Although Ji Yuxiao was not Ji Leyu’s biological father, he always pampered the child even more than a biological parent would.
Even when Ji Yuling was still alive, he would secretly take Ji Leyu, who showed signs of school aversion, out to play behind Ji Yuling’s back. In the evenings, Ji Yuxiao would take full responsibility, insisting it was his idea and had nothing to do with Ji Leyu. He’d claim that he wanted to play, and Ji Leyu, being small and weak, was simply carried off by him. How could Ji Leyu be at fault? It was all his uncle’s doing.
Ji Leyu’s only task was to stand by, pretending to be obedient and apologetic, softly saying, “Daddy, I was wrong.”
This would always leave Ji Yuling both amused and exasperated, ultimately turning a blind eye and letting them off the hook time and time again.
Sure enough, before long, Ji Leyu received a voice call from Ji Yuxiao, summoning him and Lin Fei downstairs for dinner.
Overjoyed, Ji Leyu threw his books aside and pulled Lin Fei along, fearing that in the next second, Lin Fei might utter the heartless words, “You do your homework, I’ll have Aunt Zhang bring up your meal.”
Unfortunately, the blissful moment was short-lived. After their break, they returned to Lin Fei’s room to resume their homework.
Lin Fei sat by reading a book, and the two of them remained quiet.
The amount of homework at the beginning of the school year is usually relatively small, and Ji Leyu knew how to do it all; he was just too lazy to write it down. Now that he started writing, it only took him an hour or two to finish.
Soon enough, Ji Leyu completed his homework and pushed his notebook in front of Lin Fei for him to check.
Lin Fei closed his book and took Ji Leyu’s homework to review it.
As he was checking, he heard Ji Leyu say, “Let’s go sing karaoke.”
He had sung a few lines at noon, and now he was more interested, especially with Lin Fei by his side. He felt like going out to play again.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Ji Leyu said, shaking Lin Fei’s arm and pleading, “I haven’t sung in a long time. Please, agree to it, okay?”
Lin Fei couldn’t resist and nodded in agreement while continuing to check Ji Leyu’s homework.
Seeing that Lin Fei had agreed, Ji Leyu cheered, “Then I’ll go ask Father if he wants to go.”
“Okay,” Lin Fei replied calmly.
Ji Leyu stood up and left the room, heading to Ji Yuxiao’s study.
Ji Yuxiao was still busy. He waved his document and sighed, “You and your brother go ahead. I have a video conference coming up.”
“Alright. Just send me a message on WeChat later with what you want to eat, and I’ll bring it back for you.”
“Okay,” Ji Yuxiao smiled. “Do you have enough money? I have a card here that you can take and use with your brother.”
Ji Leyu declined, “I have enough money to spend. It’s you who will get it. My brother’s competition this time has a prize. Before long, you and dad will be able to get a new round of allowance.”
Hearing this, Ji Yuxiao couldn’t help but laugh.
Unlike most children, Lin Fei had always been mature and smart from a young age. For reasons unknown, despite being small, his heart was big. The first time he earned pocket money from a job in first grade, he gave it all to Ji Yuxiao and Lin Luoqing, saying it was for their allowance.
Since then, whether it was from a job, a scholarship, or competition prizes, he would give money to Ji Yuxiao, Lin Luoqing, and Ji Leyu, calling it their allowance.
Ji Yuxiao never expected to receive such a benefit from being a stepfather. Each time he received money, he was both surprised and thrilled, posting about it from his social media to his Weibo, wanting to announce to the world that his son gave him an allowance.
As a result, the group of children with Lin Fei as the core and Ji Yuxiao and Lin Luqing as the social network of their parents hardly had a few good days since childhood. They were constantly dragged forward by Lin Fei, the “other people’s child,” in their studies and lives.
Ji Yuxiao couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought of the upcoming allowance. In his joy, he transferred some money to Lin Luoqing, Ji Leyu, and Lin Fei. “Alright, go have fun and enjoy yourselves.”
“Okay.”
Ji Leyu turned to leave, remembering to close the door behind him.
