During dinner, Lin Ting finally met Gu Yi in person. He was just like his father: meticulously dressed, impeccably well-spoken, with his gaze slightly raised and then softly dropped from an imperceptible height. Even while eating, his hands hovered mid-air, as if touching the table would cause some kind of disaster.
Gu Yi wore a polite smile. “Hello, I am Gu Yi. May I ask how to address you?”
“Lin Ting.” He forced out a small smile, feeling as though the Gu family were acting in a television drama, and that his mother’s choice in men had completely overcorrected.
“I heard from my father that we are the same age. We might even share some common interests! Aside from studying, what do you usually like to do? I am a big fan of skiing and golf; I wonder if you are interested.”
“I like playing dance machines. Do you know what dance machines are? The kind in arcades. Oh right, you young masters probably would not know. Never mind, when I have time, I will take you.”
Lin Ting was not deliberately trying to tease him; he just could not manage to speak in that flowery, sophisticated way. Sometimes, he felt as though a highway, complete with an electronic toll pass, had been built directly between his mouth and his brain. Whatever popped into his head simply slipped right out of his mouth in a rush, completely beyond his control.
The moment the words slipped out, he distinctly felt the gaze opposite him suddenly freeze. Lin Ting suddenly had a strong urge to laugh, but if he actually laughed out loud right now, it would be terribly inappropriate. He could only force himself to hold it in, yet the harder he tried to suppress it, the funnier it became. Finally, his head dropped almost to the level of the dining table, while his shoulders shook with suppressed spasms.
“Gu Jiang, I told you before, this child carries the blood of that person.” It was his mother’s voice, exceedingly calm in tone, so much so that Lin Ting could not even muster any anger. He simply stopped laughing, propped his head up with one hand, and stared blankly at the face that looked so much like his own.
“Su Li, Lin Ting is just not used to things yet. Trust me, in less than a year, he will fit right in with the children here. Gu Yi, next time you go out to play, make sure to bring Lin Ting along.” Gu Jiang carried a smoothing, conciliatory smile, and even remembered to pick up some food and place it in Lin Ting’s bowl.
Gu Yi clearly looked like an obedient, well-behaved child. Hearing his father’s words, he immediately went along with it. “Dad, Mom, do not worry.”
At that, the dining table instantly overflowed with cheerful and comforting warmth. The family of three wore expressions that practically spelled out that you are so filial, I am so sensible, and he is so obedient. In that exact moment, it seemed as though all the unpleasantness brought by an outsider could not possibly destroy their warm and happy household.
Fortunately, this room had everything, ranging from a bathroom bathtub to a toilet, all fully equipped. Otherwise, Lin Ting would not even have had the slightest bit of strength left tonight to lift his feet out of the bedroom door to take a bath.
The next few days marked the tail end of the National Day Golden Week holiday, and the streets were completely jammed with people. As Su Li shuttled through major shopping malls alongside Lin Ting and the driver, Auntie Fang, Lin Ting’s head was filled with a single thought: either the scenes in television dramas where someone rents out an entire shopping mall are fake, or else this Gu family simply is not wealthy enough yet.
Lin Ting reflected on it and decided it must be the latter.
On the very night before he was supposed to go to school, just after Lin Ting had turned off the main lights and left only a small nightlight on to go to sleep, someone knocked on his door.
Lin Ting felt that no matter who it was in this household knocking on his door, it would be strange. So, he opened it and saw the person least likely to appear at his doorway standing right there: Gu Jiang.
Gu Jiang still maintained that dashing, debonair appearance, with every single suit cufflink perfectly in place. Lin Ting could not tell whether he had just gotten off work or was preparing to go to work right now.
His gaze glanced briefly into the room. “You have already turned off the lights and are getting ready to sleep? Sorry to disturb you. Gu Yi usually does not sleep this early, so I thought young people nowadays…”
“Different genes. If you have something to say, please get straight to the point.” Lin Ting let out a yawn.
Gu Jiang did not seem to mind Lin Ting’s impolite tone in the slightest. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick stack of red envelopes. “This welcoming gift was supposed to be given when we first met, but I kept getting busy and forgot. I figured I would give it to you before school starts so you can have some pocket money for school.”
