Fifteen Years

Su Yan suddenly found the toast in his mouth a bit hard to swallow.

After managing to wash it down with some milk, he felt a strange sensation near his lower back.

It wasn’t until he lifted his shirt and saw a small knife scar below his V-line, covered by a strawberry-patterned bandage, that he understood.

He ripped it off and saw a signature on it.

Lu Lin’s O.o.

He held the bandage up in the air.

Although he couldn’t recognize the handwriting, he could recognize the person.

‘I didn’t expect Lu Lin to be so childish,’ he thought.

He knew this scar was from his childhood, but he had no impression of it at all.

He couldn’t find any memory of it in his mind, and when he asked his parents, they didn’t know either.

It sounded quite supernatural.

Su Yan’s sharp eyes spotted a pink love letter in the corner of the sofa.

It looked familiar.

The moment he picked it up and saw it clearly, all the questions he’d had recently were answered.

Su Yan casually stuffed the love letter into his pocket.

“Lu Lin, are you okay?”

Su Yan’s muffled voice came through the door.

Lu Lin felt a wave of irritation.

He took a cigarette from the pack and held it between his fingers but didn’t light it.

Su Yan didn’t like the smell of smoke.

He wanted to quit.

“Yeah, I’m fine. “

Deep down, Lu Lin craved Su Yan’s concern, even just a little bit, but his stubborn mouth couldn’t bring itself to ask for it.

‘Su Yan would hate me. ’

He slumped in his chair, a faint glimmer of expectation in his heart.

His alluring peach-blossom eyes narrowed, staring intently at the door.

If Su Yan comforted him just once, he would forgive him for forcefully kissing him and then forgetting all about it.

Even just barging into the room would be fine.

The person outside the door was silent for a long time.

“Then I’ll be leaving. “

Su Yan’s tone was coy as usual, but right now, it made Lu Lin’s heart ache.

If you don’t hope, you won’t be disappointed.

Lately, Su Yan’s attitude towards him had been too good, making him always want to take another step forward.

He almost thought Su Yan had fallen for him too, but he had never dared to hope for such things before.

During their time together, he had already changed a lot, at least he would never do things Su Yan hated anymore.

His chest felt heavy, as if a large stone was pressing down on it.

He threw the cigarette pack and the cigarette in his hand into the trash can, his entire demeanor a bit dejected.

Su Yan might have mistaken him for someone else when he kissed him = Su Yan wanted to kiss someone else.

At this thought, the atmosphere around him grew even colder.

His brows furrowed slightly.

He glanced at the locator pending delivery in his cart and curved his lips.

No matter who Su Yan wanted to kiss, in the end, it would only be him.

He wanted a glass of ice water to calm down.

He got up and opened the door.

As the door swung open, he saw Su Yan.

He was sitting on the sofa opposite the bedroom door, one leg crossed over the other, fiddling with the necklace Lu Lin had given him.

Hearing the door open, he smiled at him.

“Didn’t expect that, did you? “

“I’m not leaving. “

The sound of Lu Lin’s heartbeat drowned out everything else; nothing in the outside world could affect his mood at this moment.

“I know that if I left while you were unhappy, it would be a sign of low emotional intelligence. “

“But I, Su Yan, have high emotional intelligence,” Su Yan said, revealing his small canine teeth when he smiled.

Lu Lin pressed his lips together, not letting his hurt show.

Lu Lin, who was never afraid of pain, felt it for the first time, a pain that originated from the tip of his heart.

“Cheng Ye is calling us to eat. “

“He said it’s some kind of celebration banquet,” Su Yan said, walking forward and touching his forehead.

“Your face is so red. “

“Do you have a fever?”

Lu Lin unnaturally brushed away the hand on his forehead.

His whole body was surprisingly hot, from his earlobes to his face, no part was spared.

Su Yan stared into Lu Lin’s dark eyes, trying to discern something from them, such as: Why was he unhappy?

Just as Lu Lin tried to avoid Su Yan’s gaze again, Su Yan smiled and said, “Lu Lin, you have very beautiful eyes. “

“When are we going?”

Lu Lin stiffly changed the subject.

