LNTSWJLY Chapter 81

A tall figure blocked the sunlight as it gradually rose into view, casting a shadow over the space in front of him.

The fragrance of the flowers seemed to grow stronger and stronger. It seeped into his nose and mouth, flowed down his throat and into his body, and filled his lungs and heart with its intoxicating scent.

Sang Xiyin raised his head and met Yu Zhi’s gaze. Smiling, he asked, “Have you ever seen the fiery clouds at dusk?”

Yu Zhi had. He could almost guess what Sang Xiyin was about to say, yet he found himself unable to refute him. Even offering words of comfort felt like a struggle.

“Over the years, I’ve seen them countless times.”

Sang Xiyin withdrew his gaze and turned it toward the sea of red tulips. A faint, gentle smile lingered on his lips.

“I’ve seen them appear, and I’ve seen them disappear. Perhaps they’re different each time, but there’s one thing they all have in common: they never last long.”

The time between their appearance and disappearance was all too brief.

Even beneath the glow of the setting sun, night would fall before long.

He loved sunsets, yet he also knew that once they passed, time would continue slipping away, and no one could stop it.

Even if that person were to appear, to him, he would be like those fiery clouds at sunset, beautiful and wonderful, yet fleeting all the same, destined to be lost in the end.

Yu Zhi slowly drew a quiet, gentle breath, using his outward composure to conceal the emotions stirring within him.

“I’ve said too much. Perhaps things wouldn’t necessarily be the way I imagined them, after all.” Sang Xiyin smiled and waved a hand dismissively.

“Perhaps there has never been such a person in this world. Perhaps it was simply an unusual dream. He appeared while I was asleep, but once I returned to reality, everything would return to normal.”

What was reality?

Reality was that he was destined to remain alone.

Yu Zhi picked up Sang Xiyin’s water glass. “The water’s gone cold. I’ll get you a fresh glass.”

Turning away, Yu Zhi’s calm eyes and brows briefly took on a hint of pain. But it lasted only an instant. By the time he had refilled the glass and turned back, his expression had returned to its usual calm, undisturbed composure.

He placed the warm water directly into Sang Xiyin’s hands. The pads of his fingers brushed against Sang Xiyin’s slightly cool skin, seemingly by accident. What he failed to notice was that his own fingertips were even colder.

Holding the glass, Sang Xiyin finally managed to dispel the chill he had felt from Yu Zhi’s hands.

Yet he still remembered the sensation. It had been as though he had been frozen by ice from the inside out, from his bones to his skin, from his soul to his body.

“As long as you’re willing to believe in him, he exists.”

Yu Zhi lowered his eyes to Sang Xiyin’s hands as they cradled the glass and spoke in a slow, gentle voice.

“He will always be there with you, in your heart.”

Sang Xiyin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yu Zhi, seeming a little puzzled by how earnest Yu Zhi was in trying to comfort him.

Still, he smiled and said, “Thank you, Xiao Yu. Talking with you has made me feel much more at ease.”

Yu Zhi had thought that Sang Xiyin was always at ease.

But now, it seemed that perhaps he had not always been so carefree after all. The passing years had simply taught him how to pretend, how to hide his feelings, and how to keep his weaknesses from showing in front of others. He had learned to swallow both his joys and sorrows and keep them buried deep in his heart.

“Me too,” Yu Zhi replied.

“Stay for lunch today. If I’m too stingy to even treat a flower farmer to a meal, you’d be getting a raw deal.” Sang Xiyin said jokingly.

“We’ll be using the medicinal dishes you gave me last night. Xiao Du is quite a good cook, so I don’t think your stomach will be disappointed.”

This was the first time Sang Xiyin had invited Yu Zhi to stay for a meal. Yu Zhi did not want to refuse, so he restrained his emotions and answered calmly, “All right.”

When Aunt Du learned that Yu Zhi would be staying for lunch, she prepared two extra dishes. As someone who had spent years working in the kitchen, she was able to get the hang of the recipes with ease, even though she was seeing them for the first time.

Aunt Du had asked a few questions about where the recipes had come from, and Sang Xiyin had told her that someone had given them to him. However, she had no idea that Yu Zhi was the one who had sent them.

“Sir, I have to say, the dishes made from these recipes are really delicious, and they’re easy to prepare, too. Most of them have light flavors and aren’t heavy on salt or oil. Whoever put these together clearly took age into consideration. I don’t know who sent them, but they certainly put a lot of thought into it.”

Sang Xiyin glanced at Yu Zhi. Seeing that he showed no particular reaction and remained as calm as ever, Sang Xiyin’s eyes shifted slightly. He then smiled at Aunt Du and said, “You’re right. Whoever it was deserves some praise.”

