Over there, Nie Shanglin was quiet, as if thinking hard about something. After a moment, he said slowly, “Cheng Zhou, I like you.”

Cheng Zhou smiled, leaning against the bed, using his left shoulder to hold his phone while he picked up the camera next to him: “What about Cheng Yuze?”

“Our situation has nothing to do with him.”

“Why didn’t you say it was unrelated before?”

“Cheng Zhou,” Nie Shanglin said seriously, “I like you.”

“Pfft!” Cheng Zhou couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re the one who called someone else’s name when we were together, the one who doesn’t come home all day, and the one who told me not to bother Cheng Yuze. Now you say you like me?”

Nie Shanglin wanted to argue, “I…”

Cheng Zhou interrupted decisively, “Alright, stop talking. My Ant Huabei balance is yours now.”

Nie Shanglin: “What?”

Cheng Zhou laughed, “What, after laughing me to death, do you want to inherit my bus card too?”

Nie Shanglin avoided his joke and said, “Will you come home with me?”

“No, next one.”

Nie Shanglin frowned. He had already lowered his defenses, his tone was filled with a hint of pleading, but Cheng Zhou remained unresponsive, leaving him feeling lost. In the past, Cheng Zhou appeared carefree yet was quite observant; he could perceive every emotion in Nie Shanglin and provide just the right kind of attentive care. A casual, caring comment from Nie Shanglin could brighten his day, and he often playfully asked Nie Shanglin if he had started to like him.

At that time, Nie Shanglin could feel Cheng Zhou pouring all his love into him.

But ever since they met again, Cheng Zhou had become so unfamiliar that it scared him.

He wasn’t sure what he was afraid of, but the feeling of disconnection and loss of control was really uncomfortable. Before Cheng Zhou said they should break up, he had seemed calm, but not cold.

Maybe it was the fear of Cheng Zhou’s change that made Nie Shanglin think this way, and before he knew it, he spoke out loud.

Cheng Zhou was momentarily taken aback and then replied with a smile, “Before we broke up? Do you remember how long it had been since we last saw each other when I brought it up?”

This time, it was Nie Shanglin who was stunned. After moving in with Cheng Zhou, he often didn’t return to their shared ‘home’ because he hadn’t been very concerned. Sometimes he’d come back for just two or three days, while other times he didn’t show up for over a month.

So, how long had it been that time…

“I’m sorry.”

Then there was a long silence between them again.

Cheng Zhou put down his DSLR, rubbed his forehead, and suppressed his impatience. He spoke earnestly, “Nie Shanglin, if you’ve ever been all alone, if you’ve spent a long time and poured all your strength into loving someone else, then when you finally struggle out of that relationship, you might even lose the ability to love yourself.

I’m grateful that I can still love myself, but this fragile, fleeting love will never again be given to anyone else in this lifetime. Do you understand?”

“I don’t understand,” Nie Shanglin insisted. “I don’t believe you don’t have feelings for me anymore.”

Cheng Zhou replied with a particularly relaxed tone, “Honestly, I really don’t.”

———

When Cheng Zhou first met Nie Shanglin, his mother had just passed away.

After she discovered that her husband had a mistress and that the child was only a few months younger than Cheng Zhou, his mother, who had always been gentle and dignified, became radical and twisted, quarreling with his father all day long.

Later, she even confronted Cheng Yuze and his mother, offering them money to leave, but Cheng Zhou’s father arrived and slapped her in public, dragging her back home.

Once home, they argued, broke things, and fought. Just as Cheng Zhou’s father raised his hand to slap his mother again, Cheng Zhou walked in and immediately knocked his father to the ground, getting into a physical struggle with him.

In a fit of rage, Cheng Zhou’s father shouted, “You’ve turned against me! No wonder the son is just like the mother!”

After saying that, he waved his hand and walked out.

Cheng Zhou’s mother, with her hair in disarray and her makeup ruined, knelt on the ground, holding Cheng Zhou and crying heavily.

