Ever since he knew that Yan Yue was going back to Zhongjing for the New Year, Lu Lingxi wished that time would pass more slowly, very slowly. Although he didn’t say so, his actions unconsciously showed his reluctance to Yan Yue.

In the evening, when Yan Yue was taking a shower, Lu Lingxi followed him around like a puppy, handing him a towel at one point and helping him find clothes at another. Yan Yue could almost see Lu Lingxi’s little tail wagging behind him all the time. His heart was so soft that he hugged Lu Lingxi and pinned him against the wall, kissing him fiercely.

Lu Lingxi’s gaze was unfocused; he was short of breath as Yan Yue kissed him. His beautiful black eyes clouded with a layer of mist, his expression innocent and sweet, full of lethal sensuality. Yan Yue grinded his lips uncontrollably, thinking in his heart that he might as well just stay here for the New Year. He really didn’t want to part with Lu Lingxi for a single minute.

“Baby, why don’t I…”

Yan Yue hadn’t even finished speaking when Yi Hang’s loud voice sounded from outside. “What are you doing, Lao San? Not home?”

The voice was so close that it seemed to be only a wall away. Lu Lingxi practically pushed Yan Yue away, not bothering to say anything to him, and ran out in a flash. In the bathroom, Yan Yue looked down at his excited little brother and his face quickly sank.

“Yi Hang.” Lu Lingxi greeted sheepishly.

On the sofa in the living room, Yi Hang was teasing Xiaohei with a biscuit. Seeing Lu Lingxi coming out of the bathroom, he was a little surprised, “Lao San, you’re taking a shower?”

Lu Lingxi shook his head in embarrassment and found an excuse, “No, I just brought Big Brother Yan his clothes.”

“Oh, so is Brother Yan taking a shower? How is Brother Yan’s body, is it as strong as mine?” Yi Hang said, raising his arms in a bodybuilding pose. Lu Lingxi blinked and looked at him speechlessly.

Yi Hang laughed, threw the biscuit in his hand to Xiaohei, excitedly waved at Lu Lingxi and said, “Lao Er just called me, he’ll be back with Lao Si in a couple of days. When that time comes, we brothers will have a good get-together, and we’ll hold Lao Si back for the coming year and not let him go.”

He said it as a matter of course; Lu Lingxi sat down next to Yi Hang, still worried that Bai Yuan’s father wouldn’t approve. Yi Hang grinned, hugged Lu Lingxi’s neck and said, “What are you afraid of? Lao Si said that their school is not strictly controlled. Even if he doesn’t go to class for a while the school won’t find out. Let Lao Si work in the restaurant for a month first. When he gets paid and his father sees the money, he won’t say anything.”

The two of them were talking when Yan Yue pushed open the bathroom door and saw that Yi Hang’s whole body was about to press on top of Lu Lingxi. His already unhappy mood got even more distressed.

“Brother Yan.” Yi Hang didn’t know how to read faces and greeted Yan Yue with a smile.

Since the backyard of Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi had been united, when Yi Hang was looking for Lu Lingxi, nine times out of ten Lu Lingxi would be with Yan Yue. Over time, Yi Hang had become accustomed to going straight to Yan Yue’s place every time he came, not treating himself as an outsider at all.

Yan Yue nodded to Yi Hang with a smile, and his eyes flashed, looking at Yi Hang’s arm. For some reason, Yi Hang felt a chill on his arm and subconsciously took it back and rubbed it. A hint of satisfaction appeared in Yan Yue’s eyes as he sat down on the other side of Lu Lingxi silently. This made it inconvenient for Yi Hang to say anything to Lu Lingxi. Every time he looked up he could see Yan Yue’s profile, and although Yan Yue didn’t say anything, Yi Hang was feeling a little awkward somehow.

“Lao San, you’re okay, so I’m going back.” After Yi Hang said a couple of sentences, he really couldn’t go on. There was nothing he needed to stay here for, so he simply chose to leave in a daze.

