“You guys actually didn’t know?”
At the banquet, a man held a red wine glass in his hand, looking slightly surprised as he gazed at the few people standing beside him.
Noticing that his voice seemed a bit too loud, he glanced strangely to the side to confirm that no one was standing nearby. Only then did the man lean closer to those individuals dressed in understated clothing, cautiously whispering in a low voice: “The Lin family’s young master… is fake!”
When the people around him heard this, their expressions changed.
After exchanging glances, their faces carried a hint of surprise; they hadn’t expected that the person in front of them would actually know about this news, while everyone else hadn’t caught a single whisper of it.
“The Lin family has recently been looking for their true young master, though I hear they’ve already got some leads, so it probably won’t be much longer now.”
Seeing that his good friends were completely unaware of this news, a flash of pride crossed the man’s eyes. Among the circle of second-generation heirs, these few could be considered top-tier figures, yet news that even he knew was unknown to them.
The others didn’t miss the pride flashing in the man’s eyes. However, upon hearing this, they merely found it ridiculous.
They didn’t have the bizarre hobby of going out of their way to pry into other people’s family affairs. Furthermore, since the Lin family hadn’t made a public announcement yet, it meant the Lin family did not want anyone to know about this matter.
Yet this person was spreading the news far and wide, taking pride in it—how utterly laughable.
Right now, their minds were entirely focused on the Lin family’s young master. Unlike the man before them—who may have learned of the news a step earlier, yet didn’t even have the opportunity to meet the Lin family’s young master how else could he be foolish enough to blurt the news straight out?
“Luo Sheng, this news of yours… it isn’t fake, is it? The Lin family’s young master has President Fu backing him up behind the scenes, you know. If you’re just spreading rumors, you’d better watch out or you won’t know what hit you.”
One of the men spoke softly, his voice trembling slightly with brows knitted in disbelief.
Only their own inner circle knew that this person was actually thrilled. Amidst his excitement, he hadn’t forgotten to test the waters.
Hearing this, Luo Sheng frowned, his complexion turning unsightly. “The Lin family just did a paternity test; if you don’t believe me, you can go check for yourselves. This news is one hundred percent true.”
As if unable to stomach the fact that these people were actually doubting his news, Luo Sheng’s expression toward them turned rather ugly, and the volume of his voice involuntarily rose a notch.
“Besides, what’s wrong with the Lin family’s young master? At the end of the day, he’s nothing more than a phony who usurped the magpie’s nest. If it weren’t for the Lin family’s status, there’s no way he’d ever get to know someone like President Fu…”
Hearing this, the probing expressions on the faces of the other few turned cold, their brows furrowing deeply. They had only wanted to verify the news, not let this guy hurl such malicious insults at Lin Zhao.
“Is that so?”
A low voice gradually approached from nearby. The newcomer seemed to have noticed their discussion and been drawn over.
Everyone raised their heads and first saw that the person approaching was dressed in a black suit with a tall, straight posture. A chill hung across his face, and a pair of slender, cold eyes stared straight at Luo Sheng with an unfriendly expression.
It was the very person they had just been openly discussing, Fu Yansheng.
Before Luo Sheng could react, the other few men hurriedly nodded toward Fu Yansheng, acting just like mice caught in the act upon seeing a cat, too terrified to move a single muscle.
“President Fu.”
They were merely second-generation heirs who held stock dividends in various companies, with older brothers and sisters in line as heirs standing above them.
Fu Yansheng was nothing like idle, good-for-nothing second-generation heirs like themselves. Behind Fu Yansheng stood the entire Fu family a great clan passed down through generations, an aristocratic family that peers who had only inherited wealth for a few generations could never hope to compare with.
What was more, Fu Yansheng was the youngest head of the Fu family, renowned in the business world for his ruthless and merciless methods.
If they were caught in the wrong by Fu Yansheng and their families found out, they’d undoubtedly be skinned alive.
On top of that, Fu Yansheng had a very good relationship with the Lin family’s young master. Even if the Lin family’s young master turned out to be fake, Fu Yansheng was notoriously fiercely protective of his own. If Fu Yansheng caught wind of someone slandersmithing the Lin family’s young master…
Luo Sheng was in for a miserable time. The Luo family would probably sever ties with him by tomorrow morning.
