Jian Jinwen's information was brief, only two short pages.

The first sentence of the information stated that Jian Jinwen was adopted by Jian Chenghua.

This...

When Shi Jin flipped through the information, his hand paused for a moment. He was a bit surprised, but also felt that this was more reasonable. Although Jian Chenghua was also fat, his features were very ordinary, and he had no resemblance to Jian Jinwen at all. From their appearance alone, they didn't look like father and son at all.

The information was really too short. After a brief pause, Shi Jin spent less than ten minutes scanning through the contents of these two pages.

Jian Jinwen was an orphan who was abandoned at birth. His father was unknown and his mother was nowhere to be found. He lived in an orphanage until he was two years old, when he was adopted by Jian Chenghua, who was unable to have children of his own. Jian Jinwen grew up healthy and strong until he was twelve years old, when he suddenly fell ill and had to be hospitalized.

The disease he had was very complicated. It wouldn't kill him immediately, but it couldn't be cured either. He had to stay in the hospital for a long time and receive regular hormone injections.

The once handsome young boy quickly became overweight due to the hormones, and he couldn't go to school or engage in any strenuous activities. He had to spend every day in the hospital, enduring the boring and painful life of being treated for his illness.

Jian Chenghua was very good to his adopted son. He provided the best possible treatment environment for Jian Jinwen and even acted as his teacher, giving him daily lessons and guiding him in self-study.

For many years, Jian Jinwen's health did not improve despite his difficult circumstances. However, he remained optimistic and not only taught himself new things but also developed a love for writing. Whenever his body allowed, he would participate in charitable activities organized by Jian Chenghua to help orphans and children in mountainous areas. He would tell stories to the younger children and teach them how to read and write.

It must be said that Jian Chenghua was an excellent educator. Under his guidance, Jian Jinwen, who was plagued by illness, did not become depressed or isolated. Instead, he grew into a gentle and kind person. He would donate his pocket money to buy stationery for the children in the orphanage, write words of comfort to the abused children Jian Chenghua had reported on, and play with other sick children in the hospital, encouraging and comforting them.

He was like a warm little sun, treating everyone around him with tenderness.

Unfortunately, such a gentle person did not receive gentle treatment from fate.

When Jian Jinwen was nineteen years old, his condition suddenly worsened and he had to be transferred to a large hospital in B city. It was also in the same year that Jian Chenghua quit his job at the city newspaper and went to a large newspaper in B city.

After arriving in B city, Jian Jinwen underwent a major surgery and stopped using hormones. Under the torment of pain, he quickly lost weight. After enduring for a few more years, Jian Jinwen finally exhausted his vitality and passed away, ending his short life.

Shi Jin put down the materials he was reading, feeling a little depressed and puzzled. Jian Jinwen was definitely Shi Xingrui's white moonlight, there was no doubt about it.

But after going through Jian Jinwen's information, there was no trace of any contact between him and Shi Xingrui. Apart from the possibility of correspondence, their life trajectories were like two completely parallel lines, never intersecting.

This was too strange. Given Shi Xingrui's level of obsession with white moonlight, he thought there would be a dramatic and tragic love story between them. But from the information known so far, it was questionable whether Shi Xingrui and Jian Jinwen had even met formally, let alone fallen in love.

What's going on? Didn't Shi Xingrui love this white moonlight? Then why has he never contacted him?

Even though Jian Chenghua's information was transparent, and even though Shi Xingrui had temporarily cut off contact with Jian Jinwen because of Jian Chenghua taking him to B city for treatment, Shi Xingrui still went to B city later. With his abilities, it should have been easy for him to find Jian Jinwen through Jian Chenghua's information.

With such an easy way to find someone, Shi Xingrui did not go to find Jian Jinwen. There was only one possibility - Shi Xingrui himself did not want to find Jian Jinwen, and even intentionally avoided contact with him.

But if that's the case, the situation becomes even stranger. To like someone, but avoid them? What kind of strange logic is this? Was Shi Xingrui really so cowardly when it came to love?

Shi Jin was completely confused and couldn't make sense of it. He felt that there must be some hidden truth that wasn't written in the files. After all, Shi Xingrui's behavior of desperately finding a surrogate to have a child in the later stages was too crazy, and the difference between that and his behavior of restraining himself from pursuing Jian Jinwen in the early stages was too great.

