Chapter 120 – Family Background
Lin Ganzhi’s face turned pale for a moment. The moment he threw the key at home, he did have such a thought, but not right now. For Yan Shengping to be able to question him so righteously now, he suddenly felt like laughing. Was this the legendary case of the villain suing first?
“Is there a rule that says you have to bring your key when you go out to play on your birthday? I was good and didn’t disturb your work. Can’t I find a place to celebrate my own birthday?” Lin Ganzhi said, giving up on freeing his arm from Yan Shengping’s grasp, thinking he was speaking calmly.
If Yan Shengping still couldn’t hear the sarcasm in Lin Ganzhi’s voice by now, all his years of social experience would have been for nothing.
He was resentful that he didn’t even remember his birthday.
But he didn’t let go of Lin Ganzhi. Instead, he pinned him against the wall and pressed in tightly. The natural sense of oppression made Lin Ganzhi nervously press against the wall. Yan Shengping’s gaze swept over Lin Ganzhi’s eyes and asked, “Zhizhi, what do you mean by that?”
Lin Ganzhi tilted his head up, but his gaze looked elsewhere, unwilling to speak.
Yan Shengping had been working overtime for two consecutive weeks, sleeping no more than three hours a day. At this point, he was at his physical limit. So, after a standoff of no more than three minutes, Yan Shengping’s attitude softened. He rested his forehead on Lin Ganzhi’s shoulder, feeling as if he could fall asleep with his eyes closed.
“Sorry, a lot of things held me up today,” Yan Shengping said, tiredly conceding.
“Is that so?” Lin Ganzhi smiled, but the smile was a bit forced. A lot of things had held him up. With his white moonlight around, what else was there for him to do? “Then there’s no need to explain. I already said, I understand your work. It’s just a birthday. You’ve already been very good to me.”
Hearing these words, Yan Shengping didn’t feel very comfortable. Instead, it felt like there was a thorn in his heart, constantly poking him, a dense, stinging pain spreading from his chest.
Lin Ganzhi’s heart also ached, so he had no desire to continue talking to Yan Shengping. Since he was here, he definitely couldn’t be driven away. He reached out and pushed Yan Shengping. To his surprise, Yan Shengping was pushed away by him and leaned against the opposite wall. Lin Ganzhi wanted to say something but ultimately gave up. He turned back to the room, took out a hairdryer from the drawer, and used the sound of the hairdryer to block out any conversation between them.
Lin Ganzhi blew his hair distractedly. He could feel Yan Shengping watching him from behind. Just feeling his gaze made Lin Ganzhi’s heart tighten. At this moment, he wished his hair could be longer, so he could hide under the hairdryer for a little longer.
But this was just Lin Ganzhi’s fantasy. Eight minutes later, Lin Ganzhi reluctantly put down the hairdryer. Just as he was steeling himself to turn around, there was a sudden knock on the door.
As if it were a salvation, Lin Ganzhi immediately stood up and walked towards the door. Yan Shengping, standing at the door, was silent for a second or two, but ultimately opened the door before Lin Ganzhi could.
Standing at the door was Wenren Yi. The moment she saw Yan Shengping, her eyes immediately turned red. Before Lin Ganzhi could come over and figure out what was going on, he saw Wenren Yi throw herself into Yan Shengping’s arms, crying with suppressed, restrained sobs, her hoarse voice dragging on for a long, long time…
Yan Shengping’s face was originally a little ugly and he wanted to push Wenren Yi away, but seeing her current state, he managed to hold back. Lin Ganzhi came over, not understanding, and asked what was wrong.
Then he heard Wenren Yi stammer out a form of address: “Little Uncle.”
This time, not only Lin Ganzhi, but Yan Shengping himself was stunned. He looked down at Wenren Yi in astonishment, not understanding why this person would call him that.
Immediately after, a series of hurried footsteps came from the corridor. The next moment, the few people who walked to the door all had red eyes to varying degrees. Wenren Er had also rushed back from out of town. The moment he saw Yan Shengping, besides Wenren Yi, he was actually the one who cried the hardest.
After everyone had calmed down a bit, they took Yan Shengping to the study. When Yan Shengping saw the DNA test report in his hand, his expression gradually became complicated, or rather, there were many other emotions bubbling to the surface.
“I don’t remember ever giving you anything of mine. Where did this test report come from?” Compared to the Wenren family, Yan Shengping’s feelings for his family were very thin. The Wenren family had been searching for twenty years, but before this, Yan Shengping had never cared what his original family was like. Even after being used and discarded by the Zhong family, he had never thought of finding his biological parents. This report, with a gene comparison of over ninety-nine percent, was strange and absurd to him.
The culprit, Wenren Lin, stood up at this moment, a hint of apology in his smile. “Sorry, I took some hair samples when I used your bathroom that day. Because the first time I saw you, you looked very familiar, Xiao Zhuo.”
“Don’t call me that for now,” Yan Shengping interrupted. Suddenly thinking of something, he added, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. This matter is quite sudden, after all. We didn’t plan on telling you so early, but this girl Yiyi actually called you over here.” Wenren Qi originally had a bit of an elder’s pride in front of Yan Shengping, but now that he knew this person was his own younger brother, his speech softened several degrees. He kept staring at Yan Shengping as if he couldn’t get enough. His eyes were very similar to when he was a child, and his nose hadn’t changed either. How had he not noticed before?
Yan Shengping listened with his eyes lowered, his reaction not very strong. Lin Ganzhi sat on the same sofa with him. Suddenly, Yan Shengping’s hand gripped his. Lin Ganzhi subconsciously wanted to pull away, but after thinking about it, he held back. He was an orphan. If his biological parents suddenly found him while he was still alive and told him they had been looking for him for many years, he would probably be even more at a loss.
