Chapter 29 - 1#

Yan Heqing had only been standing for a few seconds when a taxi stopped.

After getting in and giving the address, Yan Heqing looked out the window. The moment the taxi started, the streetlights flickered, and a car drove by.

Looking up, the receding hotel’s upper floors were brilliantly lit.

It should have started.

Yan Heqing thought calmly.

2120

Lin Fengzhi’s eyes were streaming with tears from the pain. The Lu Muchi in front of him was unfamiliar and forceful, and he couldn’t push him away at all. Moreover, Lu Muchi exuded a dangerous aura and was pressing down on him…

Lin Fengzhi couldn’t stop trembling, and with difficulty, he squeezed out broken words, “You… what are you trying to do…”

His eyes were filled with trembling fear.

Lu Muchi said nothing, his fingertips caressing Lin Fengzhi’s chin.

Goosebumps instantly appeared on Lin Fengzhi’s skin. He panicked. He had actually discovered long ago that Lu Muchi might like him. But he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t like Lu Muchi, so he had deliberately ignored it. Now, realizing Lu Muchi’s intentions, he began to struggle with his hands and feet, “You’re crazy! I don’t like you! Ah…”

But he was easily restrained by Lu Muchi, unable to move. Tears immediately welled up in Lin Fengzhi’s eyes, “Lu Muchi, don’t be like this… I’m scared…”

Lu Muchi turned a deaf ear, his actions gradually losing their restraint. Lin Fengzhi finally screamed in pain, “Ah!”

Lu Muchi stopped.

For a moment, he really did want to force himself on Lin Fengzhi.

This was the treasure he had cherished, who used him, took off his clothes, and climbed into his uncle’s bed.

But hearing Lin Fengzhi’s cry of pain, he suddenly found it boring. He withdrew his hand and said, “Lin Fengzhi, you’re so fucking cheap!” He got off Lin Fengzhi and walked out of the room without looking back.

Freed, Lin Fengzhi didn’t move. Tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes. His heart was filled with deep humiliation. After a while, he grabbed the bedsheet, wrapped it tightly around his body, and curled up, sobbing.

Lu Muchi took the elevator down to the parking lot. He got in the car without even fastening his seatbelt and sped aimlessly down the road.

After an unknown amount of time, his gaze fell on the notebook on the center console. It was dark green, and the leaf pattern faintly reflected a silver light under the car’s headlights.

Diary…

Yan Heqing!

Lu Muchi gritted his teeth, his mouth filled with the taste of blood. He suddenly turned the steering wheel and sped back towards a familiar place.

…

It was late at night, and the taxi was quiet. The driver didn’t make conversation. He could see the fatigue on the young man’s face.

It was almost midnight, and there were few cars on the road. He was lucky with the traffic lights, all of them green. He arrived at the apartment building half an hour earlier than usual. Yan Heqing paid the fare, thanked the driver, and got out.

The residents of the complex were mostly tenants, and late at night was their peak time for getting off work. Most of the lights in the entire building were on.

This was also the reason why there were so many stray cats in the complex.

When tenants moved out, some would take their pets with them, while others would abandon them.

As the New Year approached, there were even more stray cats recently.

Yan Heqing went up to the 3rd floor. There were still a few boxes of cat food piled up at his door. Yan Heqing opened the door, didn’t change his shoes, hung the food behind the door, closed the door again, and carried the four boxes of cat food downstairs.

The four boxes of cat food were a bit heavy, and Yan Heqing struggled to carry them. He walked slowly to the place where he often fed the stray cats. He opened the cans one by one, squatted down and placed them on the ground, and then called out softly a few times.

Soon, cats came out from the shadows one after another. Yan Heqing often came to feed them, so they were already familiar with him and ate without any defense.

The high-quality canned food was full of good meat and broth, and the stray cats ate very quickly.

There was a particularly small and thin cat at Yan Heqing’s feet. He quietly guarded it, not letting other cats come to snatch its food. When the small, thin cat finished eating and began to lick its fur contentedly, Yan Heqing got up and went home.

As he approached the entrance of the apartment building, he saw a Mercedes-Benz.

It was parked domineeringly in the middle of the road, with the door left open. One could imagine how angry the owner was when he got out of the car.

Whether Lu Muchi came or not was all part of Yan Heqing’s plan; it was just a matter of sooner or later.

He didn’t stop and calmly walked into the apartment building.

Just as he entered, there was a whooshing sound. Something brushed past his cheek and fell heavily behind him. Yan Heqing’s right cheekbone felt a sharp pain; it must have been scratched. He glanced to the side. Not far behind him, a dark green notebook lay quietly, its leaf pattern glowing softly.

Yan Heqing didn’t say anything, but Lu Muchi couldn’t hold back his anger. His eyes were spitting fire as he glared at Yan Heqing, “Lin Fengzhi’s diary, you deliberately left it in my car.”

Yan Heqing’s long eyelashes were lowered, and there was a faint light in his eyes.

