HR Chapter 29

Chapter 29 Story

Today is their memorial day, and also my own birthday, as well as Lu Qingshuang’s birthday. Lu Jianwei must have prepared a grand birthday banquet, waiting to celebrate for them.

Bai Ze didn’t want to celebrate at all, just eating a bowl of noodles like this was good enough. But he couldn’t refuse Lu Jianwei. Perhaps many people didn’t understand why Lu Jianwei had to make the day that was both his parents’ death anniversary and his child’s birthday so grand. He knew that it was because Lu Jianwei didn’t want him to wrong himself because of other people’s mistakes, not even daring to celebrate a birthday. He didn’t dare, so Lu Jianwei helped him celebrate, even more grandly than other children. As long as he was happy, even the stars and moon in the sky could be plucked to celebrate his birthday.

He ate the bowl of noodles from beginning to end without breaking the strand once. Bai Ze felt a warmth in his heart. Longevity noodles, longevity noodles, long, long lasting and never-ending.

After finishing the noodles, the sky gradually brightened. Bai Ze washed the dishes and put them away in the cupboard. He took out a pen and put a checkmark on the smiling face on the sticky note on the insulated container, facing the side with the sticky note directly towards the kitchen door, so it could be seen as soon as someone entered.

At five o’clock in the morning, Bai Ze changed into a black suit and left on time. A car was already waiting outside the door. Seeing him come out, the car window lowered, revealing Zhu Yan’s face, who greeted him, “Let’s go.”

Bai Ze gave a nod, got into the car, and fastened his seatbelt. The car started up.

No one spoke. At this time, no language was needed. Companionship was the best comfort.

The birthday banquet was invariably held in Lu Jianwei’s luxurious villa. The venue was planned by the best team, and every decoration was extremely exquisite. Every detail was impeccable. The entire villa was decorated warmly and pleasing to the eye. No matter how many times he had attended, he was always shocked by the luxury and exquisiteness of the banquet. Anyone would want to know the protagonist of the banquet.

As soon as the car stopped, someone opened the door from the outside. As soon as Bai Ze got out of the car, a man with an imposing aura walked out of the villa. The corners of his lips were slightly downturned, his eyes were sharp, and his thick eyebrows were like peaks. It seemed that something displeased him. He frowned, looking somewhat impatient. The people behind him were silent as cicadas in winter. As they walked over, there was only the sound of footsteps and the rustling of clothes, and nothing else.

This man was Lu Jianwei, Lu Qinyuan’s father and rival, and his adoptive father and rival.

Bai Ze stood in front of the car without moving, just looking at Lu Jianwei. Lu Jianwei’s face, which had been tense all along, slowly relaxed after meeting his gaze. The corners of his downturned mouth slightly turned upwards. He stopped in front of Bai Ze, carefully looked at Bai Ze’s complexion, and then said, “You’re here, Jian’er.”

“Yes.” Bai Ze’s voice was very soft, “I’m here.”

Only then did Lu Jianwei smile, step forward, gently embrace Bai Ze, and lead him into the villa, softly and warmly saying, “Go get some sleep first. I’m very happy that you came. You don’t have to worry about anything else.”

Bai Ze hadn’t slept all night, and he was a little sleepy at this time, so he said, “I’ll keep you company after I wake up.”

Lu Jianwei agreed with a “okay,” personally escorted Bai Ze into the room, arranged another room for Zhu Yan to rest, and then went to busy himself with other things.

Sometimes Bai Ze would also think, did his father also talk to him like Lu Jianwei, with an iron fist and tenderness? He was clearly such a ruthless person, but when facing him, he was always full of gentleness. As soon as he frowned, he would ask this and that with concern. If his own father were still alive, he would probably not be as attentive as Lu Jianwei. Towards him, Lu Jianwei was really very attentive.

Was it all because his father was Lu Jianwei’s trusted subordinate, a brother? Because his father had taken a bullet for Lu Jianwei?

