Regarding the past, regarding his family, Ji Kai never deliberately withheld things from Zhu Ling.
He always meant to tell him, but Zhu Ling was just too busy.
Before he became famous, he was busy chasing his dreams, and Ji Kai didn’t want to add any pressure. After he made it, whenever Zhu Ling would finally come home, seeing him lazily nestled by his side, smiling sleepily and acting playful, Ji Kai would think to himself, “Let’s wait a little longer; there will always be a chance.”
But day after day, it was postponed. In the blink of an eye, everything had already changed.
The last time they met, Zhu Ling, with teary eyes, asked him angrily, “How could so many years of good feelings just vanish like that?”
In truth, this question had puzzled Ji Kai since he was young.
… Yes, how do so many wonderful things just disappear like that?
The first time he truly understood how unpredictable life could be was when he was very young. There was an irrigation embankment by his house, and along the water’s edge grew several large, lush weeping willows. Ji Kai loved climbing those trees every summer to catch beetles and play.
He didn’t know exactly when, but one year, while proudly showing off a beetle to his sister under the tree, hoping for her usual praise of “Good job,” instead, she sighed sadly, gently brushing the rough bark with her pale fingers.
“This willow tree isn’t going to make it. Such a pity.”
Ji Kai was doubtful. The tree looked so beautiful, with its lush, vibrant leaves. How could it not be fine?
“Because the core is hollow. The beetles you’re holding have bored it out. Even though it’s still green, it’s already dead inside.”
The following year, as his sister had predicted, the tree never revived in the spring.
That winter, his sister got married. She married the only son of a local private business owner, a former high school classmate. People said they had been in love for years, and they seemed like a perfect match. She looked genuinely happy.
……
A few years after the wedding, Ji Kai’s sister would still often come home, always bringing him large bags of snacks and candy. But gradually, her visits became less frequent. When she did show up, she still carried that familiar, fresh orange scent, but her smile became pale and weary, and she grew more quiet and melancholy.
Ji Kai had overheard the neighbors’ gossip. They said she married a rich man but lacked abilities. They claimed her husband had mistresses outside.
At that time, Ji Kai didn’t fully understand what “mistresses” meant. He was the late-born child of his parents, 15 years younger than his sister. She got married when he was only eight, and when she had her son, he was just ten, still unaware of the emotional complexities of the world.
All he knew was that one day after school, he came home to find the door wide open, with no sign of his parents, though thankfully nothing had been stolen.
Uncle Zhou from next door grabbed him and took him over to their place, where he did his homework alongside Zhou Yi’an. Uncle Zhou even made them hot dumplings.
The dumplings were filled with fragrant sesame oil, and Ji Kai ate happily, completely unaware that at that very moment, his poor sister’s damp, slightly curled black hair clung to her body as she was pulled, icy cold, from the lake.
The loss of their beloved daughter shattered his mother, leading to a stroke that left her in a vegetative state. His father scrambled to gather money for her treatment, care for Ji Kai, and seek justice from his brother-in-law’s family.
“Everyone said Xiaoxiao jumped into the lake in a moment of despair, committing suicide. But my dad didn’t believe it, and neither did I.”
“Xiaoxiao was a delicate, timid girl. She was even scared of needles and had to cover her eyes whenever she got an injection. No matter how sad she was, she would never use such a cruel way to hurt herself, especially on such a cold day.”
“But the police ignored us and quickly closed the case as a suicide. You probably don’t know what life was like in a small county over a decade ago. The atmosphere was terrible—corruption everywhere. Many officials had so much power that they could manipulate anything.”
“Xiaoxiao’s husband’s father ran a business that dominated the local economy. He had deep connections with people like the county magistrate. They controlled public opinion, cleared themselves of any blame, and turned my family into targets of slander, accusing us of being greedy troublemakers. Thugs would often show up at our door to threaten us.”
“I was thirteen that year.”
Neighbors often pitied Ji Kai, saying how unfortunate it was for someone so young to experience such hardship. But Ji Kai only hated that he hadn’t been born two years earlier.
