Chapter 80#

The Disabled Big Shot’s Stepson#

The classes on the first day were all normal.

Chinese, mathematics, English, chemistry… Probably because of elite education, in addition to these courses that all middle and high school students must learn, there was also an etiquette class essential for high society.

And by the end of the whole day, the number of medals Lin Xiaodong harvested was:

One.

Ranked last.

This single medal was given to him as compensation by the chemistry teacher, who felt guilty for accidentally burning a large hole in his textbook during an experiment. However, the teacher couldn’t be blamed for partiality; the other fifteen children all spoke up enthusiastically and raised their hands actively in class to strive for medals, forming a sharp contrast with Lin Xiaodong, who was sleeping by the window.

System: “If this continues, you won’t have anything to eat.”

“No rush,” Lin Xiaodong, who had read all the information, was not panicked at all. “The big part is still to come.”

According to the plot, in addition to the rewards in class, they would soon start real competitions. Besides that, there would be close contact with Lin Pei, letting this picky and demanding man judge and scrutinize each of them—these rewards were the true big part.

His relaxed attitude soon caught Ye Shiyuan’s attention.

After the selection on Friday, the man specifically called Lin Xiaodong aside and said earnestly, “Xiaodong, I know you are unwilling to participate in this selection, but don’t be too perfunctory. Your performance and grades here will be reported to the head of the family in the future. Even if your uncle and aunt don’t like you, it’s very necessary to leave a good impression on the head of the family.”

Members of the Lin family are spread across various industries worldwide. Being selected to come to the castle already represents a certain qualification.

Ye Shiyuan was truly anxious for Lin Xiaodong. Did this child know that with just one word from Lin Pei, he could not only live without worry about food and clothing in the future but also very likely take back his parents’ inheritance from his uncle and aunt?

“Are you talking about Lin Pei?” Lin Xiaodong blinked, his hands in his pockets. “But I don’t think it’s necessary. I just want to paint. Does leaving a good impression on him help my painting?”

“This…” Ye Shiyuan was momentarily speechless.

In terms of art, the Lin family really didn’t involve themselves much.

Although if Lin Pei wanted to, he could invite one of the top painters in the country with a single word, even Ye Shiyuan himself didn’t think that the current Lin Pei would pay attention to such insignificant trifles.

“Anyway, just pay a little attention. After all, you are the oldest here,” Ye Shiyuan said tactfully. “At least set an example for those children.”

Lin Xiaodong smiled and said nonchalantly, “Got it, Brother Ye.”

Looking at the youth’s receding back, Ye Shiyuan turned his head helplessly and asked the supervisor, “This child, do you think he’s truly foolish or just pretending?”

He had heard from the supervisor that after a week, the sixteen children had long since become familiar with each other and started to accompany each other in pairs. Only Lin Xiaodong was still alone.

Although the classes were usually tight, the teachers basically didn’t leave much extracurricular homework for them. In the absence of the internet, when they were free, these children either went to the library to read or went to the lawn by the lake with their companions to play.

Lin Xiaodong, on the other hand, carried his easel and started sketching in various corners of the castle, showing no intention of integrating into the small group at all.

“Based on his usual performance,” the supervisor sighed, “he probably noticed it but doesn’t care much. This child is indeed big-hearted and very sincere in dealing with people, but he doesn’t like those indirect ways, which is not suitable for the Lin family.”

Ye Shiyuan nodded thoughtfully.

As the main person in charge of this activity, he had to write an analysis report of the sixteen children every week to give to Lin Pei. Now only Lin Xiaodong’s part remained, as he had been unsure of how to write it—but now, Ye Shiyuan knew what to write.

That afternoon, the report was placed on Lin Pei’s desk.

The black-haired man sitting in the shadows silently looked at the scenery outside the window. Under the golden sunlight, the clear lake water rippled, and several vibrant children were playing with each other by the lake. Their pure and innocent smiles couldn’t move Lin Pei’s indifferent expression at all.

