WHV | Chapter 8

The next morning, Yu Wei received a message from Shi Ciyan’s hospital room. He went to the company first and finished his work. After lunch, he only had a couple of bites before hurrying to the hospital to visit him.

He carried a fruit basket into the room. Besides Shi Ciyan lying in the hospital bed, there was no one else inside. When he saw him come in, Shi Ciyan struggled to sit up and lean back against the headboard, his voice weak. “You’re here.”

Yu Wei set down the fruit basket and helped him adjust his posture. The hospital gown hung loose on him, the neckline gaping empty. Yu Wei glanced inside on the way past, but he didn’t see any obvious injuries on his skin, and his face looked clean too.

Had Yu Song beaten him so badly he’d suffered internal injuries, or had all the wounds on his body already healed?

Whichever it was, the fact that Yu Song had sent him to the hospital meant he’d really gone hard.

After helping Shi Ciyan sit up, Yu Wei tucked a pillow behind his lower back so he could sit more comfortably. Then he pulled over a chair and sat down. After a quick check on the situation and hearing that there was nothing serious, he finally relaxed.

While chatting with him about the past few days, Yu Wei also looked around the room and felt, for some reason, that something was off. The room was a single, sparsely furnished, with almost nothing that belonged to Shi Ciyan. Even the small cabinet beside the bed was empty. There was no sign that anyone had been living here.

If Shi Ciyan hadn’t been in the hospital for seven days already, Yu Wei would have thought this was an empty room and that Shi Ciyan had just moved in.

And he’d been sitting here in the room for nearly ten or twenty minutes, yet not a single person had come in. By rights, after staying in the hospital for seven days, he should’ve had family keeping him company, but Yu Wei still hadn’t seen a single person around Shi Ciyan.

He looked toward the door in confusion. “Why haven’t the others come back yet?” Even if they’d gone out for lunch, they should’ve been back by now.

“There are no others,” Shi Ciyan said.

“How could that be? You’ve been in the hospital for seven days. Didn’t your family come to keep you company?” Yu Wei was a little surprised.

Shi Ciyan shook his head and gave a faint, bitter smile. “They’re too far away, so they didn’t come.”

“How are you handling your meals these past few days?”

“I ordered takeout.”

Yu Wei: “…”

A patient had eaten takeout for seven straight days. Was this twisted human nature, or a collapse of morality?

No wonder the Yu family had fallen apart. The first time Yu Song met someone, he beat them straight into the hospital, then left them alone for seven whole days, not caring whether they ate or slept properly. Anyone would be furious.

A few days ago, the secretary had given him detailed information on Lin Hao’s family members. It was pretty much what he’d guessed. Lin Hao was a paternal cousin of Lin Yuchi. He also looked up Lin Yuchi’s father, Lin Liang, online. The man was the boss of Jinyu Group, with countless chain hotels under his name, and Lin Yuchi was a proper rich second generation. But the most common search results were still negative posts and interviews all over the internet about Lin Liang’s wife dying, Lin Liang’s lover bringing their son into the house, and all that.

Yu Wei sighed inwardly. As expected, the main character never had a happy, perfect family.

Later, he also searched Shi Ciyan’s name, but found no relevant information. His initial conclusion was that Shi Ciyan was the poorer one.

Thinking of that, Yu Wei looked at him with sympathy. “Have you eaten lunch?”

Shi Ciyan shook his head lightly.

Yu Wei stood up at once. “I’ll go buy you something. Lie down for a bit.”

Before Shi Ciyan could say anything, Yu Wei rushed out the door. There were quite a few restaurants around the hospital, and with the lunch rush over, there weren’t many people anymore. Yu Wei looked around and picked one of the more expensive restaurants, then used money power directly to have the place cook up a full menu.

After that, he even paid extra for delivery, specifying Ward 13, ordinary room, second floor.

When Yu Wei came back, Shi Ciyan was staring toward the door with wide, expectant eyes.

Look at how starving the kid had become.

“You must be starving. The food will be here soon.” He sat back down on the chair, picked an apple from the fruit basket, and said, “I’ll peel you an apple first so you can fill your stomach a little.”

Shi Ciyan said okay. Just as Yu Wei was nearly done peeling it, he suddenly asked, “Do you like apples?”

