BTMDY Chapter 107

Lin Shen was clearly just joking around. Lu Chengxuan obviously wasn’t about to give a serious answer to that kind of question—he just glanced at him once, then went back to eating on his own.

 

It had been a while since they last met, so Lin Wangye didn’t bother fussing over the small stuff either.

 

After a few laughs and teasing words, the whole thing passed. After all, tonight was his birthday. With both Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan here, as the birthday boy, Lin Wangye couldn’t just stick to Shi Yuan’s side and leave the others sitting there watching. He quickly shifted the topic elsewhere.

 

Even though Lin Wangye and Shi Yuan had stayed in touch every day while he was abroad, with Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan, he’d barely had any private conversations at all.

 

But that was nothing strange.

 

Lu Chengxuan wasn’t the type to chat for no reason. If it wasn’t about something serious, he’d never bother reaching out to anyone.

 

Funny enough, Lin Wangye and Lin Shen were the same way—they never talked one-on-one either.

 

The group chat they’d made back in high school was still alive, and pretty much everything Lin Wangye wanted to say to Lin Shen—whether big or small—went straight into that group. Even money transfers happened there. Their private chat window had not a single message.

 

Whenever Shi Yuan wasn’t swamped with work, he’d hop into the group too.

 

Sometimes late at night, when Lin Wangye was already asleep but Lin Shen was still grinding away at overtime, the two of them would toss a few casual lines back and forth—but even then, the topic always circled back to Lin Wangye.

 

No doubt about it, even if you set aside the hint of something more between some of them, the four were genuinely close friends.

 

Lu Chengxuan’s mother came from a Nordic family—an old-money dynasty with banks spread across the world. Saying they could stir the clouds and call down thunder wasn’t even an exaggeration.

 

Before he got his school offer, Shi Yuan hadn’t even left his home province, let alone the country.

 

Alone in a foreign land, even with the language under his belt, it was easy to feel lost. A strange country meant strange culture, strange habits, strange hobbies, strange ways of dealing with people. The loneliness of not fitting in hit from the inside out.

 

And on top of that, Sigwell Design Institute wasn’t like other schools—it had a high bar to get in, so there weren’t many international students. Without that ready-made circle, blending in was even harder.

 

According to Shi Yuan, Sigwell only took a handful of students each year, and the number of Chinese students was tiny. On top of that, everyone was buried in their own workload.

 

The more talented you were, the busier you got, leaving no time for socializing.

 

That’s why the contact Lu Chengxuan gave him had been such a big help. It was the number of a staff member at a local branch of Nais Bank. Whenever Shi Yuan first ran into the usual rookie problems—finding an apartment, asking for directions, getting medical help—one call was enough to sort things out, saving him loads of time and stress.

 

Out of gratitude, Shi Yuan made a point of carefully picking out a Christmas gift every year and personally delivering it.

 

They kept chatting casually about what had happened abroad these past two years and the changes back home, when suddenly, Lin Shen choked a little on his food.

 

He waved the waiter over and ordered a bowl of soup, then set down the skewer in his hand. Taking the wet wipe Lu Chengxuan passed him just in time, he wiped his mouth and hands. Catching sight of Lin Wangye sneaking glances his way, he finally asked, “So, when are you planning to come back?”

 

Shi Yuan’s design school ran on a five-year program, which meant if he stuck it out to the end, there were still three years left. But in that field, most of the heavy coursework faded out later on, replaced by projects and hands-on work.

 

At that stage, there wasn’t much need to stay on campus all the time. In theory, coming home early wouldn’t be a problem.

 

But that only worked if he didn’t go for grad school.

 

Shi Yuan knew full well Lin Shen’s real question—whether he was planning to get a master’s degree. Honestly, he and Lin Wangye had already circled around that topic plenty of times, but they never managed to reach an answer.

 

Shi Yuan definitely had the ability, and from a practical point of view, grad school was the smarter choice.

 

But that also meant staying on campus for years, pushing his return home further and further back.

 

In his past life, Shi Yuan had left when Lin Wangye was only five years old. After finishing grad school and building his career abroad, he finally came back, but by then nearly eight years had passed—and he hadn’t returned once in all that time.

