After settling Zhou He, Liang Zhou went to Yu Shulin's room, sat by his bed, touched his forehead, and asked softly, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Yu Shulin reached out from under the blanket, gently holding his hand. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, "Brother, were you... very busy recently?"
Liang Zhou knew he was asking about the time he had been avoiding him, and felt deeply guilty. After a long silence, he nodded. "...Yes."
Yu Shulin tightened his grip on his hand, shifting a little out from under the blanket to look up at him, asking anxiously, "Then... will you be that busy in the future?"
Yu Xiu's appearance had stirred up those gloomy memories from his past life. Family was almost his greatest weakness. What he had begged for, from his past life to this one, was nothing more than a family who treated each other sincerely. After his mother's death, Liang Zhou had become the focus of all his expectations and emotional attachment. The recent period of coldness had left him both confused and deeply hurt. He didn't understand what he had done wrong. Now that Liang Zhou was caring and close to him again as before, he didn't want the cold war to continue.
Seeing him look at him like that, Liang Zhou suddenly felt content... Forget it, let it be like this. He reached out, covered Yu Shulin's eyes, bent down, closed his own eyes, and pressed a kiss onto the back of his own hand. Then he quickly straightened up, removed his hand, turned off the bedside lamp, and replied in a low voice in the darkness, "No... I'm done being busy now. Go to sleep."
The next day, Liang Zhou canceled his morning work to have a brunch with Yu Shulin and Zhou He.
"Cousin, you still have to work on New Year's Day?" Zhou He asked, his words muffled as he bit into a bun.
Liang Zhou pushed the glass of milk toward Yu Shulin and replied, "Entertainment companies tend to be busier during holidays. I have a meeting this afternoon that was scheduled long ago and can't be canceled." He then looked at Yu Shulin. "Drink your milk. I'll try to come back as early as possible."
Yu Shulin nodded with a smile. "Okay."
Zhou He gave him a strange look, then gave Liang Zhou a strange look, his eyes full of confusion—why did the atmosphere feel a bit odd?
After Liang Zhou left, the two of them lounged in the living room. Zhou He picked up the newspaper on the coffee table and discovered that the entertainment section actually had a piece of news about Liang Zhou, complete with a photo. The picture was clearly from when Liang Zhou had taken them out of the hospital the previous day. Based on just this simple photo, the report was filled with all sorts of wild speculation—street racing, drunkenness, secret rendezvous with a beauty—making Zhou He laugh until his stomach hurt.
"Wow, cousin is so unlucky. Wherever he goes, he has to cover his face, otherwise it's straight to the newspapers or TV. He has zero privacy."
Yu Shulin smiled, took the newspaper to look, and felt relieved when he saw the photo was very blurry. "Let's not talk about this. Where's your homework? Let's finish it before playing games." When they left the police station yesterday, the officers had returned their backpacks and game discs that had been left at the scene. Although a few discs had been stepped on and broken, Zhou He had bought many, so more than half were still playable.
"Who does homework on the first day of a holiday?" Zhou He wailed. But seeing Yu Shulin's insistent look, and thinking that having a top student from an advanced class by his side would help him finish his homework faster, he obediently dragged his backpack over and took out his assignments.
They buried themselves in their homework, even eating lunch at the coffee table before continuing. Yu Shulin worked faster. While waiting for Zhou He to finish, he took the chance to go upstairs and retrieve his phone from the drawer, turning it on.
As soon as it powered on, he received several text messages, most of them from Yu Xiu. He frowned and deleted them with a few taps. When he got to the last one, he paused—it was from Liang Zhou, sent on Christmas day according to the date. It only had four words: "I'm home."
Remembering what Liang Zhou had said yesterday, he smiled, curved the corners of his mouth. After thinking for a moment, he carefully composed a text message and sent it.
"Zhou He and I are doing homework. Did you have lunch? Remember to rest, don't overwork yourself."