After that, Cheng Zhou’s father didn’t come home for a long time, while his mother grew increasingly thin and depressed. A woman who hadn’t been well cared for by Cheng Zhou’s grandparents all her life suddenly faced an unexpected event at her age, losing the pure love she had believed in for half her life.

No matter what Cheng Zhou did, he couldn’t make his mother happy. Finally, on a bright sunny morning, she fell asleep and never woke up again, with an empty bottle of sleeping pills on the table.

Sleeping pills are prescription medications, and regular pharmacies usually don’t sell them. It’s unclear where she managed to collect so many.

Cheng Zhou’s grandfather, who already doted on him, felt immense guilt over this situation and treated Cheng Zhou even better. He also publicly announced that he would never acknowledge Cheng Yuze as part of their family.

After that, Cheng Zhou wandered through life in a daze and even thought about dying, but he encountered Nie Shanglin three times. He thought to himself, this must be fate.

For all those years, one of the main reasons Cheng Zhou continued to be with Nie Shanglin and held onto him as his ‘home’ was that Nie Shanglin had given him thoughts and hope more than once.

When Cheng Zhou and Nie Shanglin first slept together, Nie Shanglin ended up calling out Cheng Yuze’s name, leaving Cheng Zhou feeling utterly despondent.

However, later that night, Nie Shanglin held him close and buried his head in Cheng Zhou’s neck, murmuring in a half-asleep voice, “Xiao Ze rejected me. How about we give it a try?”

Cheng Zhou wasn’t sure if Nie Shanglin was fully awake, but when he heard those words, he felt genuinely happy—so happy that his waist didn’t ache, his butt didn’t hurt, and he didn’t even want to sleep anymore.

So the next day, he said to Nie Shanglin, “Don’t you think you should take responsibility?”

Nie Shanglin didn’t deny it.

Thus, they began this fragile relationship.

In reality, only Cheng Zhou held onto a painful hope for the future.

After Cheng Zhou graduated from university, he gradually started to integrate into the company. His shareholding had already surpassed that of his father, who was no longer capable. Cheng Zhou’s grandfather, still in good health, insisted that his father write down the inheritance distribution in front of Cheng Zhou. Cheng Zhou received eight shares, while Cheng Yuze got two.

Though unwilling, Cheng Zhou’s father complied.

Cheng Zhou’s grandfather truly cared for him.

However, unexpected events always strike without warning. A year after Cheng Zhou graduated, his grandfather suffered a heart attack and died suddenly that same day.

Before Cheng Zhou received the news, he accidentally knocked over the blue-and-white porcelain cup his grandfather had given him. His heart skipped a beat just as he got a call from home.

“Young Master, the old master… has passed away.”

That day, Cheng Zhou couldn’t remember how he got there. He ran out in a frenzy, pushing and bumping into things, his hands trembling as he drove.

The funeral for his grandfather was modest, attended only by familiar faces.

A black-and-white photo of his grandfather was placed on the gravestone in the cemetery. His lips were pressed together, and he wore a serious expression, a stern old man by appearance. Yet, Cheng Zhou found him lovable and comforting.

Many people attended the funeral. Some pretended to cry, others offered condolences, and some engaged in small talk, but Cheng Zhou remained indifferent as he knelt in front of the gravestone.

At that time, he was already living with Nie Shanglin, who often said he was busy and rarely came home. However, during those days, Nie Shanglin returned home early every day. He didn’t ask many questions but quietly stayed with Cheng Zhou, holding him as he slept.

At first, Cheng Zhou couldn’t sleep. Even when he did doze off, he would wake up startled in the middle of the night, and in those moments, Nie Shanglin would hold him even tighter.

Later, Cheng Zhou got through that difficult period, foolishly believing that Nie Shanglin had feelings for him. He thought that life, with its joys and sorrows, was beyond control, but at least he had Nie Shanglin by his side; he wasn’t alone.

At that time, he even felt that Nie Shanglin was serious about their relationship. It wasn’t ambiguous or just his one-sided wishful thinking.

That was until one day when Cheng Zhou faced life and death without anyone to care for him, and he overheard Mu Chenfeng’s chilling words: “It’s time to take action against the Cheng family.”