Chapter 78#

The Disabled Tycoon’s Stepson#

That evening, Lin Qi and Lin Xiaodong, loaded down with luggage, climbed into Ye Shiyuan’s car.

With a guest present, his uncle and aunt didn’t dare be too harsh on Lin Xiaodong. His aunt even pretended to rummage through a suitcase and pulled out a worn backpack that Lin Qi had used on a school field trip in elementary school. She symbolically stuffed some clothes, snacks, and fruit inside.

The woman wiped her eyes with fake tears, instructing him to take good care of himself and his brother once they arrived. She said on her lips that whether he could be selected didn’t matter—the important thing was to stay healthy. She looked like she was reluctant to send her son away for a thousand miles, but her peripheral vision never stopped tracking where Ye Shiyuan stood by the door.

“Auntie, don’t worry,” Lin Xiaodong said with a smile. Without heeding Lin Qi’s suddenly widened eyes, he reached over and vigorously rubbed his cousin’s head into a bird’s nest. “I promise to ’take care of’ Lin Qi really well.”

“You—” Lin Qi was about to jump up in protest, but he noticed his father’s gaze and forcibly restrained himself.

Watching this little brat’s poisonous snake-like expression, Lin Xiaodong yawned and casually turned to open the car door. He climbed into the back seat and fell asleep immediately.

Ye Shiyuan watched this scene and shook his head helplessly.

This kid really did have a carefree nature.

Of course Lin Qi also wanted to sit in the back seat—it was much more spacious, and the drive was unknown how long. But before leaving, his parents repeatedly drilled into him the importance of building a good relationship with Ye Shiyuan. This man was Lin Pei’s number one subordinate—though for some reason, he’d been assigned to be their driver. But such an opportunity was rare; he absolutely couldn’t waste it.

So he had no choice but to sit in the passenger seat, making conversation the entire way, trying to please the man like an adult would.

But no matter how calculated Lin Qi’s thoughts were, he was still just a fourteen-year-old child. What common topics could he possibly have with a man in his thirties?

The man saw through Lin Qi’s thoughts at a glance. He didn’t expose him, just made light conversation, occasionally checking the rear-view mirror to observe Lin Xiaodong sleeping soundly in the back seat.

He’d have liked to chat with this kid, but unfortunately, it seemed the other party had no such interest.

This selection process was designed by Lin Pei, but the suggestion had actually come from Ye Shiyuan. Ever since that attack, he’d witnessed the changes in his patriarch with his own eyes. As a subordinate, it was impossible not to be worried, but his position as a subordinate also meant he could never enter Lin Pei’s private world.

At first, he’d wanted to find Lin Pei a devoted woman, but none of the women he brought lasted longer than a month. Having no choice, he’d settled for second best, hoping to move the man with familial affection—surely among these sixteen collateral branch children, there was one Lin Pei would take a liking to?

After driving for three hours, Lin Qi couldn’t hold out any longer and fell asleep against the car window.

Ye Shiyuan felt somewhat exhausted. He stopped the car at a gas station and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket to refresh himself.

But a voice came from behind him: “What kind of person is Lin Pei?”

The man froze.

He turned around and looked at Lin Xiaodong leaning against the car door. He took the cigarette between his lips and smiled.

“I’ve brought sixteen kids, and I’ve answered this same question sixteen times,” he said. “But for you, you only need to know one thing: in the castle, you must be careful with your words and actions. Don’t say things you shouldn’t say or do things you shouldn’t do.”

Lin Xiaodong stretched lazily and replied casually: “Got it. How much longer until we arrive?”

“Soon,” Ye Shiyuan gazed at the highway in the distance under the night sky and exhaled a slow smoke ring. “After we go around that village ahead, we’ll be there.”

The Lin family castle was built beside a small artificial lake—yes, the Lin family was that wealthy. According to legend, the original designer was a missionary from the Republican era, so the style and construction were completely Westernized.

However, as Ye Shiyuan explained, Lin Xiaodong’s mind conjured images of Hogwarts.

“I heard Lin Pei even hired dozens of teachers specializing in different subjects,” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Will he teach us how to brew complex potions using flobberworms?”

The system: “…Wake up, you’re in modern society.”

But Lin Xiaodong would rather believe he was a Muggle than accept that magic didn’t exist in this world. So one person and one system failed to communicate, and this continued until they arrived at their destination and saw the real Lin family castle. Only then did Lin Xiaodong’s fantasies completely shatter.

This place looked nothing like Hogwarts.

Apart from vast lawns, forests, and lakes, the entire castle looked more like a gigantic rural mansion—five stories tall, with white walls and blue triangular peaked roofs that gleamed with a dreamlike, fairy-tale quality under the castle’s brilliant lighting.

Lin Xiaodong even heard the delighted squeals of little girls coming from the darkness not far away.

As if welcoming their arrival, the entire castle lit up. The garden had no planted vegetation, but countless small light bulbs scattered like a galaxy adorned the lawn, spreading out a hazy sea of light that surrounded the castle. Cool evening breezes drifted up from the valley around the castle, causing the trees to sway with a gentle rustling sound.

Even Lin Qi, who had been pretending to be composed to make a good impression, was dumbstruck. Especially when he entered the main hall and saw the priceless oil paintings covering the walls, antiques from the last century, furs, books, wolf heads, and precious medieval weapons and armor—his face flushed with excitement and his eyes darted back and forth as he followed Ye Shiyuan.

