Using Marriage as Bait : Chapter 26
Here you go, chapter 26, happy reading~Chapter 26: You Know You’re Getting A Green Light Above Your Head, Right?
Because of Lu Junting’s words, Lin Xiyu did not sleep well tonight. She was worried in her heart, afraid that someone would suddenly knock on her door. Fortunately, it was calm all night.
The next day, Lin Xiyu finished feeding the child, deliberately rubbed for a while before going downstairs, and to her surprise, Lu Junting had not left.
Lu Junting was drinking coffee. As soon as Lin Xiyu saw him, thinking of what he said to sister Wu yesterday, she felt that her breathing was half a beat slower, and her eyes did not dare to look at him.
“Brother Junting hasn’t gone to work yet?”
“I’ll go in a while, and I’ll come back to accompany you after work.”
Why did he want to emphasize that he would come back to accompany them? Lin Xiyu hurriedly said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Brother Junting, you can get busy with your works, I’m fine at home with my little baby.”
Lu Junting glanced at her meaningfully, he felt that her expression was very strange. She did not look at him when talking, and hearing the meaning, she seemed to be unhappy for him to accompany the mother and son.
Lu Junting raised his hand and glanced at his watch, and said, “It’s not too early, I’ll go out first.”
It was not until Lu Junting’s car disappeared that Lin Xiyu breathed a sigh of relief.
The things that worried her did not appear. He did not ask her about sleeping in the same room, so yesterday he just asked sister Wu casually?
However, why did he ask sister Wu such a question?
Lin Xiyu went to the club after eating, and before leaving work, Du Ruoting suddenly came in and said to her, “Grand aunt, there’s someone outside looking for you.”
Lin Xiyu was puzzled and asked, “Who? Did the person say the name?”
“Don’t say.” Du Ruoting winked at her, “But, a handsome guy.” She came over and bumped her shoulder, “Is it your suitor or boyfriend?”
Lin Xiyu: “...”
It was not Lu Junting who was looking for her, right? Why did Lu Junting still come here to find her?
Lin Xiyu walked out uneasily, but there was no one outside the door. There was a basketball court outside the Boyu Calligraphy Club, and a man was playing on the court at this moment.
Looking around, the person who played the ball was the only one nearby, was he the one who came to her? Lin Xiyu glanced at that person. Although it was far away, she still judged from the person's figure that it was not Lu Junting.
She was relieved a little and walked towards the basketball court.
After walking a little closer, Lin Xiyu could also see the person’s appearance clearly. She felt that this person looked a little familiar. She searched in her memories and soon a face popped up in her head.
The silhouette was a bit familiar, but after all these years, she was not sure.
It shouldn’t be that person. In her memory, that person had always been sick, unable to walk two steps, let alone play.
The man playing ball saw her too, and he tossed the basketball out of his hand, grabbing his jacket and walking towards her. He wore a loose sweater, a pair of black casual pants, and a pair of sneakers on his feet. He was dressed casually.
“Lin Xiyu?” He approached her to greet her.
The man was wearing a pair of glasses and had a handsome face. Upon smiling, he had a shallow dimple on one side of his face. Lin Xiyu recognized his face for a moment, he did resemble the person she remembered. She thought that person should look just like this when he grew up, but she wasn’t sure.
“You’re…”
The man took out his work badge from the coat bag he was holding and handed it to her. Lin Xiyu took it, but saw that it read ‘Jiangyuan Hospital Cardiothoracic Surgeon’: Lex Hinton’.
Lin Xiyu was even more puzzled, why was it a foreign name?
Probably seeing the doubt on her face, the man explained, “This is the name my American adoptive parents gave me, but my Chinese adoptive parents also gave me a name, Lin Xiqian.”
Lin Xiyu immediately covered her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. She could not believe it, it was really him! When she was 8 years old, her parents brought back a little boy from the orphanage. The little boy was only a few months older than her, very thin, a sick boy, and it was said that he was suffering from a heart disease. His parents had no money for medical treatment, so they left him at the door of the orphanage. Later, the orphanage saw that he was not doing well and called the Lin family, so the Lin family took him home.
