A world where Old Deng and Little Deng elbow each other, and only Miss Lin gets hurt, is achieved

"Dad, I still have things to do here, I'll talk to you later."

After sending this message, Lin Baizhi stopped replying to her kind old father.

Lin Tianxiong's thoughts were instantly pulled back from his memories. Seeing the message his daughter sent on his phone, he smiled bitterly and ultimately just replied with an "Okay".

His daughter was incredible, outshining all others without exception. If there was one flaw, it was that she had fallen into the trap of love, to the point of showing signs of an unhealthy obsession.

As her loving old father, Lin Tianxiong could see things clearly from an outsider's perspective, but his daughter, being the one involved, couldn't see it... No, she probably saw it clearly, but was willing to continue down this path anyway.

At the end of the day, he blamed his own uselessness. When his daughter was young, he hadn't had the power to protect her and her mother, and as a result... Sigh.

Lin Tianxiong felt an inexplicable sense of sorrow as he recalled the past. He didn't know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that his daughter had met that boy who was always acting so eccentric all day long when she was young...

Smart as he was, the boy already seemed somewhat unlike a normal human being.

His daughter was such a proper and serious person; what if she was led astray by him in the future?

Truth be told, Lin Tianxiong was actually quite satisfied with Ye Cheng as a "son-in-law." Although they had only met a handful of times—countable on one hand—Lin Tianxiong had long recognized that Ye Cheng was absolutely a dragon among men.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for his daughter to fall for this eccentric, silly boy...

After their first meeting at the hospital, Lin Tianxiong later found out that Ye Cheng had paid for his daughter's surgery out of his own pocket. And not just this time, but in the past as well. No wonder the boy's little toad wallet was always so flat...

Logically speaking, the orphanage should have been responsible for the medical expenses. There was absolutely no need for Ye Cheng to go out of his way to pay for it in advance.

Lin Tianxiong later discovered the root of the problem: the orphanage would always make a big fuss out of these "great and touching" stories to solicit donations from society. As for the actual medical condition... it wasn't their concern at all, and they would drag out the treatment for quite some time.

Having long seen through the ugly faces of those old geezers, Ye Cheng would always pay the fees in advance out of his own pocket, and then go after those old folks to get the money back later.

They wouldn't pay?

If they didn't pay, then they couldn't blame him for blasting them with internet magic on short-video platforms with his own background music blaring.

If one really looked at it, the orphanage's procedures were flawless, perfectly reasonable and compliant. They were even paying for you, so there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. As an unwanted orphan, you were supposed to be "deeply grateful."

In order not to delay the treatment, Ye Cheng always paid first. From time to time, he even had to play along and act with those old geezers in the orphanage; otherwise, if they didn't get their donation money, they wouldn't reimburse him.

It was then that Lin Tianxiong suddenly realized the truth. The person who had acted the most indifferent outside in the hallway was actually the one who cared about his daughter the most.

The surgery fee was not a small amount, and yet Ye Cheng, at such a young age and still in school, had his own ways of getting that much money... He was far more than just a genius!

From that moment on, Lin Tianxiong fully acknowledged the little guy who seemed eccentric and somewhat inhuman.

At Ye Cheng's age, he himself was probably still playing with mud somewhere...

Roughly estimating, the surgery fee must have been Ye Cheng's entire life savings at the time. Coupled with the "red envelope money" needed to bribe the surgeons and grease the wheels, Ye Cheng's little toad wallet was completely burned out, turning into a shriveled little toad.

He trusted no one, no matter how many promises were made. Ye Cheng only believed in himself and would never pin his hopes on anyone else.

The most "caring" couldn't compare to the most "indifferent," and the one who loved money the most was the most generous when it came to spending it... How ironic.

Lin Tianxiong, who had already suffered betrayal and torment from his own family, felt this deeply. This feeling of not trusting anyone was absolutely right. It was just that he still had a reason to keep going: to find his daughter and to drag down those worse-than-beast relatives of his, making them spend the rest of their lives like pigs and dogs.

Lin Tianxiong had an intuition that until Ye Cheng accomplished what he wanted to do, he would not be trapped by anything.

Not even his daughter could make him stay.

Later, his daughter's reaction after waking up was exactly as he had expected. She cried and threw a tantrum, willing to abandon the massive foundation of the Lin family just to go live a hard life with Ye Cheng...

Lin Tianxiong had been through the same thing back in the day, so he knew exactly how difficult it was to have no power or influence. He had been torn apart from his family because of it, losing his wife and child. How could he possibly make the same mistake now?

How could he play the "villain" and let his daughter suffer the pain of unrequited love?

But... Oh, my daughter, your heart is with him, but his heart is not with you...

Lin Tianxiong couldn't see through Ye Cheng, nor could he figure him out. He didn't know what Ye Cheng truly wanted, but he was certain of one thing: Ye Cheng would absolutely not settle down and play the role of a wealthy second-generation heir in the Lin family alongside his daughter.

Having foreseen the future, he knew that if things continued like this, it was destined to be a tragedy. Rather than letting that happen, it would be better to...

"Baizhi, everything Dad has is yours. As long as I'm alive, I can protect you, but I can't be with you forever. You must have the ability to hold onto these things so that the people below won't dare to covet them."

"Dad has met that boy. He's very smart. But you two can't see each other right now. He will be your weakness and will slow you down..."

"Wait for the day, Baizhi, when you become truly strong and can hold your own. When that time comes, Dad definitely won't stop you, okay?"

