BTMDY Extra 11

“Where’s the kid?”

 

In a setting like this, asking a question like that was perfectly normal.

 

Seeing that Lu Chengxuan didn’t show any signs of anger or confrontation, the onlookers—some near, some far, all secretly watching the scene unfold like a show—looked a little disappointed.

 

It was only natural.

 

Success rarely comes without a backstory. Talent and luck—both were essential. Pure hard work alone almost never catapulted someone up the social ladder.

 

Yet most people shared a common habit.

 

Even if their own achievements leaned heavily on luck, they liked to claim it was all thanks to their effort. And when someone else seemed to rise too fast, they instinctively assumed that person had just been lucky.

 

Lin Shen was exactly that kind of person—someone who had shot up quickly.

 

And on top of that, he was so young and already in such a position. It was bound to draw some criticism.

 

Some people, filled with groundless malice, secretly wished to see him get a sharp rebuke from Lu Chengxuan, who came from a strong and solid family background.

 

But Lu Chengxuan didn’t do that. On the contrary, his attitude was calm and gentle.

 

Hearing him ask that question, Lin Shen wasn’t surprised at all.

 

He glanced around the room, a smile on his face, and answered politely, “I actually don’t know exactly where he is right now. Kids have a lot going on—they get hungry one moment, need the bathroom the next.”

 

At that, President Wang finally found a way to join the conversation. He fished a cigarette from his pocket, leaned back on the sofa, and said, “Exactly. My son isn’t even a year old yet. He cries all the time, at all hours. Wants milk, needs a diaper change… My wife and I are always worried the nanny might miss something, so whenever we have a moment, we check ourselves. That’s just the heart of any parent, right?”

 

“I see.”

 

Lin Shen lowered his eyes and let out a quiet sigh, though a faint glimmer of warmth appeared in them.

 

“There’s always so much to worry about, but every time he calls me ‘Dad,’ I feel like I want to give him the very best the world has to offer.”

 

In the past, Lin Shen had never believed anyone was born carrying responsibility.

 

He thought every soul was born free.

 

Even when he was tied to inheriting his parents’ businesses and supporting relatives—whether they shared his surname or not—his original intention never changed.

 

The first time his emotions were completely claimed by something called ‘responsibility’ was the moment that child first called him ‘Dad.’

 

Such a tiny, fragile life—he had only dared to stand by the cradle for months, washing his hands carefully before touching him gently.

 

Most children learned to say ‘Dad’ first, simply because it was the easiest sound to make.

 

Lin Qianqian, when caring for him, would deliberately teach him this too.

 

But Lin Shen felt that this child was somehow meant to be with him. In a rare, self-indulgent way, he liked to believe the child called him ‘Dad’ purely because he liked him.

 

That was the first time he held this son, even if only in name.

 

The little guy was incredibly unlucky. He had spent the first few months of his life in the hospital, and his physical development lagged far behind that of ordinary children. Tiny as he was, he weighed almost nothing.

 

Yet when Lin Shen held him in his arms, all he felt was the weight of responsibility.

 

For parents, children were an endless topic.

 

Once that subject came up, Lin Shen and President Wang immediately fell into a few back-and-forths about it. Lu Chengxuan was sitting nearby, less than two meters away.

 

Having known each other for so many years, their lives had always intersected.

 

But after so long apart, the man in front of him now seemed almost completely unfamiliar.

 

The time he hadn’t shared with him stretched like an invisible chasm.

 

It was a presence too strong to ignore, quietly but endlessly extending the distance between them, as if impossible to cross.

 

Since he had originally come for Lu Chengxuan, it would have been rude to leave him out of the conversation. Lin Shen took the cigarette that President Wang passed over, held it between his fingers, chatted briefly, and then turned his attention back to Lu Chengxuan with a smile:

 

“Some of these worries are probably hard for you to understand, Mr. Lu. No worries—once you have your own kids in a few years, it’ll all make sense.”

 

President Wang nodded in agreement, flicking the ash from his cigarette.

 

“You really only understand the joys and troubles of raising kids once you experience it yourself. But honestly, the joys outweigh the worries.”

 

Lu Chengxuan, faced with the sense of presence both men were giving him in this conversation, remained silent, watching them as if he were simply a part of the audience.

 

Knowing how quiet he was, Lin Shen didn’t force him to say anything.

 

Or maybe he simply didn’t care.

 

With no response forthcoming, he shifted his gaze and naturally continued chatting with President Wang: “I heard you also have a daughter, right? She must be almost in middle school by now.”

 

“That’s right.” At the mention of his daughter, President Wang’s smile deepened noticeably. “Girls are much harder to handle than boys. You have to pamper them like little princesses. I worry I might neglect her, and then when she grows up, some foolish boy out there could easily charm her away.”

