Qin Shuang looked at her listless son and quietly sighed. This child had always been strong-willed, never satisfied with a 90-point answer when he could achieve a perfect score of 100. He was excellent, but it was also tiring.

She reached out to pat Yu Qingyue’s head. “Did you guess it? After all, he’s your brother, so he can’t be completely incompetent, and I can’t just give him nothing. I thought that…”

Yu Qingyue nodded, “…I know everything.” But knowing didn’t make him feel any better.

Qin Shuang continued, “Well, you’ve always been obedient and sensible, and I’ve always been at ease with you. So you can rest assured, everything of mine will eventually be yours… But you and your brother still need to get along. The family’s assets are not few, even if you don’t do anything, it will be enough. Just don’t end up like other families, with brothers fighting to the death, okay?”

Yu Qingyue pressed his lips together. As long as Yu Wanlai didn’t act recklessly, he certainly wouldn’t either. “Okay, I understand.”

—

On the way back, Yu Wanlai felt like his head was about to explode. He felt like he had been forced into the role of a villain, waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of someone’s illness. He didn’t understand how his so-called ‘cheap’ father’s mind worked. In the past, when the antagonist fought and struggled, his father didn’t give him anything. Now that he wasn’t fighting or struggling, his father was trying to give him everything.

He had just gotten his relationship with the male lead on better terms, and now it seemed like it was all for nothing. Yu Wanlai sighed, his head against the seat as he stared out the window at the rapidly passing scenery, feeling exhausted. Some people seem to still be breathing, but in reality, they’ve been cold for a long time.

Yu Cheng scoffed lightly, unsatisfied with his son’s reaction. After all, he wasn’t the one who raised him, and his temperament and nature were nothing like his own. He remembered when he had said he would let Yu Qingyue manage the headquarters, the boy’s eyes had been full of hope and determination for the future. Later, it turned out that Yu Qingyue was indeed capable of shouldering the responsibility. The headquarters was managed impeccably by him, and the revenue had been setting new records every year.

—

Once Yu Qingyue’s body was able to get out of bed for light activity, he was transferred back to the hospital in their city. After all, Qin Shuang was busy with her own work and couldn’t stay in the neighboring city to care for him. Returning to their city made things much easier, and she would visit him after work every day. As time passed, Yu Qingyue’s health gradually improved, and Qin Shuang’s heart began to settle.

—

This weekend, Qin Shuang went back home to cook for Yu Qingyue and forgot to bring her phone. Yu Qingyue was sitting in the hospital room, the sunlight streaming in from the window, occupying most of the space. He sat cross-legged with his back to the window, basking in the sun.

Suddenly, he heard the ringtone of an incoming call. He was busy playing with the toy that Yu Wanlai had given him that day and didn’t notice the caller ID, so he answered the phone immediately. “Hello…” He thought it was his mother calling again to ask what food she should buy for him. Before he could say anything, he heard a man’s voice on the other end of the line, sounding rather impatient.

“I say, Xiao Shuang, when exactly are you going to let me see my son? Don’t think you can easily send me off this time… I’ve been patient enough…”

Yu Qingyue glanced at the phone and realized it wasn’t his. His mouth opened, but he couldn’t say a word for a while.

What did that mean? Did his mother have another son? His fingers trembled for a moment, and the phone slipped onto the bed. His heart rate suddenly quickened, as if it were about to burst out of his chest, but he also felt a strange difficulty in breathing. He didn’t hear what was said on the other end of the call after that. Or maybe the person on the other side meant that the son he was talking about was him—but how could that be?

Yu Qingyue suddenly remembered the time he saw Qin Shuang crying while holding his childhood photo, and all the odd pieces of the puzzle suddenly connected. Just as he was about to desperately pick up the phone again to ask the person on the other end, the call was already disconnected. Perhaps because they hadn’t heard his voice, the person thought there was a problem with the call.

He wanted to call back, but he didn’t know his mother’s phone’s lock screen password, and now he couldn’t see the number. The person didn’t call back either.

A few minutes later, Qin Shuang returned to the hospital with lunch, holding a small cake in her hand. She quickly walked through the hallway and pushed open the door to the hospital room, only to find Yu Qingyue curled up at the head of the bed, looking lost. Hearing the door open, Yu Qingyue immediately looked up at Qin Shuang, his gaze intense.

“Mom, who is Qi Heng?”

