PBMM CH52

“Uncle He is dead?” Mo Chuyu stumbled back a step. “No, impossible…”

If it was really as Lu Linguan said, how desperate must A-Qing have been to see her betrayal right after losing his only relative!

No! Lu Linguan must be lying to her. With A-Qing’s whereabouts currently unknown, she couldn’t lose her reason. The young girl continuously hypnotized herself. With red eyes, she looked at the young man who had completely taken off his mask. “If Uncle He had really passed away, it’s impossible that I wouldn’t have gotten the news!”

“You didn’t get the news because Zheng Chenke didn’t want the outside world to know. The moment the person who adopted him died, he couldn’t wait to kick the biological child out of the house and monopolize all the family assets for himself. Yesterday, when he saw us together, that was when A-Qing was at his most fragile and in most need of comfort.”

“And you…” Lu Linguan said, “actually told him that you liked his boyfriend and asked him to step aside for you.”

“Therefore, it’s only normal that A-Qing jumped off the bridge.”

“You’re lying to me!” Mo Chuyu’s eyes were full of tears. She wiped them away haphazardly, but even more tears surged out. “A-Qing would never commit suicide. A-Qing clearly said that after giving up on you, he would live his life well and not be so foolish anymore like he is now!”

Live his life well?

He Qing actually thought that way? The smile on Lu Linguan’s face paused, and a subtle sourness rose from his heart.

Didn’t he like him the most, to the point where he couldn’t even survive without him? Could it be that, if He Changying hadn’t died this time, he would have lived happily as usual after breaking up with him?

Lu Linguan’s expression became terrifyingly gloomy. The mere thought of the youth leaving him, of those beautiful large eyes no longer holding him in them, made his entire body sting with pain.

It was the kind of stinging pain of wanting something very badly but being unable to get it.

How could he? Hasn’t he liked him for so many years? How could he give up so easily?

Many thoughts churned in Lu Linguan’s mind, and his gloomy expression gradually returned to normal. He looked at Mo Chuyu, already too lazy to stay entangled with her. “Changxiang Bridge. A-Qing committed suicide there. If you don’t believe me, you can go see for yourself.”

Seeing the young man turn to leave after speaking, Mo Chuyu couldn’t care less about wiping her welling tears and angrily reprimanded, “Lu Linguan, stop right there! You said A-Qing committed suicide, then where is he? Where is he now?!”

“Want to know?” Lu Linguan stopped in his tracks, looking back with a gentle smile once again. “Just go to Changxiang Bridge and see for yourself, won’t you?”

“Lu Linguan!”

Mo Chuyu was thrown into complete disarray by the news of He Qing’s suicide, entirely losing her ability to think. Seeing the person walk far away, she stumbled and ran out with red eyes.

A-Qing, you absolutely must not do anything stupid!

I beg you…

Having swatted away the annoying fly, Lu Linguan furrowed his brows tightly. Right now, Wang Yuecheng should have already met with Zheng Chenke.

He pondered for a long time, ultimately calling Lu Ren with an expressionless face.

——

“The doctor said the little young master was mentally stimulated, and his mind might have regressed to his childhood.” The butler’s face was full of bitterness. “Right now, it’s best not to stimulate the little young master, otherwise no one knows what he might do.”

“The little young master’s childhood psychologist is abroad and said he can rush back tomorrow at the earliest. The little young master was cured by him when he was a child, so this time it will definitely be no problem!”

Looking at the butler’s hopeful face, Zheng Chenke remained silent and didn’t reply. The He Qing from childhood became autistic because of his mother’s abuse, but the current He Qing was like this because he was…

The man’s fists clenched tightly at his sides. Suppressing the violent urge surging from the bottom of his heart, he said in a deep voice, “I’ll go see him.”

The youth had woken up a long time ago, but just as the butler said, he was sitting quietly on the bed. Even though the TV was playing, his gaze had been lingering on the empty scenery outside the window the entire time.

Those beautiful eyes, which used to always carry a hint of arrogance, were currently entirely vacant. The man’s heart ached at the sight. He tried hard to pull up a smile, taking long strides to walk over. “A-Qing, what are you looking at?”

The youth kept his eyes staring straight out the window, having no intention of paying attention to him. Zheng Chenke didn’t mind. He carefully draped a coat over the half-sitting youth and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you looking at the scenery outside?”

He Qing’s exquisite side profile held only a blank emptiness. He shrank his body, carefully inching in the opposite direction of the man, and then hugged his arms, spacing out again.

