0046 51 Brother

The elderly Mrs. Kong was taken to the hospital. Although her private doctor tried to save her in time, the equipment was insufficient.

The piercing horn shattered the darkness of the night, swirling and echoing above the city. The car pulled up to the alley entrance, but the sound ceased. The area around the Ling family home was inhabited by ministers and committee members; generally, no loud noises were allowed, especially sirens.

At the same time, Ling Xingzhi was imprisoned in the Ling family's ancestral hall. Calling it an ancestral hall is a bit of an exaggeration; it was more like a Buddhist hall, where, in addition to Buddha and gods, Ling Xingzhi's grandfather was also enshrined.

The mat was still on the ground, without a speck of dust.

The lights inside the ancestral hall mimic the glow of candles, making the entire interior appear very quiet and elegant.

Ling Xingzhi sat down on the cushion, took off his clothes, and blood seeped out from the bandaged wounds inside. He glanced at it, but didn't care. He leaned lazily against the wall, bent one leg, and put his hand on his knee.

How many times have I been locked up here?

He didn't remember; anyway, if you did something wrong, you'd get locked up. How many days you'd be locked up depended on Ling Qingyun's mood.

It's become a habit.

The wound hurt a little, but he was exhausted. He had been attending meetings all day and a state banquet at night, followed by interrogation and a beating at home. Even Ling Xingzhi himself didn't know how he had survived all of this, but... the encounter in the tunnel and Zhou Xiye's arrogance excited him.

She didn't treat him as an opponent, but instead gave him a direct warning, and the verbal attacks finally became real.

Ling Xingzhi opened his eyes and quietly looked at the Buddha statue opposite him. His half-open eyes seemed to look down on anyone in the world and care about nothing.

No one can become a Buddha. Ling Xingzhi has seen many monks and saints who appear compassionate on the surface but are actually licentious and unrestrained in their desires. In the end, they are all driven by desires—desire for fame, desire for love, and desire for wealth.

It's better to be open and honest, and face your inner desires directly.

Like Zhou Xiye—ambition written in his eyes, using civilized methods to achieve the most barbaric goals.

Ling Xingzhi chuckled self-deprecatingly, then closed his eyes again. He was so sleepy; he wanted to rest.

However, he did manage to utter that "bastard," which is truly commendable.

Is Ling Qingyun a bastard? Ling Xingzhi thinks so.

His mother, Kong Xiangpei, passed away when he was seven years old, leaving behind a younger sister, Ling Xingxi, who was not yet one year old.

He remembered his mother's death, but all his memories were like flowing water, blurry yet orderly. He remembered when it happened, who came to the funeral, and so on.

However, Ling Xingzhi did not remember his father ever looking like he was in pain.

Back then, the tutors would take advantage of his young age and find ways to bully him, always saying things like, "Once your dad remarries, you'll be an unwanted child. Go cry somewhere else."

Hearing this, he was initially angry and angrily told the man to shut up. But when he realized it was useless and the tutor enjoyed seeing him in his powerless rage, he simply ordered Xingzhi to run away, picked up a vase from the rosewood table, and smashed it at the tutor.

Head broken and bleeding.

Ling Qingyun didn't have time to deal with him. His secretary handled the matter, dismissing the tutor without paying any medical expenses. Since the vase was from the Qing Dynasty, he felt a sense of honor at being hit by one.

His younger sister, Ling Xingxi, became the only person who stayed by his side and treated him well.

Ling Xingxi was learning to walk, and he watched from the side. Ling Xingxi fell and almost hit the corner of the table, so Ling Xingzhi found some tools to wrap the corner.

At night, I would coax my younger sister to sleep, not by singing, but by telling her stories.

Sometimes he was so tired that he would fall asleep while talking, and when he woke up it was already midnight. The room was dark, and his sister's breathing was very regular, which made him feel very safe.

The first thing Ling Xingxi said was "Brother".

Ling Xingzhi was stunned. It was as if he had been taking care of a puppy, and suddenly one day the puppy would talk to him and call his name.

He felt happy because, now that his mother was gone, he would take good care of his younger sister in her place.

Later, he learned that his father had another woman. He could smell various perfumes on his father, the scent of women. Ling Xingzhi was heartbroken. He hid in his room, under the curtains, and cried while holding his mother's photograph.

Whenever tears welled up, he would bite his lip hard to wipe them away, his heart filled with fear.

What if... his father finds another woman? How could his father forget his mother? He doesn't understand, how could his father betray his mother? He even wants his mother to become a ghost and come back to take his father's life.

Nothing happened; a pair of small hands lifted the curtains.

With wide, bright eyes, fair and rosy cheeks, and a small, rosy mouth.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Ling Xingzhi put down the photo and hugged Ling Xingxi in his arms.

"Brother, you're crying."

Ling Xingzhi patted her head and pinched her cheek; it felt very nice.

Ling Xingxi raised her hand to wipe away his tears, "Brother, I miss Mom too."

The siblings must have a telepathic connection, because he held Ling Xingxi in his arms and rested his chin on her head.

Later, Ling Qingyun remarried. At the wedding, Ling Xingzhi held Ling Xingxi's hand, pretending to be an adult, and tried his best to hide his emotions in front of everyone's smiles.

"Cousin, I have some candy here, would you like some?"

Ling Xingzhi turned his head and saw a little doll dressed in pink standing in front of him, with a few pieces of candy in her hand. Young Ling Xingzhi wanted to laugh, but he couldn't manage a smile like an adult; the forced smile looked ugly.

"Cousin, don't cry, you can have all my candy."

Ling Xingzhi ate a piece; it was very sweet. He nodded and said, "Thank you, cousin."

