Chapter 77
Lin Ciyan's story is particularly bloody.
He was deliberately taken away at birth and left at the doorstep of an orphanage in a small city. A kind director took him in. At three years old, a young couple adopted him. They thought they would live a life under the protection of their parents, but only a year later, the couple had their own child and no longer cared about Lin Ciyan, even discussing sending him back to the orphanage.
Lin Ciyan was only four years old that year, and he could only obey whatever his adoptive parents did.
So, one very cold winter, he returned to the orphanage.
But Lin Ciyan's days back in the orphanage were not easy. The children older than him were already sensible. Seeing that he was "returned" by his adoptive parents, they felt both relieved and contemptuous. They surrounded Lin Ciyan all day long and said that he was useless, trash, and a jinx, which was why his adoptive parents looked down on him.
Lin Ciyan's childhood was filled with malicious bullying from others.
He stumbled along like this until he was eighteen. His excellent academic performance earned him an admission letter to a prestigious university, and he escaped from the orphanage and came to Yancheng. At twenty, his long hours of part-time work had left him mentally unstable. While out in a daze, he was hit by a luxury car and injured his leg.
The fate in this world is also wonderful.
The person who bumped into Lin Ciyan was Lin Chen, the eldest son of the Lin family.
At that time, Young Master Lin got out of the car and saw Lin Ciyan's face, which looked 70% similar to his own. He stood there in shock, completely stunned.
Then, he sent Lin Ciyan to the hospital. With some tentativeness, he secretly pulled out Lin Ciyan's hair and did a paternity test without Lin Ciyan's knowledge.
The report confirmed that Lin Ciyan was his long-lost brother.
Logically speaking, it has not been easy for Lin Ciyan to live alone all these years, and the Lin family has worked hard for many years to finally find their biological child. The two sides should hit it off, their long-cherished wish should come true, and they should live a happy life from then on.
However, when the Lin family realized that they could not find their lost child many years ago, they went to the orphanage in Yancheng and adopted a boy.
This child is now the second young master of the Lin family, Lin Qi.
Lin Ciyan grew up alone through hardships and had a somewhat withdrawn personality. Even if he wanted to approach his parents when they suddenly appeared, he couldn't be very warm. Precisely because of this, the Lin family's parents felt that they had given so much to Lin Ciyan but received no warm response, which made them feel extremely disappointed.
At this time, with a little provocation from Young Master Lin, Lin Ciyan turned into a normal person again.
As Lin Ciyan sat in front of Rong Jing and told this story, his expression was calm and composed, as if he were describing someone else's life, but Rong Jing unexpectedly caught a flash of sadness in his eyes. Rong Jing suddenly remembered the first time he and Lin Ciyan met. At that time, they were sitting on a bench in the park. He heard Lin Ciyan say that he often came to the park to feed the kittens, and he praised Lin Ciyan: "You are such a kind person."
What was Lin Ciyan’s reaction at that time?
The young man sat on the chair, restrained his smile, and said casually: "It's not that I'm a good person, it's just that I found that we are in the same situation, so I felt kind-hearted."
Rong Jing didn't understand at that time.
But now, he understood.
What they share is the same suffering: their lives have been abandoned.
Rong Jing also grew up without a family, but he was much luckier than Lin Ciyan. He was adopted by the Taoist priests of Xuantian Temple since he was a child, and later met Xie Changshi who was willing to raise him.
He was in a complicated mood, and after a while he pushed the water cup in front of him towards Lin Ciyan, then said: "I'll tell you a fortune, but I think that the most important thing in life is to be happy. If something only brings you bad emotions, then there's no need to stick with it."
Lin Ciyan was slightly stunned and looked at Rong Jing with a look of surprise.
But at this time, Rong Jing had already lowered his eyes and held up the Zhaogui. The deep patterns on the Zhaogui were imprinted under the light. As the young man shook his fingers, copper coins fell from the Zhaogui's mouth one by one and finally spread flat on the table.
"Zhen is on top, Gen is on the bottom. There is thunder on the mountain. The thunder vibrates on the mountain, and the sound is louder than usual. This is called the Thunder Mountain Xiaoguo hexagram."*
Lin Ciyan was confused, but he knew Rong Jing hadn't finished speaking yet, so he continued to wait quietly. Rong Jing tried to explain the hexagram more clearly so that he could give Lin Ciyan the most appropriate advice.
"Birds fly gracefully, their melodies resonating throughout the sky. Advancing brings fault, while retreating brings no fault. In plain words, it is better to retreat than to advance."
"The hexagram six and five means there is no need to force it."
When Lin Ciyan heard Rong Jing say "retreat and there will be no fault", he knew the answer to this question, and the last sentence "no need to force it" completely put the answer in front of him clearly.