At that time, he urgently needed to do cardiac stent surgery to continue his life. Although Lin Xiyu’s father, Lin Daguo was a calligrapher, since the family began to do charity, the family’s money was only enough for the family to maintain their life. It was a lot of money to do the cardiac stent surgery for the Lin family at that time, but, although it cost a lot of money, the Lin’s husband and wife did not give up on him. During that time, Lin Daguo crazily drew and wrote to make up for the cost of surgery.
He stayed in the Lin family for two years. Originally the Lin family planned to adopt him, and at that time they all gave him a name. He was called Lin Xiqian. However, the adoption procedure was not easy to handle, plus he was eight years old at the time, and he frequently performed surgery, so the adoption had never gone through.
In those two years, he was basically spent in surgery, recovery, surgery, and recovery. At that time, the domestic technology was not advanced enough, and he had a rejection reaction after installing the stent, and he had a very painful life.
Then later, an American couple intended to adopt him after learning about his situation. The American couple was also doing the charity business and were both doctors as well, and the Lin family met them at the charity symposium. At that time, the Lin family already had little savings, thinking that the child followed the couple to the United States, which was much more advanced in all aspects and might have a chance of survival, and the Lin family agreed.
That year, Lin Xiqian was already ten years old. Originally, the foreigners who went to China to adopt a child would not adopt a child this old, but the American couple still insisted on adopting him. After completing the adoption procedures, Lin Xiqian was directly brought to the United States by the American couple.
For a few years, his family still had contact with him, and he often sent photos and postcards, where he underwent surgery and recovered well.
However, a few years later, they suddenly lost contact with each other. The Lin family did not know what was going on there. They went to the United States to look for him, but they could not find him, and Lin Xiqian never contacted them again.
Lin Xiyu looked at him for a long time and said, “You really are…”
Lin Xiqian said with a smile, “Long time no see, you have grown up.”
What impressed her most was the first time they met. She tilted her head and looked at him lying on the bed, with a round little face full of doubt and said, “They say you’re my new brother, are you really my new brother?”
“How are you now? Can you play ball with stents?” Lin Xiyu came back to her senses and asked again.
Lin Xiqian replied, “I can exercise slightly, but not too vigorously.”
Lin Xiyu returned the work badge she was holding back to him. The Jiangyuan Hospital on his badge was also in Ancheng, Lin Xiyu was now full of questions, “When did you return to China? And all these years without contacting us, my parents have been worried about you.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiqian looked surprised and said, “Aren’t you guys the one who don’t want to contact me?”
“How can it be? My parents were worried and had gone to the United States to find you because they couldn't contact you. How could we not want to contact you?”
Lin Xiyu looked at his expression carefully, and the shock on his face was no less than hers. After a long silence, he replied, “I remember calling home that day, but the number was disconnected, and I haven’t received a call from you guys since then.”
Lin Xiyu was also puzzled. She thought for a while and said, “I remember that we moved once, and then my mother specially called your adoptive parents and told them the new address and new numbers at home. We haven’t heard from you since we moved.”
“I don’t know about your move, I thought you were still living in the same neighborhood before. Then, I went back to see it and the community had been demolished.”
Both of them fell silent in unison, and Lin Xiyu probably figured out that it was because his adoptive parents over in America did not want him to contact this side anymore, so they did not tell him about the move. The American couple did not tell the Lin family their exact address at that time, so much so that her parents followed that address but did not find anything.
Lin Xiqian probably also understood. He was quite sad back then, thinking that his adoptive parents over here did not want to contact him anymore, and now he thought that it was because his adoptive parents over in the US did not want him to contact China anymore, which was why they strongly opposed him going back to China in the first place.
“By the way, how did you find me?” Lin Xiyu asked him.
