Lu Yan heard Xiao Heng also say coldly, "Xiao Qishan won't keep an illegitimate child by his side. He'll be sent abroad next month. If you don't care, then fine."

Xiao Qishan.

'Should be Xiao Heng's dad?'

This time, the woman didn't deny it further. She just adopted an attitude as if it had nothing to do with her, and halfway through her sentence, she laughed indifferently, "The child has nothing to do with me anymore. It was just an accident. I take the money... the child is yours. It was all made crystal clear."

"Don't come looking for me again," she said finally.

From the moment that woman appeared, Lu Yan felt that something was off with Xiao Heng.

He seemed to be silently, almost violently, expressing a feeling: Since you didn't want him, why did you give birth to him.

Since you never planned to raise him.

Why give birth to this child at all.

He seemed on the verge of saying this out loud, but in the end, he said nothing at all, letting the woman close the door.

'This relationship is messy enough.'

As Lu Yan was thinking this, the child in his arms stirred restlessly. Hearing the commotion in the hallway, the child opened his eyes, still groggy from sleep, his eyes brimming with tears. He subconsciously looked for a familiar person in this strange environment.

Lu Yan: "He's awake, and it looks like he's about to cry again."

Xiao Heng was just about to take the child from Lu Yan's arms, but he was a step too slow. The moment his hand touched the little undershirt on the child, the wailing began: "Waaah—"

The child still had a pacifier in his mouth. Even while crying, he didn't forget to suck on it. After a few cries, when he got tired, he would purse his little lips and suck on it a couple of times.

Xiao Heng was at a complete loss: "What was that song you were singing just now?"

Lu Yan said: "Frog Band, Little Leaping Frog."

"..."

Putting aside what kind of band it was, just hearing the word "band" made Xiao Heng understand why Lu Yan's music library would contain such a song.

While they were talking, the child sucked on his pacifier, his cheeks puffed up as if he were hiding something in his mouth. Then he let go, clenched his little fists, and prepared to cry with all his might for a second round.

The two unmarried men, with absolutely no experience with children, could only rely on a children's song by the Frog Band to soothe the baby.

But this time, no matter how many "ribbit ribbits" Lu Yan made, it was useless.

Lu Yan had a flash of inspiration: "Maybe he'd like to hear you sing."

Xiao Heng all but had the word 'refuse' carved on his forehead: "He won't like it."

Lu Yan: "Just try."

Xiao Heng: "Try my a..."

Xiao Heng cut his swear word in half and didn't finish.

"This song is very simple, you'll get it after listening once."

As Lu Yan spoke, he started a tune for him, using 'la' in place of the lyrics.

Xiao Heng was extremely annoyed by him, but he still patted the child's back and followed Lu Yan's starting tune with a couple of 'la's.

Having been in music for a long time, Lu Yan had a keen sense of observation for all kinds of sounds and a compulsive need to record them that he couldn't control.

He usually carried a recording pen with him, and whenever he was in the mood, he would record some sounds: for example, the sound of rain, the sound of wheels rolling over muddy ground, the hawking of vendors in a bustling wet market.

Although Xiao Heng's tune wasn't very accurate, his voice, like his personality, was cold and listless.

Lu Yan felt a little itch in his heart.

'I want to record it.'

The two of them "la-la-la'd" in the hallway for a long time, but the child continued to cry, and even cried more fiercely. The stark contrast made the two of them look like a pair of big idiots standing there: "..."

Xiao Heng's patience ran out: "Still 'la'-ing?"

"No more 'la'-ing, no more 'la'-ing," Lu Yan gave up. "What are the usual reasons he cries?"

Xiao Heng frowned and summarized: "Hungry, sleepy, unhappy..."

At this moment, after finishing his second round of crying, the child started sucking his pacifier again, his little fists resting on his chest.

The few possibilities Xiao Heng had casually mentioned, when connected with the actual situation, made both of them stare at the pull-ring on the child's pacifier and say in unison: "Hungry?"

The little child blinked, making a smacking sound with his mouth that seemed like a response.

Xiao Heng had just fed him once before leaving, thinking that the round trip would only take a little over two hours. He hadn't considered this possibility, assuming he was just being grumpy from waking up.