Watching his once-respectable brother-in-law reveal an entirely unfamiliar, malicious side, and feeling utterly powerless against their family’s cruel oppression, Ji Kai had heard that killing before the age of 12 wouldn’t result in criminal charges. But he had missed that window by just a year or two.
His father was old, too exhausted to continue fighting. His last and only thought was to keep his grandson from being raised in the home of the man who might have caused his daughter’s death.
“But when that family learned my dad wanted custody of the child, they disappeared completely. Vanished without a trace. My father tried every method, asked around everywhere, and eventually found out they had likely settled in another province. He took a long-distance bus overnight to chase after them, but had an accident along the way—the bus plunged off a cliff.”
Ji Kai spoke up to this point, his voice raspy but calm, as though he were telling someone else’s story. Listening, Li Weidu’s heart felt as though it had been shattered into pieces. He pulled Ji Kai close, wrapping him in a tight embrace.
“Ji Kai.” His voice was hoarse, barely expressing a fraction of the ache in his chest. He kissed Ji Kai’s cheek and ear, familiar places he had caressed countless times. Ji Kai’s skin was always warmer than his own, yet Li Weidu couldn’t help but feel that he was cold.
“Baby bear, don’t hold it in. If you want to cry, just cry.”
But Ji Kai didn’t cry. He only shook his head gently. “I’m fine, Weidu. I’ve actually been really lucky. Really. I met good people at the time. Uncle Zhou’s family took me in.”
“He always told me to look forward, to live well. He said that if my parents were still alive, they would have wanted me to live happily, and Xiaoxiao wouldn’t want me to be miserable for her sake either.”
“Even though he had his struggles, raising Zhou Yi’an by himself after the divorce, he still found a way to feed and care for both of us, working as a carpenter to support our education. He managed to send both of us to university…”
“Maybe my parents and Xiaoxiao are watching over me from above. I’ve done well since then. I got a scholarship, found a good job, and met many kind people. And later… I met you.”
“I’ve never forgotten about Xiaoxiao, and Zhou Yi’an hasn’t either. He became a police officer because of what happened to her. But he can’t find anything. Isn’t that strange? There’s no information about that family in the police database.”
“Zhou Yi’an said that back then, the system was so disorganized. A lot of rich and powerful people had multiple identities and household registrations. Likely, they’ve long since changed their names. All I remember is my brother-in-law’s old name, Zhou Shifei, and we have one or two blurry photos. That’s all…”
“I’ll help you find them!”
Li Weidu’s entire body surged with adrenaline. “My company just hired a guy who, as a minor, managed to hack the FBI and make them run in circles. Give me the photos, and I’ll have him try!”
“And, and things are different now! Maybe there’s a chance to reopen the case. I’ll ask a lawyer about it tomorrow morning…”
But should they really dig this up? Having said so much, Li Weidu suddenly hesitated.
Reinvestigating would surely reopen old wounds. He didn’t want that for his baby bear. He’d rather see Ji Kai lazily and happily lounging by the fireplace, carefree and content, without a single worry.
Ji Kai didn’t know either—didn’t know what the right thing to do was.
The police database had no information on the family. When Zhou Yi’an told him that, there was a hint of regret in his voice, but also a sense of relief. And Ji Kai? Maybe, after all these years, he had finally untangled the knot in his heart and let go of the burden.
His nephew had been taken by that family. By now, he would be older than Xiao Yan. Though that family had treated his sister as an outsider, they doted on their own grandson and had enough money to give him a good life.
Besides, after so many years, would finding them really bring out the truth of what happened? What good would it do to let his nephew know that his father’s family had driven his mother to her death?
Searching for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Maybe it was fate that they couldn’t be found. Perhaps it was time to let it go.
……
Late that night, the renowned “programming genius” and “tech luminary,” Mr. Li, keenly felt the limitations of his technical expertise.
There were thousands of people named Zhou Shifei across the country, but after screening them all, not one was the Zhou Shifei, Ji Kai’s brother-in-law, they were looking for.
Of course, the public security system wasn’t just for show. If they couldn’t find him, how could a mere programmer hope to locate him in just a few hours? Yet, Li Weidu still couldn’t reconcile with the idea of giving up.
