Chapter 53 The girl my older brother likes...it's actually...
Lin Siyi's fingertips unconsciously traced the edge of the tablet computer, but her thoughts drifted back to more than ten years ago to that top private aristocratic school in the Fontainebleau region of France.
The college is nestled among vast forests and lakes, and its main building is a centuries-old castle with a retro and elegant interior.
A huge crystal chandelier hangs from the mural-painted dome, the smooth, mirror-like mosaic marble floor reflects the reliefs on the columns, and even the corridors through which students pass daily are adorned with priceless classical oil paintings.
The children who study here are all from wealthy and influential families, with prominent surnames all over the world behind them.
At that time, Lin Siyi had just been arranged by the Lin family to study at this school. However, the students around her were all acquaintances who had been promoted from the primary school section of this school, and there was a natural sense of exclusion towards unfamiliar faces.
A twelve-year-old boy from the East, introverted and shy, is out of place among his European classmates who are naturally superior and outgoing.
He often went alone, hiding in a corner by the window in the library after lunch, or silently walking through the ivy-covered courtyard, like a quiet shadow.
He remembered that there was a girl in the school at that time who was like an angel who had mistakenly descended to earth, and she was the focus of everyone's attention.
She was in a different class than him, but Lin Siyi could always spot her in a crowd at a glance. The girl had long, light golden hair that reached her waist, like a field of ripe wheat, shimmering softly in the sunlight.
Her features were as delicate as a nymph in a classical oil painting, especially her clear, lake-like blue-green eyes, which always carried a calmness beyond her years.
She also dislikes noise and has a cool and aloof temperament, but this does not diminish her charm; on the contrary, it makes her even more unique.
That Christmas, the college, following tradition, erected a huge spruce tree in the magnificent auditorium, decorated with twinkling lights and a crystal ball.
All students must place their prepared anonymous gifts under the tree and wait for random exchanges.
Lin Siyi had prepared a silk handkerchief she brought from China, embroidered with delicate bamboo leaf patterns and shaped with gold thread, exuding an oriental subtlety and elegance.
But he knew in his heart that his close classmates had already agreed on what gifts to choose from each other, so that the gifts would not be left behind.
The person whose gift is not chosen is considered unpopular and friendless.
Lin Siyi also knew that her gift would most likely go unnoticed and be taken away by the school janitor in charge of sorting it out, and might become a laughing stock for those racists who already discriminated against Chinese people.
What moved him even more was that after the girl unwrapped the package with her slender, fair fingers, her gaze lingered on the silk handkerchief for a moment before she gave a bright and radiant smile.
Like the winter sun, it instantly illuminated Lin Suxing's gloomy mood during that period due to not adapting to the new environment.
The girl immediately raised her head, her gaze searching through the crowd, until finally her blue-green eyes landed precisely on Lin Siyi, who was observing from the shadows of the pillars.
She walked towards him, her steps light and graceful, like a deer in the forest.
"Is this your gift?" Her voice was beautiful, like a feather brushing against my heart. "I love it. Can we exchange gifts?"
On the card that came with the gift, she wrote in elegant cursive:
To that clear-eyed Eastern boy who always reads alone:
Being alone doesn't mean being lonely; sometimes it means gathering strength in silence, allowing us to perceive nature and everything in the world more intimately. Your quietness makes me feel at ease. I hope this notebook can record your future aspirations. Merry Christmas.
At that moment, a tremendous surprise and a warm feeling of being understood instantly overwhelmed all of Lin Siyi's inferiority complex and barriers.
It turns out that his cautious gaze was not one-way; it turns out that what he perceived as incompatibility was seen as "friendly" by some.
That deep-seated, hazy affection has now sprouted, becoming clear and fervent.
However, fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on him.
The girl never appeared on campus again after the Christmas holidays ended.
He heard through various channels that something seemed to have happened to her family, and she had hurriedly left France with her family, her whereabouts unknown. Some said she returned to her ancestral home in Northern Europe, while others said she went to the more distant United States.
He never got to know her name; the leather notebook became the only keepsake she left behind.
The music of the New Year's ball was still melodious, but he stood alone under the dazzling crystal chandelier, watching the figures twirling on the dance floor, and felt that winter was particularly cold.
This unrequited love that ended without a trace became a footnote with a glimmer of light and regret in Lin Siyi's youthful years, sealed deep in her memory, until tonight, when the system's words about "destined marriage" quietly touched her again.
Where is that girl with light blonde hair and blue-green eyes now?
