Hearing this, Lin Zhao’s head felt dizzy and fuzzy.
By the time he came back to his senses, Fu Yansheng had already brought him back to the Fu family villa.
Lin Zhao never expected that even after knowing he was a fake young master, Fu Yansheng would still be willing to take him in and even wanted to give him a job!
With his current situation, most people would probably steer clear to avoid him; who would eagerly pull someone to their side like this?
Thinking of this, Lin Zhao couldn’t help but feel a complex mix of emotions.
His phone kept buzzing, but Lin Zhao merely glanced at the notifications on the screen and set it aside. Most of the messages were from people asking whether what he had said at the banquet tonight was true or false. After all, this kind of matter was not something to be joked about.
Initially, the Lin family had no intention of leaking this news. Even when the true young master returned home, they planned to treat him simply as a child who had been accidentally lost.
Yet they never expected Lin Zhao to blurt it out directly like that.
The Lin family tried desperately to contact Lin Zhao, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t get through.
Lin Zhao’s parents sat in the living room with anxious expressions. They understood Lin Zhao’s stubborn personality; once he set his mind on something, not even nine oxen could pull him back.
Originally, they had wanted to talk some sense into Lin Zhao, but they never imagined that he would turn around and spill the news that he wasn’t a Lin family child.
Unlike their cold and detached eldest son, Lin Zhao had been well-behaved and obedient since childhood, hovering around Mr. and Mrs. Lin like a little sunshine. Who wouldn’t love a child like that?
When they learned that Lin Zhao was not their biological child, their hearts had ached all the same aching that such a sweet and obedient child didn’t belong to them by blood.
That was why Lin Rong had proposed the idea of keeping both children.
Yet stubbornly, Lin Zhao refused. Or rather, Lin Zhao felt it would be unfair to the Lin family’s other child.
At the time, the Lin family parents understood what Lin Zhao meant, thinking they would just wait, wait a little longer. Once Lin Zhao matured a bit more, he would eventually understand their well-intentioned efforts.
They believed Lin Zhao would always realize that staying home was best.
However, the Lin family members never anticipated that Lin Zhao would actually be willing to return everything to someone else.
“I told you from the start not to tell Zhaozhao yet! You insisted that if Zhaozhao didn’t know, he’d be unhappy later. Now look where we are—everyone knows! What are we supposed to do with Zhaozhao now? It’s all your fault for insisting on a paternity test!”
Mrs. Lin’s voice carried a hint of reproach as she looked toward the two men beside her, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Hearing this, Lin Rong looked at his mother. Not daring to talk back to her, he could only let out a heavy sigh.
“Mother, don’t worry. I’ll bring younger brother back.”
“Figure out who was running their mouth and spreading nonsense at the banquet. Zhaozhao probably left with President Fu, so he isn’t in any danger. We’ll deal with the idle gossip first, and then bring him back.”
Zhaozhao and Fu Yansheng had a good relationship, and everyone at the banquet had witnessed the two of them leaving together. Therefore, Zhaozhao wouldn’t be in any danger.
Furthermore, since Zhaozhao probably hadn’t figured out how to process this situation yet, Mr. Lin didn’t dare to pressure him. They could only wait for Zhaozhao to work through it himself, while hoping that Fu Yansheng would talk some sense into him.
“Alright, I understand. I’ll go handle it right away, and tomorrow I’ll head over to the Fu residence to pick Zhaozhao up.”
Lin Rong frowned, his expression looking rather grim.
Lin Rong felt that Fu Yansheng was no good sort and had never liked Lin Zhao hanging out with him. Learning that Lin Zhao had left with Fu Yansheng naturally made him worried.
Unlike the heavy worry hanging over the Lin family, Lin Zhao whom the Lin family parents couldn’t reach was currently sitting across from Fu Yansheng, holding a glass of milk handed to him by Fu Yansheng.
“Drink this up and get to bed early.”
