BTMDY Extra 4

Going back three generations from Lu Chengxuan, the Lu family had been a prestigious clan, weathering the storms of time yet remaining deeply rooted. Even today, with their descendants thriving, the family could easily be described as flourishing, branches heavy with leaves.

Lu Guoguo’s father was the son of Lu Chengxuan’s grandfather’s son. Strictly speaking, if you trace every link, they were distant relatives. But the Lu family was extremely close-knit—distance didn’t mean unfamiliarity.

After he was born, Lu Guoguo lived abroad with his parents while they expanded their overseas business. When he was three, the family returned together to their hometown of Ningchang.

By generational rank, Lu Chengxuan was technically Lu Guoguo’s cousin-uncle.

After stepping away from the Lu family’s power center back then, Lu Chengxuan basically put all his eggs in one basket, focusing solely on running Shengtian and hardly touching any other industry.

With the winds of the times at his back, Shengtian grew—predictably—into a leading e-commerce platform. Meanwhile, Chengfeng, the company he had co-founded initially but then handed off to others, never ran into serious trouble—but compared to Shengtian, it had fallen far behind, so much so that the two were no longer even in the same league.

Years went by, and neither Lu Chengxuan nor Lu Chenghan had ever bowed to the other. Their relationship, however, had noticeably softened.

In the first two years after his withdrawal, Lu Chengxuan didn’t even attend the family’s annual New Year dinner. Later, thanks to Vivian’s subtle mediation, he came home and met Lu Chenghan a few times.

Father and son were still distant, barely exchanging words. But this had been their pattern since Lu Chengxuan was a child: though they were obviously father and son, they acted like strangers.

Vivian didn’t mind. To her, the fact that Lu Chengxuan was willing to return home while his father was around, and that Lu Chenghan didn’t lock himself away in his study to avoid him, was already a sign that both were willing to give each other a little room.

It was at a Lu family dinner two years ago that Lu Guoguo first laid eyes on Lu Chengxuan—and immediately fixed his gaze on him.

As the family’s recognized heir, Lu Chengxuan had suddenly distanced himself from the family core. Rumor had it he’d voluntarily given up his inheritance because of disagreements with his father. In the Lu family, this was far from a secret.

Big news like that could never be fully hidden. Everyone knew, but discussions were kept small and private, with the unspoken agreement to remain silent around others.

It just so happened that in one of these small, private discussions between his parents, Lu Guoguo overheard the conversation.

Though still young, Lu Guoguo was exceptionally sharp. He had a strong sense of self, hated being labeled as ‘obedient’ or ‘well-behaved,’ and had no patience for ‘you should’ or ‘you shouldn’t’ instructions. In short, he was a bona fide rebel.

Every parent tries to raise their child with the hope of a strong, upright future, but Lu Guoguo resisted authority from day one. Independent and headstrong, he had never made life easy for anyone—even since learning to walk, he demanded constant attention.

Other children might need only one person to watch over them. Lu Guoguo required three or four nannies—or he’d vanish in the blink of an eye.

The Lu family had countless ‘perfect children’ to compare him with, especially someone like Lu Chengxuan—the model child everyone admired.

From a young age, Lu Guoguo had been hearing his parents talk endlessly about how brilliant Lu Chengxuan was—how top-notch his grades were, how outstanding he was in every way—all in an effort to set a positive example for him. But he never liked it and always dismissed it with disdain.

That is, until the day Lu Chengxuan’s perfect image collapsed. Suddenly, little Lu Guoguo developed an almost magnetic admiration for this cousin-uncle, a mix of fascination and longing. And when they finally met at the New Year family dinner, it was love at first sight—well, as much as a kid could feel that.

By the second day of the New Year, Lu Guoguo had already run away from home, determined to find Lu Chengxuan.

But, after all, he was just a child. His abilities were limited. He couldn’t find out where he lived. After a lot of effort, he only managed to locate Shengtian Company. Standing in the snow, pitifully crouched at the entrance for over an hour, he was eventually escorted to the police station by the company’s security.

In front of the police, Lu Guoguo refused to give his parents’ phone numbers, insisting he wanted to find Lu Chengxuan. The officers, at their wit’s end, had no choice but to contact Shengtian.

Seeing the child over a video call, Lu Chengxuan first fell silent, then immediately drove to pick him up.

The Shengtian staff and security were left feeling completely innocent in all this. At first, Lu Guoguo had clearly told the front desk he was there to see Lu Chengxuan. But considering that the boss had countless people vying for his attention, anyone claiming ‘I’m here to see the boss’ was nothing unusual. Constant interruptions like that could easily disrupt the company.

Since they didn’t know Lu Guoguo, the staff couldn’t just bother the boss, so they let him sit there. When he didn’t leave, worried something might happen to the child, they finally handed him over to the police.

Lu Guoguo claimed he was upset with his family and didn’t want to go home. Lu Chengxuan called his parents, gave them a heads-up, and took him back to his place.

For Lu Guoguo, those days at Lu Chengxuan’s house were pure bliss.

Not only was he free, but Lin Shen also played with him.

Though Lin Shen might seem unreliable in the adult world, for a kid like Lu Guoguo, he was endlessly fascinating.

