Chapter 121

Lin Yang heard the words, his breath caught.

He fell into a long silence, Ling Yue seemed to realize something, and suddenly she heard the noisy sound again.

"Big brother, nobody's there? You don't think this is it, do you?"

"I always feel he's right here; if we can't find him, forget it, let's go back—anyway, big brother only said one thing, he never said we absolutely had to find someone."

"Ah?"

"What ah, hurry up and go!"

Ling Yue pressed the corners of her mouth, almost unable to keep from laughing out loud, while on the other end of the phone, Lin Yang stayed there a few more minutes before lightly jumping down.

He held the phone, his gaze bewildered and pained: "You weren't asking me what's wrong, were you?"

"Yesterday afternoon, I laid my cards on the table with my mom."

At bottom line, Lin Yang didn't believe Ling Yue's words, even though they'd once rescued a kitten together—could saving a cat be compared to the occult?

He had received eighteen years of scientific education, lived eighteen years with his mother, and his life memories were complete.

"I don't think I'm a stolen child," Lin Yang said, eyes pained, "I have all my memories, from childhood to now; before, I always thought my mother treated me poorly, perhaps because my father died suddenly and she had to raise me alone—she was…hard-pressed."

When he was little, he had also enjoyed his parents' love. Suddenly someone told him he was a kidnapped child—how could he believe that?

The icy words and a living person, plus his eighteen years of life… Lin Yang slowly slid down from the anti-theft net; the instant he landed, his tingling toes made him stagger, almost causing him to kneel.

He found a spot on a moonlit, bright step to sit down; the keypad phone in his hand was some unknown-era relic he'd picked up from a junk station.

Lin Yang's eyes bitter: "So back then I scoffed at your words, I didn't believe you, but later—"

After hearing his words, Ling Yue kept her brows furrowed; then, hearing his tone shift, she gave a bitter smile and said, "I heard her admit it herself."

"Ling Yue sis, can you help me? Sorry, I was wrong before."

After saying that, his eyes were full of weariness, his whole body exuding exhaustion.

Lin Yang slightly bent over, arms wrapped tight, on the cold street he wore only a thin shirt and trousers; the sweat he'd just broken turned to cold sweat, chill spreading from his feet through his limbs.

Cold, bone-deep cold.

Ling Yue threw on her coat, ready to go out; she didn't beat around the bush with him, but directly asked, "Where are you now?"

Lin Yang: "You—"

Ling Yue: "I'm coming to find you!"

"You're out there, home—" she paused, then corrected: "You can't go back there either; if I don't come pick you up, are you planning to sleep on the streets? Do you know how low the temperature is today? You want to freeze yourself to death out there!"

Lin Yang laughed at her words, eventually giving the street name; as he spoke, he suddenly shivered, the piercing cold wind scraping his face like a knife.

On her way to find him, Ling Yue heard the full story.

After that day, just as Lin Yang said, compared to a mere acquaintance, compared to the outrageous idea of being a stolen child, he felt his mother simply couldn't accept it; when he was fifteen and his father died, it was the other party who gradually raised him.

Although her attitude changed suddenly after he entered high school, Lin Yang also tried to convince himself that it was her inability to cope, the heavy housework dragging her down.

So he constantly wanted to work hard to ease the family's burden.

But his efforts were utterly futile; the household atmosphere grew heavier day by day, her suppressing his frenzy made her completely unlike the mother of his memories—like a different person.

Frenzied to the point of frightening him.

Yesterday afternoon, Lin Yang finally couldn't take it; he didn't know where his former mother had gone, and amid her torrent of insults and accusations, he nearly broke down, shouting: "Are you really my mother? Are you truly?"

"Why are you saying this about me? I'm your son, not your enemy? Or perhaps—" he looked at the woman opposite, lips trembling, summoning all his strength: "I'm not even your son?"

The speaking woman froze instantly, tilting her head up to look at the young man who was a head taller than her, suddenly seized by an inexplicable panic.

Her face twisted as she glared at Lin Yang, wailing for a long while, her eyes holding only panic and worry; she didn't mention what she'd just said, angrily demanding: "I broke pots and sold iron to send you to school, and this is how you repay me?"

"Who else could be your mother if not me?" Lin Yan seized on his last words for no reason, "I am your mother—who told you what? Which lowlife said that? I'll rip her mouth apart!"

She was unusually nervous, even proactively apologizing, soothing him: "Mom's been feeling unwell these days, so her temper's not great, but Mom is still your mom."

Lin Yang continued to look at her, his eyes roiling with emotion, which filled her with dread.

Lin Yang silently walked back to the bedroom step by step, unaware that behind him, the woman's face twisted into some unknown expression, her gloomy gaze fixed on his thin, frail back, her look as if laced with poison.

Little bastard!

Sure enough, an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!

At night, Lin Yang tossed and turned in bed; eventually he got up to get water, thinking it would be another sleepless night.

But as he was getting water, he suddenly heard the woman's strangled voice, a faint name drifting into his ears.

Lin Yang's face was complex; he wasn't an oblivious child—he was eighteen, in his third year of high school, already an adult.

That man's name was his mother's ambiguous lover.

Lin Yang hid in the living room, hearing the woman's rapid-fire voice: "Zeng Ge, do you still remember me? My son is eighteen now, already in his third year of high school, an adult."