Looking at Lin Zhao, who was being unusually quiet and lacked his usual vibrant energy, Fu Yansheng felt a deep wave of worry, though he refused to let it show in front of Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao murmured an acknowledgement, biting his lower lip with a faint smile.
He tried to perk up and say something to the man before him, but his heart still felt heavy and low.
Without saying much, Fu Yansheng simply reached out and gently ruffled Lin Zhao’s hair.
Occasionally in the past, Lin Zhao would stay over for the night, so a room was already prepared for him in the villa.
Holding his glass of milk, Lin Zhao obediently bade Fu Yansheng good night: “Brother Fu, I’m going to my room to rest now. Starting tomorrow, I’ll go to work with President Fu!”
With a smile in his eyes as he looked at Fu Yansheng, Lin Zhao left Fu Yansheng with a helpless feeling.
“All right, sleep early. Good night, and don’t overthink things.”
Holding his glass of milk and his phone, which had finally quieted down, Lin Zhao made his way upstairs to the second-floor bedroom.
Unlocking his phone screen, he saw that most of the missed notifications were phone calls from his older brother, alongside WeChat inquiries from friends.
Both of his adoptive parents had sent text messages, but Lin Zhao simply didn’t have the emotional energy to reply.
The truth about his parentage was something Lin Zhao had only learned of recently.
If he stayed with the Lin family, his future food and lodging would be completely secure. But doing so would truly wrong the real son whose life he had occupied for twenty-three years.
Leaving the Lin family meant that from this day forward, he would lose the privileged lifestyle he had always known. Without the title of the Lin family’s young master, he was essentially nobody.
Lin Zhao’s heart was torn with hesitation.
Yet he understood clearly that no matter how conflicted he felt, he ultimately only had one choice: to leave.
Lin Zhao had been raised as the pampered, doted-on child of the Lin family, receiving a fine education from a young age that taught him right from wrong and how to be reasonable.
This upbringing gave him no justification to stay in the Lin family.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Zhao first tapped open the chat box with his adoptive parents to reply. He comforted them by writing that he was doing fine.
Following that, he called his eldest brother back. The moment the call went through barely two seconds after ringing the other end picked up.
“Zhaozhao?” Lin Rong’s voice carried a gentle warmth. “It’s so late, why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Lin Rong glanced at the current time, noting that it was well past Lin Zhao’s usual bedtime. With a wave of his hand, he paused the computer meeting and muted the audio.
A gentle expression rested on his face as he listened to Lin Zhao speak.
“I couldn’t really sleep. Brother, was I being self-willed?” Lin Zhao’s tone dropped despondently as he sat on the edge of the bed, his eyebrows knitted in a tangle of conflicted emotions.
The fact that he wasn’t the true young master of the Lin family should have been announced by the Lin family itself, rather than having him carelessly blurt it out in the middle of a banquet, leaving the Lin family with zero opportunity to react or manage the situation.
Lin Zhao had only thought of this matter recently.
He had never dealt with people in the business world, so many considerations didn’t occur to him as thoroughly as they did Lin Rong. Nor had he realized that the casual piece of news he dropped would force the Lin family to spend precious time doing public relations and stabilizing the narrative online.
Furthermore, after spilling such news, he hadn’t even gone home—his parents and older brother must have been worried sick.
That was why Lin Zhao made this phone call: to reassure Lin Rong and the others that he was safe and hadn’t run into danger.
Hearing this, however, Lin Rong simply chuckled softly:
“My little brother has every right to be self-willed. Zhaozhao, get some sleep early tonight, and tomorrow morning I’ll come to the Fu residence to pick you up and bring you home.”
Lin Rong’s tone was laced with pampering and coaxing.
Hearing this, Lin Zhao froze, then spoke up softly:
“Brother, I’m not a child of the Lin family anymore. I can’t keep occupying someone else’s life; that’s completely unfair to the Lin family’s real child.”
Hearing these words, Lin Rong frowned, his expression turning solemn. Yet, he couldn’t bear to use harsh words with Lin Zhao.
The little teenager who used to love following at his heels and asking him to help make choices had grown up into someone who could make his own decisions now.
