Chapter 99 – The Past
Move in? Move into Yan Shengping’s room? Lin Ganzhi liked Yan Shengping, but he wasn’t mentally prepared for that. In his mind, their relationship wasn’t that of a married couple, but rather that of boyfriends who had just started dating.
Yan Shengping didn’t pause for long in the face of Lin Ganzhi’s silence, but continued, “Although I love you very much, asking you to move in isn’t about rushing into a deeper relationship. It’s because I don’t want you to be like you were today, waking up from a nightmare and only daring to secretly come over, barefoot, to check if I’m still here, only to save yourself by hurting yourself.” Yan Shengping’s tone was uncharacteristically sad as he held Lin Ganzhi, his fingers gently brushing against his lower lip.
Lin Ganzhi’s recently calmed emotions crumbled again, and his eyes quickly turned red.
Was it because he had been through the rain himself that he was so considerate of his feelings? He had even guessed his thoughts.
After a long silence, Lin Ganzhi agreed in a hoarse voice, “Okay.”
No one had ever said these things to him before. Yan Shengping was the first. Lin Ganzhi decided to be even better to him in the future, and to hold an umbrella for him too.
“Are you sleepy?” Yan Shengping asked.
Lin Ganzhi shook his head in Yan Shengping’s arms. After all that commotion, he didn’t feel sleepy at all. But Yan Shengping was different. “I might fall asleep soon. You should sleep first.”
“That’s perfect. Let’s talk. You told me your past, so I’ll tell you mine. That way it’s fair, isn’t it?” Yan Shengping said softly, his deep, hoarse voice holding a low, tense string that constantly plucked at the ripples in Lin Ganzhi’s heart.
Lin Ganzhi gently rubbed his head against Yan Shengping’s, but he let out a little hum and said, “That makes sense.” Lin Ganzhi thought Yan Shengping was going to tell him about his time in the Zhong family, but instead, Yan Shengping started talking about the orphanage he used to live in.
“I was sent to an orphanage when I was about eight years old. It was an orphanage in the UK. As for my past, the matron told me that I had a high fever on my first day at the orphanage, and when I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything. In a foreign country, racial discrimination is a common thing, and even in an orphanage, it wasn’t uncommon.”
“The other kids discriminated against you for being Asian?” Lin Ganzhi looked up, his tone filled with dissatisfaction.
“Mhm, I was the only Asian in the whole orphanage at that time. Those older kids liked to form cliques and bully people. I remember I told you before that I had a cat.”
Lin Ganzhi remembered this. In addition to feeling heartache, he said with some anger, “I knew you weren’t making up a story back then!”
Yan Shengping let out a low laugh and said, “Half and half. It didn’t die, nor was it adopted by a good family. It just broke its leg when it went out to find food. Those older kids used this as an excuse to bully me, saying I abused cats.”
“!! Damn, you didn’t even do it!” Lin Ganzhi flared up, only to be soothed by Yan Shengping stroking his hair.
“Mhm, it was just an excuse for the kids to target me. The matron stepped in and resolved the matter, and after that, they rarely came to bother me. Until… I met Zhong Jingyi.”
Zhong Jingyi? The book didn’t go into detail about how Yan Shengping was adopted.
“At that time, Zhong Jingyi must have run away from home after a fight with his family. The police temporarily sent him to the orphanage I was in since they couldn’t contact his family. He was bullied even more fiercely than I was when I first arrived.”
“And you helped him,” Lin Ganzhi said, annoyed.
“You guessed it pretty quickly,” Yan Shengping laughed.
Lin Ganzhi fiercely pinched Yan Shengping’s arm, but his arm was rock-hard, and Lin Ganzhi couldn’t even pinch the skin. He could only huff in anger. “The old you was a pure little white flower. How could you bear to see others being bullied?” Lin Ganzhi’s face was practically written with sarcasm.
Yan Shengping gently pinched Lin Ganzhi’s puffed-up cheeks, his eyes crinkling with laughter in the darkness. “Is that how the book described me, or are you adding your own embellishments?”
!!!
Lin Ganzhi was like a bristling hamster. After being called out, he rolled around in Yan Shengping’s arms like a thorn ball. Fortunately, Yan Shengping was strong enough not to let him go. He pressed Lin Ganzhi down and kissed him until he settled down, but now his mouth was also stained with the taste of ointment.
Lin Ganzhi also thought of this and felt a little more satisfied. He had long found the taste in his mouth unpleasant. Who told you to be a masochist and kiss him?
After a bit of fooling around, the two of them settled down again, and Yan Shengping continued, “I helped him, but it was just by giving him a little of my food. When someone came to bother him, I would just stand up for him. One time, he complained that the breakfast was too disgusting and secretly ran out by himself. I was worried and followed him, but we ran into a street fight. I pulled Zhong Jingyi and we escaped. This incident caused a stir in the media, and the Zhong family finally found us through the news. But at that time, Zhong Jingyi refused to go back with them no matter what. Later, Zhong Wenwei saw me. He didn’t say anything, but three days later, the matron told me I had been adopted.”
Lin Ganzhi snuggled in Yan Shengping’s arms and listened quietly, but he gradually heard something unusual. Combining what Yan Shengping had just said, he discovered the biggest point of suspicion. The UK? Wasn’t Yan Shengping adopted from an orphanage in the United States? Why would Zhong Wenwei adopt Yan Shengping? He wouldn’t do anything without benefit. And Zhong Jingyi was so valued by his parents, why would he run away to an orphanage, and then refuse to go back after being found, only returning to the country after he became an adult?
