Believe it?
How could he believe it?
Last time, Fu Yansheng had smoked half a cigarette behind his back and still got caught by him.
And now he was still saying that he didn’t believe him!
Whoever believed him was an idiot!
Lin Zhao looked at the person before him with eyes full of disbelief.
Observing that look in Lin Zhao’s eyes, Fu Yansheng took out the cigarette and placed it in Lin Zhao’s palm.
Lin Zhao first put the cigarette away, and then picked up the hairdryer.
He pulled Fu Yansheng down to sit.
Sitting cross-legged in front of Fu Yansheng: “Not drying your hair will give you a headache.”
Fu Yansheng was very quiet, watching Lin Zhao busy running around to blow-dry his hair.
Once the hair was dried, Lin Zhao put away the hairdryer and tucked the cigarette away properly, before speaking softly to Fu Yansheng: “Brother Fu, goodnight.”
Lin Zhao first went to close the courtyard door, confirming that no wind could enter, before returning to his room. Before closing the door, he obediently cast a glance at Fu Yansheng.
Watching Fu Yansheng leaning against the sofa, looking at him unmoving, Lin Zhao could not help but smile.
“Brother Fu, sleep early!”
Fu Yansheng also uttered a goodnight.
Watching Lin Zhao close the door, he picked up the phone beside him.
He looked at the information regarding Lü Yuanyuan on the screen.
The information sent by the assistant was more than just this.
A short while ago, Lin Zhao had mentioned receiving text messages sent by quite a few people.
Consequently, Fu Yansheng had had everyone among the second-generation heirs who frequently appeared around Lin Zhao thoroughly investigated.
Lü Yuanyuan.
Was it a coincidence, or intentional?
Lin Zhao did not sleep peacefully this night, waking up when it was only a little past one o’clock.
Lin Zhao touched the glass tumbler on the bedside table; there wasn’t a single drop of water in the ice-cold tumbler.
Lin Zhao picked up his phone and scrolled through WeChat. Most of the inquiries from friends remained unopened.
At first, he didn’t know how to reply, and now he felt like there was no need to reply at all.
It was just that if they ran into each other in the future, they would likely still have to interact.
After pondering for a long time, Lin Zhao ultimately decided to reply to the messages one by one.
Once he finished replying, Lin Zhao put down his phone.
The room was quiet, with only the phone screen glowing with light.
At this point, he was thoroughly separated from the home where he had lived for twenty-three years.
Lin Zhao had been carrying a heavy weight in his heart for this period of time.
Although Lin Zhao understood all the logic, understanding that his departure was only right and proper.
Yet Lin Zhao’s heart still ached.
Leaving the home he had known since childhood, no one could remain completely unmoved.
Lin Zhao simply kept everything bottled up inside.
Even to Fu Yansheng, Lin Zhao was unwilling to tell.
Lin Zhao had known since childhood that although Fu Yansheng appeared somewhat aloof in appearance and personality, he was actually very kind at heart.
Carrying the glass tumbler, Lin Zhao walked out to the living room, poured himself a cup of water, and sat on the sofa holding the tumbler in his hands.
A strong wind seemed to be blowing outside, whistling through the gaps of the sliding glass door with a loud sound, yet it inexplicably gave Lin Zhao a sense of tranquility.
Lin Zhao did not turn on the lights, just sitting there quietly.
Even he himself didn’t know what he was thinking about.
Perhaps he was thinking of the Lin family, or perhaps he was thinking of himself.
Yet in the end, Lin Zhao only felt that everything around him was empty, and his mind was empty as well.
Lin Zhao stood up and opened the courtyard door.
In the autumn and winter season, the dawn wind was bone-chilling.
Lin Zhao was wearing only pajamas, and a single brush of the wind made him feel goosebumps rise all over his body.
Yet after being hit by that breeze, Lin Zhao felt his mood relax quite a bit.
Just as he wanted to head back inside, he felt a warm overcoat drape over his body.
“You say smoking harms your body, and yet here you are blowing in the cold wind yourself?”
Fu Yansheng furrowed his brows, earnestly helping Lin Zhao put on his clothes properly and wrapping Lin Zhao up snugly from head to toe.