“So quickly?” Lu Lingxi was a bit bewildered, Yi Hang had come less than ten minutes ago, just to tell him about Bai Yuan and Zheng Tan coming back?

“Hey hey, it’s getting late, you guys go to bed early.” Yi Hang said as he waved to Dahei and left the backyard, familiarly climbing over the fence.

“Big Brother Yan, Yi Hang, he ……” Lu Lingxi hadn’t finished his sentence when he was already pinned down on the sofa by Yan Yue, who slowly took off his shirt and said in a hoarse voice, “Forget Yi Hang, let’s finish what we haven’t.”

Lu Lingxi blushed and was about to speak when Wang Shuxiu called out again from the backyard. “Xiao Xi, Yi Hang is gone?”

Lu Lingxi once again pushed Yan Yue away, and Yan Yue’s face instantly darkened. Lu Lingxi stifled his laughter and ran to the balcony, thankful in his heart that Wang Shuxiu never entered Yan Yue’s house and just shouted from the backyard.

“Mom.”

Wang Shuxiu saw that Lu Lingxi was wearing thin clothes and rushed him back. “It’s nothing, I just made some tomato sauce for Yi Hang to take back.” Since Yi Hang had left, Wang Shuxiu didn’t say anything more to Lu Lingxi. It was cold on the balcony and she was afraid that Lu Lingxi would catch a cold.

Lu Lingxi waited for Wang Shuxiu to leave before going back to the house, and when he turned around, he saw Yan Yue looking at him helplessly, the upper part of his body naked. Thinking of the previous incidents, although Lu Lingxi knew he shouldn’t laugh, he couldn’t help laughing and was unable to stop.

Time passed and in a flash half a week had passed. The flavour of New Year was already very strong on the streets of Fengcheng, and at this time Yan Yue received a call from Yan Shihui, asking when he would return to Zhongjing. The Yan family’s situation was well known in the upper circles of Zhongjing. But no matter how much Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan disliked each other in private, every year the two of them would go back to the Yan family mansion to spend the New Year together, along with Yin Yongde and Yan Yue.

In the past, Yan Yue would have already returned from abroad by this time, but this year Yan Yue had not moved, so Yan Shihui only thought that Yan Yue still remembered the previous events and called Yan Yue to urge him to come home for the New Year. Yan Shihui said lightly, “Ah Yue, the past has passed, and there is no overnight hatred in the family.”

“Yes.” Yan Yue replied perfunctorily. Yan Shihui’s face didn’t look good, but he couldn’t get anything else out of Yan Yue. With a sullen face, Yan Shihui hung up the phone, thinking about Yan Yue and feeling a little blocked in his heart. In the six months since Yan Yue returned to China, the overseas company’s profits had dropped by 20% in comparison with the previous year, and two old clients had been poached by competitors after their contracts had expired. Although Yan Shihui and Yan Hai said that it didn’t matter and that it was just a matter of paying tuition fees and practising, the directors were not so generous at the year-end wrap-up meeting of Hopewell.

Yan Shihui knew what the directors meant, and that the directors, led by Yin Yongde, were trying to force him to bring Yan Yue back. He also hesitated in his heart, but after seeing the New Year’s development plan that Yan Hai had worked tirelessly on, he became firm in his determination. He knew his son well, and Yan Hai wasn’t as good as Yan Yue, but if Yan Shihui cultivated him carefully for a few years, Yan Hai would be somehow able to take up the reins. Now that Yan Hai had had a little bit of bad luck, if Yan Shihui had transferred Yan Hai back and replaced him with Yan Yue, it would be a naked slap in Yan Hai’s face. If Yan Hai were to take the plunge and fail, all his hard work would be wasted.

It wasn’t that Yan Shihui was biassed, but people are always habitually biassed towards the weak. Yan Hai couldn’t compare to Yan Yue in anything, so Yan Shihui couldn’t help but think more about Yan Hai. In case he died one day, Yan Yue would swallow Yan Hai without leaving a single bone. Yan Shihui sighed; if only Yan Yue had some brotherly love for Yan Hai, he wouldn’t have to be in such a difficult situation.

