PBMM CH54

“Linguan…” The youth asked timidly in a small voice, “Can you accompany me to Uncle Zheng’s house? I don’t want to go alone…”

The expression on Lu Linguan’s face froze. He glanced at Zheng Chenke, who was looking over with an ugly expression. “Ah, A-Qing… what are you talking about…”

The youth looked up somewhat uncomprehendingly, his beautiful eyes perfectly clear. “Linguan, did you forget? Dad said it’s Uncle Zheng’s older brother’s birthday, and asked us to go play…”

He pouted his lips, leaning somewhat aggrievedly against the young man’s stiff body, complaining in a low voice, “I don’t want to go play with that older brother. I just want to be with you.”

The youth proposed with a bit of anticipation, “Linguan, yesterday you said you were going to play a fun game with me, what is it? Can we play it now?”

“A-Qing, what are you talking about? What yesterday!” Panic flashed through Lu Linguan’s eyes. He reached out and hugged the youth’s shoulders, asking urgently under his bewildered gaze, “What is wrong with you?!”

He Qing had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Being shaken by the shoulders made him scared and aggrieved. “Linguan, what’s wrong with you…”

The pajama shirt on his shoulder slipped down a bit, revealing the bruised, ambiguous marks. Lu Linguan froze when he saw those marks. His hand movements stopped, and a faint itch rose in his heart. He exhaled a breath, forcing his tense brain to relax and spin at high speed.

Soon, the young man asked the innocent-faced youth with some uncertainty, “A-Qing, do you know how old you are?”

“I’m five years old…” The youth stated righteously.

Lu Linguan’s brow twitched. Five years old. Why of all ages, five years old!

——

“Take a look!” The butler entirely discarded his usual amiability toward Lu Linguan, slapping the photo in his hand onto the table in front of the young man with a cold face.

Lu Linguan picked up the photo, the expression on his face completely unchanged. He revealed a gentle smile just like usual. “Showing me this, what are you trying to say?”

The butler looked at him coldly. Facing this person he once thought was the little young master’s good friend, the old man’s eyes were full of hatred. “If you dare play any tricks during this period, I can guarantee that you will spend the rest of your life in there too.”

After saying this, the old man turned and left, leaving Lu Linguan looking at his retreating back. After a long while, he suddenly sneered and tossed the photo into the trash can.

If he could be scared by just this, he wouldn’t be Lu Linguan.

The photo discarded in the trash can lay face up, revealing Wang Yuecheng’s bruised and swollen face, clad in a prison uniform. Unsurprisingly, he would spend the rest of his life inside.

Lu Linguan, who should have been retaliated against together with him, escaped a disaster because of the youth’s dependence on him. The five-year-old He Qing’s trust and reliance on the young man reached its peak during this period, resulting in a phenomenon of being completely unable to leave him.

“During that time, the moment the little young master opened his eyes, he looked for Lu Linguan. Before going to sleep, he absolutely had to call him first. Later, Master simply let him move into the He family until the car accident… The little young master lived in the hospital for a long time before finally moving back home.”

Recalling the scene from that time, the butler sighed. “After the little young master was saved from slitting his wrists, he became extremely dependent on Lu Linguan, which eventually evolved into becoming anxious and restless if he couldn’t see him. The psychologist said this was because, in his eyes, Lu Linguan had become a protector. As he grew older, this thought would gradually fade until it disappeared…”

Perhaps even that psychologist hadn’t anticipated that, as he grew older, He Qing wouldn’t lose his feelings for Lu Linguan, but rather, those feelings would evolve into love.

Zheng Chenke sat bolt upright, but his eyes were full of exhaustion. “If the five-year-old A-Qing was just like he is now, then the reason he got into my parents’ car back then was definitely because someone instigated him.”

He turned sideways to look downstairs, watching the young man who was superficially playing with the youth, his eyes darkening. And this person… is ninety percent likely to be Lu Linguan.

It’s just that right now, he couldn’t be touched.

“A-Qing…” Watching the youth focused entirely on digging sand, Lu Linguan handed him a shovel from the side, asking gently, “Do you still remember what I said to you ‘yesterday’?”

“I remember.” The youth, his face smeared with sand, smiled, revealing two sweet dimples. He said sweetly, “Linguan said he would play a very fun game with me today.”

Lu Linguan’s eyes deepened, but his face remained impassive. He asked softly, “Then does A-Qing still remember what this game is?”

“Haven’t we not started playing it yet?” The youth looked bewildered.

The young man breathed a slight sigh of relief, smiling and reaching out to brush away the sand on his cheek. “A-Qing, let’s play the runaway game, okay?”

