Pei Qingjian: ???
What?! How much?!
100,000?!!!
Happiness hit him so suddenly that his tears froze for a moment.
But he didn’t fully trust Lin Rui, so he kept practicing in the mirror, adjusting his micro-expressions, filling his eyes with tears again, and said pitifully, “I don’t want your money. Being with you isn’t about money!”
Lin Rui: …
Pei Qingjian looked pitiful. “I’ve never cooked in my life, and now I have to cook for him every day, be his housekeeper. Why? All for you! And now you want me to seduce him, sleep with him—you don’t even like me!”
Lin Rui: …
He slapped his forehead. He should never have called—now he’s trapped by love-brain!
Lin Rui rubbed his temples helplessly and tried to calm himself down. He had sent so many people before, yet Lin Xingchen had never even bothered to acknowledge them. Now that Pei Qingjian had finally succeeded by accident, if he quit halfway, who knew when the next success would come?
So what if Pei Qingjian liked him? He could just coax him a little more.
Sure, people in love were idiots—but they were also the easiest to control.
Besides, although Lin Rui did not want to admit it, underneath his annoyance toward Pei Qingjian he also felt a bit smug.
Lin Xingchen might be popular and highly regarded, but with Pei Qingjian, he still could not compare to Lin Rui.
Clearly, not everyone liked Lin Xingchen.
“Alright, I know you feel wronged. Just endure it for now. Once he falls in love with you, I’ll immediately bring you back,” Lin Rui said, painting a rosy future while trying to soothe him. “By the way, I bought a watch the other day. I’ll bring it over to you later.”
The moment Pei Qingjian heard that, he cried even harder.
“I stay at his house every day cooking for him—three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Now you’re giving me a watch… Are you trying to remind me to cook on time so I won’t be late?”
Lin Rui: “……”
That was absolutely not what he meant.
Lin Rui felt his headache returning.
“Then what do you want?”
“I don’t want anything. I only want you.”
Lin Rui: “……”
Actually, he would rather Pei Qingjian wanted something.
“Stop crying, stop crying. Look at how much you’re crying right now—what are you going to tell him when he comes back later? How about this: I’ll transfer you 300,000 yuan. Buy some things you like. If it really doesn’t work, you could even hire him a housekeeper. How about that?”
Pei Qingjian: ???
How did the price suddenly go up?
Three hundred thousand!
Three times the original amount!
Pei Qingjian became even more emotional.
His tears stopped before he realized it, and he spoke obediently, “That won’t work.”
“Why not now?” Lin Rui felt his patience wearing thin.
“Didn’t you want me to try my best to make him like me? If I hire him a housekeeper, how could I move him and make him like me?”
Lin Rui thought about it. That was true! What if Lin Xingchen thought the housekeeper did a better job and sent Pei Qingjian away?
“I’ll just keep cooking for him,” Pei Qingjian said softly. “I’ll try to make him fall in love with me as soon as possible, so I can return to you sooner.”
Lin Rui: ……
Honestly, he loved hearing that.
Listening to Pei Qingjian’s gentle voice and thinking about how he was willing to become Lin Xingchen’s personal cook just for him, Lin Rui actually felt a little touched.
“It’s good that you think that way. Be good. When you come back later, I’ll definitely make it up to you.”
“I don’t want compensation. I just want to be with you.”
“Alright, alright, I know,” Lin Rui said as he transferred 350,000 yuan to his bank card. “Did you get the money? Use it to buy some things you like—just a small token from me.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
Why had it become 350,000 now? Another 50,000 added?
“Isn’t that too much?”
“Not at all. Use the 300,000 to buy things you like. As for the extra 50,000, buy something for Lin Xingchen—win him over a little so he’ll fall in love with you sooner.”
“What if he takes the gift but still doesn’t like me?” Pei Qingjian asked cautiously. “Would I have to return the money to you then?”
Lin Rui snorted.
“As if he’d fall for you just because you gave him something.”
