Chapter 85
On the afternoon of the last day of the holiday, Lin Xiu and Chi Aibei went to Meng Huaiqing’s home.
The Meng family villa was built halfway up a mountain. In the vast courtyard, every plant and tree seemed to exude an aura of “I am from a wealthy family.”
However, there weren’t many people in the Meng household. Meng Huaiqing met them at the door, and upon entering the house, they only saw a single butler.
Chi Aibei, clutching the bottle of wine, had originally intended to present it after seeing the elders of the house. But seeing no one besides the butler, he handed the wine to Meng Huaiqing. “Wheelchair Gege, is there no one else home?”
Meng Huaiqing said, “My grandfather isn’t home, my aunt is abroad, and my Xiao Shu is upstairs. There aren’t many people in my family, so don’t be formal. Make yourselves at home.”
Meng Huaiqing handed the wine to the butler, instructing him to take it up to his Xiao Shu. “Tell Xiao Shu that guests have arrived. Take this bottle up as well and tell him it’s a gift from a little friend.”
Hearing Meng Huaiqing specifically ask the butler to emphasize Chi Aibei, Lin Xiu shot him a look.
Chi Aibei looked around the room for a while. “Is Senior Meng Ying not here either?”
Meng Huaiqing: “I was afraid she’d let something slip, so I didn’t tell her you were coming.”
Chi Aibei nodded and looked back at Lin Xiu.
Although they had been invited by Meng Huaiqing, Chi Aibei still felt it was strange to see the Meng house so empty.
The butler went upstairs, and before long, he emerged from the elevator beside the staircase. The butler was pushing a wheelchair, and sitting in it was a man who looked somewhat similar to Meng Huaiqing. Chi Aibei exclaimed in surprise, “Wheelchair Gege, your house even has an elevator?”
Meng Huaiqing smiled. “My Xiao Shu’s legs aren’t good.”
Meng Huaiqing called out “Xiao Shu” to the man in the wheelchair.
Meng Yuanduo nodded and looked at the boy standing beside his nephew with a look of wonder. “Is he the little friend you’ve been telling me about?”
Meng Huaiqing rested a hand on Chi Aibei’s shoulder and said with a smile, “His name is Chi Aibei.” Then he introduced him to Chi Aibei: “This is my Xiao Shu.”
Chi Aibei looked at the familiar “vehicle” and said, “Hello, Shushu.”
That “Shushu” made Meng Huaiqing let out a “tsk,” and Meng Yuanduo also chuckled. The unspoken understanding between the uncle and nephew left Chi Aibei a bit confused.
Meng Huaiqing complained jokingly, “Why aren’t you calling him Xiao Shu like I do?”
Chi Aibei was stunned. Was there a difference? Besides, it would be weird if he followed his lead and called him Xiao Shu!
Chi Aibei looked at Meng Yuanduo again. The man looked at Lin Xiu, his appraising gaze not too abrupt, but one could still tell he was observing him very carefully.
Chi Aibei followed Meng Yuanduo’s gaze to Lin Xiu, who was also observing the other party with the same look. Chi Aibei looked back at Meng Yuanduo… Strange. Why does Lin Xiu look more like this Xiao Shu than Meng Huaiqing does?
Meng Yuanduo: “Hello.”
Seeing Meng Yuanduo’s outstretched hand, Lin Xiu stepped forward and shook it. “Hello.”
Meng Yuanduo looked at him. “Your name is Lin Xiu?”
Lin Xiu nodded, but Chi Aibei curiously whispered to Meng Huaiqing, “How does your Shushu know Brother Lin Xiu’s name?”
Meng Huaiqing had only mentioned this junior to his Xiao Shu, but he hadn’t said his name. It wasn’t surprising, though; his Xiao Shu wasn’t someone who would easily believe just anything someone said.
Meng Huaiqing took the initiative to shoulder the blame. “I told him.”
In order to keep Meng Yuanduo from being too obvious, Meng Huaiqing interrupted their eye contact with a smile. “Xiao Shu, look at how much Lin Xiu and I look alike. People at school often mistake me for him.”
Meng Yuanduo shot him a look, and Meng Huaiqing understood—this was a signal for him to back off.
