As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone else at the table was thoroughly shocked. Lin Duole put down his bowl and chopsticks, looked up at Song Qian, and said to Lu Tingyu, “Uncle Lu, living at school will let me save more time for studying so I can make even bigger progress next time.”
“Lele, boarding at school isn’t as easy as you think. Cramming into a dorm with so many people and sharing a single bathroom certainly won’t be as convenient as staying at home. Plus, the cafeteria food at school can’t possibly match the nutrition you get at home,” Lu Tingyu persuaded as he set his soup spoon down. He couldn’t understand why the child would suddenly want to live at school when he was staying here so comfortably.
At the dinner table, Song Qian had initially remained silent. But the moment she heard Lele mention his decision to board, her gaze darted toward the child. Opening her mouth for a rare moment, she said, “I think Lele living at school is actually quite good—think of it as getting used to collective life in advance. Even if he doesn’t board in high school, he’ll still have to live on campus in college anyway.”
Lu Chengyu didn’t utter a word through the entire exchange. His knuckles turned pale from gripping his chopsticks so tightly, and his eyes were glued onto Lin Duole, his expression looking intensely furious.
The husband and wife debated back and forth over Lele’s desire to live at school. In the end, Lu Tingyu yielded: “How about we arrange it at the start of next semester for 9th grade? It’s already June, and this semester is coming to an end in the blink of an eye. Raising this with the school right now wouldn’t be easy to arrange anyway.”
Seeing her husband finally back down, Song Qian bit her lip and said to Lele with a smile, “Then don’t rush, Lele. Your Uncle Lu agreed to the boarding matter, so he’ll arrange it for you next semester.”
Lin Duole ate his food in small bites, feeling the heavy boulder weighing on his heart finally loosen its grip. “Thank you, Auntie Song. Sorry to trouble you, Uncle Lu.”
Hearing this decision, the mouthful of rice Lu Chengyu had shoveled into his mouth became impossible to swallow. He stayed silent for a long time, passively allowing his parents to decide Lin Duole’s fate without even needing to ask for his input.
After dinner, Lu Tingyu left the house in a gloomy mood, claiming he had eaten too much tonight and wanted to take a walk downstairs to digest. He grabbed Lu Chengyu and dragged him along outside as well.
Seeing that only he and Auntie Song were left in the house, Lin Duole took the initiative to clear the leftover food from the dining table and conscientiously washed the dishes.
Watching this obedient child, a wave of guilt welled up inside Song Qian. Lele’s sudden request to board at school was undeniably fishy, but no matter how one looked at it, the decision hit the spot regarding her own true desires.
Sometimes she really couldn’t fathom who this kid actually was. In twenty years, she had never seen her husband care so deeply about anyone, looking as if he were eager to dig out his very heart and hand it over.
She couldn’t stop herself from suspecting whether the boy was her husband’s illegitimate child kept on the side. Yet whenever she thought about Lu Tingyu’s usual demeanor in bed, his attitude made it seem like he wished for nothing more than to live a life entirely free of worldly desires.
To say Lu Tingyu would cheat wouldn’t the whole world have to be driven mad first? Song Qian’s left and right brain were at war with each other, but even if she grabbed Lu Tingyu by the collar and forced him to give an explanation, he wouldn’t necessarily be willing to lay things out clearly for her.
The only way was to search for the answer herself, relying on medical proof.
Taking advantage of Lele washing dishes in the kitchen, she entered the secondary bedroom’s bathroom and took Lin Duole’s toothbrush, while also replacing her husband’s toothbrush with a new one.
When Lin Duole came out of the kitchen, Song Qian was holding the new toothbrushes, just about to put them back into the bathroom. Caught red-handed by Lin Duole, she had no choice but to smile and say to him, “Lele, Auntie was just about to replace the new toothbrushes for you and Xiaoyu. It’s unhygienic to use old toothbrushes for too long. In our family, we swap them out for new ones every two months.”
“Thank you, Auntie Song.” Facing her one-on-one, Lin Duole acted a bit constrained, but he still accepted the two new toothbrushes from her hand and placed them into his and Lu Chengyu’s respective mouthwash cups.
After the father and son returned from their walk, Lu Tingyu sat in the living room watching TV. He clicked the remote, switching through several channels without finding a single thing he wanted to watch. Even the financial channel he usually paid close attention to sounded grating at this moment.
With a dark expression, Lu Chengyu returned to the bedroom. Inside, Lin Duole was single-mindedly working on practice problems. In truth, his homework had long been completed, but because he had learned some grammar ahead of time, he intended to finish tomorrow’s practice exercises in advance.
The black gel pen made a crisp scratching sound against the paper. Lu Chengyu leaned in for a look, and upon realizing the questions belonged to tomorrow’s workload, he instantly snatched the pen from his hand.
The air fell silent in an instant. Lin Duole raised his head and met Lu Chengyu’s sharp, thick brows and sword-like eyes.
It was a very handsome face—handsome enough that the aunties back in their village would praise him to the heavens, Lin Duole couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
“Killing two birds with one stone—you must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself, huh?” Lu Chengyu scowled, his eyes fierce and his tone carrying an unmistakably dangerous edge.
Lin Duole had no idea how he had offended him again. Ever since getting off the bus, he had kept a cold face the entire day. Lin Duole had tried his best to minimize face-to-face contact with him, terrified of making him even angrier. Yet avoiding contact didn’t seem to calm him down either; instead, he acted more like an irritable rabbit, so agitated he looked ready to bite someone right now.