“After I returned to China, I went to the orphanage before. The dean still remembered me, and I inquired about you, but she only told me that you were in Ancheng. She did not tell me the specific address, so I found my way over here. I came here to find a hospital to work, I searched for the news of my adoptive parents when I had nothing to do, and the other day I accidentally saw the activities of the International Cultural Exchange Conference on the Internet. There was you in the photo, and this club was mentioned, so I came looking for it.”
Lin Xiyu nodded. The dean of the orphanage did not tell him about her situation. Lin Xiyu could probably guess the reason. When he suddenly did not contact them, the Lin family’s husband and wife must be sad in their hearts, and the dean of the orphanage also had a grievance for the couple after knowing this, thinking that he was ungrateful after following a good family in the United States. It was no wonder she did not tell Lin Xiqian about her details.
But now that she knew that everything was a misunderstanding, it was just that her parents had no way of knowing.
Lin Xiyu glanced at Lin Xiqian in front of her again. He was no longer the skinny boy he was before. He had grown a lot taller, his body had grown stronger, and from the outside, he was no different from a normal person.
There was a park next to the club, and Lin Xiyu said to him, “Let’s go to the park to stroll around?”
“Okay.”
Lin Xiyu briefly learned about his situation. He studied medicine in the United States, and returned directly to China after graduation. He was not a distinguished doctor at Jiangyuan Hospital. He only found out about Lin Daguo’s death after he returned to China, and he had been trying to find her ever since.
“How about you? How have you been?” Lin Xiqian asked her.
“I’m quite good.”
Lin Xiqian nodded and asked again, “Let’s have a meal together later, and I’ll send you back afterwards.”
As soon as he talked about going back, Lin Xiyu came back to her senses and immediately glanced at her watch. She had just been chatting with Lin Xiqian without paying attention. It was already very late at this moment, and there was a divine beast at home waiting for her to go back and feed it.
Lin Xiyu said, “It’s a little late now, I still have something to do. Let’s wait for another time, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Her sudden rush puzzled Lin Xiqian, but he did not ask more questions and added, “Then, I’ll take you back.”
“No need, no need. I drove the car myself, let’s leave a number to contact later.”
Lin Xiqian gave his mobile phone number, Lin Xiyu saved it and left in a hurry.
After Lin Xiyu returned home, she first fed the child. After feeding the milk, Lin Xiyu took the mobile phone and took a look. There were several messages on it, which were sent by Lin Xiqian.
Lin Xiqian: “Are you free this weekend? I just came here recently, so if you have time, take me around and eat the snacks over here.”
Tomorrow happened to be the weekend, usually Lin Xiyu would bring her baby on the weekend, but it was okay to miss a day, so she agreed.
The next morning, Lin Xiqian sent a text message saying that he would come and pick her up and Lin Xiyu sent him an address, which was a bus stop near Moon Bay no. 1.
A white car stopped at the bus stop, the window opened and Lin Xiyu saw Lin Xiqian’s familiar face. She pulled the car door and sat up. Lin Xiqian asked her, “Where is the place to go? I will navigate.”
Lin Xiyu said, “Ancheng University.”
Lin Xiqian turned the car around with the navigation on before saying, “I didn’t get a chance to ask you the last time we met. Where did you go after your adoptive parents passed away?”
“I got picked up by a very good friend of my mother.”
“Your mother’s friend? Have I seen this friend?”
“I don’t think you’ve seen her before, she’s local to Ancheng.”
Lin Xiqian nodded his head and asked, “Are they good to you?”
“Pretty good.”
Lin Xiqian asked her what university she went to, as well as her living expenses, and Lin Xiyu—— told him all of it.
“Take me to your mother’s friend's house when you have time, the family has taken care of you for so long, I should thank her for that.”
“...”
Hearing this, Lin Xiyu had some mixed feelings. Although they had only met for the first time yesterday, he said this with a sense of affection, as if he was really her family, and in the face of those who took care of her, he wanted to show his gratitude as a family member.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Xiqian smiled, “Although I haven’t been able to live with you all these years, but in my heart, you are my relatives. If it wasn’t for my adoptive parents who poured out all their money to save me, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to meet my current adoptive parents. They have saved my life, and my feelings for them are no less than my current adoptive parents. Now that they are gone, it stands to reason that I should take good care of you.”