“Apples are crunchy. Yeah, I like them. When I’m craving a snack, I’ll eat an apple, and then I won’t feel like snacking anymore,” Yu Wei said, completely unaware as he tossed the peel into the trash. He asked back, “Do you like them?”

“I prefer bananas. They’re sweet, soft, and even more tempting.”

Yu Wei paused. “Then I’ll peel you a banana. You can smell the fragrance from far away.”

He set down the peeled apple, picked a banana from the fruit basket, and peeled off the bright yellow skin. The tender flesh inside appeared, and the fragrance in the air grew richer.

Yu Wei handed the banana to Shi Ciyan. “You eat the banana. I’ll eat the apple.”

Shi Ciyan took it and watched as he bit into the banana. Yu Wei felt a little odd and uneasy. “What is it? Is it not good?”

“It’s good. Very sweet.”

Yu Wei chuckled twice. “I picked it, so of course it’s sweet.”

After the two of them finished the fruit, the restaurant deliveries started arriving one after another. At first, Shi Ciyan was still able to handle it calmly. By the end, though, he looked completely dumbfounded as employees kept bringing in more and more food.

“I didn’t know what you wanted to eat, so I ordered one of everything.”

Shi Ciyan was forced to choose two dishes. He couldn’t possibly finish the rest, and it would’ve been a waste, so Yu Wei had them sent to other rooms on the same floor.

After keeping him company through lunch, Yu Wei went back to work and returned again after getting off work at night to bring him dinner.

Shi Ciyan stayed in the hospital for another week, and Yu Wei stayed with him for that whole week too, still with no word of discharge.

Yu Wei didn’t know the details of Shi Ciyan’s family situation, only that he had no money. But after two weeks in the hospital, Shi Ciyan’s already not-so-full wallet was probably even thinner. Yu Wei wanted to bring up paying the medical bills, but he didn’t know how to start, afraid it would hurt his pride.

Yu Wei thought about it for two days. On the weekend, when he delivered lunch, he finally worked up the courage to use the excuse that Yu Song had hit him and should therefore compensate the medical expenses, and tried to give him money. But Shi Ciyan refused without even thinking.

Yu Wei had no choice, but if Shi Ciyan didn’t want it, there was nothing he could do. He had one day off for the weekend and had originally wanted to stay by Shi Ciyan’s side a little longer, when he received a call from an unfamiliar number. Yu Wei stepped outside to answer it. A lazy male voice, sounding a little improper, came from the other end. “Meet me this afternoon.”

Yu Wei frowned. “Who are you?”

The other side fell silent for a moment. After quite a while, the voice sounded again. “You don’t know who I am?”

Yu Wei rolled his eyes, thinking, why the hell should I know who you are? You’re not my father. But his tone remained calm. “You’re not in my contacts.”

The man on the other end gave a cold snort, sounding impatient. “Didn’t you memorize my number? Putting on a devoted lover act with me?”

Yu Wei lost patience too. “If you don’t say who you are, I’m hanging up.”

“Lin Zherui,” the other side said through gritted teeth. “Yu Wei, good for you. I’ll send the address to you on WeChat.”

Yu Wei stared at the already disconnected call, thoroughly baffled. He knew the name Lin Zherui. He was Lin Hao’s son, but weren’t they supposed to be friends? What was with that nasty tone now? The day of the negotiation, Lin Hao had made it sound like he and Lin Zherui were really close, but looking at it now, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

Could it be that in front of the elders, they were friends, but behind their backs they were mortal enemies who couldn’t stand each other?

Before Yu Wei could sort out whether it was A or B, WeChat dinged. He switched over to the app, and the pinned address from the very top had been sent by WeChat.

When he’d first transmigrated here, he’d looked through everyone’s chat records on WeChat, but this one contact, with no remark and pinned at the top, didn’t have much useful information, so he hadn’t taken it seriously.

Yu Wei unpinned it, then after thinking it over, added a remark for him.

Whether he was an enemy or a friend, Yu Wei didn’t feel like seeing him, so he replied, “What do we need to meet for?”

Lin Zherui: “Where do you get so much nonsense? Did you want me to say I want to see you instead?”

Yu Wei: “?” Why was this person so inexplicable?