When it came to ‘play,’ no one could compete with Lin Shen. And as an adult, he didn’t act like one at all. If he said he’d play with you, it meant pure, crazy fun. Words like ‘study,’ ‘homework,’ or ‘grades’ simply didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

Snacks were free for the taking; he never scolded him about ‘junk food.’ Games were played as long as they wanted, no matter how late it got—after all, it was winter break.

For his first ever runaway, Lu Guoguo stayed two days at Lu Chengxuan and Lin Shen’s house before his parents finally came to take him home. But those forty-eight short hours left an indelible mark in his mind. In short, one thought:

‘Mind-blowing!’

When it was time to leave, little Lu Guoguo clung to the door, tears streaming, looking like a tiny chick about to be thrown back in its cage. He gazed at Lin Shen with a sob-filled face, heartbreak written all over his expression.

“Brother Shen, can I still come play on your computer? Sob sob sob…”

From that moment on, Lu Guoguo seemed to have found his life’s purpose. At the slightest disagreement, he would run away from home again.

But his parents had gotten smarter. Since the kid could walk on his own and open doors by himself, there was no stopping him anyway. So they simply let him go—just sent a team of bodyguards along for backup.

Lu Guoguo only had weekends off from school. On non-school days, Lu Chengxuan and Lin Shen were usually not in the office—either resting at home or traveling for work.

No matter whether he went to Shengtian or Linhong, Lu Guoguo usually ended up empty-handed, being fed a few fruits and drinks before obediently heading home.

And the apartment complex had strict security, so he couldn’t get in on his own.

After some clever sleuthing and legwork, Lu Guoguo found someone at Shengtian: Xu Suihe.

If he couldn’t find Lu Chengxuan or Lin Shen, Xu Suihe was easy to locate. She basically only appeared in two places: school or home.

Elementary school got out earlier than middle school, so every Friday, if Lu Guoguo waited by the school gate, he would 100% see Xu Suihe. She had a community access card and could easily take him to find the people he wanted.

On top of that, Xu Suihe carried some kind of mysterious buff.

The Lu family bodyguards could grab Lu Guoguo at any time—but they wouldn’t dare stop Xu Suihe.

From then on, running away from home became a normal thing for Lu Guoguo. For some reason, over time, his parents even came to enjoy it—so long as someone followed him to protect him, they didn’t interfere.

Lu Guoguo was ecstatic, but Xu Suihe couldn’t stand it.

Maybe it was hardwired into every girl to dislike her little brother. Once activated, it was unstoppable. Being spoiled for so long, Xu Suihe had also developed a bit of a princess temper, and she couldn’t tolerate Lu Guoguo following her around like a shadow.

Despite having no blood relation, the mischievous little tyrant Lu Guoguo was completely cowed by her.

He feared nothing else in the world—but in front of Xu Suihe, he was utterly timid.

Other people wouldn’t do anything to him. But if Xu Suihe didn’t like him, she could smack him, and no one would stop her.

“You don’t get along, you always say you can’t talk to your dad!” Xu Suihe saw straight through him and called him out: “You just don’t want to do homework, you lazy bum!”

“I can do it all! Why should I waste time on homework?”

“Stop making excuses! Even if you can do it, you still have to write it. Homework is for practice!”

She looked at Shi Yuan, hoping he’d back her up.

“Brother, right? You can’t just think about playing all the time, or you’ll get spoiled!”

Lu Guoguo was still young. Shi Yuan personally felt there was no need to push him too hard, but he couldn’t openly contradict his sister, so he just smiled and pretended not to hear.

The commotion caught the attention of the father-and-son duo next door, who came over immediately.

Lin Wangye had never met Lu Guoguo before—he’d only heard the name over the phone. Seeing him in person for the first time, he was instantly intrigued. He ran over, bending his knees and leaning forward, eyes sparkling.

“So you’re Lu Guoguo! You’re so cute!”

Lin Shen and Xu Suihe had told Lin Wangye countless stories about Lu Guoguo over the phone, sometimes even sending videos, so Lin Wangye was very familiar with him.

But Lu Guoguo had never met Lin Wangye before, so he felt a little unfamiliar.

He tilted his head back slightly, studied Lin Wangye for a moment, and, with a serious little face, said: “Why does everyone call me by my nickname? I’m Lu Chengchen. And you, may I ask your honorable name?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Wangye couldn’t hold it in and let out a small snicker.

He quickly composed himself, raised his head, and solemnly extended his right hand: “I’m Lin Wangye. Hello, Lu Guoguo, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Lu Chengchen. Don’t call… uh, who are you?”

Midway through his sentence, Lu Guoguo suddenly paused, stared at Lin Wangye, and blinked rapidly: “You’re Xiao Lin?”

“Haha,” Lin Wangye’s eyes curved with a smile. “You’ve heard of me?”

Lu Guoguo nodded. “My dad said Uncle Lu started rebelling after he met you.”

Hearing this, Lin Shen, standing nearby, let out a sarcastic “Oh-hoh.”

“Uh…”

Lin Wangye thought for a moment and realized he actually had no way to refute that.

“Well, how should I put it… I feel like—”

“Amazing! So that’s you!”

Before Lin Wangye could finish explaining, Lu Guoguo raised his arm, gave him a thumbs-up, his eyes full of admiration.

“Xiao Lin, you’re awesome. Great job!”

Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ<๑)