In a spacious room with excellent lighting, soft and bright sunlight projected onto the wooden floor. The sunshade curtains were half-closed, creating a dividing line between light and shadow.

A thin golden chain flashed with a beautiful luster under the warm sun, and the fingers hooking it were fair and slender.

"We should go to school."

The original owner attended a prestigious private school, and Yan Qin was there too.

Although Yan Qin was not favored at home, President Yan felt that since he had acknowledged him and brought him home, he still had to provide him with the conditions to study.

Lin Sui led Yan Qin from the shadows into the light, their shadows blending together.

The tall youth's back was perfectly straight, like a green pine.

This was a scene full of aesthetics, like the peculiar lines on the stained glass of a church.

They walked quietly along the corridor. The servants kept their eyes lowered and their mouths shut, with only the sound of footsteps echoing lightly in the massive villa.

Lin Sui unfastened the ring of the necklace Yan Qin was wearing, separating it from the guiding chain.

From this angle, with his eyes lowered, Yan Qin could see a large expanse of porcelain-white skin through Lin Sui's two unbuttoned shirt buttons, as well as his rosy lips above his jawline.

He looked away. The long, dangling chain let out the distinct sound of clashing metal as it rubbed together, coiling like a golden snake in the youth's palm.

Listening to that sound, Yan Qin felt the itch beneath the skin of his neck return.

The phone in Lin Sui's pocket suddenly vibrated. He took it out, read the message, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"I'm afraid I won't have time to go to school today," Lin Sui said to Yan Qin with a hint of regret, and then ordered the servants, "Find someone who can drive to take him. Pick a car from the garage."

Lin Sui gave the order casually. He got into the car through the rear left door opened by the driver. The door closed, and the car quickly drove away.

As the car's taillights disappeared, Yan Qin withdrew his gaze and took his schoolbag from the servant's hands.

"I can go by myself. There's no need to trouble you."

"No, no, that won't do. The Young Master gave the order. Young Master Yan, just wait a few minutes, we have already gone to find an experienced driver."

The servant shook his head repeatedly, sweating anxiously from the tip of his nose. With so many surveillance cameras in this house, if the Young Master found out he didn't follow his orders, he would definitely be fired.

Yan Qin remained silent. The servants in this villa were all extremely afraid of disobeying Lin Sui's orders. Lin Sui paid high salaries, but if there was even the slightest thing that displeased him, he would immediately fire them. These people didn't want to lose their jobs, so they were extra careful and cautious.

The little Young Master's garage was full of flashy rides. Yan Qin could only choose a Maybach that looked less high-profile, but in fact, it was still very eye-catching.

Yan Qin arrived just in time for afternoon classes. When he stepped out of the ride, the people around who saw him began whispering to each other.

Yan Qin pretended not to hear them. Without stopping his pace, he walked to the teaching building and sat in his seat.

After he sat down, Chu Feng and Tao Ting immediately gathered around him.

Tao Ting asked worriedly, "You haven't been to school for almost a week. Are you alright?"

The school they attended was an expensive private school, mostly filled with children from wealthy families. Yan Qin's reputation as an illegitimate son was spread the very first day he arrived at the school. Yan Zhou had even instructed the people in the school not to be polite in entertaining him, so Yan Qin was quite ostracized and isolated at school.

Only Chu Feng and Tao Ting were exceptions. They were exceptional students specially recruited with full tuition waivers. Their family backgrounds were average, but they were very upright. Since their first year of high school, the three of them had formed a small group.

Yan Qin shook his head and placed his books on the desk.

"It's good that you're fine. Just endure it a little longer, the college entrance examination is coming soon," Chu Feng patted his brother's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Did you receive the program I sent you the day before yesterday? Tao Ting and I finished the program you left halfway done last time. Check and modify it."

Hearing what Chu Feng said, Tao Ting nodded at Yan Qin.

Yan Qin looked at these like-minded friends and told them to be patient.

"I haven't had the time yet. I'll find a chance to look at it."

When Yan Qin was in the Yan Family, he didn't have a computer. In order to humiliate him, Yan Zhou made him live in a cramped storage room. He usually found time to go to an internet cafe or to Chu Feng's house to look at it. But recently, at Lin Sui's house, given Lin Sui's desire for control, it was not easy for him to hide his whereabouts.

"Is it because of the Crown Prince..."

Tao Ting looked around, her expression complex.

Lin Sui was a prominent figure at the school. Although he rarely came to school at all, his identity, background, and personality had long been circulated to the ears of every student in the school.

