Indifferent Youth, a Farewell Without Reunion, Brother... Where Are You

Hospital, outside in the corridor.

Ye Cheng happily counted the money with both hands, counting it over and over again. After confirming there were no issues, he finally opened his crumpled little toad wallet and stuffed all the freshly counted cash inside.

At a visible rate, the originally crumpled little toad wallet bulged up, turning into a plump little toad.

Ye Cheng nodded in satisfaction, put his little toad wallet away, and tucked it into his pocket, ready to continue answering the questions of the wealthy but seemingly not-too-bright, gloomy middle-aged man in front of him.

Lin Baizhi's appearance mostly took after her mother; she looked very beautiful and delicate. However, a small part of her features took after her father, Lin Tianxiong.

Lin Tianxiong was like a smiling tiger—he looked refined and amiable, but in reality, he carried a ruthless and sinister vibe.

It wasn't exactly a flattering description, but it was the truth.

If others were heroes, then Lin Tianxiong would be a formidable and ambitious warlord, or perhaps even a treacherous villain.

He would resort to any means to achieve his goals, and his way of doing things was extremely ruthless. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to snatch back the Lin family's business in just a few short years. Lin Tianxiong's targets were none other than his own parents and siblings... In the end, Lin Tianxiong emerged as the ultimate victor.

During the struggle for the Lin Group, he used a marriage of convenience to bind interests together. Using this as a stepping stone, he successfully exchanged it for a seat at the table. Standing out among his siblings, he took control of the Lin family.

Just when Lin Tianxiong's parents were rejoicing, he showed them what a filial son truly meant!

He cut off all financial sources for his parents and siblings, leaving them with only the most basic living allowances, just enough to keep them from starving... All of this was revenge for them tearing his family apart and causing his wife and child to separate from him back then.

Even if they were family, even if they were his own parents, he didn't hesitate.

Because Lin Tianxiong knew very well that his so-called parents and siblings were nothing more than wolves in sheep's clothing. They were purely profit-driven, with no familial affection to speak of. For the sake of the family's interests, all the children were manipulated; they couldn't decide their own marriages or life paths, and were forced to become pawns and bargaining chips in a game of power...

For Lin Tianxiong's parents, it was like receiving two pieces of news. The good news was that their cutthroat grooming had produced a formidable successor who could take the Lin family to the next level!

The bad news was that it backfired. They couldn't control him at all. The family did go to the next level, true, but from then on, the Lin family had absolutely nothing to do with them anymore; it had become Lin Tianxiong's private property.

All other members of the Lin family were kicked out, including the founders...

Lin Tianxiong was the true representative of a loving father and a dutiful son...

Taking everything into consideration, this led to Ye Cheng's very fair assessment: a not-too-bright, gloomy middle-aged old geezer.

Ye Cheng had never looked into Lin Tianxiong's past; he just judged him based on his facial features and this brief interaction...

While Ye Cheng was analyzing Lin Tianxiong, Lin Tianxiong was also analyzing Ye Cheng. Ultimately, he came to a conclusion similar to Ye Cheng's, a very fair title.

A slightly eccentric, quick-witted, unconventional, and dangerous-looking money-grubbing, realistic little brat...

Both sides' internal remarks were exceptionally harsh; they were in a state of mutually throwing elbows, acting as if they were afraid they wouldn't hit the other hard enough.

"You are Lin Baizhi's friend, right?" Seeing that Ye Cheng had put the money away, Lin Tianxiong proceeded with his next question.

On the stool next to them, there was still a stack of cash. Their agreement could continue: one bill per question, very fair.

Ye Cheng nodded. "No."

After speaking, he drew another red bill, then stared eagerly at Lin Tianxiong, waiting for his next question so he could draw yet another red bill.

Lin Tianxiong: "???"

No?

Are you kidding me? There's no one else in this corridor but you. If it's not you, who else could it be?