Su Yan took the bait.

He took out his phone.

“Let me see… it seems to be at nine tonight. “

“We’re eating at a very famous roadside barbecue stall that’s said to be incredibly delicious. “

This was no lie; the barbecue place was a typical husband-and-wife operation, made famous by various food bloggers who described the taste as heavenly.

Su Yan had always wanted to try it.

After putting his phone back in his pocket, he looked at Lu Lin and took the initiative to ask, “Do you want to go?”

“Mm. “

“I also have a question. “

“The reason you hate Song Xingyu is because of…”

“Me?” Su Yan asked, his eyes scrutinizing, but then, fearing he was being too serious, he put on a cheerful smile.

“Mm. “

Su Yan was already used to this man of few words.

After hearing the answer, he took the love letter out of his pocket and tore it open.

It was filled with all sorts of explicit and pornographic language.

“Did Song Xingyu write this too?”

Su Yan smiled, his eyes narrowing, as he held the unfolded letter up in the air.

“Wow, his writing is pretty good. “

“He even used all kinds of similes. “

The corner of Lu Lin’s mouth twitched.

He was a little angry, wanting to find someone to kill Song Xingyu, even feeling that his punishment had been a bit too light.

He reached for the letter in Su Yan’s hand, but unexpectedly, Su Yan quickly put it behind his back just as Lu Lin’s emotions were about to reach a tipping point.

The letter was torn to shreds.

Su Yan’s pretty little face wrinkled up, and he threw the pieces into the trash can, wishing he could stomp on them a few times.

That expression didn’t have much of a deterrent effect.

“They’re all the same person, aren’t they?”

Su Yan sat down on the sofa, looking at Lu Lin seriously.

Lu Lin didn’t understand what he meant at first, but then he quietly nodded.

“Yes. “

Song Xingyu, Chen Xing, and Song Yu were actually the same person.

This left Su Yan quite surprised.

Song Yu, a former schoolmate, was the very “fatty” Qi Zhiyao had mentioned.

A secret crush was no longer enough to satisfy his desires.

He started taking all sorts of Su Yan’s little trinkets when no one was in the classroom, until he stole his school uniform, which finally prompted Su Yan to ask to see the surveillance footage.

He was an idiot, too.

He only ever stole Su Yan’s favorite trinkets, which eventually made Su Yan lose his patience.

That was how he found out it was the gloomy fatty from the class next door.

Su Yan wasn’t being discriminatory, but that person’s behavior was too vile.

He even tried to drug him, but Qi Zhiyao saw it.

Qi Zhiyao not only warned Su Yan to be careful of that person but also told his big boss behind the scenes: Lu Lin.

Song Yu’s only retaliation was to release that video, but he never expected it to make any waves, and Lu Lin received no punishment.

If there was any punishment to be had, only Lu Ang was qualified to give it.

“Chen Xing is also him? “

“That’s pretty impressive, playing multiple roles,” Su Yan said with genuine admiration.

“Don’t mention him anymore. “

“Disgusting,” Lu Lin said, afraid he would lose control again, and could only ask Su Yan not to mention that vile name for now.

“I’m sorry,” Su Yan said, sitting on the sofa and looking up at the ceiling.

“At first, I thought you were deliberately targeting Song Xingyu, and I had a pretty bad impression of you. “

“It’s okay. “

“I’m willing to be wronged by you. “

Su Yan: “!”

“Let’s go eat. “

****

“Did we win any awards? “

“Do we need a special celebration?”

Wang Xuanran asked, cracking open a handful of melon seeds.

“Cheng Ye, why don’t you tell us?”

Lin Feng, who had played the queen mother, looked much more refreshed without his bizarre makeup.

A University had a strange custom: after an event, they wouldn’t present the awards the next day, nor would they gather all the teachers and students on the sports field to give a tearful speech.

They would simply call the award-winning students or student representatives to the auditorium the day after the event and present the awards privately, without even an audience.

#OnTheDarkSideOfACertainUniversity#

A gentle breeze blew by, swallowing Cheng Ye’s words in the bustling night market.