“Killing two birds with one stone?” Lin Duole suddenly pondered the meaning of the idiom, not quite sure what he was referring to. Wanting to ask this irritable rabbit, he said, “Are you talking about me?”
“Who else besides you?” Lu Chengyu glared at him, adopting that look reserved for an idiot as he shot back, “Is there anyone else in this room?”
Lin Duole raised his eyes, flickers of confusion swimming in them as he asked perplexed, “How am I killing two birds with one stone?”
Lu Chengyu looked at him, arms crossed over his chest. He paused for a long moment before speaking: “Saying out of nowhere that you want to live at school—as if causing my parents to fight wasn’t enough, my dad dragged me out for a walk just now purely to interrogate me in private.”
Even more baffled, Lin Duole asked him, “What did Uncle Lu interrogate you about?”
“What else could he ask?” Lu Chengyu glanced at Lin Duole impatiently, refusing to say more.
In truth, there was no need to guess. It was obviously nothing more than asking whether he had bullied his younger brother, or if two people living in one room had caused friction that made Lin Duole want to leave.
Lin Duole lowered his head and murmured to himself, “I’m sorry. It was my own decision to live at school and had nothing to do with you. I caused you to get scolded.”
“So? Why the sudden desire to live at school?” Lu Chengyu’s gaze was aloof, his tone no better as he said, “Is sharing a room with me such a hardship for you?”
What kind of phrasing was that? Lin Duole waved his hands repeatedly and said, “No, it’s not a hardship at all. Not even a little bit.”
Lu Chengyu stared at him without a word, waiting to hear his reason.
Lin Duole shook his head. After a moment of silence, he continued, “Your home is bigger than my entire courtyard back home. Living at your house is very convenient and happy. Uncle and Auntie are both so good to me, considering my needs and looking out for me in every way. I feel unworthy of receiving all this.”
He said so much, yet omitted him alone.
“What about me?” Since he deliberately bypassed him, Lu Chengyu insisted on bringing himself up. “Am I not good to you?”
Not expecting him to ask this, Lin Duole was stunned for a moment. He suddenly felt that Lu Chengyu had been acting a bit strange lately—though he seemed to always give off a strange vibe, hot and cold by turns.
“You’re alright too,” Lin Duole casually offered a compliment. But realizing that the words “alright” might make Lu Chengyu dissatisfied, he quickly tried to smooth it over: “Even though you’re fierce sometimes and look like you’re fed up with me, every time I run into trouble, you always help me.”
“Heh.” Lu Chengyu gave a cold laugh and asked, “Does your conscience hurt when you talk against it like that?”
“How so?” Lin Duole gave a small, sheepish laugh. Realizing he didn’t seem as angry anymore, his own mood brightened as well: “I’m telling the absolute truth.”
Seeing how he answered like an AI robot in a shopping mall responding to one prompt at a time with zero desire for genuine communication Lu Chengyu could only throw down one final sentence: “Dad agreed to the boarding thing. You can go next semester.”
“I really hope time moves a little faster.”
“What?” Lu Chengyu scoffed softly and asked, “Are you really that eager to leave this place?”
“That’s not what I mean.” Lin Duole glanced at the stars outside the window and said, “It’s just that I want to grow up faster…”
Lin Duole truly wanted to become an independent adult faster he wanted to study hard, land a high-paying job after finishing school, and have the ability to pay off his debts. He wanted to return everything Uncle Lu had given him, even though what he owed Uncle Lu was far too much.
This time, it was Lu Chengyu’s turn to be left speechless. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for his younger brother; it seemed that apart from Dad, not a single person in this world truly loved him.
Time quickly moved to mid-June. When Song Qian received the paternity test report, her mind immediately settled. Unsurprisingly, Lin Duole had zero biological connection to Lu Tingyu.
At this point, she no longer needed to suspect her husband, nor did she need to view Lin Duole as an unbearable presence, because he would be boarding at school next semester and completely out of her daily life.
The calendar on the kitchen island was flipped to June 12th her son’s birthday was approaching. Seeing that Lu Chengyu had finished breakfast and was changing shoes at the entryway with Lin Duole, Song Qian walked over with a bright smile. She patted Lu Chengyu’s head and asked, “Son, your birthday is in two days. Should we celebrate at home this time, or should the four of us go out to eat together?”
“Either is fine, up to you, Mom,” Lu Chengyu replied expressionlessly. Noticing that the zipper on Lin Duole’s backpack wasn’t zipped properly, he reached out and zipped it up for him.
Seeing this and noting that the two boys seemed to be on good terms, Song Qian asked Lin Duole, “Lele, when is your birthday? Seeing as you’ve been here for so long, Auntie forgot to ask.”
“I was born in winter, on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month,” Lin Duole answered. He only knew because his mother had told him when he was little. Back when his mother was still around, she always wanted to celebrate his birthday, but his grandmother would berate them every time. Consequently, he had never celebrated a proper birthday.
“That’s quite nice—right near the New Year, a time of nationwide celebration.” Ever since learning that Lin Duole had no relation to Lu Tingyu, Song Qian’s care for him had naturally increased. She asked another question: “Then for your brother’s birthday, does Lele want to go out to eat or celebrate at home?”