Liang Zhijie first met Lin Shisheng three months after the party.
He couldn’t get Qin Shun to come out, so he had no choice but to go to him instead.
Liang Zhijie was the young master of the second branch of the Liang family. He had met Qin Shun back in university, where they attended the same school.
After returning to the country, Liang Zhijie took up a nominal position at the family company, living a life filled with roses, beer and tennis, carefree and indulgent.
After all, he would never have to worry about food or money for the rest of his life. Why bother working hard?
Among their circle of friends, Qin Shun was the only true workaholic.
It had always been difficult to get him to join gatherings, though occasionally he would show up but recently, everyone suddenly realized that Qin Shun had not appeared for a long time.
The socialites urged Liang Zhijie to bring Qin Shun out.
These women, Liang Zhijie felt annoyed. Each of them was infatuated with men who had once fallen from grace and once those men regained their status, they became even more desirable. Not to mention Qin Shun, talented, refined and undeniably handsome.
Even if he did nothing at all, admirers would still flock to him endlessly.
Liang Zhijie knew that Qin Shun had someone in his heart, a “white moonlight.”
Experienced as he was in matters of love, he had long guessed as much.
Until one day, Qin Shun, weighed down with worries, drank heavily, pouring glass after glass into himself until he was completely drunk.
Liang Zhijie seized the opportunity to coax the truth out of him.
“What kind of person is he?”
“I feel almost shameless saying that I love him,” Qin Shun said, staring at a speck of dust drifting in the air.
“He’s truly adorable. His eyes are dark and bright, his skin fair. He has an elegant temperament, clean, refreshing. When he was young, his family was poor. He was forced to carry himself with refinement. He likes reading. He writes with his left hand. His taste in clothes is terrible, he only ever wears shirts and cloth trousers. Hopelessly stubborn. Thin skinned, soft hearted. Stubborn in temper yet always hesitant when making decisions. Timid and easy to deceive and once he cares about someone, he gives his whole heart…”
The words tumbled out in a chaotic stream.
Liang Zhijie was stunned.
When had the usually taciturn, sparing with words Qin Shun ever spoken like this?
As he spoke, Qin Shun’s voice gradually fell.
There were no tears, no choking sobs yet Liang Zhijie felt that Qin Shun was suffering far more than someone wailing hysterically.
“…He might be getting married.”
Liang Zhijie leaned closer. “Then why don’t you fight for him?”
Qin Shun’s expression darkened. After a long silence, he seemed to collapse inward, slumping over the table little by little.
“The fact that I love him… doesn’t mean I can make him happy. To him, I’m a burden.”
As far as Liang Zhijie was concerned, women were truly double faced.
When he mentioned having an unforgettable first love, they dismissed it with disdain but when he said Qin Shun had one too, they immediately changed their tune, praising Qin Shun for his deep and unwavering devotion.
No matter how much they asked around, no one knew who Qin Shun’s beloved actually was.
It was maddeningly mysterious.
With nothing better to do, Liang Zhijie had even tried playing matchmaker, introducing Qin Shun to a dozen beautiful women.
But this man was truly infuriating, he refused to become a carefree romantic! Others wished for such an opportunity and couldn’t even have it.
Liang Zhijie called Qin Shun.
“You must show up Saturday night. The daughter of the Jazz family is hosting. You know how much her father dotes on her, you can’t afford to offend her.”
“I’m not going.”
“Why not? Give me a proper reason.”
“I’ll have someone deliver a gift. I’ll skip the ball. I remember she’s quite understanding.”
“I often feel like the women we know aren’t even the same species.”
Liang Zhijie’s tone turned sharp. “Qin Shun, when you were just starting out, who helped pave the way for you? And now that you’ve made it, you look down on me as useless? You won’t even come out for a meal? Do you expect me to bow and scrape before you and say, ‘Please, honored sir, step upon the humble ground I offer’?”
Qin Shun replied coolly, “Since when did Young Master Liang become a pimp?”
Liang Zhijie let out a cold laugh.
His patience was wearing thin.
“I’m not going because I already love someone,” Qin Shun said. “You know that.”
Liang Zhijie sighed. “You can’t stay alone forever. Even in ancient times, people only erected chastity memorials after marriage and widowhood, you haven’t even had him, so what virtue are you preserving?”
He had made such sarcastic remarks countless times before. Qin Shun would usually respond with biting wit.
But today,
Qin Shun was unusually quiet.
“Don’t ask. It’s nothing.”
That subtle, evasive answer left Liang Zhijie restless the entire night.
Early the next morning, he stormed over to Qin Shun’s residence.
In the courtyard, he caught sight of a stranger leaning by the study window.
Along the stone wall beside the glass panes, creeping vines had grown wildly, their tangled branches spreading into a lush expanse of green. Under the scorching early summer afternoon sun, the foliage shimmered with a soft, satin like glow, as if brushed with a faint haze of light.
As Liang Zhijie approached, the person inside finally noticed him.
Their eyes met.
It was a delicate, refined face, pale to the point of translucence, now visibly flushed with color.
Somehow, it felt vaguely familiar.
The other man seemed startled.
After a brief pause, he gave a slight bow in Liang Zhijie’s direction.
Liang Zhijie was still somewhat bewildered. He had just begun to return the gesture when, with a soft rustle, the curtains were abruptly drawn shut.
