Doubts
Cheng Xiaorui had just fallen asleep beside his mother's bed. Chen Zihan covered him with his coat that had slipped off and tiptoed back to the corridor.
Chen Zihan always thinks back to what Lu Ziyi did to Cheng Xiaorui.
Why?
Why is Lu Ziyi so obsessed with Cheng Xiaorui?
This doesn't seem like simple bullying, nor does it seem like it was done on a whim.
Chen Zihan walked to the vending machine and bought a can of coffee. The cool touch sobered him up a bit. He remembered seeing Lu Ziyi in the hospital. The way he looked at Cheng Xiaorui wasn't just looking at an ordinary classmate. It was more like he was looking through him to see something else.
Once this thought arises, it can no longer be suppressed.
When he returned to the ward, Chen Zihan was picking up the scattered review materials for him when a yellowed old photo floated out of the English textbook. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the sleeping Cheng Xiaorui and picked up the photo.
The photo shows a family of three. The young Cheng Zhixu smiled gently, holding a five or six-year-old boy in her arms, who should be the young Cheng Xiaorui. And the man standing behind them——
Chen Zihan's pupils shrank slightly.
The man in the plaid shirt and thin-framed glasses actually bore a striking resemblance to Lu Zi, especially his slightly upturned eyes, which seemed almost like they were cut from the same mold.
He gently turned the photo over and wrote in pen on the back:
"Xu Bai, Zhi Xu, Xiao Han, Linzhou, Spring 2006"
Xu Bai. The name made Chen Zihan's heart skip a beat. He remembered the family album he'd stumbled across in the Lu family's study last year. There was a photo of Lu Ziyi's father, Lu Yu, in his youth, wearing a plaid shirt. All the photos of Lu Yu had been meticulously preserved in the Lu family album, except for those from the period between the ages of thirty and thirty-five.
At that time, the old nanny of the Lu family sighed while wiping the photo frames: "My husband was doing business in Linzhou for a few years. Later, something happened and all the photos were put away."
Linzhou. Xubai. Plaid shirt. Similar eyes.
These fragments spun in Chen Zihan's mind, but he could never put them together to form a complete picture.
The next day, he quietly went to Lu Yu's house to pick up something. He and Lu Ziyi didn't live there much anymore, having moved to another villa complex. He deliberately went to the study. The photo album was still in its old place, and he quickly flipped through to a photo of Lu Yu when he was younger. Yes, the same plaid shirt, the same thin-framed glasses, even the curve of his smile was so similar.
"Master Zi Han is back?" The old nanny was standing at the door at some point, holding some snacks in her hand.
Chen Zihan hurriedly closed the photo album.
“I came back to find some things…” To avoid embarrassment, he added: “Uncle Lu was quite handsome when he was young.”
"Yes." The old nanny placed the snacks on the table and glanced at the photo album. "When Mr. was young, he had a best friend in Linzhou who also liked to wear plaid shirts. They were so close that they could wear the same trousers. Later..."
She stopped suddenly, as if realizing she had said something she shouldn't have.
"What happened next?"
"Then that friend had an accident." The old nanny shook her head. "The master never mentioned Linzhou again. These old things should have been thrown away, but he couldn't bear to part with them."
Chen Zihan's heart was beating fast. He asked casually, "Is that friend's surname... Lu?"
The old nanny's expression changed slightly. She didn't answer and just hurried out of the study. This reaction said it all.
That night, when Chen Zihan accompanied Cheng Xiaorui on the hospital rooftop to get some fresh air, he tentatively asked: "When you were a child...did you live in another city?"
Cheng Xiaorui was startled, then regained his composure and said softly, "I lived in Linzhou before I was seven years old, and then I moved here."
"Why did you move here?"
"My dad..." Cheng Xiaorui's voice lowered, "After he passed away, my mom took me away."
This was the first time Chen Zihan heard Cheng Xiaorui mention his father. He noticed that Cheng Xiaorui used the word "passed away" instead of the more common "passed away" or "gone", which carried a certain deliberate sense of distance.
