Lin Wangye scratched his head in confusion, then, after a moment, realized what the person was thinking. Immediately, he cursed a certain plant name in his mind, wishing he could kick the guy straight to the roof.
What the heck, are you out of your mind!?
Noticing Lin Wangye’s stunned expression, Lin Shen believed his guess was spot on and sighed dramatically.
“Give it up. I have no inappropriate thoughts about you.”
Goosebumps popped up all over Lin Wangye’s body, and he snapped, unable to take it anymore, “Get lost! You’re overthinking it!”
Lin Shen raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes!” Lin Wangye shot back.
Lin Shen pressed, “Cross your heart and swear?”
“Absolutely! I have no inappropriate thoughts about you either!”
After a brief stare-off, Lin Shen chuckled and patted his shoulder, signaling that he believed him.
Both of them sighed in relief at the same time.
Lin Wangye was still sweating, eager to move on. He turned to the computer screen and lazily yawned.
“Are we still playing? I’m kind of hungry again, and I really don’t feel like instant noodles.”
“Alright, I’ll take you out to eat.”
After playing for a while, they both started feeling the fatigue. Lin Shen was ready to stop too. He grabbed his jacket and stood up, while Lin Wangye quickly followed suit, like a loyal sidekick.
When they left, the cashier and the internet cafe staff had already switched to the night shift.
But everyone greeted Lin Shen without exception, clearly all familiar with him.
Lin Wangye finally realized his dad really had some connections. As he thought about it, a person suddenly popped into his mind.
His first love from his youth.
When they first met, Lin Wangye had been too excited, and then his attention had been diverted by other matters, so he never found the right moment to ask Lin Shen.
But the thought that they might meet again soon made Lin Wangye’s heart race uncontrollably. A tender, affectionate smile involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
But Lin Shen walked so fast that within the few seconds Lin Wangye had stood there dazed, he had already stepped out of the internet cafe.
Fearing he’d lose sight of him, Lin Wangye quickly ran to catch up.
Pushing open the glass door, the sky had already fully darkened, the night wrapping around them like a heavy curtain. His breath formed a mist in the cool air. Lin Wangye pulled his jacket zipper all the way up and immediately saw his father standing under a streetlamp, head down, smoking a cigarette.
Lin Shen’s hair, dyed a light brown, caught the light, creating a golden halo around it. His eyebrows and eyes were hidden in shadows, and from a few meters away, Lin Wangye could only make out his lips and chin.
For a brief moment, the solitary figure under the streetlamp almost overlapped with the image of his father in his mind, the man in his thirties.
Lin Wangye froze for a few seconds, then walked up to him, snatching the cigarette from his lips and crushing it against the lamp post, tossing it into the trash can.
“Hey, what the hell? I’ve only had two puffs! How can you be so wasteful?” Lin Shen stared in disbelief at the trash can, utterly amazed.
“Smoke less.” Lin Wangye said firmly, clearly not open to discussion, frowning in displeasure. “Do you know how you’re going to die?”
Lin Shen was equally annoyed: “Yeah, lung cancer. But if you throw my cigarette again, I’ll beat you up.”
Lin Wangye glared at him. “You’ve got plenty of ways to die. Sooner or later, I’ll get rid of all your bad habits.”
Lin Shen laughed at the comment and, surprisingly, didn’t stay angry. He turned and walked away.
“Even my real dad can’t control me, and now you want to?”
“Don’t take it lightly,” Lin Wangye caught up, muttering repeatedly. “You can’t just do whatever you want because you’re young. Your body belongs to you, but if you ruin it, no amount of money can fix it. You’ll regret it when it’s too late. You know what hospitals don’t sell? Regret medicine!”
Lin Shen suddenly stopped, staring at Lin Wangye for a long while. After a moment, he turned and kept walking, feeling puzzled.
“You sure are a father figure at such a young age.”
Lin Wangye followed closely, trying to reason with him.
“I’m doing this for your own good! Why do you think I’m only looking out for you and not others? It’s because I care about you! You think I’m annoying now, but if you don’t listen to me, one day you’ll regret not listening today. Wait, what did you mean by that…?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Wangye stopped in his tracks, confusion written all over his face.
Because Lin Shen had sat down on a small stool at a street corner, where a stall was selling spicy skewers and hotpot snacks.
Lin Wangye fumed, “Didn’t you say we were going to a restaurant?”
“I was going to treat you to a nice meal,” Lin Shen said, lazily grabbing a small paper bowl and a pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks, not even bothering to look at him. “But you annoyed me, so I decided to downgrade and get you this. Eat it if you want, if not, go find somewhere else to hang out.”
Lin Wangye plopped down on the stool beside him. “I’ll eat.”
He really hadn’t eaten much all day. At his age, he was still growing, and a mere sandwich and a bowl of instant noodles just wouldn’t cut it.
Lin Wangye had never eaten from a street vendor before.
Forget the food, just looking at the exhaust fumes from the cars passing by the street corner made him doubt the hygiene here.
But there had to be a reason why Lin Shen chose this place.
The stall wasn’t in the best location, but considering the need for foot traffic, it made sense. The owners were an elderly couple with gray hair, and the food cart was so clean it didn’t even show signs of oil stains. Everything was disposable—use it and throw it away.
The old lady greeted them with a smile as soon as they sat down, shuffling over to turn up the heat on the stove a bit.
Various kinds of meatballs and vegetables were neatly arranged in two large rectangular trays, with the same types of skewers on both sides, resembling Japanese oden.