Looking at Yu Zhi, he added, “You can tell Xiao Yu all those compliments yourself.”

Aunt Du froze for a moment before catching on. Her eyes widened in surprise. “So Xiao Yu was the one who sent them? That was really thoughtful of him!”

Yu Zhi reacted to the praise as though it were nothing more than an ordinary matter. He simply nodded faintly. “It was nothing. Just a small favor.”

In truth, even when the ingredients and cooking steps were exactly the same, the resulting dishes did not necessarily taste the same. After trying the food, Yu Zhi found it only passable.

Still, if he had the chance, he would have liked to prepare a meal for Sang Xiyin with his own hands.

He was turning the thought over in his mind, but he also treasured this rare opportunity to sit at the same table and share a meal with him.

A lunch that should have taken barely fifteen minutes to finish somehow dragged on for nearly an hour. When Sang Xiyin teased him about it, Yu Zhi defended himself with complete seriousness.

“People should chew their food slowly and thoroughly. It’s good for their health.”

Sang Xiyin retorted, “But you’re eating even more slowly than I am, and my teeth aren’t what they used to be. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were the old gentleman trying to stay healthy, while I was…”

Before he could finish, Yu Zhi picked up a piece of winter melon with his chopsticks and placed it in Sang Xiyin’s bowl.

“Have some more.”

Yu Zhi did not like hearing Sang Xiyin talk about being old, even if he only hinted at it.

Sang Xiyin could tell that Yu Zhi did not like hearing such things, so he simply smiled and continued eating, even though he was already full.

It turned out that Yu Zhi was not the only one who treasured this meal.

Though time hurried by, someone was still trying to hold on to it.

Sunsets were fleeting, but they were truly beautiful. So many people were captivated by their beauty and desperately wished they could make them last.

………………

When Yu Zhi returned to the house where he was temporarily staying, he looked around at the empty rooms. All the furniture was in place, and every appliance and facility was brand-new, yet he still felt that the house was far too empty, weighed down by a loneliness that no one was there to fill.

He turned on the television. The laughter and playful banter of the host, guests, and audience from a comedy show filled the room, managing to dispel some of the loneliness.

But only a little.

The laboratory was now running smoothly. From then on, Yu Zhi would only need to participate in the research at crucial stages and oversee its overall direction. Everything else could be left to others. All he had to do was provide the funding.

Of course, the money had to come from somewhere, so he invested in several companies with promising prospects.

Yu Zhi was in no urgent need of money, but he did need it.

It was always better to be prepared than caught off guard.

Just as Yu Zhi was lying on the sofa, half-asleep, his phone lit up without warning. An unfamiliar number flashed across the screen.

The moment Yu Zhi saw it, a memory that had remained dormant for a long time stirred once more. A little more of it came back to him, and a face surfaced in his mind.

He answered the call.

“Hello? Big Brother, why haven’t you sent any money for two months? Don’t tell me you’ve gone to the big city and forgotten about Dad, Mom, and your little brother back in the countryside?”

The male voice on the other end sounded young. Judging from the memories Yu Zhi had recovered, the boy was probably around eleven or twelve years old and had not yet finished elementary school.

“I haven’t forgotten. I’ve just been busy with all my classes. Wait a bit. I’ll send you the money later.”

“Then hurry up. I’m going to celebrate a classmate’s birthday today, and I don’t even have enough money to treat everyone to an internet café.”

The boy sounded impatient, but he did not press Yu Zhi any further.

Yu Zhi understood why. It was not because the boy was too young to understand or did not care about him. Rather, the boy knew that the original owner of this body had little money. As long as he did not ask about it, he could pretend not to know and continue enjoying the original owner’s selfless sacrifices without feeling the slightest guilt.

“Mm. I understand.”

After the call ended, the boy on the other end stared at his phone in disbelief.

“How dare he hang up on me first?”

“Dad! Mom! When Yu Zhi comes back, you have to give him a good talking-to!”

A middle-aged woman with a weathered face brought over a bowl of watermelon and set it in front of the boy.

“Be good, Xiao Bin. Have some watermelon.”

Only after eating some watermelon did the boy stop complaining.

A bald man walked in as well.

“Our son is right. That brat thinks that just because he’s gone to the big city to study, he no longer has to care about his family. Sooner or later, he’ll get too big for his boots. We need to make him understand that if it weren’t for us, where would he have gotten the chance to study? He might have died somewhere long ago, for all we know!”