 

Lin Shen grinned in response, his eyes sparkling.

 

“I completely understand. Girls need to be spoiled. My son’s still little now, but when he grows up, I’ll have to be strict and educate him properly. Can’t let him go out and trouble someone else’s daughter.”

 

President Wang laughed heartily at that, waving his hand in mock protest. “You? No way. From the way you’ve acted today, I can already tell—you’ll spoil your kid endlessly, no matter what you say now.”

 

Lin Shen’s expression froze in obvious surprise. “Really?”

 

“Absolutely. I’m good at reading people.” President Wang said, then suddenly threw the question to Lu Chengxuan, who had been silent for a while. “What do you think, Little Lu? What kind of person is he?”

 

At that, the smile at the corner of Lin Shen’s mouth seemed to stiffen for a moment.

 

But in the next instant, it was perfectly masked.

 

The gathering was officially called a first birthday banquet, and chatting about the child was perfectly normal. President Wang never intended to judge Lin Shen as a person. But for Lu Chengxuan, hearing this question felt like being handed an unprecedentedly difficult problem—he had no idea how to respond.

 

He stayed silent for a long while, and only when the moment was about to become awkward did he finally speak.

 

“As long as you treat the child well, it doesn’t really matter how.”

 

President Wang nodded in agreement. “That’s true. First-time parents all have their own ways of raising kids. Whether you’re a gentle father or a strict one, as long as your intentions are good, that’s what counts.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

In that instant, Lin Shen seemed to think of a lot of things. His face remained calm, showing no emotion, though his tone stretched slightly as he spoke.

 

“I used to not understand my dad at all and would argue with him constantly. Even now, I still struggle to understand some of his ideas. But I can feel that he loved me. Love doesn’t have to be right or wrong, even if the way it’s expressed isn’t perfect.”

 

At that, he left the thought hanging and suddenly lifted his gaze, steering the conversation back to Lu Chengxuan.

 

“Mr. Lu, you’re so outstanding, I’m sure it has a lot to do with Uncle Lu’s strict and wise guidance. If you ever plan to return to China for work, I hope, if possible, you could take care of Xiao Lin. Let me, as his dad, benefit a little too.”

 

To outsiders, this sounded perfectly polite, even lofty—practically praising the Lu family from top to bottom, flattering enough to be safe.

 

Only Lu Chengxuan could detect the subtle sting of challenge hidden in the words.

 

Yet he didn’t react. All his emotions were veiled behind his steadily lowered eyes, and with a voice barely audible, he murmured, “Mm.”

 

Sometimes fate has a strange way of arranging things.

 

At that moment, soft murmurs rose from different corners of the banquet hall. The few people on the sofa sensed it, lifted their heads in unison, and saw a young man approaching, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, cradling a child who looked about a year old.

 

Children are naturally curious, always looking around. This one spotted his father from a distance, twisted his small body toward where Lin Shen was sitting, and stretched out his hand, calling in a high, innocent voice:

 

“Dad! Dad! Come!”

 

There was only one identity for the child who would appear in this banquet hall today.

 

Before the child reached him, Lin Shen responded with a quick nod. Then he put down the cigarette he’d been holding between his fingers—which hadn’t even been lit—and turned to President Wang, no longer worrying about offending him. He made a straightforward request:

 

“Sorry, could you put out your cigarette?”

 

As a father of two, President Wang clearly understood immediately.

 

Even before Lin Shen asked, he had already been looking for an ashtray, quickly stubbed out the cigarette, and used his palm to fan the smoke away.

 

When Lu Chengxuan saw the child and heard him call Lin Shen ‘Dad,’ the light in his eyes dimmed noticeably.

 

He suppressed every emotion, maintaining a calm and composed exterior.

 

His hand, naturally resting on his lap, subtly clenched without him even realizing it, the fingertips digging lightly into his palm.

 

When a child pushes against the chest of the person holding him and reaches toward someone else, it’s a clear signal that he wants to be picked up.

 

As Xu Suinian got close to where Lin Shen was sitting, he almost toppled forward entirely.

 

Lin Shen lifted him steadily, as if by instinct, and positioned his right arm so the boy could lean comfortably, adjusting him into the posture that would make him feel most at ease.

 

The little boy’s skin was fair. Though small and slight, his cheeks were a bit plump, and his features were so delicate he could easily be a baby model for product packaging.

 

He wore a fluffy sweater and clutched a small plush dog. Once his father held him in his arms, he began blinking curiously, looking left and right, taking in everyone in the room with wide, inquisitive eyes.

 

Noticing the lingering smell of smoke, President Wang moved slightly away on the same sofa and sincerely praised, “Wow, this kid is really beautiful. Big eyes, long lashes… definitely a handsome one, just like you.”

