Chapter 96

Ji Wei didn’t remember how he walked over step by step. He only remembered the soft bath towel slowly wiping every part of his body.

The water droplets on his skin were absorbed bit by bit, leaving only a thin layer of moisture covering his burning body, so hot it felt like it would turn into steam the next second.

He lowered his head in shyness.

But Lu Shenxing wiped him down seriously and did nothing else.

When he was almost done, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but suddenly his body felt a chill.

Swoosh—

The soaked towel slipped to the cold floor, replaced by a warm hand that wrapped around his waist, moving inch by inch as if measuring him.

That hand was even hotter than his.

It was clearly a very normal action.

But all of Ji Wei’s attention was focused on his waist, and he couldn’t help but tremble slightly with it.

Finally, the man withdrew his hand and simply said, “You’ve lost weight.”

Ji Wei hadn’t blushed before, but hearing this sentence made his face turn red.

He felt Lu Shenxing’s gaze still lingering on him. He quickly changed into his pajamas and changed the subject, “Your… hand is so hot.”

“There’s something hotter.”

The man said flatly.

Hotter?

Ji Wei was a bit dazed at first, but in a flash of insight, he suddenly understood. Without even bothering to button the last button, he rushed out of the bathroom, lay down on the bed, and buried his head in the pillow.

Not long after he left, the sound of running water continued from the bathroom. His idol must be taking a shower.

His face grew hot.

Just then, he received the Lin family’s file from Huang Bo. The file was a full gigabyte; he had no idea how detailed it was.

And so fast, too.

He curiously opened the file.

The Lin family was a prestigious and noble clan. The highest-ranking member was Lin Yiqiu, but apart from a trust fund, he hadn’t inherited any of the Lin family’s core assets. His only older brother had already passed away, and the one who truly held power was his nephew, Lin Yishen.

—Which was his maternal grandmother’s biological brother.

He flipped to a photo. A girl with short hair was shyly holding the arms of two older brothers, looking very gentle and refined.

That was his grandmother whom he had never met.

—Lin Yijing.

***

Shanghai, Lin Residence.

“The Lu Clan has cut off all cooperation with the group. Our construction business revenue has dropped by at least 30%. This year’s financial report will be very ugly,” Lin Yishen said with a serious expression.

“No matter what the Lu Clan thinks of us, we must take the initiative to mend our relationship with them. Speaking of which, we’re still relatives. I hope they’ll give us some face.”

He turned to his secretary and instructed, “I remember next week is Lu Shenxing’s birthday. Be sure to pick out a significant gift for him.”

He thought for a moment and added, “Pick out a gift for that child Ji Wei as well, as a belated wedding gift.”

“Yes, Chairman Lin.”

The secretary said with his head bowed.

Hearing his words, Lin Yishan frowned in disgust. “What relatives? He’s just latched onto Lu Shenxing, a canary kept in a cage. Don’t you think claiming kinship with such a person is sullying the Lin family’s bloodline?”

“Don’t let me hear you say such things again.”

Lin Yishen sternly rebuked his younger brother.

Lin Yishan left noncommittally.

How much better was this older brother of his?

The world bustles for profit, and the world bustles for gain.

If it weren’t for Ji Wei marrying Lu Shenxing, when would his older brother have ever remembered this branch of the family? When Ye Zhi was in the welfare institution, no one suggested bringing her back. Weren’t they just afraid she had inherited Ye Lang’s illness?

How ridiculous.

He took a car from the Lin family’s old residence and returned to his own villa.

He walked into the study and took out Fang Miao’s Notes from the drawer.

The moment he learned of Fang Miao’s incident, he had sent people to the Fang residence.

He opened the notes.

—She’s a very quiet girl. I don’t know how to talk to her.

—She’s married. I wish her happiness.

—She died in a car accident, but I found traces of a second person when I inspected the scene.

***

—I’m going to Yu City to find the nurse from back then, Nie Jie.

He had met Fang Miao once, a long time ago. Back then, Fang Miao was just a junior police officer.

That junior officer would stammer whenever he saw his sister, not even daring to say hello. Even in his notes, which no one would ever see, he didn’t dare to say he liked her.

His sister was his father’s most beloved child. Too many people liked her; Fang Miao was just an insignificant one among them.

Yet, who knows where he found the courage to pursue this case from being a junior officer to a bureau chief, even after retirement.