Lin Ciyan's slightly tense body suddenly relaxed, and his arms that were resting on the table dropped down. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the hexagram that he couldn't understand with his eyes downcast, but Rong Jing's explanation was clear and kept swaying and repeating in the depths of his mind, as if it was going to be engraved in his mind.
After a long, long time, the clock on the wall made a 'ding' sound, and the sound woke up the young man who was thinking silently.
Lin Ciyan suddenly came back to his senses and looked at the time, only to realize that he had been in a daze for too long. But surprisingly, Rong Jing did not interrupt him.
He stood up, the chair making a rustling noise behind him.
Lin Ciyan smiled faintly: "Thank you, I know the answer."
"You're welcome. This is what I should do." Rong Jing covered the payment code on the table and smiled at the young man. "No need to pay. Just consider it a thank you for lending us the villa. That time we caught a bad Taoist priest who had harmed many people in the villa. The ancestor will remember the merits of all of us, including you."
He paused and continued, "So, with the blessing of the ancestors, your life will get better and better."
The boy's comfort was like a ray of sunshine on a cold winter night. Although it was faint and not scorching, it gave him enough warmth and comfort at this critical moment.
Lin Ciyan slowly exhaled, the smile on his face becoming more and more genuine. "Now that I think about it, what's bothering me now, what's trapped me and suffocating me, is the obsession I've had for years. The moment that obsession completely dissipated, I realized there are still many people and things in this world that I should care about. Whether it's you, Young Master Nie, or the various people I've met in my past life, the kindness and touching things they've brought me have surpassed even those of my so-called family."
It's just that he was trapped in a cage called family, with nowhere to escape.
Lin Ciyan thanked him again and left the studio feeling relaxed. Nie Liu, who was still sitting at the front desk playing games, saw him come out. Before he could say anything, Lin Ciyan nodded at him and said with a smile, "See you next time, Young Master Nie Liu."
Nie Liu stared blankly at his disappearing figure and exclaimed in surprise.
He poked Yan Yingyao, who was sitting next to him with his legs crossed like a big boss, and asked curiously, "Do you feel that Lin Ciyan suddenly seems to have a change of heart after reading your fortune? The few times we met before, I always felt that he was worried and unhappy. Even when he greeted us, his smile didn't seem genuine."
But it was exactly the opposite!
She has a pretty smile, much prettier than the one adopted by the Lin family.
"It's definitely different," Yan Yingyao retracted his gaze, glanced at Nie Liu's phone, and said in a meaningful tone, "The situation in your team seems to be different too."
Squad?
The confused Nie Liu seemed to have thought of something and suddenly reacted. He looked down at the game page and almost couldn't breathe.
Help! How come half of my house has been demolished?
…
After Lin Ciyan left, the studio door was completely closed.
As usual, Nie Liu and Yan Yingyao drove two flashy luxury cars to the bar to drink, while Rong Jing got into Xie Changshi's car to have dinner.
But it's really a coincidence.
As soon as the two arrived at the restaurant, they saw Lin Ciyan sitting at a small table by the window eating.
Lin Ciyan's short pink hair is really a bit flashy.
Rong Jing pulled Xie Changshi's hand, walked to Lin Ciyan's table, and greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Lin, we meet again."
Lin Ciyan was surprised to see him, but also a little delighted. He quickly sat down beside him and asked with a smile, "Would you like to eat together?"
Rong Jing thought about it and didn't refuse. She naturally pulled Xie Changshi to sit across from Lin Ciyan, her eyes curved, "Then we won't be polite."
"You're welcome." Although Lin Ciyan didn't say it, he had a natural liking for Rong Jing since the day he met her in the park, not to mention that Rong Jing gave him a definite answer today, which made him determined to break free from the cage.
He greeted the staff and added several dishes. After completing these preparations, he didn't know what to say when facing Rong Jing, so he could only turn the topic to Xie Changshi.
He asked, "Is this Mr. Rong's partner?"
Lin Ciyan did not recognize Xie Changshi.
During the two years that Lin Ciyan had been at the Lin family, he would occasionally be taken to gatherings of wealthy young masters by his brother Lin Chen and the Lin family's adopted son Lin Qi. However, most of the people who showed up at those gatherings were idle and dissolute young men, such as Nie Feng and Yan Yingyao.
The only chance to meet Xie Changshi was at some business banquets, but the Lin family's business was taken over by Lin Chen. Lin Chen would bring Lin Qi, who graduated from a business school, to see the world. As for Lin Ciyan, he was always thrown into a corner and ignored.
Rong Jing was not aware of these things, but Xie Changshi knew.
Although Xie Changshi did not deliberately want to know about the Lin family, since they were in Yancheng and had Lu Yunji, the gossip-loving vice president, by his side, Xie Changshi could always hear a few complaints about the Lin family from the other party.
The one I remember most clearly was a charity dinner a year ago.