As the plot deviated, Lin Ganzhi now had to suspect that there was a connection between these things, but he lacked evidence. If he brought it up now, it would only make Yan Shengping overthink.
So, Lin Ganzhi only asked one question: “Then did you ever think about going back to contact your biological parents?”
“It’s been so many years. They have their own lives now. What’s the point of going to great lengths to find them? They might have already forgotten me. If I go looking for them, I’ll just be disturbing their current lives.”
Yan Shengping’s thoughts made Lin Ganzhi silent for a moment, but on second thought, given the environment Yan Shengping had grown up in, it was already a great feat for him to have grown into such a normal person.
“But think about Grandma Li. She’s been thinking about her son for over twenty years. And Wenren Yi, he’s always had a place in his heart for his little uncle,” Lin Ganzhi tried to give examples.
Yan Shengping hummed in response, but then said, “There are cases like that, but not many. With my current identity and situation, it’s unrealistic to publicly search for my biological parents. Besides, I already have you and Uncle Yan. Instead of hoping for an unknown family, it’s better to cherish what I have now. I just want you to stay by my side.”
Lin Ganzhi blushed and reached out to hug Yan Shengping tightly. He used to be so straight, how did he become so good at flirting now? He was so embarrassed.
Although Yan Shengping’s thoughts were a bit paranoid, he agreed with what he said later. They had both been through a lot. After stumbling through their twenties, they were lucky to have met each other and given each other precious warmth.
“As long as you don’t have a change of heart, I’ll always be with you. Otherwise,” Lin Ganzhi tried to threaten.
“Otherwise what?” Yan Shengping’s tone gradually became dangerous.
“Otherwise, um,” Lin Ganzhi said on the spot. If he had to say something on the spot, Lin Ganzhi remembered his previous plan. “Otherwise, I’ll take my salary and run, travel the world, and then find handsome guys to date! Mmph!”
As soon as Lin Ganzhi finished speaking, Yan Shengping hugged him and kissed him fiercely. Lin Ganzhi gasped for air in between kisses. “My… my lips still have ointment on them!”
Yan Shengping let go of Lin Ganzhi with a slight pant, their faces extremely close. Yan Shengping said slowly, “Aren’t we supposed to be together through thick and thin? This is what we call sharing weal and woe.” And by the way, he would never give Lin Ganzhi the chance to slip away and find handsome guys. Yan Shengping savored the bitterness in his mouth and, before Lin Ganzhi could say another word, sealed his lips again.
For the first half hour, Lin Ganzhi still had time to deal with Yan Shengping. After half an hour, he was directly kissed into a daze on the bed. In his dreams, there was no more of the past, only Yan Shengping relentlessly chasing him for kisses!
The next day, when Lin Ganzhi woke up, it was already past three in the afternoon. Lin Ganzhi propped himself up and sat up. Yan Shengping was no longer in bed. The wrinkles on the side of the bed proved that the person had been there. Lin Ganzhi, with his pink hair, felt a little disappointed.
Suddenly, there was a sound from the bathroom on the side. When he turned his head, Yan Shengping was just coming out. He was wearing a gray bathrobe, his black wet hair still dripping with water. His fair skin was flawless, his lips were red and his teeth were white. He was a great beauty. No matter how casually he dressed, it couldn’t hide the natural temperament he exuded.
Lin Ganzhi’s mood immediately brightened.
Mhm, score!
“You’re awake? Wash up. Uncle Yan has prepared food,” Yan Shengping said, drying his hair as he walked over.
Lin Ganzhi climbed from the bed to the edge and waved. “Come here first, I’ll blow-dry your hair.” Wet hair for too long is not good for your health.
Yan Shengping’s eyes crinkled with laughter. He took out a hairdryer from the cabinet behind him and handed it to Lin Ganzhi. No one had ever blow-dried his hair for him before. But then again, he didn’t let anyone touch him either.
Yan Shengping sat down on the chair, and Lin Ganzhi sat on the edge of the bed to blow-dry his hair. Lin Ganzhi skillfully separated Yan Shengping’s hair. Yan Shengping’s hair was of the harder type and a bit long. He had been busy with work recently and hadn’t had time to take care of it. Lin Ganzhi imagined Yan Shengping with long hair tied in a ponytail.
Very handsome!
“Yan Shengping, do you want to try growing your hair long? It would definitely look great!” Lin Ganzhi suggested enthusiastically.
“Long hair is hard to manage. I’ll be going to the company to work in a while, and it’ll be troublesome in the morning,” Yan Shengping said. Lin Ganzhi thought about it and felt it was true. But mainly, he was a little jealous at the thought of the whole company being able to see Yan Shengping with long hair. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Yan Shengping his current thoughts!
The two of them seemed to enjoy this kind of peace. Lin Ganzhi dried the back of Yan Shengping’s hair, and Yan Shengping leaned gently against him. Lin Ganzhi’s nose caught a faint scent of cold wood, which was unique to Yan Shengping.
When they went downstairs to eat after drying his hair, Lin Ganzhi brought up the matter of Zhang Dianhuai.
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