“What did you say? “

“Louder, Cheng Ye. “

Su Yan watched them talk, his hands propping up his chin, looking a bit troubled.

“Are there no seats inside?”

“It’s too hot,” Su Yan said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his face flushed.

“We’re late, there have been no seats for a while. “

“You should be glad you’re not squatting on the curb to eat,” Cheng Ye said.

Lu Lin took a cooling patch from his pocket, brushed Su Yan’s bangs aside, and stuck it on his forehead.

He then handed him a cold drink with a straw already inserted.

As Su Yan stared blankly at Lu Lin, he saw him pull a small fan out of his backpack.

He couldn’t help but open his mouth and ask strangely, “How did you bring everything?”

Lu Lin put his backpack down, glanced at Cheng Ye, and said faintly, “He looks very unreliable. “

After he said that, a row of crows seemed to appear above the five of them.

Cheng Ye, who was about to reply to the other two, heard this and said in surprise, “Don’t you guys ever talk behind people’s backs?”

Su Yan stated that he was very kind and never spoke ill of others, while Lu Lin didn’t speak ill of others either; he only spoke the truth.

After speaking, Cheng Ye didn’t wait for the two to reply, instead turning to look at the two eagerly waiting Wang Xuanran and Lin Feng.

Maintaining an air of mystery, he took out the corner of an award certificate from his backpack to show them.

This was Su Yan’s first time participating in a play, and it piqued his curiosity as well.

But Cheng Ye only showed a corner, not taking it out completely.

The three of them didn’t mind and were quite expectant; after all, the top three could get academic credits.

This was a huge temptation, and seeing Cheng Ye’s smug, punchable face, he must have gotten a good ranking.

Five minutes passed, and he still hadn’t taken it out.

Until Lu Lin smiled and asked through gritted teeth, “Cheng Ye, your behavior is a bit ‘cute,’ isn’t it?”

Su Yan looked at Cheng Ye in shock, then at Lu Lin, with a wronged expression.

“You lied. “

“You clearly said I was the cutest. “

“…”

Lu Lin: “His ‘cute’ needs quotation marks. “

‘Who is this serious explanation for? Oh, for me, Cheng Ye. And with quotation marks, too. Do you want an exclamation mark as well?’

After being scared by Lu Lin, Cheng Ye was no longer in the mood to pretend.

He pulled out the award certificate, on which three large words were written: Excellence Award.

Wang Xuanran pulled his outstretched neck back and continued to crack the melon seeds in his hand.

“I dedicated myself to art, but art scorns me for not having abs. “

“And here I was, so full of anticipation. “

“Ye-zi, didn’t you say last time: ‘Victory is certain’? “

“‘This time the warm-up has been long, and the teachers seem quite satisfied. ‘ “

“Were all those words just to fool us?”

Lu Lin’s face was devoid of expression.

He had long expected this result.

In the eyes of the counselors, the few of them were probably as unconventional as they could get.

“What’s with those expressions? “

“It’s not like there’s only one award certificate,” Cheng Ye said, not expecting the few of them to sigh several times after seeing the words “Excellence Award. “

Wang Xuanran even wished he could throw the handful of melon seed shells in his hand at him.

“More than one?”

“More than one?”

“More than one?”

Three voices spoke in unison.

‘Lu Lin, your wife is on the same wavelength as others. ’

“What else? “

“You mean you thought there was only one? “

“No wonder you’re so disappointed, you thought there were too few awards,” Cheng Ye said, his eyes shining.

He patted Wang Xuanran on the shoulder to his left, then looked at Su Yan.

This time, he was ruthless, taking out the award certificate and slapping it on the table.

This time, the few of them weren’t shocked or sighing; instead, they took out their phones to call a taxi to leave.

Participation Award.

“…”

The insult came even faster than the Excellence Award.

The scene was once again plunged into awkwardness.

Even Su Yan didn’t know what to say.

Why was someone so seriously trying to be funny?

Just then, their savior arrived.

“Everyone, the menu is here. “

“Just tick what you want to eat and write the quantity,” the proprietress said.

The shop was popular, but they hadn’t hired any staff; it was just the owner and his wife running everything.