Xie Changshi and Lu Yunji attended the event on behalf of the Xie Group. As they stood in a corner drinking and talking, Lu Yunji glanced at Lin Qi, who was standing next to Lin Chen and looked like a prince in a white suit. Seeing the other party smiling and chatting naturally with Lin's partners, he couldn't help but let out a meaningful sigh.
Then he said, "What do you think Lin is thinking? She has found her biological son, but the one she keeps around to train is still her adopted son. Would she rather give her huge fortune to her adopted son than to her biological son? She should get some brain work done."
Xie Changshi did not comment, but his eyes looking at Lin Qi were full of deep meaning.
Thinking back, Xie Changshi raised his eyes and nodded at Lin Ciyan: "Hello, I am Rong Jing's boyfriend, my name is Xie Changshi."
Xie Changshi?
Lin Ciyan was slightly surprised when he heard this name often mentioned by Lin's father and Lin Chen, but he quickly returned to normal. To him, Xie Changshi's identity was unimportant.
Although it was the first time that Lin Ciyan, Rong Jing and Xie Changshi sat at the same table, the atmosphere between the two sides was quite good after the meal.
Rong Jing is a chatterbox, and if he really wants to liven up the atmosphere at the dinner table, it would be easy.
After dinner, the two sides said goodbye in the parking lot. Rong Jing and Lin Ciyan waved and said with a smile: "See you next time, Mr. Lin, let's go to the park together to feed the kittens."
Thinking of the park he hadn't visited for a long time and the group of cute kittens, Lin Ciyan smiled and nodded: "Okay."
After watching the black Cullinan drive away, Lin Ciyan turned around and was about to head to his parking space when he suddenly heard a gentle voice behind him: "Ah Yan."
The smile on Lin Ciyan's face faded slightly, and he turned around and looked at the figure standing in the front.
To be honest, although Lin Qi is not a biological child of the Lin family, he is not bad looking, especially his eyes are very similar to Lin's mother. I heard from the old housekeeper of the villa that it was because of those similar eyes that the Lin family decided to adopt Lin Qi.
Lin Qi wore a casual light brown sweater and dark trousers, which made his figure look slim and slender. Combined with his gentle temperament, it was easy to win the favor of anyone.
But when Lin Ciyan saw the smile on the corner of his lips, he just felt that this person was really good at pretending.
He still remembered how soon after he returned to the Lin family, Lin Qi approached him like an older brother, rambling on and on about what each member of the Lin family liked. Initially, Lin Ciyan wanted to build closer ties with his family, so he followed Lin Qi's information and used the scholarship money he'd saved over the years to buy gifts.
When it was delivered to the Lin family, he found out that Lin Qi had given the same gift to the Lin family before him.
But those gifts were much more precious than the ones Lin Ciyan gave.
With Lin Qi's precious gifts as an example, Lin Ciyan's gifts looked like rubble dug out from an abandoned corner, ugly and unsightly.
Lin Ciyan thought it was an accident at first, but after doing it many times, he finally realized something -
This was not an accident at all. Lin Qi was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
Recalling that Lin Qi talked in front of him about his past life with the Lin family and how good the Lin family was to him, it was clear that he had bad intentions.
However, such a person is described as pure as white moonlight by many of his peers.
Lin Ciyan thought of this metaphor and immediately sneered.
But at this moment, facing Lin Qi, he still nodded politely: "Are you also coming here to eat with your friends?"
"Yeah." Lin Qi smiled, thinking of the Cullinan that flashed past his sight. He walked forward and asked casually, "I didn't expect to see you here, Ayan. I don't think I've seen those two friends of yours before."
Having said this, Lin Qi paused again, a little apologetically: "I don't mean anything else, I'm just worried that you'll be deceived. You know I've encountered this kind of situation before, and luckily my brother noticed something was wrong later, otherwise it would have been a big deal."
Lin Ciyan knew what Lin Qi meant by "this situation".
When Lin Qi was a teenager, he picked up a dirty child from the roadside and brought him home. The child was dressed in rags and covered in wounds. Lin Qi brought the child home, crying. When the Lin family's parents asked him about it, he choked up and said, "He's so pitiful! Can I be his friend? Let him live with me?"
Lin's parents were still worried about their lost son at the time, and thought it would be no harm to do more good deeds, so they agreed.
But unexpectedly, the child later stole things from the Lin family villa and sold them, and was caught.
Lin Ciyan has always had doubts about the authenticity of this matter, but he has never seen it with his own eyes, so no matter how many doubts he has, he just keeps them in his heart and doesn't say much.
He lowered his eyes, his voice sounding emotionless: "Don't worry, I'm an adult, I know what I'm doing and who I'm making friends with."
After saying that, he nodded to a few people, turned around, got into his car and left.
