Chapter 15 Making Up for Two Years

Chapter 15: Making Up for the Missing Two Years

Leaving the Xier Group, Shen Qingci let out a sigh of relief.

With the overseas company now operating normally, he no longer needed to stay. His originally well-planned schedule had been disrupted by this persistent tagalong who simply couldn't be shaken off.

A chill hung in the air outside. Shen Qingci stood by the roadside waiting for a car and suddenly spoke:

"We go back the day after tomorrow."

Almost instantly, Lu Lin blurted out, "I'm not going back!"

His voice was loud, filled with obvious resistance.

Shen Qingci glanced at him. "Don't, then. Stay here."

Just then, the car arrived. Shen Qingci opened the door and got in.

Only then did Lu Lin react, hurriedly following him into the car and asking cautiously, "Brother, are you saying... we're going back to China together?"

Shen Qingci gave him a sidelong glance and didn't answer.

But he couldn't help wondering: Did Lu Lin lose his mind in those ten years?

For the rest of the journey, Lu Lin kept asking questions: Which city are we going back to? How long will we stay? Will we come back here? Why the sudden decision to return?

Shen Qingci offered a few perfunctory replies at first, but later, annoyed, he slightly raised his cane.

Lu Lin instantly fell silent.

Two days later, Helsinki Airport.

Shen Qingci sat in his first-class seat, looking out the window.

Beside him was a clingy shadow.

Shen Qingci leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Yet, his mind involuntarily drifted:

It has to be because of those two missing years.

That's why Lu Lin is so clingy, why he follows him around like a child who never grew up, why at twenty-six, upon seeing him, he can't help but depend on him.

Then...

Since he had promised to raise him until he was eighteen back then, and since it was interrupted only because he himself had died...

Ought he to make it up?

Shen Qingci opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked at Lu Lin beside him.

Lu Lin had been staring at him. Caught in the act, he looked away, flustered, the tips of his ears turning slightly red.

Shen Qingci was silent for a few seconds, then spoke:

"Lu Lin."

"Hmm?" Lu Lin immediately turned his head, his eyes sparkling.

"After we return to China," Shen Qingci said, his tone as flat as if assigning a task, "I will provide for you until you're eighteen."

He paused, then added:

"To make up for those two years before you came of age."

Lu Lin froze.

He looked at Shen Qingci, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately, no words came out.

Only his eyes gradually reddened.

The plane landed in the familiar city.

Shen Qingci walked out of the arrivals gate leaning on his cane and saw Lin Wei standing at the meeting area from afar, standing on tiptoe and looking around.

Beside her stood a man around thirty years old, wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit and gold-rimmed glasses, projecting competence.

Zhou Jin, Lu Lin's assistant.

Shen Qingci's gaze lingered on Zhou Jin for a moment.

Two seconds later, he looked away.

"President Shen!" Lin Wei hurried over, unable to hide her excitement. "You're back."

She took the suitcase from Shen Qingci's hand, then cautiously probed, "This time you're back... will you be leaving again?"

Shen Qingci glanced sideways at Lu Lin behind him.

Lu Lin was following him closely, his eyes fixed on his back the entire time, like a child afraid of being left behind.

"For the next two years, I won't be going back for now," Shen Qingci said calmly. "I've already arranged everything overseas. Since I'm back, I need to build my own business here in China as well."

Lin Wei's eyes instantly lit up.

"President Shen, can I be your secretary again?" she blurted out, only realizing after she spoke that she was now a senior executive at another company, pulling in a million a year and managing dozens of people.

Shen Qingci looked at her and nodded. "If you don't mind that I'm just starting out."

"I don't mind!" Lin Wei said immediately. "I'll resign tomorrow... no, I'll resign today!"

That very afternoon, Lin Wei submitted her resignation to her former company.

A senior exec usually needs a month to hand things over, but she handled all matters within a week. Then, carrying gathered industry data and market analysis, she appeared before Shen Qingci.

"President Shen, this is an analysis of trends in the domestic AI and biotech sectors over the next three years," she said, placing a thick stack of documents on the desk. "Also, detailed information on several promising companies. Three of them could be considered for acquisition or partnership."

Shen Qingci took the documents, flipped through a few pages, then looked up at her. "Still as efficient as ever."

Lin Wei's eyes reddened. "It's been ten years. I can finally work under you again."

Shen Qingci gave a faint "hmm," as if this was exactly how things should be.

Shen Qingci naturally moved back into the villa.

Uncle Fu was so excited to see him return that his hands trembled. He instructed the servants to thoroughly clean the master bedroom once more.

Shen Qingci stood in the living room, looking at this house that seemed frozen in time, lost in thought.

Two years.

Two years to straighten out the child who had been corrupted by the Lu family.

Then, part ways.

-

The correction plan started from the basics.

For example, English.

In the study, Shen Qingci sat behind the desk, Lu Lin stood before him like a grade-schooler being checked on his homework.

"Read." Shen Qingci pushed an English document toward him.

Lu Lin took the document, cleared his throat, and began reading:

"According to the latest financial report... the company's revenue has... uh... has..."

His reading faltered, and he eventually came to a complete halt. Lu Lin frowned, staring at the word for a long time before looking up at Shen Qingci with a plea for help in his eyes.

Shen Qingci's cane tapped lightly on Lu Lin's calf.

"Continue," Shen Qingci said, his face expressionless but his brow already furrowed.

Lu Lin tried a few more times, his pronunciation awkward, his phrasing disjointed, and some words even completely botched.

Shen Qingci's frown deepened.

He thought to himself, Lu Lin really has been with the Lu family for too long—growing more and more foolish.

When he'd taught him English as a child, the boy had learned quickly and his pronunciation was accurate.

Now look at him, he couldn't even get through basic business vocabulary smoothly.

Not half the boy he used to be.

Zhou Jin, who had come to the study door to deliver documents, quietly took a step back.

Listening to his boss deliberately reading English in such a clumsy manner and watching Shen Qingci's increasingly cold expression, he felt as if the whole world had become utterly surreal.

Zhou Jin knew Lu Lin's level all too well.

Once, a business partner had angered him, and Lu Lin had seamlessly switched between eight languages to dress them down for two hours, leaving the other party speechless.

But now...

Zhou Jin thought that if Shen Qingci found out Lu Lin was deceiving him, he might cane him to death.

But even then, Lu Lin would probably worry, 'Would hitting him hurt Shen Qingci's hand?' Zhou Jin sighed inwardly.