After a while, his phone vibrated, but it wasn't a text. Liang Zhou had called directly.
Yu Shulin suddenly felt a bit nervous. He felt a little foolish, just like that time when he was lost in the city and received Liang Zhou's call.
He took a deep breath and carefully answered the call, but didn't speak.
"Shulin?"
The low, pleasant voice came through. He couldn't help but smile. "Brother, are you done with work? Have you eaten?"
"Yes, I have. What about you and Zhou He?"
"We've eaten too. After finishing homework, Zhou He wants to teach me how to play games. Um... Brother, will you be back for dinner tonight?" Yu Shulin couldn't keep his tone from lifting... It was so good, their relationship was back to how it used to be.
"Yes, I'll be back." Liang Zhou leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, his eyes full of amusement. "I'll bring some delicious food for you and Xiao He then, and play games with you both."
"Okay, we'll wait for you! Zhou He is calling me from downstairs. Brother... see you tonight?"
The corner of Liang Zhou's mouth lifted. "See you tonight."
Liang Zhou put his phone away. Turning back, ready to continue discussing business, he saw Zhang Qian and Zhao Zhi staring at him with expressions of utter shock.
Guan Bowen, however, was very calm. He leisurely poured a cup of tea and dropped a bombshell. "So sweet... a new little boyfriend?"
"Pfft—" Zhang Qian spat out his coffee. Zhao Zhi decisively scooted away, his expression quite dramatic. "What the... so the boss likes men? So, so avant-garde..."
Liang Zhou resumed his expressionless demeanor and looked down at the documents. "Nonsense. That was my brother just now. Alright, let's get down to business. Let's proceed with the company's New Year's banquet as planned. Bowen, you don't need to attend. I won't be going either. Zhao Zhi, you'll host the entire event. Keep an eye out for any promising newcomers."
"No problem." Zhao Zhi instantly switched into work mode, nodding in understanding.
Zhang Qian's mind, however, was still swirling with gossip. He leaned in mischievously and asked, "Liang Zhou, was that call really to Little Yu? Not some little lover? The look on your face when you were on the phone, tsk tsk, flowers were practically blooming."
Liang Zhou's face darkened. "Stop talking nonsense. I'm not going to the dinner gathering tonight. Have fun on your own, put it on my tab." With that, he put down the documents and strode out of the room.
Everyone watched him leave. Guan Bowen smiled with great interest. "This is his own office. Shouldn't we be the ones leaving? Why did he run off himself? Could it be... a guilty conscience?"
Zhang Qian and Zhao Zhi turned to look at him. After a long moment, they gave him a thumbs up.
Truth Emperor.
Using his injury as an excuse, Zhou He lingered at Liang Zhou's place for the entire New Year's holiday. Liang Zhou was very dissatisfied with this, but Yu Shulin was delighted. There was no helping it—once you started playing games, you just couldn't stop!
Zhou He got to witness his cousin's almost exaggerated speed of changing expressions. Every time he faced Yu Shulin, it was "this is my good little brother, I must treat him gently." But when he turned to Zhou He, it became "whose annoying brat is this, coming here for free meals, why isn't he leaving yet?" The contrast was stark and utterly disheartening.
Fortunately, his mental fortitude was strong, his skin was thick, and his physical and magical defenses were stacked sky-high—immune to frost and traps! Zhou He declared, if you want me to get lost... haha, dream on.
After New Year's Day, Yu Shulin, having reconciled with his brother, went to school in extremely high spirits. The injuries on his face shocked all his friends.
"Oh dear, which damned scoundrel did this, ruining our handsome Yu's face!"
Wang Zhi stared at the bruises at the corner of Yu Shulin's eye and mouth. After thoroughly gossiping about the cause, he first indignantly condemned the heinousness of the thugs, then, much to everyone's amusement, pounded the table laughing.
