ATIBESLM 10

This was something Ye Lingwei hadn’t anticipated at all. His movements as he toyed with the fork grew lighter and slower, until they stopped completely.

It wasn’t that he was troubled by how to interact with Fei Lan in the future. As Fei Lan had said, they weren’t close. In fact, even if Ye Lingwei put distance between them now, it couldn’t even be called drifting apart—there was nothing to drift from.

It was just… a bit unexpected, that’s all.

Ye Lingwei’s eyelashes were too long. He possessed the typical peach blossom eyes¹A specific eye shape in Chinese physiognomy considered highly attractive and seductive., and his lashes were excessively long—straight baby lashes²Describes eyelashes that are long, straight, and soft, similar to a newborn’s, rather than curled and stiff. It emphasizes innocence. that made him look even more tender and lovely. 

So whenever he lowered his gaze, it looked no different from closing his eyes, making it even harder to read his expression.

Ye Yuan also felt that his tone had been a bit too heavy. He coughed twice, attempting to appeal to emotion. “I know you don’t have much memory of Eldest Aunt. She left when you were only one year old, but you were the one who couldn’t let her go the most. In middle school, you secretly went looking for her several times. Grandpa found out about all of it. Otherwise, why do you think Grandpa is only… strict with you?”

He had originally wanted to say nitpicky, but halfway through, he decided to swap the word. It was too hurtful.

“Eldest Uncle was the person Grandpa loved most, and the most promising member of our Ye family. He died at Eldest Aunt’s hands. Jiaojiao³Ye Lingwei’s nickname., being a son is one thing, but you also need to distinguish right from wrong,” Ye Yuan said earnestly.

When Eldest Uncle died, Ye Yuan was also very young. He had eavesdropped on the cause of death. He heard his own mother speaking with a sour tone about how much Eldest Uncle loved Eldest Aunt, and how, in the end, he died because of that very love. His mother said Eldest Aunt was a person starved for love; if no one loved her, she would be like a fish stranded on the beach, drying up and dying.

Ye Yuan didn’t understand much when he was little, but as he grew up, he more or less figured it out. Eldest Uncle passed away, and no one was left to give Eldest Aunt that kind of wholehearted love. As a result, she chose to leave, to go to another ocean.

Ye Lingwei blinked, asking with uncertainty, “Excuse me, but is Jiaojiao supposed to be me?”

Ye Yuan wrinkled his nose. “Who else?”

Ye Lingwei had been in poor health since childhood and was raised with great delicacy. Perhaps in the hope that he would be pampered and spoiled like this for his entire life, his childhood nickname was Jiaojiao.

In reality, aside from material provision, almost no one actually pampered him.

No one loved him—at least, for now.

Ye Lingwei didn’t pursue this topic further. The nickname belonged to the original host; it had little to do with him. He was currently still digesting the relationship between the original host’s mother and Fei Lan.

Ye Yuan rattled on with a bunch of miscellaneous odds and ends after that, from which Ye Lingwei extracted the information he wanted to know.

Jiang Hui hadn’t married Fei Lan’s father yet, but it was practically a marriage in all but name. She held a very high place in his heart.

Fei Lan loathed Jiang Hui.

The original host hated Fei Lan. His WeChat Moments were full of posts set to “Only Visible to Self,” all of which were cursing Fei Lan.

Fei Lan’s hatred included, but was not limited to, the original host. Going by Ye Yuan’s description, Fei Lan was someone who would seek vengeance for the smallest grievance—and when he took revenge, he targeted the whole family.

Finally, Ye Yuan arrived at a summary. “You two can’t be friends. You are destined to be mortal enemies. Either he dies, or you die.”

However, Ye Yuan felt that Ye Lingwei was the far more likely candidate for death. After all, the other guy was in peak physical condition, whereas Ye Lingwei might be gone just from taking a tumble.

Consequently, even after covering the main points, Ye Yuan continued tirelessly, nagging Ye Lingwei to stay away from Fei Lan and preferably away from his Eldest Aunt as well—to stop going to look for her.

If Ye Cen hadn’t come over, Ye Lingwei felt that Ye Yuan could have kept talking right until the end of the banquet.

Ye Yuan was only a few years older than Ye Lingwei, while Ye Cen was his senior by a significant margin. The moment he saw Ye Cen, he immediately shut his mouth and called out, “Cousin.”