The proprietress’s eyes were sharp.

She scanned the group, then put on a gentle smile.

“Just call me when you’re done ordering. “

After she spoke, she left the battlefield.

Su Yan moved his stool closer to Lu Lin’s side.

Lu Lin pretended not to see his action, only steadying Su Yan’s wobbly stool.

‘The quality is a bit poor. ’

“But we still have prizes! “

“Why are you all so gloomy when we’re out to eat?”

Cheng Ye picked up his backpack from the floor again, but the others had already lost trust in him.

“It’s true,” Cheng Ye said, seeing the doubtful looks in their eyes.

They just raised their eyes slightly, quietly watching him perform.

Sure enough, when Cheng Ye took it out, they were no longer surprised.

“Oh, a row of AD Calcium Milk,” Wang Xuanran said, just happening to be thirsty from eating melon seeds, and picked one up to open it.

“Class monitor, be honest, did you buy this yourself?”

Lin Feng asked jokingly.

“How did you know?”

“…”

“Although we didn’t get in the top three, we made a name for ourselves. “

“Now the hot topics on the forum are all about us. “

“Doesn’t that mean that if there are any events in the future, they’ll have to let us go first?”

Cheng Ye took a beef skewer that had just been served, still steaming, and stuffed it into his mouth, his words slurring.

Su Yan was just here to join the fun.

He only took a skewer of vegetables and nibbled on it.

“If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you. “

“This will be very helpful for our wonderful university life in the future,” Cheng Ye said, thinking of the convenient, wonderful, and shining three years of university ahead, feeling that the beef skewer in his hand tasted even better.

After speaking, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, he took out his phone and opened the A University hot topics section.

[CrazyPPT: Stinky Loser Clarification Post, Loser Young Master Enters A University. ]

The rest of the posts were all the same, no need to scroll.

Cheng Ye couldn’t help but say, “What the f*ck?”

****

It was already half-past ten by the time they finished eating.

Su Yan pursed his lips; his stomach was still empty, but there was nothing he could do.

Whenever he ate too much junk food, he would get a stomachache.

And it was an S-class one at that.

Ever since Su Yan realized he might be gay, he wanted to stick to Lu Lin all the time, but out of pride, he was still quite embarrassed.

Lu Lin had just offered to walk Su Yan back.

Originally, he had said they would take a taxi, but Su Yan insisted on walking, saying he wanted to aid his digestion.

Su Yan frequently turned his head to look at Lu Lin’s perfect, handsome profile.

He didn’t know how strange his actions were.

So much so that it prompted Lu Lin to ask, “What’s wrong?”

The young man’s voice carried a youthful vigor that was quite at odds with his personality.

“Are you not feeling well?”

Su Yan casually said, “It’s nothing. “

‘This person is so unromantic. ’

Su Yan put the necklace Lu Lin had given him in his pocket.

Last time, he had taken it off to look at it out of boredom during a meal and had seen a small red dot on it.

But he felt this was the least scary thing Lu Lin had done, and he could still accept it.

Lu Lin had been cramming knowledge about love lately and had realized he had done many things to wrong Su Yan, such as those terrifying threats.

He even wanted to go back in time and kill that version of himself.

If threats could get you everything, he would have already owned the world.

“In a while, I have to…”

Lu Lin lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Su Yan.

Su Yan’s attention wasn’t on his words.

Instead, he pointed to the lawn behind a park bench and said in a frightened tone, “I think there’s someone there. “

Lu Lin went along with it, not planning to bring up that sad topic, just wanting to hold on to the happiness in front of him.

Su Yan took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

Holding Lu Lin’s wrist, he slowly approached.

When he squatted down to look, what greeted him was a large patch of ketchup.

And lying in the ketchup was–Shen Yichen.

When Lu Lin saw it was Shen Yichen, his fingertips curled up, and a breath caught in his chest, unable to go up or down.

He didn’t even notice that the substance on the ground that looked like blood was just ketchup.

From the side, Su Yan’s eyelashes were long and curled, and his fluffy chestnut hair added a touch of obedience.

At this moment, he was looking nervously at the unconscious Shen Yichen on the ground.