Lin Xiqian was not much older than her, so he should not be the one to take care of her any more, but it was really quite rare for him to have this heart.
Lin Xiyu said, “I have graduated from college now, and I also have a job. I can take care of myself.”
“It’s your business that you can take care of yourself, what I do is my business. Although we haven’t seen each other for many years, my adoptive parents saved me. I have been their son all my life, so naturally I’m your brother, no matter how long it’s been.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiyu also felt a lot. Since her parents passed away, she had no other relatives, but now there was a person who was familiar with her past, and someone who almost became a family member with her had appeared. This person had always been regarded by her parents as their son, carefully calculated, he seemed to be considered her family too.
The car quickly drove to Ancheng University, and Lin Xiyu took Lin Xiqian to the back street of Ancheng University. There was a whole snack street, and the common snacks in Ancheng could be found here.
It was mealtime and the streets were lively, with three universities nearby and a number of students crowding the streets for food. Passing a put chai ko* stall, Lin Xiqian seemed surprised, “There are also put chai ko here?” He went up and bought two put chai ko, gave one to her, and said, “Do you remember this? You often bought it when you were in Wucheng.”
*Put chai ko is a popular snack in Hong Kong. The pudding cake is palm size and is sweet in taste. It is soft, but can hold its molded shape outside a bowl. The cake is made from white or brown sugar, long-grain rice flour with a little wheat starch or cornstarch. Sometimes red beans are also added.
Lin Xiqian loved to eat put chai ko when he was a child. He was too sick to leave home at that time, so she would buy him a put chai ko and bring it to him.
Lin Xiqian remembered that when she was a child, she was also emotional. Knowing that she was about to have a new brother, she was very happy. Her parents only had her as a daughter and she was all alone since she was a child, she was envious when she saw others had siblings. Later, after Lin Xiqian was brought to the United States, she was also brokenhearted for a long time, but children were forgetful and when they met something else interesting, the sadness was slowly forgotten.
Ancheng University's student dormitory was near the back street. When Lin Xiyu went to college, the campus dormitory conditions were not very good, the dormitory building was old and humid, cold in winter and hot in summer and there was no air conditioning, but she did not escape the fate of the reconstruction of the dormitory as soon as she graduated. She just graduated this term and the dormitory building was rebuilt, so the back half of the street was closed up for safety because of the reconstruction of the dormitory building.
Lin Xiyu had some regret and said, “Originally, there were still many delicious foods over there, but we can’t go this way. Sorry, I didn’t know this site was closed.”
“It’s okay, just find a random place to eat here.”
Coincidentally, the reconstruction of the dormitory of Ancheng University was the responsibility of Xiao Ziang’s engineering team. Xiao Ziang came to the site to inspect, and he was about to go to have a tea break with friends while accidentally swept around his gaze to see Lin Xiyu in the crowd.
Xiao Ziang was an enthusiastic person. After seeing the person, he didn’t think much before greeting her directly, “Sister-in-law, are you coming over here to eat?”
Lin Xiyu heard the voice and looked up. She saw Xiao Ziang walking towards her, Lin Xiyu froze, and thought, how did she meet Xiao Ziang here?
Xiao Ziang got closer before he noticed that Lin Xiyu was followed by a man. The warm smile that Xiao Ziang raised on his face was slightly withdrawn. He glanced back and forth at Lin Xiyu and Lin Xiqian, his eyes became subtle, “Is this your friend?”
Lin Xiyu was a little embarrassed, nodded, and introduced Lin Xiqian, “This is… My friend’s brother.”
Lin Xiyu was used to not letting outsiders know about her marriage to Lu Junting, so she just casually introduced.
Lin Xiqian nodded at Xiao Ziang, which was regarded as a greeting. Although Xiao Ziang was sometimes out of tune, he still understood the world, so he did not ask much at the moment. He said naturally, “You guys go for a stroll, I have an appointment with my friend, so I’ll leave first.”