Ye Cen let out a low hum of acknowledgement. He looked at Ye Lingwei, who was leaning against the chair as if he had no bones, and frowned. “Sit up properly. What do you look like?”

Ye Lingwei lifted his eyelids. He cast a lazy glance at Ye Cen, shifted his position, and slumped onto the table. “Any instructions, Da-ge?”

Ye Cen fought back the urge to haul Ye Lingwei up and give him a thrashing. “Grandpa wants to see you.”

He turned and walked away the moment he finished speaking, assuming Ye Lingwei would follow.

By the time he reached the main entrance, he wanted to tell Ye Lingwei to speak sweetly later on and not to act so dull and dazed all the time. However, when he turned around, there wasn’t a shadow to be seen. His gaze cut through the crowd in the courtyard only to find Ye Lingwei still sitting at that table, having not moved an inch. A flame of rage shot instantly from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

Ye Lingwei saw Ye Cen storming toward him with a dark face. He stood up, phone in hand, not losing an inch of ground in front of Ye Cen.

“I’m going home first. I feel a bit short of breath,” Ye Lingwei said, beating Ye Cen to the punch.

All of Ye Cen’s lecture was instantly choked back down by Ye Lingwei. When others felt stuffy, it might just be because the crowd made the air poor; but if Ye Lingwei said he was stuffy, it meant his heart was acting up.

Ye Cen could only look on helplessly as Ye Lingwei dragged his chair aside, rounded the corner of the table, and stood before him. Ye Lingwei tilted his face up; his eyes were limpid and pure, yet his tone was like a cold snap in late spring.

“Da-ge, you’re afraid of Ye Zumin, but I’m not.” Ye Lingwei hooked the corner of his lips, resembling a little wolf cub that had just rolled out from under a she-wolf’s belly. “In your eyes, he is grandfather. To me, he’s just an old thing.”

Ye Cen: “…”

Ye Yuan, wishing desperately that he were deaf: “…”

Ye Lingwei left immediately after speaking. He had arrived empty-handed and left empty-handed—incidentally eating a piece of cake in the process and angering Ye Cen to the point where his face twisted. Ye Cen slapped his palm onto the table. “No respect for your elders!”

Ye Yuan hurriedly tried to soothe him. “Don’t be angry, Cousin, don’t be angry. Jiaojiao just doesn’t know any better yet.”

Ye Lingwei didn’t know how the Ye family would view him after he left, nor did he care. People are all the same. The moment you stop loving them, they begin to love you—and they will love you the most.

The original host had swallowed his anger for so many years; it was time to return it, bit by bit. Ye Zumin wasn’t just strict with the original host. At least according to the book’s description, Ye Zumin never viewed the original host as part of the Ye family at all.

It had nothing to do with the original host secretly visiting his mother. Ye Zumin simply hated him.

—

The weather in Shencheng has been consistently good lately. The azaleas on campus were blooming in dense clusters, with camphor leaves forming vast canopies of shade that blanketed the scorching ground.

Ye Lingwei hadn’t even reached his seat, having just stepped into the classroom, when Gao Linhao stood up and waved excitedly at him. “Ye Lingwei, hurry over.”

“Lan-ge brought you some cake.” He looked as if he were the one receiving the gift from Fei Lan. “The Auntie at Lan-ge’s house makes amazing cakes. She used to be a pastry chef at a private patisserie. It is super, super, super, super delicious. Hurry up and taste it!”

Gao Linhao’s eyes were practically glowing.

Fei Lan also put down his phone. He turned around and propped his chin up with his hand. “Try it.”

Ye Lingwei peeled back the outer layer of white wrapping paper, revealing a chocolate cake that looked very ordinary in shape. At first glance, there was nothing special about it. Ye Lingwei put down his schoolbag and used the fork provided in the box to slice off a corner. The dark brown molten filling inside immediately oozed down the side of the cake.

Unlike traditional lava cakes, this one was even silkier.

Ye Lingwei held the fork between his lips and took a small, gentle taste. He wasn’t used to being stared at while he ate.

Before the fork had even left his mouth, Gao Linhao awkwardly averted his gaze. Fixing his eyes on the corridor outside, he stammered, “Ye Lingwei… you… the way you eat, why is it so, so, weird?”

Fei Lan glanced at Gao Linhao. He smiled and said nothing.