Although it was a bit strange, fortunately, Lin Tianxiong had already gotten used to Ye Cheng's tone of speaking. He quickly returned to normal, thought for a moment, and organized the next question he needed to ask.

"If you're not friends, then what is your relationship?"

Lin Tianxiong continued asking.

Ye Cheng looked at Lin Tianxiong as if looking at an idiot and said casually, "Isn't it obvious? Male and female..."

Hmm???

When Lin Tianxiong heard the words "male and female," he almost choked on his breath. His heart skipped a beat. His daughter had been living alone outside all these years, enduring a lot of hardship, and she was also ill. It would be very easy for her to be deceived by some punk.

Speak of the devil...

When Ye Cheng said the words "male and female," it was as if he got stuck. He dragged out the last syllable for a very, very long time, so much so that Lin Tianxiong's heart kept skipping a beat for a long time without stopping.

A few seconds later, Lin Tianxiong finally looked at Ye Cheng with a confused expression. "Male and female what?"

"Male and female classmates, of course. What else could it be?" Ye Cheng blinked his big, expressive eyes, looking completely harmless as he stared at Lin Tianxiong in front of him.

Lin Tianxiong: "..."

"Classmates are just classmates, why did you have to say male and female classmates, you brat?" Lin Tianxiong looked at Ye Cheng, somewhat speechless.

Ye Cheng stuck out a hand and waved it in front of Lin Tianxiong. "No, no, no. There are differences between classmates. There are male-male classmates, male-female classmates, female-female classmates, female-male classmates..."

Lin Tianxiong: "???"

"That doesn't make sense, does it? Aren't male-female classmates and female-male classmates the same thing?" Lin Tianxiong looked at Ye Cheng in confusion.

Ye Cheng shook his head. "How could they be the same? Is a dairy cow the same as cow dairy? Is a honeybee the same as bee honey? Is a massive crazy gale the same as a massive crazy... ahem, as long as you get it. There are other people here, and if they hear it, your pride will be ruined. We'll stop here."

Ye Cheng stopped talking toward the end and even gestured to the principal, the homeroom teacher, and a few others sitting next to Lin Tianxiong, looking as if he was being especially considerate of Lin Tianxiong.

Lin Tianxiong: "???"

This kid is definitely not human!

Lin Tianxiong gasped. Even though he had read countless people, facing Ye Cheng now, he felt like a greenhorn. He had absolutely no way to predict what Ye Cheng's next sentence would be; there was no logic to speak of.

This feeling was as bizarre as being outside a delivery room, where the baby asks the family whether to save the nurse or the stroller, and the mother's family finally answers to save Pavel Korchagin.

Lin Tianxiong fell silent and stopped talking. Ye Cheng, on the other hand, waited eagerly on the side. After waiting for a while and seeing that Lin Tianxiong didn't seem to have any intention of giving him more money, he shook his head with some regret, put the bill in his hand into his plump little toad wallet, and then went back to reading his book.

Outside the corridor, time ticked by minute by minute. Lin Tianxiong looked up at the clock hanging above the corridor, the unease and anxiety in his heart becoming increasingly apparent.

The anxious Lin Tianxiong cast another glance at Ye Cheng, who was leisurely reading a book nearby.

He could not help but feel a bit puzzled... Was this kid really just an ordinary classmate to his Baizhi?

The kind that could not even be considered a friend?

Was the boy in front of him truly just a representative chosen by the school and the class to show their care?

If that was not the case, Lin Tianxiong really could not understand why Ye Cheng did not look worried at all. He was not even pretending to care!

Compared to the hospital director, the school principal, and the homeroom teacher standing nearby... his attitude was worlds apart. The worry was written all over their faces. If anything unexpected happened to Lin Baizhi, they would get nothing, and might even face Lin Tianxiong's wrath. Naturally, they were worried.

But Ye Cheng... he ate and drank as usual, seemingly completely unaffected.

What a hardened heart.

At least, that was how it looked to Lin Tianxiong. Even if she were an insignificant stranger, one should not be so cold toward a young girl whose life hung in the balance inside the operating room...