 

This time, from the very start, Shi Yuan just wanted to come home as soon as he could. He’d never even considered grad school.

 

Lin Wangye, though—he couldn’t bear to be apart that long, but at the same time, he wanted Shi Yuan to finish his studies.

 

After living through one lifetime already, Lin Wangye knew all too well how short life was. If he gave priority to school, the time they’d have to spend apart would stretch unbearably long.

 

Which made it a tough choice.

 

The only halfway solution was if Lin Wangye went abroad with Shi Yuan and stayed there until he finished, then the two of them could come back together.

 

But Lin Wangye had made up his mind to stay in China and help Lin Shen.

 

There was no way he could just shrug it all off and run after the person he loved. The road he hadn’t taken two years ago—he wasn’t about to take it now.

 

They’d gone back and forth over the phone a few times, but every time the talks ended without any clear decision.

 

So when Lin Shen suddenly asked that question, the first thing Shi Yuan did was instinctively glance at Lin Wangye.

 

Sure enough, Lin Wangye’s lips immediately dipped downward, his face twisting with conflict the second he heard it.

 

“Still haven’t decided,” Shi Yuan said, throwing Lin Shen a look in Lin Wangye’s direction that carried a hint of helplessness. “My original plan was to come back next year or the year after. But Xiao Lin here keeps pushing me to do grad school. Every time he starts, he just ends up arguing with himself—one minute he’s demanding I finish my degree, the next he’s complaining he doesn’t want to be stuck at home waiting for me.”

 

Lin Shen couldn’t help bursting out laughing, which earned him a cherry tomato hurled straight from the fruit plate by Lin Wangye.

 

Lin Shen caught it easily, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed while mulling it over.

 

“I think grad school’s worth it,” he said. “Sure, you’re already doing great now, but for a designer, having that extra shine on your resume never hurts. And if Xiao Lin here can’t stomach a long-distance thing, then just go abroad with you. It’s not like your hotel needs you hovering over it all the time. A quick trip back now and then would be enough.”

 

Lin Wangye jumped in at once, blurting out, “But if I leave, who’s going to help you?”

 

“Hah?” Lin Shen froze for a second, his expression blank with surprise, before grinning wide. “So that’s what’s been eating at you?”

 

Seeing how laid-back he looked, Lin Wangye almost exploded. He threw up his hands. “What else was I supposed to say! I know I only handle the small, easy stuff at the company right now, but I’m learning. I’ll get there. Who else do you trust if not me? When you get too busy you never take care of yourself—what if one day you just pass out again?”

 

“That’s easy to fix!”

 

Lin Shen leaned back lazily in his chair, sprinkling chili powder over the grilled kidneys in front of him. “I’ll just cover myself with a white sheet, and when you come back from overseas you can carry my urn to a grand funeral.”

 

The words had barely left his mouth when Lin Wangye fell silent.

 

Lin Shen had only meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, maybe get a laugh out of him.

 

But to his surprise, instead of joking back like he usually did, Lin Wangye’s eyes went red in an instant, tears spilling out before he could stop them. Furious, he grabbed three or four cherry tomatoes from the fruit plate and hurled them straight at Lin Shen.

 

“What the hell are you saying!”

 

His voice was so loud in anger that nearby tables all turned to look their way.

 

Normally, Lin Wangye came across as the cheerful, upbeat type. No one would’ve thought he’d suddenly lose control like this. Even Shi Yuan, sitting right beside him, froze for a few seconds before pulling out a tissue, gently wiping the tears from his face. He spoke softly, full of worry in his eyes, though he couldn’t hide his confusion either. “Why are you crying? He was just joking. Don’t be upset, okay, baby?”

 

Lin Wangye wasn’t the kind who cried easily, but once it started, he couldn’t stop.

 

He knew no one here could understand why that one ‘joke’ had cut so deep. With no one to share his bottled-up hurt, he glared at Lin Shen through his tears, then buried his face in Shi Yuan’s shoulder, sobbing hard.

 

Out of everyone, the most miserable one now was Lin Shen.