Even though Lin Rong wasn’t particularly fond of this decision.
After all, this was the Zhaozhao he had watched grow up day by day.
The Zhaozhao who, no matter what he wanted when he was small, would pull out all the stops to get it even using cute act-spoiled behavior, sweet acts of coquetry, and rolling around on the floor until he secured it.
How could he bear to see him acting so wronged now?
Not to mention that Lin Rong didn’t harbor an ounce of emotional attachment toward that other brother.
This naturally brought Lin Rong’s thoughts back to their childhood, when he hadn’t liked having a younger brother named Lin Zhao either. After all, according to his friends, little brothers were creatures who only knew how to cause trouble and weren’t good kids at all.
Yet Lin Zhao had been well-behaved and obedient ever since he was little. Whether it was snacks, toys, or games, he always loved saving the best portions for his older brother.
He was nothing like the noisy, clamorous kids in his friends’ households; he was clingy yet obedient.
No matter what Lin Rong said, his little brother would only flash a soft, sweet smile at him, looking all round and squishy.
It was precisely because of this that Lin Rong grew to love having Lin Zhao as his younger brother.
“Then you don’t have to come back to the Lin family. Big Brother has other properties outside whichever one you like, you can live there.” As long as he didn’t live at the Fu residence, anything else was fine.
Lin Rong stated decisively.
Hearing this, Lin Zhao looked somewhat surprised, not expecting his brother to back down so easily.
Relaxing a bit, Lin Zhao brightened his tone:
“There’s no need for that, Brother! President Fu just happens to need a twenty-four-hour assistant, so I’ll just live right here at the Fu residence.”
Lin Rong: ?
Wait, what? What on earth? A twenty-four-hour assistant? And he needs to live at the Fu residence too?
That whole arrangement smelled entirely unreliable!
Yet his foolish little brother placed far too much trust in Fu Yansheng!
No matter what he said, Zhaozhao probably wouldn’t believe a word of it.
“Zhaozhao, I lack an assistant too, you know…” Lin Rong still wanted to make one last attempt to persuade Lin Zhao.
Hearing this, Lin Zhao blinked innocently: “But I remember Dad saying he wanted to recruit an assistant for you, and Brother, you said back then that you didn’t need one!”
Hearing this, Lin Rong took a deep breath.
He only felt his head buzzing.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have said that.
“Brother, don’t worry, President Fu is a really good person…”
Lin Zhao knew Lin Rong disliked Fu Yansheng, likely because back when they were kids, Lin Zhao always ran off to play with Fu Yansheng and neglected Lin Rong.
Ever since then, Lin Rong had never warmed up to Fu Yansheng, constantly claiming that Fu Yansheng was scheming and full of hidden tricks.
Even though the Fu family was a top-tier aristocratic clan and Fu Yansheng was someone everyone fought to cozy up to, Lin Rong still couldn’t stand him.
He frequently pointed out Fu Yansheng’s flaws in front of Lin Zhao.
In Lin Rong’s eyes, Fu Yansheng was an old fox in the business world, while his own younger brother was nothing more than a soft, fluffy house cat. How could a house cat possibly outsmart an old fox?
He was terrified that one day Zhaozhao would get sold out by Fu Yansheng without even realizing it.
“I know. If he ever treats you badly, remember to tell me. Don’t bottle things up inside. Zhaozhao, you will always be my younger brother.”
Hearing this, a wave of warmth bloomed in Lin Zhao’s chest.
“Mhm mhm, good night, Brother. Don’t stay up late working.”
Lin Rong murmured an affirmative, waiting until Lin Zhao hung up the phone.
Only then did Lin Rong reopen his meeting audio, his voice returning to a cold, icy tone: “Since the people from the Luo family don’t know how to watch their tongues, go teach the Luo family how to keep them in line.”
“Also, the news was clearly blocked off to begin with. Investigate thoroughly to find out how Luo Sheng managed to get wind of it. Oh, and I don’t want to see any unwanted stories floating around on the internet did you all understand?”