Lin Luoqing, who was filming on set, looked at the sudden deposit and asked in confusion: [Why did you suddenly transfer money to me? Did you acquire another company?]
Ji Yuxiao didn’t hold back: [The weather hasn’t cooled down yet, so let’s let the Wang family company live a few more days. Feifei might have won some prize money again and is about to give us another allowance.]
Lin Luoqing: !!!
Lin Luoqing immediately got excited and without hesitation transferred some money to Lin Fei: [Dad won’t be back for a while, so here’s this month’s allowance.]
Lin Fei: …
If he remembered correctly, Lin Luoqing and Ji Yuxiao had just given him his allowance on the first of this month.
“What did you tell Father?” Lin Fei turned to Ji Leyu.
“Nothing,” Ji Leyu replied, looking innocent.
“Then why did he and Dad each transfer me a six-figure sum?”
“Oh,” Ji Leyu sat down next to him, “I mentioned that you did really well in your recent competition and that they were about to receive a new round of allowance.”
Lin Fei: …
Ji Leyu patted him on the shoulder, “Isn’t ‘fatherly love is as tall as a mountain’,‘green mountains and clear waters are not as good as mountains of gold and silver’? You know, in our modest family, expressing fatherly love is just this simple, straightforward, and a bit rough.”
Lin Fei: … With this kind of mindset, he can pretty much say goodbye to any public service exams.
“So is he coming with us to sing?” he asked.
Ji Leyu shook his head, “He has a video conference later and can’t get away.”
Lin Fei, hearing this, didn’t say much and simply replied, “Then let’s go.”
“Okay,” Ji Leyu had already changed clothes before coming to Lin Fei’s room. Seeing that Lin Fei was ready too, he pulled him along as they headed out.
They took a car to the KTV they often visited.
While Ji Leyu was talking to the receptionist, he heard a familiar voice behind him, “Ji Leyu!”
The next second, Shi Qi bounced in front of him, “So you said you weren’t coming to sing, and here you are.”
Ji Leyu: …
Ji Leyu silently pointed to Lin Fei, “My brother is back.”
Only then did Shi Qi notice Lin Fei standing beside him, and he instantly took a step back, smiling politely at Lin Fei.
Damn! So that’s why Ji Leyu suddenly showes up! The real deal has returned!
Lin Fei nodded slightly, acknowledging him.
Soon, Jian Hao, Zheng Binbai, and Dong Junbo, who had come with Shi Qi, also walked up to Ji Leyu and Lin Fei.
“Since we’ve run into each other, let’s sing together,” Zheng Binbai said, looking at Ji Leyu with a gentle tone.
Ji Leyu turned to glance at Lin Fei. Seeing that he had no objections, he didn’t refuse the invitation.
The group entered the private room together.
Shi Qi and Jian Hao paired up to get the drinks and snacks everyone wanted from the beverage area. Ji Leyu sat in the middle of the sofa, with Lin Fei sitting next to him.
Dong Junbo was about to sit down according to the seating arrangement, but Ji Leyu suddenly pulled him, “You sit here next to me.”
“Oh,” Dong Junbo was pleasantly surprised, “Today you’re treating me so well.”
Ji Leyu smiled brightly, “Yes, it’s been a few days since I’ve seen you, and you look particularly pleasing to the eye.”
Dong Junbo chuckled and moved to sit beside him.
He noticed that Zheng Binbai hadn’t sat down yet and seemed to be pondering something. Ji Leyu pulled him over, saying generously, “Sit down.”
Zheng Binbai looked at the smile on Ji Leyu’s face and recalled how he specifically pulled someone just now. It all felt a bit strange.
Why did Ji Leyu suddenly insist on having Dong Junbo sit next to him?
It felt too deliberate.
Except for Lin Fei, Ji Leyu almost never cared who sat next to him. Why was he so particular about having Dong Junbo sit beside him today?
Zheng Binbai pondered this and couldn’t help but glance at Ji Leyu. Ji Leyu was already holding his phone and selecting songs, showing the screen to Lin Fei and asking what he wanted to sing.
