Chapter 24: Matching Rings

Lai Li followed Dai Linxuan to the old residence.

As Dai Songxue grew older, he placed increasing emphasis on family ties, so during holidays with a sense of reunion like this one, the Dai family always gathered in full force, lest they anger the old master.

Only Dai Linxuan had been absent for two years, yet he still enjoyed exclusive favoritism. The moment he returned, he received five percent of the shares.

“Everyone, sit.”

The family banquet featured a full eight tables. Dai Songxue sat at the head table, followed by his children who held real power in the group, as well as several children from his late brothers.

Though Dai Songxue disliked Lai Li, he still granted him treatment on par with the legitimate grandchildren, seating him together with Dai Linxuan and Dai Yi.

Even as the meal began, there was still an empty seat at the head table.

—Jiang Qiujun hadn’t come.

The butler walked in, bent down, and whispered a few words into Dai Songxue’s ear. From the lip movements, it was, “The eldest madam says she has matters to attend to and can’t make it. Please proceed without her.”

Dai Songxue’s expression darkened abruptly. He picked up the wine glass in front of him to smash it, but due to his weakened body, the glass toppled onto the table instead. The wine flowed along the table’s edge to the floor, soaking his pants.

Those nearby hurriedly gathered around—some grabbing towels, others paper towels.

Through the gaps in the crowd, Dai Songxue’s face flushed beet red, his chest heaving violently.

When one grew old and fell ill, no matter how much money or power they had, they inevitably lost some dignity.

Dai Linxuan sat for a while before rising. He wheeled through the crowd and pushed Dai Songxue away from the banquet hall.

Dai Yi propped her chin on her hand and watched. “Don’t you think it’s strange?”

Lai Li glanced at her. “Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah, I’m talking to a ghost.” Dai Yi gazed thoughtfully at the dishes before her. “Mom never liked Grandpa much before, but she wouldn’t disrespect him like this.”

Lai Li said nothing.

“Big Brother…” Dai Yi pondered for a moment. “Big Brother has been acting really strange for the past two years. He suddenly went abroad, didn’t even come back to the old residence for New Year’s the first year—when he used to be the most filial to Grandpa… and dote on you the most.”

Lai Li’s gaze turned icy in an instant.

“You tried so many tactics over these two years, but you still couldn’t force him back home.” Dai Yi smiled faintly. “Does Big Brother even care about you anymore?”

“And what about you?” Lai Li retorted mockingly. “He’s seen me six times in two years, but only three times for you.”

Dai Yi didn’t take it to heart and chuckled lightly. “So what? I’m his blood sister—break a bone, and the tendons still connect. We’re on the same family register even in death. But you? Lai Li, once Big Brother changes his mind, you’re nothing.”

“That day will never come,” Lai Li said. “I won’t let myself be so passive, delusionally pinning my hopes on blood ties to bind someone for life.”

Dai Yi raised an eyebrow.

Out of the blue, Lai Li asked, “Why did you say those words that day?”

The question came without context, but given how little they’d spoken lately, Dai Yi immediately knew what he meant.

“You mean, ‘Big Brother keeps you around just to sleep with you’?” She looked surprised. “I was just talking off the cuff. You didn’t take it seriously, did you?”

Lai Li stared at her coldly.

Dai Yi’s deep brown eyes darted lightly. “You actually went and tested it… putting yourself in the lion’s den?”

“No,” Lai Li denied, issuing a warning. “You’d better watch your words from now on.”

“It’s my mouth—do you control it?” Dai Yi let out an “aiya.” “But considering our few years of sibling-like rapport, I’ll give you a heads-up.”

She said meaningfully, “After Big Brother returned, several families threw out marriage proposals. Grandpa’s favorite is Huo Shuang. Our family and the Huo family both started in sea shipping back in the day. Grandpa was forced by circumstances to sell off and pivot, but shipping has always been his white moonlight. The Huo family has been declining these years—if the marriage succeeds, it’ll be only a matter of time before we swallow and integrate them. Grandpa can revive the ancestral business, and only then, when he goes underground in a century, will he have answered to the ancestors.”

Lai Li uttered just two words: “So?”

Dai Yi watched Lai Li’s expression and saw he truly seemed unbothered. She couldn’t help feeling a trace of sympathy for Dai Linxuan.

There were billions of people in the world—ugly and beautiful, brilliant and foolish—yet Dai Linxuan had fallen for an emotionless madman.

Dai Yi propped her other hand under her chin too and flashed a sweet smile at her cousin across the table, but her words were for Lai Li’s ears only: “I’m curious—after Big Brother marries and has kids, will Grandpa and that future big sister-in-law still tolerate your existence?”

Jing Deyu had raised a similar question before, but Lai Li’s mindset had shifted since then. He fell silent for a long while.

Not far away, Dai Linxuan wheeled the now-composed Dai Songxue back to the head seat, and the family banquet finally began.

While Dai Linxuan was still bent over speaking to Grandpa, Dai Yi leaned toward Lai Li’s ear: “One more little secret for you…”

Dai Linxuan finished soothing Dai Songxue and turned back to see Lai Li and Dai Yi whispering.

He exchanged pleasantries with a few elders nearby, a smile on his face, then strode back to Lai Li’s side with measured steps. He pulled out his chair and sat. “What are you chatting about?”

Dai Yi tilted her head with a smile. “Repairing my relationship with Second Brother.”

Lai Li appeared quite calm and didn’t refute it.

Dai Linxuan asked no more. He picked up a dish for Dai Yi and one for Lai Li—each their favorite.

The family banquet dragged on tastelessly. Most people harbored ulterior motives, and news of Dai Linxuan’s Welfare Home encounter quickly spread back, with someone dragging it out for discussion.

