Silent Era - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
After the abortion, the girl recuperated in the hospital for a while before leaving with the money and the supplements.
No one knew whether the child was actually Lin Heng’s.
Lin Siying’s plan to take Lin Xianyan and Bai Sihuan out for fun wasn’t affected by Lin Heng’s incident. As Lin Xianyan had said to Bai Sihuan that night, in the Lin family, anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.
The three-person parade should have been joyful, but Bai Sihuan remained glum.
Lin Siying, who was driving, saw this and asked him what was wrong, if he was feeling down.
“Sihuan is worried about his homework, right?” Lin Xianyan asked, poking his arm. “It’s rare to get out and relax. Be cheerful and smile.”
Bai Sihuan gave a perfunctory smile. Lin Siying knew from his expression that he wasn’t worried about his homework, so she pressed him, “What’s the reason? Tell me.”
Bai Sihuan thought for a moment before finally speaking out: “This morning, I asked Lin Heng if he wanted to join us, but he refused. I wonder if I pissed him off again. He looked…”
Lin Siying interrupted his self-blame: “He’s always had that bad temper. He gets upset over the smallest things. You don’t have to make a big deal about it.”
Lin Xianyan rolled his eyes. “There’s no way he’d want to come out with us. Didn’t I tell you? This young master only wants to go to high-end places. He won’t go crazy with us.”
Bai Sihuan curled his lips and gave another perfunctory smile. He remained unhappy all day.
A few days later, Lin Huan returned. In the past three years, Lin Huan had returned home only a handful of times, showing scant concern for his family. He wasn’t even aware that Bai Sihuan had spent two years in the old alley.
Lin Huan and Cheng Sutang returned on the same day. The return of the two masters brought a flurry of activity to the household, completely dispelling the laziness that had lingered among the servants. Everyone, young and old, rose early to greet them.
Lin Heng was the only one who came downstairs slowly, two or three hours after his parents returned.
Cheng Sutang and Lin Huan didn’t say much to him, but instead asked about his recent state and how his studies were going. Lin Heng gave a few perfunctory responses, and the couple stopped questioning him.
The family had a silent and solemn lunch together. Lin Huan told them to go about their business and then went to the study with Cheng Sutang.
Bai Sihuan had just finished his meal when the housekeeper arrived to inform him, “The master wants you to see him in the study.”
Bai Sihuan nodded and headed upstairs to the study.
The housekeeper suddenly remembered something and hurriedly added, “The master told you to go back this afternoon!”
But Bai Sihuan had already gone upstairs and didn’t hear anything.
Arriving at the study door, which was ajar, Bai Sihuan took a step forward, but hearing the commotion inside, he didn’t dare go any further.
Through the crack in the door, he caught sight of two busy figures inside.
On the table lay two large wooden boxes of cigarettes. Bai Sihuan remembered seeing pictures of these cigarettes from a classmate who wasn’t very studious at school. They were limited edition Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, with a street price of 8,500 yuan a pack and a black market price of 10,000 yuan a pack, and some even fetched higher prices.
Lin Huan busily emptied each pack of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, while Cheng Sutang rolled up the red banknotes from the box and stuffed them into the empty cigarette boxes, filling them completely.
Over 8,000 yuan worth of cigarettes were dumped into the trash, and the cigarette boxes were replaced with countless red banknotes.
After returning each of the “cigarettes” that had undergone a major overhaul to the wooden box, Cheng Sutang asked Lin Huan, “Did you make the appointment?”
“Mr. Zhu said he’s free the night after tomorrow, so he’d be happy to come to our house for dinner. We’ll also invite Shen Ying along. Mr. Shen only mentioned this the day before yesterday.” Perhaps feeling it was a shame to lose the limited edition Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, Lin Huan kept a few cigarettes. As he finished speaking, a lighter had already lit one.
Cheng Sutang clearly disliked their cousin, “Old Shen,” and said coldly, “Oh, that old man always likes to take a sip of other people’s porridge.”
Lin Huan exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke. “Alright, let’s talk about the other things later. I’ll go take care of this matter first.”
Cheng Sutang angrily scolded, “It’s because of your weak nature that you, your brother-in-law, have been sucking your bl00d all day long!”
Lin Huan sighed helplessly, unable to reply. Cheng Sutang pouted and walked out of the study in her high heels.
Bai Sihuan saw this and hurriedly turned and went downstairs, avoiding Cheng Sutang’s attention.
Bai Sihuan didn’t have a clear understanding of what happened in the study; he only thought about it twice and then didn’t dare to think about it again.
After noon, Lin Heng woke up from his nap. He looked a little strange, perhaps because he had been dreaming.
Bai Sihuan nodded and carefully walked past him when he grabbed his wrist. “Go horseback riding with me. I have something to tell you.”
It had been a long time since he’d spoken to her. Bai Sihuan was startled, and after a long moment, he finally replied, “Oh.”
The Lin family’s stables weren’t far from home, a ten-minute walk away. But Lin Heng didn’t like walking, so he hired a Western-style carriage, one of the more common ones in the area, and enjoyed the scenery all the way to the stables.