Lin Zhao lowered his head without speaking.
He felt quite unconvinced—could smoking and blowing in the cold wind be compared?
Besides, he was just about to go inside anyway!
“Is Zhaozhao feeling unconvinced?” Observing Lin Zhao lowering his head, Fu Yansheng guessed what he was thinking at once.
Lin Zhao, whose thoughts had been guessed, kept silent. Fu Yansheng led him inside and closed the door tightly.
Without the cold wind, the room was very warm.
Wrapped in the coat, Lin Zhao was pulled by Fu Yansheng toward the sofa.
Sliding along in his slippers, Lin Zhao walked with a pattering sound of da-da-da.
He looked completely wilted.
“Are you sleeping uncomfortably?” Fu Yansheng asked softly.
Fu Yansheng knew Lin Zhao wasn’t one to suffer from a strange bed, but he was even clearer about what was going on with Lin Zhao right now.
He simply wouldn’t proactively ask.
He was willing to give Lin Zhao some space.
Lin Zhao let out an “en,” took a sip of water, and his brain suddenly lit up.
“Let’s go watch the sunrise right now!”
Once they watched the sunrise, everything would get better!
Tomorrow would be a brand new day!
Fu Yansheng glanced at the overcoat on Lin Zhao’s body, which had loosened up due to his recent movements.
He reached out to pull it together and wrapped Lin Zhao up securely again.
“Alright, go change your clothes.”
After changing clothes, they left the small courtyard.
The time was already two o’clock in the morning. The lanterns along the corridor had stayed lit all night, and a hazy mist hung in the distance, obscuring the trees and mountains from clear view.
As a cold gust of wind blew, Lin Zhao instinctively shrank his neck.
Fu Yansheng put the scarf he had brought along onto Lin Zhao.
Under the warm-toned lighting, Lin Zhao watched Fu Yansheng carefully put the scarf on him, without a single trace of dissatisfaction on that aloof face of his.
Fu Yansheng instinctively stroked the clothes in front of Lin Zhao to smooth them out.
Then he led Lin Zhao toward the sunrise viewing platform.
The mountains were very quiet, and at this moment, theirs was the only car on the ring road around the mountain.
The headlights illuminated the road ahead.
Inside the quiet car, Lin Zhao watched Fu Yansheng drive, feeling the lingering sadness in his heart inexplicably soothe away.
The viewing platform wasn’t far, and streetlights dotted the surroundings.
Parking the car by the roadside, Fu Yansheng looked at Lin Zhao, who was curled up in the front passenger seat and gazing outside.
“Brother Fu, I remember when I was little and unhappy, you used to coax me just like this.”
Fu Yansheng’s health had been poor for a period of time during his childhood, and he was recuperating in that very villa complex where Lin Zhao and his family lived.
Speaking of it, their meeting was also quite amusing.
One day, Fu Yansheng was resting in the courtyard when Lin Zhao happened to catch sight of him.
At that time, children in the villa complex all loved to crowd around the good-looking Lin Zhao. Lin Zhao was obedient, sensible, and exquisitely pretty; there wasn’t a single child who didn’t like him.
Yet peculiarly, the very first moment Lin Zhao saw Fu Yansheng, he felt that that cold little big brother looked exceptionally good-looking.
Better-looking than any of the other children.
He wanted to play together with Fu Yansheng.
Only, Fu Yansheng was too cold; even though Lin Zhao called out to Fu Yansheng many times from outside the courtyard, Fu Yansheng refused to answer him.
Yet little Lin Zhao had never known the meaning of giving up.
Abandoning his other little playmates, he would go to the Fu family’s gates every single day and call out “little big brother.”
All soft and fluffy.
After coming and going, the housekeeper at the time naturally got to know Lin Zhao.
Later on, when Lin Zhao gained entry into the Fu household, he would trail right behind Fu Yansheng, following him wherever he went, and bringing him a portion of whatever tasty treats he had.
Lin Zhao had been very well-behaved as a child. A pair of dark emerald-green eyes gazing at people made one’s heart melt, and his black hair was soft as he sat cross-legged on the ground like that, watching Fu Yansheng read earnestly.
