Chapter 99#
“Diagnosed with keratoconus in both eyes.”
Yan Heqing didn’t make a sound, gazing calmly ahead through the windshield.
In the evening, the sunset glow on the horizon was as red as fire, burning the entire cloud layer until it glowed and shone red.
It was Lin Fengxian’s first time encountering this disease. Unsure if Yan Heqing knew about it, he still explained simply, “Fortunately, it was discovered early. Now the doctor suggests corneal cross-linking and wearing RGP to control the growth. If these two don’t work…”
Lin Fengxian didn’t continue. If they didn’t work, a corneal transplant would be needed.
But this wasn’t the most serious problem at the moment.
The serious thing was that Lin Fengzhi refused treatment.
That day he was temporarily blind for a few hours, then recovered. No one knew when it would go completely wrong.
The Lin family had been persuading him in the hospital for a week, and even called Gu Xingye, but Lin Fengzhi simply locked the door and refused to see anyone.
Mother Lin insisted that they shouldn’t contact Yan Heqing. Lin Fengxian agreed at first; there was no need for another person to worry, and it wouldn’t be too late to tell him after Lin Fengzhi’s treatment improved.
But Mother Lin was getting thinner by the day, her tears had run dry. Yesterday, Lin Fengxian was horrified to discover that his mother’s white hair had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain overnight. He couldn’t wait any longer.
“Fengzhi has been stubborn since he was a child. No one can change what he has decided.” Lin Fengxian said apologetically, “Now we can only trouble you to come over. Maybe it will be useful if you persuade him.”
Lu Lin didn’t start the car, waiting for Yan Heqing to finish the call.
Yan Heqing was still looking at the burning clouds, his tone calm, “If I go, he will be even less likely to accept treatment.”
Lin Fengxian was stunned, “Did you quarrel?”
Yan Heqing didn’t answer directly, only saying: “You don’t need to worry too much. After experiencing darkness a few more times, he will be afraid.”
Lin Fengxian had no other way, “I hope so.”
Hanging up the phone, Lu Lin spoke, “Really not going?”
The car was quiet and enclosed, so he heard Lin Fengxian’s words clearly.
Yan Heqing turned his head and looked at Lu Lin, “Will you think I’m heartless?”
Lu Lin leaned forward, hugged the young man into his arms, and kissed the tip of his ear through his soft hair.
“You refused very well.”
Yan Heqing also hugged Lu Lin back, closed his eyes, and let himself fall into this warm and safe embrace.
He was very weary and tired. He wanted to have a good sleep.
Lu Lin simply picked him up and got out of the car, lowering his head to kiss his eyes, “It’s okay, continue sleeping.”
Yan Heqing didn’t open his eyes.
Lu Lin walked to the back row, put down the cushion to let Yan Heqing lie down properly, then covered him with a thin blanket before closing the car door and returning the way he came to find the doctor.
He went and returned. Before the doctor’s seat was even warm, he explained to him again, “I don’t know much about this area. I can only say it may be related to genetic factors, or it may be a gene mutation.”
Lu Lin’s face instantly darkened, and he left immediately.
When Yan Heqing woke up, they had already arrived at the private hospital.
After a full set of checkups, the results came out quickly. Yan Heqing’s eyes had no problems at all.
Only then did Lu Lin’s expression soften. He stroked the top of Yan Heqing’s hair, “Let’s eat out tonight. What do you want to eat?”
Yan Heqing wasn’t actually hungry, but today it was his cold constitution, and then his eyes. He didn’t want Lu Lin to worry about his stomach again, so he thought seriously about one thing, “Roast beef.”
The only kindness the original text had for him was giving him a good body. Even with malnutrition before, he hadn’t developed any serious illnesses.
Lu Lin took Yan Heqing to a restaurant owned by the Xie family. The beef was live cattle transported from the grassland, slaughtered and served fresh. The meat was tender and had a milky aroma.
Yan Heqing really had an appetite. He finished all the meat he ordered and added a portion of stir-fried beef noodles.
After eating and returning home, Yan Heqing followed his usual routine without any abnormalities. At eleven o’clock, he said goodnight to Lu Lin and went back to the bedroom to rest.