Lin Zherui: “It’s my dad forcing me to meet you, okay? Stop with the bullshit and come here already.”

Lin Hao wanted them to meet?

Yu Wei: “Fine, I’ll go.”

The other side sent no further messages, so Yu Wei put his phone away. After all, Lin Hao was his client. As for what kind of person Lin Zherui was, he’d better go see for himself.

Yu Wei returned to the hospital room and told Shi Ciyan he had something to do in the afternoon and had to leave. Shi Ciyan looked reluctant, like a little dog being abandoned, and stared at him pitifully. “Okay, I’ll just order takeout tonight and make do. Go handle your work.”

Yu Wei had originally thought it would be fine to leave for a while, but hearing that, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for him and reached out to pat his head. “I’ll finish up early. I’ll come back at dinner time.”

At noon, Uncle Wang had driven him there. He’d originally planned to stay in the hospital until evening before going back, so he’d told Uncle Wang to go home first and come back later to pick him up.

Since it was the weekend, Yu Wei didn’t want to trouble him and called a taxi on his phone instead.

The address Lin Zherui sent wasn’t far. After seven or eight minutes in the car, he arrived. Yu Wei paid and got out, then stood by the roadside in a daze, looking around.

There were all kinds of buildings nearby, and there was even a bar to his left. People came and went on the street, but after standing there for several minutes, he still didn’t see anyone coming toward him.

Yu Wei took out his phone and sent Lin Zherui a WeChat message saying he’d arrived and asking where he was.

It took a long time before the other party replied, “At Yue Se.”

Yue Se?

Yu Wei turned back to look at the glowing sign in broad daylight. The words “Yue Se” were written clearly on it.

Meeting in a bar?

Yu Wei stuffed his phone back into his pocket and walked to the entrance of the bar, then pushed the door open and went in.

Inside was different from outside. Though it was broad daylight, the lighting was dim, colorful lights flashed, and all kinds of smells lingered in the air. Yu Wei frowned slightly in discomfort. Only the soft music was tolerable to him.

If Lin Hao’s son hadn’t been here, Yu Wei would have turned around and left by now.

After going inside, Yu Wei suddenly realized there didn’t seem to be a single woman around. There were only men with heavy makeup, wearing shorts and ultra-short tops that exposed their waists, walking like snakes, their hips swaying a mile wide.

That was right, the key point was that they were men!

Yu Wei was deeply shaken.

He froze in place, his expression shifting unpredictably. Two boys passed by him, and with the road being so wide they still had to brush against his body. Yu Wei jumped in fright and wanted to turn around and run immediately.

He had accidentally wandered into a gay nest.

Yu Wei was so scared he was trembling.

At this moment, he couldn’t remember that he’d come here for a meeting, nor did he remember that the other person was Lin Hao’s son, a major client of his. All that was on his mind was the bar exit two meters away.

He had to go, right now, immediately.

Just as he turned around and had not yet managed to run, a hand landed on his shoulder. Someone leaned close to his ear and breathed out warm air. “Baby, all alone?”

Yu Wei’s entire body went rigid. He couldn’t move at all. But his mouth still couldn’t help retorting, “If I were half a person, I’d scare you to death.”

The person behind him seemed to find his answer hilarious. He laughed nonstop, and that warm breath all landed on the side of Yu Wei’s neck. Yu Wei’s eyes reddened with anger from the laughter, and he stomped hard on the other man’s toes. The laughter cut off abruptly. But the smile didn’t vanish, it just moved onto someone else’s face. This time the laughter was even louder, even more arrogant.

“Haven’t seen you for a few weeks, Yu Wei, and you’ve gotten much more interesting.”

The man’s voice carried a bit of laziness, his tone haughty, as if speaking even a couple of sentences was a favor he was granting someone else.

Yu Wei curled his lip in disdain. He himself was a rich young master, and he still didn’t put on airs as much as this guy.

Wait.

Why did that voice sound so familiar?

After thinking for a moment, Yu Wei suddenly realized the other person had just called his name.

Yu Wei turned toward the source of the voice. Not far from him, two curved sofas had been pushed together. The person sitting there had his back to him, and Yu Wei could only see the back of his head.

He tried tentatively, “Lin Zherui?”

Lin Zherui tilted his head back and took a sip of wine. “Why are you still standing there? Come over. Let me take a look at you.”