If he was really hungry, the drive from the Lower District to the city center wasn't short; they couldn't let the child cry the whole way.

Lu Yan asked: "Did you bring milk?"

"In the car."

While Xiao Heng went downstairs to get the milk bottle, Lu Yan stayed upstairs, holding the child and boiling water.

Lu Yan could have never imagined that to compensate for substituting a class, he'd end up with a pacifier-sucking child in his arms. He sighed, gently patting the child's back, "Don't cry, your big brother will be back soon."

Although the child's big brother was terrible at soothing him, he was at least quite professional when it came to preparing formula. His technique was skillful, especially the part where he tested the temperature on the back of his hand, just like in a formula commercial.

However, the child's brother was a strange combination of impatience and patience throughout the whole formula-making process. He looked like he had an "I don't want to do this at all" attitude, yet his hand movements remained very gentle. Lu Yan poured out the remaining water: "Your skills at soothing children are so bad, but you're not bad at making formula. Is there no one at your home to take care of him?"

Xiao Heng said: "There are maids."

The word "maids" was simply too distant for Lu Yan, a resident of the Lower District.

Of course, he also couldn't have imagined that even with maids, they wouldn't be too attentive in caring for an unwanted illegitimate child. The child had previously had an allergic reaction to regular formula, and it went unnoticed for several days.

Lu Yan watched as Xiao Heng pinched the ring to take the pacifier out of the child's mouth and brought the bottle closer.

The child unclenched his little fists and started drinking from the bottle he was holding.

If it had been downstairs just now, Lu Yan probably could have smiled and teased him a bit. But after the scene with the woman from 601, looking at this child now only made him feel melancholy. He was only a few months old, yet he was abandoned just like that.

"Hey, Shamate."

Lu Yan was in the middle of his sentimental thoughts when he heard Xiao Heng call him.

Although his messy family affairs had been exposed to an outsider, which was somewhat uncomfortable, Xiao Heng still said earnestly: "Thanks for today."

...

'Thanks, he says.'

"Wait a minute."

Lu Yan signaled him to stop: "Rewind what you just said. What did you call me? Sha-what?"

Lu Yan suspected that Xiao Heng hadn't listened to his self-introduction at all last time. With this young master's temperament, for that phrase 'the unemployed Lu Yan', it was already good enough if he even noticed the word 'unemployed'.

As expected.

The hot-tempered young master said: "What's your name?"

"Lu Yan," Lu Yan laughed, exasperated. "Lu as in land, Yan as in delay."

After finishing making the formula for the child, Xiao Heng didn't linger. Lu Yan pushed open a nearby window and watched the modified car drive away from the entrance of the Seventh District.

Seeing that they had left, Brother Wei came up from downstairs, sat in the living room, and chatted with Lu Yan: "What's up? I just heard you guys arguing with the woman from 601?"

"We weren't arguing," Lu Yan said. "It's just that the woman from 601 has a child..."

It was someone else's family matter; he couldn't say too much.

Lu Yan only started to explain before stopping himself: "You should just stop asking."

"I'm just curious. If you don't tell me, I'll feel awful."

"Then feel awful," Lu Yan said.

"..." Brother Wei said angrily, "You brat, this wasn't your attitude when you asked to borrow my motorcycle!"

"That was different."

Lu Yan finished washing the vegetables and started cutting a tomato with a knife.

Brother Wei picked up an apple from Lu Yan's table, took a bite, and said, "But speaking of children, no one in their line of work is willing to have kids. Even if they have one by accident, they'd rather leave it crying on someone else's doorstep than raise it themselves."

The knife in Lu Yan's hand paused: "What?"

Brother Wei shook his head and sighed: "You guys don't understand—with that kind of status, how can you raise a child?"

"A prostitute! Do you know what prostitutes do?"

"It's not a rumor. I went to collect a debt a few days ago. Damn it, that son of a bitch owed a mountain of debt but was still living it up at a nightclub. I caught him right there, and I ran into her in the nightclub. People in their line of work, they're either rotten to the core and just want to make quick money lying down... or they have no other choice. Once you get into it, you can't escape unless you're dead."

"Even if you want to raise the child, you can't. You can't get out yourself, so you'd let the child be looked down upon for their whole life?"

