beautiful glass-colored eyes flickered. He moved his piece directly onto Meng Luobai's piece, then flicked hers away with his index finger. "Your building's gone again."
Meng Luobai had originally wanted to play a game to relax, but this brat always insisted on targeting her.
She pretended to pick up the instruction manual and said, "The rules say you can't flatten someone else's building twice in a row. You already flattened my building last time, so you can't do it this time."
Lu Jin: "This is the third time."
Meng Luobai: "…"
She clutched her pitiful "50 yuan" and said, "…I'm about to go bankrupt."
Lu Jin's cool, clear eyes lowered slightly.
Meng Luobai pressed her lips together, and her hand moved unexpectedly to his little head, rubbing it roughly. "How are you so good at Monopoly?"
Lu Jin dodged her demonic hand expressionlessly, then finished her off in one final wave.
Lu Jin rolled the dice, and whatever he wanted, he got. She even suspected he was the reincarnation of a gambling god. Actually, she knew this game wasn't purely about luck—luck was the foundation, but what decided the outcome was strategy and decision-making. Sometimes, even with mediocre luck, precise decisions could turn the tables. Clearly, Lu Jin excelled in this area even at such a young age.
After playing for a while, Meng Luoyu beside him asked, "Lu Jin, is your dad coming home for New Year tomorrow? I've never met your dad."
The boy's long lashes drooped as he said coldly, "He's not coming home."
Meng Luoyu didn't understand. "Huh? He's not coming home even for New Year?"
Lu Jin didn't say anything.
Meng Luoyu kept chattering, "Since your dad's surname is Ling, do you take your mom's surname?"
When Meng Luobai came over with the fruit platter, she happened to hear this. She reached out and pressed Meng Luoyu's head. "Right. Don't the two of us also take our mom's surname? Come on, kids, have some fruit."
Lu Jin sat to the side and said quietly, "My mom's surname isn't Lu. Her surname is Luo."
So Lu wasn't his mom's surname either.
Although Meng Luobai was puzzled, she didn't pry. It wasn't until later, when Meng Luobai met Lu Jin's father, that she understood what the "Lu" was for.
That was already after Meng Luobai's college entrance exam. Meng Wenjian took the kids to the amusement park, and by the time they finished dinner and came back, it was already very late.
Several luxury cars were parked in front of Lu Jin's house. When Meng Luobai walked him home, she saw two tall, handsome men standing in the courtyard. One of them wore an ice-blue shirt with dress pants and had the same eyes and brows as Lu Jin.
The man was very refined and approachable, with a magnetic voice, and he thanked her gentlemanly for taking Lu Jin out to play. Although she had formed a less-than-favorable impression of his father from Lu Jin's scattered remarks, seeing Ling Yunqian in person still somewhat overturned her expectations. Because whether it was his appearance or his demeanor and temperament, he was even more vivid and concrete than the kind father figures in Western movies who were close to their children.
After Meng Luobai dropped off Lu Jin and left, she realized Lu Jin's phone was still with her.
When she went back to return it, she heard a man speaking to Ling Yunqian, "Your son looks quite a bit like you."
"Doesn't he look like you? I had him take your surname." Ling Yunqian said to Lu Jin in the same refined and gentle voice as before, "Come here, son. From now on, you can call him daddy too."
The other man said, "Cut it out. I'm not as despicable as you."
Meng Luobai stood at the door, and those few short exchanges overturned her understanding once again. She deliberately made some noise, pretending nothing had happened as she walked in to return the phone.
As she tucked the phone into Lu Jin's pocket, she wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug. "You've had a long day today. Don't think about anything—just get some sleep."
Lu Jin still stood in the courtyard, his young frame thin and his face utterly expressionless.
She finally understood why that woman had treated Lu Jin so terribly, and why, even in the face of such cruelty, Lu Jin refused to call his father. Because Lu Jin had never had anyone to rely on. He knew all too well that the indifference of outsiders was nothing compared to the dysfunction of his own family.