The middle-aged woman slapped the man on the back. He was just about to lose his temper when she dragged him into the house.

“What are you doing? What’s gotten into you?” the bald man grumbled.

The woman pointed a finger at his nose and scolded him. “Idiot!”

“Why are you calling me an idiot?!”

“If you weren’t an idiot, why would I call you one?”

She demanded, “Let me ask you something. How much do you earn each month? And how much do I earn?”

“Six or seven thousand yuan between the two of us, I guess. What about it?”

“That’s how much we earn now. My job is increasingly favoring younger workers. Who knows? I might get fired one of these days. And you can’t do heavy labor anymore. Where will the money for this family come from?”

“Don’t we still have that brat…” As the man spoke, he suddenly caught on. “You mean…”

“Xiao Bin has plenty of expenses ahead of him. There’s school, buying a house, and getting married. Which of those doesn’t cost money? Do you think the two of us can earn enough to cover all that?”

The woman was shrewd. If she wanted to squeeze money out of Yu Zhi, she couldn’t afford to sour their relationship.

On the contrary, she had to draw him closer and put on a convincing show of deep motherly affection. What was that term again? Emotional blackmail… Yes, emotional blackmail. She would use family ties to guilt him into supporting them, making him keep giving to the family indefinitely.

The bald man grinned. “My wife, you really are the clever one!”

……………… 

Yu Zhi let out a quiet laugh at his phone, his eyes dark and unreadable. He wasn’t happy about receiving the original owner’s memories. The man’s life had been nothing but one tragedy after another.

As far back as he could remember, the original owner had never been treated particularly well at home. Still, things hadn’t been too bad at first. At least he’d always had enough to eat and wear. His parents weren’t very affectionate toward him, but they had never deprived him of food or other basic necessities.

Then, when he was nine, his mother gave birth to his younger brother, and everything changed.

Overnight, he went from being a son who was practically invisible, someone who might occasionally receive a smile when his parents happened to remember him, to an “outsider” in his own family.

His parents doted on his younger brother in every possible way, while their treatment of him went from ignoring him to exploiting him. His brother could watch television all day long, but if their parents caught him sitting around doing nothing at home, they would immediately give him an earful.

One small mercy was that they didn’t hit him. However, Yu Zhi didn’t believe this was because his parents had any kindness in their hearts. He thought they simply had enough sense to know that beating a child could be witnessed by others, and in a small town, it was easy for gossip to spread.

Making him do housework was another matter entirely. If anyone asked about it, they would simply claim that he had volunteered. He was “a sensible child” and “a filial son.”

Since they didn’t beat him, they punished him in another way: by withholding food. If he angered them or failed to take good care of his younger brother, he could forget about eating. They would simply leave him hungry.

He never had any money of his own. Every day, someone would rummage through his little room, searching it from top to bottom. Even the money he occasionally earned at school by doing other students’ homework could easily be taken away.

But the original owner wasn’t a fool. Over time, he gradually found other places to hide his money, and he became increasingly clever about keeping it out of their reach.

He wanted to escape that family, so he worked hard to get into the best university in the local area. To afford his education, he had not only agreed to accept no money from his family but had also promised to send them a thousand yuan every month.

The original owner had been cautious. He used a different bank account for the money he sent home, one he rarely used for anything else. Yu Zhi hadn’t paid much attention to it before and had accidentally stopped sending money for two months.

What surprised him was that his family hadn’t called during the first month.

Had they simply forgotten, or was there another reason?

After thinking it over, he came up with a likely explanation. Perhaps the couple had changed their strategy toward him. Just as the original owner’s memories suggested, they might now try the gentle, conciliatory approach, using emotional manipulation to keep him tied to the family as their personal cash cow.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the same number called again.

“Xiao Zhi, it’s Mom. How have you been doing away from home? Have you been eating properly? Are you sick? I noticed you hadn’t sent any money, and I was worried something might have happened to you. Your mother is so far away and can’t take care of you, so you have to look after your own health.”

“Your father and I aren’t insisting that you give us money. We just want to use this method to push you to earn more, so you’ll feel a sense of urgency. Every time I receive your money, I know you must be doing well. Come back to your hometown for the Lunar New Year holiday. Everyone at home misses you.”

“I’m very busy with work. I only had time to answer the phone for a moment, so I can’t talk any longer. Goodbye.”

Yu Zhi brushed her off impatiently. Either way, these people were going to have to be dealt with eventually.

Unlike the original owner, Yu Zhi wasn’t tied down by scruples or obligations. He wouldn’t be fooled by them as the original owner had been. He wouldn’t sacrifice himself for them out of some misguided sense of selflessness, and he certainly wouldn’t let them ruin his entire life and cause him to die young.

