“What are you talking about?”
Shen Mingjin’s pupils dilated slightly, and a faint crack appeared on his calm profile, much like the ripples appearing on a previously silent lake.
“How could I sever ties with my father?!”
What was he thinking?!
Shen Lian was clearly also puzzled by this problem. He scratched his head, accidentally aggravating the wound on his face, which hissed.
“This question involves your family’s privacy, and I don’t know much about it. I only know that after you broke off your relationship with your father, you moved to Nangang with your mother and your maternal grandfather. Later, your father’s company went bankrupt and he was imprisoned for some reason. You have never come back to see your father. It’s as if your family disappeared out of thin air. I can’t contact you no matter what.”
Shen Mingjin: “………”
Before he could recover from the shocking news that he had severed ties with his father, he heard the devastating news that his father had been imprisoned.
Although he couldn’t remember why he had severed ties with his father, it didn’t mean he wasn’t moved when he heard that his father had gone to prison.
That person… was, after all, his own father.
Shen Mingjin had mixed feelings.
Shen Lian looked at Shen Mingjin’s dazed face, his expression showing reluctance:
“Hey, don’t be so…”
“Fine.”
Shen Mingjin didn’t want to reveal too much emotion in front of outsiders, and seeing that he couldn’t get any more information from Shen Lian, he stood up after a moment, paused, and seemed to remember something important. He looked up and gave Lin Ciyang a look.
Lin Ciyang had been standing anxiously at the door for a long time, torn between “continuing to listen to Brother Shen’s private affairs here” and “whether to go outside and wait.” Shen Mingjin, watching this, took a deep breath.
“Ciyang, come here.”
“oh oh.”
Lin Ciyang carried the agarwood bracelet as if it were a precious treasure, and ran over all the way:
“Brother Shen, what’s up?”
“You’ll follow him after that, and he’ll help you connect with buyers.”
Under Shen Lian’s reluctant gaze, Shen Mingjin patted Lin Ciyang’s shoulder and whispered a word of advice:
“Don’t worry, everything will be alright.”
His voice was deep, but at this moment, his eyes were devoid of any light, filled with many emotions that Lin Ciyang could not understand.
Is it because he knows his father is in prison that he behaves this way?
Lin Ciyang was momentarily dazed, staring at Shen Mingjin’s face, hesitant to speak, not daring to guess, or rather, unable to guess.
Shen Mingjin was like a mystery to him. Despite having no education or experience and being just a wage earner like him, he knew so much about antiques that Lin Ciyang was almost speechless.
Lin Ciyang instinctively felt that even if Shen Mingjin came to work on the construction site, he was not from the same world as him.
Therefore, he had a mysterious trust and admiration for Shen Mingjin. This feeling seemed to come from the subtle sense of detachment that Shen Mingjin possessed—it was precisely because he was elusive that he drove him even more crazy.
Therefore, Lin Ciyang, like Shen Lian, once thought that Shen Mingjin would not be moved by anyone, until Shen Mingjin met Xu Duwan.
When Shen Mingjin walked out of the antique shop, Xu Duwan was waiting for him at the entrance.
He seemed to have been waiting for a long time; his face was flushed from the rising sun. He was squatting on the ground, listlessly selecting antique jewelry. The surrounding stall owners were all looking at him eagerly, their eyes like those of people looking at a rich, foolish sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Shen Mingjin couldn’t help but glance at the stall, and after looking at the goods, he had a better idea of what to expect. He walked over and helped Xu Duwan up.
“What are you doing squatting here? Aren’t you hot?”
He calmly pulled Xu Duwan into his arms, even as the stall owner was murdering him.
Xu Duwan was suddenly pulled by Shen Mingjin, and his attention was indeed diverted. Like a startled lamb, his eyes widened suddenly, a hint of panic flashing across them. He only managed to calm down when he saw Shen Mingjin’s smiling face, and said in an annoyed tone:
“It’s all because I was waiting for you.”