Qin Shuang’s eyes flashed with panic for a moment. She turned her back to close the door, hiding her unease. She placed the items on the bedside table, then sat down on the chair, smiling at Yu Qingyue. “He’s a friend of mine. Why do you ask?”

She placed the warm lunchbox on the small table by the bed and shook the cake gently in front of him. “You can have a little cake after eating, but don’t eat too much.”

Yu Qingyue fixed his gaze on Qin Shuang, not looking at the food on the table. His voice trembled as if he was holding back something. “Oh, he just called you…”

Qin Shuang’s grip on the cake tightened, but she still remained calm. “It’s fine. We’ll eat first, and then I’ll call him back. It’s probably nothing urgent.”

Yu Qingyue was handed a pair of chopsticks. “Eat,” she urged.

He lowered his head, looking at the steaming food on the table, remaining silent for a long time. “He said he wanted to see his son… So his son is… is me?”

Qin Shuang slammed the chopsticks down on the table with a sharp sound. Her tone was stern. “I said! Eat first!” She accidentally knocked over the soup bowl, and the hot soup splashed onto Yu Qingyue’s leg. His muscles twitched from the pain, but it seemed like he didn’t feel it at all.

Qin Shuang rushed to the bathroom to dampen a towel with cool water. She lifted Yu Qingyue’s pants to apply it to his leg, but he stopped her with his hand, looking at her defiantly. “Did you cheat on Dad? I… I wasn’t Dad’s real son, was I?”

Qin Shuang suddenly slapped Yu Qingyue across the face. His head jerked to the side from the force. It was clear that she had used a lot of strength. She stared at her hand, trembling, and before she could speak, tears started to stream from her eyes. She shouted fiercely, “…You are your father’s son! I won’t let you say such things!”

—

That day, Yu Wanlai had been with Yu Cheng discussing business with clients. As they passed by the hospital where Yu Qingyue was staying, they decided to visit. But as soon as they exited the elevator, Yu Cheng received an urgent call, so Yu Wanlai went to the room alone.

When he reached the door and was about to turn the handle to open it, he heard a sharp argument inside. Yu Wanlai thought something was wrong and, impulsively, opened the door and rushed in. “What’s going on? What’s happening? Who’s arguing?”

When he saw only Yu Qingyue and Qin Shuang inside, he paused for a moment, confused. Could the shouting have been from Qin Shuang? He quickly noticed the red handprint on Yu Qingyue’s face, and his heart tightened. Without thinking, he stepped quickly over to Yu Qingyue’s side. “What happened to your face? You two…?”

Yu Qingyue turned his head away, curling up with his knees against his chest, saying nothing.

Yu Wanlai had no choice but to look at Qin Shuang. “Aunt, what’s going on? Did you two have a fight?”

Qin Shuang had quickly wiped away her tears when Yu Wanlai entered. She appeared no different than usual, except for the faint redness at the corners of her eyes.

“It’s nothing. I accidentally spilled the soup. I’ll call the nurse…” She said, and without waiting for a response, she walked quickly toward the door.

Yu Wanlai was puzzled. “Then why not just press the bell?”

Before he could finish, the door had already been shut. He was left to swallow his words. As he was about to sit down, he looked down and saw that the red mark on Yu Qingyue’s leg was still visible. “You spilled soup on your leg? It’s already red… Why didn’t you say anything?”

He was about to press the bell to call for the nurse but then remembered that Qin Shuang had already gone to do so. Glancing around, he spotted the towel that Qin Shuang had just dampened. He touched it to confirm it was cool and gently placed it on Yu Qingyue’s leg. He applied the lightest pressure, occasionally blowing gently to relieve his pain.

“Does it hurt? If it does, tell me, and I’ll be gentler.” Yu Qingyue instinctively pulled his leg back, now realizing it did hurt and itch a little.

Seeing Yu Qingyue pull away, Yu Wanlai quickly grabbed his ankle with his other hand and pulled it back toward him. He looked up at Yu Qingyue. “What are you hiding for? Do you want blisters and scars from the burn?”

Yu Qingyue was currently feeling frustrated and didn’t want to see anyone. Especially since he was still angry about the things Yu Wanlai had hidden from him. Now, he found out that the thing he had been keeping a secret for so long might have been this very matter. He snorted coldly, “I don’t need your fake concern!” He probably had been waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

No wonder the person who had always been passionate about doing bad things suddenly one day seemed to have reformed, becoming indifferent and selfless. Yu Wanlai took a deep breath, holding back the words that almost slipped out of his mouth, and decided not to argue for now.