Once he had dealt with them, he would help the original owner find his biological parents. Then the original owner’s wish would be fulfilled.

Yes, his biological parents.

When the original owner had been seriously injured and unconscious in the hospital, he had overheard that couple saying, “He’s not even our biological child. Why bother saving him?” and “We don’t have the money to treat him.”

They had dragged things out until the original owner died.

A dark glint flashed in Yu Zhi’s eyes.

He stood up and made a phone call.

“Hello. I need you to look into two people for me.”

………………

For many people, Monday meant going to work. But for retirees, every day was a holiday.

Early that morning, Sang Xiyin got out of bed, picked up the things he had packed the day before, and headed out with several friends.

Together, the group was over three hundred years old. Carrying their travel bags, they had their driver take them to a health and wellness resort somewhere in the suburbs.

“Come to think of it, Xiyin, you’re still the best at taking care of yourself out of all of us. People see the photos you post online and still call you their male god. If we weren’t worried about disturbing you, my grandsons and granddaughters would probably be running over to your place every day.” The speaker was an old man who had gone bald and put on quite a bit of weight years ago. He teased Sang Xiyin with a grin.

“If you’d spent less time chasing women when you were young, you might look younger now, too,” Madam Xiao said coolly.

Sang Xiyin: “…” I suspect you’re making a dig at me.

It was almost as if she were implying that the reason he looked younger than the others was that he had no sex life.

It had been a long time since Sang Xiyin had felt that familiar tightness in his chest. Today, he was experiencing it once again.

The bald old man glanced at Madam Xiao and rolled his eyes. “No wonder you’ve aged so well, too. You haven’t had a sex life for decades either.”

Madam Xiao: “…”

“All right, all right. You’re all grown adults. Why are you still trying to win arguments with your tongues? Aren’t you afraid the younger generation will laugh at you?” Grandpa Sang intervened, putting a stop to their bickering.

The old man snorted. “Hmph!”

When they reached an artificial lake, they each took out their fishing gear.

“Let’s see who catches the most fish today,” the old man announced.

“What’s there to compete over? It’ll definitely be Xiyin again,” Madam Xiao replied.

Sang Xiyin had always been lucky, as though he had some kind of built-in buff boosting his luck.

The old man snorted again. “Except for cheaters who play with cheats enabled.”

Sang Xiyin smiled. “Not necessarily. Maybe my luck buff has worn off.”

With that, they all sat down and quietly began fishing.

Sang Xiyin sat closest to Madam Xiao. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sit near his own older brother; he simply wanted to chat with Madam Xiao.

“Zhijun, do you remember that dream I once told you about?”

“A dream?” Madam Xiao thought for a moment. Although it had happened a long time ago, there had only been a few occasions when he had brought up something so unusual, so she still remembered it vaguely. She recalled that Sang Xiyin had once told her he had a lover who appeared in his dreams and would soon come looking for him.

At the time, her response had been that she couldn’t believe he was even more of a dreamer than she was. She herself hardly dared to imagine Wen Gufang openly and legitimately marrying her.

“You still remember that?” Madam Xiao asked, unable to hide her disbelief.

Sang Xiyin fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, “There’s something I never told you. All these years, I’ve still occasionally had that same dream.”

Madam Xiao was so startled that she nearly jumped to her feet. Fortunately, she was someone who had weathered plenty of storms in life, and she quickly managed to regain her composure.

She was just wondering how to talk him out of whatever he was thinking when he continued, “But not long ago, I don’t even know exactly when. I stopped having that dream altogether. It hasn’t appeared again.”

Madam Xiao suppressed the absurd, almost unbelievable suspicion rising in her heart.

For a long time, neither of them spoke.

“Xiyin, you don’t know how much I envy you.”

Sang Xiyin was a little surprised. “What makes you say that?”

Madam Xiao chuckled softly. “Wen Gufang and I were once truly in love. We loved each other so much that we would have been willing to give our lives for one another. But look at what happened to us in the end. We came to hate each other so much that we could hardly wait to take each other’s lives.”

“Even after we fell out and went our separate ways, I couldn’t forget him. I couldn’t forget my love for him, nor could I forget my hatred for him. It’s been so many years, and neither of us has tried to find the other again. Not because we hate each other, but because we still love each other. I believe he feels the same way.”

“But I think it’s absurd. It’s laughable.”

“What kind of love is that? I destroyed your entire family, but I love you? I’d rather have no love at all than be part of something like that.”

As she spoke, she turned to look at Sang Xiyin. He was listening patiently, his gaze resting on the surface of the lake.

