Chapter 95#

The Disabled Big Shot’s Stepson#

When the man spoke, the warm air followed the frequency of his vocal cords vibrating past Lin Xiaodong’s ear, bringing an itchy sensation from the heart.

The hand resting on his back exuded a steady and scorching temperature, like an invisible cage tightening in the air.

Lin Xiaodong’s breathing hitched, and his movement of peeling the egg unconsciously slowed down.

“Mr. Ye said you were asleep and didn’t want to disturb you.” He stared straight at the egg, pretending to be calm. “How is your… physical condition?”

“Very good.”

Lin Pei lowered his hand and pushed his wheelchair to sit across from him. Before Lin Xiaodong could breathe a sigh of relief, the man naturally took the egg from his hand and began to peel the shell meticulously.

“How have you been during this time?” he asked, like casual daily conversation between friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while. But Lin Xiaodong still summoned his full spirit to deal with it, thought for a moment, and cautiously chose an answer that could never go wrong:

“Just… alright.”

With so many distressing things having happened yesterday, saying he was “good” would certainly be a lie.

“I know about the matters with your uncle and aunt,” sure enough, Lin Pei brought this up in the next sentence. “Regarding them, I want to ask for your opinion.”

He placed the smooth, white egg on Lin Xiaodong’s plate and pulled a tissue from the box on the table, wiping his hands with an elegant gesture—although it seemed like a very casual movement, Lin Xiaodong was unconsciously drawn to the man’s hands.

Lin Pei’s hands were indeed good-looking. Unlike Gu Xingzhai, who practiced martial arts in the last world, anyone who saw these hands would sigh, “What a waste not to play the piano.” The fingers were slender and fair, without a trace of extra flesh, appearing as perfect as a work of art under the sunlight.

But looking at the man’s face, which appeared even paler and thinner after the surgery, Lin Xiaodong’s heart sank slightly.

It seemed Dr. Lin was right, he thought. Lin Pei’s post-operative recovery… was indeed not very optimistic.

But other than that, the man seemed no different from when he left, still sitting in his wheelchair with a straight back, his speech and expression as usual.

As Lin Xiaodong watched, he couldn’t help but fall into a daze.

Lin Pei gave him a deep look, a trace of a smile appearing on his face. “What, mesmerized by what you see?”

“…I’m not!” The youth finally reacted, muttering something irritably. It wasn’t clear what he said, but “self-indulgent” was vaguely heard. Lin Pei gave a low laugh and stopped teasing him, continuing the previous topic: “I want to ask your current opinion of them. This will determine what type of lawyer I find for you next. As you know, the one thing the Lin family doesn’t lack is lawyers.”

As the saying goes: first generation engineering, second generation finance, third generation art. Currently, most of the Lin family’s core strength is concentrated in the global financial field. To excel in finance, one cannot do without law. Therefore, many of the younger generation in the Lin family choose to become lawyers.

Those world-renowned lawyers usually handle commercial lawsuits involving assets in the billions or tens of billions. But with a single word from Lin Pei, they could immediately set off to come here and fight this minor case for Lin Xiaodong, which probably wouldn’t even amount to a fraction of the cases they usually handle.

“My opinion…” Lin Xiaodong pondered for a moment and replied, “My opinion is to have them spit out every single bit of what doesn’t belong to them. As for the rest, that’s for the state to worry about.”

Anyway, for a public prosecution case like this, the prosecutor’s office would certainly not let such a great opportunity pass easily.

“Alright, I understand.” Lin Pei nodded. “Eat slowly; I’m going to handle some work.”

With that, he prepared to leave in his wheelchair.

“Wait a minute!”

Lin Xiaodong was quick and held him back. Lin Pei turned his head and asked, “Is there anything else?”

“No, you’re just leaving like this?” Lin Xiaodong said, feeling stifled. “Aren’t you going to explain?”

“Are you talking about the messages?” Lin Pei said very calmly, as if he didn’t think it was a big deal. “I saw all the messages you sent. Don’t worry, I kept those paintings in my room; I didn’t throw them away.”

“Then since you saw them, why didn’t you reply?”

Lin Pei gazed into the youth’s eyes. Deep confusion and gloom were etched on the young, fresh face, but he was still patiently waiting for an explanation—he believed in himself.

Lin Pei suddenly felt an urge to sigh.

But he held it back.

A faint sound of mockery came from the bottom of his heart, seemingly mocking his cowardice and humility. The man quietly clenched his fist and withdrew his gaze.

He said nothing and simply left the room in silence under Lin Xiaodong’s glare.

“What exactly is wrong with this person?”

Lin Xiaodong truly couldn’t understand.

For a moment, he lost his appetite for the table full of breakfast. He pursed his lips, suddenly stood up, and also strode out.

“Ouch!”

Just as he turned a corridor, he bumped right into someone.

Lin Xiaodong clutched his aching head, looked up, and said in surprise, “Dr. Lin?”

“Oh, it’s Xiaodong,” Dr. Lin rubbed his reddened chin and smiled bitterly. “Your forehead is really hard; my chin almost got dislocated from the impact.”

“Dr. Lin, come here for a second.” Lin Xiaodong ignored the apology, pulled him into his room, and immediately asked impatiently after closing the door, “During the time I was away, what surgery did Lin Pei actually have? Why does he feel so… strange?”