“Ahem, Shengping, I heard from Yiyi and Ganzhi that you’ve been working overtime recently. It’s so late, why don’t you go rest first? We can talk more after you’ve had enough rest,” Wenren Lin said, stepping forward. Reminded by this, everyone noticed the visible fatigue on Yan Shengping’s face and all agreed with Wenren Lin’s suggestion.
Yan Shengping nodded, but even as he stood up, he was unwilling to let go of Lin Ganzhi’s hand. Lin Ganzhi didn’t want to make a scene in front of so many people and kept his head down, enduring it, letting Yan Shengping lead him by the hand as they prepared to leave.
“Little Uncle!” Wenren Yi chased after them.
“Yiyi!” Wenren Qi wanted to call his daughter back.
But Wenren Yi ignored his advice and stood in front of Yan Shengping. Many suppressed emotions seemed to have been released from a huge bottle today.
Lin Ganzhi understood Wenren Yi’s feelings now and subconsciously pulled on Yan Shengping’s hand.
Wenren Yi wiped her currently somewhat messy face with her hand, and finally looked at Yan Shengping and said the words that had been bottled up in her heart for twenty years: “Little Uncle, I’m sorry.” Four short words, extremely suppressed.
Yan Shengping’s eyes trembled, the light in them a bit dazed. At this moment, Lin Ganzhi took Yan Shengping’s hand and gently placed it on Wenren Yi’s head. Wenren Yi’s tears flowed like a floodgate had opened. She reached out and hugged Yan Shengping again, but this time there was an extra person. Wenren Er had inserted himself from somewhere, joining Wenren Yi in burrowing into Yan Shengping’s embrace, like two little chicks.
It instantly shattered his initial impression in Lin Ganzhi’s mind. The cool boss with a hint of swagger instantly transformed into a well-behaved little nephew. The siblings, one 1.8 meters tall and the other 1.75 meters, were like two little children at this moment, not at all shy about their actions.
Lin Ganzhi wanted to pull away to give them some space, but Yan Shengping stubbornly held onto him, making the scene a bit strange.
“Ahem! Alright, let your little uncle go rest. You’re so old, not shy at all!” Wenren Qi came out to scold them, a hint of jealousy in his eyes. He also really wanted to hug his younger brother like this. He had thought he would never have the chance to see him again in this lifetime.
At this moment, Wenren Qi’s shoulder was patted by Wenren Lin. Although Wenren Lin didn’t show much emotion, he could also see that his deep-thinking younger brother was really happy today.
“Let’s tell Mom and Dad later. Especially Mom, I’m afraid she’ll get too excited. When we tell them, have Uncle Qin observe on the side,” Wenren Lin said.
“That’s a must. Also, I heard that the Zhong family and our younger brother still have a messy score to settle here. We need to settle it properly!” A trace of his youthful ruthlessness appeared in Wenren Qi’s eyes.
The family sent Yan Shengping and Lin Ganzhi to the guest room, still somewhat reluctant to part.
Wenren Qi even said, “I reserved a room for you before the house was built, but it hasn’t been lived in for too long and needs to be cleaned. I’ll take you to see it tomorrow.”
Yan Shengping said a cryptic “thank you,” the sense of distance in his bones making his older brother smile bitterly. But he also understood. Family wasn’t just about blood ties; it also required later companionship and care. He was already lucky enough to have found this younger brother.
Before the guest room door closed, he looked at Lin Ganzhi and said, “Thank you, Ganzhi, for bringing Xiao Zhuo back to us.”
Lin Ganzhi was stunned for a moment, then smiled kindly.
After closing the door, just as Lin Ganzhi was about to turn around, Yan Shengping hugged him from behind, pressing eighty percent of his weight onto Lin Ganzhi’s body.
At this moment, both of their minds were like paste. They had never expected such a melodramatic script to happen to them.
“You’re heavy. If you’re tired, go to bed and rest first,” Lin Ganzhi said somewhat coldly.
Yan Shengping didn’t let go, his warm breath tickling Lin Ganzhi’s neck. Lin Ganzhi was silent for a moment, then used all his strength to drag Yan Shengping towards the bed. With his weakling physique, the short distance of a few meters felt like half a century to Lin Ganzhi.
Just as he finally reached the bed and saw victory, Yan Shengping suddenly pressed Lin Ganzhi down, protecting the back of his head with his hand, and easily turned Lin Ganzhi’s body over.
At this moment, Lin Ganzhi was like an annoyed little beast, glaring fiercely at Yan Shengping and saying, “You did it on purpose!”
Yan Shengping looked at the so-resistant Lin Ganzhi, feeling very unwell, and even more so, anger surged up from his chest. He was very confused right now, but subconsciously he felt that Lin Ganzhi’s anger was definitely not just about a birthday. Combining this with the points he had been feeling a bit sour about this past week, at the moment Lin Ganzhi was about to use all his strength to push him away, he asked the question, “You saw it, didn’t you?”
Lin Ganzhi froze, then took advantage of Yan Shengping’s inattention to forcefully push him away. He didn’t want to be so pathetic under Yan Shengping. He scrambled off the bed as if escaping, then quickly retreated to a safe distance, panting heavily and saying through gritted teeth, “Yeah, I saw it. You two look great together!”
After he finished speaking, Yan Shengping rarely retorted, but instead looked at Lin Ganzhi in silence.
Lin Ganzhi truly couldn’t stand this kind of gaze. Lin Ganzhi gritted his teeth and turned to leave in a huff, but Yan Shengping didn’t follow. It was as if he was tacitly admitting to the matter. The sound of the closing door also took with it his shattered heart that he had given away.