The birthday banquet lasted all day. Bai Ze woke up after noon. Zhu Yan sat askew by the bed waiting for him. Seeing him wake up, he immediately sat up straight and said, “You’re awake? Get up, they’re waiting for you to cut the cake.”

“Have you eaten? Don’t starve yourself.” Bai Ze rubbed his forehead, got up, and went to the mirror to tidy his hair.

Zhu Yan yawned, “With you here, I won’t go hungry.”

Bai Ze picked up his coat, put it on, and went downstairs. When the servants saw him, they would greet him with “Hello, Young Master Bai.” Bai Ze nodded slightly in response. In the hall downstairs, there was an eight-layer-high cake decorated with plum blossoms. The top decoration was not a zodiac sign or flowers, but a large egg with a smiling face painted on it, which looked pleasing.

Bai Ze’s heart instantly softened into a pool of water, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but rise. He held the railing, came down the stairs, and stood in front of the cake to look at it. Probably someone had notified Lu Jianwei, Lu Jianwei pushed the door open and asked, “Why didn’t you sleep a little longer? You can cut the cake anytime, it doesn’t matter if you don’t cut it.”

Bai Ze smiled and shook his head, “Let’s cut it now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone next to him went to notify the guests outside the courtyard. In a moment, the hall was filled with people, only Bai Ze and the area around the cake were empty. Bai Ze picked up the cake knife and paused in mid-air. He cut down with one stroke, and thunderous applause suddenly rang out in the hall, and words of blessing came from all directions. But no one dared to approach Bai Ze to build a relationship or surround him to talk, because Lu Jianwei had clearly stated that Young Master Bai was not in good health, and no one was allowed to surround him or try to get close. This was a young master who could only be respected from afar, a true young master.

Lu Jianwei personally took the egg from the top of the cake and placed it on Bai Ze’s plate. Bai Ze also cut a piece of cake for Lu Jianwei. The two sat down to chat, not talking about status or position, not involving the underworld or the legitimate world, only talking about people, talking about you and me. At this time, they were just an ordinary father and son, a conversation between a father and his son.

Lu Jianwei didn’t like sweets, so Bai Ze only cut him a small piece. Lu Jianwei slowly ate it with a fork, listening to Bai Ze talk to him. Bai Ze asked about ordinary, trivial things. Knowing that he had insomnia, he rambled on, listing a bunch of methods to help him sleep. Hearing that he was injured, he nagged him to pay attention to his safety and, by the way, reprimanded the person responsible for protecting his safety, chattering endlessly with things he couldn’t finish saying.

When Bai Ze spoke, the corners of his lips always carried a smile, and his voice was calm and gentle. Looking at this person and listening to this voice was like a peaceful landscape painting.

No matter what Bai Ze said, Lu Jianwei would smile and agree, occasionally asking about Bai Ze’s situation, how his health was, how his life was, whether he was happy, whether he was bored, whether his work was too much, whether he was tired. If he was bored, he should go out for a walk. If he was tired, he should rest. If he wasn’t happy, he would tell him a joke.

A person who never told jokes, a person who wouldn’t even smile when listening to jokes, because Bai Ze said, “You can’t tell jokes?” he specially bought a joke book to read and learn, just to make Bai Ze smile.

In the depths of Lu Jianwei’s heart, there was a soft rib that he would never let go of no matter how much people manipulated it, named Bai Ze.

“Eat some fruit, the cream is greasy, don’t eat too much.” Lu Jianwei peeled an orange, carefully removed the white veins from the orange, and handed it to Bai Ze. Bai Ze wiped the corners of his mouth with a tissue, took a segment, and ate it. It was his favorite flavor, very sour.

It was said that his father also liked to eat sour oranges. Once, when he was injured and hospitalized, he wanted oranges to eat. Under the guise of being a patient, he ate several pounds in one go, and no one could dissuade him. After a few days, he got a fever and stayed in the hospital for an extra week.