A moment later, Qin Shun rushed back, his expression dark as he snapped, “There’s a front door. Why did you go snooping around the courtyard?”
“Scouting the place,” Liang Zhijie replied lightly. “I was planning to rob you blind when you stepped out.”
“Stop joking.”
“Everyone’s been saying you’ve been hiding a beauty in your golden house, that’s why you won’t come out to play. Turns out it’s true. Haha and it’s a man, no less.”
“I told you, stop laughing.”
The killing intent in Qin Shun’s tone was unmistakable.
Liang Zhijie immediately raised both hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright, sorry but you’re really not being a good friend. Do you seriously think I’d discriminate against you for being gay? It’s not a big deal.”
Then he added teasingly, “You should’ve said so earlier. It’s not like I don’t have connections when it comes to men too, ”
“Shut up,” Qin Shun said.
Two seconds of silence. That should count as compliance, right?
Liang Zhijie rubbed his hands together, eager. “So when are you going to introduce me properly? Come on, let me meet him. In the future, if there are any unwanted admirers, I’ll definitely help you fend them off.”
“It’s not what you think,” Qin Shun said solemnly. “About him staying here, don’t let a word of it get out.”
Liang Zhijie looked awkward. “Of course I won’t gossip but you know how it is, there’s no such thing as a secret that never leaks.” He tried to reassure him. “It’s fine. Look at that old rogue from the Lin family, over fifty and still bringing a twenty year old boyfriend home, younger than his own son. Honestly…”
It didn’t help.
If anything, Qin Shun looked even more displeased.
The living room’s beams were made of dark ebony, arranged in a herringbone structure to support the ceiling. Normally, once the curtains were drawn open, abundant light would flood the space, illuminating the high vault above.
But now, the windows and doors were shut tight, sealing the room like a closed chamber.
Lin Yansheng appeared almost like a ghost.
From beside the brass railing of the staircase, he leaned out halfway, his tone gentle yet tinged with gathered courage. “You’ve misunderstood, young man. I am Qin Shun’s guardian.”
Liang Zhijie froze in astonishment.
“Lin… Yan… sheng.”
Qin Shun’s voice was low, each word pronounced with deliberate weight.
Startled by the look in Qin Shun’s eyes, Lin Yansheng instinctively stepped back. Then, as if making up his mind, he walked straight over.
He continued his explanation with a faint, composed smile. “Not a blood related uncle. Since you’re his friend, you’ve probably heard that he endured great poverty in the past. I was the one who raised him. He calls me ‘uncle.’ Recently, I ran into some trouble. Out of old sentiment, he’s letting me stay here for a while.”
Liang Zhijie turned to look at Qin Shun.
For a fleeting moment, the atmosphere grew so cold it sent chills down his spine.
“A’Shun,” Lin Yansheng said, lightly grasping Qin Shun’s wrist. “Isn’t that right?”
Then he asked again, “Isn’t it?”
Liang Zhijie widened his eyes, standing to the side in stunned silence as he watched the scene unfold.
It was simply too bizarre.
Qin Shun looked furious, so furious it seemed he might explode on the spot yet in the end, he still complied.
“…Mm.” He yielded.
Liang Zhijie remained half skeptical. After returning home, he went to verify things for himself.
And sure enough, he managed to dig up an old newspaper from back then.
To be fair, Lin Yansheng’s features were well proportioned and proper. Many people looked fine in person but appeared awkward and distorted once caught on camera. He, however, simply came across as too ordinary at first glance, so unremarkable that it was as if he had no presence at all, harmless and inconspicuous, neither striking nor offensive.
Liang Zhijie studied the photograph several times before letting out a thoughtful sigh. “A baby face… After all these years, he still looks exactly the same as in the picture.”
At the same time, in the study of the Qin residence.
Lin Yansheng sat as if on pins and needles.
He pretended to read, his silence carrying a faint but unmistakable note of resistance, as though he were quietly refusing to cooperate.
In his mind, he braced himself for the worst, that Qin Shun might once again pin him down onto the sofa and overstep his boundaries.
He was used to it by now.
Then he heard Qin Shun let out a heavy breath. Suddenly, he spoke.
“Uncle, I’ve bought the house back. The house we used to live in. Would you like to go and see it?”
Lin Yansheng slowly rose to his feet.
He didn’t understand what was happening. There was wariness in his gaze as he looked at Qin Shun.
Qin Shun continued, “I’ll take you back. As long as you call me ‘Ah Shun’ one more time.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
One coffee for the translator. One less excuse for them to disappear. 😌
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · UncleChapter 2 · Ran AwayChapter 3 · TimidChapter 4 · DeceasedChapter 5 · Grow upChapter 6 · CharmChapter 7 · EndureChapter 8 · Biological FatherChapter 9 · ContestChapter 10 · MisunderstoodChapter 11 · BreakChapter 12 · ReunionChapter 13 · MeetChapter 14 · To clearChapter 15 · InstructionsChapter 16 · RegretChapter 17 · SecretChapter 18 · Subtle SophistryChapter 19 · GuestChapter 20 · KissingChapter 21 · Extra 1Chapter 22 · Extra 2Chapter 23 · Extra 3Chapter 24 · Extra 4Chapter 25 · Extra 5Chapter 26 · Extra 6Chapter 27 · Extra 7Chapter 28 · Extra 8