This caused Fu Yansheng to involuntarily think of the pet he kept at the Fu family’s old residence.
Later on, Lin Zhao discovered that Fu Yansheng would also carefully look after him.
Even when Fu Yansheng was reading, he would find a toy for him to play with nearby.
Once he finished reading, Fu Yansheng would accompany Lin Zhao in playing games.
Lin Zhao was remarkably good at pushing his luck; back when he couldn’t even speak clearly, he already knew how to order Fu Yansheng around to play with him.
It was only as he grew older that Lin Zhao also realized Fu Yansheng was far too indulgent toward him.
Therefore, later on Lin Zhao also learned to resolve matters by himself.
Yet in truth, right up until now, Fu Yansheng had still been accommodating Lin Zhao all along.
Fu Yansheng was more mature and steady than Lin Zhao. Back when Lin Zhao was at the height of his interest in the world, thinking every day about which country to travel to, Fu Yansheng had already taken over the Fu family.
Looking at Lin Zhao, who was currently poking the glass pane with his fingertips, Fu Yansheng said in a deep voice: “But you’re still unhappy right now.”
“Actually, I’m not unhappy anymore, I just feel… guilty.”
Lin Zhao did not hide it from Fu Yansheng: “A few days ago, Lin Xian came to find me. He said he didn’t grow up to be the person the Lin family hoped he would become.”
Fu Yansheng listened quietly. Hearing that Lin Xian had sought Lin Zhao out, Fu Yansheng furrowed his brows slightly and raised his gaze slightly to look at Lin Zhao.
“He is exceptionally talented; if not for me, he would have been the child most valued by the Lin family.”
Knowing that the mom and dad he had called mom and dad for twenty-three years belonged to someone else.
Knowing that the home where he had lived for twenty-three years ought to belong to another person.
Therefore, Lin Zhao left the home of his childhood because his heart told him he shouldn’t continue occupying it indefinitely.
Yet human emotions were inherently difficult to detach oneself from.
Listening as Lin Zhao practically blamed everything on himself, Fu Yansheng felt a tightness in his chest.
“Zhaozhao, you didn’t cause this matter.”
Lin Zhao had no knowledge of this matter from start to finish.
Why take everything upon himself?
That shouldn’t be.
Hearing this, Lin Zhao naturally knew that none of this was caused by him.
Yet others were right as well: he was a beneficiary of this incident, so some things were his responsibility to bear.
“The one who should be reflecting is the person who committed this act, not an ignorant person like you,” Fu Yansheng said softly.
Time ticked by second by second. Lin Zhao thought of many things, thinking back to his first time going to school as a child, when his parents in the Lin family dropped him off at the school gates.
His eldest brother would always sneak over to the primary school section during recess to drop off snacks for him.
Even when he stubbornly wanted to study art back then, the Lin family parents didn’t force Lin Zhao, simply saying as long as Lin Zhao was happy, that was fine.
His eldest brother would fly abroad to see Lin Zhao whenever he had free time.
Over all these years, Lin Zhao had been very well nurtured and brought up by the Lin family.
Watching Lin Zhao looking like this, a smile involuntarily bloomed on Fu Yansheng’s face.
Lin Zhao turned his head wanting to speak, but catching sight of Fu Yansheng looking like this, he found it somewhat novel.
“Brother Fu, you really look best when you smile,” Lin Zhao said softly.
When Fu Yansheng smiled, the chill between his brows melted away like snow on a snowy peak under the warmth of the sun.
Hearing these words from Lin Zhao, Fu Yansheng raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the car seat.
His whole posture carried a relaxed air.
Lin Zhao turned around, and seeing Fu Yansheng not saying anything, he couldn’t help pushing his luck further: “Brother Fu, you should smile more often.”
“Alright. In front of you, I’ll smile more.”
A wisp of morning glow pierced through the cloud layers, falling onto the car window glass and refracting inside the vehicle.
Only then did Fu Yansheng notice that the sky outside was already beginning to grow faintly bright.
“Zhaozhao, look, the sun is coming out.”