Liang Jin observed Li Wenshui’s reaction. When Li Wenshui heard that Liang Xuxing was his cousin, his gaze flickered for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Liang Jin asked. Li Wenshui stared at him for a while, his lips parting but no words coming out for a long time. He turned his head away and glanced uncertainly elsewhere. “It’s nothing, just asking,” he said. But what was the point? Liang Jin wouldn’t help him. They were relatives, but he was just a contract worker, an outsider who didn’t belong.

Liang Jin’s gaze shifted slightly, and he stopped probing, choosing not to ask further.

Just then, another person entered from outside. It was a woman wearing a simple, elegant long dress, her hair flowing smoothly and gracefully, exuding a gentle aura. She was the same woman Li Wenshui had seen with Liang Jin a few days ago. The woman approached them, and when she saw Li Wenshui, her eyes widened slightly, a mix of surprise and curiosity in them.

“You’re Li Wenshui, right? Do you remember me? I’m Liang Yuting. We were in the same class when the school organized the gifted class in senior year.”

Li Wenshui had a vague impression of her. He had attended the best public high school in the city, known for its strong faculty and the highest college entrance exam success rate. Even wealthy families who had everything to their name fought to send their children there. The school only cared about academic performance, and Li Wenshui had been accepted with top-tier grades. The school even waived part of his tuition. Otherwise, someone from a poor family like him would never have the chance to sit in class with the children of the rich.

“Did we go to the same high school?” Liang Jin thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t remember you.”

Li Wenshui thought to himself that of course they had met, but Liang Jin had forgotten.

Grandfather Liang’s deep voice echoed in the room. “Xiao Jin, Xiao Ting, come in—”

Before leaving, Liang Jin squeezed Li Wenshui’s waist. Li Wenshui’s face turned a little red, and his eyes, shining like water, glared at him with an expression that was almost angry but not quite.

Liang Jin found Li Wenshui’s reaction amusing; it was the most interesting thing in his otherwise dull life.

Inside the hall, Grandfather Liang was talking about the test. Li Wenshui was watering the flowers and faintly heard Grandfather Liang seemingly scolding someone. After a while, Liang Xuxing, with a dark expression, quickly left. After Liang Yuting came out, she stopped in front of Li Wenshui.

“Can you show me the vegetables you’re growing?” she asked.

Li Wenshui was a bit surprised.

As they walked, Liang Yuting said, “The rules allow for an external helper, so the fact that you and my cousin are growing vegetables isn’t a secret.” She glanced at Li Wenshui and smiled. “Just now, inside, Grandpa praised your vegetables for being well-grown and grounded. He scolded Liang Xuxing for temporarily placing the orphans in a building without water or electricity while he was repairing their dorm. It’s been so hot recently, and without air conditioning, some of the kids caught heat-induced colds.”

Li Wenshui furrowed his brows. “How could someone so heartless do any charity?”

They reached the vegetable field, and the seeds they had sown had already sprouted, with the eggplant plants being the first to bear small fruits. This was Li Wenshui’s first time coming back to the field after sowing the seeds. He had been too busy lately to check on them. The field was lush and green, with no weeds, and the soil was moist, clearly well taken care of. He was a bit surprised. He had thought that Young Master Liang, who was used to a privileged life, wouldn’t be able to handle such hard work. To his surprise, Liang Jin had done a better job than he expected.

Liang Yuting said, “When I first heard that my cousin was growing vegetables, I was also shocked. But then I thought about it and realized it’s actually not that surprising. Even though he seems idle, when he takes on something, he’s serious about it.” She crouched down to look at the small bok choy. “It’d be better to build a fence here. There are all kinds of animals in the back mountain, and plenty of wild cats. We don’t want the vegetables ruined.”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

“No problem,” Liang Yuting replied, walking alongside him. As they walked, she asked, “Why didn’t you attend school during your final stretch in senior year? Was it because of Liang Xuxing?”

Li Wenshui froze for a moment, and Liang Yuting continued, “I once saw them bullying you after school. Liang Xuxing is my cousin, and I just walked away without doing anything. I’ve felt guilty about it all these years, and that’s why I’ve always remembered you.”

Hearing this, the wound was reopened, and Li Wenshui didn’t know how to respond.

Two months before the college entrance exam, he had been moved to the gifted class, hoping that with new classmates and a new environment, the bullying would stop. At first, it was relatively peaceful. A few classmates might have heard something from Liang Xuxing, but they just isolated him without going too far. But half a month before graduation, when the girl Liang Xuxing liked asked him to help with a math problem, he simply explained it to her. Liang Xuxing saw it, and it was like he went mad, cornering Li Wenshui in an alley and beating him up. Li Wenshui had no ability to fight back and could only endure their cold mockery and physical abuse. He always remembered that day—the bright, hot sun outside the alley, students laughing and chatting as they left school, and seeing Li Qun drive to pick up Li Liyan. Meanwhile, inside the alley, it was dark and oppressive. The boys surrounded him, their malicious laughter echoing in his ears. The alley and the outside world were separated by just a wall, but it felt like two different worlds. No one came to help him.

Li Wenshui snapped back to reality and looked at Liang Yuting, who was standing in front of him with an apologetic expression. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.

After returning to the ancestral hall, Li Wenshui took the clothes from the washing machine and hung them out to dry. He was so hungry that he quickly made a simple dish of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat. When Liang Jin walked into the hall, the first thing he saw was the clean clothes fluttering in the wind. He walked in to find Li Wenshui eating, but he seemed to have no appetite, taking tiny bites.

“You’re really hardworking. You even washed my clothes,” Liang Jin sat down next to him and added, “But my clothes can’t be machine-washed. If they’re washed, they won’t be wearable anymore.”

