Chapter 119
Perhaps because his emotions had already gone completely out of control, Father Lin made no attempt at all to hide the look in his eyes.
So Lin Zhiqiao noticed his gaze immediately.
His heart jolted. Oh no, he’s coming for me!
His brows furrowed, and he instinctively edged a little closer to the person beside him. Alarm bells were already blaring deafeningly in his head.
Crap, this isn’t going to turn into me eating gossip about myself, is it?! Lin Zhiqiao screamed internally. You! Do not! Come over here!!!
Song Fengshi, standing beside him, pressed his lips together.
Even though the atmosphere clearly was not the right one for laughing, hearing his beloved’s wildly jumpy inner monologue still made him want to smile.
—He was simply too adorable.
Even so, Song Fengshi still lifted a hand to block the shoulder of the person beside him, assuming a protective stance.
Lin Zhiqiao felt slightly steadier, though both his expression and body language remained highly guarded.
Yet Father Lin seemed not to notice his resistance—or rather, he chose to ignore it on instinct.
“Zhiqiao.” Father Lin’s face was full of hope. “I remember you said before that you’re O-type too, right?”
He stepped forward and reached out, seemingly trying to grab Lin Zhiqiao’s arm.
Lin Zhiqiao reacted quickly, immediately taking a step back to avoid him. At the exact same moment, Song Fengshi also shifted sideways, placing his whole body between Lin Zhiqiao and Father Lin.
That tall figure in front of him gave Lin Zhiqiao an overwhelming sense of security.
Peeking out from behind Song Fengshi, he said, “Whether I’m O-type or not probably has nothing to do with you, does it?”
“How could it have nothing to do with me? How could it possibly have nothing to do with me?” Father Lin became flustered at once, even trying to go around Song Fengshi. “You are—”
Song Fengshi cut him off directly. “Mr. Lin.”
His gaze was sharp and cold, filled with completely undisguised disgust and warning. It was like an icy spike, pinning Father Lin firmly in place.
“Let this farce end here today.” Song Fengshi’s tone was calm, yet it carried a suffocating pressure. “Something this serious has happened. I’m sure what you need most right now is private space.”
As he spoke, he reached behind him and took hold of Lin Zhiqiao’s hand, wrapping the smaller hand in his palm as if silently soothing him this way.
“In that case, we won’t disturb you any longer.”
With that, Song Fengshi led Lin Zhiqiao away, giving Father Lin no further chance to speak.
The others followed behind them. Only the cameraman hesitated for a moment, gave the Lin family a final close-up shot, then hurried after them with his equipment.
From behind came Mother Lin’s laughter again, now tinged with a kind of hysteria. There was also a shrill edge of sobbing mixed in, making it sound especially chilling.
“I never should have listened to you and let him be sent away!” Mother Lin laughed and cried at the same time, her voice broken and uneven. “What bad luck star, what curse on your Lin family—what a load of bullshit! You’re the biggest poison in the entire Lin family, hahahaha!!!”
Father Lin roared, “Shut up! You lunatic! Shut the hell up!”
But even that failed to stop Mother Lin. “And now you want to acknowledge him again? Dream on! When you drove him out of the family back then, did you ever think there’d come a day like this?! Hahahaha—”
By then, everyone had already gone far enough away that nothing after that could be heard clearly.
Lin Zhiqiao did not feel it was much of a pity. After all, he had already tasted the most exciting and delicious bite of gossip.
Unlike Song Fengshi, who had long known Lin Zhiqiao’s identity, Ji Ran and the others seemed to have pieced something together from Father Lin and Mother Lin’s words. Their gazes toward Lin Zhiqiao now held a mixture of shock and heartache.
But despite all their questions, none of them said anything now, nor did they press him for answers.
It was only after they had all gotten into the car that Song Fengshi softly asked, “Are you okay?”
Lin Zhiqiao was still savoring the explosive scandal from just now. When he heard Song Fengshi’s voice, he gave an absentminded “Hm?” before realizing what he meant.
He nodded and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
Out of everyone present, Lin Zhiqiao was actually the most emotionally stable one.
Song Fengshi’s gaze rested on Lin Zhiqiao, carefully observing the emotions in his brows and eyes. Only after confirming that he really was not forcing himself to be okay did he finally relax a little.
“Mm.” Song Fengshi’s fingers moved, slipping between the fingers of the person beside him and lightly rubbing them. “As long as you’re fine.”
In complete contrast to the “peaceful” atmosphere inside the car, the barrage comments in the livestream—as well as on Weibo and every other online platform—had already exploded into chaos.