Dai Linxuan had evidently pre-reported it to Dai Songxue, so the tattling not only backfired but provoked the old master’s rage against the tattler instead.

“Who dares… use… this matter… to make trouble…” Dai Songxue gritted out laboriously, “Get… out… of the Dai family!”

It was also a stutter, but Yaya’s was far easier on the eyes.

At the end, Huang Qisheng came over and asked, “I forgot to ask—how was the prescription Little Chestnut had me write for you last time? Has your sleep improved?”

Dai Linxuan said it had improved a lot, thanking Uncle Huang.

Huang Qisheng beamed as he scrutinized his complexion, then turned cold in the next second: “Palm out—let me see.”

“…”

Dai Linxuan’s hand was broad and slender, pale skin tinged faintly red—his qi and blood clearly suboptimal.

Huang Qisheng said pointedly, “Life’s dissatisfactions boil down to two things: can’t eat well, can’t sleep soundly.”

Dai Linxuan smiled. “Uncle Huang is right.”

Huang Qisheng had Lai Li show his hand too, commenting, “You’re just a bit better.”

Dai Linxuan glanced sideways. Was Lai Li not eating well or not sleeping well? …Because of his recent actions?

That night, they naturally stayed over. Unlike the true Dai family members, Lai Li had no personal bedroom and stayed in a guest room prepared by the butler.

Dai Linxuan walked him to the door. “Can I lock the window tonight?”

Lai Li didn’t react at first and walked into the room expressionlessly. “Didn’t you want time? I won’t disturb you tonight.”

Dai Linxuan chuckled lowly. “Good night.”

Late at night, Lai Li jolted awake amid the humid, boisterous atmosphere. Only then did disjointed, bizarre fragments coalesce into a complete memory, replaying frame by frame in his mind like a film.

It was one New Year’s when Lai Li had first come to the Dai family.

To claim the first incense at the temple, they had to line up early. Dai Linxuan skipped even New Year’s Eve dinner to take Lai Li to Wangshan Temple. One reason was to shield Lai Li from Dai Songxue’s ire; the other was genuine filial piety. Dai Linxuan’s stated reason was to chant scriptures and pray blessings for the family.

After securing the first incense, Dai Linxuan knelt in the temple for hours, praying for Grandpa’s hemiplegia to heal, his father’s vegetative state to end, and his mother and sister to stay safe.

Eighteen-year-old Dai Linxuan pinched little Lai Li’s cheek and said, “As long as you’re all well, I’d trade anything for it.”

Dai Linxuan’s knees bruised purple from kneeling.

On the afternoon of the first day of the new year, he finally brought Lai Li back to the old residence.

Dai Songxue had never looked kindly on Lai Li, and seeing this only fueled his anger. That evening, before the hemiplegia affected his speech, he forcibly separated them: “You’re not kids anymore—needing someone to sleep with? What does that look like!”

Dai Linxuan already felt guilty for missing New Year’s Eve dinner at home and coaxed Lai Li into the guest room.

That night, a violent storm suddenly hit.

Lai Li couldn’t sleep.

His small body clambered laboriously out the window, trudging through the gale and rain along the muddy stone path, counting rooms one by one until he reached Dai Linxuan’s.

Through the loosely drawn curtains, Lai Li saw the figure mounded on the bed.

Brother.

Lai Li wanted to go in but found the window locked.

So he stood outside, neither leaving nor seeking shelter, staring at Dai Linxuan’s back in the night.

Fortunately, Dai Linxuan slept restlessly that night and soon woke. He debated checking on Lai Li when a thunderclap flashed, illuminating the thin, small silhouette outside the pitch-black window.

Lai Li was drenched through, limbs ice-cold, only a bit of residual warmth lingering in his core. Once carried inside, he buried his face in Dai Linxuan’s neck and whispered almost inaudibly, “Brother, I’m scared.”

Dai Linxuan’s heart ached terribly.

Sure enough, Lai Li came down with a fever. For the following days, he got his wish to sleep in the same room as Dai Linxuan—even boldly demanding hugs from him in front of Dai Songxue while ill.

Infuriating the old master to no end.

Later, Dai Yi sharply remarked, “Green tea bitch from a young age.”

…

His phone buzzed suddenly with an unknown text.

[Jin Ming’s background runs deep—his parents’ connections up top, too much to say. He only transferred to the city criminal investigation team a year ago. Places like that frequented by spoiled young masters are rarely peaceful. They need solid achievements for promotions.]

Lai Li deleted the message and set his phone aside. As if possessed by his eleven-year-old self, he instinctively retraced that night’s path.

He hopped lightly out the window and followed the path to Dai Linxuan’s bedroom window.

With a soft “click,” the window eased open. A gust blew in, revealing an empty bed.

Lai Li circled the screen into the sitting area—where Dai Linxuan sat in the corner’s single armchair, smoking in the dead of night.

Hearing the sound, Dai Linxuan lifted his eyelids. His gaze, veiled in smoke, was inscrutable.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked flatly.

Lai Li approached, parted Dai Linxuan’s legs, and knelt halfway like a large dog. He looked up, the faint tobacco scent stinging his nose. “Bro, you’ve hidden so much from me.”

Dai Linxuan looked down at him, bringing the slender fingers holding the cigarette to his lips and exhaling another ring of smoke. “—Like what?”

Lai Li said, “Like how you moved out the first week back home but had Cai Bo lie to me that you were dutifully drinking your herbal medicine every day.”

Dai Linxuan hummed, tilting his chin to signal him to go on.

Lai Li stubbed out the cigarette in Dai Linxuan’s hand and stared straight into his eyes. “Like how that ring you gave me is actually one of a matching pair.”