A cruise getaway

After the incident with Qin Ke, public opinion online reversed, and the Qi Family stopped waiting and took Hu Kai straight to court.

Because of public pressure, the Hu Family paid a far greater price than they otherwise would have. With a death on their conscience, they fled City A in disgrace.

Duan Peng changed his story, but with Qin Ke dead and unable to testify, he still could not escape prison.

His relatives scattered as though fleeing a curse, terrified of having anything more to do with him. After all, they had only wanted Duan Peng released so he could earn more money for them.

With the matter settled for the time being, Lin Xingye and Qi Sijing were each taken home by their families to recover.

But after Qi Sijing returned home, he apparently had another argument with Grandpa Qi because he had fallen for a man.

Before Lin Xingye went home, An Shi sent him a message.

[I know you inflicted the injury on your hand yourself. I haven't told your family. If you need anything, you can come to me.]

During his days recovering at home, he often pestered his mother, asking about his childhood and digging through things from when he was little.

The plot had gone so far off the rails that he could no longer use the original storyline to predict what would happen next.

He had expected Li Hanwen, that indestructible cockroach, to keep making moves, but strangely, there was no news of him.

After that incident, the public backlash had been so severe that his company fired him. No one had seen him since.

Li Hanwen had done so many evil things in his previous life. Knocking him off his perch was only the beginning. Lin Xingye was still waiting for Li Hanwen to strike back, waiting to crush him further.

This was very strange.

With his personality, he would never give up everything he had fought so hard to obtain, even in death. Yet now he had simply vanished.

Lin Xingye was not the only one who found it strange. Cheng Yu had intended to track him down and teach him a lesson, only to find no trace of him at all.

Suspicious.

Lin Xingye gazed at the blue sky and white clouds outside his window. The weather was beautifully clear, and the sun warmed his skin. Everything was so peaceful that it was easy to relax.

Li Hanwen had been brought down, and Qin Ke had killed himself. It seemed as though everything was over.

Yet he felt a storm approaching.

This was merely the calm before the storm.

"Qi Sijing is throwing a celebration?" Lin Xingye had only been back at work for a week, and that group was already constantly trying to get him to eat with them.

He had learned most of the details of his childhood from his mother, though he did not know whether her account differed from what had actually happened.

Bo Xi had been good-tempered since childhood, but he had never liked playing with other children.

Surprisingly, though, he had liked Lin Xingye very much.

Qi Sijing had been his little shadow. After losing a competition against him, he had loved sticking to him ever since.

Cheng Yu had always liked bullying other children when he was little. He had been a little tyrant.

After he bullied Lin Xingye, none of the children in the courtyard would play with him anymore.

Seeing how pitiful he looked, Lin Xingye had magnanimously invited him into his little band of mischief-makers.

An Shi had been a little different. Lin Xingye had thought he was pretty and insisted on dragging him along to play.

The five of them had been close friends as children. Because of their friendship, people had teased that the Lin Family used their son to curry favor with others.

His parents had been deeply upset by those remarks and instead avoided working with the Four Great Families.

Friendship had become a tool for personal gain, and the other boys' parents had also begun to wonder whether the Lin Family harbored sinister ambitions. The Lin Family's reputation had been terrible back then.

It was as though someone had grown jealous and spread malicious rumors, but no one knew who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

Perhaps more than one person had been involved.

Until that incident happened.

Lin Xingye did not understand what kind of liking Bo Xi and the others meant. Why? What was their reason?

If they liked him, why had none of them come looking for him in his previous life?

The thought left him miserable, and he decided to go out over the weekend and hire a male model to unwind.

But even that fell through.

"The celebration lasts two days? Both days of the weekend!" Lin Xingye had not expected such an unfortunate coincidence.

After leaving the hospital, Qi Sijing had spent a long time recovering at home until his fracture healed. And now, he had just negotiated a major overseas deal.

The Qi Family had decided to throw a celebration, both for his recovery and for the partnership, inviting plenty of people to enjoy themselves.