Putting aside the fact that Su Li had transferred a substantial amount to his WeChat just yesterday, telling him not to bring shame to this family the moment he walked out that door, Lin Ting simply had no shortage of money to spend right now. Furthermore, a stack of paper currency this thick could easily be felt in the hand just by looking at it; it felt far heavier and more formal than a string of zeros on WeChat. No matter how he tried, Lin Ting could not persuade himself to accept this money.
“Uncle Gu, I appreciate your kindness, but I have always been used to being thrifty. My mom gave me some yesterday, and it is enough to last me well over half a year,” Lin Ting said.
No displeasure showed on Gu Jiang’s face. After placing the red envelope down, he took out his phone and operated it for a moment. Lin Ting heard his own phone buzz. Picking it up, he saw that this WeChat contact, whom he had added only a couple of days ago, and whose chat history consisted solely of hello to Gu Jiang and Lin Ting, had just transferred a substantial sum of zeros to him.
Lin Ting desperately did not want this money. Although the money his mom gave him yesterday and the very roof over his head both belonged to someone with the surname Gu, the feeling of going through an intermediary felt completely different from this kind of direct, unvarnished handout.
It felt as though he had traveled thousands of miles simply to collect cash, selling his mother to someone else so he could call that person Mom, shattering his own family to patch up the seams of another household, and turning himself from a biological son into a former son who was collecting severance compensation from a stranger.
At that thought, he suddenly felt a strong urge to laugh, as though his mother had been doing this against her own will and reluctance.
Gu Jiang did not linger long either. After uttering some pleasantries about going to sleep early and wishing him a good night, he left. Lin Ting had no intention of accepting the money, nor did he plan to open the chat and click refund; he simply intended to wait for it to automatically return the next day.
The Gu family’s financial resources were truly impressive. Before he moved in, this room had probably been an unused small guest room or a spare room, but the attached bathroom was the most luxurious Lin Ting had ever seen in his over a decade of life. It was even more luxurious than the hotel bathroom from that time his parents took him to travel to the capital when he was little. That had been his only vacation, which was why he had replayed it in his mind hundreds of times, able to recall every single detail instantly even now.
During that trip, they stayed at a grand hotel that was said to be terribly expensive. At the time, his father stood at the front desk, paying while agonizingly counting and recounting that stack of banknotes over and over. When he finally handed the money over, he even rubbed it hard between his fingers, terrified of accidentally counting two bills as one, and hurriedly instructed the receptionist that she had not counted too many, right. That had caused a burst of laughter from everyone around.
His mother stood beside him holding him, the top half of her face tightly furrowed while the bottom half remained completely expressionless.
The hotel room they stayed in back then had two sinks, equipped with a smart oversized mirror, plus a little swimming pool, which Lin Ting later learned was called a bathtub. The entire washroom gleamed with magnificent splendor, leaving a profound impression on his young mind. So much so that right after returning home from that trip, whenever he saw the dirty, old-fashioned washroom in his own house, he would cry and make a fuss about wanting to go live at his grandmother’s house. He had visited his grandmother’s place a few times when he was little, and it was also exceptionally pretty, though he had only ever gone there with his mother, and once he entered elementary school, his mother stopped taking him.
His thoughts drifted further and further away. Standing in the bathroom, Lin Ting forced himself to snap back to reality. Pondering the sleek, sparkling large bathtub, he soaked in a wonderfully comfortable bath.
The indoor lighting cast a warm, yellowish glow. Lin Ting lay there in the water, watching the sunlight-like warmth wash over his body, and drifted off to sleep without realizing it. It wasn’t until the water turned cold that he groggily opened his eyes, tidied up simply, and climbed back into bed.
Early the next morning, Lin Ting woke up. Three seconds after waking, he heard his phone alarm ring, reached out expertly to turn it off, and got up to change clothes without the slightest hesitation.
In all the years he had been alive, it seemed he had never once felt distressed about the act of waking up.
When he went downstairs, the round-faced auntie from yesterday, and Lin Ting still found it baffling that her surname was actually Fang, had already finished making breakfast and was setting out glasses of milk. Upon seeing Lin Ting, she remained brimming with enthusiasm about Young Master Lin, Lin Ting, Young Master Lin, and Lin.
Lin Ting glanced behind him, and sure enough, his mother and Gu Jiang were walking down the stairs.
