Chapter 30: What Bad Intentions Could She Have?

After the photos were taken, Tan Tian and the other two had no reason to stay. They packed up their equipment and went home.

Jian Huaifeng was bored alone here, so he messaged Wei Nanting that he was going back to the Jian family.

Half an hour later, Wei Nanting’s car pulled up at the garden entrance.

“Get in. I’ll take you back.”

“Huh?” He had just called a taxi, so he had to cancel it and obediently got into Wei Nanting’s car.

****

The Jian family had not been quiet these past few days. Everyone except Jian Huaifeng had returned, along with the real young master, Su Lin.

Jian Zhenjiang and Wei Shulan wanted to make up for years of debt to their biological son. They had not even gone to the company these days, coming back specially to help Su Lin get used to his new home.

Su Lin was the same age as Jian Huaifeng. Apart from being a little taller, everything else made it clear he had not been raised as well as Jian Huaifeng.

His cheeks were thin from malnutrition. His overly long bangs had clearly not been trimmed in some time. The joints of his clothes were faded white and worn.

Wei Shulan’s heart ached at the sight. She nearly cried. Holding back her distress, she found a set of new clothes Jian Huaifeng had never worn and gave them to Su Lin. Then she took him out for a haircut and bought him many clothes and daily necessities.

After all that, Su Lin finally looked a bit more spirited. When Jian Congyu returned, Wei Shulan pulled him over to introduce them.

“Good boy, this is your eldest brother, Jian Congyu, and this is your second sister, Jian Junya. If your parents are not around, go to your brother and sister if anything comes up. They are several years older than you and will take good care of you.”

From the moment Su Lin entered the Jian family, he had been quiet. Obedient, really. He did not look around or ask questions. Whatever Wei Shulan led him to do, he did. Whatever she told him, he agreed. Now he called out obediently, “Eldest Brother, Second Sister.”

When Jian Junya first heard she had a biological younger brother who had been swapped at birth and lost outside, her feelings had been complicated. She had never directly denied the outside doubts about Jian Huaifeng’s identity over the years, but she had only kept questions, never thought much about them.

Now the person was standing in front of her. She was only happy Su Lin had been found. She told herself it just meant one more brother. Once she understood, she went over and hugged Su Lin, patting his head.

“Now that you’re back, you’re family. If anything happens in the future, your sister has your back.”

Jian Congyu seemed colder. From beginning to end, he only glanced at Su Lin, as if confirming they had found the right person. He gave no response. His gaze stayed on Su Lin’s face for less time than it stayed on his clothes.

He only asked, “Where is Jian Huaifeng?”

Jian Zhenjiang and Wei Shulan exchanged a look. They had not yet figured out how to introduce Jian Huaifeng to Su Lin, so they were awkward. They lowered their voices.

“He went to play at his uncle’s place. He’ll be back in a few days.”

Jian Congyu frowned at once. “Always sleeping over at other people’s houses. What does that look like?”

Wei Shulan wanted to argue that going to Wei Nanting’s more often could bring the two families closer. But then she thought: the fact that Jian Huaifeng was not their biological child would be made public sooner or later. By then, who knew if Wei Nanting would mind that the one always close to him was a child from nowhere?

She said nothing for a moment. Su Lin grew nervous. It was not obvious, but the whitened knuckles gripping his hem betrayed his feelings.

Jian Junya broke the awkwardness. She said quietly to Su Lin, “Don’t be afraid. Eldest Brother is just like this. He’s like this with everyone. Even I’m scared of him now. You’ll get used to him slowly.”

Su Lin nodded and lowered his head even more.

Since Jian Congyu had already brought it up, Wei Shulan simply explained the situation. They would meet eventually anyway. She squatted down and took Su Lin’s hand.

“Xiao Lin, Mom and Dad have one more thing to tell you. We didn’t lose you back then. Because of an accident, a mistake was made. Your distant uncle’s biological nephew has lived in our home for many years.”

She tried to say it gently, not letting him think of words like “replacement” or “took the wrong place.”

“He’s not home now. In a few days, when he comes back, you two may have to live together. His name is Jian Huaifeng. We don’t know which of you is older. You can call him brother.”

Su Lin’s first reaction was to ask, “Then won’t he go back to my distant uncle’s house?”

But he did not ask. His childhood had been hard, and he had matured early. He was better at reading expressions than other children his age. Looking at Wei Shulan and Jian Congyu’s attitudes, he knew he had better not ask.

After dinner, Jian’s father and mother pulled Su Lin aside and talked to him for a long time. Finally, seeing how late it was, they sent him to his room to rest.

Jian Zhenjiang pulled Wei Shulan into the study. “What are we going to do about the third child now? What did you mean by what you said earlier?”

Wei Shulan rubbed her brow. “What do you mean, what did I mean? Wu Feng clearly doesn’t want Xiaobao. Xiaobao has nowhere to go. Are we supposed to throw him out and make him an orphan?”

Seeing that she was emotionally unstable, and that arranging Su Lin’s affairs these past days had exhausted her, Jian Zhenjiang softened his voice.

