Chapter 27
When Lin Hening stepped into his home, the first thing he noticed was a pair of custom-made leather shoes—size 43, handcrafted by a British design studio.
As he took off his coat, he called out, “Dad, when did you get back?”
Lin Youyu sat on the sofa, arms crossed, face stern.
Lin Hening yawned and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. After gulping it down, his father didn’t even turn his head. Lin Hening couldn’t help but laugh and asked, “What’s going on? Practicing your skills?”
Lin Youyu replied, “If I hadn’t run into it myself, when were you planning to tell me?”
Lin Hening thought to himself that his dad could really put on a show. He might be able to scare outsiders, but not in front of him. After all, he had seen all of his dad’s embarrassing moments. Trying to establish some kind of royal dignity in front of him was an impossible task—it just wouldn’t work.
Lin Hening poured himself another glass of water. “Tell you what?”
Lin Youyu frowned. “You broke up with Xia Zhile, right?”
Lin Hening nearly choked on the water.
Lin Youyu’s three-minute authoritative air instantly crumbled. “You can’t even drink water without choking? Slow down!”
Lin Hening wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his heart racing as he quickly asked, “How do you know?”
“I came back this time and brought the brand of cheese Xia Zhile likes the most, thinking I’d stop by and deliver it to his place since I was passing by. But when I knocked on the door, guess who opened it? It wasn’t Xia Zhile or the cleaning lady, but a pale-skinned, beautiful, slim-waisted, little-bootied enchantress!”
Lin Hening: “…”
Precision, damn it.
Lin Youyu’s anger flared. “He stood at the door and said you and Xia Zhile broke up, and now he’s Xia Zhile’s boyfriend.”
Lin Hening exhaled deeply and put down the glass of water. “It’s like that.”
“Then what exactly happened?” Lin Youyu waved his hand before Lin Hening could respond. “Is it because this enchantress seduced Xia Zhile, and that’s why you two broke up? No, wait. It takes two to tango. The enchantress wouldn’t act like this unless Xia Zhile was complicit. So, these two dog men ended up together, and you just broke up with him cleanly, right?”
Heh! No wonder his dad used to be a prosecutor—he was spot on with his guess.
Lin Hening replied, “Pretty much.” He decisively put away the glass.
Lin Youyu was about to smash the glass in frustration. “Damn Xia Zhile, who does he think he is?! Ah! How dare he!!!”
Lin Youyu was furious, grabbing his coat and rushing toward the door. Lin Hening, however, had anticipated this and stopped him.
Because of Wen Zhi, Lin Youyu hated anyone who cheated in a marriage or played with two hearts at once. Especially when such things happened to his beloved son.
Lin Youyu’s eyes reddened with heartache as he hugged Lin Hening, choking on his words of comfort. “It’s okay, it’s okay, Daddy’s here. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
Lin Hening: “…”
Sorry, he wasn’t crying. Not a single tear fell.
Lin Hening helplessly patted his father’s back. “Dad, stop crying.”
Lin Youyu insisted that he should teach Xia Zhile a lesson, and never let Lin Hening suffer such grievances. Lin Hening repeatedly said no, no, really no.
He had spent an entire night tossing and turning, asking himself, and finally found the answer.
Actually, if it weren’t for An Nian, he and Xia Zhile might not have lasted in the first place.
Their views were too different. Xia Zhile cared too much about the gap in status and identity, which only created pressure between them.
It was like a rope pulled too tight—it would snap sooner or later.
Of course, this wasn’t about giving the scumbag a free pass for cheating. It was just that now that they had broken up, it should be clean and final. Holding onto old grudges would only drag things on.
And besides, he now had someone new in his life. He was long past caring about his old love.
The next morning, as Lin Hening went to work, he stopped by Gu Fei’s restaurant for breakfast: a warm bowl of millet porridge and crab roe buns. After eating, he returned to the car, where Gu Fei lightly tapped on the window and handed him a drink. Lin Hening took a sip—it was a sweet, warm lemon tea.
Lunch was at the cafeteria, and around 2 p.m., Lin Hening received a call from the front desk saying that a Mr. Gu was there to see him.
Lin Hening was caught off guard. How had Gu Fei come here?
He hurried downstairs and saw Gu Fei from a distance, clearly identifiable due to his height.
Gu Fei was holding something in his hand.
Gu Fei: “Here.”
Caramel milk tea with pudding, tapioca pearls, and herbal jelly.
Lin Hening immediately remembered the post he had made half an hour ago: [The witness brought their kid to the office. To cheer the child up, Sister Liu bought some bubble milk tea. The little brat drank it down, burping loudly. The grown-ups next door, especially the one with the last name Lin, were so envious they almost cried.]
At that moment, he did feel a little bit envious, and impulsively shared a thought on his social media.