Li Tao also, for once, turned around and stared at Yu Shulin's face for a moment, snorted coldly, then turned back to bury his head in his book.
Yu Shulin was helpless, letting them laugh with good humor.
This time, Yu Xiu was thoroughly finished. After the gang leader regained consciousness, he confessed fully to the crime, testifying that Yu Xiu had paid them to beat up Yu Shulin. The down payment had been given, a total of sixty thousand, all of which was found at his home.
Although Yu Shulin and Zhou He were not seriously injured, there was a minor among that gang of thugs. Yu Xiu was guilty of both hiring thugs to injure someone and inciting a minor to commit a crime, adding offense to offense. A light sentence was out of the question.
Somehow, Ling Chun managed things, and Yu Xiu was sentenced with the fastest speed possible without even getting a chance to plead his case, then transferred back to the city and imprisoned.
Perhaps it was fate. Just like Yu Shulin in his previous life, Yu Xiu was sentenced to seven years, and the place he was imprisoned wasn't too far off either.
When he got the news, Yu Shulin was stunned for a moment. Remembering everything from his past life, he finally felt a sense of release.
After Yu Xiu was imprisoned, Zhou Mei quickly filed for divorce, sold everything in the house that could be sold, and disappeared from the city with the thirteen-year-old Yu Bo. Selling the house was too troublesome, so it was left behind. But since Yu Xiu's debt to Yu Shulin remained, the court directly awarded the house to Yu Shulin.
Ling Chun asked if he wanted to track down Zhou Mei's whereabouts. After pondering for a long time, he finally shook his head. That Zhou Mei had now lost her family's pillar, wandering adrift with that spoiled child. That was retribution enough.
Yu Xiu's house was sold by him at a low price, and the money was directly donated to Project Hope—consider it accumulating virtue for his mother, hoping she would be reborn into a better life in her next life.
Not long after this matter was settled, he received a call from Yu Xiu from prison.
"You beast! Is this how you treat your own uncle?"
He put down his pen, looked at the poster on the wall, and smiled a cold, mocking smile. "Yu Xiu, do you know there's a thing in this world called 'what goes around comes around'? From the moment you conceived those wicked thoughts against me, the outcome of this life of yours was already set... Focus on reforming yourself inside, you scum." After saying that, he hung up directly and sent Ling Chun a text message about the incident.
Being able to make a call from prison... it seemed Yu Xiu's claws hadn't been cut cleanly enough yet.
Liang Zhou came in with a glass of milk, glanced at the phone in his hand, and asked, "A call?"
He turned around and put down the phone. "No... Brother, are you free this weekend? Let's find a temple to visit. I want to go give thanks."
"Give thanks?" Liang Zhou frowned, placing the milk on the desk.
"Yeah." He looked up at Liang Zhou, whose features seemed much softer under the lamplight, and smiled with squinted eyes. "I always feel my luck in this life has been too good. Perhaps the Bodhisattva secretly helped me. I want to go thank them."
Looking at the curve of his smile, Liang Zhou's fingers twitched. He raised his hand, paused near his cheek, and finally settled on his head, ruffling his hair, and nodded. "Alright, as you wish."
Not long after New Year's Day came the final exams. Yu Shulin was in a good mood, performed well, and took first place again. Receiving his report card, he smiled until his eyes were crescent moons. He extended the report card towards Liang Zhou and leaned on his shoulder. "Brother, first place. Any reward?"
By now, Liang Zhou no longer stiffened when Yu Shulin suddenly got close. He very naturally reached out to pat his arm, put down his documents, took the report card to look at it, and nodded. "Of course. What do you want?"
Yu Shulin thought for a moment with squinted eyes, then shook his head. "I don't know. Brother, you can give me anything." Having said that, he got up from Liang Zhou, sat back down on the carpet, and leaned over the coffee table to work on his winter break homework.
A trace of amusement colored Liang Zhou's eyes. He tapped the documents and lowered his head to continue reading.