‘It’s this idiot again. ’

‘I’ll go dig up his grave one day. ’

Su Yan reached out and placed his finger under Shen Yichen’s nose.

Shen Yichen, realizing this, started breathing heavily.

Su Yan’s expression changed dramatically, and he took the opportunity to grip Lu Lin’s hand tightly.

“Lu Lin…”

Lu Lin didn’t want to hear anything about saving Shen Yichen or how Shen Yichen got hurt, even ignoring the warmth of the hand in his.

“Quick, call the crematorium. “

“I think he’s dead. “

Shen Yichen, lying on the ground breathing heavily: “…”

Lu Lin: “?”

“This is so scary. “

“Let’s go quickly,” Su Yan said, sniffling as if he were genuinely frightened, secretly wiping the ketchup he had just touched onto Shen Yichen’s clothes.

Shen Yichen: “…”

“What a coincidence. “

“You guys are here too,” Shen Yichen said, pretending to have just woken up and casually looking at the two of them.

Su Yan and Lu Lin didn’t take the bait, just looking at him coldly.

Lu Lin was reminded of some past events.

This person in front of him relied on underhanded tactics to mess with people, but his methods were so clumsy, making him both stupid and malicious.

“Why did you put so much ketchup on yourself? “

“Are you trying to make people feel sorry for you?”

Su Yan’s mocking tone delivered these deadly words.

The system had clearly told him: Su Yan’s kindness index is as high as ten stars; he definitely won’t ignore him.

He can appropriately play the victim to gain favorability.

Besides, what was on him wasn’t ketchup; it was blood plasma he had bought with dozens of points.

‘Su Yan must be craving fries himself. ’

Looking at this scene, Su Yan couldn’t help but want to mock this person’s brain for being abnormal.

He had thrown all sorts of ketchup on himself, and for the sake of his idol image, his hands were even placed neatly on his chest.

What kind of victim looks like this?

Didn’t the original book say that the protagonist uke was kind and cute, with a pair of lively and alluring fox eyes?

Why was he so idiotic?

He realized that Shen Yichen was probably doing this for Lu Lin.

He didn’t know if Lu Lin had fallen in love with Shen Yichen at first sight, but someone had certainly taken an interest in Lu Lin.

He had to say, the protagonist uke was a bit immoral.

Even if he was just cannon fodder, at least they hadn’t broken up yet.

At the thought of breaking up, he seemed to remember that painful memory again.

What Su Yan didn’t notice was that Shen Yichen’s gaze had been fixed on him the entire time.

“Can you give me a hand?”

Shen Yichen’s eyes curved, ignoring the previous aggressive remark.

“Sure,” Su Yan agreed immediately, and a hand appeared in front of Shen Yichen.

Shen Yichen was inwardly belittling Lu Lin, wanting to take the opportunity to have some skin-to-skin contact with Su Yan.

Maybe because of this, Su Yan would break up with Lu Lin and get together with him.

The noisy cicadas added to the summer atmosphere.

Shen Yichen delightedly grasped that hand, but the moment he did, an unbearable pain shot through it.

His body was weak, and he couldn’t struggle at all, only able to endure it passively.

He gritted his teeth and looked up.

He had been in a low position before, and it was night, so he hadn’t seen clearly.

The person who had just held his hand was Lu Lin.

What a smiling tiger.

At the same time, a voice appeared in Shen Yichen’s mind.

Do you want to spend all your points to change the conquest target to Su Yan?

Yeah, spend them. 

Su Yan looked much easier to capture than Lu Lin.

Shen Yichen, who had just stood up for a second, was kicked back down by Lu Lin.

As expected, a bruise was forming on his shoulder.

He didn’t understand why this Lu Lin person was going crazy.

He looked up and saw Lu Lin’s sinister eyes, no kidding, as if he were about to kill him, but he said with a smile, “That’s the second time. “

****

“What’s the second time?”

Su Yan kept pestering Lu Lin with this question on the way.

Lu Lin was helpless but couldn’t do anything about Su Yan, only saying, “It’s nothing. “

“It’s better if you don’t know. “

Su Yan asked a few more times, and finding that he really couldn’t pry his mouth open, he could only say, “Alright then, I want to ask a question. “

“How do you know everything about me?”