He hadn’t expected…
Lin Hening thought this kind of “randomly posting on social media and then having your boyfriend immediately bring you the things you like” scenario was a cheesy yet romantic gesture that only happened in school days. Now, years after graduation, both of them were almost in their fifties. He wasn’t sure what Gu Fei’s mindset was, but Lin Hening found himself blushing and his heart racing.
You’d think a simple cup of milk tea wouldn’t make such an impact, right?
Well, it actually did.
Although Lin Hening was sharp-tongued, he was quite soft-hearted and easily moved, like a child.
He couldn’t help but laugh and sigh. Jian Xiaoxi once said he was like a kid, and Lin Hening didn’t take that compliment seriously.
First off, calling someone like a child implies immaturity, and “immature” is definitely not a compliment.
Secondly, he’d like to be a spoiled, unreasonable brat, but with his father in front and Xia Zhile behind, it was hard to act childish in front of people even more immature than him.
Even if he was moved, he had to act mature and composed.
Because, whether it was his father or Xia Zhile, both would be more easily touched by his own sincerity, and Lin Hening couldn’t afford to act overly sentimental.
Lin Hening held the milk tea in his hands: “Do you live in my social media feed 24/7?”
Gu Fei replied, “No, only for seventeen hours.”
“Huh?”
“The remaining seven hours, I’m asleep.”
“…” Lin Hening didn’t know how to respond to Gu Fei’s straightforward style of chatting.
He was so used to Xia Zhile’s sweet words and smooth talk that he was a bit thrown off by this honest and simple approach.
Though he didn’t say flowery words to coax or tease him, it felt strangely reassuring, like a dish that’s been stripped of all excess, leaving only the essence of the meat’s flavor.
Gu Fei smiled and said, “Resting up, preparing to spend the next seventeen hours in your social media feed.”
“Ha! Cough, cough!” Lin Hening choked on the milk tea, laughing and coughing at the same time, utterly amused.
As they discussed their plans for the upcoming New Year, Lin Hening asked Gu Fei if he was going back to Xinghua Township. Gu Fei shook his head, explaining that he had brought his mother to the city a while ago, and this year, he would spend New Year’s Eve with Xu Fenli and Zhou Zhou.
Gu Fei then asked Lin Hening about his plans. Lin Hening replied, as usual, he would be going abroad with his father, Lin Youyu, to spend the holiday with his paternal grandparents.
After a brief pause, Gu Fei asked, “When are you coming back?”
“On the fifth day of the New Year,” Lin Hening said, teasing, “Don’t miss me too much.”
Gu Fei propped his chin and pondered seriously for a moment. “That’s a bit difficult. I don’t think I can manage.”
Lin Hening chuckled, amused, and couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch Gu Fei’s cheek.
To his surprise, Lin Hening found Gu Fei’s face surprisingly soft, even though Gu Fei’s body was all muscle, and his chest was as firm as iron. The texture of his skin was delicate, and Lin Hening got a little addicted, pinching a few more times.
“Ha, your skin is so good?” Lin Hening exclaimed, surprised.
Gu Fei honestly replied, “I’ve been doing some skincare recently.”
Lin Hening was taken aback. He wasn’t surprised when Xia Zhile used makeup, but Gu Fei—a tough guy—caring about skincare was unexpected.
Gu Fei added, “So that when we go out together, we’re not seen as ‘the pale prosecutor and his dark-skinned bodyguard,’ I’m planning to get a few face masks.”
Lin Hening laughed uncontrollably.
Before he left, he couldn’t resist pinching Gu Fei’s cheek one last time.
Later that evening, Lin Hening met Gu Fei’s foster mother, Xu Fenli.
Xu Fenli had gray hair and a face full of wrinkles, clearly a woman worn down by life’s hardships. However, Lin Hening, who had seen many people, could tell that she had a superior bone structure and must have been quite beautiful in her youth.
Xu Fenli was helping out at the store and froze when she first saw Lin Hening. Despite not having much education or exposure to the world, her keen eye could tell that Lin Hening was either rich or important. She became a bit reserved while hosting him.
It wasn’t until Lin Hening said, “Auntie, don’t worry about it, I’m Gu Fei’s friend,” that Xu Fenli relaxed.
She still couldn’t believe it until Gu Fei returned from outside. She was shocked, thinking, “Little Fei actually has such a wealthy, handsome friend?”
Lin Hening felt a deep respect for Xu Fenli, seeing how she treated her adopted son as her own, and how, despite life’s hardships, she had managed to raise Gu Fei with hard work, doing the most exhausting tasks with her rough hands. Even after her good-for-nothing husband took all the money and ran off, she never hesitated to raise Gu Fei on her own.
Lin Hening poured tea for Xu Fenli. “Auntie, please have some water.”
