Nianwei, everything I did was for your own good

"Where is the baby buried? I want to visit him."

Lin Zhengye stared at Chen Jingshen for several seconds before finally nodding.

"Come with me."

He turned and entered the elevator. Chen Jingshen froze for a moment, then hurried in after him.

Lin Zhengye pressed the button for the second basement level, and the elevator slowly descended.

Watching the numbers drop, Chen Jingshen began to suspect something.

Ding!

The doors opened, and a blast of cold air hit him.

The corridor was long, the incandescent lights overhead almost blinding.

Iron doors lined both sides, each bearing a sign with words Chen Jingshen did not want to see.

The morgue!

His steps faltered.

Lin Zhengye did not look back. He walked straight ahead.

At the end of the corridor, he stopped in front of a door and exchanged a few words with the attendant. The man nodded, took out a key, and unlocked the door.

"Go in." Lin Zhengye stood in the doorway without entering.

Chen Jingshen took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The room was small, barely more than ten square meters. A row of refrigerated compartments stood against the wall, their silvery metal fronts like drawers, some bearing labels.

The attendant walked over to the third compartment and glanced back at him.

Chen Jingshen nodded.

The attendant pulled out the drawer.

White mist billowed out with the cold air.

Chen Jingshen walked over and looked down.

It was a tiny baby.

Wrapped in a white swaddling blanket, his eyes closed, his skin pale and bluish, his lips purple.

He was so small, as small as a rag doll!

Chen Jingshen's hands began to tremble.

He slowly reached out, wanting to touch the baby's face.

"Can I... hold him?" Chen Jingshen's voice had gone strange.

The attendant looked toward Lin Zhengye in the doorway.

Lin Zhengye nodded.

The attendant gently lifted the bundled baby out and handed him to Chen Jingshen.

As Chen Jingshen took him, his arms weakened, and he nearly lost his grip. He quickly supported the baby with both hands and cradled him against his chest.

Cold.

Even through the blanket, he could feel that chill.

He looked down at the little face. The eyebrows were faint, barely grown in.

Tears began to fall from Chen Jingshen's eyes.

At first, just one or two drops landed on the blanket. Then more and more came, until he could not stop them. He bit his lip, trying not to make a sound, but muffled sobs still escaped his throat.

Chen Jingshen buried his face against the baby, his shoulders shaking violently.

At the doorway, the middle-aged man in a black suit standing behind Lin Zhengye turned his face away, unable to bear the sight.

His name was Chen Quan, and he had worked for Lin Zhengye for fifteen years.

He had seen Lin Zhengye bend the business world to his will, seen him greet rivals with a smile over dinner only to ruthlessly destroy them afterward, and seen him deal with countless people and problems.

But he had never seen anything like this.

He stole a glance at Lin Zhengye and found no expression on his face. He simply watched Chen Jingshen hold the baby and cry, his gaze as calm as if he were looking at a stranger.

Chen Quan quickly lowered his head.

He dared not let his thoughts wander any further!

Chen Jingshen cried for a long time.

Eventually, he could no longer make a sound. He just crouched on the floor with the baby in his arms, his body convulsing with sobs.

Only after a long while did he stand up.

Holding the baby, he walked over to Lin Zhengye and dropped to his knees with a thud.

Lin Zhengye's eyelid twitched.

"Uncle Lin." Chen Jingshen looked up at him, his eyes red and swollen, his face streaked with tears. "I'm begging you for one thing."

Lin Zhengye said nothing.

"This baby... let me bury him." Chen Jingshen's voice was painfully hoarse. "I want to see him off myself. Please!"

Kneeling with the baby in his arms, he pressed his forehead against the icy floor tiles.

Lin Zhengye looked down at Chen Jingshen for a long time.

"Get up."

Chen Jingshen did not move.

Lin Zhengye sighed. "All right. I promise."

Chen Jingshen raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"Thank you, Uncle Lin. Thank you!"

Lin Zhengye waved a hand and told Chen Quan, "Go with him. Come back and tell me where he's buried."

Chen Quan nodded. "Yes, sir."

Chen Jingshen rose with the baby in his arms and stumbled. Chen Quan reached out to steady him.

"Uncle Lin, you have my word. From today on, I won't see Nianwei again. I'll keep my promise!"

Lin Zhengye looked at Chen Jingshen.

After a long moment, he walked over and patted his shoulder.

"Chen Jingshen," he said, his voice a little softer than before, "I understand if you hate me or resent me. But you have to understand that everything I've done is for Nianwei."

Chen Jingshen said nothing.

"You're still young. You have a long life ahead of you." Lin Zhengye withdrew his hand. "This baby... just pretend he was never here."

Chen Jingshen looked down at the baby in his arms.

"He was here," he murmured. "He's my son."

Chen Jingshen carried the baby toward the exit.

His steps were unsteady, his body swaying. Chen Quan followed him, then glanced back at Lin Zhengye after a couple of steps.

Lin Zhengye gave him a warning look.

Chen Quan understood the look, quickly nodded, and turned to hurry after Chen Jingshen.

Chen Jingshen let out a long breath.

At the doorway, he nodded to the attendant. "Thank you for your help."

The attendant hurriedly waved his hands. "No trouble at all, no trouble. You're too kind, Mr. Lin."

Lin Zhengye said nothing more and turned to leave.

As the elevator ascended, he took a cigarette from his pocket, then remembered he was in a hospital and put it back.

Lin Zhengye looked at his reflection in the elevator doors, one corner of his mouth twitching.

Thank goodness!

Thank goodness he had kept something in reserve!

When Lin Nianwei's baby was born in the early hours of the morning, he had immediately ordered Chen Quan to take him away.

At the same time, he had told the hospital to find a baby who really had died—a migrant worker's baby, born without a breath in his body. Once the family received the money, they left without so much as another glance.

The baby Chen Jingshen had carried away was that migrant worker's child.

Lin Zhengye closed his eyes and leaned against the elevator wall.

Today, he had fooled Chen Jingshen.

In the future, he would take Lin Nianwei to visit the baby's grave. She would grieve for a few years, and then the pain would gradually fade.

Time was the best medicine.

She was only twenty-four. Still young.

In three or five years, she would find a good man to marry and have a few more children. Little by little, she would forget this baby.

"Nianwei, everything I did was for your own good!"