“That’s why I envy you. You’ll never have to be troubled by love.”

“Still… this may sound harsh, but we’re all at this age now. We never know when we might have to go meet King Yama. So why spend so much time worrying about all these things? Wouldn’t it be better to quietly enjoy each day as it comes?”

Sang Xiyin gazed silently at the lake and watched as Madam Xiao’s fishing line began to tremble. She quickly reeled it in, pulling up a fish weighing two jin.

Meanwhile, Sang Xiyin’s fishing line remained perfectly still, without the slightest ripple.

After a long silence, Sang Xiyin finally spoke in a quiet voice.

“You’re right.”

After several hours of fishing, everyone gathered around to compare their catches. The moment they looked down, they were all stunned!

“Xiyin, where are your fish? Did you release them all?!”

Sang Xiyin pressed his lips together indifferently. “No.”

“Not a single one?”

“Not a single one.”

Silence fell all around them.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief, questioning everything they thought they knew about the world.

Sang Xiyin had failed to catch a single fish. This was a first in the history of the universe!

Sang Xiyin waved a hand and smiled. “It’s nothing. Maybe Heaven has canceled my luck buff.”

Perhaps people became more easily moved as they grew older. Sang Xiyin himself didn’t take the matter very seriously, but his close friends and his own older brother felt wronged on his behalf.

Even after they returned home, Grandpa Sang still wanted to comfort his younger brother. How could someone’s luck simply disappear just like that? It had to be a fluke.

But his younger brother didn’t need any comforting at all. With his usual gentle smile, Sang Xiyin said, “Brother, you should head back. I’m going home, too.”

Grandpa Sang felt a pang in his heart. How could the place where his younger brother lived with a long-term servant possibly be called home?

Yet whenever he tried to persuade his younger brother to move in with him, Sang Xiyin refused.

When Sang Xiyin returned, he glanced into the flower greenhouse as he passed by. He saw only Aunt Du, not the person who was usually there.

His steps faltered for a brief moment. Then he continued walking inside at his usual steady pace.

The moment Sang Xiyin entered the living room, he sensed that something was a little off. A used cup sat on the coffee table, with tea still left in it.

His eyes shifted slightly, but he said nothing. Perhaps it had been Sang Xingyun, Sang Liushui, or one of the others. He simply turned and went upstairs.

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Sang Xiyin went downstairs, intending to cook dinner himself that evening.

However, just as he reached the kitchen doorway, he saw a figure who had no business being there, carrying out a dish of medicinal food that looked and smelled delicious.

“Xiao Yu? When did you get here?”

Yu Zhi replied calmly and without the slightest formality, “I bought some ingredients this afternoon and decided to borrow your kitchen for a while.”

Sang Xiyin asked in confusion, “What about your place?”

Yu Zhi glanced at him, his expression perfectly ordinary. “I forgot to tell you. I’ve moved.”

Sang Xiyin’s steps faltered slightly as he followed Yu Zhi toward the dining room.

“You’ve moved?”

Then why had he come over? Would he still come by in the future?

Yu Zhi set down the porcelain pot containing the nourishing soup without even looking up. “Mm.”

Sang Xiyin hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t ask for Yu Zhi’s new address or whether he would still visit.

All good things must come to an end. They had never really been anything to each other. A young man still had so much more to look forward to, a life that would be more exciting, more colorful, and more fulfilling. What business did an old man like him have worrying about such things?

Suppressing the reluctance in his heart, Sang Xiyin forced a small smile.

“Congratulations on your new home.”

A moment later, he still couldn’t help adding, “Take good care of yourself when you’re living on your own. They say distant relatives are no substitute for nearby neighbors, so try to get along well with yours.”

Yu Zhi replied mildly, “Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing?”

“Hm?” Sang Xiyin stared at him, momentarily unable to understand what he meant.

Yu Zhi raised his head and looked at him. “I bought a villa in this neighborhood. That makes us neighbors now, so I came to pay mine a visit.”

Since he intended to stay by Sang Xiyin’s side, this was a decision Yu Zhi had made long ago. As soon as he had some spare money, he pulled a few strings and had the paperwork expedited.

From now on, whether at sunrise or beneath the evening glow, they would spend their days together and enjoy the scenery side by side.

They would listen to the birds singing and breathe in the fragrance of flowers. Their remaining years would stretch on, with time unfolding at an unhurried pace.

Smiling, Yu Zhi held out his hand.

“I look forward to getting along with you.”

Sang Xiyin, who had only just been feeling a little melancholy about parting ways: “…”

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