 

“Not at all,” Lin Shen laughed, brushing it off and joking freely. “I’ve seen pictures of myself as a newborn—dark, chubby, and ugly. My mom used to say I looked like a possessed boiled egg. She nearly had a meltdown back then. I had to make a comeback later, and even now, I’m nothing compared to my son.”

 

In any social setting, Lin Shen’s playful, self-deprecating style was sure to charm people.

 

Besides, the little one in his arms couldn’t fully understand, only catching a few words and mimicking them in his baby voice.

 

“Boiled egg… boiled egg.”

 

The description of a ‘possessed boiled egg’ was absurdly vivid, and with the boy unknowingly playing along, President Wang couldn’t help but laugh heartily, completely delighted.

 

Lin Shen glanced at Xu Suinian and, at the right moment, said, “Have a seat.”

 

The lounge area had two long sofas facing each other with a coffee table in between. Each sofa could comfortably seat only two adults side by side; more than that would feel cramped.

 

Xu Suinian looked up, walked quietly around the back of the sofa, and sat down beside Lu Chengxuan without a word.

 

President Wang leaned slightly, teasingly snapping his fingers.

 

“What’s the child’s name?”

 

“Lin Wangye,” Lin Shen said. “The Wang from ‘prospect,’ the Ye from ‘field.’”

 

“Nice meaning… a good name.”

 

Listening to the exchange between the two, Lu Chengxuan’s thoughts were suddenly tugged by an invisible force, back many years to when the two of them were still in elementary school.

 

When Lin Shen was still at that innocent, clueless age, he once casually talked about what he would name his future children. Lu Chengxuan said he would check a dictionary first—an idea Lin Shen immediately dismissed with all seriousness.

 

“Have you never heard the saying, ‘A humble name lives long’? When I have a son, I’ll name him Lin Dazhuang. If it’s a daughter, Lin Niuniu.”

 

Lu Chengxuan had been so flustered at the time, he even tried to argue.

 

He said a name would stick with a person for life; you can’t just pick one carelessly.

 

It had been such a long time since then that Lu Chengxuan couldn’t even remember what happened afterward.

 

He didn’t understand why almost all the details of his own upbringing had faded, yet these fragmented memories of Lin Shen had stayed buried deep in his mind, crystal clear even after all these years.

 

Lin Wangye—indeed a smooth, natural-sounding name.

 

For Lin Shen, it carried an obvious meaning as well.

 

Even now, during his middle school years, the name he used for his social media space hadn’t changed. He just hadn’t updated anything.

 

[Shen Lin Wangye]

 

Lin Shen borrowed the old idea, but changed one character—‘Shen’ became ‘Wang.’

 

Perhaps he knew he was trapped in this thorn-filled forest, possibly never to escape, but he didn’t want his child to forget what freedom looked like.

 

So he turned it into the boundless ‘Wang.’

 

When President Wang praised the name, Lin Shen just smiled. Then he lifted his eyes and glanced lightly at Lu Chengxuan, speaking politely:

 

“I’m really not that educated. Had to take over the family business right after high school, barely went to college. Mr. Lu, as a top student who studied abroad, how would you evaluate it? Do you think it’s a good name? How many points would you give it?”

 

After a brief pause, Lu Chengxuan looked at him silently, without answering immediately.

 

But Xu Suinian, sitting beside him, noticed the subtle tone in Lin Shen’s voice. He sat upright, observing the two men carefully, expressionless and silent.

 

After a moment, Lu Chengxuan spoke.

 

“Very good. It suits him.”

 

Lin Wangye sat on his father’s lap, facing forward. From this angle, the person most visible to him was Lu Chengxuan. He clearly had no interest in President Wang, slightly overweight with a beer belly, and instead blinked his wide eyes, fixated on Xu Suinian and Lu Chengxuan across from him.

 

After he arrived, it was the first time Lu Chengxuan spoke.

 

Because he had been born with a life-threatening illness, Lin Wangye was out of danger but still had a weak immune system. His health needed time to fully recover.

 

As a result, his life was kept very simple.

 

Besides his aunt, only a few nannies took meticulous care of him.

 

This meant he had hardly ever encountered outsiders.

 

Despite the size of today’s gathering, Lin Wangye showed no fear. Instead, he was filled with curiosity about everything around him. He stared at Lu Chengxuan for a long while, then raised his tiny arms to scratch his own hair, twisting around to look at Lin Shen with eyes full of inquisitiveness.

 

Although the boy could say simple words like ‘Dad’ and ‘Auntie,’ his language system was still in the slow process of downloading. He couldn’t clearly express his thoughts in full sentences.

 

But he was smart enough to communicate through body language.

 

Facing the child, Lin Shen displayed an unusual patience. He lowered his head and spoke slowly, almost theatrically: “Xiao Lin is curious why his hair color is different from everyone else, isn’t he?”

