Almost the very next second, Lin Wangye shot out a question, speaking so fast his words practically ran together: “Grandma, is this your granddaughter? Her name’s Suihe? You mentioned before that you have a grandson in high school—he’s Xu Suinian, right?!”
The old lady nodded. “That’s right.”
As soon as she said it, it was like a thunderclap exploded right next to Lin Wangye’s ear.
Even Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan beside him were stunned for a second.
No one expected that this little food stall they always hung out at would somehow be connected to Xu Suinian.
The old lady noticed their weird expressions and curiously asked, “Are you guys his friends?”
“…Yeah, we are.”
She let out a sigh and mumbled to herself.
“Aiya, and you boys come here all the time too. If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have taken your money.”
“It’s fine, Grandma,” Lin Wangye quickly waved it off. “You’re just trying to make an honest living—we should still pay.”
Lin Shen chimed in right away, “Yeah, we can’t just eat for free.”
Right after he said that, Lin Wangye turned to look at his dad with a face like, ‘When have you ever paid?’
Lin Shen got caught and shrank back, suddenly quiet.
Back then, Shi Yuan had said he didn’t want his family to worry, so they kept the whole hospital thing a secret. Without cross-checking anything first, Lin Wangye didn’t dare say much—he was afraid he’d slip and say something he shouldn’t.
Even though he was dying to know how Shi Yuan was going to explain needing to leave the hospital early to rest at home.
But Lin Shen was a chatterbox. Once the topic came up, he ran with it. He was good at small talk too—he went off bragging non-stop about Xu Suinian’s top scores in Class A, hyping him up like crazy. The grandparents lit up with pride, smiles blooming on their faces.
After all that warm-up, Lin Shen figured it was time to show some concern for the ‘victim.’ He put down his chopsticks and cut straight to the point.
“I heard he just got out of the hospi—”
Before he could finish, Lin Wangye’s scalp went numb. He was just about to jump in and cut him off when suddenly, Lu Chengxuan stood up and said, “I’m full. Let’s go.”
Lin Shen blinked. “Huh? You’re not gonna sit a bit longer?”
Lu Chengxuan: “News broadcast’s about to start.”
Lin Shen hadn’t even processed what was happening when Lu Chengxuan was already by the old lady’s side, pulling out his wallet to pay the bill, cutting off any chance of more small talk.
At first, the old lady didn’t want to take the money.
Lu Chengxuan, who usually treats words like gold, had to go back and forth with her quite a bit before she finally agreed to accept fifty bucks, waving off the change.
Lin Wangye followed behind the two of them as they left, turning back every few steps to glance at that little electric tricycle.
On the way back to the internet cafe, a light snow began to fall.
Winter in Ningchang was dry as a bone, so snow never melted when it landed on you—it just clung there until you stepped inside and gave yourself a shake, and then it all came fluttering off.
They’d just finished eating, so none of them were in a hurry. They strolled slowly down the sidewalk.
Lin Shen knew the least about what was going on and wasn’t exactly the most observant guy either. As they walked, he sighed, “So the food stall owners are Xu Suinian’s grandparents? I wouldn’t have guessed. His family’s not doing great, huh? Out here in the dead of winter still trying to earn a living. Good thing we’ve always come by and given them business.”
“Yeah…”
They’d been coming here for so long, and his grandparents had always been right there, yet somehow they’d never run into Shi Yuan once.
Was this the universe’s way of hinting that there just wasn’t any fate between them?
Lin Wangye had already been in a bad mood all day. And now, realizing this, he felt even more defeated—every word that came out of his mouth was laced with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Lin Shen was still thinking ahead, planning. “Next time we come, Grandma’s probably gonna refuse to take our money again… So here’s what we do: we sit down and eat like normal, count the skewers when we’re done, throw the cash on the table and run. No way the old couple can catch us.”
“That trick only works once,” Lu Chengxuan said flatly. “If they really don’t want to take it, next time you show up, they’ll hand the money back before you even start eating.”
Lin Shen scratched his head. “Yeah, you’ve got a point.”
Lu Chengxuan looked calm as ever and said with zero hesitation, “If they can take the money once, they can take it again. Just eat when you’re hungry.”
Thinking back to how Lu Chengxuan actually paid earlier, Lin Shen nodded seriously. “You’re right. You’re in charge of this mission from now on.”
Lu Chengxuan said nothing, but his face clearly read: When have I not been in charge?
As they neared the entrance of the internet cafe, Lin Shen suddenly snapped out of it like a lightbulb had gone off. He turned and looked at Lin Wangye, who was staring down at the sidewalk tiles like they were counting themselves. Lin Shen slung an arm around his shoulders and said, “What’s up, Xiao Lin? You’re usually the chattiest one. Something on your mind? Come on, tell your ol’ man.”
Lin Wangye barely lifted his eyelids to glance at him, then said nothing at all.
When they reached the door, Lu Chengxuan stepped inside first, pulling open the heavy glass door and holding it until the other two caught up before letting go.
The warmth indoors brought every nerve back to life.
Right at the door to their private room, Lin Wangye suddenly stopped in his tracks like he’d finally made up his mind about something. He grabbed Lin Shen’s arm.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Hah, I knew it.”