This was Bai Sihuan’s first time riding in such a vehicle, and he wasn’t quite used to it. He cringed in the carriage. Lin Heng patted the large empty seat between them and commanded, “Come here.”
Bai Sihuan shifted a little closer.
As if dissatisfied with the lack of space, Lin Heng grabbed his arm and pulled him over.
The recent snow had melted, and with the winter sun shining for several days, and the stable staff had done a good job cleaning, it was now time for riding.
Arriving at the stables, the caretaker let Lin Heng and the other two in and asked which horses he wanted to ride this time.
“Lingxue and Langyue.” Less than five minutes after Lin Heng had pronounced the names, the caretaker arrived, leading two horses, one white and one brown.
Lin Heng forced Bai Sihuan into riding clothes and protective gear. Bai Sihuan said awkwardly, “Lin Heng, I don’t know how to ride.”
“You’ll learn eventually, right?” Lin Heng climbed onto the white horse, Lingxue, and offered Bai Sihuan his hand, saying, “Come on, I’ll teach you.”
Bai Sihuan hesitantly gave Lin Heng his hand, then clumsily climbed onto the horse’s back, using the stirrups, and sat in front of Lin Heng.
Lin Heng taught him the basics for about twenty minutes before letting him dismount and try riding another horse.
Bai Sihuan dismounted Lingxue and reluctantly climbed onto Langyue’s back. Langyue was a docile horse, perfect for a novice to learn. But Bai Sihuan, the newbie, was a bit intimidating. He hadn’t been on Langyue’s steed for ten minutes before the frightened Langyue shook him off.
Bai Sihuan cried out and fell from the horse. Wearing protective gear, he landed on the soft grass. His head spun and he felt dizzy, though the pain wasn’t particularly severe.
Lin Heng’s face appeared overhead, blocking the warm winter sun. He leaned over and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“A little dizzy.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Are you hurt?”
“No, no.” Bai Sihuan’s ears buzzed. Seeing Lin Heng holding him down, he pushed Lin Heng’s hand and said, “I want to get up.”
Lin Heng didn’t let him get up. He suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
“Hmm!” Bai Sihuan instinctively tried to push Lin Heng away, but Lin Heng grabbed both of his hands and pushed them back.
The glaring sunlight blinded Bai Sihuan. His bl00d boiling with fear, he dared not move a muscle. He endured his caressing and rubbing of his lips, trembling with fear.
Lin Heng kissed him for a moment, then released Bai Sihuan slightly, freeing his hands.
Bai Sihuan pointed at him with a trembling finger, his face flushed red as if it were a layer of bl00d. “You! You!”
Lin Heng touched his flushed face and suddenly explained, “I said I didn’t touch that woman. Do you believe me?”
“…Huh?” Bai Sihuan asked, baffled.
“I never touched that woman, and her child isn’t mine. You always hang out with my second sister, and I’m angry, so I deliberately have so many girlfriends. But in truth, I never touched any of them, never hugged them, never kissed them, never even held their hands.”
Bai Sihuan’s cheeks flushed, and he raised his voice, “What does your girlfriend matter to me?”
“What does it matter to me? You always look reluctant every time you see me with those women. No need to argue, I see it all.” Lin Heng chuckled confidently.
He lowered his head, about to kiss him again, but Bai Sihuan foresightedly turned his head away, and his second kiss landed on Bai Sihuan’s face.
“Why are you hiding?” Lin Heng angrily pinched his chin and turned his face towards him, leaving him no chance to dodge.
Bai Sihuan grumbled, his eyes squeezed shut, and nervously grasped Lin Heng’s shirt, allowing Lin Heng to pry open his teeth and wreak havoc in his mouth.
Lin Heng pulled the unbroken silver thread from his mouth, his voice lowered and charmingly confessed, “I like you, you know.”
Bai Sihuan trembled with fear: “I… I don’t know!”
Lin Heng’s brows furrowed. How could he not know? Holding him to sleep every night, picking up food for him every day, getting angry when he got close to others, and even wearing the same clothes on their birthdays… weren’t these signs obvious enough?
Lin Heng’s voice cooled slightly, revealing his domineering and willful nature: “Then you know now.”
Bai Sihuan blinked his deer-like eyes nervously: “What do you want to do…”
Lin Heng pinched his mouth open and said, “Don’t move.”
Lin Heng thrust his tongue in, stirring it. Bai Sihuan twisted his body and let out a hot, unbearable moan.
“Hmm… Hmm…”
Bai Sihuan’s body was covered in a fine layer of sweat, exuding the minty scent of a fresh morning shower. It blended tenderly with Lin Heng’s body, curling around his nose and mingling with his excited breaths.
This kiss lasted longer than the previous two. Bai Sihuan’s mind was a mess, his heart itching intensely. He simply let Lin Heng lead him. He opened his mouth when he told him to, and stuck out his tongue when he told him to. In that moment, he felt as if he had lost himself.
Under the clear winter sky, the green grass of the horse ranch shone with a fresh, bright light. Two horses stood still in the pasture, seemingly unable to comprehend what the two people on the ground were doing.