They jokingly referred to Lin Sui as the 'Little Master' or the 'Crown Prince'. After all, anyone who provoked Lin Sui, regardless of their family background, would be kicked out of this school.

Because of the announcements from that group of rich second generations, the whole class knew that Yan Qin hadn't come to school because he had been taken by the Little Master to be a dog.

Tao Ting and Chu Feng didn't dare to listen or think too much. Even if they were heartbroken and angry for their friend, there was nothing they could do.

Yan Qin was not surprised that this matter had spread, and he nodded.

Chu Feng felt a fire in his heart but still heavily comforted him, "Ah Yan, after the long darkness must come the light."

Tao Ting nodded, then couldn't help but ask, "Is that person really like the rumors?"

Was he really as arrogant, domineering, ruthless, hard to please, and not to be provoked as the rumors said?

"Sort of."

Thinking of Lin Sui, Yan Qin's fingertips started itching again.

He thought of that inexplicable kiss that made him toss and turn all night, still not understanding what Lin Sui was actually thinking.

There seemed to be nothing associated with beauty on Lin Sui. The humiliation of being forced to bow his head and obey was still in his heart, and the pendant pressing against his collarbone was icy cold, but something strange was taking root and sprouting amidst it all.

He couldn't explain what it was.

"Then isn't that miserable," Tao Ting's eyes grew even more sympathetic. She didn't know what to say, and finally squeezed out a sentence, "When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a man, it first tests him."

"Think of Gou Jian, Han Xin, and Sima Qian!"

Yan Qin's expression stiffened. Chu Feng choked on his saliva and waved his hands repeatedly: "Sima Qian is really unnecessary."

Tao Ting smiled embarrassedly, then her sharp eyes noticed something.

"Ah Yan, why did you start wearing a necklace?"

Yan Qin touched the thin chain on his neck, his eyes dark, and did not reply.

On the other side, Lin Sui was at the hospital watching the woman being lifted onto a stretcher for a location transfer.

The person who came to hand her over was not President Yan himself, but Yan Zhou.

"Ah Sui, what do you want this old woman for?"

Yan Zhou looked at the sick woman with a breathing tube inserted with an expression of disgust. If this bitch hadn't gotten pregnant without permission, that little bastard Yan Qin wouldn't have been born, let alone appear in front of him.

He only found out that his father was still providing for this sick woman after his father gave him the order. He didn't understand why, nor did he understand why Lin Sui wanted to take this person over.

"Do I need to report the reasons for my actions to you?"

Lin Sui cast a cold glance at Yan Zhou and watched the ambulance doors close and drive off.

In ten or so minutes, she would arrive at the private hospital under the Lin Family's name.

"Of course not, I was just curious, don't be angry."

Yan Zhou chuckled sheepishly, and only after seeing the car drive far away did he let out a sound.

"My dad said to take this caregiver along too, saying this is the person that little bastard picked himself."

Yan Zhou didn't know why his dad insisted he add this sentence. He even asked, but his dad just impatiently told him to do as he was told, so Yan Zhou simply repeated it.

Lin Sui sneered: "Does your dad think I can't even afford to hire a caregiver?"

He was crystal clear about the wishful thinking of that old geezer from the Yan Family. After taking all those benefits from him, he still wanted to push his luck and test his intentions, while conducting surveillance on the side?

He simply felt that Lin Sui's action of taking Yan Qin away wasn't pure, and it was highly likely that he had taken a fancy to this plaything. That was why he told Yan Zhou to emphasize the phrase 'picked himself'. It didn't matter to Lin Sui whether Yan Qin actually chose her or not. After all, Yan Qin wasn't the one paying, so it went without saying whose side the caregiver was on.

Yan Zhou curled his lips: "Exactly."

"Let's not talk about these things anymore. Song Yunqing is coming back soon, let's throw him a welcome party to wash away the dust of his journey, okay?"

Yan Zhou deliberately brought up topics that Young Master Lin would be interested in, offering up the news he had obtained.

Song Yunqing was also a wealthy young master in their circle. He studied design and went abroad to participate in a competition a month ago, and would return in a few days.

He had a relatively good relationship with Young Master Lin within their circle, and he was the only person who could smooth his fur and control his emotions when Young Master Lin threw a temper.

When Lin Sui first heard this name, it was very unfamiliar to him. The System immediately brought up the corresponding memory data for him before he realized who it was.

"You handle it as you see fit. Just call me when the time comes."

If it weren't to play his character setting, Lin Sui couldn't care less who he was.

Yan Zhou was a bit puzzled. In the past, the gatherings for Song Yunqing's return from traveling were all single-handedly organized by this little ancestor. Why did he dump it on him this time, and why did he seem to not be very interested?