“Weidu, don’t stay up so late.” Ji Kai closed his laptop for him. “You’re going to wear yourself out, and then you’ll end up with another stomachache.”
“I just want to be of help, maybe if I try a little longer…”
Gentle hands pulled his slender fingers away from the keyboard. “Weidu, just being with me is already more than enough help. Right now, I want to sleep, but I can’t fall asleep without you holding me. Hmm?”
“…” The words left Li Weidu’s face burning with warmth and his heart aching. After hearing Ji Kai’s story about his sister, he had been restless for a long time, but his dear “Baby Bear” was so strong, still managing to smile at him with such tenderness.
“I’ve always been like this, haven’t I? Honestly, it’s not just me, my whole family has always been this way. Don’t think that just because I told you a sad story, my family was all gloom and doom. That’s not the case. When they were alive, they were quite funny.”
“When I was little, my mom and dad would flirt and argue every day at home, constantly jealous of each other, even at the dinner table. It was total chaos. My sister loved keeping pets, but everything she raised died. Later, she switched to plants, but the same thing happened—everything she touched withered, even the cactus.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve gotten through all these years, and being with you now makes me feel like life is amazing, and I’m truly excited for the future.”
Even though Ji Kai said this, in the days that followed, it became quite apparent that Li Weidu was doubling down on his already doting level of care, to the point of treating him like a fragile treasure.
After the new update of Prosperity Network Technology’s game went online and ran smoothly without any major bugs, Li Weidu found himself with some rare leisure time. He took advantage of this to pamper his boyfriend with a “24-filial-duties”1Maybe a reference to this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twenty-four_Filial_Exemplars routine, personally picking him up and dropping him off from work every day.
Ji Kai watched as the number of fuzzy car accessories steadily increased: lumbar pillows, and cushions, all neatly arranged. Li Weidu, worried that his voice would get strained from teaching, even installed a car-mounted thermos alongside the mini-fridge.
After every class, a luxury car would be parked outside the teaching building. A bottle of hot mineral water would be handed over, with the cap already loosened in advance.
This made Professor Ji, a man over six feet tall, feel both warm inside and a little uncomfortable. If this pampering continued, would there come a day when he couldn’t even open a bottle on his own, eventually turning into a delicate flower over six feet tall, good to look at but utterly useless?
Vice Principal Li, who passed by after work, had long since gotten used to the scene.
Indeed, talented young people naturally admire one another and quickly become friends! This is great—now that Professor Ji is here, it’ll be much easier to invite Mr. Li to visit next year.
Meanwhile, the deputy dean of the law school, who happened to pass by as well and had a keen eye for certain dynamics, had a different thought: Ji, Ji, Professor Ji! You, you…
Did you sacrifice yourself for the law school’s research fund? Such a noble act of dedication will be forever etched in the school’s history!
……
There was no information found on the “brother-in-law,” and Li Weidu quietly let out a sigh.
To vent, he successfully sabotaged one of Zhu Ling’s advertising endorsement opportunities for a luxury fashion brand. The Chinese representative of the brand seemed eager to get on his good side, not only agreeing never to use Zhu Ling but also sending him a bunch of male model photos to choose from.
“Which one does President Li prefer? We’ll use whoever you like.”
“Haha,” Ji Kai passed by, glancing at Li Weidu’s phone screen. “What, does my dear Weidu want to sleep on the couch tonight?”
Browsing through half-naked, tempting photos of handsome men right in front of me? What’s the deal—have I, your Kai-ge, not been charming enough lately, or has President Li raised his standards? And besides, those muscles are hardly better than mine, right?
Li Weidu was momentarily stunned, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He gave Ji Kai a once-over, sizing him up.
Handsome. Sexy. Completely outclasses those male models.
“Come to think of it… if your brother-in-law’s family is still hiding somewhere in this world, they probably still remember you.”
This brand’s clothes, in some ways, are like X-ke or A-Xidas2Yeah, u know those sports brands—present in every big, medium, and small city.
“Even if they spend their whole lives hiding, seeing your promotional posters everywhere, constantly being reminded of what they did in the past—surely… they’d feel some pangs of guilt, right?”
Translator: Lynn
Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
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