After a while, when the towel had stopped being cool, Yu Wanlai went to the bathroom to wash it again, and eventually just filled a basin with water and placed it beside the bed. Yu Qingyue lay with his head resting on his other knee, looking out the window. It was deep winter, and in front of the hospital building, a row of pine trees stood, now covered with a thick layer of snow, making it look as cold as it felt.

It wasn’t until the cold towel was placed on his face that Yu Qingyue snapped back to reality. Yu Wanlai, sitting on a chair, had trouble reaching Yu Qingyue who was sitting at the far side of the bed. After holding up his hand for a while, he finally moved the messy small table aside, found a dry spot, and sat down to apply the towel to Yu Qingyue’s face.

Yu Qingyue glanced at Yu Wanlai, who was so close to him, but then his attention was drawn to the towel on his face. He frowned and pushed Yu Wanlai’s hand away, tilting his head back in anger, “You’re using the towel that you used to wipe my legs to wipe my face?!”

Yu Wanlai looked at the towel in his hand, then at Yu Qingyue, hesitating before nodding, “What’s wrong? What’s the problem? It’s your own flesh, are you disgusted now?”

Yu Qingyue was so angry that he couldn’t speak for a while, “Take it away, I won’t use it anymore!”

Yu Wanlai sighed and nodded, “Fine!” He stood up to leave, but as soon as he thought of something, Yu Qingyue hurriedly grabbed his shirt, “Wait! You can’t leave! I still have something to ask you.”

Yu Wanlai was caught by his collar, and he looked back at Yu Qingyue’s hand, rolling his eyes. What was with this main character? Why did he always grab his clothes whenever something was wrong? Was this murder? He pulled Yu Qingyue’s hand away and helplessly said, “I didn’t say I was leaving, why are you panicking?”

Yu Qingyue grabbed the corner of Yu Wanlai’s clothes again and held on tightly. Looking up at him, his face full of distrust, “Then what are you doing?”

Yu Wanlai raised his hand, still holding the towel, and brought it up to Yu Qingyue’s eyes, “I’m going to change the towel for you, you delicate little young master!”

Yu Qingyue’s face turned red, and he immediately released the shirt he was holding, then dissatisfiedly retorted, “You’re the delicate one!” After Yu Wanlai left, he spoke again, “You already knew that I’m not my dad’s biological son, didn’t you?”

Yu Wanlai’s pupils dilated. He looked around, trying to figure out the quickest escape route. Why was he being dragged into this? Why did he always have to answer these things?! He was panicking inside.

Yu Qingyue grabbed Yu Wanlai’s wrist, his gaze fixed on him, not giving him any chance to escape. He was determined to get all the answers today.

Yu Wanlai forced a smile, trying to laugh it off, “What are you talking about? How could you not be your dad’s son? If you’re not his son, then whose son are you? Stop making up nonsense!”

“Hahaha,” Yu Qingyue was not fooled by his clumsy lie, “What else do you know? When did you find out?”

Recalling his mother’s strange behavior recently, he looked at the person in front of him suspiciously, his eyes cold, “Did you bring that Qi Heng back?” Otherwise, why would that person suddenly appear and want to see him?

When Yu Wanlai heard this, his vision blacked out. Why was this being pinned on him again? What did it have to do with him? He quickly shook his head, eager to distance himself from it, “I don’t know anyone named Qi Heng, this has nothing to do with me. Don’t blame me for it. I don’t want to take over your family business!”

Yu Qingyue’s suspicion remained strong, “You really don’t know him? Then would you dare check my phone?”

Yu Wanlai immediately pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Yu Qingyue with both hands, his expression unusually sincere, “Here, look, look however you want, just don’t blame me.”

Yu Qingyue unlocked the phone and saw the empty chat interface and call records. There were only five people listed: Yu Cheng’s, Qin Shuang’s, the driver’s, and the assistants for both Yu Cheng and himself. Yu Qingyue’s lips twitched as he handed the phone back to Yu Wanlai, still with a straight face. He didn’t say whether he believed it or not but simply stated, “This doesn’t prove you’re innocent. Maybe you have another phone.”

Yu Wanlai almost dropped the phone in surprise. He really did have another phone—his original one.