Yan Yue knew all about Yan Shihui’s thoughts, but he didn’t care about them at all. After receiving Yan Shihui’s call, Yan Yue received another call from his grandfather, Yin Yongde. This time he had to put his return home on his agenda. He could be indifferent to Yan Shihui, but Yan Yue still had feelings for Yin Yongde. After finding an excuse to stay in Fengcheng for another two days, Yan Yue returned to Zhongjing with An Jie in a low-key manner at the end of January.

The Yan family home was as cold as ever, and Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan would never come there until the last day of the year. Yin Yongde wanted to accompany Yan Yue but he couldn’t stay at the Yan family home alone. The housekeeper had waited half a year for Yan Yue’s return and had arranged everything in the Yan family’s mansion early to welcome him.

“Boss, is it always like that here for the New Year?” An Jie gestured to the rows of red lanterns hanging under the eaves of the house and whispered, “This is really lively.”

Although An Jie was Chinese, he had always lived abroad. He didn’t know who his biological parents were, and his adoptive parents weren’t Chinese and had no habit of celebrating the Chinese New Year in the past. This was the first time that An Jie had followed Yan Yue back to China for the New Year, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the arrangements in the courtyard. The Yan family’s mansion was an antique style building, and all the arrangements were completely Chinese, looking very festive.

Yan Yue only glanced lightly at the lanterns, his face expressionless. It wasn’t decorations of the courtyard that made it lively, but people. No matter how brightly the Yan family’s house was decorated, Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan would only stay here for three days at most. Every year, on the fourth day of the first lunar month, they both left in a hurry, leaving Yan Yue to stay here alone until the fifteenth day of the first month. The livelier it was outside, the more miserable it made Yan Yue feel. Yan Yue had thought about it before he came back this time, and he was going back to Fengcheng on the fourth day of the first month. Since Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan didn’t care, he didn’t care even more.

After Yan Yue had taken a shower and changed his clothes, Ye Kang came over. He knew early on that Yan Yue was coming back today and deliberately had gone back to the old mansion to wait for him.

“What, don’t you want to come back?” Ye Kang joked.

Yan Yue nodded calmly.

Ye Kang was no match for Yan Yue, so he had to change the subject. “Why are you suddenly interested in the Lu family in Zhongjing?”

Yan Yue had asked An Jie to help him investigate the information on the Zhongjing Lu Family, a matter that wasn’t hidden from Ye Kang. In fact, Ye Kang had also contributed a lot to that pile of information, and there were some things that were too far back in the past that Ye Kang had still helped to find out. Previously, Ye Kang had also asked Yan Yue, but Yan Yue didn’t say anything. Although Ye Kang felt that Yan Yue’s behaviour was inextricably linked to Lu Lingxi, he was unable to link this matter to the young man from Fengcheng. On the contrary, he had just heard the news and was somewhat suspicious if Yan Yue had heard something in advance.

Seeing that Yan Yue wasn’t speaking, Ye Kang asked again, “Have you heard something?”

“What?”

“The matter of Elder Yin wanting to join hands with the Lu family through marriage.”

Yan Yue wasn’t impressed, “You mean Yin Ya and Lu Wei’an?”

Ye Kang shook his head, “The marriage object that the Lu family wants is you. I heard that Elder Yin also has this intention.”

Yan Yue’s face darkened, “I don’t know about this, but it doesn’t matter if I know. There won’t be any marriage.”

Grandpa’s intentions were presumably good, but unfortunately Yan Yue didn’t appreciate them.

Ye Kang knew that was so, shrugged and remembered another piece of news. “By the way, I found out something else about the Lu family two days ago, but I’m not sure if it was true or not.” He didn’t keep listeners in suspense and said straight away, “According to the rumours in the Lu family, Elder Lu has an illegitimate son and a grandson.”

Yan Yue frowned, not taking it too seriously.

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