Chapter 21
Almost Lost His Life
Ever since childhood, Shi Jiang had been extremely strict with Shi Yushen. He interfered in almost every part of his life.
It was like throwing a seed into a sealed glass box.
It could never rely on sunlight or rain from the outside world to survive. It could only live trapped inside a square, orderly space, raised under control.
A few years ago, after becoming an adult, Shi Yushen once thought about finding a pretty young boy outside just to have some fun.
But unexpectedly, before the boy was even brought to the bed, the door opened—
And the person standing there was actually his father’s assistant.
Shi Yushen gave a cold smile.
The assistant spoke politely, but his eyes were icy.
Even now, Shi Yushen still remembered what the assistant had said to him back then.
“Young Master Shi, someone like you cannot do such improper things. If President Shi knew, he would be very disappointed.”
The moment those lecturing words came out, Shi Yushen’s headache became unbearable.
He wanted nothing more than to swallow all the medicine in the bottle just to numb his still-awake nerves.
Before dawn arrived, Shi Yushen left.
Lin Suian slept uneasily, half-awake and half-dreaming, when Shi Yushen leaned close to his ear and spoke softly.
Shi Yushen treated him like his personal possession, speaking naturally as if it was obvious.
“Little bitch, stay home obediently and wait for me to come back.”
His deep laugh brushed against Lin Suian’s ears, making his scalp tingle.
When Lin Suian woke up later, he finally realized Shi Yushen had truly left.
Because of company matters, Shi Yushen had gone on a business trip. Lin Suian did not know how long he would be gone, but he secretly hoped the longer, the better.
At least two or three days.
Maybe even several weeks.
That was what Shi Yushen had told him the previous night.
Lin Suian went to school.
The grade was organizing an autumn camping trip, and the principal required every class to participate unless there was a serious family emergency.
Speaking of school trips, Lin Suian had never gone to one before.
Deep down, he felt a little excited.
Mu Xiaoyang saw Lin Suian smiling obediently and immediately walked over, bumping his shoulder excitedly.
“Suisui, stay with me. Let’s share one tent and sleep together. We can lie on the grass and watch the stars. It’ll be beautiful.”
“Okay.”
Lin Suian did not refuse.
He scribbled a few lines on paper, already forgetting where he had reached in the math problem he was solving.
Ah…
His train of thought got interrupted again.
Damn camping trip.
After packing their things, everyone boarded the bus in neat school uniforms.
Lin Suian and Mu Xiaoyang sat together. Since the trip was long, the two chatted for a while before leaning against each other and falling asleep.
After arriving at the destination, Mu Xiaoyang suddenly said he urgently needed the bathroom and ran off first.
Lin Suian was busy setting up the tent and could not leave yet, so he said:
“You go ahead. I’ll handle this side myself.”
Mu Xiaoyang gratefully kissed his cheek loudly and made a heart shape with his fingers.
“Suīsui, you’re so nice. If you were a girl, I’d definitely marry you.”
Lin Suian’s face instantly turned red.
The girls nearby covered their mouths and secretly laughed.
Embarrassed, Lin Suian hurriedly chased him away.
“Alright, hurry up and go.”
But his voice was gentle and slow, so no matter how people listened, it sounded a little spoiled and soft.
“Okay, okay, I’m really going now.”
Only then did Mu Xiaoyang clutch his stomach and run toward the hill across from them.
After Mu Xiaoyang left, a tall boy who had always disliked them spoke with disgust.
“What kind of gay nonsense are they doing again? So disgusting.”
Chen Jing clicked his tongue mockingly.
His voice was neither loud nor soft, but Lin Suian could hear every word clearly.
Sometimes verbal humiliation hurts no less than physical violence.
At first, Lin Suian had resisted.
But gradually, he became used to it and stopped responding.
Because the more you argued with people like this, the more excited they became.
Even when you had done nothing wrong, they still wanted to stab a few more knives into your ribs just for satisfaction.
Night slowly fell.
But Mu Xiaoyang still had not returned.
Lin Suian stared at his scraped palms anxiously and asked around.
“Where’s Mu Xiaoyang? Has anyone seen him come back?”
Almost nobody answered him directly.
Only a few boys stood behind him, mocking coldly.
“Did Mu Xiaoyang forget to bring toilet paper? Maybe his ass is still dirty, so he’s too embarrassed to come back.”
“Who knows? Better if he never comes back. He’s annoying to look at anyway.”
“You know what, without another bad student dragging us down, our class average might improve a little.”
“Yeah, always ranking last in the grade is embarrassing.”
…
Lin Suian felt anger rise inside him, but he had no mood to argue.
At that moment, a girl walked over and said:
“Mu Xiaoyang came back once, but he heard there’s a temple on the mountain across from here. He said he wanted to draw a fortune stick, so he left again.”
“He went alone?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Lin Suian immediately zipped up his jacket and ran out without thinking.
The girl looked like she still had something else to say and tried to stop him, but when she looked up, he was already far away.
“You can’t handle it alone! You should tell an adult first!”
She stomped her feet anxiously and shouted after him.
But at that moment, Lin Suian only had one thought in his mind—
He could not leave Mu Xiaoyang alone.
The night became darker and darker.
Holding a flashlight, Lin Suian shouted until his voice turned hoarse while climbing the steep stone stairs with difficulty.
“Mu Xiaoyang! Where are you?!”
The flashlight was almost out of battery.
Lin Suian was exhausted, his face pale, and he had not encountered Mu Xiaoyang on the way up the mountain at all.
At this moment, he still did not know he had been tricked.
Although the girl had told the truth, the story itself had been spread by those boys on purpose just so Lin Suian would hear it.
There was no special reason.
They simply disliked him and wanted to mess with him.
…
After Mu Xiaoyang returned to the campsite and could not find Lin Suian, he immediately asked:
“Where’s Lin Suian? It’s already dark. Where did he go?”
Several boys laughed heartlessly.
Mu Xiaoyang immediately sensed something was wrong.
At that moment, the girl who had told Lin Suian about the temple walked over.
She kindly explained:
“Didn’t you go to the temple across the mountain? He went looking for you. Why did you come back alone?”
Mu Xiaoyang instantly exploded in anger.
Raising his voice desperately, he shouted at everyone around him:
“Why the hell would I go to a temple?! Who started saying that!?”
The surroundings immediately became silent.
Only the crackling sound of burning firewood remained.
Mu Xiaoyang’s eyes turned red as he glared at the boys watching the show.
“If anything happens to Lin Suian, I won’t let any of you bastards off.”