If this was not being stone-hearted, what was?

Unable to hold back any longer, Lin Tianxiong spoke up, "Aren't you worried about Baizhi?"

Ye Cheng did not even look up. "Of course I'm worried. Can't you see I'm so worried that I can't eat or sleep?"

Lin Tianxiong: "???"

It was broad daylight—he was not supposed to be sleeping anyway. And as for not being able to eat...

"Oh, right, it's mealtime. I'm going to get some food." Ye Cheng glanced at his rather worn-out digital watch. It was exactly twelve o'clock—time to eat. He was going to get lunch.

"I hope I won't have the chance to see you again." Without looking back, Ye Cheng waved his hand and left the hospital under Lin Tianxiong's baffled and questioning gaze.

No chance to see him again?

There seemed to be... something wrong with that statement.

If someone else had said it, Lin Tianxiong definitely would not have thought much of it. But the problem was that a strange kid had said it... which meant there might be a hidden meaning. Did he just not want to see him, or was it something else...?

While Lin Tianxiong was pondering this, the apologetic voice of the homeroom teacher came from the side.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Lin. There is something wrong with this child up here. Please don't hold it against him..." The homeroom teacher pointed to her head.

Lin Tianxiong frowned. He believed that Ye Cheng's way of thinking was different from ordinary people, but he did not believe there was anything wrong with the boy's brain. The homeroom teacher in front of him was just a short-sighted fool.

Unable to get the answers he wanted from Ye Cheng, Lin Tianxiong had to change his approach and ask the homeroom teacher for information about his daughter and the boy who had just left.

Soon, pieces of unbelievable and shocking information emerged one after another.

First in the class, first in the school, top three in the city... Do not ask why he could only rank in the top three in the city, because going any further was not a matter of sheer ability anymore. At that point, one would need to play a powerful tune to catch a glimpse of the true face of the world... accidentally stumbling into the realm of the heavens.

These were merely matters of intellect, but they already left Lin Tianxiong too amazed to speak... This kid was truly capable!

Lin Tianxiong also received an even more crucial piece of information: Ye Cheng was indeed his daughter's classmate. Oh, wait, they were male and female classmates, yes, but he was also her only friend in the school.

He had managed to glean this from the homeroom teacher's evasive and guarded words.

Even if the homeroom teacher was not telling the whole truth, it did not matter. As soon as his daughter came out of the operating room, everything would come to light. Therefore, there was no point in the homeroom teacher lying; she had confessed everything truthfully.

She had just sugar-coated a few things, such as her own past attitude and the attitude of the classmates...

Ding!

Lin Tianxiong's train of thought was interrupted as the status sign hanging outside the operating room changed from In Surgery to Finished.

Click!

The operating room doors opened, and a sweating doctor wiped his forehead, his eyes filled with unconcealable joy and excitement.

"Mr. Lin, the surgery was very successful. Miss Lin is out of danger!"

"Good, good, good..."

Lin Tianxiong said a string of goods and was the first to rush inside, followed closely by the principal and the others who were a bit slower to react.

Beep, beep, beep...

In a daze, with the anesthesia not yet fully worn off, Lin Baizhi lay on the operating table as she was wheeled out and carefully moved aside. Soon, she heard the sound of footsteps, a hazy sound of approaching footsteps.

"Baizhi!"

She heard someone calling her. It was a voice she had never heard before, completely unfamiliar, yet inexplicably somewhat intimate.

In her delirium, she saw quite a few people: the surgeon, a middle-aged man with red eyes crying there, her homeroom teacher... Everyone was there, except the person she wanted to see the most.

"Brother..." hoarse, weak, and as soft as a mosquito's hum, the young girl murmured. A teardrop slid down the corner of her eye as the pain she had long grown accustomed to spread throughout her body.

The young girl's hand lifted weakly, trying to reach out for someone. She was so scared... Brother, where are you?