Chapter 96: Truthful Words

Ling Wu stepped onto the stairs, his groggy mind having cleared up quite a bit. He placed a hand on his neck to rub it, but felt a faint stinging sensation on his skin. He paused his steps, frowned, and felt a bit suspicious.

The next instant, he saw the barrage comments floating by:

【Why did the supporting male lead stop? Did he discover that Young Master Jin injected him with the agent?】

【Young Master Jin must be regretting it to death. He knows the expression the supporting male lead had during his Mental Dissociation; his eyes are full of heartache.】

【So, it's true that Young Master Jin loved drinking corn and pork rib soup when he was little, and the supporting male lead loved eating beef noodles? Sobbing... such a big knife of family affection.】

【Young Master Jin, your bowl is worth 88,000, so is the family affection you have for your brother priceless?】

【Mr. Hard-Mouth, if the sky falls, your mouth can hold it up. If you feel bad for your brother and don't want him to wash dishes, just say so. If you want to spend more time with your brother, please just say so.】

【The two children have it too hard.】

【It seems Yu Shixue is the only one in the F4 with a happy family.】

【Supporting male lead, let me tell you quietly: when you were drugged unconscious, Young Master Jin held you and cried. He's just hard-mouthed but soft-hearted!】

【Is no one discussing the painting of the Ganan terrorist that Young Master Yin drew in the VIP room? Why did Young Master Jin take it out at this time? Is he hinting at something?】

Yin Huaiyu's painting, the agent.

Jin Shaoyu sat on the sofa, his body leaning slightly forward, elbows resting on his thighs. He used his fingers to stroke the painting on the screen that showed a pair of eyes identical to Ling Wu's, the emotions in his own eyes complex and uneasy.

Ling Wu turned around abruptly.

—"Shao Yu."

Jin Shaoyu looked up at the sound, meeting the gaze of Ling Wu on the stairs, quietly staring into his eyes.

Ling Wu stood with his back to the light, his gaze toward Jin Shaoyu much calmer. At this moment, time seemed to flow back ten years. This scene overlapped with the brother Jin Shaoyu had longed for and dreamed of in the depths of his memories but could never see. Both had shed the callowness of their youth, yet the contours remained familiar. Having traversed the long, arduous passage of time, their eyes and brows remained as they were, their deep affection as constant as before.

The two people's gazes were an embrace that spanned time and space.

It was a long while before Jin Shaoyu asked, "What's wrong?"

He only saw Ling Wu shake his head faintly and smile. The expression was very helpless, turning into compromise after a moment. Finally, he heard Ling Wu say, "It's nothing, get some rest early."

Seeing Ling Wu turn and head upstairs, Jin Shaoyu's voice was so soft it was almost imperceptible: "Good night."

The living room fell silent as night once more.

The light from the phone screen shone on Jin Shaoyu's face; his back looked as lonely and desolate as a statue.

At that time.

Inside the room, Ling Wu stood before the mirror at the washbasin. He unbuttoned his collar, pulled it aside with a tug, and revealed a large patch of fair skin. He traced it inch by inch with his finger, finally feeling that faint stinging sensation from the stairwell once again. He leaned close to the mirror and saw a tiny needle prick on the skin there.

You wouldn't notice it at all if you didn't look closely.

The corners of Ling Wu's lips hooked up slightly.

You've really grown up, haven't you? You can even scheme against your brother now.

An agent that can make a person lose their memory, the TSR-91 Agent. Just how much does Jin Shaoyu know, exactly?

12:00.

The lights in the villa were off, and it was dead silent. Ling Wu walked out of his room barefoot, keeping the noise to a minimum. He turned on a flashlight and went downstairs. After filling a glass with water, he walked over to the trash can, pushed aside the papers and fruit peels on top, and saw the used, discarded TSR-91 Agent tube underneath.

He wrapped the agent tube in paper and tucked it into his pocket.

He then restored the layout inside the trash can.

Just as he was about to turn and head upstairs, the living room light was clicked on with a "snap."

Jin Shaoyu wasn't asleep either, and asked him, "Why didn't you turn on the light?"

Ling Wu analyzed from his micro-expressions that the other party hadn't noticed anything, then naturally raised the glass in his hand and said, "I didn't know where the light switch was. I was just thirsty; I'll go back after I finish the water."

"Oh."

Jin Shaoyu also walked into the living room. Seeing Ling Wu barefoot without shoes, he walked toward the entryway, bent down to open the shoe cabinet, and tossed a pair of slippers at his feet, saying coldly, "Put them on yourself. Don't come looking for me if you catch a cold."

Ling Wu expressed his point of view: "It's very hot in the summer; actually, it doesn't matter if I don't wear them."

Jin Shaoyu watched him in silence for two seconds.

Then, he said, "Suit yourself."

Ling Wu ended up putting them on and turned to go upstairs.

After closing his bedroom door, he sent a message to Xi Huaizhi.

-05: I will mail an agent tube to you tomorrow. Send it to the Identification Department to check whose fingerprints are on it, and give the information to me.

-Fool: Received!

Ling Wu turned off his phone screen. His mind was very clear now, and he couldn't sleep at all. He sat on the chair on the room's small balcony, letting the night breeze blow on him.

"Knock!"

"Knock!"

Ling Wu turned back: "Come in."

Jin Shaoyu brought a glass of milk inside and placed it on his table: "It's 12:30, it's getting late. Drinking a glass of milk before bed is healthier."

"Okay," Ling Wu said. "Put it over there, I'll drink it in a moment."

"Mm."

Jin Shaoyu closed the door and walked out.

Ling Wu turned on his phone and played a few rounds of games, full of energy. Then, he picked up the glass of milk, took it to the bathroom to pour it out, turned off the lights, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

Half an hour later.

Jin Shaoyu opened the door and walked in. Only after seeing that the milk had been drunk did he feel at ease sitting on the edge of the bed, half-turned away from him, looking at the moonlight outside the window: "Brother, only at times like this can I call you brother with a clear conscience."

"Just as you guessed, I went to see Jin Liangjin. I sent Gu Xin to investigate the medical records at the Central Hospital from ten years ago; they were all forged. Mom didn't die in a car accident at all."

"Jin Liangjin didn't tell me any of the truth. What you said is really similar to him, but he said that when it came to a choice between two, I was the one you abandoned. I didn't believe his words."

His voice was intermittent.

"Only when I truly realized that the time that has passed will never return did I feel it was such a pity, just like how flowing water cannot be grasped. Before this, I was still stubbornly, crazily wanting to know the truth, but now I don't want to anymore. Brother, you are the only family I have left. Please stay safe, healthy, and free from pain and illness. Please don't take risks, and wait until the day I grow up enough to share the burden with you."

"We... are each other's closest kin."

A long time later, the sound of the room door closing finally rang out again.

Jin Shaoyu only dared to reveal his true feelings when Ling Wu was asleep, but fortunately, Ling Wu was not asleep at this moment; he opened his eyes, sat up, and looked toward the direction of the closed door.

The time on the phone was already 2:30.

Ling Wu sat on the balcony; the moonlit night was desolate, and the evening breeze blew. He recalled the words Jin Shaoyu had said over and over again, smoking one cigarette after another. The hazy moonlight and smoke swirled around the side of his face. He held the cigarette between two fingers and casually brought it to his lips for a drag. His pitch-black hair seemed to be merging with the night, his eyes half-hidden by stray locks, making his expression unclear. Cigarette butts lay scattered all over the floor by his feet.

"But compared to all this, Brother only hopes that you will be free from worry your whole life."