And it would last a full two days.

Lin Xingye: "Can I skip it?"

Lin Xingmo: "It's on a cruise ship. We're going out to sea."

Lin Xingye: "Aside from bringing myself, do I need to bring anything?"

Lin Xingmo: ...

Just bring your brain.

"Wow~ Getting out really does wonders for the body and soul~"

Since the banquet in his previous life, Lin Xingye had never properly gone out for fun again. Those eight years had been a nightmare to him.

He could barely remember what his last outing had been like. After his rebirth, something happened every few days, leaving him in no mood to go out and enjoy himself.

He had already done everything he could to escape that nightmare.

Watching Lin Xingmo laughing happily beside him, he felt something tender in his heart stir.

He truly wished time could stop here forever, and that the tragedy of his previous life would never happen again.

Perhaps he really should try asking An Shi for help. Lately, simply suppressing his thoughts and maintaining a cheerful facade had begun to exhaust him.

When he looked up, he saw Qi Sijing standing alone by the railing on the third deck, lost in thought.

Was he in a bad mood?

Lin Xingye could not help feeling worried. Wasn't this a celebration? Why did its guest of honor look so miserable, standing there all alone?

As it turned out, when Qi Sijing wasn't joking around and simply stood quietly by himself, he rather resembled a handsome, composed, melancholy prince.

Qi Sijing stood silently by the railing, his deep gaze fixed on the endless blue sea. The cool sea breeze gently stirred the strands of hair over his forehead.

His thoughts surged like the tide, and the argument he had had with his grandfather a few days earlier resurfaced in his mind.

His heart was a tangle of emotions.

"Have you lost your mind?" Grandpa Qi's furious demand had struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

"He's a man! You can't just because he saved you... If you really want to repay him, marry Lin Xingmo!"

Though he had not said it outright, his disapproval was plain.

Qi Sijing had always been dutiful and rarely argued with his grandfather. Usually, he gave in to him.

This time, however, he refused to budge.

Determination and sincerity shone in Qi Sijing's eyes. "Grandpa, I'm not joking."

Grandpa Qi roared furiously, "Neither am I!"

"Grandpa, I don't know why you're trying to stop me. Without him, I might not even have lived this long."

Grandpa Qi's expression abruptly changed, as though those words had struck a sore spot. "I... We already repaid the Lin Family for what happened back then. That was an accident. Besides, afterward..."

"Enough."

Faced with such defiance, Grandpa Qi was so angry that his blood pressure threatened to soar. His chest heaved.

"If it weren't for him, would I still be standing here arguing with you? You'd be holding my funeral by now."

His expression turned indifferent, and his words grew increasingly harsh.

"Qi Sijing! You little bastard! Just try saying that again!" Grandpa Qi's eyes blazed with anger.

Qi Sijing's accident had nearly scared him out of his wits, yet he still dared to bring up something as inauspicious as his own funeral!

"Grandpa, if I wanted to repay him, there are countless ways I could do it. I wouldn't have to fall in love with him." His eyes brimmed with disappointment as he turned toward the door and gently rested his hand on the handle.

He took a deep breath. "I really do love him."

With that, he pushed the door open and left without looking back.

As he gazed at the distant sky, intense emotions churned in his heart.

His lips parted and closed, and a craving for cigarettes that had lain dormant for years quietly returned.

He wanted a cigarette.

He still remembered how, the year he returned to the country, he had seen cigarette smoke make Lin Xingye's eyes water. He had never smoked again after that.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the fellow below peering around. A smile tugged at his lips, and he beckoned to him.

Sunlight fell over him. The handsome young man wore a mature, dignified suit that seemed a little incongruous, yet suited him perfectly.

The man who had looked so troubled moments earlier suddenly seemed radiant, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere and making it impossible to look away.

Caught off guard by how handsome Qi Sijing looked when he smiled, Lin Xingye lowered his head with a blush, afraid Qi Sijing would notice how embarrassingly fast his face had reddened.

[Had that guy always been this handsome?]