Lin Shen gave him a look like he’d seen it coming a mile away, then threw a meaningful glance toward Lu Chengxuan—clearly trying to stir things up a bit, to suggest he and Xiao Lin had some kind of secret, maybe even something juicy enough to make him jealous.
But Lu Chengxuan knew better than to play along. He gave them space without a word and disappeared into the room to watch the evening news.
Lin Shen muttered a low curse under his breath—”damn”—then tugged Lin Wangye over to a quiet spot in the main hall where no one was around, and they both sat down.
“All right, spill it. What’s going on?”
“Lend me some money,” Lin Wangye got straight to the point. “I might need a lot.”
Lin Shen slumped into the couch like he’d just lost his spine and said lazily, “How much?”
“Starting at three hundred thousand.”
Lin Shen bolted upright like he’d been electrocuted, nearly crushing the soda can in his hand. “What do I look like to you? A god? Or do I really give off strong ‘Money God’ vibes? I’m broke, man. I’m out here scamming him just to eat a bowl of spicy hotpot—did you not notice?”
Lin Wangye looked down and pouted. “…Just think of something.”
“Don’t pull that poor little puppy act on me again.” Lin Shen finally sat up a bit straighter, his expression growing serious as he locked eyes with his son. “Tell me why you need that much. You in some kind of trouble?”
The whole vibe shifted in an instant. It was like time itself slowed down.
Lin Wangye hadn’t felt this kind of pressure from Chairman Lin in a long time. He gripped the hem of his shirt and looked up at his dad.
“Xu Suinian’s little sister has leukemia.”
Everyone at Seventh High pretty much knew that top student Xu Suinian from Class A had a gambling addict for a dad, but almost no one knew he also had a younger sister battling leukemia.
Zhao Youyou only found out because her younger brother had once asked Xu Suinian for tutoring help, so they interacted more and got close.
Lin Shen froze for two seconds before it clicked.
“That kid in the tricycle just now? She’s the one with leukemia?”
Lin Wangye nodded hard, his eyes full of hope. “Yeah…”
Leukemia isn’t exactly rare, but everyone knows how terrifying it can be.
Lin Shen couldn’t help but furrow his brow. Now he finally understood why Lin Wangye had been off all day.
He paused for a moment, hesitating to speak.
“But right now, I really…”
Noticing the sudden shift in Lin Shen’s expression, Lin Wangye felt a sharp pain in his nose, and his lower lip trembled uncontrollably. His eyes turned red in an instant.
At first, he had believed that with the memories of two decades ahead of time, he could single-handedly change a lot of things.
But when it came down to the crunch, he realized just how powerless he was.
In his past life, aside from his unrequited love for Shi Yuan, it seemed like there was nothing he wanted that he couldn’t have, and no challenge he couldn’t overcome.
If money could solve it, then it wasn’t a problem.
Yet, today, he realized that everything he had was given to him by his omnipotent father.
Without that kind of aura, he was helpless.
He struggled, unable to make any progress when faced with real difficulties.
Three to five hundred thousand—something he couldn’t even afford to buy a watch he liked back then—now seemed like a life-saving sum he could only dream of.
He had never needed money this badly.
And yet, at this very moment, he had none.
Even though he knew Lin Shen’s situation wasn’t much better, Lin Wangye still felt an irrational belief in his father deep down.
His voice cracked, holding onto this lifeline with all his might: “Let’s save her…”
The world is full of suffering, and there are so many tragedies.
Even gods, while alive, can’t save everyone.
Lin Shen didn’t think of himself as a saint; his sense of morality only extended to giving a few coins to elderly beggars who couldn’t act for themselves on the street.
But when misfortune truly struck those close to him, it was a whole different story.
The helpless look in Lin Wangye’s eyes, like a child, hit Lin Shen right in the gut. He reached out to ruffle Lin Wangye’s hair, thinking for a moment before saying, “I’ll figure something out.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Wangye’s tears started falling in a rush.
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t…”
Lin Shen panicked, patting his pockets for tissues but finding none. With a sigh, he used his sleeve to wipe away Lin Wangye’s tears. Glancing around, he saw a cashier covering her mouth in surprise, and suddenly felt his scalp tingle.
“Stop crying already, I swear, can I just kneel down for you to stop crying?”
Lin Wangye also felt embarrassed by his tears, but whenever he was around Lin Shen and Shi Yuan, his tear ducts seemed completely out of his control.
He tried not to make a sound, stifling his sobs as he fought to hold the tears back.
But when he realized he couldn’t control it anymore, he simply buried his face in Lin Shen’s chest, rubbing his tears on him.
“God…”
Lin Shen felt his body stiffen as if his hair was about to stand on end. Just as he was about to grab Lin Wangye by the collar and pull him off, he met eyes with Lu Chengxuan through the gap in the curtain of the private room, where warm air from the central air conditioning was leaking out.
Just as Lin Wangye finished rubbing his tears away and was about to leave, he was suddenly yanked back by Lin Shen, who half-hugged him.
Lin Shen gently ran his hand through his hair and whispered softly in his ear.
“It’s okay, kid. I’m here.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