From that day on, she never again pried into anything about Lu Jin's family, and she sternly instructed everyone in her household—especially Meng Luoyu—never to ask.
She also came to treat Lu Jin completely as her own younger brother, ranking him even above Sang Shu in her affections. Whether she was returning from school or heading out to play, she always remembered to bring something for all four of her younger siblings.
During those five or six years, Meng Wenjian did the same. Perhaps because she rarely got to see Chen Yian, or simply because she genuinely adored Lu Jin, she treated him exceptionally well—almost like a second son.
Meng Luobai had imagined that their neighborly bond might one day fade with time or be severed by a move, but she never expected Lu Jin to leave without so much as a word.
Meng Luobai let out a soft sigh. The events at the estate last night flashed through her mind. If Ling Sui truly had niche tastes and was open to either gender, it was most likely a habit picked up over the past few years under Ling Yunqian's influence.
Monday, 8:30 AM. Meng Luobai arrived at her new workplace right on time.
The private hospital had excellent facilities and equipment. The colleague who greeted and received her was from the same department—a fellow alum of Longcheng Medical University named Liu Xun. After giving her a general overview of the hospital's layout and departmental divisions, Liu Xun pushed open a door. "Vice Director Meng, this room will be your office. The computers come pre-loaded with our hospital's diagnostic system, and your account permissions have already been activated. I'll send the operation manual to your WeChat in a moment."
Meng Luobai lightly ran her fingers across the desk, then looked up with a smile at Liu Xun. "Thank you, Dr. Liu. I've just arrived at the hospital, so I need to catch up with everyone's pace as quickly as possible. I'll be counting on you for help with departmental matters going forward. But since you're my senior from school, just call me Luobai from now on. Please don't call me Director Meng."
Liu Xun chuckled. "Let's not stand on ceremony with each other. I'll call you Dr. Meng. Take some time to get familiar with the place—if you need anything at all, just ask me."
Meng Luobai: "Alright, thank you so much."
After Liu Xun left, Meng Luobai turned on the computer and began familiarizing herself with the hospital's work system.
Starting at a new workplace always comes with things to adjust to. Fortunately, the colleagues around her were all pleasant, and though the work was intense and busy, it was well within what she could handle.
At the end of the first week, Meng Luobai received a message from Liu Xiuyu, who began by updating her on Grandpa's recent health condition. Meng Luobai replied, "I'm a doctor. I know how he's doing."
Liu Xiuyu chuckled. "Right, right. You're a doctor—you'd know better than us." Then she added, "Luoyu probably told you too—I asked her earlier if she'd come to Luojing's wedding. She said she's busy with work, which makes sense, since she just started her job. But I keep thinking—you're all cousins, after all, and your father is coming back too. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the whole family could take a group photo together…"
Meng Luobai said flatly, "My family already has a group photo."
Hearing this, Liu Xiuyu let out an awkward laugh or two. "Well, that's not quite the same thing…"
Meng Luobai ignored her words and said, "I will go back. Mainly for Grandma—she's old and in poor health, and I don't want her to feel upset." This was also Meng Wenjian's exact words.
Hearing Meng Luobai's blunt statement, Liu Xiuyu was momentarily at a loss for words.
Meng Luobai continued, "And stop trying to reach Luoyu. She's busy with work, and you're not close with her anyway. Don't make things difficult for her."
"How is that making things difficult? Your grandfather—"
This time, Meng Luobai cut her off before she could finish. "Grandfather even less so. He's never even met Luoyu, so don't say he misses her."
Chen Wei had cheated during Meng Wenjian's postpartum period, and as soon as it ended, he took his newborn son and a female subordinate abroad to expand the business. The three of them—mother and two daughters—were almost immediately cast out by the grandfather.
She remembered that day, the clamor echoing through the stairwell. The grandfather, who had never been close to her, stood at the building's entrance, his bronze face etched with wrinkles, his expression ruthless and cold—as if one more moment of delay would let his daughter-in-law and two granddaughters ruin his son's bright future.