"So what kind of person is your father?"
Cheng Xiaorui looked at the neon lights in the distance and was silent for a long time.
"I don't remember it very clearly. I just remember that he loved to laugh and could make very delicate wooden toys. Mom said he was originally a designer, but later he went into business with someone else, and that's when things changed."
"Who are you partnering with?"
"I don't know. Mom never told me." Cheng Xiaorui's voice was very soft. "I just remember that one day, he suddenly didn't come home. Later, Mom took me and moved away overnight, without even taking my favorite toy car."
The night wind blew the strands of hair on Xiaorui's forehead. Chen Zihan looked at his profile, which was similar to the man in the photo, and suddenly understood something.
While Cheng Xiaorui was taking care of his mother taking medicine, Chen Zihan walked to the fire escape and made a phone call.
"Mom, I remember you said Uncle Lu lived in Linzhou?"
The woman on the other end of the phone paused: "Why are you asking this suddenly?"
"I'm just curious." Chen Zihan tried to sound relaxed. "Lu Ziyi seems to have a distant relative over there."
"What distant relative?" Mother's voice was filled with disdain. "His father made his fortune in Linzhou. I don't know what happened, but the whole family suddenly moved away."
After hanging up the phone, Chen Zihan stood by the window, lost in thought. Linzhou, his father's death, his family's relocation. There had to be some connection between these fragments.
In the days that followed, Chen Zihan devoted all his free time to investigating. While accompanying Cheng Xiaorui, he used his phone to search for old news reports about Linzhou from ten years ago, and after Cheng Xiaorui fell asleep, he searched through company archives from that time. The process was difficult, with much information lost to time, but he still found some clues.
He came across a photo of Lu Yu as a young man in an old article about a local entrepreneur. The article mentioned that Lu Yu once had a partner, with whom he ran a building materials company, but that they later parted ways due to "differences in business philosophy." The article didn't mention the partner's name, only vaguely stating that he had "pursued other development opportunities."
Another breakthrough came from a casual remark by Cheng Xiaorui. One night, after putting his mother to bed, Cheng Xiaorui suddenly whispered, "When I was a child, I had a beautiful wooden toy car that my father made. But we lost it when we moved."
"Your father is good at carpentry?"
"He used to study design." Cheng Xiaorui's eyes were a little dazed. "Then I don't know why he went into the building materials business."
Building materials. This word made Chen Zihan's heart move.
Through his father's connections, Chen Zihan contacted a retired journalist who had moved from Linzhou. In a quiet teahouse, the old man recalled:
"You're talking about Lu Yu's partner...his surname was Lu, and he was a very capable young man. It's a shame that he became addicted to gambling along with Lu Yu, ended up accumulating a lot of debt, and committed suicide by jumping off a building."
The old man sighed. "Not long after that, Lu Yu moved out. I'd say he was too embarrassed to stay. He was such a good person, but he corrupted me."
Chen Zihan's fingers felt slightly cold as he gripped the teacup. "That partner...what's his full name?"
"Lu Xubai," the old man said with certainty, "after he died, his wife and children moved away. I heard they even changed their last name."
At this moment, all the clues were finally connected.
Lu Xubai. Cheng Xiaorui's father. Lu Yu's former partner. He committed suicide by jumping off a building. He changed his name.
Perhaps Lu Ziyi's obsession with Cheng Xiaorui is not because of Cheng Xiaorui himself.
But it was because of the man who once wore a plaid shirt and was as close to Lu Yu as a brother.
The one who disappeared in the past of Linzhou, Lu Xubai.
When Chen Zihan walked out of the teahouse, the winter sun shone brightly on his face, but he felt cold all over. He finally understood the complex emotions in Lu Ziyi's eyes - that was the debt that the Lu family could never repay to the Lu family.
And now, the shadow of this debt is looming over Cheng Xiaorui.