Another time, Lu Jianwei went out and brought back a basket of oranges for his father. His father was very happy, sat down on the ground, and started peeling oranges to eat. Lu Jianwei hurried over, unbearably thirsty, and asked his father for an orange to eat. His father immediately protected the basket of oranges with both hands and hid it behind him. Lu Jianwei pursed his chapped lips, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

After a while, his father handed over a large, fresh orange, with a smiling face carved on it with his fingernails, smiling brightly at Lu Jianwei, smiling as happily as the person who gave him the orange.

These were all told by Lu Jianwei, told to Bai Ze like stories. At this time, their identities changed again. Lu Jianwei was the storyteller, and Bai Ze was the listener.

His father practiced Sanda, and was also a two-time national Sanda champion. It was said that he had a burly figure, knotted muscles, and was immensely strong, a truly rough man from the inside out. When Bai Ze asked this, Lu Jianwei chuckled twice, looked at Bai Ze, and said, “Your father was weaker than you. When he left, he was only as tall as my earlobe, very thin, with not much meat on his body. He was indeed very strong. That group of people couldn’t afford to lose face, so they spread rumors, don’t believe them. You look very much like your father, smiling when you talk, making people feel warm.”

But Bai Ze always imagined his father as a reliable person like a mountain, so that he would feel safe.

Bai Ze actually didn’t have much feeling for his parents. He was cut out of his mother’s womb before seven months, and didn’t look human. Everyone thought he wouldn’t survive. He went through several life-and-death experiences at the gates of hell, and gradually survived after being in an incubator for half a year. He was also given a humble nickname that was easy to keep alive, called Jian’er, but only the elders called him that, and no one else had the guts.

Lu Jianwei had told his father’s story back and forth for many years. He grew up listening to his father’s stories, and his father’s image changed in his mind, never having a fixed image. Lu Jianwei had also never shown him his father’s photos. Neither his adoptive parents, nor Lu Jianwei had a single photo of his father or mother.

A pile of orange peels piled up on the table. Lu Jianwei’s fingertips were stained yellow. After peeling an orange, he wiped the juice from his fingertips and took the small gift box handed up by his subordinate, “Here, keep it safe.”

Bai Ze glanced at it, put it on the table at random, and reached out to peel another orange. Lu Jianwei smiled and stopped him, “Don’t eat any more, it’s easy to get a fever if you eat too much. You’re even weaker than your father, so you should pay more attention.”

Lu Jianwei looked at the orange-yellow orange peels on the table and sighed softly, “When you get old, you like to nag. Only Jian’er is willing to listen to me. Others won’t, they have no patience, no sincerity.” He paused, then smiled again, “Xiao Shuang isn’t feeling well and went back to rest. Go see him, he’s waiting for you. Tell me when you leave, I’ll have someone send you.”

“Okay,” Bai Ze picked up the gift on the table, was silent for a while, and then said, “Okay.” He handed the gift to Zhu Yan for safekeeping. Zhu Yan didn’t like Lu Qingshuang very much, telling him to come out quickly after he finished talking so they could go to the next place. Bai Ze nodded in agreement, “I know.”

There were many guests in the courtyard, and they all offered him blessings when they saw him coming out. Bai Ze responded with propriety and politeness, passed through the crowd, and walked into a small courtyard door. This was the side courtyard where Lu Qingshuang lived. It was originally an integral part of the main courtyard, but Lu Qingshuang liked quiet, so Lu Jianwei had someone build a wall to separate it, dividing it out for Lu Qingshuang to live in alone.

Although the courtyard was small, it was extremely exquisite, with artificial mountains and ponds, a cobblestone path, and a clump of green bamboo in front of the house. The shadow of the bamboo forest covered the swing just right. Next to it was a set of bamboo tables, chairs, and tea sets. Two or three roses were inserted in a dark-patterned chrysanthemum bamboo vase on the table. Two bamboo cups filled with steaming vapor, were clearly prepared for guests.