The power of the word “sister-in-law” is enormous. As a result, Yu Wenning was unable to regain his composure for half a day. 

It wasn’t until the tiny monk reached out his hand to him again and said, “Sister-in-law, don’t you like it when I call you that?” Yu Wenning didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, squatting down to ask, “Who taught you to call me that?” 

The little guy blinked his eyes and readily betrayed his senior brother, “Shixiong taught me.” 

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t!” Lian Qing denied it without even thinking about it. 

It’s not wrong to say that Senior Brother taught him. The little guy said, looking at his senior brother with a disapproving look on his face, furrowing his brow in a way that was reminiscent of their master. 

Yu Wenning teasingly looked at him, causing Lian Qing to lower his head in embarrassment. Only then did Yu Wenning lower his head and say to the little guy, “Don’t learn from your shixiong. A good kid should be bold and confident.” 

“Okay!” The little guy nodded vigorously, he wouldn’t learn from his senior brother! 

Yu Wenning continued, “Also, don’t call me sister-in-law, that’s not right.” 

The little guy tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Then what should I call you?” 

After a moment’s thought, Yu Wenning said, “Just call me…brother-in-law” 

*哥夫.(gē fū) – elder brother husband. Sounds weird in English so I’ll just go with ‘brother-in-law’.

The little monk obediently called out, “Brother-in-law.” 

Lian Qing: “…”

Since old classmates had said that the way people address each other could define their hierarchy, Lian Qing struggled to suggest, “Wait a minute, I feel like brother-in-law isn’t quite right, it sounds strange. Why not just call him sister-in-law? It sounds nice and rolls off the tongue…”

“I also think sister-in-law sounds better.” The tiny monk looked at his big brother with anticipation. “Why don’t I just call you sister-in-law?” 

Lian Qing was almost laughing out loud. Yu Wenning’s gaze was fixed dangerously on his innocent-looking lover lying on the hospital bed. If he weren’t injured, he would make sure that Lian Qing understood clearly whether his little shidi should call him “sister-in-law” or “brother-in-law”! 

This issue of how to address him was a matter of face, and for once Yu Wenning didn’t make concessions to Lian Qing. But unfortunately, they couldn’t settle this matter on the bed, so they still couldn’t decide who was right after ten minutes. 

In the end, the tiny monk got fed up, waved his little hand, and said, “Let’s just not call him anything. Let’s just call him ‘Yu gege’!”

Two people’s fighting spirit was temporarily extinguished by a sentence. Lian Qing lay back on the bed, weakly shouting at Yu Wenning, “Big Brother, take the Xiao San’er back, take a shower, change clothes, and come back after resting.”

The little one didn’t want to leave. “I can take a shower here. I don’t want to leave Shixiong.”

Lian Qing whispered to him, “Be obedient. The hospital has the smell of disinfectant, and staying here for too long isn’t good for children’s health.”

“But I want to stay with Shixiong.” The little one refused to leave no matter what.

Lian Qing had to turn to Yu Wenning for help. Yu Wenning reluctantly approached and picked up the little one, reasoning and coaxing him, and finally managed to convince him to go home first.

But the little one was sensible and said, “I can go back, but can Yu gege stay here? Shixiong is alone and he will be scared.”

Yu Wenning instinctively glanced at Lian Qing, then touched the little one softly, “Okay. I promise to stay with your shixiong until you come back.”

The little one held out a little finger. “Hook it.”

Yu Wenning smiled and extended his pinky, touching the small hand that was too small. “Hooked, hanged, for a hundred years, no changes allowed!”

After hooking their fingers, the little one was finally relieved and was sent back by Yu Wenning’s assistant and bodyguard.

After the little one left, Yu Wenning returned to Lian Qing’s side and asked worriedly, “How are you doing?”

“Not good, it hurts. Last time I woke up, it wasn’t this painful.” Lian Qing’s face was particularly pale, and even a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead in a short period of time.

When his shidi was present, he could endure the pain. He wiped away the sweat with his sleeves and the blanket, and when he couldn’t stand the pain, he sat up or lay down, which could temporarily shift his attention.

But now that the little one had left, facing Yu Wenning alone, he felt unbearable and cried out in pain.

Yu Wenning gave him a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and said softly, “There were still remnants of anesthesia on your back last time. This time, the effect of the anesthesia has probably worn off, so it hurts more.”

Lian Qing’s eyes were slightly red, pitifully saying, “Can they give me another shot…it hurts too much, it’s so uncomfortable.”

Yu Wenning gently touched his face, feeling so heartbroken that he didn’t know what to do. But he remained rational and could only say, “Be good, endure it, it’ll pass.”

With a nasal tone, Lian Qing hummed, “It didn’t hurt this much when I had a car accident…”

When he had a car accident, he had mostly suffered from fractures and muscle strains. This time, however, his back was heavily scraped, and several pieces of flesh were cut open by stones. Apart from burns, this type of injury was the most irritating. Now his entire back felt like it was on fire, both painful and itchy.

“You had a car accident?” Yu Wenning frowned. He hadn’t heard of this before.

Lian Qing shrugged nonchalantly, “Yeah, it was a long time ago. I was rushing and didn’t pay attention, and got hit. Luckily, it wasn’t too serious…”

Bringing up the past incident unintentionally, Lian Qing awkwardly changed the subject, “I heard from Cheng Jie that this has something to do with your uncle from that something hall?”