For many years, he had actually wanted to find the other party, but a few years later, Old Master Lin retired due to health reasons. After Lin Yuan took over the Lin family business, he began to expand wildly and set up separate brands. Lin Siyi was busy cleaning up the mess for his father and devoted all his energy to growing up and taking over the Lin family as soon as possible to prevent the family business from being ruined by Lin Yuan. So this matter was buried in his heart for a long time and was never mentioned.
Now that I'm twenty-three, that girl probably already has a boyfriend she loves, and I... won't have any more chances.
After all, she had a cool and intellectual personality, and was so beautiful that Lin Siyi couldn't imagine that she could be single.
The other person is the girl Lin Siyi has been secretly thinking about. Oh right, but Lin Siyi doesn't know yet that the girl he thinks he loves is actually a boy...
Upon hearing the system's words, Lin Suxing almost couldn't suppress a gasp of surprise.
"What! A guy?! No, my brother isn't stupid, how could he not tell the difference between a man and a woman!" Lin Suxing was very confused. "The girl he likes is actually a guy? That's such an uncommon statement!"
She coughed as she stared intently at Lin Siyi.
Lin Siyi's moving fingers suddenly stopped.
Lin Siyi was completely stunned, as if she had been struck by a silent thunderbolt.
The "girl" he had cherished in the depths of his memory for over a decade, as pure and beautiful as moonlight... turned out to be a boy?
How is that possible? Even if he wasn't familiar with the environment at the time, it's impossible for him to mistake a man for a woman.
Lin Siyi felt a sense of absurdity, as if he had woken up to find himself transformed from a straight man into a gay man. The shock of this realization even temporarily overshadowed his curiosity about the "destined marriage" itself.
His mind went blank for a moment, and the delicate face with light golden hair and blue-green eyes that had been somewhat blurred in his memory kept flashing before his eyes. Now, thinking back carefully, the straight nose and clear jawline... it didn't seem impossible that it was a boy.
But what about that beautiful head of long, golden hair?
[Furthermore,] the system's electronic voice remained steady, but dropped an even more bombshell: [This target has been closely monitoring Lin Siyi's movements for many years through his family's influence and personal network, and has provided Lin Siyi with covert assistance on several occasions at crucial moments.]
Three years ago, Lin Siyi spearheaded Lin Heritage's expansion into the North American market. When renting a store in New York, they encountered a united boycott from a consortium of established department stores, leading to a stalemate in negotiations. However, just a week later, the impasse was resolved, and Lin Siyi's demands were met. This wasn't due to Lin Siyi's sudden success in negotiation; rather, it was because the target group leveraged their family's deep political and business connections in North America to offer "friendly advice" and exchange favors with several key decision-makers, thus eliminating the obstacles and allowing the contract to be signed smoothly.
Meanwhile, the haute couture show themed around the 'Aurora Borealis' that brought Lin Heritage back into the spotlight two years ago was also inextricably linked to the target mission. Lin Siyi's inspiration for this show came from a 19th-century watercolor painting of the aurora borealis by a Nordic explorer, which she saw in the private collection of the target's family, held by an anonymous collector. This painting, originally a priceless gift intended by the collector to a British prince, was unexpectedly purchased by Lin Siyi. This was not accidental, but rather a carefully orchestrated muse provided by the target.
...
As the system recounted all the ways the other party had helped him, Lin Siyi's grip on the tablet tightened.
These experiences all seemed incredibly smooth to him, but he didn't think much of it at the time. Now it seems... someone had been protecting him all along.
The initial surprise at the other person's gender had long since vanished, replaced by a renewed sense of excitement and affection.
Lin Suxing opened her mouth slightly, as if she had already imagined a 300,000-word pure love novel on Green River: "Wow, how romantic! So that boy has been secretly watching Big Brother all along, and even helping him in secret?"
Yes, he pays close attention to Lin Siyi. And according to Lin Siyi's emotional state analysis, this system knows he is the only person Lin Siyi has ever truly been attracted to. That's why Tongtong said this relationship wasn't forced, but rather something Lin Siyi herself wanted.
“He must like my brother too, right? Otherwise, why would he help him secretly?” Lin Siyi stroked her chin, but then felt that this person’s logic didn’t hold water. “But why doesn’t he contact my brother directly? Even starting as friends would have attracted my brother’s attention more than secretly doing it anonymously.”
The system chuckled a few times, its shrewd business aura emanating from it: [If you want to know these details, host, just focus on completing the main quest! Hurry up and get the TV series, hurry up and win the awards! Hmm!]
Lin Suxing rolled her eyes, feeling the same anxious, agonizing feeling one gets when watching a rebirth revenge short drama and being told that you have to pay to continue watching at a crucial moment when the villain is about to harm the protagonist again.
"Okay, I'll do my best. For my brother's happiness, and for my sister-in-law's... cough, brother-in-law's... happiness." Lin Suxing said this, already starting to plan what good gigs she could get recently.