"Someone must know the whole truth," Lian Jun suddenly spoke up, bringing Shi Jin's attention back.

Shi Jin looked at Lian Jun, feeling grateful, and said, "Are you talking about Jian Chenghua?"

Lian Jun nodded and took out his phone, asking, "I remember Jian Chenghua retired and settled in B City, where he invested in an orphanage. Do you want to go talk to him?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin instinctively touched his face and hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Let's chat...but please don't let Jian Chenghua see me. I look too much like Jian Jinwen, and I'm afraid he'll think of him and feel sad."

Lian Jun reached out and touched his face, nodding in agreement.

After lunch, the two of them left together and headed straight for the orphanage run by Jian Chenghua.

After a half-hour car ride, they arrived at a relatively small orphanage. Number Two, now dressed in ordinary office attire, adjusted his collar and greeted Lian Jun and Shi Jin before getting out of the car and entering the orphanage.

Shi Jin watched as Number Two left and waited in the car for news.

After about half an hour, Number Two returned empty-handed.

"Jian Chenghua is inside, telling stories to the children. I struck up a conversation with him under the guise of donating books, but he seemed reluctant to talk about the past. No matter how I tried to steer the conversation, he wouldn't engage. I was afraid of arousing suspicion if I pushed too hard, so I made an excuse to leave. What should we do now? Should we send someone else in?" Number Two turned around and asked, looking helpless.

Lian Jun furrowed his brow and looked at Shi Jin.

"I'll go," Shi Jin hesitated for a moment before speaking, reaching for the car door.

Number Two quickly took out some 'props' from his bag and said, "Wait, I'll give you the donation list. You can pretend to be my assistant..."

"No need," Shi Jin waved his hand in refusal and pushed open the car door. "My face is the best calling card."

Lian Jun moved to the side of the car and instructed, "Call me if you need anything." As Shi Jin entered the court, he nodded and let out a sigh before walking towards the orphanage.

......

The orphanage was not big, with only one building. Shi Jin entered the building and followed the guidance of the staff to the small classroom where the children usually played games. There, he saw Jian Chenghua sitting at the front of the classroom.

Jian Chenghua was already in his seventies, with white hair, but he looked very energetic and had a good complexion. When he smiled, he looked like Maitreya Buddha, very kind and approachable.

The children must have liked him very much, as they sat obediently in a circle around him, listening to his stories with admiration in their eyes. The staff who came in called out to Jian Chenghua.

He turned his head and his casual expression, which had been smiling, immediately changed when he saw Shi Jin. His smile froze, his eyes widened, and then he almost lost his composure. He put down his book and walked past the children to Shi Jin, grabbing his hand and tremblingly asking, "You, you are...?"

"Chief Jian, I am Shi Jin." Shi Jin introduced himself, steadying his heart and honestly saying, "I am the child of Shi Xingrui. I have some questions about his relationship with Jian Jinwen that I hope to ask you."

Jian Chenghua's expression was confused, as if he thought that he had misheard something. His face gradually regained composure, and his eyebrows furrowed as he carefully examined Shi Jin's appearance. He unconsciously tightened his grip on Shi Jin's hand and asked with difficulty, "Who did you say? Whose child are you?"

Shi Jin sighed inwardly and comfortingly held his hand, replying, "Shi Xingrui, my father is Shi Xingrui."

Jian Chenghua's expression could almost be described as dumbfounded. He stared at Shi Jin for a long time before suddenly coming back to his senses. He grabbed Shi Jin's hand and, with a serious expression on his face, looked at the orphanage staff next to him, instructing them to take good care of the child. Then he led Shi Jin towards the director's office, still holding onto his hand tightly.

Shi Jin watched as he held onto his hand without letting go, obediently following his footsteps. The two of them sat down in the dean's office.

When Jian Chenghua let go of Shi Jin's hand, he seemed reluctant to do so. He looked at Shi Jin several times before personally pouring him a glass of water and sitting across from him with a complicated expression. "You...you look too much like Xiao Jin. Oh, by the way, what did you say your name was? Shi, Shi..."