When Lu Yan heard this, he recalled Xiao Heng asking the woman, "Do you still want your child or not?" He couldn't help but wonder what kind of expression the woman had under the smoke as she was smoking back then.

"Brother Wei," Lu Yan interrupted him, "do me a favor, can you help me find out what the situation with the woman from 601 is?"

......

Not long after Xiao Heng returned home, the large, carved gate outside creaked open again. Immediately after, the sound of a car engine grew closer as it headed towards the garage.

A maid trotted out from the kitchen, bowed to open the door, and waited by the entrance in advance.

When the man came in from outside, the maid took his coat and said with her head lowered: "Mr. Xiao—"

The man was only in his forties, dressed in a suit. His every move exuded a bone-deep, cold dignity. He didn't even glance at the maid beside him, walking straight into the living room. It was the posture of someone long accustomed to a high position and being served.

The man asked in a deep voice: "Is Xiao Heng back?"

The maid replied: "He's back. The young master went out for a trip today and has been home ever since."

Xiao Heng was sitting on the living room sofa. He didn't even move when he heard the commotion. Only when Xiao Qishan walked from the foyer into the living room did he pick up the TV remote and nonchalantly change the channel.

Just as Xiao Qishan ignored the maid, he ignored him with the same attitude.

Xiao Qishan walked in front of him, blocking the screen. Xiao Heng's gaze fell on an exquisitely crafted button before him, and only then did he slowly raise his eyes to look at Xiao Qishan's face.

"You haven't been to school these past few days?"

There was no expression on Xiao Qishan's face other than displeasure. He said angrily: "All you ever do is hang out with those two good-for-nothings from the Zhai Family and the Qiu Family. One's family runs a nightclub, the other a casino. What kind of people are they? Aren't you ashamed? Do you know what people outside say about you—a bunch of failures!"

"I pulled strings to get you into C University. It's one thing if you don't listen in class—but no matter what, you have to guarantee your attendance and get me that graduation certificate."

"..."

Xiao Heng could clearly see Xiao Qishan frown. It was an expression of disgust. More than his "good-for-nothing son," his dissatisfaction stemmed from how this good-for-nothing son was causing him to lose face outside.

"I'm not like you, who even went and had a child for fun."

Xiao Heng leaned back. Several buttons on his shirt were undone, and his posture was lazy. He said nonchalantly: "—You're still more impressive."

"Smack—"

As the slap landed, Xiao Heng didn't even blink, taking the full force of it.

He wiped the corner of his lip with his thumb and asked Xiao Qishan: "Satisfied?"

Seeing his expression, Xiao Qishan became even more furious. And, undeniably, deep down, he held a sliver of fear for this son, though he didn't know where this fear came from. "Tonight, CEO Wang of Hengjian Group is hosting a banquet. You're coming with me."

He added: "Your mother will be there too."

Xiao Heng received Lu Yan's message while he was outside the banquet hall. His mother, whom he hadn't contacted in over half a year, had just stepped out of a Bentley.

The woman, dressed in a black mermaid-style evening gown, was holding Xiao Qishan's arm.

They were surrounded by voices of praise: "Mr. Xiao and Mrs. Xiao are truly a devoted couple. After so many years, their relationship is still so good."

"Yes, their relationship is truly good."

"..."

The banquet hall was magnificent and dazzling.

An evening party belonging to high society.

The lights scattering down from all directions shone on the various diamond-studded evening gowns and diamond jewelry, glittering with a suffocating, dizzying light.

He looked at his phone screen. The person saved as 'Shamate' had sent him a few messages: [Shamate]: Good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?

[Shamate]: Alright, I won't beat around the bush.

[Shamate]: About the woman from 601...

At this moment, Xiao Heng couldn't care less about the woman from 601.

He didn't care what happened with the woman from 601.

He just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.

Fifty meters ahead.

Xiao Qishan adjusted his wife's shawl. The two of them looked at each other and smiled. While talking to the people around him, he glanced over at Xiao Heng, signaling for him to come over quickly.

-Where are you?

-I'm coming to find you.

After typing these two sentences, Xiao Heng curled his lips into a smile at Xiao Qishan. Just when Xiao Qishan thought he was about to walk over—he turned around and left under everyone's watchful eyes.