"That's right. I'm your long-lost biological son."
In an elegant, vintage-style cafe in the Upper District, seventeen-year-old Ji Shu wore old clothes faded from countless washes. He secretly rubbed the mud off the soles of his shoes on the carpet, then looked earnestly at the man across from him, who was dressed in a suit and exuded authority.
He had grown up without a father or mother, scraping by in the Lower District. With his handsome, mixed-race-looking face and his thunderous attitude of "What are you looking at?" and "If you've got a problem, let's settle it," he'd made plenty of enemies.
A few days ago, he accidentally offended a young master who was said to be from the Upper District. Cornered by rows of towering bodyguards out for revenge, Ji Shu hid inside a waist-high trash can with a garbage bag over his head, leaving only his eyes exposed as he watched the bodyguards searching for him.
The young master from the capital was aghast, speaking into his phone: "What did you say? My brother has an illegitimate child? How is that possible? If the old man dies, won't his illegitimate child take an even bigger share of my inheritance?"
"Come on, come on, let's get home!"
Ji Shu's little canine tooth showed as he pondered.
Liang Jingyang looked at the child before him, who seemed about fifteen or sixteen, and thought that unless he'd gotten someone pregnant while still underage, there was no way he could have a son that old.
But lately, the old man had been pretending to be gravely ill to pressure him into marrying and having a child, insisting he wanted to see a grandson before he breathed his last.
"If, if you don't believe me, I have proof here..."
Ji Shu was intimidated by the other man's composed, imposing presence and hurriedly took out a stack of forged documents and a death certificate.
Liang Jingyang undid his cufflinks, picked up a tissue, and wiped the sweat from the boy's temple. In a gentle voice, he said, "Being my child won't be easy. I'll take you to meet Grandpa in a bit. If he says he wants to find you a new mom, what will you say?"
Ji Shu froze. "O-Okay?"
"You have to say that Dad belongs to you alone, and no one can take him away." The man stared into Ji Shu's eyes. "You don't want a mom."
"I want a son who's a little devil, the kind who'd tear a hole in the sky, not a good little boy. Understand?"
Ji Shu thought, What kind of bizarre request is that?
He hurriedly nodded.
Liang Jingyang's lips curved slightly. "Good. Let's hear you call me Dad first."
Theme: My family is the dampness that fills my whole life