Chi Aibei was still observing the resemblance between Lin Xiu and Meng Huaiqing’s Xiao Shu when his shoulder suddenly felt heavy. Meng Huaiqing hooked an arm around his shoulder and dragged him to the side. “I had someone prepare some snacks. I’ll take you over.”
Rather than eating, Chi Aibei wanted to stay and observe why they looked so similar. He reached out and grabbed Lin Xiu’s arm. “Gege.”
Lin Xiu glanced at Meng Huaiqing. He’d found it strange that Meng Huaiqing would suddenly invite them to his home, but the moment he saw Meng Yuanduo appear, he understood. The person Meng Huaiqing wanted to invite wasn’t Chi Aibei, but him.
Lin Xiu: “You go first.”
Chi Aibei wasn’t an idiot, but… was it possible? Wasn’t Lin Xiu’s father “unknown”?
Chi Aibei let go and was led away by Meng Huaiqing, but even from a distance, his eyes remained fixed on Lin Xiu’s side.
Meng Huaiqing handed him a drink. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”
Chi Aibei looked at him. “Is he your biological Shushu?”
Meng Huaiqing: “Yes.”
Chi Aibei: “Then does he have children?”
Meng Huaiqing smiled. “Are you talking about the past, or the future?”
Meng Huaiqing’s knowing smile stopped Chi Aibei from asking further. He looked back toward Lin Xiu…
On the other side, Lin Xiu looked at Meng Yuanduo’s legs. Although Meng Yuanduo was wearing long pants, the lower half of his trouser legs appeared much emptier than a normal person’s.
Meng Yuanduo massaged his knees. “They’re prosthetics.”
Lin Xiu wasn’t too surprised. In his previous life, he hadn’t had contact with this person; he only knew that Meng Huaiqing had a Xiao Shu who was disabled.
Meng Yuanduo: “Sit.”
Lin Xiu sat down on the sofa. Meng Yuanduo glanced at Chi Aibei, who had been led away by Meng Huaiqing but was still watching them. “I heard him call you Gege just now. How many children are in your family?”
“Just me.” Lin Xiu’s businesslike tone sounded as if he were exchanging useful information. Even though he knew the other party might already know this, he answered so that he could smoothly ask what he wanted to know. “How did your legs get injured?”
“There was a car accident twenty years ago. I lost both legs.” After Meng Yuanduo finished, he asked, “What do your parents do?”
Lin Xiu: “I have no parents.”
Meng Yuanduo raised an eyebrow. “Popped out of a crack in a rock?”
“A bit more miserable than that.” Lin Xiu continued asking, “What about you? How many children in your family?”
Meng Yuanduo said regretfully, “You can see what I’m like. I didn’t get married so I wouldn’t burden anyone else. I was supposed to have a child, but because of the accident, the other party didn’t want to spend the rest of her life caring for a cripple, so she had an abortion.”
Lin Xiu’s brow furrowed slightly.
The two were tacitly probing each other without any disguise. Seeing Lin Xiu frown, Meng Yuanduo continued, “You’re nineteen this year?”
Lin Xiu nodded.
Meng Yuanduo teased, “You don’t look like it.” This calm and steady air of his was almost catching up to Meng Yuanduo’s own. How did he look like a nineteen-year-old?
Lin Xiu didn’t continue with that topic. Instead, he asked, “You said twenty years ago just now. Do you remember how old your child would be now if they were still alive?”
When he first learned he had a child in this world, Meng Yuanduo had felt regret for not watching them grow up. But now, looking at Lin Xiu sitting before him and facing him as an equal, Meng Yuanduo felt a sense of relief. “If I remember correctly, they should be the same age as you.”
Lin Xiu had finished asking everything he wanted to ask. The rest he could piece together for himself.
He glanced at Chi Aibei, who had been staring at them. Meng Yuanduo followed his gaze. “What is your relationship with this boy?”
Lin Xiu: “For now, we’re classmates.”
Accustomed to Meng Huaiqing’s roundabout way of speaking, hearing such a blunt answer made Meng Yuanduo ponder the meaning. “For now?”
Lin Xiu withdrew his gaze. “He’s not an adult yet.”