He still had an IV drip in his left hand. Although his right hand was free, the back of it was covered with dense needle marks. His once firm and powerful arm had become pale and thin due to being bedridden for a long time, and even his pajamas looked a bit empty on him.

“Head of the family, I have finished the report.” Seeing him lost in thought, Ye Shiyuan had to take the initiative to remind him.

Lin Pei said without looking back, “Put it there, I’ll read it.”

Ye Shiyuan paused but couldn’t help suggesting, “Head of the family, the sun is so good today. If you are willing to go down for a walk, I believe the children will definitely be willing to chat with you.”

Hearing this, Lin Pei finally turned his head.

Sitting in the wheelchair, the man gave him a faint glance, his gloomy gaze carrying a warning that made one’s heart turn cold.

“No need,” he said coldly. “Just handle the task I gave you. Don’t worry about things you shouldn’t worry about.”

Ye Shiyuan’s throat tightened, and he lowered his eyes. “Yes.”

Lin Pei hadn’t left this castle for a whole year.

Ye Shiyuan originally thought the man could be infected by the simple happiness of those children, but he forgot that when a person is in the midst of great misfortune, the happiness of others is just a handful of salt sprinkled on the wound for him.

He prepared to turn and leave somewhat discouraged, but Lin Pei behind him suddenly called out to him again, “Wait a minute.”

“The brat who shouted about wanting to sleep that night,” Lin Pei asked with a slight frown while looking into Ye Shiyuan’s eyes. His expression seemed somewhat strange but not like he was angry. “The one you arranged to live downstairs from my bedroom. What’s his name?”

Ye Shiyuan was stunned. “You mean Lin Xiaodong…?”

“Lin Xiaodong?” Lin Pei snorted lightly. “Alright, I see. You may leave.”

He picked up the information on the desk and read it as if no one were around, obviously not wanting to continue the conversation with Ye Shiyuan.

And when Lin Pei was the only one left in this huge room, his fingers unconsciously flipped to the page where Lin Xiaodong was marked. The youth was wearing a crumpled high school uniform, smiling brightly in the ID photo on the blue background.

Brightly to the point of being a bit too much.

“Truly foolish,” Lin Pei commented unceremoniously, but his gaze quickly scanned all the comments given by the teachers of various subjects.

“Mediocre,” “no characteristics,” “careless”… none of them were good words.

One must know that in the Lin family, “ordinary” means “beyond help.”

Only the art teacher gave him a relatively positive evaluation, saying that Lin Xiaodong’s perception of color was very sharp, but his ability to capture forms was lacking, and his sketching foundation was not enough. He was an amateur player who painted entirely by inspiration and intuition.

Not even qualified to be a painter.

Lin Pei was very puzzled that such a “talent” would appear in the Lin family. He flipped directly to the last page, but when he saw the comprehensive analysis of Lin Xiaodong by his most capable subordinate, he slightly raised his eyebrows.

Another week passed. In the vicious cycle of spending more than he earned, Lin Xiaodong’s medals were finally about to run out.

“Fool,” before dinner, Lin Qi specifically went to him to mock him, “do you want me to lend you some medals? Lest you really starve to death here and disgrace our family then.”

“Is that so?” Lin Xiaodong smiled nonchalantly and lowered his voice to say to him, “But I also have a question: why would the game console that the little fat boy exchanged with medals break after a few days and then inexplicably appear in your bag?”

Lin Qi’s face turned pale instantly.

“You… you actually went through my bag!?” He stared at Lin Xiaodong fiercely, but his expression looked somewhat weak in spite of its ferocity.

“I didn’t.” Lin Xiaodong smiled and rubbed his head. Seeing Lin Qi’s face full of humiliation but not daring to resist, his mood suddenly improved. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask your classmates. When sketching, the teacher asked me to take your bag to the lawn. After all, we are cousins. You didn’t zip it up yourself, and you blame me?”

