Chapter 112#
Mother Lin found it even harder to breathe. She habitually wanted to chase after him, but she forcibly dug her nails into her palm, suppressing her wavering.
In the past, every time he threw a tantrum, Lin Fengzhi was like this—locking himself in his room or running away from home.
Escaping, refusing to communicate, and then forcing everyone to give in.
“No one go look for him.” Mother Lin didn’t know if she was speaking to others or herself. “We can’t give in this time.”
After speaking, Mother Lin called Yan Heqing to the garden.
The hydrangeas that were vibrant just a few days ago had withered so much today that the flower heads had shrunk. The day after tomorrow, or perhaps they wouldn’t even last until then, they would completely wither.
Mother Lin stared blankly at the flowers, as if looking at herself, her eyes devoid of any light. “I’m sorry, this is the only way I could think of. I have absolutely no way to face him.”
Yan Heqing did not continue this topic. He walked to the flowerbed, squatted down, checked the hydrangeas for a while, then turned back and asked gently, “Do you want the hydrangeas’ flowering period to last a bit longer?”
Mother Lin was slightly distracted. She was in a trance for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Yan Heqing found a pair of shears.
The sky was gradually darkening. He squatted in front of the flowerbed and very seriously cut off all the flower branches, trimming away the stems and leaves.
Mother Lin thought of a possibility. “Are you going to make them into specimens?”
To preserve their beauty in the form of dried flowers.
Yan Heqing looked up. In the fading light of the setting sun, a faint light flowed in his eyes. “No, just changing the place for them to continue growing.”
Yan Heqing put the hydrangeas into the water pool in the garden.
Mother Lin thought it was her imagination, but she really felt that the flowers had recovered a bit of vitality.
She asked in surprise, “Are hydrangeas supposed to be grown in water?”
“Hydrangeas are grown in soil, but they consume a lot of water. After the first flowering period passes, if you make them into fresh cut flowers and keep them in water, you can extend their flowering period.” Yan Heqing’s voice was steady and clear, calming down the stifling weather. “The physiological structure of the hydrangea sepals is disease-resistant and sturdy, so they won’t rot easily when kept in water.”
Mother Lin stared blankly at the pool full of hydrangeas. After a while, she turned to look at Yan Heqing. “You’re not just talking about flowers.”
Yan Heqing did not deny it. “Human physiological structure is the same, fragile yet strong.” He fell into a memory. “My mother came from a water town. Her health wasn’t very good. I remember when the seasons changed, she would always get sick, and even lifting heavy objects was difficult.”
“On the day of the fire, she fainted but was able to wake up, holding me and my brother and rushing out of that fire.”
Yan Heqing put down the last hydrangea, watching it gradually immerse into the water. “You will be stronger than you imagine.”
Mother Lin finally shed tears. She turned her head away and covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.
Yan Heqing did not speak again, quietly staying by her side until she finished venting her emotions.
Mother Lin cried enough. She looked at Yan Heqing again. Her feeling was even stronger now; this didn’t seem like an 18-year-old child.
Perhaps because he had seen all kinds of life since childhood and tasted the hardships of life, it created his current steel-like resilience and ice-snow-like clarity.
Mother Lin couldn’t help but ask him, “What else can I do now?”
“Change a place to recuperate and relax.” Yan Heqing gestured for her to look at the hydrangeas. In the pool, the flower balls that were wilting just now were radiating vitality again under the soaking of water. “Your illness needs a change of water.”
Mother Lin was stunned. She hadn’t thought of this, or rather, she hadn’t considered herself.
Yan Heqing said no more.
The pool drew living water. The garden quieted down, the water gurgling. The pool full of hydrangeas rippled slightly with the water, beautiful beyond measure.
After a long, long time, the garden lights turned on. The sorrow between Mother Lin’s brows gradually cleared.
She didn’t know if Yan Heqing meant something else, but she was indeed enlightened.