Reacting swiftly, the men immediately spoke up with anger in their voices, as if standing up in injustice for Lin Zhao: “President Fu, Luo Sheng is simply going too far, spreading fake news he heard from goodness knows where.”
“That’s right, President Fu! We already warned Luo Sheng, but he just kept getting worse.”
Turning his head, Luo Sheng caught the look of sarcasm in those men’s eyes. Ringing in his ears were the words tearing him down, sending a chill straight through his heart and draining the color from his face instantly.
All the self-satisfaction he had felt moments before vanished completely, leaving him too terrified to utter another word.
When Fu Yansheng’s icy gaze swept over him, Luo Sheng dared only stammer in a rush that it was all just what other people were saying, and he had no idea whether it was true or false.
Fu Yansheng neither said he believed it nor that he didn’t; he simply stood in place, watching the group of them.
People around them noticed that something seemed amiss and began walking over, wanting to see who had managed to offend Fu Yansheng.
Before anyone could draw close, however, a crisp voice rang out from behind Fu Yansheng.
“Brother Fu, let it go.”
Everyone looked up and saw Fu Yansheng tilt his body slightly aside. Standing right behind him, Lin Zhao held a champagne flute, dressed in an elegant and well-fitted light gray suit that made his temperament look all the more noble and distinguished.
A head of pale silver-white hair fell obediently behind his ears, and his ink-green eyes lowered slightly as he cast a forced, strained smile toward this side.
Lin Zhao’s appearance was delicate and well-behaved, radiating a clean aura all around him like a young master untainted by worldly dust.
He was precisely the Lin family’s young master that these people had been talking about.
“Zhaozhao… you’re too kind-hearted. Someone like Luo Sheng just flaps his upper and lower lips to spread rumors everywhere, and you’re just going to let him off that easily?”
Nearby, someone else who had overheard Luo Sheng’s words felt a surge of injustice on Lin Zhao’s behalf.
Most people within the circle knew Lin Zhao who didn’t know how well-behaved and obedient he was? Added to the fact that Lin Zhao was striking to look at, there was hardly anyone who didn’t like him. Some people probably even harbored deeper, hidden thoughts, though they kept them tightly concealed.
Now, hearing someone speak ill of Lin Zhao naturally displeased them.
“What he said is true.”
Lin Zhao took a deep breath, lowering his gaze as he spoke softly, his fingertips holding the champagne flute turning slightly white.
Though Lin Zhao said it lightly, no one knew how agonizing the pain in his heart truly was.
The family where he had lived for twenty-three years was fake.
He had usurped someone else’s life for twenty-three years.
Just the mere thought of it made Lin Zhao’s heart ache and tremble. Yet, he still had to tear open his healing wounds over and over again to tell everyone that he was not the Lin family’s child—that he was merely a magpie occupying someone else’s nest.
The moment Lin Zhao finished speaking, almost everyone fell silent.
They looked at Lin Zhao standing beneath the lights. From the moment Lin Zhao had appeared, he had always been the sole focus in everyone’s eyes.
Every single movement of his was under everyone’s watchful gaze, which naturally made it impossible to miss the forced, strained nature of the smile on Lin Zhao’s face.
Luo Sheng saw Lin Zhao’s appearance as well. Watching the Lin Zhao standing beneath the warm lights, whose eyelashes trembled from inner turmoil, Luo Sheng felt a sudden pang of regret, wishing he had never spoken of it.
At the very least, he should have waited for Zhaozhao to announce it himself, rather than having it happen like this confessing his identity as a fake young master in full view of everyone.
Catching sight of Lin Zhao’s expression, Fu Yansheng furrowed his brows. His expression turned quite unpleasant.
Coming back to his senses, Lin Zhao noticed a good number of people staring at him with varying expressions, among whom were quite a few of his own friends within the circle.
Lin Zhao assumed they must hold the same view as Luo Sheng. After all, within the social circle, maintaining friendly ties with a fake young master was probably considered a rather embarrassing thing to be associated with.
Lin Zhao had witnessed such a scenario once before, only he never expected that the second time around, he would be the protagonist.
Offering an apologetic nod to the people around him, Lin Zhao turned and walked straight out of the banquet.
Fu Yansheng cast a deep, hard look at Luo Sheng, his expression grim, before ultimately following wordlessly behind Lin Zhao.
