The first image that surfaced in Lin Yuan’s mind was one of endless waiting.
One year, two years, three years, ten years, a hundred years…
He gradually revealed the monstrous side of himself, refusing to age or die, single-handedly imprisoning two children bent on destroying the world, waiting hopelessly for his lover’s return.
At their farewell, his lover’s sweet kiss had landed on his lips.
“I’m a bit worried and want to check on my students,” his lover had said softly. “Take good care of yourself while I’m gone. Don’t always resist so much… No, no, I’m not blaming you. Why are you upset again?”
The kiss deepened, growing scorching hot as his lover promised him, “I’ll be back soon.”
My lover keeps his promises.
Through countless agonizing days and nights, Lin Yuan clung to that belief. He locked up the maddened Little Deer time and again, monitored Huo Tingfeng’s suicide attempts, and punished Lin Yao for colluding wickedly with Little Deer.
It had been too long. Far too long…
It hurt. He felt so wronged.
Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes and looked toward his lover, wanting to ask why he’d been gone so long, craving an embrace and a kiss whose taste he could no longer recall.
On the narrow hospital bed, his lover’s face was buried deep in Lin Yao’s arms.
After a moment of silence, Lin Yuan closed his eyes.
It must be that I opened my eyes wrong, or I’m having a nightmare again. I need to go back to sleep!
But as clarity returned, memories of this life flooded in.
He’d brought in that debt-ridden young man to “feed” Little Deer—and the first one served up as a meal had been his wife.
He’d dragged in the Black Dog to show someone Little Deer’s “charm” in seducing even dogs—and the one bitten by the dog had been his wife.
He’d subjected Lin Yao to forced confinement and punishment, refusing to admit fault when discovered—and the one who’d argued with him had still been his wife.
On top of that, round-the-clock surveillance of Little Deer, which conveniently spied on his wife too; instincts soaked in love that he mistook for his wife’s abnormality; jealousy choking his chest, yet he kept pushing his wife away; watching his wife kiss someone else and telling himself to endure…
Lin Yuan clenched his fists tightly, so furious with himself that his vision went black.
How could this happen?
His wife should have been wary of Little Deer first, negotiating with him, then confessing everything once he realized he was trustworthy. They should have agreed to marry for the sake of better disciplining Little Deer and Lin Yao, gradually falling in love over time.
How had everything changed so drastically after this restart, leaving their relationship so distant?
An intense gaze came from the side. Lin Yuan turned a cold look that way, meeting the young man’s gloomy eyes brimming with possessiveness.
Lin Yao hugged Mama tighter, staring fixedly at Lin Yuan and mouthing silently: Mine.
Lin Yuan instinctively reached for the pillow beside him, but his familiar gun wasn’t there. Whether from his worsening injury or sheer anger, waves of dizzying gray-black blurred his vision. Clutching his chest, he coughed lowly a few times.
“Hm?”
Shen Leyuan blinked awake in a daze, turning toward the sound.
A cool hand covered his eyes. Lin Yao whispered, “Keep sleeping, Mama. You haven’t rested in ages.”
Had it really been that long?
Lin Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly. He suppressed the itch in his throat, trying not to disturb his lover’s rest. Amid the dull ache in his chest, he slowly sorted through the memories of this lifetime.
Everything had restarted, but with subtle differences. Little Deer had become obedient enough that his amnesiac lover let down his guard, baring his heart to the little monster with the deepest malice.
Right—Little Deer went to find him!
Was he hurt?
Lin Yuan struggled to sit up, then stopped in embarrassment.
Faded memories resurfaced. Both Lin Yao and Huo Tingfeng had robust physiques, while he was pathetically thin. His unexercised legs couldn’t even comfortably support his wife sitting on them.
But this lifetime, just as Little Deer had become obedient and Lin Yao law-abiding, it seemed he himself…
He quietly felt his legs. Lin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
This lifetime, I can satisfy my wife.
But immediately after, bitterness soured his chest. What’s the point of a strong body?
He doesn’t want me anymore…
Shen Leyuan slept deeply, dead to the world.
In his dream, someone seemed to watch him constantly, murmuring grievances in a low voice amid scenes of fiery physical entanglement and collision. He couldn’t make out the face clearly, only recognizing the man by touch.
The chest beneath his palm rose slightly—not as majestic as Huo Tingfeng’s, not as flat as Little Deer’s, and far from Lin Yuan’s icy thinness. It radiated the hot vitality of youth.
Lin Yao crawling into bed again?
Shen Leyuan groped drowsily, leaning down to kiss the other’s face.
Lin Yao had never seen his teacher like this. Hesitating whether to stop him, he flushed red and leaned in, letting the kiss land between his brows.
“Teacher…”
He called out contentedly, obediently.
Those two short words snapped Shen Leyuan awake. The dream receded like the tide, leaving only the memory that he’d kissed Lin Yao—probably a habit from all the “Mama” calls.
Lin Yao only remembered calling him Mama.
I must’ve lost my mind. No face left to show anyone this lifetime!
The young man’s cheeks burned crimson, nearly dripping blood, yet he couldn’t bear to let go. He pulled the blanket over their heads, creating a dim space, and mumbled hints for his teacher to keep sleeping.
Some things embarrassed others more than oneself. Shen Leyuan chuckled softly. “Awake now?”