Li Wenshui put down his chopsticks. “I don’t believe they can’t be worn.” His family had no washing machine, so he always hand-washed clothes, often soaking his hands to the point of turning white. Now that there was a washing machine, why not use it? Liang Jin was just being picky! It was a rich man’s problem!

Liang Jin didn’t argue with him, after all, their perspectives were on different levels. When choosing clothes, he prioritized comfort, fabric, and texture, since some materials lose their comfort after being machine washed.

For Li Wenshui, as long as something was wearable, it didn’t matter if it was comfortable or not. Liang Jin rested his chin on his hand and looked at him. “Aren’t you busy today?”

“It’s alright,” Li Wenshui replied, swiftly putting away the dishes and cleaning up. “I plan to put a fence around the vegetable garden. I checked it today, and you’ve done a good job taking care of it.”

Liang Jin walked over and wrapped his arms around him. “Is that a compliment?”

The breath against his ear was warm, sending a tingling sensation down Li Wenshui’s neck. Liang Jin’s hand traveled along his abdomen, moving upward. Li Wenshui felt his scalp tingle, and his heart raced.

“It’s not a compliment, anyone could do it,” Li Wenshui said, then thought better of it. He didn’t want to say that in case Liang Jin asked for a reward.

Liang Jin chuckled, “If it’s not a compliment, then so be it.” He lightly kissed Li Wenshui’s white neck, his hand slipping out from under Li Wenshui’s shirt. “I’ll go look for the fence.”

When Liang Jin left, the warmth on Li Wenshui’s face faded. He had just thought Liang Jin wanted to do something in the kitchen.

Under the blazing sun, Li Wenqing sat on the swing in the yard, biting on an ice pop. The small refrigerator Li Wenshui had found was already in use. Although it cooled slowly, it was still good enough for freezing ice pops. Li Wenshui sat on another swing, eating an ice pop while considering his choice of major.

Li Wenqing wanted to study computer science because it paid well, but Li Wenshui thought the IT field was too tough. He wanted his sister to choose something lighter that she would love. The two disagreed, and Li Wenqing decided to think it over and choose her major the next day.

Li Wenshui knew his sister wasn’t a girl without opinions—on the contrary, she was very determined and thoughtful. He could see his own reflection in her, but that was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want his sister to walk down the same difficult path he had.

By the time they returned to the Liang family’s old house, it was already evening, and the sky was painted with a red sunset. Liang Jin was waiting by the ancestral hall, with a cart full of fence materials.

“Let’s go,” Li Wenshui said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Let’s put up the fence.”

“You know how to do it?” Liang Jin asked.

“What’s there not to know? Just stick them in the ground!”

Over time, Liang Jin had come to appreciate Li Wenshui’s surprising work ethic and boundless energy. As they arrived at the field, a black cat ran past them. Before them lay a vegetable garden that had been partially destroyed. The newly sprouted vegetables had been scratched and bitten by wild cats, with torn leaves and some plants broken.

Li Wenshui crouched to inspect the damage, his face darkening. “Where did these wild cats come from?” he cursed. “Damn it! These were the vegetables I worked hard to grow!”

Liang Jin observed the direction the wild cat had run off in, picked up a leaf from the ground, and sniffed it. “This leaf has been sprayed with catnip. It’s the time of year when cats become more agitated. Someone did this intentionally.”

Li Wenshui clenched his fists, his face reddening with anger. “That person…” Liang Jin already knew who it was. “Liang Xuxing.”

As for why he used uncontrollable cats, it was likely because Liang Yuting liked to feed stray cats and dogs. She had many in her own yard, and Liang Xuxing probably wanted to frame her.

Li Wenshui’s eyes reddened with fury, his body shaking. “What a bastard! He’s worse than a beast! How could he destroy the vegetables? These could have fed the kids for three months! Is this underhanded competition considered cheating? Let’s go tell your grandfather!”

Li Wenshui was ready to leave in anger, but Liang Jin grabbed him, holding him tightly. “Do you have any evidence? If he dared to do this, he certainly wouldn’t leave any proof behind. Even though Grandpa dotes on me, he’s a man who only trusts his own eyes.”

“Does that mean we just have to swallow our anger?” Li Wenshui asked, feeling helpless.

Li Wenshui thought about how he had been bullied by Liang Xuxing in high school, and now he had to swallow his anger again?

“Who said I have to endure it?” Liang Jin comforted him. “Of course, we’ll get back at him.”

“How? We can’t destroy the orphanage he’s repairing, can we? The kids are still waiting to move in.” Li Wenshui was both angry and anxious. Liang Xuxing had destroyed the vegetables for the kids, but they couldn’t do the same thing, or in the end, the only ones who would suffer were the children.

“Is that the only idea you have? Revenge isn’t like that. No wonder you’re always bickering and fighting with people, but they never end up seriously hurt,” Liang Jin said, wrapping his arms around Li Wenshui as they walked toward Liang Xuxing’s residence in the glow of the setting sun, gently guiding him. “The best way to hit someone is to target their core interests. Let me ask you, what is Liang Xuxing’s biggest concern right now?”

“Make him lose the test?”

“No, losing doesn’t affect him much,” Liang Jin said, his eyes narrowing with a touch of coldness. “We need to make him completely lose his qualification for the test. Liang Xuxing is actually an illegitimate child from my third uncle’s affairs. Grandpa cares a lot about legitimacy, so he’s always had prejudice against him. During the Memorial Month, everyone has to uphold good deeds, and if Grandpa sees him do something evil, it’s highly likely he’ll never have a chance to enter the Liang family ancestral hall.”

He stopped walking, holding Li Wenshui as they stood outside Liang Xuxing’s courtyard. Strange, intermittent cat cries came from inside the yard.