"Dad, before you married Mom, did you have any relationships with other women, or any women you had improper relationships with behind her back? Especially those who were pregnant."
One sentence made He Jianguo so angry that he glared and his beard bristled. He even felt like killing his own son for saying such a thing.
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Speaking of this, Li Ying glanced at the man and said, "Your dad only knows how to put on an act in front of you. He was a womanizer when he was young. He tells me he's not a virgin, but who knows how many he had behind my back."
"I'm innocent! Don't talk nonsense in front of the children. Before I married you, I only dated one person introduced by a friend, but we broke up because of personality clashes."
He Lin had no time to listen to his parents' old stories: "Mom and Dad, you two can go downstairs and talk about this yourselves. I want to ask you, are you sure you haven't fathered any children outside the marriage? Is it possible you have an illegitimate child?"
These words were utterly treasonous in He Jianguo's eyes. He slammed his fist on the table: "You brat, you never come home, and the first thing you do is interrogate your father! How could I possibly do such a thing! Are you asking for a beating?"
He Lin didn't believe his father for the time being, and turned his gaze to his mother: "Mom, really not? Or do I have a twin brother, or have you lost a child?"
Li Ying reached out and touched her son's forehead: "You come home and talk nonsense all day long. How hard is it for me to have you two siblings? If I really had one child, I would be laughing in my dreams, let alone twins."
"Really not?"
"Of course not. What happened? Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
"Mom, there's someone who looks exactly like me."
The couple breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
"What's so surprising about looking alike? It just means he's handsome. There are all sorts of strange things in this world, and there are plenty of people who look alike. Don't be so dramatic in the future. I think you're asking all sorts of questions because you think your house isn't messy enough."
He Lin looked at his resolute parents, caught in one vortex after another. Their expressions, of course, did not betray him.
"Okay, then I guess I was overthinking it."
"Son, get some rest. Look at you, you definitely wouldn't have cared about this before." Li Ying shook her head and left.
The trail ended there, but He Lin still refused to believe it and decided to investigate himself. If it wasn't like that, according to his understanding, only the word "haunted" could explain it.
With deeper doubts, He Lin sought out his uncle, who had traveled extensively with his father in their youth. The uncle no longer worked for the He family after the reforms, but knew much about his father's past; aside from his former employment, the two were practically brothers. When He Lin voiced his questions, he was met with a rebuke.
"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting! Who would speculate about their own father like that!"
He Lin received the same answer again.
Seeing the investigation reach a dead end—without any information about the other party, and unable to launch a large-scale investigation to alert them—He Lin tasted defeat for the first time in his life.
When he was completely clueless, He Lin took a step he had never tried before. Even when his family faced hardship years ago, he hadn't humbled himself to ask friends for help. Now, standing before Qin Yuan, he realized that taking that step wasn't so difficult after all.
"Rin-ge, what's wrong...? Did something happen?"
When He Lin came to his door, Qin Yuan's internal alarm bells went off—the man who never bowed his head had suddenly bowed his head; something big must have happened.
Five minutes later.
"this one?"
He Lin nodded.
"Brother, what's different this time? You actually let me help you."
He Lin didn't answer, and Qin Yuan didn't press the matter further. However, during their later conversation, he vaguely guessed that it probably involved someone he cared about.
"Didn't you realize he's specifically targeting you? And he's been sending money and gifts to your family without any return. Why would he do that? Plus, you said he might look nine-tenths like you, making people who've met him mistake you for the same person—could it be a relative of yours or you two got the wrong person?" Qin Yuan's last sentence was laced with sarcasm.
"That doesn't make sense. If he were a relative of ours, he wouldn't know Yu Lian's preferences so well, even I don't know these things."
Yu Lian's situation is outside the immediate context. Without her involvement, the previous arguments would have had a clear logical basis, but now, with Yu Lian's involvement, things have become confusing. Moreover, even Yu Xin doesn't know what her sister likes, so how could an outsider know? If He Lin hadn't learned some things about Yu Lian from her parents, he would have suspected someone who was close to her in the past. But currently, it seems Yu Lian's social circle is very small, easily countable on one hand, and most of them are lesbians.
In the end, the two couldn't reach a conclusion.
"Brother, how about this? I'll have two people follow you for a while to see if anyone's investigating you. If not, we'll start investigating from the beginning. We don't necessarily need to find them now, but at least we can see that the other party didn't intend to kill us."
That's all there is to it now. Feeling passive and uncomfortable, He Lin left after sitting for only a short while.
When Yu Lian returned home in the afternoon, she found only Yu Lian there; Yu Xin had just left. Looking at the bouquet in the vase in the living room, Yu Lian smiled and said, "Thank you. How did you know I like white camellias? These flowers are hard to find."
In her memory, the only time she remembered sewing was during festivals when some mountain dwellers would take advantage of the good weather to go up the mountain early in the morning to pick sorghum and carry it down in baskets to sell at the market.
It is a flower that can only be encountered by chance.
Actually, these things aren't allowed at home, but since Dad's not home yet, having them in a well-lit spot in the living room makes me feel good. Lately, He Lin's actions have been too frequent, making Yu Lian start to overthink things.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. I just happened to see it and thought you would like it, so I bought it."
He Lin could only keep it to himself—at this stage, the other party's intentions were unclear, and speaking out would only create anxiety and unnecessary panic.
"My boss wants me to rest at home for a while, starting tomorrow."
Yu Lian put down the vase: "This is much better. If you push yourself and get injured again, it won't be worth it. Anyway, if you want to work, you can stay home. You can go back to the scene after you've recovered."
"Yes, thank you for your help these past two days."
"It's no trouble at all. Didn't you give me a gift in return? I really liked it."
When He Lin was silent, he sometimes organized his thoughts, and sometimes he observed silently. Now he was observing the women's watch on Yu Lian's wrist, a gift he had given her years ago, but she had never expressed such strong liking for it as she had when she received a gift these past two days. This wasn't just resentment at being pushed around; it brought more fear and unease regarding Yu Lian. Everyone wants a partner who understands them. The other person hiding in the shadows posed little threat, but He Lin couldn't help but overthink.
"If there were a man as handsome as me who also knew your preferences, would you marry him?"
Yu Lian's first reaction was to laugh. In her judgment, He Lin was not the kind of man who would say he was handsome. His confidence was good, and it wouldn't turn into narcissism.
He values his inner qualities more than his appearance, and focuses on his achievements at work.
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