That tone was like he was calling a cat or a dog over, with no respect whatsoever. Yu Wei felt displeased, and he didn’t want to stay in this environment either. But since he was already here, he figured he might as well meet him once and leave, so he steeled himself and walked to the sofa. He’d planned to sit across from him, but when he saw the scene before him, his steps stopped dead.

The back of the sofa was very high. From where he’d stood earlier, his view had been blocked, so all he’d seen was Lin Zherui’s head from behind. But now that he was closer, he saw that Lin Zherui had one person on each side, and both arms were draped over two fair-featured but scantily dressed boys.

As for Lin Zherui’s hands, they were busy in places hidden by the pitiful scraps of fabric on their bodies.

Yu Wei had been an honest man his whole life. How could he have ever seen such a scene? He stood there stunned, not knowing how to react.

Lin Zherui watched Yu Wei’s expression with interest while his hand stroked the boy beside him. The boy let out a soft, whimpering sound and collapsed into his arms, his eyes misty as he twisted closer. “Lin Shao~”

That sweet, coquettish “Lin Shao” made Yu Wei shudder all over, goose bumps rising on his skin.

“What do you want with me? If there’s nothing, I’m leaving?” Yu Wei said, forcing down his disgust.

Only then did Lin Zherui push away the boy beside him and signal with his eyes. The boy got up reluctantly, making room.

“Come sit.” Lin Zherui patted the spot the boy had vacated and said to Yu Wei.

Yu Wei looked utterly unwilling. His patience had also reached its limit. “Say what you need to say.”

Suddenly, a boneless hand appeared at his waist, and before Yu Wei could react, it pushed him toward Lin Zherui.

Yu Wei was caught off guard and took two steps forward. Reacting extremely fast, he braced himself on the coffee table in the middle. The next second, a hand tightened around his wrist, and a surge of brute force pulled him into an embrace.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Yu Wei was shaking with anger. Lin Zherui, as if he hadn’t seen his struggle at all, hooked one arm around his waist to trap him and used the other hand to open WeChat and make a video call.

While the other side was answering, Lin Zherui turned his head to look at Yu Wei, his face full of mockery. “I know you’re angry, but calm down first.”

“Lin Zherui, you went to a bar again!” Lin Hao’s angry voice came through Lin Zherui’s phone. “Didn’t I tell you to go meet Xiao Wei? And you’re out screwing around again. Let me tell you, if you dare do anything that hurts Xiao Wei…”

Lin Zherui used a bit more force, making Yu Wei lean helplessly against his chest, then shoved the phone toward his face. On the screen, Lin Hao saw Yu Wei lying against Lin Zherui’s chest, and his attitude did a complete 360-degree turn. “Oh, so Xiao Wei is there too. Good, good. You two have fun, I won’t disturb you.”

The instant the call ended, the arm around his waist loosened. Yu Wei, who had been struggling a moment ago, lost the force holding him and fell sideways onto the sofa because of the momentum. Lin Zherui held an unlit cigarette between his teeth and watched the show. “I’m not interested in you anyway. I just made a video call to report in. It’s not like this is the first time. Do you really have to make such a fuss?”

Yu Wei got up from the sofa and glared at him so hard his eyeballs were nearly popping out.

“Your temper’s getting bigger and bigger,” Lin Zherui complained in front of him, completely unconcerned. “Work on it.”

Yu Wei’s eyes turned red with rage. “Work on your mother.”

Lin Zherui didn’t get angry either. Like a cat toying with a mouse, the angrier Yu Wei got, the more amusing he found it.

Lin Zherui called back the two boys he’d just sent away and had them drape themselves over him again.

Yu Wei watched him feed green grapes mouth to mouth with one of the boys, almost staging a live erotic scene in front of him. The lunch he’d eaten churned in his stomach.

“Lin Zherui, you’re really disgusting. Aren’t you afraid of catching something?” After saying that, Yu Wei turned and left without the slightest reluctance.

Seeing the naked disgust on Yu Wei’s face, Lin Zherui pushed away the boys on either side and sat up, narrowing his eyes unhappily. In the past, far too many similar things had happened. Yu Wei always looked at him with wounded, adoring eyes. Even if he really got angry, no matter how furious he was, he couldn’t hide the love in his gaze.