Amidst Lin Baizhi's heart-wrenching sobs, Lin Tianxiong comforted his daughter, his eyes full of heartache. In reality... these words weren't entirely true.

Some of it needed to be heard in reverse...

It was indeed a weakness, but... he wouldn't be the one slowing her down. On the contrary, it would be her failing to keep up with his pace. When the day came that she couldn't keep up at all, that might very well be the day she was "abandoned." This was something Lin Tianxiong, like any father, was unwilling to see.

It wasn't that Lin Tianxiong was worrying over nothing, nor was it that he thought Ye Cheng was too callous. It was simply the truth—a truth seen from the perspective of a ruthless business tycoon who had struggled and fought his way through society for many years.

Two people with too great a gap between them would never find happiness. Back then, he and his beloved had already suffered such pain. Having experienced it once, he naturally wouldn't let his daughter repeat his mistakes.

Daughter, if you don't start learning now, you really won't have a chance in the future. Wake up!

Lin Tianxiong could only remind his daughter in this slightly roundabout way.

True to being the man Ye Cheng had evaluated as a "gloomy old geezer," Lin Tianxiong's foresight was incredibly sharp. He instantly grasped the core issue, acting as a prophet who had already foreseen the scenario years down the line!

The game between masters is decided in a single thought... Just take this elbow strike!

Man!!!

The two jostled with each other, and in the end, a world where only Lin Baizhi suffered was achieved. She inexplicably lost sight of her brother and was forcibly taken away to live a rich person's life...

Time once again returned to the present.

Lin Tianxiong seemed to think of something. He got up and rummaged through his study, eventually producing a ledger.

Click!

The lock on the ledger clicked open. Inside, it recorded all the large and small donations made over the years to the orphanage where Ye Cheng lived. Logically speaking, these records should have been kept in the Lin Group's corporate ledgers, but now they appeared separately in Lin Tianxiong's hands.

These records weren't something Lin Tianxiong needed; they were... what Ye Cheng had asked for.

After Lin Baizhi was taken away to the Lin family, Ye Cheng and Lin Tianxiong met again. Their next meeting took place more than half a month later.

"Beep, beep!"

An extended luxury black Lincoln sedan parked at the school gate. Just as Ye Cheng jumped down from the second floor of the school building and became the first person to dash out to the gate, the car honked its horn.

Hearing the horn, Ye Cheng flopped down and "dropped dead right on the road"—oh, wait, he dropped dead right on the car.

Smack! He collapsed onto the hood of the car.

Driver: "..."

Lin Tianxiong: "..."

Although Ye Cheng didn't say a word, both people inside the car clearly sensed his intention... Don't even think about resolving this today without paying up!

Ye Cheng's baffling stunt rendered the two of them completely speechless. After a long while, the driver finally asked uncertainly, "Mr. Lin, it seems like we're being scammed by a fake accident."

Lin Tianxiong: "..."

Nonsense, did he really need to point that out? Wasn't it glaringly obvious that this was a scam?!

Looking utterly speechless, Lin Tianxiong got out of the car with a dark expression. Click. After opening the door, he walked straight to the front of the car, right to the spot where Ye Cheng had "dropped dead," and spoke.

"Little guy, there's a dashcam in the car."

Hearing this, Ye Cheng instantly resurrected with full health. He scrambled up, patted the dust off his clothes, spat on the road beside him, and looked utterly indignant.

"Damn, do you have any civic virtue? Don't you know how to respect the old and cherish the young? If you had a dashcam, why didn't you say so earlier? Wasting my time, ptui!"

Lin Tianxiong: "..."

As expected of you. We haven't seen each other for half a month, and you still don't act like a human being. The moment we meet, you pull off a massive stunt.

Fortunately, it wasn't Lin Tianxiong's first time seeing Ye Cheng do something so outrageous. He quickly composed himself, and an amiable smile appeared on his face.

"Long time no see. Let's talk in the car."

"Save it. You're acting as if we're close. How do I know you're not going to take me to some shady place to harvest my waist, eyeballs, and kidneys... just so you can buy yourself a better car?" Ye Cheng maintained his look of disdain, his face full of obnoxious hostility.

Lin Tianxiong: "..."

"I am Baizhi's father. How could I possibly do such a thing?" Lin Tianxiong's face darkened, feeling like he was about to be angered to death by Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng sneered, instantly channeling the Crooked-Mouth Dragon King. He pushed up the non-existent glasses on the bridge of his nose and declared with a 'there is only one truth' detective vibe, "That's hard to say. In this society, you can know a person's face but not their heart. Who knows if you're some well-dressed beast or a smiling tiger..."

Lin Tianxiong: "???"

Why are this kid's words so aggressively offensive?!

Seeming to have thought of something, Lin Tianxiong simply patted his pockets for a moment, took out his wallet, pulled out a crisp red banknote, and waved it in front of Ye Cheng.

"I am a good person," Lin Tianxiong said.

"Isn't that obvious? As the biological father of my classmate Lin Baizhi, you're clearly a great guy at first glance. Let's go, Uncle Lin. Where are you taking me to eat? Oh, by the way, don't bother taking me to any restaurant below three stars. The food there scratches my throat..."

Ye Cheng swiftly snatched the red banknote from Lin Tianxiong's hand, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat. He emphasized Lin Tianxiong's identity and then kept calling him "Uncle Lin" with every breath. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought the two were incredibly close.

Lin Tianxiong: "..."