The glass cabinets on both sides were also filled with exquisite classical porcelain dolls, coolly designed LEGO battleships, miniature castle toys that looked almost identical to real ones, giant plush animals, complete armor sets, and anime collectible figurines… Practically every toy that children in the world could possibly like was gathered here.

Even Lin Xiaodong, an adult, felt somewhat tempted, let alone the children who were mostly only thirteen or fourteen years old.

Lin Xiaodong glanced around and saw that besides him and Lin Qi, there were fourteen other children in the hall. It looked like everyone had arrived.

“Quiet now, children,” Ye Shiyuan said, walking in front of them and clapping his hands.

The chatter in the hall gradually died down. Sixteen children from different cities across the country, separated from their families, stood on this unfamiliar ground and looked nervously at the man, waiting for the next arrangements.

“I believe you’ve all seen these already,” Ye Shiyuan asked with a smile. “Do you want these things I have behind me?”

“Yes—”

The children shouted in unison. Lin Xiaodong, standing among them and a full head taller than most, gave a bitter smile and rubbed his ears. For a moment, he felt like he’d accidentally wandered into a kindergarten.

But having read the background information, Lin Xiaodong didn’t dare treat these kids as harmless little vegetables.

The Lin family advocated elite education, and Lin Pei in particular pushed the principles of the jungle law and survival of the fittest to their extreme.

After reading through all the information, Lin Xiaodong would never believe that Lin Pei, with his vast influence and connections, and as the owner of this castle filled with all sorts of surveillance equipment, knew nothing about the gang formations, framing, and schemes among the heir selection candidates.

This fairy-tale-like castle was not being built to nurture Disney princes and princesses.

Rather, it was being built to nurture a genuine wolf king capable of leading the family to glory.

Sure enough, in the next moment, Ye Shiyuan revealed the purpose of these toys.

He swept his cold, appraising gaze across the sixteen candidates and said calmly: “Since you want these things, then you’ll need to exchange something for them. We don’t use money here. The only thing that can be exchanged is this kind of stamp.”

The man held up a small purple stamp and a white sheet of paper with the character “奖” (reward) printed on it in large letters.

“We will give each of you a reward book to collect various stamps. In each class, the teacher will select three children they think performed the best and stamp a seal in their reward book. Every Friday afternoon, we’ll hold a vote in the auditorium where you can choose three people you think deserve recognition, awarding three stamps to each—and as long as you collect ten stamps, you can open the cabinets behind me and take out anything you want.”

Hearing this, the children’s expressions became excited.

Even at the minimum standard of four classes a day, the teachers would distribute at least twelve stamps daily, not to mention the additional weekly rewards. By that calculation, as long as they performed well, it seemed they could get their desired toy in just one or two weeks?

But Lin Xiaodong and several other children with more active minds didn’t show any unusual expression on their faces, because they knew Ye Shiyuan’s test for them would definitely not be so simple.

“Mr. Ye, you mentioned various kinds of stamps. Does that mean there are other types of stamps?” asked a boy standing in front with a bob hairstyle, raising his hand.

“Exactly,” Ye Shiyuan nodded approvingly. “Apart from rewards, we also have punishment stamps.” He held up a black stamp with the character “罚” (punishment) inside a circle. “Anyone who violates castle rules will receive a punishment stamp. Once you accumulate three, you’ll receive solitary confinement in the small black room. Once you accumulate five, you’ll be expelled from here, and your parents will be notified.”

The children all involuntarily took a sharp breath.

But Lin Xiaodong’s eyes lit up—this was great news for him!

The system: “You’re giving up on your task?”

“There are five chances anyway. By the time I collect them all, I’ll probably have already completed the task,” Lin Xiaodong said without concern.

Clearly, the other children were thinking the same thing.

Therefore, though they feared punishment, none of them believed they’d be the one expelled from the castle.

Ye Shiyuan waved his hand, and several men in black suits came over to distribute a reward book to each of them. When Lin Xiaodong opened his, he discovered it already had fifty stamps printed inside.

“Those who want toys can exchange them with me now,” Ye Shiyuan said with a smile. “But let me give one more friendly reminder: the castle will freely provide all living essentials for you, but everything else must be exchanged with stamps. Of course, you can also negotiate among yourselves. The castle allows giving and trading stamps with other items, but any transfer must happen under the supervision of a teacher or me.”

Hearing this, Lin Qi immediately turned to look at Lin Xiaodong beside him, his eyes full of greed.

He’d understood Ye Shiyuan’s hidden meaning—while trading stamps and other items was allowed, this “other items exchange” didn’t necessarily mean a fair trade.

At this moment, three children already couldn’t resist the temptation. Thinking they had fifty anyway and wasting ten wasn’t a big deal, they walked forward and asked Ye Shiyuan if they could exchange for toys. And true to his word, Ye Shiyuan had the men in black immediately open the cabinets.

Looking at the dolls, armor, and game consoles in their hands, some children looked envious, some remained unmoved, while Lin Qi let out a scoff and whispered: “A bunch of idiots.”

These things could be exchanged for later, once they figured out the castle’s rules.

The fifty stamps were the “starting capital” Ye Shiyuan gave them—once spent, it would be a hundred times harder to earn them back later.

Several other clever children clearly had the same thought. That bob-haired boy even smiled and explained to a small girl beside him: “I read about this in a book. It’s called ‘delayed gratification,’ from a Western experiment about distributing candy…”

Lin Xiaodong sighed: Of course. Even the collateral branches of the Lin family were all little demons.

Just when Ye Shiyuan thought no one else would exchange, suddenly the tallest boy in the crowd raised his hand.

He said: “Mr. Ye, I want to exchange too.”