 

Lin Wangye raised his tiny hand and pointed toward the person across from him, nodding.

 

Lin Shen could have easily given a simple explanation, something like, ‘People’s hair is just different colors,’ which would have been enough for a child.

 

But he didn’t.

 

Instead, he said to the boy, “Then why don’t you ask him?”

 

Immediately, the boy instinctively looked back at Lu Chengxuan. He didn’t know who this man was or what to call him, so he let out a sound of unclear meaning:

 

“Ao.”

 

Though it carried no definite meaning, in the depth of Chinese culture, the subtle inflection at the end of the sound could imply a thousand things.

 

And so, Lu Chengxuan was stumped.

 

Not by the question itself, but by the challenge of explaining the complexities of human genetics to a child who had just turned one.

 

In his mindset, there was no cutting corners. Questions required sincere answers.

 

He quickly distilled the principles of hereditary genetics to their simplest form, carefully chose his words, and said cautiously:

 

“A person’s hair color is related to their parents’ genes. Genes are inherited randomly. My father has black hair, my mother has blonde hair, and I inherited my mother’s blonde hair.”

 

After he finished, a silence fell over everyone present.

 

“Crispy chicken… salt crispy chicken.”

 

Little Lin Wangye raised his hand to his head again. This time, it was obvious he hadn’t understood Lu Chengxuan’s explanation, and he had even misheard ‘random’ as ‘salt crispy chicken.’

 

From the boy’s reaction, Lu Chengxuan realized that even his simplified explanation had been too complex. He was still thinking of how to fix it when Xu Suinian, sitting beside him, stepped in just in time.

 

“This uncle’s mom has hair like that, so his hair is like that too. Just like Xiao Lin’s hair is like Dad’s.”

 

He knew the child couldn’t distinguish hair colors, so he used the simplest terms possible.

 

This time, Lin Wangye clearly looked like he understood.

 

He stared at Lu Chengxuan for a moment, and, for reasons no one could tell, raised his arms and reached out toward him.

 

The little boy’s intentions were obvious. Lin Shen hugged him securely to prevent him from falling, cast a quick glance at the person across from him, and then lowered his head to ask the boy in his arms:

 

“Do you want him to hold you?”

 

Hearing his father’s question, Lin Wangye hesitated for a moment, then looked forward again. During this process, his peripheral vision briefly caught the person next to Lu Chengxuan. The intention he had seconds ago vanished instantly. He pivoted and reached his small arms toward Xu Suinian, stretching eagerly in that direction.

 

Lin Shen let out a sigh, part relief, part disappointment.

 

The boy was lively and cheerful, smiling at everyone, but deep down a little wary of strangers. Not just anyone could hold him.

 

If someone he didn’t like picked him up, he would surely cry.

 

Moments ago, Lin Shen had thought there was some mysterious force that made the child want to approach Lu Chengxuan at first sight.

 

Turns out, there wasn’t.

 

He exchanged a look with his friend sitting across from him, then lifted the boy and passed him over, instructing:

 

“Take him and play for a while.”

 

Lin Wangye obediently let himself be lifted, settled into a comfortable position in the arms of the uncle he liked, nuzzling against his neck with satisfaction. Then he lowered his head and said to his father:

 

“Dad… salt crispy chicken.”

 

“Got it.” Lin Shen patted the fluff that had stuck to his lap, then returned the plush dog to his arms and said indulgently, “I’ll have someone make it for you later.”

 

“Okay.”

 

As Xu Suinian prepared to leave with Lin Wangye, Lu Chengxuan, who had barely spoken the entire time, suddenly said:

 

“Wait.”

 

Xu Suinian paused and turned to look at him.

 

Lin Shen, sitting where he was, lifted his wine glass and took a sip without even glancing sideways. It was as if, since Lu Chengxuan hadn’t called him, whatever happened next had nothing to do with him.

 

Seeing no reaction, Lu Chengxuan pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to Xu Suinian:

 

“A first birthday gift for the child.”

 

Xu Suinian accepted it politely and glanced at Lin Shen first.

 

Lin Shen barely looked at the box and roughly guessed what was inside. He put down his wine glass and casually said:

 

“Does Xiao Lin like it?”

 

At his words, Xu Suinian opened the box.

 

Inside was a pure gold longevity lock. Considering Lin Shen wasn’t lacking in money and that it was meant to be worn by a child, it wasn’t large—roughly the size of a coin, with exquisitely detailed engraving.

 

But for Lin Wangye, such small gold locks weren’t particularly special, especially today after having received so many gifts.

 

It wasn’t nearly as appealing as the plush dog from the uncle he liked.

 

He had been curious before the box was opened, but after seeing its contents, he showed no interest. In his unfiltered childlike way, he shook his head:

 

“Don’t like it.”

 

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