They were still a distance from Su Yan’s home, and he wanted to get everything clear, especially about Lu Lin.

There was a memory in his mind that seemed to be covered by a layer of gauze, hazy, yet it held a very important place in his heart.

“Yanyan, we’ve known each other for fifteen years,” Lu Lin said, turning his head away, not wanting to face Su Yan’s innocent eyes directly.

It was too much of a sore spot for him.

“Huh?” Su Yan kicked a pebble at his feet.

Hearing this, he paused and asked, “Was it a one-sided acquaintance?”

Su Yan swore he was just asking.

“How have I never seen you before?”

In his own memory, there was no trace of Lu Lin in the first eighteen years of his life.

This sentence was like a sharp sword, stabbing into Lu Lin’s heart.

It was the kind that poked right where it hurt the most.

****

“Lu Lin, can you tell me about yourself? “

“You know me very well, but I don’t seem to know you very well,” Su Yan said, no longer wanting to walk, and found a place to sit down.

“Do you really want to hear it?”

The wind blew through the young man’s bangs, nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

“I want to hear it,” Su Yan said, looking up at the moon in the sky.

“I want to get to know you. “

As the product of a marriage alliance in the Lu family, Lu Lin had a very difficult childhood.

Although both his parents were from prominent families, it seemed to have nothing to do with him.

For example, his mother, Wen Ruoning.

She was a very outstanding person, excelling in all her studies, to the point where she could learn most things just by looking at them once.

Naturally, she got into the best university.

There, she met the love of her life.

Her lover was gentle and considerate, but his family was not well-off.

Still, she believed that her family, who had doted on her since she was young, would agree.

But she never imagined that her family was only so good to her on the premise that she would be the daughter-in-law of the Lu family, the object of the Lu family’s marriage alliance.

“So, she hated me quite a lot. “

“She would force me to do things that the maids in the house could do. “

“I didn’t really mind. “

“I thought she was quite pitiful, so I didn’t blame her for anything,” Lu Lin said, pausing for a moment, probably searching for memories of Wen Ruoning.

In the end, he sighed.

Wen Ruoning didn’t love him.

Even in death, she only wrote a letter to her first love and left him nothing at all.

Lu Lin felt a warmth spread from his palm.

Su Yan had taken his hand out of sympathy, tears welling up in his eyes.

Lu Lin remembered Lu Ang’s words and didn’t dare to hold Su Yan’s hand back.

Lu Ang, the sole son of the Lu family, and the one on whom the family placed high hopes.

The Lu family’s only requirement for him was: he could fool around, but his wife could only be Wen Ruoning, the eldest daughter of the Wen family.

This also led to Wen Ruoning’s obsessive madness.

Lu Ang would often bring people home directly, and when Wen Ruoning, who was imprisoned at home, saw this, the two would have a huge fight.

That’s right, Wen Ruoning, after being forced by both families to break up with her current boyfriend, was imprisoned in a villa, like a canary, no longer looking like the well-bred young lady she once was.

And the only requirement for Lu Ang was: he could not have any illegitimate children.

Wen Ruoning, the one who had given more, was also hurt twice as much.

She lost her family, love, career, and education, becoming just a canary kept in captivity.

The one thing the two had in common: they both turned a blind eye to Lu Lin, their only biological child.

Or rather, it wasn’t exactly turning a blind eye, otherwise, the old scars on his body would protest.

Lu Lin recounted these bad experiences from his childhood without any emotion, as if he were talking about someone else’s life.

“Lu Lin, are you scared?”

There were already tear tracks on Su Yan’s face.

He sat on the curb while Lu Lin squatted in front of him, sobbing as he spoke.

A faint blush appeared on his fair face, and the hand holding Lu Lin’s was trembling slightly.

Why did this person feel so close yet so unreachable?

Lu Lin squatted in front of him, silent for a moment, then smiled, wiping away his tears with his thumb.

“Yanyan, when will you remember me?”

‘I’ve occupied so many places in your life, how could you have forgotten me?’