If he had known, he should not have run his mouth off yesterday. Look at that, he had gone and scrambled the poor woman’s entire language system.
“Morning, Lin Ting. Did you sleep well last night? If anything feels uncomfortable or out of place, just say the word and do not hold back. I will have the driver take you and Gu Yi to school first before I head to work.” Gu Jiang was as enthusiastic as ever. Lin Ting felt that anyone witnessing this scene would surely remark on how warm and cozy it was.
“With a house this nice, how could I possibly not be used to it? I am doing great.” Lin Ting meant those words straight from the bottom of his heart.
Su Li simply sat down leisurely, opened the book she had been halfway through reading yesterday, and dropped a remark. “Rein in that temperament of yours. Your new classmates are not like that previous crowd of yours; do not go stirring up trouble.”
Lin Ting knew Su Li was referring to the few times he had gotten into fistfights at his old school.
“What kind of temperament do I have? The Lin family kind? Or the Su family kind?” Right after saying that, Lin Ting picked up a piece of bacon from the plate in front of him and stuffed it into his mouth, acting completely unbothered, as if the person who had just spoken was not him at all.
Su Li gave a light huff and shook her head.
Still, Su Li wasn’t wrong. The new school was close by, and its faculty and resources were top-tier. The students were practically all young masters and misses from the surrounding upscale residential areas. Previously, if he had a dispute with someone, a fight would settle it right then and there; here, he’d better weigh things carefully first.
Tch, talk as if he went around looking to pick fights with people for no reason. In all fairness, Lin Ting could put his hand on his heart and swear that he had always been a good student in the eyes of his teachers. The only issue was that he liked to sleep in class, mostly because he already understood the material being taught, making it genuinely boring. On the rare occasions when unpleasantness arose, it was always because someone else had provoked him first.
Lin Ting had finished eating by the time Gu Yi finally came downstairs with a sleep-blurred face. Ignoring him, Lin Ting grabbed his bag and prepared to head out the door.
Gu Jiang was halfway through his coffee when he stood up. “Hang on, let’s head out together.”
“I’ll just walk.” Lin Ting didn’t look back, giving a casual wave of his hand.
Gu Yi’s school was different from his own; although it was a bit farther away, it was an exceptionally prestigious private high school. Lin Ting had browsed introductions to that school online long ago and heard it even featured things like afternoon tea. At the time, he and his classmates had gossiped about it, but hearing them bring it up at the dinner table last night gave Lin Ting a surreal sense of unreality.
Anyway, unlike them, he didn’t have far to go, and walking by himself would at least buy him some peace and quiet.
Lin Ting had checked the map on his phone the previous night. Turning left out of the door as per his familiar routine, he navigated a series of turns according to his mental map until he reached an alley entrance.
He heard some sounds of arguing up ahead, which left him feeling somewhat annoyed. He debated whether he should just walk past pretending he hadn’t heard a thing, or wait until the noises stopped before proceeding.
“Next time I beat you up, it won’t just be a single punch!” he heard one of the voices at the alley entrance declare.
That was entirely uncultured, Lin Ting thought, shaking his head. Walking past from this angle would surely get him noticed; it would be better to wait a little longer. Besides, he didn’t particularly want to arrive at school all that early anyway.
“Thanks, Brother Wen! I’ll never dare do it again!” Another voice, sounding somewhere between grateful and choked back with tears, belonged to someone else.
Brother Wen, huh? Turns out these rich young masters were no different from ordinary people after all, Lin Ting thought, feeling a silent apology for ever assuming everyone here was just like the Gu family.
Brother Wen must have said something else to the tearful voice, because a flurry of footsteps gradually faded away. Lin Ting leaned back against the wall, resting one foot on the corner of the wall, planning to wait until the remaining person also left before walking past and pretending to happen by.
Before long, the other set of footsteps faded into the distance as well.
Lin Ting let out a breath, pulled his gaze away from the clouds in the sky, directed it back onto the pavement, and lifted his foot to move. As he passed the alley entrance, he couldn’t resist glancing inside, and sure enough, the people were gone.
“Who are you looking for?” A hand suddenly patted lightly on Lin Ting’s right shoulder, and a faint, lingering chuckle brushed past his left earlobe, causing the goosebumps on the side of his neck to instantly stand on end.