Wasn’t she also Lin Fengzhi’s soil? As long as she left, whether willing or not, Lin Fengzhi could only find his own water.
She finally revealed her first sincere smile in this period of time. “You’re right. I should take good care of my health. This illness will soon make me unable to fly. If I don’t go out for a walk now, I won’t have the chance later.”
Yan Heqing knew that next was their family meeting time. He politely declined dinner and took his leave.
He walked along the path for a short while when hurried footsteps came from behind.
Lin Fengyi caught up with him.
The streetlights on both sides didn’t shine very brightly. Lin Fengyi’s gaze at Yan Heqing was complicated to the extreme.
He only found out today that Yan Heqing almost became his brother.
Lin Fengyi found it hard to imagine, but right now the family was a mess, and he didn’t have time to think much. He only now found a chance to speak, solemnly thanking Yan Heqing. “The doctor said my mom is safe this time because someone performed first aid beforehand. I know it was you. Thank you.”
Yan Heqing was noncommittal. “Spend more time with her. She needs company now.”
Lin Fengyi nodded. “She wants to go abroad to recuperate. I’ll accompany her.” He paused for a second, then said, “I know where Lin Fengzhi went. It’s very safe, you don’t need to worry about him.”
Yan Heqing also knew. When Lin Fengzhi got angry, he would hide in the same place, waiting for Lin Fengyi to find him.
Yan Heqing nodded politely. “Goodbye.”
He walked away along the path. Reaching the community gate, he changed direction, crossed the path on the left, and walked to a children’s playground.
Yan Heqing went around the playground to a treehouse behind it.
This treehouse was Lin Fengzhi and Lin Fengyi’s secret base when they were young.
Lin Fengzhi stumbled and ran to hide in the treehouse. His vision had dropped significantly during this time, and his field of view was blurry.
He was terrified, hugging his knees and shaking like a leaf.
He waited for quite a while. Finally, there were footsteps outside, and then someone pushed open the door of the treehouse.
He quickly looked up. In his teary eyes, there was only thin light.
Lin Fengzhi couldn’t see clearly, so he spoke first, “Brother…”
His voice stopped abruptly.
He smelled a faint scent of cedar.
It was a brother, but not the Lin Fengyi he thought.
Even their secret base, Lin Fengyi had told Yan Heqing…
Lin Fengzhi’s brain buzzed. Just then, Yan Heqing turned on his phone light.
The sudden appearance of light made Lin Fengzhi instinctively close his eyes to avoid it. Between the light and dark, broken images suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Baby, you can’t play with fire!”
A woman in a pale purple cheongsam ran over anxiously and took the lighter from the little boy’s hand.
The little boy puffed up his cheeks, unhappy. “Brother played with it yesterday too!”
The woman didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “That was brother helping mom light incense.”
The scene changed again. The little boy was lying behind the sofa, lighting sandalwood incense with a lighter.
“I can light it too!” he muttered.
The bedroom door opened, and a man came out yawning. “Songsong, why aren’t you sleeping? What are you doing?”
The man was coming over. The little boy quickly stuffed the half-lit sandalwood and lighter under the sofa, climbed up, and pounced on the man. “I want Daddy to hold me to sleep!”
The man laughed heartily and carried the little boy back to the room.
…
Lin Fengzhi stopped moving. He opened his eyes in horror, widening them as if trying to shake off these images.
It wasn’t him!
It wasn’t him who did it…
Then he saw Yan Heqing’s face.
“Go away!” Lin Fengzhi was extremely terrified. He kept backing away, shaking his head.
Seeing his abnormal fear, a strange look flashed in Yan Heqing’s eyes, but he quickly calmed down. “No one will come looking for you.”
Lin Fengzhi’s pupils dilated. Yan Heqing’s face and the little boy’s face constantly interlaced. His heart beat incredibly fast. Forgotten memories filled in inch by inch—Mom, Dad, Yan Heqing, including himself…
Lin Fengzhi found it hard to accept. He was highly tense and collapsing, feeling only that Yan Heqing’s gaze was sharp and pressing.