“I didn’t mean that. I’m just worried. If we keep the third child at home, how will you keep things fair? Xiao Lin hasn’t had it easy all these years either. How can you guarantee he won’t feel unbalanced, and that the third child won’t feel neglected? Besides, how are we going to explain the third child’s identity to outsiders later? Adopted son?”

Wei Shulan had considered all of this, but clearly had not reached any conclusion. So she avoided the first question.

“Adopted son isn’t impossible. One more person, that’s all. It’s not like we can’t afford him. You didn’t say that before. What are you worried about?”

Jian Zhenjiang’s eyes flickered. Of course he had concerns. The matter with Su Yaya would always be a time bomb for him. He could not tolerate Jian Huaifeng always under his nose. But if he was too decisive now, it would only make Wei Shulan suspicious. So he gave in.

“Forget it. We’ll talk about it when the third child comes back.”

When the unavoidable problems between Su Lin and Jian Huaifeng appeared, he would think of a way to suggest sending Jian Huaifeng to someone else’s house.

These two days, Su Lin worked hard to adapt to his new life. The Jian family rarely ate breakfast together because everyone woke at different times.

Jian Congyu was the type to wake earlier than a chicken and sleep later than a dog. Usually, he finished eating and left before Jian’s father and mother. The last one down, near lunchtime, was Jian Junya, shuffling downstairs in slippers for brunch.

When Su Lin came down, he ran into Jian Congyu. He said respectfully, “Eldest Brother, good morning.”

Jian Congyu looked up at him as a response. When his gaze swept over Su Lin’s neat clothes, he somehow thought of Jian Huaifeng, who after waking did not change clothes, had messy hair, and was unkempt.

The nanny’s voice came from the kitchen. “The young master is down? I didn’t know what you like, so Madam specially had us prepare more variety. I’ll bring them all up for you.”

Hearing that address, Jian Congyu asked instinctively, “Jian Huaifeng is back?”

By the time he realized the “young master” was Su Lin, the nanny had already explained with a smile, “Young Master Su Lin is going to call Young Master Huaifeng his brother, so isn’t he the young master?”

Jian Congyu said nothing. He put down the newspaper and left.

Su Lin lowered his eyes. Although Jian Huaifeng himself had not returned, his shadow was everywhere in this home.

Even when Jian Junya took him around the garden in the afternoon, she unconsciously mentioned, “That third brat. He wore my clothes and didn’t report his whereabouts. I don’t even know what he took them for. When he comes back, if I find the clothes torn, just see how I deal with him.”

There were many things he had to get used to, and he was slowly getting used to them. But right now, he was terribly curious. What did that Jian Huaifeng, who should have been Wu Feng’s biological nephew, actually look like?

His swelling curiosity was not left hanging long. Jian Huaifeng returned.

At the time, he was sitting under the fountain facing the main gate, dazed. He heard a car engine outside. Then a black car stopped at the gate.

A youth in a loose short-sleeved shirt so white it seemed to glow got out, holding a box several times bigger than his head.

Though Su Lin had not seen his face yet, he had a feeling this person was Jian Huaifeng.

The housekeeper opened the door and went back to report to Jian Zhenjiang. “Young Master Huaifeng is back. President Wei came too.”

Jian Zhenjiang’s eyelid twitched. President Wei? Wei Nanting?

Why would he come? Could he have specially brought Jian Huaifeng back?

Could their relationship be so good that he would personally send him home?

No matter what, Jian Zhenjiang still had to go out to welcome him. He saw Wei Nanting in front of the Maybach at the gate, hanging a bag on Jian Huaifeng’s hand. The two seemed to be talking about something.

He was about to go over and greet them when Wei Nanting looked up at him and gave a slight nod. Then Wei Nanting patted Jian Huaifeng’s back, telling him to go in, got back into the car, and left the Jian mansion. Clearly, he had no interest in staying for tea.

The meaning was obvious: Jian Huaifeng was Jian Huaifeng, the Jian family was the Jian family. He had brought Jian Huaifeng back, but not for Jian Zhenjiang’s sake.

Jian Huaifeng’s hands were full. He held the box and a bag, walking crookedly. The housekeeper came over to ask if he needed help, but Jian Huaifeng refused.

His view was blocked by the large box containing the phoenix crown. From beginning to end, he did not see Su Lin. He almost walked right past him.

Jian Zhenjiang went over and stopped him. He called Su Lin over to introduce them. “Third, this is Su Lin. From now on, call him fourth brother.”

Jian Huaifeng only then turned to look. Su Lin’s innocent face had left a deep impression on him. There was nothing much to see, really. He simply nodded at him in greeting. “Got it.”

Seeing his flat reaction, Jian Zhenjiang thought he did not understand what those words meant. So he called Wei Shulan over and told Jian Huaifeng the whole story from beginning to end.

Jian Huaifeng put the box on the table. He thought he should have come back later. Jian Junya was not up yet.

When Wei Shulan finally finished speaking, he still showed no emotion. He only said lightly, “So it’s true.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Stay Away from the Bartender

CrimecyberpunkDarkRomance

Read Now →
Not interested