Don't cry

The children were a major reason the Lin Family had distanced themselves back then.

The Lin Family had only just managed to establish themselves, and they had already encroached on many people's interests. After that incident, all Four Great Families owed them a debt of gratitude as well.

That changed everything.

Father Lin and Mother Lin were hardly ordinary people. Naturally, cooperating with them brought more benefits than drawbacks, but openly or in secret, someone would always kick a stone into their path to trip them up.

If those people couldn't have something, they couldn't stand to see anyone else doing well, either.

With enough open rivalry and covert scheming, accidents were bound to happen.

Some people had no limits whatsoever.

When it began affecting the children, Father Lin and Mother Lin thought long and hard. Compared with immense wealth and status, the happiness they had right in front of them mattered more.

They had once harbored ambitions just as grand, but they were more afraid of losing the people they loved.

Everyone had different aspirations, and they chose their own path.

Only when their two children gradually grew up did they make their move again. This time, they had nothing holding them back.

And they would settle the score with every last person who had crossed them back then.

To outsiders, however, their efforts to avoid suspicion looked like a falling-out with the Four Great Families.

The year Bo Xi returned to the country, he had wanted to visit the Lin Family.

His mother merely watched indifferently as he prepared gifts. Just as he was leaving, she sneered behind him. "You really don't know anything. You don't even know we haven't had any dealings with the Lin Family for ten years."

"The Lin Family cut ties with all Four Great Families for those two children. Did you really not hear a thing about it?"

"Just two shortsighted fools. What good are their two children besides being a little kind? They're not even as useful as that illegitimate son of the Cheng Family."

Bo Xi stood in the doorway, his voice flat. "Right. And all you did was marry a man through an arranged alliance, then dump your little boy overseas and never bother with him."

"When your husband does well, you say you picked him well. When your son grows up, you say you raised him well."

"The Lin Family built everything they have from nothing, on their own. You make it sound so grand, but we're all just tools for you to show off."

"Does your foresight amount to finding a good husband? Then you two really should have a proper talk. I hear he's taken a liking to his secretary lately and has brought up divorcing you with Grandpa. Quite some foresight you have."

With that, he strode out without hesitation, ignoring his mother's furious shouting behind him.

From that day on, he moved out of the family estate.

He knew what kind of person his mother was, but her words still sank in.

Approaching Star now would only hurt him. Lin Xingmo was already battling others in the company for the CEO position.

If he approached Star at a time like this, who knew how much gossip it would stir up?

He had always followed behind him, watching his happy smile every day as he went out with his younger sister. Star's life was easy and carefree, and he didn't know how to become part of it.

Would he be too stiff, too boring?

But he, too, wanted so, so badly to get close to him.

He waited for Lin Xingmo to secure his position, thinking his chance had finally come.

Yet with the person he longed for right in front of him, he couldn't get out a single word.

"Hello, sir. Are you here to hike too? Do you have heatstroke?"

His face remained blank, and he couldn't say a word. It had been so long since he had been this close to him. He knew what he was afraid of.

He was afraid Lin Xingye truly wouldn't recognize him.

His fear came true.

None of his fantasies could compare to the moment he actually faced him. Even though he knew it was inevitable, the piercing ache deep inside him lingered.

"Star, it's okay if you don't remember. Get to know me again. Forgive me for being such a useless coward."

His voice was unbearably hoarse. Lin Xingye's hand trembled, and tears pooled in his eyes. "Bo... Bo Xi, are you crying?"

Bo Xi simply held his trembling hand tightly and buried his face deep in his shoulder.

It was wet.

Lin Xingye rolled over. His eyes couldn't see, but he could feel how upset Bo Xi was. "Why are you crying?"

Following his memory, he reached up to touch his face and clumsily wiped away his tears. He couldn't understand. "Couldn't you tell?"

[Couldn't you tell I was actually blaming you?]

[Even though none of you did anything wrong.]

Bo Xi raised his hand and held his. "Of course I could, Star. It was my fault."

"A lot of things have two sides. They aren't just what you see. People instinctively choose the side they want to see."

"This was my choice."

Lin Xingye said nothing. His unfocused eyes tried hard to look toward him, and his hands fumbled as he moved closer. "I don't care. You did nothing wrong."

Bo Xi gathered him into his arms.

"Why do you like me so much?" He curled up obediently in Bo Xi's embrace.

Bo Xi kissed his forehead and held him close. "Want to know? I'll tell you. You have no idea, but when you were little..."

"Hah..."

Bo Xi gazed at him for a long time, then gently kissed the cheek of the fellow who was already fast asleep and wiped away the lingering tear tracks beside his eyes. "Good night, my Star."

"William, how are things on your end?" Cheng Yu and the others had locked those men in a room and contacted the police beforehand. Someone would come to pick them up as soon as they disembarked the next morning.

William handed him a cigarette. "My side's easy enough. They're just that useless Carl's men. Nobody important."

As he took the cigarette, he suddenly remembered how Lin Xingye had mumbled in his sleep the night before that he stank, complaining that he hated the smell on him.

Thinking about it, he might have meant the smell of cigarettes.

Seeing him merely hold the cigarette after taking it, William raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What, you've quit?"

He seemed to consider the question very seriously. "I really should."

"By the way, what's going on with Lin...?" William was very curious. After all, there had been another group of men, and they had clearly been after him.

Cheng Yu sighed. "Hard to say. The loose-lipped ones don't know anything, and the tight-lipped ones wouldn't say a word."

At the thought, he sneered. "But I threatened them a little, and they spilled everything."

William thought, Are you sure you only threatened them a little?

"I don't know how they managed it, but someone got leverage over them and made them follow orders." He ruffled his messy hair. "All they know is that they happened to hear someone call him Qin-something over the phone. They don't know anything else."

"I told him to tell the police the truth. At least that might get his sentence reduced."

"And your terms?" William asked with a smile.

Cheng Yu didn't answer, merely giving him a look. "It's late. I'm heading back to sleep. You should get some rest too."

With that, he turned and left, though whatever crossed his mind suddenly soured his expression.

Damn it. They'd gone back to cuddle Star to sleep and left him dealing with this mess until the middle of the night!

If Qi Sijing hadn't had to go comfort his frightened sister, he would have finished ages ago.

They hadn't expected Qi Sinian and her companion to be on the fourth floor then. They had thought the two had gone downstairs to eat.

Although the rooms were well soundproofed, the commotion outside had been far too loud and had terrified both girls.

"Hello?"

"It's William."

An Shi opened the door, saw William leaning against the doorframe with a rose between his teeth, then abruptly slammed it shut again.

William was baffled.

He knocked again.

An Shi opened the door impatiently. "What do you want?"

Puzzled by his reaction, William asked, "An, I'm here to thank you. Isn't this how people in your country express affection?"

The corner of An Shi's mouth twitched. "Did you get that from TV dramas?"

William nodded. "Yes. I've watched quite a lot. They're very interesting."

"So cheesy. You learned well. Don't do it again." An Shi bluntly mocked him. "I appreciate the thought. Anything else?"

William said, "What? Why shouldn't I do it again if I learned well? I don't quite understand."

Confused foreigner face.jpg

An Shi still wore a sour expression and had no intention of explaining. He actually wanted to close the door, but William had a hand braced there, and he couldn't just slam it on him.

Though he rather wanted to.

"Look over there."

William had barely turned his head when An Shi shoved him two steps back.

A faint smile curved the usually cold face. "Good night."

The door slammed shut, but William remained frozen outside. A moment later, he covered his face and chuckled. "He got me."

"So that's what he looks like when he smiles."