“Lin Xingchen has seen everything. You think a gift worth a few tens of thousands could make him like you? What a joke.”
“It’s just symbolic—so he knows you care. The gift may be small, but the sentiment is what matters. You understand?”
Pei Qingjian understood. Which meant—
“So I don’t have to return the 300,000 either?”
“You don’t,” Lin Rui said, finding his concern about money both foolish and strangely amusing.
When Lin Rui used to pursue people, the handbags he casually gave them cost more than 350,000 yuan, yet those people still acted aloof with him.
Pei Qingjian, on the other hand—he was startled just receiving 350,000 and was even worried he might have to return it.
“Just spend it. Don’t worry.”
Pei Qingjian: ……
There was such a good deal in the world?
Was he dreaming?
He lightly pinched himself to make sure it was real, then could not stop the excitement bubbling up inside him.
Three hundred fifty thousand! Three hundred fifty thousand!
What an unexpected windfall!
Pei Qingjian suddenly found Lin Rui much more pleasing to the eye.
He deliberately sniffed and acted a little silly. “Oh.”
Seeing that he had stopped crying, Lin Rui quickly reminded him again to work hard and make Lin Xingchen fall in love with him. After finishing his instructions, he hurriedly hung up, afraid that in the next second Pei Qingjian would start crying again and say he did not want to keep playing housekeeper.
Pei Qingjian looked at the disconnected call and thought to himself:
Assessment passed!
Crying scene successful!
And he unexpectedly received a 350,000 yuan “scholarship”!
Nice!
Pei Qingjian was delighted and proud.
He gave himself half a day off—no acting practice, no photo editing. Instead, he went back to his room, curled up on the sofa, and watched a movie on the projector.
Later that afternoon, when Lin Xingchen got off work, stepped out of the elevator, and entered the apartment, he saw Pei Qingjian standing at the entrance. The moment he saw him, Pei Qingjian bent into a perfect ninety-degree bow.
“You’re back! Did work go well today? Would you like to shower first or eat first?”
Lin Xingchen: ???
Lin Xingchen slowly raised an eyebrow.
“…What did you do?”
“Nothing at all,” Pei Qingjian said obediently. “Please change your shoes first. I’ve already prepared a wonderful dinner—you can eat right away.”
Lin Xingchen: ……
He stared at him without blinking.
Pei Qingjian smiled brightly, radiating sunshine and enthusiasm.
He picked up Lin Xingchen’s slippers and placed them by his feet, smiling brilliantly.
“Would you like me to assist you?”
Lin Xingchen jumped back three steps in fright and nearly fell over.
“…Did you break the antique vase at home?” he asked cautiously.
Pei Qingjian looked surprised. “The vase at home is actually an antique?”
“Then did you stain the authentic calligraphy by Mr. Xu in the study?”
Pei Qingjian looked even more shocked. “That was Mr. Xu’s original work?”
“Don’t tell me you damaged the oil painting I hid away.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
“You hid an oil painting?”
Lin Xingchen: …
Lin Xingchen bent down to look at him. “Come on, what exactly did you do?”
Pei Qingjian: …
Pei Qingjian raised his hand and used his index finger and thumb to indicate a tiny, tiny distance.
“Just a very small thing.”
“A small thing?” Lin Xingchen looked doubtful.
Pei Qingjian nodded obediently. “Mm-hm, very, very small.”
As he spoke, he even blinked—looking soft and harmless.
Lin Xingchen: …
Lin Xingchen narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t look that small to me.”
Five minutes later, after changing clothes, Lin Xingchen and Pei Qingjian sat together in the dining room.
“Alright,” Lin Xingchen said, looking at the person across from him. “What did you do that wronged me?”
Pei Qingjian shook his head rapidly. “Unjust accusation! How could I possibly do anything that wronged you? Am I that kind of person?”
Lin Xingchen nodded. “Then what did you do that benefits me?”
Pei Qingjian: …
Pei Qingjian silently moved his chair and sat down beside him instead.