"Shi Jin," Shi Jin replied.

Jian Chenghua fell silent, his expression changing constantly. Suddenly, he let out a long sigh and said, "I never thought it would be like this...if you have any questions, ask away, I'll tell you everything. The person who wanted to donate books before, you know him too, right?"

Shi Jin nodded awkwardly, feeling sorry as he said, "I'm sorry, I asked him to talk to you. I was afraid that if I showed up directly, you would be upset, after all, my face..."

"You look so much like Jinwen." Jian Chenghua changed his way of addressing Shi Jin and sighed, who knew what he was thinking about. He spaced out for a moment before suddenly snapping back to reality and looking at Shi Jin.

"I think I know what you want to ask... Jinwen did know your father, they exchanged letters for a long time when they were young, but they definitely didn't have the kind of relationship you're imagining. I don't know how Xingrui came up with that name for you, and your appearance... sigh."

"I came to you this time to clarify this point." Shi Jin looked at Chenghua and carefully chose his words. "If possible, could you please tell me in detail how my father and your son met? I know this request may be a bit presumptuous, but I..."

Jian Chenghua waved his hand to interrupt him and looked at his face, saying, "I understand. It's normal for someone who looks like you to be curious about these things. Actually, I don't really understand either... Anyway, it's all old news. It's nice to have someone to chat with."

As he spoke, he poured himself a glass of water and assumed a posture for a long conversation.

Just as Shi Jingen had guessed from various sources, Shi Xingrui and Jian Jinwen had indeed been pen pals for a long time, and the person who brought about this friendship was Jian Chenghua.

"I knew Shi Xingrui when he was just a primary school student. At that time, he submitted more than ten articles to the newspaper, describing the difficulties his family was facing, which caught everyone's attention. Jinwen had just been admitted to the hospital for his illness, and perhaps out of empathy, when I saw how Shi Xingrui described himself as being in such a difficult situation in his letter, I wanted to help him in any way I could. So, I squeezed some space in the newspaper, published his article, and even wrote him an encouraging letter."

Jian Chenghua reminisced about the past, his gaze slowly drifting away.

"After entering the hospital, Jinwen couldn't go to school or play with other children. I was afraid he would be lonely, so I talked to him every day about the news at the newspaper office. I read him some of the submissions and letters from young readers. That's how Jinwen found out about Shi Xingrui. He has always had a soft heart, and when I told him about Shi Xingrui's family situation, he took some of his saved pocket money and sent it to him along with an encouraging note from me."

As Shi Jin listened, he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for Jinwen's kindness and goodness. It was a shame that fate had not been kind to him.

"After receiving my letter and the pocket money given by Jinwen, Shi Xingrui politely wrote me a thank-you letter. He also submitted another article and expressed his intention to donate the payment for this article to an orphanage. At that moment, I thought this child was truly sensible and righteous, a good seed worth nurturing."

Jian Chenghua chuckled at the memory, but his expression quickly turned somber again. "It was during that time when Jinwen was diagnosed with an illness and started taking steroids. He was in a lot of pain, and I wanted to distract him. Coincidentally, he was interested in Shi Xingrui at the time, so I suggested he try writing letters to him.

"After he finished, I sent the letter along with my own to Shi Xingrui's newspaper, ensuring that he would see it. Shi Xingrui was a kind-hearted child, and after receiving Jinwen's letter, he would reply to him every time he submitted an article. And so, through me, the two of them began to communicate."

When Shi Jin heard this, he couldn't help but have a subtle thought - at the beginning, Shi Xinghui established contact with Jian Jinwen not out of kindness, but because he saw Jian Chenghua's identity as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, which would make it more convenient for him to submit articles and earn money.

But when he thought of Shi Xinghui's age at the time, he felt that he was biased. How could a child of ten or so have such deep scheming?

He shook his head, gathered his wandering thoughts, and continued to listen to Jian Chenghua.

Shi Xinghui and Jian Jinwen's unconventional correspondence had been maintained since its establishment. The frequency of their communication was not high, basically coinciding with Shi Xinghui's submission frequency.