Meng Yuanduo laughed. “And after he’s an adult?”
Lin Xiu said bluntly, “He’s mine.”
Meng Yuanduo wasn’t old-fashioned. Since he hadn’t married himself, he didn’t require the younger generation to marry and have children. Seeing Lin Xiu so certain that the boy was his, Meng Yuanduo found it interesting. “So confident?”
Lin Xiu: “I don’t do things I’m not sure of.”
Meng Yuanduo nodded. “Your personality is quite like mine when I was young. But Huaiqing likes that boy too. He might have to fight you for him.”
Although Lin Xiu didn’t know Meng Huaiqing well, he could tell he had feelings for Chi Aibei. He might have been worried before, but now…
Lin Xiu: “Many people like him.”
Meng Yuanduo: “He’s that popular? Who else likes him?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a shout came from outside—
“Meng Huaiqing! Meng Ying said you didn’t go to school. Why didn’t you pick up when I called? Is your phone just a decoration in your hand…”
Seeing Di Zuo suddenly barge in, Chi Aibei, who was holding a small cake and about to stuff it into his mouth, stood there with his mouth open in shock.
Di Zuo’s footsteps faltered. First, he was surprised, then he became delighted. “Baby! Why are you here?”
Meng Yuanduo looked at the loud-mouthed Di Zuo. No matter how he looked at it, he didn’t think that “Baby” was directed at Meng Huaiqing. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Xiu, only to see Lin Xiu’s previously calm face turn speechless. Ah, so it really is like that.
Seeing Di Zuo run over, Chi Aibei tossed the cake into his mouth and quickly hid behind Meng Huaiqing.
Meng Huaiqing raised a hand to block Di Zuo. “What are you doing here?”
Di Zuo grumbled while trying to push past Meng Huaiqing, “How could you bring my baby here without telling me? What are you trying to do? Are you trying to steal my girl? Meng Huaiqing, let me tell you, if you dare try to snatch him from me, I’m cutting ties with you!”
Meng Huaiqing felt a headache coming on just by looking at him. “Stop talking crazy here.”
Chi Aibei was afraid of being entangled by Di Zuo and turned to run toward Lin Xiu. Di Zuo, who was being held back by Meng Huaiqing, reached out his hand and shouted at Chi Aibei, “Baby, don’t run!”
Seeing Meng Yuanduo was also there, Di Zuo made a preemptive strike: “Xiao Shu, let me introduce you. This is my future partner.”
Meng Yuanduo laughed as if watching a drama. “You kids really are in quite a mess.”
Chi Aibei grabbed Lin Xiu’s arm. “I am not!”
Meng Yuanduo didn’t plan to participate in this “war.” He looked at Lin Xiu. “Do you mind giving me a strand of hair?”
Chi Aibei suddenly looked at Meng Yuanduo. What does he want hair for? To do a DNA test? Could it be that he also wants to dig something out of Lin Xiu?
Chi Aibei asked, “Shushu, if I may ask… besides your legs, is your body missing any other parts?”
Meng Yuanduo was stunned. “What?”
Lin Xiu also hadn’t expected Chi Aibei to ask such a thing. He looked at him.
Chi Aibei said with a look of difficulty, “Well, you see, Gege hasn’t had the best luck. He was bullied when he had no mom or dad, and when his mom finally came back, it was only to ask for his kidney. If you also have some ideas, I think you should find another way. You can’t just keep fleecing the same sheep, right?”
Lin Xiu: “…”
Although Meng Yuanduo didn’t understand what he was talking about, he heard the phrase “his mom came back to ask for his kidney” very clearly. Just as he was about to ask what it meant, Di Zuo suddenly asked, “Xiao Shu, what do you want his hair for?”
Seeing the dim-witted Di Zuo, who was standing right in front of them but still didn’t get it, Meng Huaiqing rolled his eyes. “To perform a ritual.”
Di Zuo looked at Lin Xiu with a face full of horror—How did this guy named Lin offend Xiao Shu? My little baby is so clingy to Lin Xiu; if something happens to the guy, he’ll probably cry. Should I plead for mercy on my little baby’s behalf?
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