Zheng Binbai watched the two of them, his gaze slowly drifting to Lin Fei’s face, then moving to the empty seat next to him.
He suddenly had a thought, a rather absurd one: perhaps what Ji Leyu wanted was not for Dong Junbo to sit next to him, but for him not to sit next to Lin Fei.
However, this thought was quickly dismissed. It was too childish. Even elementary school students wouldn’t have such immature emotions and possessiveness, let alone Ji Leyu.
It must have just been a casual remark.
Shaking his head, he brushed the thought away, took out his phone, scanned the code, and began selecting songs.
Before long, Shi Qi and Jian Hao returned, carrying two small baskets. They placed them on the table and then sat on the sofa.
Zheng Binbai noticed that they sat on the left-hand sofa opposite him. Although they were in the same direction as Lin Fei, there was a considerable distance between them and Lin Fei.
The thought that had just been suppressed resurfaced again. Zheng Binbai forced himself to dismiss it once more and lowered his head to continue selecting songs.
Ji Leyu finished choosing his first round of songs and put his phone away.
“I’m going to the restroom. Are you coming?” he asked Lin Fei softly.
Lin Fei was about to respond when his phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at it and saw that it was the teacher leading their current competition. He said, “I need to take this call.”
“Okay.”
Both of them stood up and left the room together.
Lin Fei walked to a quieter spot, while Ji Leyu turned toward the restroom.
Most of the time, the restrooms in KTVs were empty. Ji Leyu entered and saw that the urinals had some issues and were cordoned off, so he went into a stall.
After leaving the stall, Ji Leyu was heading to the sink to wash his hands when he heard someone enter.
Two people walked in, talking as they came.
“Is that Lin Fei? I can’t believe he’d show up in a place like this. I thought he was the type who only knew how to study.”
“He is! You haven’t seen him before. During our PE class, everyone was playing around during free time, and he just sat on the parallel bars reading a book. It was ridiculous.”
“Hahaha, that’s so pretentious! At least sit under a tree or something, but sitting on the parallel bars? That’s hilarious.”
“Exactly. And yet, all the girls in our class still like him. It just shows how shallow girls are these days, only caring about looks without realizing he’s just a bookworm. What’s the appeal?”
“He’s so pretentious and showy, but what can you do? He’s got money and a celebrity dad.”
“You mean Lin Luoqing?” The other person sneered. “The entertainment industry is such a mess these days. Lin Luoqing’s spouse is also wealthy. With that combination of money and fame, who knows what kind of chaos is going on? Maybe…”
He gave the person next to him a knowing smile, lewd and malicious.
Ji Leyu listened, then slowly turned his head and saw they had already entered the stalls.
He blinked slowly, then calmly walked to the restroom door, placed the “Do Not Disturb” sign outside, locked the door, and walked back to the sink.
Ji Leyu turned on the faucet, feeling the clear water flow out. He squeezed some hand soap and slowly rubbed it into his fingers.
His fingers were very white, long, and slender, with well-defined knuckles, like flawless jade.
Ji Leyu washed his hands very carefully and patiently until he heard the doors of the stalls open.
The two people had finished their previous conversation and were talking about something new as they walked toward him.
Ji Leyu turned off the faucet and moved to the hand dryer to dry his hands.
With his head down, the two didn’t notice him. They turned on the faucet and continued chatting while washing their hands.
Suddenly, they felt a force pressing the back of their heads down. Before they could react, their faces were pushed into the sink.
They instinctively struggled, but the force behind them was strong, holding their heads firmly down.
The water from the faucet continued to flow, the sink’s drain was blocked, and the water level in the sink rose. Their struggles became more frantic as the water rose higher.
Ji Leyu checked the time and decided it was enough. He grabbed their hair and lifted the heads of the two people from the sink.
He looked at their disheveled reflections in the mirror, his eyebrows slightly raised, and spoke in a soft, somewhat sinister tone, “Didn’t anyone tell you not to talk behind others’ backs?”