Chapter 21

The broad-shouldered and long-legged boy stood at the entrance of the courtyard, he paused for a few seconds before suddenly turning and running away.

Wen Fengmian was taken aback and called out, “Yuyu, why are you running?”

But the boy was already out of sight.

“Cough cough cough…” Annoyed, Wen Fengmian couldn’t help but cough again, “You see, why did he run off as soon as you came back?”

“Your health isn’t good, better go inside.” Ying Zijin patted his back, “I’ll go and have a look.”

Yuyu was Wen Fengmian’s biological son, his formal name Wen Tinglan, and got this nickname because he was sickly as a child.

They were not biological siblings, but their affection for one another was deeper than that of many real brothers and sisters.

“Yaoyao…” Wen Fengmian hesitated to speak and after a long while, he sighed, “Alright then.”

He smiled again, his eyes and brow serene, “I’ll make dinner for you. It’ll be ready when you come back.”

Ying Zijin nodded, “You can only make sweet rice balls.”

He shouldn’t even think about cooking with oil.

The herbs here were not aged enough; she needed to regulate Wen Fengmian’s health from all aspects.

Wen Fengmian coughed softly, somewhat uncomfortably, “Daddy understands, you go find Yuyu.”

There was almost an air of urgency to his words.

“If, when I come back, I find—” Ying Zijin glanced casually at the kitchen, her tone still fairly gentle, “You know what to do.”

Wen Fengmian suddenly felt that his daughter seemed somewhat fiercer on this return visit: “…”

Half helpless, half amused, he said, “Alright, Daddy will listen to you.”

Ying Zijin nodded and then left.

Watching his daughter’s retreating figure, Wen Fengmian sighed softly, his emotions complex and a hint of red rimming his eyes.

How could he not notice that she had lost much weight since her last visit?

Even when the household had been poor, he never let the two children suffer with their meals.

After Yaoyao returned to the Ying Family, what on earth happened?

Hadn’t the Ying Family said that they were bringing her back to live a better life?

Wen Fengmian furrowed his brow and pressed a hand to his chest, coughing again, full of worry.

**

When Ying Zijin found Wen Tinglan, he was standing by the river alone, silently watching the distant fireworks, with eyes dark as the night, still as if there were no waves at all.

The night was heavy, and the cool breeze blew in gusts.

The surface of the river was covered with a thin layer of ice, reflecting the round moon above.

The boy was like the wind, his figure tall and upright.

Wearing white and black, he had an aura of noble elegance.

He was exactly the type that would make schoolgirls’ hearts flutter.

Ying Zijin walked up to him and pulled a lollipop out of her pocket, offering it to him, “Peach flavored.”

But Wen Tinglan didn’t take it, nor did he make a move.

He was laughing, a cold laughter: “I thought you would never come back for the rest of your life. What brought you back?”

No answer came.

After waiting a full ten minutes, the boy turned his head, his eyes and brow chillingly cold.

But upon seeing her at such close range, his expression suddenly changed.

The girl’s body was noticeably thinner than when they had parted a year ago, and with the moonlight, he could see the needle marks on her arms.

They were dense, numerous, countless.

They would not have been so obvious, but her skin was sickly pale, making them all the more prominent.

A shocking sight.

Wen Tinglan’s body stiffened, and as he stared at those needle marks, he spoke with a hoarse voice, “Sis, are you… sick?”

She hadn’t come back for a year, was it because she was sick?

Ying Zijin didn’t answer, instead, she took out a lollipop again, raised her eyebrows, “Not mad anymore?”

Her younger brother, because of a certain incident, had a severe personality disorder and refused all communication with the outside world.

It wasn’t until after he turned ten that he began to improve, but it also caused his cold and restrained personality.

In the beginning, Wen Fengmian couldn’t get close to him at all.

The year she disappeared without a word caused significant harm to him.

Wen Tinglan soared with the wind, rising straight up for ninety thousand miles.

Wen Tinglan, a name infused with Wen Fengmian’s great hopes.

“What happened?” Wen Tinglan still didn’t take it, his eyes deepening, “Sis, did the Ying Family treat you poorly? What did they do?”

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Ying Zijin kicked a pebble on the ground, smiling faintly, “Just focus on your studies, don’t worry about anything else.”

Wen Tinglan had been a genius since he was young but, due to his frailty, only started school at thirteen. Even so, he skipped several grades.

A year younger than her, yet he was already in his third year of high school and would be taking the college entrance exams in June.

Hearing this, Wen Tinglan’s lips tightened, his arm trembling as he finally took the lollipop.

He tore open the wrapper, put it in his mouth, and crunched it up.

It was sweet, just like before, but inexplicably, his heart felt clogged.

Even after so long, he would never forget those people’s hideous faces from a year ago.

“What Wen Zijin? Zijin is our Ying Family’s daughter, naturally, she bears the Ying surname; don’t falsely claim relationships.”

“What would Verdant’s students think of her if they knew she had a farmer for a father and brother?”

“Here is one hundred thousand, forget you have a daughter. She won’t see you anymore, you would only drag her down, understand?”

And then, his sister indeed hadn’t come back for a whole year, not even a phone call.

He waited and waited until he gave up.

He thought that after she went to Shanghai City, she had forgotten about them.

Now it seemed clear that the Ying Family had done something, and she wasn’t doing well either.

Wen Tinglan pursed his lips again, murmuring softly, “Sis, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have resented you.”

He knew he had a psychological disorder, his hostility was not small, but he couldn’t control it.

The young man hung his head low, his fingers tightly clenched.

He was trying to change.

He very much wanted to become a normal person.

“I don’t blame you,” Ying Zijin said with her hands in her pockets, “Let’s go back, Dad must be worried.”

With his heart untangled, Wen Tinglan relaxed his tense body and began talking about household matters like the past years, “I actually didn’t go to class this afternoon, I took a leave.”

Ying Zijin nodded slightly, “Did you run off to the city’s market to buy meat?”

“Mhm,” Wen Tinglan replied quietly, “Dad’s health is getting worse, so I thought I’d get him something nourishing.”

Normally, even with meat available, Wen Fengmian wouldn’t touch a bite.

Ying Zijin reflected for a moment, “Have you decided which university you want to attend?”

“Yes.” On this topic, a faint light surfaced in the young man’s deep black eyes, brighter than the stars and moon, “Sis, I want to go to Imperial Capital University.”

Imperial Capital University, the top-ranked university in Hua Country, where thousands of students aspire to get in.

Ying Zijin wasn’t surprised by this response; with Wen Tinglan’s abilities, he could easily get in even without sufficient learning resources.

Wen Tinglan continued, “But actually, the place I want to go to the most is Norton University, but without a personal recommendation letter from the principal, there’s no chance at all.”

Ying Zijin paused in her expression, “What university?”

“Norton University.” Wen Tinglan thought she was unaware, so he took out his phone, brought up the Wikipedia page, and showed it to her, “This one, ranked first by QS World University Rankings, never changed.”

Ying Zijin looked at the screen, falling into silence.

She always felt that since her return, there were quite a few things that were not right.

It was one thing for the Lorentz Family to have spread their bank across the globe; penny pinchers do amass wealth quickly.

But how could a madman solely devoted to Theology turn a university into the world’s number one?