Lin Yao: “Mm.”
Shen Leyuan teased on. “No more fussing?”
Lin Yao: “Mm.”
Shen Leyuan grinned mischievously. “Not calling me Mama anymore?”
Lin Yao flushed with mortified rage and ranted loudly, “I will! Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama! I dare you to answer!”
Just then, a soft cough came from outside.
Both froze. Only after a long moment did they slowly lower the blanket, peeking out. Lin Yuan sat on his hospital bed with earphones in, seemingly in a remote meeting.
Shen Leyuan rolled off the bed in a tumble, standing up covered in dust and lint.
Both Lin Yao and Lin Yuan instinctively reached for him—one’s hand missed, the other couldn’t even shift due to his condition.
Lin Yuan’s gaze darkened further as he looked toward the Rose Brooch he rarely removed.
“You’re badly injured and just woke up…” Shen Leyuan blurted, then froze awkwardly.
He wasn’t sure how to interact with the big shot now. Their old closeness felt too much, yet distance seemed wrong too. He was caught in a bind.
“Want me to set work aside for now?” Lin Yuan’s voice rang out.
Shen Leyuan nodded instinctively.
“Alright.” Lin Yuan shut his laptop without hesitation and asked gravely, “Anything else to say?”
Shen Leyuan suspected he was dreaming.
Seeing his silence, Lin Yuan prompted, “Want to hear about Little Deer and Lin Yao’s backgrounds?”
Of course—but hadn’t the big shot always avoided this?
Shen Leyuan couldn’t help nodding.
Lin Yao had been about to chatter, but he shut up and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.
Lin Yuan didn’t chase him out.
His “son” had lived properly for over a decade; it was time he learned what he really was.
The story began eighteen years ago.
A subordinate’s wife was in labor. He’d driven to the hospital and gotten into an accident en route.
Days later, the subordinate’s friend brought back a baby, asking everyone to help care for it—the child of the deceased subordinate.
“That infant looked freshly born and was quite endearing,” Lin Yuan said, his praising words laced with utter disgust, as if recalling something repulsive. “The moment I saw him, I felt…”
His jaw clenched. Lin Yuan continued, “That I should devote everything to him.”
He’d felt “love” for a mere infant.
How disgusting.
Not wanting to see Shen Leyuan’s expression, Lin Yuan lowered his eyes, lost in recollection—as if back on that day, everyone crowding around the baby, faces unwittingly enraptured, smiles feverishly eerie.
The infant reached for him, smiling, demanding a hug.
Too young to know it shouldn’t speak for months, its tender body issued unnatural sounds—cooing and whimpering coquettishly. Denied the embrace, it wailed piercingly.
The subordinate and friends frowned at him, demanding why he wouldn’t hold the baby.
“He’s so cute.”
“He likes you. He wants you to be his daddy.”
“Hug him! Come on, hug him. Look how sadly he’s crying.”
Lin Yuan had only been fourteen then, cornered and at a loss, stiffly holding the baby thrust into his arms—feeling he should cherish it while horror flooded his chest.
“I developed a psychological trauma from the child,” Lin Yuan said tightly. “After that, I had a vasectomy.”
Shen Leyuan’s back ran cold at the sudden turn, leaving him a bit dazed.
Your enemies know you best, perhaps. Lin Yao instantly grasped the implication and sneered, “I’m a year older than Little Deer. You hadn’t gotten snipped yet—don’t say I popped out of a crack in a rock.”
Lin Yuan said coolly, “The 321st time I tried to kill Little Deer, you were brought over by the nanny, crying for your little brother.”
For many years after, Lin Yao guarded Lin Shilu like a little knight.
Lin Yao choked, turning to complain to Shen Leyuan. “Look at him!”
What nonsense is he spouting?!
Undisturbed, Lin Yuan murmured lowly, “Everyone who likes Little Deer remembers Lin Yao existing. They think he’s my child, accuse me of being too harsh on him, urge me to take both kids out more.”
Lin Yao: “Impossible, that’s…”
Lin Yuan met his eyes. “I have surveillance of Little Deer from before age three. You’re not in it. Do you have memories before age four?”
Lin Yao thought back, his face turning ugly. “Kids don’t remember that early. And I remember wearing skirts as a kid to please you!”
“Mm,” Lin Yuan’s lips curved faintly mocking. “That was the second month after you appeared. The scene of you currying favor and me rejecting you was ‘conveniently’ seen by the overseer, nearly revoking my guardianship.”
Lin Yao exploded. “Just rejection? You told me to get lost!”
“Or what?” Lin Yuan said flatly. “Kisses, cuddles, and tosses in the air?”
Father and son sparked fiercely. But Shen Leyuan tuned them out, his mind contrasting the original plot with reality: Huo Tingfeng an orphan there too, the psychologist the same, Lin Yao’s mother never mentioned, and…
Shen Leyuan looked at Lin Yuan, tone odd. “You just said at fourteen, the first time you saw Little Deer, he posed as your deceased subordinate’s son to lower your guard?”
Lin Yuan nodded slightly, knowing he’d caught on.
Shen Leyuan’s throat went dry. He asked softly, “Were you already heading the Lin Family at fourteen? What about your parents?”
The monster gazed quietly at his lover, confessing everything.
He said, “I have no parents.”