“You have to promise that after I tell you, you won’t act impulsively, you won’t refuse to hear my explanation, and you won’t stop talking to me.”
Lin Xingchen: ???
Lin Xingchen clicked his tongue. “Sounds serious.”
Pei Qingjian clasped his hands under his chin, tilting his head as he looked at him. “Please?”
Lin Xingchen was caught off guard. His jaw relaxed, and he laughed.
He coughed and pretended to be stern. “No acting cute.”
Pei Qingjian said “Oh,” stopped trying to look adorable, and started talking seriously.
The matter, of course, involved Lin Rui. Since it concerned Lin Xingchen, Pei Qingjian did not want to hide it—he was worried Lin Xingchen might suffer because of Lin Rui.
But he also did not want to implicate himself. After all, he was innocent. Even if the original owner of the body was not, that person was gone now—only he remained.
So Pei Qingjian adjusted the timeline and began telling the story—half truth, half fabrication, mixing reality with lies until the false seemed true and the true seemed false.
“You have a cousin named Lin Rui, right?”
Lin Xingchen had originally only wanted to tease him, but hearing Lin Rui’s name made him serious. “How do you know that?”
“Because we know each other,” Pei Qingjian said frankly.
“You know him too?” Lin Xingchen was surprised.
Pei Qingjian nodded. “I probably shouldn’t, but we ended up meeting anyway.”
Lin Xingchen said, “And then?”
“Before I talk about him, we need to establish something first,” Pei Qingjian said, pointing at himself with righteous seriousness. “For a very long time before this, I was a very vain person.”
Lin Xingchen: “…And you’re proud of that?”
“No,” Pei Qingjian said weakly. “I’m just stating the facts. So being that vain, it was inevitable I’d make some… minor mistakes.”
“Minor?”
“Mm-hm.” Pei Qingjian nodded like a pecking chicken.
“So how minor?”
“Well… for example, wanting to get acquainted with Lin Rui so I’d look good in front of others.”
Pei Qingjian lowered his head, pretending to be guilty, but quickly raised it again and defended himself.
“It’s not entirely my fault! At that time, Li Xin had just stolen my boyfriend. Li Xin was pretty popular in our social circle, so people started mocking me behind my back, saying I just couldn’t compare to him—otherwise my boyfriend wouldn’t have run off with someone else.”
“Hearing that naturally made me unhappy. I didn’t want to hang out with them anymore, so I wanted to make some new friends. And that’s when I met your cousin—Lin Rui.”
“After all, he looked rich and impressive. I thought if I could be friends with him, Li Xin and the others would be so jealous. Then I could mock them back.”
Lin Xingchen: …
Well… he had to admit, that was very much like Pei Qingjian—definitely vain.
“So you got to know Lin Rui.”
“Mm-hm.”
“You’re acting this guilty and humble today. It can’t just be because you know Lin Rui, right?” Lin Xingchen looked at him.
Pei Qingjian smiled. “See? That’s why you’re the boss—you’re smart.”
Lin Xingchen snorted. “Keep going.”
Pei Qingjian lowered his voice. “Do you and your cousin have any conflict?”
Lin Xingchen frowned.
Strictly speaking, there was not any huge personal conflict between him and Lin Rui. If there was a major issue, it was not just between the two of them but between Lin Xingchen and most of the Lin family.
He held twenty-five percent of the shares of Anglai Group.
Those shares had not been his from the beginning. They originally belonged to his mother and to his maternal grandparents.
The “Lin” in Lin Xingchen’s name was not his father’s surname—it was his mother’s, Lin He.
Lin He had been a true heiress, born with company shares. Later, she and her husband died in an accident, and those shares passed to Lin Xingchen.
Before his grandparents died, they redistributed their own shares and left the majority to Lin Xingchen. Overnight, he became the second-largest shareholder of Anglai.
Lin Xingchen had even gone to his grandfather, hoping he would redistribute the shares—at least give his uncle a bit more.
But his grandfather refused.