Ye Lingwei cleaned the cream off the fork with his lips and gave the corner of his mouth a quick lick. Thinking he had gotten cream on his face, he leaned in close to Gao Linhao. “Is it on my face?”

Gao Linhao turned his head only to find himself face-to-face with Ye Lingwei. His breath hitched, and his heart nearly stopped beating. He jerked backward violently, slamming his back against the wall. “Fuck, Ye Lingwei, can’t you just eat a piece of cake decently?”

Ye Lingwei looked even more innocent.

Fei Lan watched the two of them, finding it quite amusing.

Ye Lingwei possessed a face that looked ready for fun, socially adept, and universally liked. His personality was pretty good now, too. However, he was stubbornly straightforward, completely missing the subtext in Gao Linhao’s words.

As for Gao Linhao, he had been a sucker for good looks since childhood. The extent to which he treated people based solely on their appearance was bordering on insanity. Fei Lan just watched as Gao Linhao turned bright red.

“You’re so annoying! Can’t you stay away from me?!” Gao Linhao, on the verge of a breakdown, buried his head in his desk and let out a powerless howl. People in the front rows all looked back with curiosity.

When they saw that the new transfer student seemed to be getting along well with Fei Lan, the class’s most unapproachable and temperamental figure, their expressions turned to surprise.

Fei Lan’s looks were ranked among the very best in all of No. 3 High School. Despite his poor grades, while people didn’t say it aloud, they silently paid attention to him in their hearts. Fei Lan was too hard to get close to. He didn’t really make friends with anyone. Although he was often surrounded by a crowd of boys, he was merely a listener among them—but a listener placed on a pedestal. They only said what Fei Lan wanted to hear.

However, the look in his eyes when he watched this Ye Lingwei was different from how he looked at anyone else…

Ye Lingwei hadn’t finished the cake. During class, Gao Linhao asked for it and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth in one go. He extended his tongue to lick the cream off his lips in an instant. The speed was jaw-dropping.

He didn’t forget to thank Brother Lan, either.

Fei Lan let out a low hum of acknowledgement. He didn’t really care who actually ate the cake.

The chocolate cake was delicious, yet Ye Lingwei hadn’t dared to eat too much of it. He had taken many of Ye Yuan’s words to heart. The original host’s mother was Fei Lan’s father’s… mistress?

The title stepmother was truly giving her too much credit.

Moreover, judging by the implication in Ye Yuan’s words, Fei Lan might already know about the relationship between the original host and himself. However, why hadn’t he shown it?

Ye Lingwei didn’t rack his brains agonizing over it. At the very least, he felt that all of Fei Lan’s current overtures of friendship toward him were likely driven by some ulterior motive.

“He wants you dead.” That was what Ye Yuan had said last night.

The word death seemed very far removed from Ye Lingwei himself. He stared blankly at Fei Lan’s back. The boy was the same age as the original host, seventeen or eighteen, but his frame was no longer frail. Beneath the thin fabric of his school uniform, one could faintly make out his shoulder blades and the muscles of his lower back that appeared and disappeared with his movements.

The uniform consisted of a white short-sleeved shirt worn with a black tie. Fei Lan didn’t wear a tie; his buttons were loose and his collar was wide open. Ye Lingwei stared for a good while until Fei Lan shifted, causing Ye Lingwei to narrow his eyes.

At the nape of the boy’s neck, extending from inside his collar, a few black feathers⁴In the context of a Chinese high school, this almost certainly refers to a tattoo. Tattoos are strictly forbidden in Chinese schools. peeked out…

Fei Lan had a tattoo. Those few eerie strokes instantly made Ye Lingwei feel as though a dark cloud were looming over his head.

Just as Ye Lingwei was about to look away, Fei Lan turned around leisurely, his gaze landing on Ye Lingwei’s face.

The aisle was narrow; he could reach Ye Lingwei just by stretching out his hand. Fei Lan tapped the pen in his hand against Ye Lingwei’s forehead, his tone sounding intimate.

“What are you looking at, kid? Hm?”

• 1
  A specific eye shape in Chinese physiognomy considered highly attractive and seductive.
• 2
  Describes eyelashes that are long, straight, and soft, similar to a newborn’s, rather than curled and stiff. It emphasizes innocence.
• 3
  Ye Lingwei’s nickname.
• 4
  In the context of a Chinese high school, this almost certainly refers to a tattoo. Tattoos are strictly forbidden in Chinese schools.