One side had skewers floating in chili oil, which smelled like beef hot pot.
The other side had a clear broth, not spicy.
Lin Wangye had never eaten anything like this. Curious, he watched for a while before imitating Lin Shen, reaching in to grab the skewers he liked. He blew on the paper bowl a few times before taking a bite. Surprisingly, the taste was pretty good.
“You’re not supposed to eat it like that.”
Lin Shen said, reaching over to grab a small tin can of garlic paste and sesame sauce, placing it in front of Lin Wangye. Then he took a bottle of fragrant oil and poured a little into his bowl. “I don’t know if you like garlic paste or sesame sauce, so you can add it yourself. Then use a spoon to scoop some soup from the pot, mix it up, and dip the skewers in it. It’s just as good as a fancy hotpot.”
Lin Wangye listened, thinking it made sense. He didn’t have any food restrictions, so he followed Lin Shen’s instructions, adding some seasonings and tasting it. The explosion of flavor immediately satisfied his taste buds, and he couldn’t stop nodding and giving a thumbs up.
The evening study session hadn’t ended yet, so the stall wasn’t very busy.
When school let out, there would be a rush of customers. The old man was busy cooking meatballs in another small pot, while the old woman had nothing to do, so she sat across from them, smiling as she watched the two of them eat, her eyes crinkling into two little lines.
For Lin Wangye, who had never felt the warmth of a grandparent’s love, he found the friendly, kind demeanor of the elderly couple very endearing, and he couldn’t help but strike up a conversation.
“Grandma, how old are your grandchildren? Do they go to No. 7 High School?”
“Yep. My granddaughter’s a little younger, but my grandson is about your age.”
“Which grade is he in?”
“Grade 12.”
They chatted idly for a while, and as the noodles in the pot finished cooking, Lin Wangye couldn’t resist the temptation and started seriously slurping noodles with Lin Shen.
It was so easy to just grab a handful and eat, and before they knew it, they were eating more than expected.
After they had their fill, both of them leaned back in their chairs and let out a satisfied burp at the same time. Lin Wangye glanced at the bamboo skewers by their bowls and turned to ask.
“How much do we owe?”
“One yuan for the meat, seventy cents for the veggies,” Lin Shen said, glancing over the dishes. “We probably spent around fifty yuan, not much.”
Lin Wangye nodded. “Okay. I’m full. How about you?”
“I’m full too.”
“Then let’s pay up.”
“I don’t have any money,” Lin Shen said, “Wait for me to call someone. You just act like you’re still hungry for a bit.”
Lin Wangye thought he was joking at first.
But after a few seconds of staring at each other, he saw the pure sincerity in his dad’s eyes, and it hit him.
Having been a rich kid for eighteen years, Lin Wangye had never really worried about money, and he had zero experience in eating for free.
The old woman, who was a bit hard of hearing due to her age, didn’t catch the conversation.
But Lin Wangye suddenly felt so embarrassed, realizing that both of them had been eating so confidently without a single cent in their pockets. He was ready to lie down in the middle of the road and let a car run over him, just to escape the awkwardness.
Clearly, Lin Shen had done this before.
After sending a text message, he nonchalantly put a cigarette in his mouth. But when he felt Lin Wangye’s intense gaze on him, he didn’t light it up. Instead, he just kept it between his lips and, noticing Lin Wangye’s discomfort, tried to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, my number one buddy is on his way.”
At those words, Lin Wangye’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he straightened up. “Who? Shi Yuan!?”
Lin Shen looked confused. “Who?”
Lin Wangye froze for a moment. “Huh? No… never mind…”
Shi Yuan, in the past, had been his father’s good friend—a graceful, charming, and elegant man with an overwhelming charisma. He had captivated Lin Wangye from the time he hit puberty, and his admiration had only grown since.
But there was a bit of a generational gap between them.
When facing his crush, Lin Wangye had to call him ‘Uncle.’
However, whether it was because of the age gap that created a moral barrier for Shi Yuan, Lin Wangye had secretly loved him for years but had never received any encouragement or acknowledgment in return.
But, what could he do? Love wasn’t something that followed logic; it just was.
Shi Yuan had mentioned that he and Lin Shen had met back in high school, which was why Lin Wangye had assumed that once he found his father, he would inevitably run into Shi Yuan too. It was just a matter of time.
But Lin Shen seemed to have no idea who the person was.
How could that be? They were both in their senior year of high school.
After the winter break, the college entrance exams were right around the corner. There wasn’t much time left for them to get to know each other.
The more Lin Wangye thought about it, the more anxious he became. Just as he was about to ask more, he suddenly felt the light from the streetlamp blocked. Someone had stood behind him.
Without thinking, he turned around, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the glaring golden hair of the person.
What the hell, Lu Chengxuan!?
The ‘number one buddy’ his dad talked about wasn’t even Shi Yuan, but Lu Chengxuan!?
After all the years of bitter rivalry and tension between them—fighting to the point where they’d probably rip each other’s hair out if they could—now he’s hearing that they were good friends when they were younger?
On a cold winter’s evening, on the street corner, Lin Wangye was completely lost.
His heart felt colder than the biting wind.
If there wasn’t some deep, tangled emotional history between them, where did all that bitterness and animosity come from, years later?
What in the world happened!?
And no kidding, if Lin Wangye hadn’t known for sure that men couldn’t get pregnant, he might have actually suspected that Lu Chengxuan was his mother.
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)