At first, Xu Fenli was a bit nervous, but as they continued chatting, she warmed up to Lin Hening’s kindness, and she eventually started calling him “Xiao Lin” instead of “Mr. Lin.”
“Does Xiao Lin have a partner?” Xu Fenli asked.
Lin Hening glanced at Gu Fei from the corner of his eye and smiled softly. “Half of it.”
Xu Fenli was confused. “What do you mean, half? Does your partner only have half?”
Lin Hening smiled without answering, instead turning his attention toward Gu Fei. Their eyes met across the room, and Lin Hening’s narrow phoenix eyes sparkled with amusement, the corner of his eye curving in a teasing arc.
Gu Fei immediately turned red, looking like a boiled shrimp.
“Haha, this is fun!” Lin Hening thought.
It seemed that Gu Fei, the tough guy, was actually a pure, innocent little cutie with a soft spot. A little teasing, and he would blush.
On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Hening and his father, Lin Youyu, went to the airport. While waiting in the VIP lounge, Lin Hening received a call from Gu Fei.
“I’m not boarding yet, should be about ten minutes.”
Lin Hening replied, “Okay,” and then heard Gu Fei’s voice, slightly out of breath. “I’m climbing the stairs.”
In the background, the airport’s announcement was also audible.
Lin Hening immediately stood up, told his father he was stepping out for a moment, and began searching for Gu Fei while walking out. “Where are you?”
Gu Fei replied, “The bathroom on the east side of the second floor. Where are you? I’ll come find you.”
“I’m at the café on the west side.”
“Don’t move, I’ll come to you.”
Lin Hening instinctively stopped, realizing that the airport was packed during the Spring Festival travel rush. The crowds were dense, and there were passengers with oversized luggage blocking his view, making him a little anxious.
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder.
He turned quickly to find Gu Fei smiling. “Luckily, I made it.”
Gu Fei was wearing a thin cotton jacket, his eyes heavy with dark circles, and he was panting from running. It was hard for Lin Hening to imagine how Gu Fei had gotten to this point.
“Don’t tell me you ran directly from home to the airport,” Lin Hening said in disbelief.
“Not exactly,” Gu Fei chuckled. “I started running halfway.”
Lin Hening was stunned. “??!!”
Gu Fei explained, “There was a traffic jam. I couldn’t wait.”
Lin Hening stared at him, slack-jawed. “Are you training for a marathon or something?”
Wait, no, that’s not it. You mean you ran all the way here from the city to the airport???
Lin Hening looked at Gu Fei’s legs, as if seeing the national emblem for the first time in court.
Shocked to the core, Lin Hening asked, “What time did you start running?”
Gu Fei hadn’t really kept track, but casually said, “Around one o’clock.”
Lin Hening: “…”
Forty kilometers, two and a half hours.
You know, if you don’t enter a marathon and win a medal, it’s a loss to the country, right?
It was just past one when they began the extreme Spartan race, and Gu Fei had been busy at the shop the night before, closing around midnight. That meant he hadn’t slept all night—he closed the store, tidied up, and hit the road for a night run.
Lin Hening suddenly thought Gu Fei was really silly—so silly that he couldn’t even complain about it.
But this silly, stubborn determination was so endearing, it made his chest feel hot and his eyes a little misty.
Lin Hening: “Does your leg hurt?”
“I used to run more than this,” Gu Fei said, jumping up to prove he wasn’t lying. He was already tall, and with that jump, he looked even more like a giant.
Tall and imposing.
Lin Hening couldn’t help but laugh.
For a guy like you, it’s nothing.
But I feel so sorry for you!
Lin Hening stepped forward and hugged Gu Fei, who was trying to show off his acrobatic skills as a New Year’s gift.
Gu Fei paused, then awkwardly extended his arms and hugged Lin Hening’s back.
Just then, an announcement came over the intercom, reminding Lin Hening that his flight was boarding.
Gu Fei held him tight for three seconds, then suddenly let go. “Go quickly.”
Lin Hening felt the tight embrace loosen, and his body warmed and cooled in an instant.
In that moment, he suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to stay in Gu Fei’s arms.
At his age, still here playing this difficult-to-part scenario—how pathetic, right?
Lin Hening laughed at himself, took a step, then turned back to look. Gu Fei stood there, waving at him.
For a brief moment, Lin Hening had the urge to stay and celebrate the New Year with Gu Fei.
But New Year reunions were a tradition in the Lin family. As the only grandson, he was the main character. Lin Youyu could go wherever he pleased, but as the treasured grandchild of his grandfather Lin, he couldn’t stay.
Lin Hening shouted, “I’ll be back on the fifth!”
Gu Fei’s voice, loud and clear, cut through all the noise: “Henen, I’ll wait for you.”