Outside the banquet hall lay a small courtyard. Compared to the bustling noise inside, the outside felt considerably cooler and more serene.
Autumn and winter nights fell exceptionally fast, and the chill seemed capable of piercing straight through suit jackets and biting into one’s bones.
It hurt a dull, stinging cold.
Walking forward a couple of steps, Lin Zhao left the range of the illuminated lights. His gaze dropped downward, filled with a deep sense of sorrow.
That man was right; he was nothing more than a phony who had usurped a magpie’s nest. If not for the Lin family, he would never be standing here right now, nor would he have ever crossed paths with Fu Yansheng.
It had been a mistake right from the very beginning.
Standing beside a small pond, Lin Zhao shivered as a cold gust of wind swept past. Yet he didn’t move, staring blankly at the ripples shimmering and dancing across the moonlit water, his mind drifting far away.
Suddenly, a suit jacket carrying a lingering warmth was draped over Lin Zhao’s shoulders.
Fu Yansheng reached out, pulling Lin Zhao close and wrapping his suit jacket tightly around him.
Initially, Fu Yansheng intended to button it up for him, but before doing so, he likely realized that his own clothes were much larger than Lin Zhao’s frame, leaving them hanging loose and empty once buttoned.
With no other choice, he simply reached out, tugged at the fabric, and wrapped it securely around him.
Looking up, Lin Zhao wore a faint smile on his lips: “Brother Fu, you were sneaking behind my back to smoke again.”
Though the smell of smoke was very faint, it still couldn’t escape the tip of Lin Zhao’s nose.
That little look of disapproval of his made it seem as though he hadn’t let what just happened inside the banquet affect him in the least.
Not expecting Lin Zhao’s very first sentence to be this, Fu Yansheng didn’t deny it: “Just half a cigarette.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhao clearly didn’t believe him. Yet, thinking of what Luo Sheng had said earlier that if not for the Lin family, he would never have met Fu Yansheng—it seemed he hadn’t been wrong either. Besides, under what identity did he even have the right to question Fu Yansheng right now?
“I should leave the Lin family.”
This was something Lin Zhao had already decided beforehand. Furthermore, rumor had it that the Lin family parents had already found their biological child, so there was no need for him to keep lingering in the Lin family.
After all, that place was no longer his home. Staying there would likely only disrupt the relationship between the Lin family parents and their true son.
Hearing this, Fu Yansheng didn’t look surprised; he knew that given Lin Zhao’s personality, he wouldn’t stay in the Lin family.
Lin Zhao had a good character and upright values. The moment he learned he had taken someone else’s place, he most likely had already started thinking about leaving.
“If you want to find your parents, I can help you,” Fu Yansheng stated. With the Fu family’s resources, as long as Fu Yansheng wished it, they would definitely be able to track them down.
Wrapping himself tighter in the suit jacket with one hand, Lin Zhao squatted down and reached out his free hand to touch the surface of the pond water.
The icy water helped calm the tangled, chaotic mess of thoughts in Lin Zhao’s mind.
“I’m not ready to accept it yet, Brother Fu. I might find a place to live and get a job. As for my biological parents, I’ll face that when I’m ready.”
The ripples on the pond surface continued to spread outward from Lin Zhao’s fingertips. Pulling his hand back, Lin Zhao watched as the water slowly calmed back down.
“Alright. It just so happens that I need someone upright and principled like Zhaozhao to supervise my smoking cessation twenty-four hours a day.”
“So, would Zhaozhao be willing to become my twenty-four-hour assistant?”
Fu Yansheng stood beside Lin Zhao, watching him squat down and curl into a small ball so obedient and well-behaved.
In Fu Yansheng’s eyes, a dull and uninteresting world had suddenly grown dazzling simply because it held a little-sunshine-like Lin Zhao.
Therefore, he hoped Lin Zhao could always remain dazzling.
However, Lin Zhao was stunned:
Ah? Me? An assistant?
Lin Zhao knew his own limitations clearly. He didn’t know how to do anything; the things he had studied abroad previously had nothing to do with the Fu Corporation.
In Lin Zhao’s view, Fu Yansheng saying this was merely a way to let him move into the Fu residence with a clear conscience, sparing him from having to go out and work so hard.
“I have plenty of money. I can afford to keep you.”