“Your real name isn’t Du Yunyan, it’s—Lu Yunyan.”

After Lu Changming said this, Du Yunyan remained silent for a while. When the other man started to grow impatient, Du Yunyan calmly sat back down. He was smart enough to see the man’s intentions: “Sorry, the only blood relative I have is my mother. Her surname is Du, so of course, mine is too. That will never change.”

“Heh,” Lu Changming squeezed the teacup in his hand, “How could your mother have had you alone?”

“You mean to say,” Du Yunyan tilted his head with a mocking smile, “you deserve some credit?”

“Yunyan,” he seemed emotionally moved, “Since you’ve guessed my identity, there’s no need for riddles. I owe you and your mother a lot. If you insist on the surname, I won’t mind.”

“I know I have no right to call myself your father in front of you.”

“So? What are you trying to achieve by telling me all this?” Du Yunyan spread his hands. “You don’t expect me to go home with you, do you?”

“You wouldn’t want to?”

Du Yunyan laughed coldly: “Mr. Lu, I’m almost thirty, not thirteen, and certainly not three. I can do everything on my own. Do you think I need a guardian?”

“But in the Lu family, you could do much more,” Lu Changming leaned slightly forward. “Yaning raised you well, with great integrity. I believe you have a bright future ahead.”

“Are you joking?” Du Yunyan rarely raised his voice. “Do you think you can tell my potential from a few sentences?”

“Haha…” Lu Changming chuckled while drinking his tea. “Maybe you don’t believe it, but I have a good eye for people.”

“I wish my mom had a better eye for people.”

Lu Changming’s expression darkened, and he slammed his tea cup onto the table: “Yunyan, there’s no need to say things to anger me. Regardless of your attitude towards me, what I must do, and what you must do… won’t change.”

“What I must do?” Du Yunyan’s chest heaved slightly. “What right do you have to dictate what I should do?”

“Really?” Lu Changming looked around. “Is spending your life here what you should be doing? Have you ever thought that— I could turn this place into Lu family property?”

“What did you say?”

“Don’t be naive,” Lu Changming looked at him with satisfaction, seeing his anxiety. “Pingliang Village is just temporarily unnoticed. Do you think a place like this can remain hidden forever? The county government would love to attract a big enterprise. Even if it’s not me, there will be other businessmen.

“In comparison, it’s better to become part of the Lu family, isn’t it? As a young master of the Lu family, you have a say and can continue to be the boss. Other families… they might just settle with a compensation payment and get rid of you!”

“Lu Changming, have you no conscience!” Du Yunyan’s head buzzed from his own voice, struggling to suppress the urge to flip the table. “How can you destroy my mom’s last dream!”

Lu Changming frowned, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly: “A dream… Who ever cared about my dreams?” He looked directly at his son. “You say it’s your mother’s dream, but she must not have told you that she couldn’t have achieved any of this without the money I left her back then.”

“You—”

“Don’t believe it?” Lu Changming stood up and walked to the edge of the railing, then turned back. “Do you think your mother’s savings could have built this inn and equipped it so well?”

Du Yunyan couldn’t refute. Du Yaning had indeed taken out a large sum of money that made the initial operation less difficult for him. They had lived frugally in the early years, and Du Yaning had never had a job that could make a lot of money. She told him the money came from investments. He had doubts, but he habitually trusted his mother.

“When I gave her the money, she said she wouldn’t use it… That money would still be a considerable sum even today, let alone back then,” Lu Changming said with emotion. “At that time, the Lu family was in its most difficult period. She called me selfish, but what could I do? I had no other choice… Even so, I still left her the money.”

“So, you’re here to collect a debt now,” Du Yunyan said definitively.

“I told you, you’re the young master of the Lu family. Why would I collect a debt from you?” Lu Changming hated his stubbornness. “I once thought of looking for you, even inquired about your home in S City, only to find out you had just moved here. That’s when I realized how much your mother hated me. She would rather bring you to suffer in the mountains than let you recognize me.”

“You weren’t looking for ‘us,’ you were looking for ‘me,’” Du Yunyan easily caught the implication in his words. “Do you think I would have gone with you for money back then?”

After his middle school exams, he had been admitted to the city’s top high school, but Du Yaning suddenly chose to leave with him. He didn’t understand why at the time, but now he realized that Lu Changming probably intended to take him away, and Du Yaning refused. If he had known about this back then, he wouldn’t have gone with this man either.

“I know you are a principled, sentimental child, so I won’t misjudge you,” Lu Changming said with both admiration and resignation. “Looking back, Yaning indeed was pitiful, having only you by her side. I didn’t want to disturb you anymore; it was good that you accompanied her through her last journey.”

Du Yunyan watched him in silence, as if looking at a madman spouting nonsense—wrapping layers of selfishness in the guise of righteousness, yet inside, he was completely rotten, nothing but an empty shell.

He wasn’t as angry anymore; instead, he felt pity for this person—someone who might never understand what genuine emotions are.