Looking at his back, the group of people following Lin Qi immediately showed disgusted expressions. Some people couldn't help but roll their eyes and complain: "No, what's his attitude? Qi, you are so kind and concerned about him, but he didn't say thank you, and his attitude is so bad?"
"Why do you say you're uneducated? People who haven't had parents to raise them are different."
"Yes, Qi, you just have a very good temper. You can tolerate this."
Hearing this, Lin Qi, who had been silent the whole time, finally laughed helplessly: "Don't be so critical of Ah Yan. Like you said, Ah Yan has not been with his parents since he was a child, so it's normal for him to have a sharp temper."
"Okay, we've finished eating, let's go."
"Let's go."
The group quickly put Lin Ciyan's matter behind them and got into their respective cars laughing.
Only Lin Qi's slightly cold expression was hidden in the dark car, covering up the deep thought in his eyes. Ever since Lin Ciyan returned to the Lin family, he had been secretly keeping an eye on Lin Ciyan, observing his daily life, fearing that he might make some special friends.
This is something he would not allow.
He has lived in the Lin family for so many years and has spent so much effort to build good relationships with the younger generation in the wealthy circle. He will never allow Lin Ciyan to take away these connections.
This plan was executed quite well in the past two years, until ten minutes ago when he saw two figures who had been talking to Lin Ciyan enter the Cullinan and drive away one after another.
...This is simply impossible.
In today's circle, Lin Ciyan's reputation is really not good. Can he find a rich friend to have dinner with based on this reputation?
Lin Qi felt incredible.
But soon, this incredible feeling and the faint worry in his heart were forcibly suppressed.
He didn't need to think too much.
Anyway, he is now the second son of the Lin family.
…
After parting with Lin Ciyan, Xie Changshi and Rong Jing returned to Yunjiang Bay.
When Rong Jing heard Xie Changshi say that he had prepared a room for the two little paper figures, he was really curious, as if a hundred ants were crawling on his heart. So as soon as he entered the house, he couldn't wait to push open the original storage room.
At first glance, the storage room looked completely different from yesterday.
There were two identical small beds in the spacious room, covered with clean bedding. In addition, there was a small table and a small stool, and on the table were several jars of candies wrapped in beautiful candy wrappers.
When Rong Jing took out the two little paper figures, the paper man's little brother's eyes lit up.
Even the brother who seemed very reserved couldn't help showing a surprised expression. It seemed that they were very satisfied with the new room.
The paper mannequin brother sat on Rong Jing's shoulder and whispered, "My brother and I used to live in a drawer. It was so crowded that we could only lie down and couldn't even sit up."
drawer?
Rong Jing thought about the narrow rectangular box of poop and had a general understanding of what the paper man brother said.
It was indeed quite crowded, but judging by Shi Meng's attitude towards using the little paper man, he probably wouldn't make a room specifically for it.
Rong Jing touched the little paper figurine's head and said with a smile, "As long as you like it."
"I like it, I like it very much." The paper man's eyes sparkled, which made Rong Jing's heart soften.
The paper man brother looked at his younger brother, then at the mirror, pursed his lips, a little embarrassed, but still said the truth: "I like it too, thank you."
Rong Jing already knew this polite little paper figurine and knew that he was a serious person. Hearing this, he didn't say anything more. Instead, he said, "Then you should go to bed early. We're leaving now."
After waving his hand and closing the door, Rong Jing plopped down on Xie Changshi's back. Then, he climbed onto Xie Changshi's back and shook his feet: "Xie Changshi, I can't walk anymore."
Xie Changshi looked at the corridor which was only a few steps long. He felt funny in his heart and his eyes softened.
He really likes Rong Jing to act coquettishly with him.
This will make him truly realize that in Rong Jing's eyes, he is different from others.
Holding Rong Jing's body, he walked towards the bedroom, opened the door, looked towards the bathroom, smiled and asked, "Do you still have the energy to take a shower? If not, I can continue to help."
Rong Jing: “!”
If you don’t want to walk, you can call Xie Changshi, but you can’t call him to take a shower.
Rong Jing jumped off his back, made a "Dame" gesture, then picked up her pajamas and ran into the bathroom, locking the door with a click, as if she was trying to protect herself from the wolf.
Xie Changshi: “…”
There is no need to go to this extent. He is not so perverted as to break into the bathroom without Rong Jing's consent.
After washing up, Rong Jing, with the scent of shower gel all over his body, contentedly crawled into bed. He rolled over and over until he reached the side where Xie Changshi slept. When the other person came out of the bathroom, he said, "I'll sleep here tonight."
Xie Changshi raised his eyebrows: "Why do you want to change positions?"
Rong Jing looked at him innocently and told him the truth: "Because I think it's easier to sleep here."
There is also the pleasant scent of Xie Changshi.
The latter is the key, but Rong Jing is embarrassed to say it.
But it doesn't matter, Xie Changshi could see it and said, "It's easier to sleep in my arms."
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