“It wasn’t me…” His mouth trembled so much he was incoherent. “You go, go away quickly!”
Yan Heqing keenly sensed something was wrong with him. He frowned slightly.
Lin Fengzhi suddenly stopped speaking. He cried out, almost begging, “I will move out of the Lin family. I don’t want it anymore. I’ll give it all to you. Just go, okay?”
He didn’t want to see anyone right now. He struggled to stand up. “No, I’ll go myself, I don’t need you…” But his leg cramped, and he fell back.
His state was becoming more and more wrong. Yan Heqing’s heartbeat also accelerated. He squatted down and approached Lin Fengzhi. “What wasn’t you? What did you do?”
Lin Fengzhi’s fear reached its limit. He cried and grabbed Yan Heqing’s hand. “Brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to play with fire. I wanted to help Mom light the sandalwood…”
Yan Heqing understood every word Lin Fengzhi said, but combined together, he didn’t understand. His mind instantly throbbed, as if countless hands were forcefully pulling at his nerves.
He remained silent. After a long, long time, he threw off Lin Fengzhi’s hand as if electrocuted, stood up, and left the treehouse.
Behind him was Lin Fengzhi’s increasingly loud crying. Yan Heqing looked around blankly.
He was in pain now, but he couldn’t say where it hurt.
He walked straight along the road until his phone vibrated in his pocket. He came back to his senses and answered without looking at who it was.
“Not back yet?”
In the darkness, Lu Lin’s voice held a smile.
Yan Heqing gripped the phone tightly, pressing it close to his ear.
Lu Lin sensed something was wrong. “Where are you?”
Yan Heqing looked around. His brain couldn’t function properly at all. “There’s a tree, a supermarket, and a trash can.”
“Stay there, I’ll be there soon!”
Lu Lin found him in half an hour.
Yan Heqing said he was going to the Lin family’s, so he locked onto the nearby supermarkets.
Lu Lin stopped the car and got out. He saw Yan Heqing still tightly holding the phone to his ear, standing lonely beside a trash can, a look of bewilderment on his face that he had never seen before.
Even from a distance, he could feel his sadness.
Lu Lin strode over. Hearing footsteps, Yan Heqing looked up. Before he could see clearly, his unfocused pupils gradually converged, just looking at Lu Lin like that.
He couldn’t even cry.
For a moment, Lu Lin felt that Yan Heqing was just an empty shell. His heart ached terribly. He stepped forward and hugged him tightly, passing his heartbeat to him.
“It’s okay now. Let’s go home.”
The phone slipped from his palm. Yan Heqing grabbed Lu Lin’s clothes tightly, as if grabbing his life-saving straw.
Back home, Lu Lin heated a cup of milk for Yan Heqing. Yan Heqing didn’t drink it. He unbuttoned his shirt. “I want to take a bath…”
But his fingertips were trembling, and he couldn’t undo the buttons no matter what.
In his current state, Lu Lin naturally wouldn’t feel at ease letting him bathe alone. He hugged him and comforted him softly, “I’ll help you.”
…
The bathtub was filled with water. Lu Lin also put in a few stress-relieving bath bombs.
The water turned a rich milky white. The bathtub was large, more than enough for two adults. Lu Lin helped Yan Heqing undress, took off his own outer clothes and pants, helped Yan Heqing wash briefly, and then carried him into the bathtub.
“Don’t think about anything now.” Lu Lin put him down and massaged his temples. “Relax.”
Just as he was about to get out of the bathtub, Yan Heqing hugged him from behind. The splashing water wet Lu Lin’s shirt. “Don’t go. Don’t leave me alone.”
Lu Lin turned around, hugged him tightly, and sat into the bathtub, gently and lightly kissing the corner of his eye. “I won’t go.”
Yan Heqing actively sought Lu Lin’s lips. “Hold me, Lu Lin.”
He desperately wanted to feel Lu Lin’s warmth.