Lu Lin went to the terrace.
He squatted down and checked the leaves of the potted plants one by one.
In the past, his grandmother loved the flowers and plants in her yard very much. The first thing she did in the morning and the last thing she did before going to bed was to check those flowers and plants tirelessly over and over again.
At that time, Lu Lin didn’t understand.
He didn’t have anything he cared about that much.
Today he understood.
Thinking that Yan Heqing might also inherit the eye disease, his mind couldn’t function normally at all.
So it felt like this.
The flowers and leaves were all intact, but Lu Lin didn’t move. He stared at the light purple gladiolus in front of him, his black eyes settling with countless emotions.
He was thinking about the reason Yan Heqing liked blueberries.
“Like blueberries?”
“En, good for the eyes.”
Did Yan Heqing care for his eyes out of ordinary care, or did one of his parents have an eye disease and told him to take care of his eyes?
Or perhaps—
Lu Lin found it hard to come up with an answer, including the date March 4th the year after next that Yan Heqing mentioned again.
The year after next, March 4th, sunrise.
Lu Lin thought for a long time but couldn’t connect the relationship between the three.
Suddenly the assistant called. Lu Lin watered the flowers while answering the phone. The assistant reported in detail the latest situation of Meng Yao’s sexual assault case against Cheng Jian.
There was indeed no physical evidence.
Not only did Cheng Jian not leave any semen, but Meng Yao was also date-raped at the time and had no injuries on his body. Plus, several years had passed, the hotel surveillance had long been cleared, and the check-in registration that day was not under Cheng Jian’s ID card.
But since Meng Yao dared to sue Cheng Jian, everyone in the circle with some connections received the news.
Behind Meng Yao was Lu Lin.
Lu Lin didn’t suppress this matter. On the contrary, he asked his assistant to send out the news, letting everyone know that he was dealing with Cheng Jian.
Lu Muchi had just fought with Cheng Jian, so others naturally connected the two things. People who wanted to curry favor with Lu Lin came forward as witnesses in an endless stream.
Meng Yao’s agent took the initiative to admit that Cheng Jian liked Meng Yao’s stage performance very much at the beginning. He asked Meng Yao out for dinner through him and once hinted verbally that if Meng Yao spent a night with him, he would give him the endorsement of the Cheng Group.
And the hotel receptionist also remembered that it was indeed Cheng Jian who supported the unconscious Meng Yao into the room that night.
Not only that.
After Meng Yao’s lawsuit against Cheng Jian for sexual assault fermented on the Internet, seeing that netizens supported Meng Yao and cursed Cheng Jian, several people who had refused before took the initiative to contact the assistant.
There were men and women. They weren’t drugged, but under the exchange of interests, they were sent to Cheng Jian’s bed.
“There was a boy who was underage at the time, 17 years old. Lawyer Yang is good at fighting this kind of lawsuit. She said Cheng Jian won’t escape three years this time.”
The assistant paused and said: “There is another piece of news.”
He suppressed the joy in his tone, “Cheng Jian’s crime tool was confirmed to be beaten useless by Young Master Lu.”
Lu Lin hung up the phone.
“A 17-year-old underage boy” echoed in his mind. The hand holding the watering can tightened, knuckles protruding, skin color turning pale.
In the information he currently had, there was no contact between Yan Heqing and Cheng Jian.
But given the way Yan Heqing dealt with Cheng Jian, Cheng Jian must have hurt Yan Heqing, to an unknown extent.
Lu Lin had an impulse to go to the room immediately, hug Yan Heqing tightly, and tell him that such things would never happen again.
It was just a flash.
Those wounds were on Yan Heqing. Even if he felt heartache seeing them now, Yan Heqing who had experienced them would only hurt thousands of times more.
Light words, apart from making him feel better, were useless to Yan Heqing.
Lu Lin put down the watering can and got up. He went to the drawer to find an unopened pack of cigarettes, took one out, closed the living room door, walked to the railing of the terrace, lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled. The white smoke blurred the lights on the river.