After graduating from primary school, Shi Xingrui's family went through a difficult time trying to come up with the money for his junior high school tuition. He didn't tell Jian Chenghua about it, but only mentioned in his letters to Jian Jinwen that his parents were struggling. When Jian Jinwen saw this, he took it seriously and was afraid that Shi Xingrui wouldn't be able to attend junior high school, so he went to Jian Chenghua for help.

When Jian Chenghua learned about the situation, he happened to have a job editing coaching materials and recommended Shi Xingrui's articles to the studio. From the acceptance of the article to the payment of the fee, there was actually a considerable amount of time in between.

Jian Jinwen was afraid that Shi Xingrui couldn't wait, so he generously contributed some of his own pocket money. Jian Chenghua saw this and took charge, paying Shi Xingrui's fee in advance so that he could receive the money early.

After this incident, the relationship between Jian Jinwen and Shi Xingrui improved. Shi Xingrui increased the frequency of his submissions to the city newspaper, and Jian Jinwen's replies to Shi Xingrui became thicker and thicker. The two teenagers grew up slowly, and when Shi Xingrui was about to graduate from junior high school, Jian Jinwen suggested meeting him in person.

"The two had already agreed on a time to meet, but unfortunately, Shi Xingrui's mother had an accident after his middle school entrance exam, so the meeting was delayed." Jian Chenghua sighed with regret, "It was also a matter of fate. After that, Jian Jinwen's situation deteriorated a bit and he had to transfer to another hospital in another city. When he returned, Shi Xingrui had already gone to a high school in the provincial capital, so they were far apart."

After their planned meeting fell through, the two continued to communicate. However, the tone of Shi Xingrui's messages gradually changed, with more emotional expressions between the lines. Jian Jinwen knew that he was grieving over his mother's passing, so he always carefully comforted Shi Xingrui in his letters.

During that time, Shi Xingrui was truly struggling. The articles he submitted were all previously written pieces, and in his letters to Jian Chenghua, three out of five pages were letters to Jian Jinwen that were filled with negative energy.

As Jian Chenghua spoke, he furrowed his brow and  said, "It was at this time that I realized that Shi Xingrui had a lot of pent-up anger inside him. He described his anger and pain in great detail, wanting to seek revenge on his grandparents, questioning his uncles and aunts, and even wanting to fight his siblings. He had so much hatred inside him that he couldn't find a way to release it, and it all poured out onto Jinwen. Suddenly, he became a stranger to me, and even as an adult, I found his cold and violent writing to be terrifying. I began to worry that Jinwen was too soft-hearted and that Shi Xingrui would hurt him."

Shi Jin couldn't help but furrow his brow as he listened. He understood that this was the turning point in Shi Xingrui's feelings towards Jian Jinwen. After the stimulation of his mother's death, Shi Xingrui had nowhere to vent his emotions and began to confide in Jian Jinwen, truly opening up to him.

Meanwhile, Jian Chenghua continued to speak, "I tried to persuade Jinwen to cut off contact with Xingrui for a while. I was just a selfish father who didn't want Jinwen's already difficult life to be further burdened by negative energy from others. But Jinwen refused. He said that Xingrui was acting this way because he was going through puberty and couldn't regulate his emotions well. If he didn't comfort Xingrui, the pain of losing his mother might twist his psyche and lead him down the wrong path. He convinced me, and I agreed to let them continue their contact."

Throughout their first year of high school, Shi Xingrui had been dumping all of his emotions onto Jian Jinwen. But like a filter, Jian Jinwen absorbed all of the garbage and then filtered it out, returning warmth and patience to Shi Xingrui.

As a result, Shi Xingrui's emotions slowly returned to normal. He stopped submitting old work and began writing new things. During the summer between their first and second year of high school, he even took the initiative to ask Jian Jinwen to meet up.

Shi Jin's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. The summer between their first and second year of high school was an important time period. He remembered that it was during the second semester of their second year that Shi Xingrui stopped submitting any work and began focusing solely on his studies.

Could something have happened during this summer meeting?

Shi Jin looked towards Jian Chenghua, but he was lost in his own memories and didn't notice the sudden glint in Shi Jin's eyes.