Whatever the look, it always came with admiration. But today there was none of that, only blatant disgust and repulsion. His eyes looked at Lin Zherui like he was trash. Who gave him the right?

“Yu Wei, do you, an adopted son, even deserve me? I don’t know what my dad was thinking. The Yu family has a biological son, so would the company really be handed to you, an outsider? If not for my dad, do you think I’d want you? What a joke.”

Yu Wei’s steps halted. He turned around and stared at him. “What did you say?”

Seeing the panic on Yu Wei’s face put Lin Zherui in a much better mood.

See? As long as he said he didn’t want him, Yu Wei would still be scared, scared that he really would abandon him.

“Adopted son?” He wasn’t the Yu parents’ biological child? He wasn’t Yu Song’s real older brother?

“Why are you so surprised? It’s not a secret. What, did you lose your memory? Or did you really think of yourself as some rich young master and forget that you’re an adopted son?”

Yu Wei couldn’t refute that. He’d really thought of himself as a rich young master and had never considered that he might be adopted.

Yu Wei walked out of the bar in a daze. Suddenly, his vision went black, and he stopped. When he looked up, there was a strange face blocking his way.

“Move.” Yu Wei had no time to waste on him now, and his voice turned cold.

“Baby, why so fierce? Are you like this in bed too?” The man in front of him acted frivolously. Near the end, he glanced behind Yu Wei and said, “Does Lin Shao know?”

Lin Zherui, holding the boy who’d fed him grapes mouth to mouth, brushed past them and tossed out, “I haven’t tried it. Why don’t you try it and find out?” Then he opened the door and left.

“Lin Shao makes a good point. You won’t know until you try.” The man in front of him grinned lewdly, leaned close to Yu Wei, and bent his head to sniff him, looking completely intoxicated. “Baby, how about we go across the street and try it?”

Across the street was a hotel.

Yu Wei smiled faintly. “Not happening.”

The man still wore a confident, determined smile. “I stepped on your foot just now. It hurt. But if your soft little foot stepped in the right place, it would feel amazing. Baby, really don’t want to try?”

He kept calling him baby. Yu Wei had already been disgusted by Lin Zherui, and now this guy was making yellow jokes at him too.

“Where do you want me to step? Here?” Taking advantage of the man’s distraction, Yu Wei kicked hard at his crotch.

The man doubled over, both hands clutching himself, his face twisting in pain. “Fuck your mother, don’t be ungrateful…”

“I’m not drinking any wine at all. Since you like men so much, go back and screw your own dad.”

After saying that, Yu Wei went around him and ran toward the bar exit. He pushed open the heavy door and crashed straight into a wall of flesh.

Damn, this gay nest was terrifying. He’d only been a few meters from the door, so why had he run into so many people?

Yu Wei looked up in annoyance. Bright sunlight outside fell on the person blocking the door, and with the backlight, he couldn’t make him out clearly.

Yu Wei squinted for two seconds, then widened his eyes. “Why are you here?”

Shouldn’t he be in the hospital?

Shi Ciyan gave him a cool glance, then looked past him at the man behind him who was urging someone to call 120. “I’ve been discharged. There’s a job posting here, so I came to look for a part-time job.”

Without another word, Yu Wei grabbed Shi Ciyan and pulled him outside. Sure enough, there was a sign by the door with recruitment information on it.

“How did you even know this kind of shady place was hiring? Come on, let’s go. This place isn’t suitable for you.”

Just thinking about the half hour he’d spent inside made a wave of disgust rise in him.

Shi Ciyan was too striking-looking. Working part-time here was basically a little lamb wandering into a wolf pack. In a place with so many shady characters, he’d be stripped to the bones in less than two days.

Yu Wei was still trying to persuade him, but Shi Ciyan obediently responded, “Okay.”

Yu Wei looked at him in surprise. So obedient. Nice.

But…

“Why were you discharged?” Yu Wei frowned. Even though he’d been in the hospital for two weeks and his injuries should’ve healed by now, he hadn’t heard anything about discharge at lunch. So why had the hospital let him go right after Yu Wei left?

Didn’t they notify him in advance so he could pack his things?