After Xiao Ziang left, Lin Xiyu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but suddenly heard Lin Xiqian next to him ask, “He called you sister-in-law? Are you married?”
Lin Xiqian had not asked her questions about her love life, and Lin Xiyu had not taken the initiative to tell him that she was married, but there was nothing to hide about her being married, so she said, “I’m married and I have a child.”
Lin Xiqian was clearly shocked by those words. His gaze fell on her for a long time, staring at her blankly, and it took him a long time to digest the news.
He asked again, “Who is the other party? Is he treating you well?”
“He’s in business, and he’s been treating me well.”
Lin Xiqian smiled, “I didn’t expect you to get married so early.”
Lin Xiyu laughed at herself and said, “It’s quite early, I’m married right after I graduated from university.”
Lin Xiqian nodded and said, “Take me to meet him sometime, I want to see what kind of person he is.”
“Okay.”
After Xiao Ziang left, the more he thought about it, the more wrong it became, and he felt very strange. Why did Lin Xiyu introduce him as ‘my friend’s brother’? Wasn’t it good to directly say that he was his husband’s cousin? This attitude of trying to clear the relationship made Xiao Xiang feel that Lin Xiyu seemed to be guilty.
Although he felt that Lu Junting was a little annoying sometimes, after all, the two had known each other since childhood. Not only a good brother wearing the same open-crotch pants or even the other party’s relatives, but he also needed to draw a little attention to the color of his hat.
*In Chinese culture, wearing a green hat is cause for mockery because of its hidden meaning. When a man “wears a green hat” (daai3 luk6 mou6 æˆ´ç¶ å¸½), it signifies that his partner is cheating on him – in other words, that he's a cuckold.
Xiao Ziang called Lu Junting first and learned that he was at the company. Xiao Ziang thought, no wonder, he was married but still busy like this? On weekends, he still ran the company and did not accompany his wife. Did this guy Lu Junting know that if he did not accompany his wife, there would naturally be other men to accompany his wife for him?
When Xiao Ziang came to Lu Junting’s office, he was signing. Xiao Ziang would come over to harass him when he had nothing to do, incidentally rubbing food and drink, and Lu Junting was used to it.
As soon as Xiao Ziang came in, Lu Junting instructed him, “I’m very busy now, be more conscious and don’t disturb me with your chatter.”
Xiao Ziang was naturally used to Lu Junting’s ‘bad attitude’ towards him, but he did not care. He was a little entangled now, how to open his mouth to tell him.
Originally, he really shouldn’t talk much about the husband and wife’s affairs, but it was not right for him not to talk about this to his good brother.
However, to tell him directly, ‘Lu Junting, your wife is probably cheating on you’, these kinds of words were not easy to say.
Lu Junting did not wait for Xiao Ziangs’ response. Generally speaking, he was so unceremonious, at usual times, Xiao Ziang would burst into two foul words, but he was so quiet today, he was not used to it.
Lu Junting glanced up at him, and met Xiao Ziang’s subtle and complicated eyes looking at him. Lu Junting knew him too well and asked him directly, “Do you want to say something to me?”
Xiao Ziang laughed dryly, swept his gaze at the curtains in Lu Junting’s office, and said in a pretentious manner, “Say, why are your curtains in this color ah? It’s green and not eye-catching at all.”
Lu Junting glanced at the curtains, then looked at him with an expression like seeing a mentally retarded person and said, “Are you colorblind? This curtain is blue.”
“Oh.” Xiao Ziang coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment. His gaze fell on top of the white pencil holder on his desk, walking up and picking it up with a worried look. “Why is this pencil holder of yours green too ah? Do you like green so much? Look at this pencil holder, it’s so green and glowing, how bad luck it looks, it needs to be replaced quickly.” After Xiao Ziang finished speaking, his gaze suddenly fell on the top of Lu Junting’s head, and as if he found something incredible, he suddenly exclaimed, “Fuck, how come there is a green light on the top of your head ah, such a strong green, my eyes are almost blind.”
Lu Junting: “...”
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