“Yes, it was my fault.” Shen Mingjin readily put his arm around Xu Duwan’s waist, pulled him into his embrace, and wiped the sweat from Xu Duwan’s forehead without any hesitation.
“Where should we eat later? It’s my treat.”
“Have you finished talking with Shen Lian?” Xu Duwan hesitated for a moment, then asked again:
“No need, haven’t you been paid yet?”
“Almost there,” Shen Mingjin said casually. “Are you hungry?”
“It’s alright.” Xu Duwan glanced cautiously at Shen Mingjin, and seeing that the other party didn’t seem to have any intention of returning to the antique shop, he asked again after a while:
“You’re really not going back?”
“You really want me to go back?”
Shen Mingjin sensed the probing in Xu Duwan’s words, turned around, and said with a half-smile:
“How about I satisfy you?”
“…No.” Upon hearing this, Xu Duwan quickly hugged Shen Mingjin’s waist, like a kitten wrapping its tail around its owner’s leg, displaying a strong sense of possessiveness.
“You are not allowed to see Shen Lian.”
To avoid the other party speaking ill of him behind his back.
“…Hmm, I won’t see him.” Shen Mingjin looked at Xu Duwan’s raised face, remained silent for a moment, then used his fingertips to wipe the sweat from Xu Duwan’s forehead. He then lowered his head and kissed the corner of his mouth, gently rubbing it before raising his head and whispering:
“sorry……….”
I’m sorry, at that time, I didn’t realize what Shen Lian did to you.
Although Shen Mingjin never instructed Shen Lian to commit violence against Xu Duwan during high school, if he had just asked a question or stopped it, perhaps Xu Duwan would not have been hurt.
Why was he able to act so coldly back then?
Xu Duwan didn’t know why Shen Mingjin was apologizing, but that didn’t stop him from sensing that Shen Mingjin was in a bad mood. Hearing this, he buried his face in Shen Mingjin’s chest, secretly took a breath, and then, as if to comfort him, patted Shen Mingjin’s back with his palm, his voice very soft:
“It’s alright…”
He didn’t blame Shen Mingjin much, because Shen Mingjin was the person he liked the most, in the past, now, and in the future.
That will only be it.
Shen Mingjin rested his chin on the top of Xu Duwan’s head, feeling the soft warmth in his arms. His eyes darkened slightly as he looked at the curious and ardent gazes directed at them. He turned his head and kissed Xu Duwan’s fair earlobe with the tip of his teeth.
“Where did you park your car?”
His breath was hot and heavy, with a slight tingling sensation, and the heat spread along Xu Duwan’s cheek with each exhale: “I want to kiss you.”
……..
A car was parked in an inconspicuous corner of the underground parking garage. A moment later, a violent tremor was heard, but it quickly subsided. A fair hand was pressed against the glass, clenched as if it couldn’t bear it, and then its wrist was grasped by another, larger hand.
Xu Duwan was covered in sweat. Shen Mingjin had kissed almost every inch of his wounds, but Shen Mingjin only kissed and didn’t do anything else, leaving him exhausted.
He lay on the back seat of the car with his head tilted back, his clothes disheveled. The buttons of his shirt were fastened off-center, revealing a large expanse of his fair and smooth shoulder. The shoulder, stained with red hickeys, trembled slightly before being covered by Shen Mingjin.
Xu Duwan was like a gentle pearl oyster, with a hard outer shell, but with just a little force, he could reveal hIS soft interior to Shen Mingjin.
After gently kissing Xu Duwan’s wounds until the scars were less noticeable, Shen Mingjin picked Xu Duwan up and switched positions. Xu Duwan sat on his lap with his eyes half-closed, lazily wrapping his arms around his neck, and leaned in to kiss Shen Mingjin’s chin intermittently.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He’s in a bad mood.
“…It’s nothing.” Shen Mingjin grasped Xu Duwan’s wrist, glancing at it unintentionally. He thought the other’s wrist was so thin it could almost be broken with one hand. He subconsciously rubbed it, causing Xu Duwan to shrink back like a snail.
