Chapter 8 Move to the Front Seat

Chapter 8: Move to the Front and Sit Down

The black Rolls-Royce Phantom clung to the taxi like a shadow, maintaining a precise, unchanging distance—neither overtaking nor falling behind, just stubbornly following.

The driver had also noticed, glancing nervously in the rearview mirror. "Sir, that car behind us... is it following you?"

Shen Qingci didn’t answer.

He simply gazed out the window at the streets rushing past, his right hand gripping his cane, fingertips tracing the smooth wooden surface.

As the taxi sped onto the airport expressway, the car behind continued to follow.

When they reached the departure level, the taxi finally slowed to a stop.

Shen Qingci paid and stepped out, but just as he lifted his suitcase, he heard the heavy, angry slam of a car door behind him.

He paused for a moment.

Then he remembered: Lin Wei was waiting for him inside.

And Lu Lin knew Lin Wei.

If Lu Lin saw her, saw how she treated him, heard her call him "President Shen"...

Shen Qingci quickly pulled out his phone, ready to call Lin Wei and tell her to leave.

But before he could dial, a familiar voice came from beside him.

"President Shen!"

Lin Wei hurried over, smiling as she naturally took the suitcase from his hand. "I’ve already contacted the team in Northern Europe. The person picking you up is—"

Her words cut off abruptly.

She had seen the man standing behind Shen Qingci.

Lin Wei’s smile froze, her lips parting slightly, her eyes widening in shock.

Her expression held disbelief, panic, and something else Shen Qingci couldn’t quite decipher.

"President Lu?" Lin Wei’s voice trembled slightly. "What are you... doing here?"

Shen Qingci closed his eyes.

Too late. But if it was Lu Lin, maybe it didn’t matter if he knew he was alive. After all, he had raised him for eight years.

He turned to face Lu Lin.

Lu Lin stood three meters away, his face paler than it had been at the cemetery, his lips pressed into a tight line. His deep brown eyes were fixed intently on Lin Wei.

Then, slowly, Lu Lin’s gaze shifted back to Shen Qingci’s face.

The look in his eyes... Shen Qingci had never seen anything like it in anyone before.

It was like the ocean before a storm—deceptively calm on the surface, but with turbulent undercurrents raging beneath.

"Do you know the price of impersonating him?" Lu Lin’s voice was even hoarser than it had been at the cemetery, each word seeming to be forced from the depths of his throat. "And you even bribed his former secretary!"

Shen Qingci was puzzled by Lu Lin’s attitude and frowned, ignoring him.

He turned back to Lin Wei. "Give me the luggage."

Lin Wei was still in shock, instinctively tightening her grip on the suitcase handle. "President Shen, you—"

"Give it to me."

Shen Qingci’s tone was calm, but Lin Wei heard the unyielding command in it.

After a moment’s hesitation, she let go.

Shen Qingci took the suitcase, leaned on his cane, and turned to walk toward the airport terminal.

He didn’t spare Lu Lin another glance, as if the man didn’t exist.

The old injury in his right leg made his steps slower than most, but each one was steady.

Curious glances from other passengers followed him.

Lu Lin stood rooted to the spot, watching Shen Qingci’s retreating figure.

That figure...

It was too familiar.

The way he walked, the slight limp in his right leg, the straightness of his back, even the way he held his cane—it all overlapped with the person in his memories.

But how could that be?

Shen Qingci had been dead for ten years.

He had seen the body with his own eyes, buried him with his own hands, and sat by his grave until dawn every year.

He knew better than anyone that that person would never return.

So this had to be fake.

An elaborate deception, a trap designed to exploit his weakness.

Lu Lin clenched his fists at his sides, nails digging deep into his palms.

Rage surged through his chest like molten lava, burning his eyes red and making his breath come in sharp gasps.

But... why, at the sight of that retreating figure, did he feel a desperate, drowning hope, like a man clutching at a floating log?

Lu Lin closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he gave a subtle signal to the bodyguards behind him.

The two bodyguards immediately understood, striding quickly after Shen Qingci.

Airport security noticed the commotion. A young guard stepped forward to intervene. "Sir, you—"

He didn’t finish his sentence. His eyes met Lu Lin’s.

Cold, violent, with an almost tangible pressure.

The young guard’s words died in his throat, and he instinctively took a step back.

The other security guards hesitated, not daring to move in.

The two bodyguards had already caught up with Shen Qingci.

"Sir, our apologies," one of them said in a low voice, his tone still relatively polite. "Forgive us."

With that, they each seized one of Shen Qingci's arms, pinning him.

Shen Qingci's body went rigid.

He was using every ounce of his willpower to suppress the instinct to resist.

He turned his head just enough to look back at Lin Wei, who stood not far behind.

Lin Wei stood there, her face pale, her hands clenched into tight fists, her eyes filled with worry, but... she didn't move.

Shen Qingci understood.

Lin Wei was letting him be taken.

She knew Lu Lin wouldn't harm him, so she chose silence, chose to watch him be taken away.

Shen Qingci withdrew his gaze, his expression blank, allowing the bodyguards to lead him toward the parking lot.

The car door opened, and he was ushered into the back seat.

The car was spacious. The leather seats gave off a faint leather smell, and the cabin was well soundproofed. Once the door closed, the noise from outside vanished instantly.

Shen Qingci sat there. His suitcase had been placed in the trunk, and his cane lay across his knees.

His temples throbbed.

No one had dared defy him like this in far too long.

Ever since he came of age, no one had ever dared to treat him this way.

Forcing him to do something he didn't want to do, disrupting his plans, loading him into a car like cargo.

This sense of losing control infuriated him.

The car door opened again.

Lu Lin stooped to get in.

Just as he had one leg inside the car, Shen Qingci spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was cold as ice, carrying the commanding tone of someone long accustomed to authority, brooking no argument:

"Get your ass in the front seat!"

Everyone inside and outside the car was stunned into silence.

The driver's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

The two bodyguards standing outside the car instantly paled, their eyes darting to Lu Lin.

Not far away, Lin Wei, hearing these words, couldn't help but purse her lips.

Ten years ago, she would have bet Lu Lin wouldn't get angry over such words.

But Lu Lin, ten years later...

Lin Wei didn't dare to think.

Lu Lin froze.

With one leg in the car and one leg out, still bent over, he slowly raised his head to look at Shen Qingci.

In those deep brown eyes were shock, astonishment, and a flicker of something vulnerable.

Shen Qingci looked back at him.

They locked eyes.

Time seemed to stretch, each second becoming unbearably slow.

Lu Lin's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he was speechless.

He slowly withdrew the leg that had entered the car, straightened up, and closed the rear door.

Then he circled the car to the other side, opened the passenger door, and slid into the seat.

"Drive," Lu Lin said.

The driver was stunned for a moment before reacting. "Y-yes, Mr. Lu."

The car eased out of the airport.

Shen Qingci sat in the back seat, watching the scenery blur past the window, his right hand holding his cane.

For a second, he forgot it had been ten years, and it never occurred to him that Lu Lin, even after ten years, would still be so obedient.