He said, “You hold twenty-five percent of the shares now, and your uncle has twenty-seven percent. As long as the two of you stay on good terms, understand each other, and support each other, Anglai will still be controlled by the two of you. But your uncle is married now. He has a wife. If in the future… he…”
He held Lin Xingchen’s hand, his eyes full of affection, yet his heart weighed down with worry. After a long pause, he finally voiced the worst possibility he had been preparing for.
“If he ever does something that wrongs you, you can use it to seek justice for yourself.”
“That won’t happen,” Lin Xingchen comforted him. “Grandfather, how could you think like that? If Uncle heard you say that, how sad he’d be.”
Old Master Lin laughed softly. In his heart, he thought that his son was so intelligent—how could he not understand?
So when Wen Yuan came to visit him at Wenyuan, he sincerely apologized to his son.
“I know what I’m doing is unfair. I’m sorry. But I have no other choice. You know your sister only had this one child. She died so young and left only Xingchen behind. I can’t… I can’t help but think about his future.”
“I know how hard these years have been for you. I know you love him too. But the days ahead are still long. You’re married now. You have a wife, and in the future you’ll have your own children. I believe you’ll always love Xingchen, but what about your wife? And when you have children of your own? Even if you favor Xingchen, your wife will naturally favor your child more.”
“So the only thing I can do is leave him more—give him more security.”
He tried hard to explain himself to his son, hoping he would understand.
If it were possible, he too would have wanted to treat them equally and leave both of them the same inheritance. But he simply could not.
His grandson had nothing left—no father, no mother, no paternal grandparents, no maternal grandparents.
He himself was about to die.
Once he died, in this world, Lin Xingchen would have only Wen Yuan as family.
But that one remaining relative now had his own family.
Everyone had their own family. Everyone belonged somewhere. Only his grandson did not.
In such a situation, no matter how much he trusted his son, he still feared the one chance in ten thousand that things might go wrong.
What if one day Wen Yuan’s wife and children came into conflict with Lin Xingchen over利益?
What would Wen Yuan choose then?
Of course he had every right to choose his wife and children.
But if it truly came to that point, Old Master Lin hoped that his grandson would at least have the power to resist.
If he were still alive, he would be Lin Xingchen’s greatest support.
But he was about to die. The dead know nothing and can do nothing. So the only thing he could do was ensure that Lin Xingchen possessed enough resources to face any crisis himself.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized again to his son.
Wen Yuan looked at his father’s bowed head, drooping like a withered branch that could barely lift itself, and slowly wrapped his arms around him.
He had grown thin—no longer the strong figure Wen Yuan remembered.
He had grown old—no longer the imposing man who once commanded respect.
He was about to leave this world, just like Wen Yuan’s mother and his younger sister before him.
Wen Yuan understood that partings were inevitable in life.
Birth, aging, illness, and death—these were simply the course of human life. He only felt that the love in his family had been far too brief.
He had once possessed a very happy home—loving parents and a brilliant younger sister. Yet one by one, they had all left him.
If someone of his age could feel such grief, how could Lin Xingchen remain unaffected?
He would only feel it more deeply.
And that was precisely why he needed the love and protection of his elders even more.
Wen Yuan did not think his father had done anything wrong. His father only wanted, in the final stage of his life, to do everything he could to protect the youngest member of the family. That was all. What fault was there in that?
“I understand,” he reassured his father. “I can accept it, and I support your decision.”
“No matter whether I have children of my own in the future or not, Xingchen will always be my child. I believe Manman will support me as well. You can rest easy.”
Old Master Lin looked up at him. At that moment, he suddenly felt a pang of tenderness for his son.
His son had not had it easy either.
For so many years, he had taken care of his sister’s child. Because of Lin Xingchen, he had even delayed marriage until now.
He had worked hard too. He also deserved to be cherished.
Yet in the final moments of his life, Old Master Lin had given that preference to his grandson instead.
People always pity the young and feel compassion for the weak, forgetting that not everyone is born strong.
Old Master Lin gently touched his son’s face and embraced him, filled with guilt.