Lin Siyi coughed lightly and casually put the tablet aside with the screen off.
Even with his deep thoughts, when he suddenly heard that his "marriage," which was so private and related to him, was being presented as a reward for a mission, he couldn't help but blush slightly.
"Could it be that he and I will really have more interactions in the future? This seems to be exactly what I want..."
The thought, like a pebble thrown into a lake, created ripples in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it.
That's absurd. Not to mention that many years have passed and things have changed, even if they had, how could the system be so sure that it was "destiny"?
Lin Siyi never believed in these things, let alone the fact that the other party was not only different from what he expected, but was also a man, and very likely already had a lover.
He put down his water glass, his face regaining its usual composure, as if the momentary stiffness had never happened.
He looked at Lin Suxing, who had a look of "eagerness for knowledge," and his mother, who was pretending to cough but whose eyes were burning, and said in a flat tone: "Alright, everyone is tired from today's banquet, go back and rest."
He perfectly played the role of an "unaware" older brother, choosing to dismiss everyone when the system started gossiping about him.
Lin Suxing was completely unaware, and was only discussing with the system: "We're attending the VOGUE annual awards ceremony tomorrow. I'll talk to Huaiwen about how to quickly get a TV drama role..."
***
Only a heavy brass desk lamp was lit in the study, its light shining like a spotlight onto the large mahogany desk, dividing the space into two worlds of light and shadow.
The man's striking features, enhanced by his mixed heritage, appeared even sharper in the sidelight. The top button of his shirt was casually undone, revealing a section of pale, cool skin.
"Go on," Wang Shunduo said, sitting opposite Li Xinian. His gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses was gentle, and his demeanor was relaxed and casual.
“It’s almost done,” Li Xinian said in a low, emotionless voice, as if he were stating something that had nothing to do with him. “I’ve cornered the uncles who were the most vocal, and I’ve dismantled most of their power and connections.”
He picked up the whiskey beside him, the ice cubes clinking softly against the glass.
"They were desperate and finally clung to Li Tingzhu's coattails." When he mentioned his capable and ambitious cousin, a cold, mocking smile even appeared on his lips. "Very good, this was part of my plan all along. Let them reveal all their cards and grievances, and then I'll take care of them all, all in a legitimate way."
Wang Shunduo nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.
He knew Li Xinian too well. This man was never the type to passively defend himself. He was good at creating desperate situations, forcing his opponents to bare their fangs first, and then delivering a fatal blow with absolute power and a moral high ground.
Li Xinian is a madman, a calm madman who is willing to use everyone as pawns in order to completely control the Li family.
If the plot requires it, he himself can be used as a pawn at will.
"According to the original plan, I should have waited a little longer, waited for them to make their move. I could even have taken a minor injury to gain more sympathy and the upper hand..."
At this point, Li Xinian changed the subject, and a very complicated look flashed in his gray-blue eyes. In them was something that Wang Shunduo had never seen before, called "concern".
“However,” Li Xinian downed his drink in one gulp, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his voice carrying a resolute coldness, “the situation is different now, Su Xing is here.”
He looked up at Wang Shunduo: "I've gotten too close to him. Li Tingzhu and the others aren't stupid. They can't touch me, but they might turn their attention to him."
The man with deep-set eyes unconsciously tightened his grip on the table. "I can't let him be in any danger because of me. Not even a one in ten thousand chance."
Therefore, he decided to change his plans.
Instead of waiting for the best opportunity to "counterattack," he decided to strike first and take the initiative to wipe out his uncles and Li Tingzhu before they could pose any real threat to Lin Suxing.
“I need a week.” Li Xinian looked at Wang Shunduo, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “This week will be very turbulent in China. I hope you and Huaiwen can take Suxing to Europe for a week. It could be ostensibly to investigate the market, or simply for a vacation. Make sure to ensure his safety and keep him away from the turmoil here.”
He paused, then added, "I will personally communicate with Lin Siyi. As for Su Xing... don't tell him the specific reasons; he just needs to have fun."
When Lin Suxing was mentioned, the man's originally cold and stern face softened with tenderness.
He shielded Lin Suxing from all the storms and hardships, just to create an absolutely safe haven for her.
He would rather bear the greater risk himself and ignite the war prematurely than let the starlight that illuminated his cold world be tarnished by even the slightest bit of dust.
Wang Shunduo adjusted his glasses and replied succinctly without the slightest hesitation, "Okay. I'll arrange things in Europe."
He understood Li Xinian's decision and respected this almost clumsy appreciation that he had never imagined would appear in Li Xinian.