Lu Lin stroked his hair, letting Yan Heqing clumsily nibble. Yan Heqing used both hands to undo Lu Lin’s buttons. He was anxious and lacked method, directly tearing off a few buttons which fell into the bathtub.
Lu Lin’s collar opened. His Adam’s apple rolled. He backhandedly held Yan Heqing’s waist, turned over, and pressed him against the wide edge, causing a large wave of water to splash out of the bathtub onto the floor.
He knew Yan Heqing’s state was wrong today. There was no lust in his eyes, only heartache and tenderness. “Calm down. Take a bath and have a good sleep. No matter how big the matter is, the sun will still rise tomorrow. Didn’t you want to see the sunrise? We’ll go see the sunrise tomorrow.”
Yan Heqing’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked at Lu Lin vacantly. Reason finally returned. He looked at Lu Lin quietly for a good while before saying in a hoarse voice, “It’s raining tomorrow.”
Lu Lin knew Yan Heqing was back. He moved to the side and rubbed Yan Heqing’s hair vigorously again. “The day after tomorrow.”
“Exams start the day after tomorrow.”
Lu Lin chuckled. “Saturday.”
This time Yan Heqing was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I have an important thing to do on Saturday.”
“Then wait until you finish everything.” Lu Lin accepted it all.
Yan Heqing acquiesced.
Lu Lin didn’t get out of the bathtub again. He accompanied Yan Heqing to finish the bath, dried him, wrapped him in a bathrobe, and carried him back to the room.
He coaxed Yan Heqing to drink half a cup of warm milk before Yan Heqing grabbed the corner of his clothes and closed his eyes.
Lu Lin didn’t move. Waiting until Yan Heqing was completely asleep, he put Yan Heqing’s hand into the quilt, left a bedside lamp on, and went out silently.
Lu Lin went to the terrace.
Most of the flowers on the flower stand were blooming, wantonly emitting fragrance in the dark night. Lu Lin squatted down, carefully checking the flowers and leaves.
He had to protect his flowers. If there were pests, they had to be dealt with immediately.
Lu Lin’s eyes were cold. Losing control of emotions after visiting the Lin family, plus the only thing that could make Yan Heqing lose control of his emotions was family.
This family member wouldn’t be Lin Fengzhi; it could only be Yan Heqing’s parents.
Lu Lin finished checking all the flower pots and took out his phone to send a message.
[Find the appraisal report of the Yan family fire 13 years ago.]
Early the next morning, Lu Lin received a reply.
[Mr. Lu, no relevant documents were found. It is estimated that no one applied for an appraisal. I contacted the firefighters from that year. Do you want to meet them?]
Lu Lin was replying when the bedroom door opened. Yan Heqing walked out. After a sleep, his condition was slightly better.
It started raining at five o’clock. The terrace was pattering. Yan Heqing went to the terrace to look at the flowers first before returning to the dining table.
Lu Lin set a time, put down his phone, and asked him with a smile, “What do you want to eat today?”
He didn’t mention last night at all.
Yan Heqing had no appetite, but listening to the rain, he thought he hadn’t eaten hot pot with Lu Lin for a long time.
“Hot pot.”
Lu Lin flicked his forehead, very lightly. “Breakfast first.”
“Pineapple steamed bun.”
“I’ll call you when it’s ready.” Lu Lin got up and went to the kitchen.
Exams started tomorrow. Yan Heqing temporarily suppressed everything and concentrated on reviewing first.
After a while, Lu Lin came back. Pineapple steamed buns, beef sandwiches, vegetable frittata, fried ham, and two cups of coffee.
Yan Heqing finished his portion and asked Lu Lin, “Are you going to the company today?”
“No.” Lu Lin put down his coffee cup. “Just going out for a bit later.”
Hearing that he still had to go out, a trace of depression flashed between Yan Heqing’s brows.
A smile spread in Lu Lin’s eyes. “I’ll be back very soon. I’ll definitely accompany you for hot pot at noon.”