“Just the two of us, quietly running away from here to a beautiful utopia, and living together, okay?”

Although he didn’t quite understand the meaning behind his words, looking at the gentleness in the young man’s eyes, the youth smiled foolishly and agreed, his eyes full of trust. “Mhm! I’ll listen to Linguan!”

Looking at the youth like this, Lu Linguan fell into a trance for a moment, as if returning to that afternoon. That cute-looking little boy also looked at him with such trust, his beautiful large eyes full of the excitement and joy of playing a game, as he climbed into that car without hesitation.

“Linguan! You must remember to come find me!” The boy’s childish voice was full of immense trust. The Lu Linguan of that time smiled and nodded, his eyes full of indifference.

As long as he did this, his father would acknowledge his identity. He could finally stand openly in front of people, no longer having to be mocked by a bunch of toddlers, nor having to suffer the humiliation of being protected behind someone younger than himself.

Yes, it was humiliation.

In the eyes of Lu Linguan, who had been protected by He Qing countless times, being protected by an ignorant piece of trash who only knew how to cry and didn’t even know how to tattle despite having everything—was humiliation!

He fantasized countless times that if he were the little young master of the He family, he definitely wouldn’t be as weak as the stupid He Qing!

Therefore, in order to become such a person, the useless little young master He Qing, who only knew how to cry, was sacrificed just like that, effortlessly.

Although the final ending was a bit unexpected, He Qing, who should have died along with the Zheng couple, survived. He slowly grew up bit by bit. For the sake of Lu Linguan, he changed from not even daring to speak loudly into this arrogant, untouchable appearance, until Lu Linguan gained his own abilities.

Even though he used to enjoy it with a clear conscience while cursing He Qing as an idiot in his heart, now, watching the youth digging sand quietly, occasionally looking up nervously to check if he was still there, Lu Linguan was genuinely grateful that the car accident back then hadn’t taken little He Qing’s life.

He gently patted the youth’s head, his eyes holding genuine warmth. “A-Qing, once we escape, we’ll live together, okay?”

The youth didn’t quite understand what he was saying, but still nodded heavily with trust, smiling and showing his cute dimples. “Okay!”

“Does A-Qing like me?”

“I like you! A-Qing likes Linguan the most!”

[Lu Linguan favorability: 95. Victory, this is victory~]

[Not yet, the victory is still to come. Get ready to scatter flowers!]

He Qing’s face, which could be called beautiful, was covered by a fluffy scarf. Clearly so afraid of the cold, yet insisting on bundling up like a ball to play in the sand—it was simply too cute.

The image of the naked youth pinned to the bed by him, crying and moaning, surfaced in his mind again. A trace of lust flashed through Lu Linguan’s eyes. He leaned forward slightly, his lips approaching the youth’s somewhat pale lips.

He Qing watched his approach, his eyes full of confusion. As Lu Linguan’s lips drew closer and closer, his face grew paler and paler.

Scenes flashed before his eyes like a movie.

A pure white room, silver-white shackles, and the young man who, despite smiling, made one’s entire body turn cold.

Having his hands pinned down, the clothes representing his dignity taken off bit by bit.

Struggling, crying and begging, being violated by the person he loved the most.

Finally, burning up with a scorching fever, his whole body aching unbearably, struggling to open his eyes, only to see the young man’s retreating back.

“A-Qing…” The familiar gentle voice sounded right by his ear. Lu Linguan kissed down with gentle affection. “I love you…”

The youth stood up abruptly and shoved Lu Linguan to the ground. Before he could react, he saw He Qing clutching his chest, his face full of agony as he lowered his head and dry-heaved.

Even though he had long trained himself to remain unfazed by changes, upon seeing the youth dry-heaving uncontrollably because of his kiss, the smile on Lu Linguan’s lips could no longer be maintained as it had been before.

He tried hard to control his body from trembling, but his shaking voice betrayed him. “A-Qing… are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

His reaching hand was mercilessly swatted away by the youth. The resounding slap made both of them freeze. From their first meeting until now, this was the first time He Qing had ever laid a hand on Lu Linguan.

“A-Qing…”

Lu Linguan was stunned. Right at the moment he had decided to leave with the youth, he was slapped.

He Qing trembled, his beautiful eyes red, the gaze he leveled at Lu Linguan full of terror and fear. He tried hard to suppress it, but still couldn’t control the nausea.

Lu Linguan heard the youth crying with a trembling voice, “Don’t come near me! Just seeing you… makes me want to throw up!”

He froze. In front of him was the image of the youth clutching his chest, crying so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. “I… I remember everything now. I remember everything… Lu Linguan, you’ve been using me all along…”

“From beginning to end!”

“Why are you… so disgusting…”