“Yunyan, do you understand what I’m saying? Now that your mother is gone, it’s my responsibility to take care of you,” Lu Changming’s eyes showed a hint of pleading. “I want to build a resort here, develop tourism… and let you manage it. My visit here isn’t just to see you; I’m also here to assess the place.”

Du Yunyan believed that such a plan wouldn’t be difficult for Lu Changming; it was just a matter of time. However, understanding the secret behind the guesthouse, he suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

“I always considered my mother’s dream to be my own. Even if she had nothing, at least we had this place, filled with our hard work and love… But now I see it was all just your charity,” he nodded. “I’m finally free. Take it all if you want. I don’t need any compensation; those external possessions are a burden. I can survive on my own efforts.”

“Why don’t you understand? I don’t want to take anything from you. I want you to have what rightfully belongs to you and even more. I can teach you slowly. If we work together as father and son, you’ll understand better when you have children—”

“Stop talking,” Du Yunyan raised his eyebrows. “I will never have children.”

“What?”

Du Yunyan revealed a vengeful smirk: “I am innately gay. I have a boyfriend, and we’ve agreed not to raise children.”

“Du Yunyan,” Lu Changming’s tone shifted from kind to stern, “are you serious, or are you just trying to provoke me?”

“I’m serious,” Du Yunyan replied calmly. “My employees know about it too. I can call one to testify.”

“Where is this person you speak of? Your boyfriend!”

“He’s not here at the moment, but he will be back soon,” Du Yunyan said disdainfully. “Whether you turn the village into Lu family property or not, I can leave without any attachments to find him.”

“Madness, sheer madness… you’re even sicker than your brother!” Lu Changming said through gritted teeth. “Fine, Yaning was right. Heaven will punish me for my sins!”

He quickly walked to the door, yanking open the white wooden door of the terrace, pausing slightly with heavy breaths.

“You don’t want to take responsibility for me,” Du Yunyan said slowly and deliberately, “you want to control a child who will obey you. Unfortunately, I’m not that person.”

“Fine… but my decision remains unchanged.” He slammed the door, his footsteps gradually fading away.

Du Yunyan let out a cold snort, completely indifferent. To him, Lu Changming was the true madman—the most pitiable madman.

He turned to face the railing, gazing wistfully at the small courtyard below. What he told Lu Changming wasn’t entirely in anger. If all of this was merely a product of the other’s charity, he would accept losing it.

After Lu Changming left, Du Yunyan’s expression remained unchanged, but he was silent almost the entire day. The employees could tell he was in a bad mood.

In the evening, while putting a plate into the dishwasher, he accidentally dropped it. The white porcelain shattered into several pieces. It had been nearly twenty years since he last made such a mistake.

“Boss, let me handle it.” Du Hong swiftly swept up the broken pieces.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, this plate was too greasy.” He threw the shards into the trash and glanced back at Du Yunyan, who was still standing by the sink, looking lost in thought. “Are you alright?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Du Yunyan stood dazed for a few seconds before coming back to his senses: “Ah, I’m fine.” Realizing his unusual behavior, he forced a smile. “Get ready, it’s time to head back.”

“Yeah, maybe you haven’t been resting well,” Du Hong speculated. “Don’t overwork yourself. You’ll need energy to visit Gu ge later.”

Du Yunyan nodded, said goodbye, and washed his hands.

After a while, he returned to the terrace on the second floor. The voices of guests returning for the night drifted up from below, both children and adults, lively and bustling, yet not at all noisy.

His gaze fell on the wicker table and chairs beside him, their shadows gray and indistinct in the dim light on the balcony. He wasn’t thinking about his meeting with Lu Changming during the day but rather about the night he and Gu Wenxi drank wine under the moon.

If he had to leave this place someday, at least he would live each day well until then.

Gu Wenxi had set their phones to the same special ringtone for each other’s calls. It was a tune he downloaded online, the name of which Du Yunyan didn’t know, but after so long, he had become accustomed to it. The moment it rang, he knew it was Gu Wenxi calling.

He heard that tune now.

“Hello?”

“Why’d you pick up so quickly?” Gu Wenxi’s voice sounded cheerful as always.

“It was in my pocket.”

“You haven’t gone back to your room?”

“No, I’m on the terrace.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s got you in such a good mood?” he chuckled, “Are you thinking of drinking with me again?”

Du Yunyan felt his cheek warm against the phone. “Yes.”

“I knew it… but don’t drink alone on the terrace.”

“Why?”

“What do you think?” Gu Wenxi raised his voice. “Who’s going to carry you if you get drunk?”

“Alright,” Du Yunyan agreed. “I understand.”

They talked about other things, though Du Yunyan didn’t say much. A few minutes later, they ended the call.

The moonlight was still bright, accompanied by stars and the deep night, as if the entire universe enveloped him in a warm, chaotic embrace. He put his phone away, feeling more at peace.

^[1]Author’s Note:

The lousy father won’t get his way, he’s going to be humiliated^^