Officially, it was because a murder case must be solved. Privately, it was a silent, fifty-year-long unrequited love.

The latter, no one would ever know.

He flicked open a lighter and set the notes on fire.

Eventually, the paper turned to ash.

“So filthy.”

He sighed.

It was unclear who he was talking about.

***

Ji Wei had looked at the file last night and fell asleep while reading.

At six o’clock, he was woken up by the vibration of a phone.

He sat up, sleepy-eyed, and looked at the phone he had placed by his pillow.

—Complete silence.

Where was that sound coming from?

Ji Wei woke up in an instant. He turned to look at the sleeping man beside him. Lu Shenxing’s phone on the bedside table was vibrating continuously.

He got out of bed and picked up the phone.

—It was Ying Guanxiao calling.

He thought for a moment and answered the call.

The moment the call connected, Ying Guanxiao’s voice immediately came through, “Old Lu, I’m outside your room. Why aren’t you up yet? We have to fly to Shanghai for promotions this morning…”

Just as Ji Wei was about to speak, a hand suddenly rested on his arm.

Ji Wei was startled and was about to push it away when he realized Lu Shenxing was awake.

The man had just woken up, his voice tinged with sleepiness. “Put it on speaker.”

Ji Wei said “oh” and turned on the speaker.

“Isn’t the flight at eight?”

He asked faintly.

Ying Guanxiao coughed unnaturally. “It’s been changed to seven.”

“I heard Yu Shuang is back.”

Lu Shenxing’s tone was as usual.

The other end of the line went quiet for a moment, followed by a guilty-sounding urge, “Yu Shuang is back in Shanghai, but what does that have to do with her? Hurry up and get out of bed.”

“I have no motivation.”

Lu Shenxing raised an eyebrow.

Ji Wei didn’t know who they were talking about and asked nervously, “Then what should we do?”

Suddenly, the next second—

Lu Shenxing pulled him into his embrace. He lost his balance and fell directly onto the bed.

Before he could react, the man kissed him on the forehead. The small patch of skin that was kissed immediately felt a burning, electric sensation.

His breath hitched.

Just as he thought there would be further action, the man let him go, looked up, and said, “Now I have motivation.”

Ji Wei’s heart immediately started pounding.

By the time Lu Shenxing left, he touched his own face, which was noticeably hot.

He took a deep breath and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After washing up, he went to the study and wrote the calligraphy commissioned by Jiang’s Desserts.

He sent it—

[Jiang’s Desserts] Oh my god, this is so beautiful! Ahhhhh, I love it! The payment has been transferred to your account. Please provide your address, and we will send you new products at the beginning of each month.

Ji Wei paused. The official Weibo account for Jiang’s Desserts seemed to be run by a very lively young person.

Actually, he had guessed wrong. Jiang’s Desserts was run by the owner himself.

The owner of Jiang’s was already forty years old. He genuinely thought this blogger’s calligraphy was beautiful. He had originally approached Ji Wei out of spite for Lan Ting, but unexpectedly, the calligraphy he produced was even better than Lan Ting’s, and more importantly, his service attitude was excellent.

He wished he could recommend this young man to the whole world, and in fact, that’s what he did.

[Jiang’s Desserts] Everyone, come and see our new sign, written by @Brother Lu’s Little Fanboy!

His tone was undeniably proud.

[Xingzhi] !! It’s so beautiful.

[Lu-Wei Marry on the Spot] Our fandom is hiding a godly master.

[Daily Dessert Recommendation] With a new sign, how can you not release new products?

Besides a stream of compliments, there were also many envious comments below.

[House of Mango] ?? You actually managed to commission him? How much did you pay? Don’t worsen the market competition.

[Feng’s Apparel] Is Jiang’s that rich? I couldn’t even get a single character for three thousand.

[Cute is Justice] It seems no one else managed to commission him. That makes me feel better.

This forced the owner of Jiang’s to come out and explain.

[Jiang’s Desserts] I won’t talk about the price, it’s just the market rate. But our Jiang’s will send new products every month.

He thought he was being very modest, but his show-offy tone was still detected.

[Cute is Justice] Damn, why does this tone sound so smug?

[Feng’s Apparel] Ahem, brother in front, you’re breaking character. Be careful.