That was the sweetest moment in that dark period.

Time flew by on the clock face, and Qingyun and Guo Huaisheng still had no children. He inadvertently learned that it was because his mother had made Qingyun undergo tubal ligation after giving birth to Ling Xingxi.

He has only two children in his life, and they can only be Kong Xiangpei's.

Ling Xingzhi felt fortunate. Ling Xingxi, now an adult, was extremely beautiful, inheriting her mother's beauty and her father's dashing appearance. Ling Xingzhi stared intently at her, fearing other men might make a move on her. After all, they were men themselves; how could he not know what other men were thinking?

This kind of abnormal and radical control was unbearable for Ling Xingxi. But she was still obedient, knowing that Ling Xingzhi had good intentions.

Before he started working, the father figure, Ling Qingyun, was merely a symbol. Everyone he associated with was a symbol—so-and-so's son. Every time they went out, he would carefully observe the symbol above each person's head before deciding which one he could offend and which one he couldn't afford to offend.

The situation changed quickly; he became the kind of person in the circle who couldn't afford to offend anyone and could bully whomever he wanted.

This game is pretty boring; he can't see through anyone. But there's an advantage: he can make it impossible for anyone to understand his thoughts.

On his first day in politics, Ling Qingyun appeared and said with great certainty, "I am your father. Follow me and you will rise to great heights."

In the world that follows, everyone he encounters must greet him warmly as his father. They are all like puppets, infallible puppets. Ling Xingzhi cannot fathom their thoughts; they are merely puppets.

Only Zhou Xiye appeared in Ling Xingzhi's world as a concrete, complete being, like a living person.

You have to resist, you have to fight.

He used all his strength to say that seemingly casual "bastard."

The door of the ancestral hall made a sound, and Ling Xingzhi slowly opened his eyes, only to find that it was already dawn.

"Secretary, are you alright? I've brought you some food..." Li Qingshan walked in, turned around and saw Ling Xingzhi, squatted down and took out the food.

"The minister is still angry. Grandma Kong was taken to the hospital and is still being treated... This time, she's really upset, and her health is already weak..."

Ling Xingzhi nodded, sat up, and looked at the food Li Qingshan had laid out, but he had no appetite.

"By the way, how's the progress on the regulations I asked you to revise?"

Li Qingshan nodded, "It will be issued after New Year's Day, and the notice has already been sent out."

"That's good. It must be issued promptly and without delay." Ling Xingzhi felt relieved upon hearing this. He picked up his chopsticks and ate a few bites of rice, which was still hot.

"Um... Secretary, Madam is here too. Would you like to see her?"

Ling Xingzhi frowned, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Let her in."

"good."

Wei Luochen didn't sleep all night. After Ling Qingyun's men left, she asked Li Qingshan to take her inside. As soon as she entered, seeing Ling Xingzhi sitting on the floor eating, her eyes reddened and she started to cry.

Ling Xingzhi paused, knowing full well why Wei Luochen was crying.

He simply stood up, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her to comfort her, "It's okay...it's okay, you were scared last night, weren't you?"

Wei Luochen clung tightly to Ling Xingzhi's clothes, shaking his head in his arms. After a long while, Wei Luochen finally stopped crying, looked at Ling Xingzhi's face, and stroked the stubble on his chin, "Tired?"

Ling Xingzhi grasped her hand. "Yes, as people get older, they certainly can't hold on any longer."

After hearing this, Wei Luochen's tears flowed uncontrollably again. "It's not that I want to cry, I just can't bear to see you suffer..."

Ling Xingzhi smiled. "I'm not worth you being so sad. I know what kind of person I am. Yesterday... thank you for standing up for me."

Hearing that this meant drawing a line, Wei Luochen sobbed, "You are my lover, of course I have to protect you. I love you, really. I can scold you and hit you, but I can't stand seeing others insult you like this, and I don't want them to judge you like this. Nobody is a good person, why do they have to treat you like this?"

Ling Xingzhi could no longer smile and remained silent for a long while. Tears blurred Wei Luochen's vision; she couldn't see Ling Xingzhi's expression. She wiped away her tears, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed.

All that could be heard was Ling Xingzhi sighing, "I shouldn't have married you in the first place."

"What do you mean! You want a divorce? Let me tell you, Ling Xingzhi, it's impossible! Even if Kong Lingqi has your child, it will be born mentally challenged. Inbreeding is forbidden! You know that! At worst... at worst I'll raise a mentally challenged child for you. Anyway, you can only be my husband for the rest of my life!"

Ling Xingzhi laughed and cried after hearing this, pulling her into his arms and patting her shoulder, "It's alright, don't cry... it's okay..."

Finally, she stopped crying.

"Luo Chen, here's what we'll do. You go home first and live a normal life and work normally. I'm just being confined, and it won't be for too long. I still have work to do. Don't worry, I'll go home safely."

Wei Luochen nodded, his eyes already swollen.

"Then you won't divorce me, will you?"

Ling Xingzhi shook his head. He couldn't care less about the divorce right now; he had so many other things to take care of.

By the time Wei Luochen left, the food had long since gone cold. He didn't continue eating and instead sat leaning against the wall to rest.

It must have been afternoon when sunlight streamed into the ancestral hall, making it feel warm. Ling Xingzhi stared, mesmerized, at the shadows of the willow branches swaying in the wind, cast through the window onto the ground.

Not far away, the sounds from the courtyard increased.

He ignored it, lost in thought.

"Splash—"

The door was pushed open, and Li Qingshan, panting, bent over with his hands on his knees, said, "Secretary, something terrible has happened, Grandma Kong has passed away."