Good lord, one scandal and I’m already stuffed. Is your Lin family really this talented at making a mess? [shocked face.jpg]
The number one scandal of the year has been born. Congratulations to the Lin family. [applause.jpg]
Why do I feel like something was off in the last things Lin Man and Qin Yuxian said…
I don’t get it. Why was Lin Man asking about Xiao Qiao’s blood type? Even if they’re both O-type, Xiao Qiao is only a distant relative. It’s not like he can suddenly become his biological son. [confused.jpg]
I have a bold guess, though I’m not sure whether I should say it…
I suspect Lin Zhiqiao is actually Father Lin and Mother Lin’s child. Didn’t people already say before that he looks like them? That can’t be such a coincidence, can it?
No need to suspect anymore—it’s definitely true!
Putting together Lin Man bringing up the blood type, Qin Yuxian’s last words, and the childhood details Xiao Qiao revealed before, here’s the analysis:
Lin Zhiqiao is actually part of the Lin family, but for some reason—possibly something to do with being a bad luck star or a curse—they sent him away to be raised by someone else when he was very young. I strongly suspect his household registration was never even in the Lin family.
And combining that with Qin Yuxian’s mention of “driving him out of the house,” my guess is that Lin Zhiqiao later returned to the Lin family, but the Lin family refused to accept him and kicked him out again.
Aside from the Lin parents, who definitely know the truth, Lin Chen and Lin Juezhou are both several years older than Lin Zhiqiao. When Lin Zhiqiao was sent away, the two of them were already old enough to remember things, so they most likely knew too.
As for Lin Mubai, he’s younger than Lin Zhiqiao, so whether he knew or not is uncertain—but personally I’m inclined to believe he did.
In short, not a single person in the Lin family is decent.
Analysis complete.
Holy shit, the logic is solid and the evidence is clear. This has to be the truth, right?!
I’m crying. I knew Xiao Qiao had a rough life before, but I never imagined it was this bad. My heart aches for him. QAQ
So out of Lin Man’s only two biological children, one was switched away by his own hands and died young, and the other one he abandoned?
The Lin family is truly a whole household of scum!!!
I’m disgusted. I genuinely suspect a lot of the negative smear pieces against Xiao Qiao online were secretly bought by the Lin family. [so angry I turned into a balloon.jpg]
No wonder Xiao Qiao can’t stand the Lin family. Honestly, his temper is still too good. If it were me, I’d have smashed them all and dragged them straight into hell together. [rage on fire.jpg]
Damn, when I used to be a Lin Mubai fan, I even joined in cursing Lin Zhiqiao… I’m guilty, I’m sorry, sob sob sob.
Same here… I really want to go back in time and slap my past self a few times. [falls to my knees.jpg]
Lin Zhiqiao, however, was not paying any attention to the uproar online.
After such an accident, it was obvious the Lin family could not continue filming, so only the Song and Ji families returned to the orphanage.
Director Zheng and the other caretakers were already waiting at the gate. The moment Lin Zhiqiao got out of the car, they surrounded him.
Director Zheng hugged him with red-rimmed eyes. “Good child, you’ve really suffered all these years.”
Clearly, she already knew about the matter between Lin Zhiqiao and the Lin family.
Lin Zhiqiao hugged her back and smiled as he comforted her. “Meeting Aunt Zheng was my good fortune. How could that count as suffering?”
That was truly what he felt.
He was endlessly grateful that the Lin family had sent him away back then, allowing him to meet the grandmother who loved him and the family he found at the orphanage.
If he had grown up under Father Lin and Mother Lin’s care like the three Lin brothers, in such a twisted environment, Lin Zhiqiao honestly did not know what kind of person he would have become.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. Sending Xiao Qiao away might have been the only correct decision the Lin family ever made.
Blessed people don’t enter cursed homes. Xiao Qiao’s good days are still ahead of him!!
Ji Ran, watching the scene, turned around and wiped his eyes hard, but still could not stop himself from making a sound. “Wuwuwu!”
Lin Zhiqiao froze for a second, then found it rather funny. “Why are you crying?”
It had been so long since he’d seen Ji Ran cry that he had almost forgotten the other man had such a low tear threshold he basically cried at the drop of a hat.
Ji Ran sobbed so hard he could barely catch his breath, stammering, “I’m sorry, wuwuwu!”
Lin Zhiqiao looked completely baffled.
“I actually… even treated him like an idol before—” Ji Ran clutched Lin Zhiqiao’s sleeve, crying so hard he could barely speak. “I—I… I really did you so wrong, wuwuwu QAQ!”
