Red Line Resurrection Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cemetery

Ji Yuxuan had been curiously trying to peer around, but he was quickly unnerved by Liang Ji’an’s gaze fixed upon him. Finally, unable to bear the strange oppressive feeling, he took off running, not even pausing to say goodbye to Shen Lingjun.

Shen Lingjun, however, didn’t notice his departure. The already quiet night grew even more silent. He looked up at Liang Ji’an, and after thinking for a long time, finally managed to search out some fragmented memories from the ruins of his mind.

It seemed that over the years, someone had been sending his mother a sum of money periodically.

But his mother had never said that was his father… Didn’t his father leave to work when he was very young and never return?

With a head full of explosive information, he went inside to pack. He felt as if a pie that could crush him had fallen from the sky, and yet it felt too unbelievable that the plots of those satisfying web novels he read were happening to him. He wandered around the empty main room in a daze for a long time, realizing there was nothing in this house he needed to take with him.

Liang Ji’an waited outside for a while. He had waited long enough today, and his patience had long run out. He raised his hand, signaling He Wen to go in and help him pack. “Don’t let him bring too many things that will take up space.”

No sooner had he spoken than Shen Lingjun emerged, clutching a bulging backpack. He stood before Liang Ji’an, looked up at him, and said, “I didn’t bring clothes.”

“You’ll buy me new ones, right?” He pursed his lips. He wanted to call him ‘Ge’ (Brother) but couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was false to say he wasn’t afraid of Liang Ji’an, yet he spoke the sentence very naturally, as if he had immediately accepted their relationship. In any case, he stood there awkwardly and timidly, waiting for Liang Ji’an’s reply.

“Yes,” Liang Ji’an said flatly. “The decision to bring you back was made a week ago. Everything at the house is already prepared.”

Shen Lingjun was secretly delighted and smiled slightly. He definitely didn’t want to wear his old clothes; he was a Young Master from a wealthy family now!

Just as he wondered why Liang Ji’an wasn’t telling him to get in the car yet, his unfamiliar older brother, who seemed to have accepted his new identity well, spoke up. “Why are you skipping school?”

Shen Lingjun froze. After his grandparents passed away when he was fifteen, he became a complete orphan. Only the community would periodically bring rice, flour, and oil for care, and his teachers would occasionally look after him. Once he entered high school, he completely gave up on studying, only thinking of getting a diploma and heading south to work.

He mumbled, “I can’t learn.”

Liang Ji’an had already reviewed all his records from childhood on the way here and naturally knew he hadn’t had an easy life. However, a person not actively seeking self-improvement was another matter. Hearing Shen Lingjun’s explanation only made him feel amused. “I went to your school this afternoon to look for you. Your homeroom teacher said you haven’t been to school in a month. Nineteen years old, you repeated a grade, and now you haven’t graduated high school, spending your days in an Internet Cafe playing games. Is it that you can’t learn, or you don’t want to learn?”

“Who was that boy just now? What was he doing coming back with you so late?”

Liang Ji’an’s tone wasn’t exactly fierce, but it was overly calm, making it sound severe. Shen Lingjun wanted to explain that he was only eighteen, and his mother had mistakenly registered him as a year older for some unknown reason. But he didn’t dare answer Liang Ji’an’s remaining two questions, so he just stood there silently, head bowed, staring blankly at the ground.

He felt both angry and helpless. Even if Liang Ji’an was truly his brother, he was still a stranger he had just met. Why would the first meeting between two brothers who had never seen each other be like this? Shouldn’t he be excited and moved, hugging him and crying? Why was he acting like a father lecturing his son, controlling both his studies and his dating life?

Yet, he also felt a slight, secret joy. After all, this was the first time anyone had ever cared about his life so much.

After lecturing him, Liang Ji’an saw him remain silent and thought he might have spoken too harshly. After all, puppy love wasn’t something to fuss over; he wasn’t some old fogey. But when he recalled the way that Delinquent had been staring at Shen Lingjun, he felt inexplicably angry.

Who knew what that Delinquent intended to do inside the house in the middle of the night?

This was his younger brother, after all. What was wrong with guiding him if he was keeping bad company?

For a moment, no one spoke. He Wen was caught in the middle, unsure what to say. Not only was the Young Master bewildered, but even he found Liang Ji’an’s strange attitude bizarre.

Liang Ji’an thought Shen Lingjun was crying and was about to speak to ease the tension, but the boy suddenly looked up and glared at him with some stubbornness. “I am stupid! If I wasn’t stupid, would I have repeated a grade?”

At this, Liang Ji’an was speechless. Looking at those eyes, he didn’t know what else to say, and he regretted being so quick to discipline him right after meeting. A few seconds later, he sighed softly, opened the car door, and said, “It’s getting late. Get in the car first.”

Shen Lingjun, puffed up like a pufferfish with anger, sat in the car with his chest out, then immediately deflated. He was actually afraid of making Liang Ji’an angry; this move was purely to test his brother’s tolerance, but the method was too direct, making it hard to know how to judge it.

The car interior was spacious. Shen Lingjun looked around curiously, hugging his bag tightly to avoid dirtying the seats. Beside him, Liang Ji’an rubbed his temples, looking slightly fatigued. He had only allocated one day to handle this matter, but now it would take three hours to drive back, and by the time everything was properly arranged, dawn would be breaking.

His father had passed away two months ago. There had been significant personnel changes in the company, and it took a long time to finally stabilize morale. Now, he finally had time to deal with his father’s dying wish.

He had long known that Liang Jinwei had an Illegitimate Son with his first love, but due to various reasons, the matter had never been openly discussed. It wasn’t until his father’s final moments that he specifically instructed Liang Ji’an to bring his long-lost younger brother home.

Liang Ji’an didn’t mind. The Real Authority of the company was already in his hands, so the addition of a brother posed no substantial threat. Moreover, since it was his father’s Dying Wish, he had no reason to refuse.

It was five in the morning when they arrived at the private Cemetery. This couldn’t be considered a formal Acknowledge Ancestry; it was merely to inform Liang Jinwei that he had fulfilled his instructions. Shen Lingjun stared blankly at the photo on the tombstone. That face held no familiarity for him, and the longer he looked, the more he felt that he didn’t resemble this person at all.

He Wen was not present, and there were only the two of them in the Cemetery. The sky was just beginning to show a sliver of light, and staying there felt a bit eerie. Shen Lingjun looked at Liang Ji’an repeatedly, as if asking when they would leave.

Finally, Liang Ji’an turned and walked away. Shen Lingjun quickly followed, hearing him say, “Go back and rest well today, get used to things. Tomorrow, He Wen will take you to school.”

“The transfer procedures are already complete.”

Shen Lingjun followed behind him, wishing he could poke two holes in his back with his eyes. Didn’t he hear him say he couldn’t learn?!

[Author’s Note]

Smooch smooch smooch!

Testing the scheduled posting and pre-review features. Once I get used to them, I’ll start stable updates!