 

He had no clue what had just gone wrong. Sitting there stunned, he felt like he was on pins and needles, his back prickling, his throat tight. He replayed everything in his head but still couldn’t figure it out, so in total confusion he turned to Lu Chengxuan.

 

“What happened? What’s going on? What did I do?”

 

Lu Chengxuan, calm as ever, didn’t even blink. He simply said, “It’s his birthday, and you say stuff like that?”

 

With that reminder, Lin Shen thought back over what he’d just said. Yeah, on second thought, it did sound a bit unlucky.

 

But still—was it really worth crying over?

 

Completely baffled, with no way to argue when he was clearly the one in the wrong, he quickly grabbed a wet wipe, jumped up from his chair, and rushed over to try and smooth things over.

 

“My bad, my bad, I was wrong, okay? Don’t cry, not today of all days. It’s your birthday, and Xu Suinian just got back too. Look at you, you’ve soaked his clothes through. I was wrong, I really was.”

 

Lin Wangye lifted his tear-streaked face, glared at him, and snapped, “Don’t talk to me!”

 

“Aw, come on…”

 

Lin Shen looked up to the sky in silent despair — never in his life did he expect being single could land him in such an awkward mess. He was almost on his knees, trying to sound nice: “I’m really sorry. I was just teasing you.”

 

Lin Wangye, eyes still red, yelled at him: “You’re the worst at joking with people! I’ll never play with you again!”

 

Clueless about how to soothe anyone, Lin Shen stood there, trying to figure out why Lin Wangye was so angry, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand.

 

Lin Wangye buried his face back in Shi Yuan’s shoulder and ignored him. Lin Shen shuffled back to his seat, glanced at Shi Yuan — who was busy consoling and didn’t meet his eyes — then turned to Lu Chengxuan and asked, “Is it really that serious?”

 

Lu Chengxuan answered in a low voice: “Anyone normal can tell you were joking, and you were only joking about yourself. They wouldn’t take it to heart. He’s angry because deep down he cares about you, so he won’t stand hearing that kind of talk.”

 

Lin Shen froze, slow to get it, and suddenly realized he’d been a jerk.

 

He thought it over seriously, then panicked: “What do I do? He’s not really going to stop playing with me, is he?”

 

“No.” Lu Chengxuan replied.

 

Explosive emotions like that don’t last long when they happen suddenly, and anyway, everyone was happy to see Shi Yuan back today.

 

With Shi Yuan whispering softly beside him, Lin Wangye calmed down quickly. When Shi Yuan joked, “If you keep crying about Lin Shen, I’ll get jealous,” Lin Wangye stopped crying completely. He sat up, wiped his eyes, and got his expression back under control.

 

“Apologize,” Lu Chengxuan said quietly.

 

Lin Shen, who’d been sitting there trying to form the right words, snapped upright, slid his chair forward, leaned in, and wore a look of total sincerity. “Dad, are you still mad? I really know I was wrong. Next time I won’t say things like that — I’ll eat ten jin of durian.”

 

Lin Wangye broke into a smile, then immediately turned stern.

 

“Mix that durian with zhe’ergeng and cilantro!”

 

Lin Shen agreed on the spot: “Done! No problem. I’ll eat it. I’ll even sign a contract when we get back!”

 

It was never a big deal to begin with — Lin Wangye didn’t hold grudges, especially not with his dad. The mood quickly went back to normal. Full and happy, the four of them set off back toward the city.

 

The restaurant was out by the coast, pretty remote — basically the suburbs of Ningchang. There weren’t many cars on the road.

 

After Lu Chengxuan’s Bentley drove off, a middle-aged man in a truck loaded with red bricks, parked at the next intersection, took out his phone and made a call.

 

“Boss, the watcher stopped me from moving. I checked — the man in the photo you gave me is still there.”

 

“You mean the blond guy?”

 

“Yes, him.”

 

“If he’s there, don’t act rashly. Pull back.”

 

“Boss… the Lin guy eats and sleeps at the company. Every time he goes out that man shows up. My son’s illness can’t be delayed any longer, otherwise—”

 

“Do you know the blond man’s background? If you touch a single finger on him, we’ll both be dead. Pull back like I said. I’ll think of another plan. Just listen to me.”

 

“Understood.”

 

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