“Not long after you left, a nurse came in and told me to prepare for discharge. I didn’t have much stuff to begin with, so I checked myself out. Today’s the weekend, so I came out to look for some part-time work. I didn’t expect to run into you.”

Yu Wei nodded thoughtfully, accepting the explanation.

“But even after you were discharged, you didn’t send me a message. If I hadn’t run into you, I’d already be on my way to the hospital by now.”

“I was too busy and forgot. Sorry.”

Yu Wei wasn’t really blaming him, so he didn’t press it. “This place is too far from your school. It’d be more convenient for you to look for milk tea shops near campus.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” Shi Ciyan said obediently, and Yu Wei couldn’t help feeling even more protective of him.

Shi Ciyan suddenly asked, “Brother Yu Wei, what are you doing here? You said you had something to do this afternoon, was it to come here…”

The moment he mentioned that, Yu Wei got both annoyed and depressed again.

“I met some idiot. No need to bring it up.”

Shi Ciyan gave a muffled oh and asked no further. Yu Wei had something on his mind, so he didn’t talk much on the way back either.

Yu Wei called a car to send him back to school, then took a taxi home himself.

When he got home, Yu’s father and mother were both there. Yu Wei lowered his head and went straight to his bedroom. He opened the computer and searched the relevant terms, and several posts came up. As expected, he was an adopted son, but it was obviously not a secret online. Everyone knew, except him.

He went out early and came back late every day, so he didn’t spend much time with Yu’s father and mother, but he could clearly feel that they treated him quite well. Yu Song’s temper was a little domineering outside, but at home he obeyed him completely. If Yu Wei said one, Yu Song would never say two.

But he was an adopted son.

What Lin Zherui said made some sense. The company was being run by him now, but it would still be given to Yu Song in the future. This wealth and glory weren’t his at all. After he transmigrated here, he’d worked hard to save himself from a miserable ending, and by the way, also tried to save Yu Song’s family.

But the root cause of his miserable ending had been Yu Song. If he left now, found somewhere to settle down and stayed away from that cannon fodder family, his fate wouldn’t be affected.

Yu Wei thought until his head hurt, then got up and went into the bathroom for a bath.

—

Living room.

Yu’s mother held her phone and hesitated to speak. “Today Weiwei was acting so strange. Did Lin Zherui bully him again?”

Yu’s father’s expression was heavy.

“Forget it, I’ll call and ask.” Yu’s mother dialed Lin Hao’s number. When the other side picked up, he immediately started praising Yu Wei’s work ability to the skies.

Yu’s father took the phone and skipped the pleasantries, going straight to the point. “Has Zherui had a conflict with Weiwei? Weiwei was acting off when he came home today.”

“Zherui even did a video call with me at noon. The two kids were getting along just fine. I’ll go ask him.”

After Lin Hao comforted him a couple more times, he hung up and called Lin Zherui to give him a scolding. He also carefully asked about the whole sequence of events from today’s meeting.

Lin Zherui bullying Yu Wei wasn’t a one-time thing. But Yu Wei liked him, and Yu’s father and mother couldn’t stop their son from liking someone. They really had no move. Every time, they only dared to quietly remind Lin Hao in private to keep an eye on Lin Zherui.

“Auntie, bring Weiwei a cup of hot milk,” Yu’s mother, Bai Sijia, told the maid. “When Weiwei is in a bad mood, he likes sleeping. Let him drink a cup of milk first.”

The maid answered and heated a cup of milk before going upstairs to knock on the door. No one answered inside, but the door wasn’t shut tightly, and the sound of running water came from the bathroom. The maid tiptoed in, set the milk down on the desk, and was just about to leave when her eyes couldn’t help flicking toward the still-lit computer.

Yuyao Group, adopted son

The maid withdrew her gaze and hurried out of the room and downstairs.

“How is Weiwei?” Bai Sijia looked worried.

The maid hesitated. “Young master is taking a bath in the bathroom. The door wasn’t locked, so I went in and put down the milk before coming out. I saw that the young master was searching terms related to adopted son on his computer.”

Yu’s mother’s expression tightened as she looked at the man beside her. “Didn’t I tell you to completely block all news related to adopted son? How many times have I said not to let Weiwei see anything that would affect his mood? Besides, who brought this up in front of him?”