“I think………”
He paused, his expression hesitant. Xu Duwan grew anxious and his tone became urgent:
“What are you up to?”
Is he planning to run away after kissing me?!
How could someone be like that!
Xu Duwan clearly didn’t say what was on his mind, but Shen Mingjin inexplicably understood and smiled:
“I don’t want to leave.”
He said, “…I want to find my dad.”
“Your dad?” Hearing that Shen Mingjin wasn’t leaving, Xu Duwan’s tense nerves relaxed a little. He lazily nestled in Shen Mingjin’s arms, his slender, white legs wrapped around Shen Mingjin’s waist, his lower body completely naked.
“Don’t your parents always live with you? Why do you suddenly want to see him?”
“My dad doesn’t live with me anymore.” Shen Mingjin didn’t know how to explain his situation to Xu Duwan, after all, he had amnesia. After a moment, he carefully considered his words and said:
“He’s in the police station now.”
Before Xu Duwan could react, Shen Mingjin uttered something even more shocking:
“I have amnesia.”
Shen Mingjin looked at Xu Duwan’s shocked eyes and confessed:
“When I returned to Ningcheng, I didn’t remember anything about my past.”
Xu Duwan: “…….”
He stared into Shen Mingjin’s eyes, wavering for a moment between whether the other was lying to him or whether his words were serious. After a long while, he hesitantly chose to believe in Shen Mingjin.
“So, you didn’t recognize me at first because you really forgot about me?”
Although acknowledging the risk of death, Shen Mingjin nodded:
“Yes, I really forgot.”
He thought for a moment, then added:
“I really didn’t lie to you before.”
“…” Upon hearing this, Xu Duwan was angry for a while, but he was also very curious about why Shen Mingjin had lost his memory.
Unexpectedly, Shen Mingjin himself was not very clear about the reason for his amnesia, but he was determined to see his father first to find out what happened before. Xu Duwan had no choice but to ask someone to help him find out which prison Shen Mingjin’s father was in, and then he stopped interfering in the matter.
Because Xu Duwan knew that Shen Mingjin had a strong sense of self-respect, and that his father’s imprisonment was not something anyone could be proud of, Xu Duwan figured that someone like Shen Mingjin probably wouldn’t want him to know the inside story, so he didn’t ask any further questions.
After several days of searching, Shen Mingjin quickly found out which prison his father was in, and even the crime he was imprisoned for. It seemed that his father had secretly embezzled a large sum of public funds, which was reported and he was imprisoned because of the huge amount involved.
Shen Mingjin had originally planned to visit his father in the next few days, but the prison visit required some procedures, so Shen Mingjin was delayed for a while. Before he knew it, it was the end of the month and the first paycheck was issued. After the finance department paid Shen Mingjin’s salary, Lin Ciyang held his phone and chuckled to himself. Then he called Shen Mingjin aside and secretly handed him an envelope.
“What is this?” Shen Mingjin asked in confusion.
“You’ll see when you open it.”
Lin Ciyang said vaguely.
Shen Mingjin glanced at him, then had no choice but to open the envelope. After a long while, he pulled out a stack of red cash. Upon realizing it was money, he said speechlessly:
“What do you want me to do with the money?”
“Oh dear.” Lin Ciyang, a young man who was almost 1.9 meters tall, hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, and after a long while, he blushed and whispered:
“Brother Shen, if it weren’t for your help, I might have been scammed. Now that the bracelet has been sold, we have some money left over after paying for my sister’s medical treatment. My mom and I discussed it and decided to give it to you as a red envelope.”
“I don’t need—”
Just as Shen Mingjin was about to speak, a buzzing sound suddenly filled his ears, and his heart began to pound violently. His pupils dilated, and he tried to speak, but it felt as if his mouth was glued shut, and he couldn’t make a sound.
As he held the money, his mind suddenly went blank, his body stiffened uncontrollably for a moment, his fingers holding the money went limp, and the next second, amidst Lin Ciyang’s scream, his breath caught in his throat, and he collapsed straight down like a stiff, lifeless wooden board.