"Jinwen was eager to meet his longtime pen pal, Shi Xingrui, and readily agreed to the meeting... but Shi Xingrui stood him up. Jinwen waited at the agreed-upon location for a whole day, but Shi Xingrui never showed up. Shi Xingrui disappeared and could no longer be contacted. Jinwen went from disappointment to worry as time passed. Perhaps his emotions affected his health, as Jinwen's condition suddenly worsened. I had to transfer him to a major hospital in City B," Jian Chenghua said, his expression becoming tense and his words hinting at blaming Shi Xingrui.

"Although logically Jinwen's health deterioration was due to objective reasons, I can't help but blame Shi Xingrui. He said he wanted to meet, but why didn't he show up? He played with Jinwen's feelings, and Jinwen must have been so sad." Shi Jin was stunned when he realized something - Shi Xingrui may not have stood him up after all, but instead his heart died from seeing his moonlight.

This kind of situation often happens when making pen pals or online dating. If we look at it from Shi Xingrui's perspective, it would be that after graduating from junior high school due to his mother's death, he began to confide in his pen pal. After a year of confiding, he developed a emotional dependence or some kind of affection towards his pen pal. Then, he happily asked to meet, full of anticipation and shyness, and went to the agreed location, only to see an ugly fat person. So he ran away directly!

Suddenly, something clicked in Shi Xingrui's mind and he had a complete change of heart! How could someone as proud as him allow himself to like a big, fat person?

So he ran away, disappeared, and actively put an end to his secret crush, cutting off all contact with the object of his affection.

It was a simple yet truthful revelation.

To confirm his suspicions, Shi Jin suppressed the racing thoughts in his mind and interrupted Jian Chenghua's reminiscing, asking, "Um, did my father exchange photos with your son before they met?"

Jian Chenghua was taken aback by the question, but nodded and replied, "Yes, they did exchange photos, but it was in the early stages of their communication. I was worried, so I asked them to exchange photos when they first started talking. Wait a minute, I still have the photos. Let me find them for you."

They actually exchanged photos? Shi Jin was stunned and began to doubt his guess again.

Jian Chenghua took out two small old photos from an old album and handed them to Shi Jin, saying, "These are the two photos. Jinwen was too embarrassed to send them, so I picked them out."

Shi Jin took the photos and looked down. The first one was of Shi Xingrui, with uneven edges as if it had been cut from a group photo. Shi Xingrui was only about ten years old in the photo, with undeveloped features that looked quite different from his adult self.

He quickly moved the photo of Shi Xingrui aside and looked at the next one, and then he was dumbfounded. The next photo was obviously of much higher quality, taken with a good camera. In the picture was a child just over ten years old, very good-looking, sitting on a hospital bed, holding scissors and paper. Their hair was a bit long, past their ears...just like a girl with short hair.

Honestly, if Shi Jinwen didn't already know that Jian Jinwen was a boy, he would definitely think that the person in the photo was a girl! A beautiful, gentle, high-quality version of a young goddess!

Shi Jinwen felt like a bolt of lightning had struck him, hitting him right in the head, making him dizzy and trembling, almost unable to speak.

It's possible that Shi Xingrui didn't just experience death by seeing his moonlight, but also went through the frustrating experience of a goddess turning into a god... He suppressed his emotions and looked at Jian Chenghua, who was still sighing, and said, "Um, can I see your son's handwriting? I'm just a little curious..."

It was a strange request, but Jian Chenghua didn't think much of it. He was happy to share his son's excellence and easily took out a well-preserved notebook, saying proudly, "Of course you can. Jinwen was a quiet child who had been practicing calligraphy since he was young. His handwriting was very good."

Shi Jin took the notebook and looked at the handwriting, silent.

As they say, a person's handwriting reflects their personality. Jinwen's handwriting was just like him - smooth and without any sharp edges, with a round shape that was very delicate... like a girl's handwriting.

If he were still young and naive like Shi Xingrui, after seeing a photo of his pen pal and admiring her delicate handwriting, he would have naturally assumed that his pen pal was a beautiful and gentle girl.

He looked up at Jian Chenghua, wanting to ask if they had ever confirmed each other's gender in their correspondence, but the words got stuck in his throat.

How could he ask such a foolish question? After exchanging photos, who would think to confirm their pen pal's gender? Cross-dressing wasn't a trend back then.