Perhaps it was because Song Yunqing went away for the competition for too long this time, making the little Young Master unhappy.

Yan Zhou muttered in his heart, but agreed on the surface.

After chatting with Yan Zhou for a few sentences, Lin Sui left impatiently.

He had no good feelings toward Yan Zhou and had even wanted to teach him a lesson for a long time. He still remembered the few whip lashes he struck right in front of him.

Lin Sui then went to the hospital to consult the doctor about Yan Qin's mother's condition.

The cancer cells had already spread within her body. The current treatments were only to control the speed of the spread. Her illness was incurable, and they could only drag it out day by day. How long she could live depended entirely on the will of heaven.

Lin Sui stood by the hospital bed looking at her sleeping face, thinking cold-bloodedly in his heart: she was Yan Qin's tender emotional tie, and also the burden holding him back from becoming stronger.

"Take good care of her. If any situation arises, use the best medicine, and put it on my tab."

With a nod from the woman's attending physician, Lin Sui left the hospital.

At Mingfeng Private School. Class 1 of the third year of high school was having a physics class.

The homeroom teacher walked in hurriedly and whispered a few words to the physics teacher. The physics teacher nodded, gathered his things, and left the podium.

The students sitting below whispered to each other in confusion. Standing on the podium, the homeroom teacher in a suit wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

Two security guards carried a desk and a chair in, moving them straight to the last row.

Yan Qin was sitting alone. He looked at the extra desk and chair beside him, his brow twitching as a bad premonition emerged.

"Class, we have a new student who skipped a grade joining our class. Everyone, remember to get along harmoniously. Let's welcome student Lin Sui."

The homeroom teacher wiped more and more sweat from his forehead, crying out in bitterness in his heart.

As soon as this name came out, the class exploded in an uproar. Many people turned to look at Yan Qin, jeering and laughing strangely.

The cacophony of voices abruptly stopped the moment the youth stepped into the classroom. He was notorious; even though he had an exceptionally good-looking face, others didn't dare to look too much.

Lin Sui was even too lazy to give a self-introduction, walking straight to the last row.

Tao Ting and Chu Feng both broke a sweat for Yan Qin in their hearts, worried that Yan Qin's situation would become even worse.

"Who did this?"

Not having seen him for a few hours, Lin Sui looked at the bruise at the corner of Yan Qin's lips, his expression unreadable, making it difficult to discern whether he was happy or angry.

A young master smiling mischievously raised his hand and said with a chuckle, "Young Master Lin, your dog is so obedient, he doesn't even resist."

The hedonistic sons from the same circle burst into laughter, and a bizarre atmosphere permeated the classroom.

Lin Sui's beautiful face, which already held no trace of a smile, turned a few degrees colder, like a vibrantly blooming poisonous flower.

"Trash."

Lin Sui looked coldly at Yan Qin and reprimanded him. Those hedonistic sons laughed even louder.

Yan Qin's slightly lowered eyes were filled with gloom, and the taste of blood spread on the tip of his tongue, yet he remained silent. He had long imagined this scene in his mind; there was nothing he couldn't endure.

But in this extreme suppression, Yan Qin heard a voice that felt like a hallucination to him.

"You know how to fight, right? If those few don't end up in the hospital today, you don't need to eat."

Yan Qin snapped his head up, his eyes still retaining red veins, and the surprise on his face was fully exposed.

The few people who were laughing looked as if they had suddenly been choked by the neck, staring at Lin Sui in bewilderment.

"Close the door."

Lin Sui raised his chin. The students sitting at the front and back immediately closed the classroom doors. These few people normally bullied their classmates in all sorts of ways, and the others dared to be angry but didn't dare to speak out.

The homeroom teacher shrank into a corner. He was about to speak but was stopped by a single look from Lin Sui, so he pretended to be blind, appearing weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Yan Qin's forbearance was to avoid stirring up unnecessary trouble, but now it was different.

The wails and the sound of fists smashing into flesh set one's teeth on edge. Looking at Yan Qin's cold eyes, those few people immediately begged for mercy, completely disregarding everything else.

Yan Qin knew when to stop, ceasing his actions just as he met Lin Sui's standard.

"My, Lin Sui's, dog is still superior to others."

The youth leaned back in his chair, looking at the people lying on the ground as if he were looking at insignificant bugs.

His exquisite appearance exuded an innate arrogance. Every word that spilled from his parting lips made one feel a chill emanating from the inside out.

As Yan Qin was swept by his gaze, a massive wave of unknown emotion surged from his still-excited body, rampaging and freely churning within his chest.