Yu Wenning had intended to ask more about it, but had to put it aside for now. He nodded and said, “Yes, I’m sorry. He was originally coming for me, but ended up involving you…”

“What are you talking about?” Lian Qing smiled and grabbed Yu Wenning’s slightly cool hand, “I have to thank him. If he hadn’t caused such a commotion, I don’t know when I would have come to my senses, and we wouldn’t know when we could be together! But why did he have to go after you?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Wenning’s heart was filled with burning anger. He opened his mouth several times, but finally, under Lian Qing’s gentle gaze, he slowly said, “My family situation is rather complicated. Do you want to know more?”

Lian Qing nodded naturally, “Of course, I want to know about the family situation of the person I’m dating. Besides, even an ugly wife has to meet her in-laws, right?”

Yu Wenning shook his head and said with a slightly bitter smile, “You won’t be able to meet them.”

“Hmm?” Lian Qing was puzzled.

“They… one died early, and the other is in prison. He won’t be out for at least ten or eight years.”

Yu Wenning finally made up his mind and opened up to Lian Qing about his past.

“The Yu Group should have been called the Wen Group in the past…” 

In simple terms, it was a story of a playboy who tricked a wealthy young lady into marrying him, and then took control of the group that should have belonged to her when her father passed away. After that, he and the members of the Yu family kept inserting their own people into the company and playing games of “survival of the fittest.”

Naturally, his actions chilled the heart of the wealthy young lady. But unfortunately, she didn’t care about her husband’s affairs and continued to have affairs outside, even giving birth to several illegitimate children, and even attempting to bring them back home.

Oh, wait, she already did bring them back home.

How could the pampered and spoiled wealthy young lady endure such humiliation? She couldn’t bear it and committed suicide, leaving behind a son who was not even ten years old.

Listening to this, Lian Qing couldn’t imagine how Yu Wenning, who had lost both parents and had a despicable father, managed to survive.

Yu Wenning had no intention of going into details about how he managed to endure it. He only said that after graduating from university, he entered the Yu Group’s internal work with the help of some old connections of his grandfather from the residual forces of the group.

Skipping over the various intrigues that happened in between, in the end, the company’s power gradually leaned towards Yu Wenning. How could the members of the Yu family, who had never liked him, tolerate this? His biological father even tried to have him kidnapped.

Unfortunately, Yu Wenning was stubborn and was kidnapped for a few days, but he came back alive. However, he couldn’t find the evidence to prove that his father was murdered, so he had to send him to prison under a different name.

Since then, the Yu family members in the company have been polite to Yu Wenning, and the surface peace was maintained. However, this peace was shattered when Yu Wenning tried to reform some of the company’s systems.

Before the renaming of the Wen Group, it was a top domestic company. However, after it became the Yu Group, due to poor management by the leadership, the company’s status and scale declined. It wasn’t until Yu Wenning took over that the company slowly regained some of its former glory.

However, as long as those in the Yu family who only know how to play palace politics and use underhanded means occupy important positions in the company, Yu Wenning cannot go all out to do business.

It can be said that the two sides will inevitably confront each other sooner or later. Before taking action, Yu Wenning had already made all the arrangements for Lian Qing.

He was used to being alone and not afraid of anything, but Lianqing was different. That was his weak spot. He was afraid that those in the Yu family would know this, so he focused on Lian Qing.

Unfortunately, despite all his efforts, someone still found a loophole. Fortunately, Lian Qing was not in danger of losing his life.

“Now I have control of the witness, and I have also obtained part of the evidence of my uncle’s plot to kill you. As long as I have more time, I can send him to prison.”

When Yu Wenning said this, he paused for a long time before continuing, “It may not be peaceful these days, but I will have the bodyguards watch over you and Lian Sang day and night to ensure your safety. You…”

His unfinished words were cut off by the sudden soft lips pressed against his own.

The surprise attack was successful. Lian Qing didn’t lie down again, instead, he half leaned in Yu Wenning’s arms and said, “I thought I was unlucky, but you… are even worse.”

It is said that it is more painful to have something and then lose it than to never have it at all. Lian Qing didn’t know if this was true, but he was certain of one thing. Although he had no parents, he had always had a master by his side, and later he had good classmates, and then he had his shidi.

But what about Yu Wenning?

Such a father, such a family, was worse than having none at all.

He didn’t know if Yu Wenning’s mother had even thought about her son for a moment before she died, or if she had any regrets. Lian Qqing couldn’t understand her.

If it were him, even if he suffered great pain and torture, he would fight to live, cherish his body and life. He couldn’t let his master’s white hair… cough, white-bearded man send black-haired man. He couldn’t let his junior apprentice brother feel sad and upset. He couldn’t let his new lover Yu Wenning suffer in pain and despair.

Sometimes, death may be a relief, but it is also a form of selfishness. The deceased cannot feel the pain, but loved ones may have to bear more pain…

Lian Qing slowly hugged Wenning and whispered, “Fortunately, you have me now, as well as your junior apprentice brother and master.”

He looked up and pecked lightly at Wenning’s chin, saying, “Don’t worry, I will definitely treat you well in the future!”

Wenning looked at him blankly for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter. He buried his head in Lian Qing’s shoulder and extended his hands to lightly touch the man’s back…

“Ah… let go, let go, it hurts so much!” he said while frantically hitting his back.

Yu Wenning: “…………” Somehow, I feel like my back hurts more.

What emotions, what mood, what sentimentality, at this moment, it all became *scattered ash and dispersed smoke.

“灰飞烟灭” (huī fēi yān miè) is a Chinese idiom that means something disappears completely or becomes extinguished without a trace. To be annihilated. 

TN: This is going to be the last update for a while as I work on migrating the other chapters over first.