Li Xinian nodded, turning his gaze back to the boundless night outside the window, where decisiveness and ruthlessness once again replaced the fleeting tenderness.
To protect the most important person in his life, he didn't mind making this purge more intense and earlier. All potential threats had to be completely eliminated before the walls he built for Lin Suxing were erected.
***
The VOGUE awards ceremony was bustling with people, and everywhere you looked were faces you could only see in magazines and on screen.
Lin Suxing, holding a glass of non-alcoholic sparkling wine, looked around and exclaimed, "Wow, so many people!"
Today he chose an ivory white jacquard suit from Prada, with subtle flowing patterns on the fabric, paired with a simple platinum brooch, which retained both youthful innocence and a touch of sophistication.
"Tracing the Stars!"
Meng Huaiwen walked in with his signature dazzling blond hair. Today, he was wearing a dark blue velvet evening suit from Gio Armani. The fabric shimmered subtly under the lights, giving him a more composed and noble air than his usual unruly demeanor.
"Are you seeing things?" Meng Huaiwen smiled and put his arm around Lin Suxing's shoulder, whispering, "Come on, I'll introduce you to some friends. It's better than you just standing here in a daze."
"Great, great." Lin Suxing was extremely grateful that there were people she knew here. Otherwise, it would have been too embarrassing if reporters and the media had taken pictures of her crawling alone in the dark corner and posted them online.
[Host, a new side quest has been issued [Ensure that Actress Su Mian is not affected by Liu Ling's positioning in the official group photo]. Completing the quest will reward you with 200 points. In addition, we will share with you a huge scandal involving Liu Ling that could lead to her being blacklisted!]
Lin Suxing & Meng Huaiwen: ?
The blond boy wasn't angry at being interrupted at all; in fact, a slight smile crept onto his lips: he knew there would be gossip with Su Xing, so this trip wasn't a waste!
Lin Suxing's heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at the photo area.
Sure enough, Liu Ling, the marketing star who gained some popularity through a few web dramas and usually relies on marketing red carpets and her elegant appearance to win over the public, was wearing an overly eye-catching fluorescent pink feather dress and was firmly occupying the most central golden position with a sweet smile.
Her exaggerated skirt almost covered the ground, completely blocking Su Mian, who should have been standing next to her and had just won an international Best Actress award for an art film, by half a body length behind her.
Su Mian wore a black velvet fishtail dress by Alexandre Vauthier, simple yet elegant, exuding a remarkable temperament.
She clearly noticed Liu Ling's subtle movements, but only furrowed her brow almost imperceptibly, without making a sound, maintaining her proper smile and demonstrating the refinement and poise of a top-tier actress.
However, her slight half-step back was seen by discerning people as a silent concession and displeasure.
Lin Suxing was pondering how to naturally step forward to resolve the situation, but little did he know that the system notification had already been amplified, clearly conveying the task details and rewards to the ears of the surrounding artists participating in the grand event!
Several young actresses who were in direct competition with Liu Ling exchanged knowing glances.
Qin Yu, a talented actor known for his high emotional intelligence, maintained his gentle smile, but naturally turned to the side and whispered a few words to the magazine's public relations director beside him, while his gaze turned towards Liu Ling.
A marketing personality like Liu Ling, who supports 3,000 marketing accounts and is good at putting down other artists, naturally gets disliked by many people in the industry because she has no real work to back her up but is always making a fuss.
At this point, it's unclear whether the supernatural voice's claim of "Liu Ling's house collapsing" is true, but helping the actress out of a predicament isn't a bad thing, so why not do it!
As Liu Ling, dressed in that overly eye-catching fluorescent pink feather dress, wore a smug smile and tried to firmly occupy the center position, a slender yet powerful figure quietly approached.
It's Bai Wei, a second-tier actress known for her acting skills, who has always been at odds with Liu Ling, who relies on hype to rise to fame.
Tonight, she wore a dark green velvet halter dress, simple yet exuding a powerful aura.
Just as Liu Ling slightly turned to the side, trying to completely block out the actress Su Mian beside her with her wide skirt, Bai Wei seemed to lose her footing, and her high heels "accurately" stepped on the outermost soft feather skirt of Liu Ling's skirt that was spread on the ground.
"Oh dear!" Bai Wei let out a soft exclamation, her voice carrying just the right amount of panic.
Liu Ling was completely focused on grabbing the center position and didn't pay attention to her footing. She was tripped by this sudden trip and stumbled forward!
Standing behind her was none other than the veteran actor, Liang Yingdi, who was just about to step forward and adjust his position!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Everyone who saw the segment about vying for the center position at the VOGUE awards ceremony said, "Xiao Song is really keeping up with current events!"
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