When I returned to the hospital, Cheng Xiaorui was reading the newspaper to his mother. The afternoon sun filtered through the blinds, casting dappled shadows on his face.
Chen Zihan stood at the door of the ward, looking at the boy who knew nothing about the truth. He didn't know whether he should tell this heavy secret, nor did he know what kind of storm it would bring.
-------
Twenty years ago in Shenzhen, Lu Xubai and Lu Yu were best buddies in college. Lu Xubai came from an ordinary family, but was incredibly talented, particularly in architectural design; while Lu Yu, a free-spirited and uninhibited son of a wealthy family, particularly admired Lu Xubai's talent.
After graduation, Lu Yu invited Lu Xubai to join his company: "Xubai, let's conquer the world together. Your talent combined with my resources will definitely create miracles."
The first few years were exactly as they had envisioned. Lu Xubai's designs won numerous awards, and Lu Yu's real estate projects were wildly successful. The two were inseparable, known in the industry as the "Golden Partnership."
But gradually, the places Lu Yu took Lu Xubai to became more and more luxurious. From high-end clubs to private casinos, Lu Yu always said with a smile: "Relax, you deserve it."
The turning point came one rainy night. Lu Xubai lost half a million yuan in the casino for the first time. Lu Yu easily paid the bill for him: "It's no big deal. You can win it back next time."
But this "next time" never comes.
Three years later, Lu Xubai was a completely different person. His once clear eyes were now bloodshot, and his slender fingers were trembling slightly from holding the cards for so long.
"Xu Bai, stop it." Lu Yu advised him for the umpteenth time, "The quality of your recent designs has declined significantly."
"Leave me alone!" Lu Xubai pushed him away fiercely, "If you hadn't taken me to that place...
Lu Yu's face turned pale. "How many times have I advised you? It's you who can't control yourself!"
The argument ended in acrimony. That month, Lu Xubai embezzled public funds from the project to recoup losses, but ended up losing everything.
When the debt collectors came to their door, Cheng Zhixu realized how much debt her husband owed. She held Xiao Xuhan in her arms and watched her husband kneel on the ground, begging, "Give me a little more time..."
"Time?" The creditor sneered, "Young Master Lu doesn't care about you anymore, who would dare to lend you money?"
This sentence became the last straw that broke Lu Xubai's back. He asked Lu Yu to meet him on the rooftop, which was their favorite place when they were young and overlooked the lights of the entire city.
"Do you remember the wish we made here?" Lu Xubai's voice drifted in the wind. "You said you wanted to build the tallest building in this city, and I said I wanted to plant roses on the roof."
Lu Yu's eyes were red: "Xu Bai, we can start over..."
"It's too late." Lu Xubai looked at the bright lights under his feet, "I can't go back. But Lu Yu..."
He turned around, a broken light in his eyes: "You must remember that it was you who made me like this."
"No! It's you..."
"It was you who showed me the life of luxury and decadence, it was you who taught me how to gamble, and now it's you who has abandoned me!" Lu Xubai's voice suddenly became sharp.
The next second, in Lu Yu's horrified eyes, the once talented architect fell from the rooftop like a fallen leaf.
Lu Yu knelt on the ground, his outstretched hands only catching handfuls of icy air. In the distance, a new skyscraper was being topped out. It was the design for their last collaborative project.
On the day Cheng Zhixu sold her house to pay off part of her debt and left Shenzhen with her son, she went to see the skyscraper that her husband had finally designed.
"Mom, does Daddy not want us anymore?" Little Xuhan asked, looking up.
"No, Dad went very far away." Cheng Zhixu wiped away his tears, squatted down and looked at his son, "From today on, your name is Cheng Xiaorui. We are going to start a new life."
She took one last look at the towering building and walked towards the station holding her son's hand.
At the same time, Lu Yu received an envelope in the office, which contained Lu Xubai's final design drawing - the roof was indeed covered with roses, and there was a line of small words next to it: "To our broken dreams."
He broke down and smashed everything in the office, and boarded a plane to go abroad the next day.
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