[House of Mango] Then I can send mangoes every year. Little fanboy brother, look at me @Brother Lu’s Little Fanboy.

Ji Wei: …………

He could only politely decline another wave of requests.

Because he had to see Professor Song in the afternoon, he started painting after finishing the calligraphy in the morning.

Fanzhou had given him a lot of creative freedom. Usually, the concept is set before the original art is drawn, but Fanzhou let him paint freely.

He closed his eyes in front of the scroll, and an image naturally appeared in his mind.

After a moment, he opened them.

Today, he wanted to paint a silent planet, shrouded in an aura of death, giving off no light. A giant snake was coiled at its base, supporting the planet.

He didn’t know if others would like it, but he really wanted to paint it.

***

Ji Wei painted until three in the afternoon. Even his lunch was brought in by Huang Bo.

Lu Shenxing had returned from Shanghai and was waiting downstairs to go to the hospital with him.

He only then put down his brush, stared blankly at the canvas for a while, and went out.

Even though it wasn’t his first time going to the hospital, he was still a bit timid. But Lu Shenxing was right beside him, holding his hand.

Being held like this by Lu Shenxing, the timidity that had just started to surface vanished.

When they reached the consultation room, he voluntarily let go of Lu Shenxing’s hand and said in a small voice, “I’ll go in by myself.”

“Can you do it alone?”

The man reached out and ruffled his hair.

That tone was so gentle that Ji Wei wavered for a moment.

But for the sake of better treatment, he still slowly nodded.

Lu Shenxing half-lowered his eyes.

His little one was so well-behaved.

Ji Wei didn’t know what Lu Shenxing was thinking and walked into the consultation room alone, feeling anxious.

He closed the door—

Ji Wei sat in front of Professor Song, clutching a paper cup so tightly he didn’t even realize his own agitation.

Professor Song’s gaze fell on his hand, then quickly moved away. He pushed up his glasses and asked, “Was Weiwei happy this week?”

Happy?

Ji Wei was stunned for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“Why was Weiwei happy?” Professor Song guided him to talk more. “Can you tell me? I won’t tell anyone.”

Ji Wei slowly loosened his grip on the paper cup, but his head drooped. After a long while, he answered slowly, “Because… I was with my partner.”

Professor Song couldn’t help but smile.

Being a psychologist was not an easy job. One had to grasp the patients’ mental state through their words and actions to provide guidance. But listening to Ji Wei’s confession, Professor Song felt very relaxed.

Unlike many other patients who came for consultation, Ji Wei was a very pure child.

When he trusted someone, it was with complete trust, without any suspicion or doubt.

—Especially towards Lu Shenxing.

The world he saw was the world around him. Children like this needed more encouragement.

After chatting with Professor Song for a while, Ji Wei realized he had been too nervous.

Professor Song was talking to him like a friend, patiently listening to everything that had happened to him over the past week, without frowning or criticizing, just encouraging him to open up.

Gradually, he relaxed, thinking that psychotherapy didn’t seem as scary as he had imagined.

After the consultation ended, as Ji Wei stood up to leave, Professor Song suddenly called out to him, “Let’s do a psychological test.”

His body stiffened, and he sat down nervously.

“It’s not a serious test, it’s the kind you young people like to do.” Professor Song smiled and handed him his phone, which displayed a QR code. “It’s a public account run by one of my students. It won’t take much effort, you can do it when you get back.”

Only then did Ji Wei breathe a sigh of relief. He opened WeChat and scanned the code.

—Test your personality traits

He filled it out as he walked out.

As Professor Song had said, it was a very lighthearted test with only three options. He filled it out quickly and finished just as he was leaving the consultation room.

He was about to check the results when he found that he needed to follow the public account, which was probably a way to attract followers.

He followed the public account, and the test results popped up on the screen.

—You are sweet. Your personality can easily win everyone’s affection, just like a sweet strawberry with milk. Who wouldn’t like that?

“I’m sweet?” Ji Wei was a bit surprised by this result and muttered to himself.

His voice wasn’t loud.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shenxing was waiting outside the consultation room. He glanced at him, then gave a low “mhm,” and affirmed with his eyes lowered, “You are sweet.”

He was stunned. Did his idol know what he was talking about?

His reaction seemed to be interpreted by Lu Shenxing as dissatisfaction. The man repeated, “Only you are sweet,” word by word.