“You felt it too, didn’t you?” Dr. Lin didn’t seem surprised by the question. He sighed and found a chair to sit on. “Actually, by the time I found out, it was already too late. The Head of the Family contacted a group of experts from abroad, but the surgical plan they provided was far too radical and risky in our eyes… Leaving aside whether it could succeed, even if it did, the price to be paid is unknown.”

Lin Xiaodong frowned tightly. “Didn’t he say he had given up on the idea of standing up?”

“But in fact, the Head of the Family has never given up,” Dr. Lin said. “This surgery was a plan he had prepared long ago, but it was set aside because the risk was too great.”

“Then why did he now…”

Lin Xiaodong spoke halfway and suddenly clamped his mouth shut. After a long while, he stared at Dr. Lin and asked slowly, “Was it because of me?”

Dr. Lin sighed. “I don’t know. But clearly, now that the deed is done, the surgery was somewhat successful, but its side effects are gradually beginning to show. These side effects are not physical, but rather psychological issues caused by excessive medication. I am a doctor, but not a deity. The Head of the Family refuses all psychological counseling. All I can do is persuade you to return here and try to soothe the patient’s emotions.”

The youth before him had a somber face. After a long time, he asked, “Tell me, Dr. Lin, what can I do?”

Since Dr. Lin said the surgery was successful, but through the brief observation just now and Lin Pei’s behavior of refusing to reply to messages and insisting on closing himself off, Lin Xiaodong found it easy to see that the man had fallen into an abnormal negative emotion—somewhat like depression, but not exactly the same.

In any case, this is a side effect of many medications. If the medicine cannot be stopped, it can only depend on the patient himself to overcome it.

Dr. Lin said, “Actually, there is no good way. It can only depend on you constantly encouraging and accompanying him. Also, no matter how he pushes you away, remember that it’s not his true inner thought. The Head of the Family deeply craves your company. If there is one medicine in this world that can cure him, I think it’s only you.”

After seeing off Dr. Lin, Lin Xiaodong sat alone in his room for a while.

“What do you plan to do?” system asked.

To be honest, it hadn’t expected Lin Pei in this world to have such a personality. All conventional conquest methods were useless. Probably only by influencing the man slowly and imperceptibly over time, as Dr. Lin said, could he be pulled out of that lonely island where he was all alone.

“System, help me download a few books on psychology and depression,” Lin Xiaodong took a deep breath and stood up from the bed. “I don’t believe it. With me here, can he really make himself autistic?”

He quickly packed his things into a bundle, slung it over his shoulder, and marched out with great determination. He strode to the man’s bedroom on the second floor and, without even knocking, threw the bundle into the corner.

Lin Pei wasn’t there, presumably in the study handling business.

Lin Xiaodong didn’t care. Since Dr. Lin had said not to mind how the man rejected him, he automatically translated it in his brain: wasn’t this just being shamelessly persistent by his side?

He was familiar with this!

“Just you wait,” the youth muttered through gritted teeth while tidying up. “I’m not done with you!”

This person really could cause trouble for himself with just a slight lapse. This time he actually made himself autistic? Lin Xiaodong was almost laughed into anger—did the three kilometers he ran and the sweat and blood he poured into it all go to waste?

When Lin Pei returned to his bedroom after a busy morning, rubbing his temples tiredly and preparing for a nap to refresh himself, he was shocked to find that after only a few hours, his bedroom had completely changed.

The original classical wallpaper had been entirely stripped off and replaced with a bright, warm, indie-style color scheme. The original antique decorations had all disappeared, replaced by fresh flowers, snacks, and various plush toys that only children would play with. The original dark-toned large bed had completely changed its appearance; the yellow square sponge and stupid pink starfish on it instantly stung Lin Pei’s eyes—

This room had originally been designed by an internationally renowned designer at a high cost!

“From today on, this is my bed.”

The youth, with thick skin, was lying spread-eagled like a starfish on his bed. He seriously raised his head and announced this to the original owner.

Lin Pei: “…………”

The man sat in his wheelchair, his body stiff, a vein involuntarily popping out on the back of his hand.

“You…” His temples began to throb again. “What are you doing? Starting a rebellion?”

“Yeah,” Lin Xiaodong casually grabbed a bag of potato chips and said righteously while eating, “Since you don’t intend to pay attention to me and don’t reply to my messages, I can only take the initiative to come find you myself.”

Hearing him crunching incessantly on his bed, the germaphobic Lin Pei endured for a moment but finally reached his limit.

“Get off!” He frowned. “This is my bed.”

“No,” Lin Xiaodong immediately played dead.

“Did someone say something to you?” Lin Pei was sharp and immediately noticed something was wrong.

But Lin Xiaodong naturally denied it flatly. Seeing the man blocking the doorway and not coming in, he simply jumped off the bed barefoot under Lin Pei’s incredulous gaze, huffed and puffed as he pushed the wheelchair to the bedside, and then pulled and dragged the man onto the bed, wrapping him tightly in his arms like an octopus.

“Good afternoon,” the youth said to him with a smile. “I hope you like the new duvet cover and sheets I changed. SpongeBob says hi to you, captain.”

Lin Pei, almost suffocated: “…………”

He wanted some peace, thank you.