Zheng Chenke vaguely felt something was wrong. Although the youth had been somewhat timid before, he wouldn’t remain completely silent like this. This situation seemed a bit like what the butler had described.

“As long as no one tells him to do something, he can sit quietly for a whole day. How could he possibly do something like secretly sneaking into a car…”

Zheng Chenke’s clenched fists tightened even more. It was as if he was asking He Qing, and also asking himself, “A-Qing, back then, was it really not you?”

The youth stared blankly out the window, not paying him any mind.

Zheng Chenke smiled bitterly, muttering to himself, “I believe it wasn’t you, but is it already too late?”

“A-Qing, why is it that seeing you like this, my chest here…” The man pressed the area over his heart, his face revealing an expression of mixed pain and confusion. “…feels so terrible?”

“I think, I might have fallen in love with you…”

This was Zheng Chenke’s first time having feelings, his first confession. Yet the object of his confession had been indirectly reduced to this state by him.

The man’s slender hand landed on the youth’s hair, gently stroking it. “Rest assured, A-Qing. I’ve already found out who hurt you. I will make him pay the price, okay?”

“A-Qing has always liked Lu Linguan and even wanted to marry him, yet he actually treated you like this…” Thinking of the bruises all over the youth’s body and the marks he saw when cleaning him up, Zheng Chenke’s eyes filled with hatred. “He should have been intercepted by now. Wanting to flee abroad? In his dreams!”

The large, well-defined hand gently stroked the youth’s pale cheek, carefully not daring to use force for fear of scaring him. The man’s voice was soft as he whispered, “Let’s make Lu Linguan die, okay?”

Under the slightly calloused hand, upon hearing Lu Linguan’s name, the youth’s previously motionless eyes twitched slightly, regaining a sliver of light. Seeing the man in front of him, his expression instantly shifted from blankness to terror.

As if avoiding some monster, the youth screamed and shrank back. He looked around everywhere, his usually clear and cheerful voice now full of helplessness and panic. “Linguan! Linguan, where are you…”

Zheng Chenke’s expression froze. “A-Qing, what’s wrong?”

Upon seeing him, the youth acted as if he were seeing a stranger, trembling with fear, his voice carrying a sob. “Grandpa Butler, where are you… A-Qing is scared…”

The butler, who happened to be bringing a bowl of soup over, practically rushed forward in a panic upon seeing this. When the youth saw him, he threw himself into his embrace, practically crying.

Zheng Chenke stood stiffly, watching the butler hold the non-stop sobbing little youth, patting his back with heartache, coaxing him just like when he was a child. “Little young master, don’t cry. It’s okay, it’s okay… don’t cry, don’t cry…”

“Where did you go…” The youth’s voice carried a muffled grievance. He sobbed and whispered, “Grandpa Butler… why isn’t Linguan here…”

The butler’s hand patting his back paused.

He had heard with his own ears Wang Yuecheng confess and implicate Lu Linguan. Right now, he wished he could eat the flesh of this beast who grew up with their little young master raw. Hearing his name, his eyes instantly dyed with hatred.

“Why is the little young master asking for him?”

The youth looked up, his face full of confusion, still sobbing softly. “Linguan… didn’t Linguan come today?”

As he spoke, he felt a bit aggrieved, tears accumulating in his eyes once again. “Didn’t he say he would stay with me every day and protect me?”

The butler was stunned. The youth tugged at his clothes, begging aggrievedly, “Can I call Linguan and ask him to come keep me company… Dad said we’re going to Uncle Zheng’s house today, can we not go… I’m scared…”

Hearing this sentence, the man who had been standing dejectedly to the side abruptly looked up, staring fixedly at the youth whose face was full of grievance and timidity. His voice was hoarse. “A-Qing, how old are you?”

Only then did the youth realize this stranger was still here. Terrified, he shrank back into the butler’s embrace, keeping his mouth tightly shut and refusing to answer.

The butler also understood. He kindly patted the youth’s back to soothe him, coaxing softly, “Does the little young master know how old he is? Can you tell Grandpa Butler?”

Asked by his second most trusted person, the youth didn’t ignore it this time. He whispered, “I’m five years old…”

After answering, he persistently continued begging, “Grandpa Butler, let Linguan come keep me company, okay…”

Five years old…

He Qing was five years old, which was exactly the year the Zheng couple passed away. His memory had actually returned to this time.