Yu’s father didn’t dare say anything either. He had blocked the news, but he couldn’t guarantee there were no leaks. Still, as long as it didn’t get thrown in front of Weiwei, it wasn’t a big deal.

Just then, Lin Hao called. His tone carried a hint of apology. “Zherui has a loose mouth, and he seems to have mentioned the adopted son thing.”

Yu’s mother rolled her eyes in anger. “Our Yu family’s business isn’t his place to comment on.”

With that, she hung up directly. How could Lin Zherui possibly deserve Weiwei’s feelings? He was nothing but trash. Lin Zherui’s scandalous news was everywhere, and Weiwei still couldn’t see it, loving him to death.

“I think we need to talk to Weiwei.”

The two of them exchanged a look and both agreed. Bai Sijia and Yu Cheng went upstairs to Yu Wei’s bedroom door and hesitated.

…

When Yu Wei came out after his bath and saw the milk, he felt warm inside. But because he’d been thinking about things while showering, it had taken him twice as long as usual, and by the time he came out, the milk had already gone cold.

He carried the milk out and was just about to heat it again when he opened the door and saw the two people pacing at the doorway. He paused slightly.

“What are you two…” Yu Wei stood awkwardly at the door, and the three of them looked at one another.

Bai Sijia and Yu Cheng pushed the matter back and forth in tiny movements, and in the end Bai Sijia spoke first. “We want to talk to you.”

Yu Wei nodded and stepped aside to let them into the bedroom.

While showering just now, Yu Wei had already made up his mind that he was leaving this place, leaving the cannon fodder, leaving the main character. He could spend a few hundred yuan to get an accounting certificate and keep working, enough to support himself.

As for whether he could keep this wealth and glory here, that was another matter. Even if he did, it still wouldn’t be his. Yu Song could stir up trouble with the protagonist at any time, and his own life would be in danger too. Rather than anxiously guarding wealth that didn’t belong to him, it would be better to earn three thousand yuan and live freely.

Yu’s father and mother hesitated for a long while after entering, and Yu Wei didn’t rush them. He waited quietly.

“I heard Lin Zherui mentioned the adopted son thing to you. Weiwei, don’t be upset, and don’t take this matter to heart.

That person… I mean that man, no matter what he said, don’t listen to it. This isn’t really a secret, but we still don’t want you to be sad because of it. Weiwei, you know Mom and Dad are both Betas. It was already hard for us to have a child, so we adopted you. You had just turned one at the time, and I decided you were the one at first sight.

Later, in the fourth year after you came to the Yu family, on your fifth birthday, you said that the kids in kindergarten had younger brothers, and you wanted one too, so your birthday wish was for Mom to give you a little younger brother. On your sixth birthday, I found out I was pregnant. That was the happiest day of Mom’s life, because from then on our family would have one more person who loved you.

From the time you were little until now, we’ve never asked you for anything. We only hope that you’re healthy and happy. We also hope you won’t be upset by a few words from an outsider. He isn’t worthy, and he has no right. Whether you’re an adopted son or a biological son, you were raised by me, so even without blood relation, you’re still my son. The fact that Lin Zherui brought this up so obviously means he had bad intentions. Weiwei, don’t let his few words create a rift between us.”

Yu’s mother finished in one breath. Beside her, Yu’s father looked at Bai Sijia with admiration and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

They had always raised Yu Wei as their own son, and their relationship was very good. There was nothing to say there. So they weren’t worried at all that someone else’s words would cause a rift in their relationship. If it came down to a choice between the two, they believed Weiwei would choose his family.

Besides, they really looked down on Lin Zherui, but Yu Wei liked him. They had no choice but to agree to their engagement. Before the engagement, things were still fine, because Lin Zherui was being restrained by his father and kept in check a little. Later, after he found out that Yu Wei really liked him, Lin Hao also stopped paying much attention, letting Lin Zherui bully Yu Wei as he pleased. Every time they called to remind him, Lin Hao would say nice things and even scold Lin Zherui in front of them, but in reality, it had zero effect.

Lin Zherui’s few words wouldn’t create a rift between them, but he wanted to sow discord between Lin Zherui and Yu Wei, putting himself on the opposite side and letting Weiwei know that Lin Zherui was trying to turn them against each other. He wasn’t a good match.