He instantly captured the key information.

Lu Muchi didn’t remember Lin Fengzhi’s handwriting.

In the internet age, everyone basically communicates by typing.

In a flash, Yan Heqing thought of a perfect way to deal with the situation, which would even indirectly help his next plan.

Yan Heqing turned around, bent down, picked up the notebook, and held it tightly in his hand without showing any emotion. Then he turned back and faced Lu Muchi’s angry face with a calm expression, “Yes.”

Lu Muchi had no doubt. Yan Heqing was Lin Fengzhi’s older brother, and the two had been in contact privately. It was perfectly normal for Yan Heqing to have Lin Fengzhi’s diary.

Lu Muchi’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at Yan Heqing, “Why did you do that?”

Yan Heqing knew he liked Lin Fengzhi, yet he let him see Lin Fengzhi’s diary and deliberately let him catch them in the act. Could it be…

An answer was about to come out, and Lu Muchi’s heart inexplicably beat a little faster.

Yan Heqing didn’t answer directly. His eyes were clear, like two springs, calmly meeting Lu Muchi’s scrutiny, “Yes, why.”

The sensor light on the first floor lit up, and a pale orange light fell on Yan Heqing’s face.

On his right cheek, near the corner of his eye, a small cut had been made by the notebook, with a faint trace of blood, like a light red eyeliner drawn on his lower eyelid. That light brown, slightly sandy-gold fox eye, in the dim light, had a captivating natural charm.

Lu Muchi’s throat suddenly tightened. He hadn’t felt this way even when he saw Lin Fengzhi naked just now.

His tone unconsciously softened, “I’m asking you, not you asking me.”

Yan Heqing’s face was calm, “The answer is to be discovered by yourself, not told by others.” He lifted his foot. Lu Muchi was blocking the stairs. He brushed past Lu Muchi’s arm, “Thank you for the cat food. They enjoyed it very much.”

Yan Heqing went upstairs, his footsteps unhurried. It wasn’t until he heard the door close that Lu Muchi suddenly came to his senses. He looked up at the dark stairwell, and the answer in his mind gradually took shape. Yan Heqing was unwilling to be Lin Fengzhi’s substitute, and he deliberately let him discover that Lin Fengzhi liked his uncle. Could it be because—

Yan Heqing was jealous?

He… liked him?

His heart thumped, beating a little unexpectedly.

Closing the door, Yan Heqing changed his shoes and went to the kitchen first. Without turning on the light, he used the faint light from the street lamp outside the window to open the notebook, tear out the diary page, and then take out a spare match. He struck one, and the small orange-red flame glowed. Yan Heqing lit the corner of the page and held it in the sink.

He quietly watched the burning paper, the firelight reflected in his pupils, like two flames burning fiercely in his eyes.

Soon, small black fragments fell one by one.

After it was completely burned, Yan Heqing turned on the faucet and thoroughly washed the pile of ashes down the drain.

Back in his room, the scratched area was throbbing with pain. He put a band-aid on the wound.

The next day, Yan Heqing got up on time as usual, memorized his vocabulary, ate breakfast, and then went to work.

There wasn’t much business on Sunday, and Yan Heqing leisurely finished his last day at the coffee shop.

Zhang Qing learned from the manager that Yan Heqing would not be coming back. Although she had known this day would come, now that it was here, Zhang Qing felt for the first time that it would be nice if time passed a little slower.

She ran to the kitchen and packed a large bag of pet cream. After tidying up her somewhat downcast mood, she came out with a bright smile and handed it to Yan Heqing, “If you have time in the future, or if you want to give the little ones an extra meal, feel free to come back anytime!”

Yan Heqing took it and said with a smile, “Thank you.”

When he was paid his final wages, the manager gave Yan Heqing an extra three thousand yuan bonus and reminded him several times, “Next time you’re looking for a summer or winter job, the shop will always welcome you!”

Yan Heqing agreed.

Carrying the pet cream and the last cream square he bought at an employee discount, Yan Heqing left the coffee shop.

Passing by the Lu Corporation headquarters, he looked up. The top floor was still hidden at the highest point, completely invisible. Last night, Lu Lin probably didn’t see him, right?

He withdrew his gaze. It was already deep winter, and the weather was a bit painful on his face. Yan Heqing pulled up his scarf to cover the lower half of his face and walked towards the subway station under the dim streetlights.

It was almost eight o’clock when he got home. Yan Heqing didn’t cook. He poured a glass of hot water, opened the cream square, and quietly ate his dinner for the day.

The first time he remembered eating cake was a cream square, a simple cream with a small candied cherry on top. The taste of the candied cherry was actually very strange, but it seemed that because his mother bought it, he was always very happy to eat it.

After finishing the cream square, Yan Heqing opened the drawer of the coffee table. Inside lay the work ID for the Rainbow Bridge Welfare Institute.

A blue lanyard, a plastic-sealed card with the words “Rainbow Bridge Welfare Institute”.