As he spoke, he affectionately put his arm around Lin Qi’s shoulder, pointed at the braised lion’s head, sauerkraut fish, and old mother chicken soup on the menu, and asked with a kind and friendly expression, “My dear cousin, your brother here is almost unable to afford to eat, but I’ve caught a disease where I’ll die if I don’t eat meat. You see…?”

Lin Qi: “…Go die!”

But he took a look at the other boys and girls around, took a deep breath, and still used his own medals with trembling hands to exchange for a pile of fish and meat for Lin Xiaodong.

“Wow!” The fragrance was nose-assaulting, and immediately attracted the greedy eyes of several foodies.

“Lin Qi, you’re so generous. I thought you had a bad relationship with your brother, since I don’t see you talking together much usually,” a little girl with pigtails said enviously.

She was the one who exchanged for a doll before, and now she hadn’t eaten meat for two or three days. Looking at the steaming sauerkraut fish, she looked at Lin Xiaodong eagerly and asked, “Brother, can I have a bite?”

Lin Xiaodong was very generous, since he was being generous at someone else’s expense. “It’s fine, anyway, I can’t finish it alone. Today my cousin is treating, everyone eat as you like!”

In a loud cheer, Lin Qi’s face turned blue with anger.

This was braised lion’s head that even he himself couldn’t bear to eat!

After finishing the meal, all the children except Lin Qi were very satisfied. A short-haired little girl who had obtained the most medals currently even had an expression of having discovered a new continent. Her gaze at Lin Qi was as if she had seen a sucker, making him feel a chill.

“Just you wait!”

Before leaving the cafeteria, Lin Qi was still unwilling and threatened Lin Xiaodong with his mouth shape, gnashing his teeth.

System: “Are you not afraid he will take the opportunity to eliminate the evidence?”

“Let him eliminate it, anyway, I can’t use this to blackmail him all the time.” Lin Xiaodong thought very clearly; a meal was probably the bottom line of Lin Qi’s tolerance, otherwise this kid would rather go and confess than let him repeatedly fleece him.

Probably tonight, Lin Qi would sneak out to bury the game console in the garden.

There was a curfew in the castle, but the time for checking rooms was usually after ten o’clock in the evening. After that, no one patrolled the corridor. Lin Xiaodong had been letting the system pay attention to the movement of Lin Qi’s room. When the system reminded him that Lin Qi had crossed the corridor, he also quietly opened his room door, walked to the nearby stairs, and intentionally coughed heavily:

“Ahem!”

After a brief silence, a burst of messy footsteps sounded in the corridor below, with a painful groan mixed in the middle. Probably this kid Lin Qi didn’t look under his feet when he escaped and fell down, but didn’t dare to cry out, and could only endure it.

Lin Xiaodong grinned silently. Just as he was about to return to his room, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a man sitting in the corridor above the stairs, looking down at him from above.

He met the man’s eyes and was stunned.

Just then, a cold shout came from a distance: “Who is not sleeping in the middle of the night? Lin Qi, stop!”

Lin Qi’s breathing hitched. There was no way; he had to admit his bad luck and walked over with a lowered head.

And Lin Xiaodong, who was hiding at the top of the stairs, was also surprised—how could the supervisor still be diligently waiting for a chance to catch someone so late?

But at this time, the supervisor had already caught Lin Qi, and was walking aggressively from that end of the corridor with a flashlight. If he went downstairs now, he would be caught one hundred percent. Even if he didn’t go downstairs, the supervisor would climb up from this stairway after checking… this was simply an unsolvable impasse.

Lin Xiaodong’s heart was thumping. Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration, climbed upstairs with a thud-thud-thud, and despite the cold gaze of the man in the wheelchair, he went behind him with a thick face, pushed the wheelchair all the way to the large window in the second-floor corridor, pretending to be pushing someone over to admire the moon late at night.

Lin Pei, who was trying to grab the IV bottle and feel the speed and passion: “…………”

Presumptuous!!!