Even so, he did not change the distribution of the shares. Instead, he gave Wen Yuan more movable and immovable assets, hoping that would make up for the shares his son did not receive.
Wen Yuan did not care much about it. From the bottom of his heart, he understood and supported his father.
He helped Lin Xingchen straighten his tie and then brought him to attend the company’s board meeting.
That day, Lin Xingchen noticed many people’s expressions change.
Anglai had been peaceful for a long time—so peaceful that no one had expected Old Master Lin to make such a decision at the end of his life.
Over the years, he had gradually transferred the shares in his hands to Wen Yuan. Everyone assumed the remaining shares would eventually go to him as well.
After all, Wen Yuan was his son and had steered Anglai for many years. It was only natural that he would inherit the rest of the shares.
But now, those shares had gone to Lin Xingchen.
The situation instantly became complicated.
Some said Old Master Lin had been dissatisfied with Wen Yuan’s marriage.
Others said that Lin Xingchen had grown up and wanted to take control of Anglai.
Rumors spread in every direction. But that did not stop the other members of the Lin family from coveting Lin Xingchen’s shares and trying to use him to advance their own interests.
Unfortunately for them, Lin Xingchen had no desire to compete with his uncle.
He even went to find Wen Yuan himself and offered to give him half of the shares he held. But Wen Yuan refused.
“Since your grandfather gave them to you, then keep them. I’m still counting on you to join the company and help me in the future.”
At that moment, Lin Xingchen hardly dared to enter the company at all.
Right now he held no real position there, yet people were already hoping he and his uncle would clash. If he actually took a post in the company, someone would surely start choosing sides immediately.
Besides, Ning Yuan had only just joined the company. Everyone knew he was his aunt’s younger brother—someone from his aunt’s side of the family. If he and Ning Yuan were to clash someday, how would his uncle choose?
If his uncle sided with him, would that damage the relationship between his uncle and aunt?
If he sided with Ning Yuan instead, what would everyone else say about his uncle and about him?
Lin Xingchen did not want his uncle to face such a question with no right answer, so he took the initiative to distance himself from Anglai.
As long as he did not appear, none of it would happen. His uncle would still retain authority unthreatened by anyone, and the new family he had built could continue living in peace and happiness.
Lin Xingchen withdrew from his thoughts and looked at Pei Qingjian. “What did he do?”
“He probably tried to have someone approach you,” Pei Qingjian said, carefully choosing his words. “That day, I accidentally overheard him mention your name while he was on the phone. He said, ‘Forget it, if it failed, it failed.’ At the time I had just run into you. Do you remember? It was the day I got drunk and went to the restroom. I almost slipped going down the stairs, but you caught me just in time.”
“I had wanted to thank you, but since I’d been drinking my mind was slow. Before I could say anything, I heard your friend call your name, and you let go of me and went over.”
“So when I heard your name again, I paid attention. I was just about to listen more closely when he noticed me. I panicked, so I told him I thought I might have seen you before.”
“At first your cousin didn’t believe me. But after I described what you looked like, he started to believe it and even took out a photo for me to confirm. At that point I’d already stumbled onto someone else’s secret. The only way to keep myself safe was to become an accomplice, so I eagerly said I could do it—I’d be willing to approach you.”
“To make myself a little safer, I also told him that I’d actually liked him for a long time. That’s why I’d been hovering around him lately—I just hoped he would notice me. I said that if I helped him accomplish this, I wouldn’t ask for anything. I’d only want to be with him and have him as my boyfriend.”
Lin Xingchen: …
Lin Xingchen found that statement rather difficult to evaluate.
“He believed you?” Lin Xingchen asked.
Pei Qingjian nodded. “Of course he did. By that point I’d already spent a long time flattering him. You know how some men are—they’re just very confident. Especially when they’re rich and not bad-looking. To him, someone like me—poor and a bit vain—liking him seemed perfectly normal.”
Lin Xingchen: … That actually made a certain amount of sense.