After finishing a cigarette, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
“Tell the legal team, fight for more than ten years.”
Yan Heqing got up at six o’clock, but Lu Lin was even earlier than him. Steamed buns and flower rolls were heating in the steamer, and beef porridge was heating in the pot. Lu Lin had already gone out.
Yan Heqing went to the terrace again. Pushing open the balcony door, the flowers and plants on the terrace were shining with crystal water droplets in the morning light. Lu Lin had already watered them.
Yan Heqing went back to eat breakfast.
After breakfast, Yan Heqing called Lu Lin, “You didn’t sleep last night?”
Lu Lin had arrived at the office and was reading the proposal for the morning meeting. He smiled, “Slept for 4 hours, woke up because there were documents to process.”
Yan Heqing was quiet for a few seconds, “Sleep a bit more in the future.”
Lu Lin closed the document, “Missed me?”
He rarely spoke like this. Yan Heqing was stunned for two seconds, “Eating breakfast alone doesn’t seem so delicious.”
This sentence tugged heavily at Lu Lin’s heart, a bit sour, yet a bit sweet. His hard contours unconsciously softened, “Starting tomorrow, I’ll accompany you for breakfast every day.”
It was almost time for school, so Yan Heqing hung up the phone.
At school, an unexpected person was waiting for Yan Heqing.
Not exactly unexpected, Lin Fengyi.
Not seen for a while, Lin Fengyi was less cynical, his brows knitted tightly. Seeing Yan Heqing, he just dropped a sentence, “Go for a checkup when you have time, for your eyes.”
He left after speaking.
When he walked past Yan Heqing, Yan Heqing said, “Thank you.”
Lin Fengyi’s back tensed up. He clenched his hands, instantly wetting both palms with sweat, not daring to look back, “I didn’t come specifically to care about you. You are Zhizhi’s biological brother. If you go blind, you’ll be a burden to him.”
Yan Heqing was noncommittal, only saying: “Thank you anyway.”
Lin Fengyi didn’t speak anymore, walking very fast, turning into a run after a few steps.
This was just the beginning.
Arriving at the classroom, Gu Xingye, who always arrived just on time, arrived first. His first sentence was also, “My dad has a friend who is an ophthalmology expert. You should go for a checkup as soon as possible.”
Yan Heqing replied: “Lu Lin took me for a checkup, no problems.”
Gu Xingye revealed an expression of ‘as expected’. He chuckled lightly, “Mr. Lu is indeed a prominent figure in the business world, always one step ahead in everything.”
The third one was Ge Tongyuan.
He didn’t know where he got the news, “I checked! This disease seems to be related to genetics. You and Lin Fengzhi are relatives, do you want to go for a checkup! It’s better to treat this disease if discovered early!”
Yan Heqing waited for him to finish, then simply stated his relationship with Lin Fengzhi, “He and I are twins.”
Ge Tongyuan shouted repeatedly, “Holy crap! Then you must get a checkup! Does your boyfriend have time to accompany you? If not, I’ll go with you!”
Yan Heqing told Ge Tongyuan the checkup results, and only then did Ge Tongyuan quiet down.
The fourth one was Lu Muchi, who had been quiet for a long time.
Lu Muchi was still wearing a hospital gown, with colors on his face, leaning against the wall next to the laboratory. Seeing Yan Heqing coming, he suddenly stood straight, strode over and wanted to pull him, “Go, go check your eyes…”
Yan Heqing avoided him and frowned, “How did you know this place?”
Lu Muchi’s forehead was full of sweat from anxiety, “Is this the time to care about this? Your brother has keratoconus in both eyes. This disease is related to genetics, you—”
“How did you know this place?” Yan Heqing asked again heavily.
Lu Muchi had no choice but to answer him first, “Zhao Weifang brought me here, okay? Quick, quick, the car is waiting downstairs. I’ve arranged everything, check immediately upon arrival.”
Yan Heqing’s eyes darkened. Ignoring Lu Muchi, he walked past him, opened the laboratory door, went in and closed it, took out his phone and called the security room.
“Hello, a stranger has broken into the A2 experimental building.”