"So what do you want to do?" the old landline phone in the house, the man's voice loud in the receiver, even the distant Lin Yang could hear it clearly; put plainly, it was leaking sound.

Hiding beneath the living room, Lin Yang began to be confused, but his intuition told him it wasn't good; he froze for a moment, then the next instant Lin Yan sat on the living room sofa, fawningly asking: "Zeng Ge, are you hiring over there?"

The other end of the phone obviously stalled; the saying goes "even a tiger won't eat its own cub," but hearing her meaning, she wanted to send her own son into her nightclub.

Lin Yang standing nearby, hearing that, showed an almost dazed expression.

Lin Yan didn't notice him, continuing: "I want him to work for you; he's grown up, his heart's wild, I as his mother can't control him—better to kick him out early, forget school, let him work for you and at least earn a meal."

"My family's this one is really smart, basically no need to waste effort training him."

Such a full-of-holes story couldn't fool the big brother on the street; the man chuckled, seemingly offhand: "You didn't say your kid was your own flesh and blood? How could you sell even a biological child?"

"Biological?"

Lin Yan laughed: "What biological? It's just a wild kid I picked up off the roadside!"

As she spoke, boundless jealousy welled up in her heart; memories from eighteen years ago surged, and she silently gave a cruel laugh.

Thinking of that family, they were truly the best people she'd ever seen, also the wealthiest; hearing the couple had only this one child, he was truly a golden, jade‑precious little young master—yet she had taken him away; no matter how well he was born, it wasn't because of her that he ended up leading a bitter life.

She didn't realize that, while she gloated, believing she could control everything, the puppet she thought she was pulling strings on was right there in the living room, watching her.

The woman kept trying to bluff: "I painstakingly raised him, only to raise a white‑eyed wolf. Zeng Ge, do you want him or not? This kid is really smart—I heard he's the top of his grade at Jing Shi No. 1 High, and his looks aren't bad either."

The man obviously knew Lin Yang's situation, smiling as he said: "I know, you're a smart person; for your sake, I'll send someone to pick you up right away, we'll talk later."

How is the wage calculated?

Twenty years of service, a one‑million buyout.

The woman agreed happily, her face showing undisguised greed, and she simply waited in the living room for someone to come, unaware that the subject of the conversation was right there in the living room, hearing everything from start to finish.

Why would there be such a person?

Why would there be such a mother?

Oh, she's not my mother.

Lin Yang suddenly stood up, startling the woman on the sofa who was full of expectation: "Lin, Lin Yang? How could you be here?"

Lin Yang looked at her almost despairingly: "I heard everything."

I'm not your child; I was stolen by you, and you're not my mother at all!

The living room echoed with the boy's roar; the usually composed woman was thoroughly frightened, and upon hearing the word 'stolen,' she jumped up: "How dare you say that to me?"

I'm doing this for your own good; that broken school isn't worth staying in—better to work for your great-uncle, you can earn a lot of money!

Do you know how capable your great-uncle is? The people who spend money there are all rich sons and daughters; that social class is something a lowly peasant like you could never reach in a lifetime!

Because she was too panicked, she skipped the man's questioning and chattered on about how hard she'd been, but as soon as she lifted her head, she met a gaze so calm it was chilling.

It seemed to see through all her schemes, causing an inexplicable panic.

"You—you—" Lin Yan whispered a few times, then suddenly realized: why should she be nervous?

Lin Yan's anger surged instantly; what right did he have to question her?

Lin Yang, who let you speak to me like that? You—

Lin Yang suddenly turned and ran to her bedroom, locking the door behind him, allowing the panicked woman outside to pound on it, bang bang.

When he came out again, Lin Yang gave her a deep look.

Compared to his earlier agitation, he was now especially calm: "I will find out the truth."

After Lin Yang finished speaking, he flung the door open and fled; Lin Yan let out a scream, rushed back to the bedroom, and upon seeing the mess all over the room, her head buzzed and she nearly exploded.

Damn little bastard!

Lin Yan went to look for the chest where she always kept important things, only to find it had been completely ransacked; the jewelry and gold and silver were untouched, the only thing missing was the household registration tucked at the bottom.

What is he going to do?

After realizing it, Lin Yan shouted in terror: "Lin Yang!"

It wasn't because Lin Yang ran away from home, but because the million she was about to get had completely flown away!

After that, this is how things stand now.

As Ling Yue walked along the street looking for him, the car lights happened to shine on the boy.

In the depths of winter, Ling Yue could feel a faint chill emanating from him just by getting close.

Looking over, the boy wore thin long clothes, his face deathly pale, his empty gaze fixed on her; for a moment, Ling Yue almost felt she had touched a wandering soul.

Lin Yang stared at her, his lips moving, a word stuck in his throat, completely unsure how to speak.

Ling Yue directly opened the car door and said bluntly: "Get in first!"

What's the matter? We'll talk when we get home—are you trying to freeze yourself to death on the street?

Let you freeze to death!

Lin Yang looked at her, his eyes suddenly reddening; he could endure being sold, but under her comfort he couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

The car's heater was strong, giving his pale face a hint of color; at least compared to before, he looked more lively.

Lin Yang looked ahead at Ling Yue's back: "Are you telling the truth? She's not my mother, she really isn't my mother!"

His eyes were urgent, as if he were desperately seeking a lifeline; Ling Yue saw his expression in the rearview mirror, blinked slightly, and said firmly: 'She isn't!' ：，，.