Chapter 33 Identity Exposed

Chapter 33: Identity Revealed

Lin Xishan had originally planned that once his father confirmed everything regarding Liu Guoqiang was fully handled, he would arrange to meet Pei Zhi and lay all the truth out on the table.

It sounded like a good plan, and things were going off without a hitch, just like he'd expected.

A week later, Lin Yuanzhou quickly sent him a text: "It's handled. The news drops in two days. Don't forget your four million."

He wouldn't forget the four million, but first things first—go find his wife... the Patron and confess his identity. The money-making stuff could wait.

Lin Xishan chose to meet at a private home-style restaurant he used to frequent, tucked away in an old alley lined with sycamore trees.

Except these days, the sycamore leaves had long since fallen.

He picked this place because it was private, and it wasn't as pricey as those French joints.

Yeah, he was a young master, but he was still broke—those two things weren't mutually exclusive.

If Professor Chen's project stipend from last month hadn't finally hit his account, he couldn't even afford this place.

Lin Xishan let out a long sigh, worried that when he told Pei Zhi he was the Lin family heir, Pei Zhi might think he was so broke he'd lost his mind.

...Honestly, he figured the odds were pretty high.

On the day they'd booked, he showed up early, sitting in a private room by the window, two sets of chopsticks laid out in front of him.

Even though he'd rehearsed his confession speech ages ago, he was still a bit nervous. Lin Xishan silently ran through it one more time in his head.

When Pei Zhi pushed open the door and walked in, Lin Xishan was looking down at the menu.

Hearing the movement, Lin Xishan looked up. Pei Zhi was wearing a black turtleneck sweater under a dark gray wool coat, his hair—for once, not a mess—like he'd actually bothered to fix it up before heading out.

He smiled: "You're dressed up pretty fancy today."

Pei Zhi sat down across from him, unwrapping his scarf and draping it over the back of his chair: "You said you had something important to talk about. And this place doesn't look like it's cheap."

"My treat." Lin Xishan pushed the menu over.

Pei Zhi glanced at him but didn't take it: "Aren't you broke?"

"Well, after slaving away in the project group for so long, the stipend finally came through. First thing I do is treat my Lord Patron to a nice meal." Lin Xishan paused, feeling a little embarrassed, "After all, last time I cooked, I almost killed you."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was true. That day, after seeing his dad and going back to Pei Zhi's place, Lin Xishan had kept his promise and cooked himself.

As a young master who'd never so much as lifted a finger in the kitchen, that meal could only be described as an absolute disaster.

When that fish was brought to the table, its eyes were still wide open, like it refused to die peacefully.

As for the taste—Zhou Yan took one bite and made a beeline for the toilet, while Lin Xishan took one bite, hung his head, and started ordering takeout.

But Pei Zhi, without a word, stubbornly ate every last bite.

"Because you made it for me." Pei Zhi said it with such conviction that Lin Xishan was deeply touched.

An hour after the meal, Pei Zhi threw up just as spectacularly.

Pei Zhi took the menu, looking skeptical, flipped through a couple of pages, and frowned. He ordered the two cheapest things on the menu and handed it back to the waiter.

Lin Xishan added two signature dishes and a dessert. The waiter noted it down and left.

"Why'd you order so much?" Pei Zhi's tone was reproachful.

"To fatten you up. You've been rehearsing too hard lately—you've lost weight." Lin Xishan picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea.

Pei Zhi held the cup, his thumb slowly tracing the rim. Steam curled up, blurring whatever was in his eyes.

Dish after dish arrived.

Pei Zhi ate slowly, taking small bites, a little distracted. Lin Xishan, on the other hand, had a good appetite, chatting about this and that as he ate.

Pei Zhi listened, occasionally responding, occasionally quirking the corner of his mouth.

Halfway through the meal, Lin Xishan suddenly put down his chopsticks and looked at him: "Pei Zhi, do you remember what I said last time?"

"What?"

"I said once everything was settled, I'd tell you everything I've been hiding from you."

Pei Zhi's chopstick hand paused for a moment, then he went back to picking up food, his movements steady: "I remember."

"Then today—" Lin Xishan's words were cut off by a sudden phone ringing.

It was Pei Zhi's phone.

He glanced down at the screen—the caller ID showed Zhou Yan. He hesitated for a moment, then answered.

Zhou Yan's loud voice blasted through the phone, so clear that even Lin Xishan across the table could hear every word: "Pei Zhi, oh my god, this is unbelievable! Guess what happened to that Liu Guoqiang from last time—his company got investigated! Commercial bribery, unfair competition—even he himself was taken in for questioning! The news just broke, check it out now!"

Wait, wasn't this supposed to come out in two days? Why a day early? Guess his old man wasn't so reliable after all. Lin Xishan grumbled to himself.

Pei Zhi held the phone, his expression shifting from confusion to shock, then to something he couldn't quite name.

He hung up, opened the news app, and the headline on the front page read: "Xincheng Media Under Investigation for Commercial Bribery; Person in Charge Under Investigation."

He slowly put down the phone, looked up, and met Lin Xishan's calm gaze.

"It was you." Pei Zhi said, not as a question.

Lin Xishan put down his chopsticks and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin. He didn't look surprised, nor did he seem rattled at being caught: "It was me."

After all, even if the news had broken a day early, he'd planned to spill everything today anyway, so it didn't matter much.

Pei Zhi stared at him, his lips moving like he wanted to say something, but a commotion nearby cut him off.

A figure stumbled in from the restaurant entrance and lunged at their table before the staff could stop him, his knees slamming into the floor with a dull thud.

It was Liu Guoqiang.

The middle-aged man who, a week ago, had been getting handsy with Pei Zhi at the dinner table, now had a wrinkled suit, a crooked tie, and sweat dripping down his forehead.

He knelt on the floor, both hands gripping the table edge for dear life, his voice frantic and desperate: "Young Master Lin, please, have mercy and let me go! I didn't know he was your guy, I swear I didn't! If I'd known, I wouldn't have dared lay a finger on him even if I had a hundred guts!"

Wait, where did this guy come from? Wasn't he supposed to be in for questioning? Lin Xishan was dumbfounded. If the guy turned himself in, it looked like voluntary surrender, but if someone else ratted him out, it looked like the whole thing had blown up.

"Scram." Lin Xishan said curtly, then his gaze darted nervously to Pei Zhi. He was about to explain when Liu Guoqiang cut him off again.

"Young Master Lin." Liu Guoqiang's forehead hit the floor with dull thuds. "Please talk to Mr. Lin and get him to drop the charges. I've got elderly parents and young kids to support. If my company goes under, I'll have nothing..."

The private room door was still wide open from Liu Guoqiang barging in, so the other diners were all turning to stare, while the waitstaff stood around, not knowing what to do.

Lin Xishan had finally had enough and let his gaze land on him: "When you touched him, did you think about the consequences?"

Liu Guoliang's pleas died in his throat.

"Excuse me." Lin Xishan waved at the waiter. "Please have this guy escorted out."

The two security guards finally snapped back to attention and strode over, grabbing Liu Guoliang by both arms and dragging him out.

Liu Guoliang struggled and shouted something, but the door had already been closed in front of him, cutting off his voice.

The room went quiet again.

Lin Xishan turned around and met Pei Zhi's gaze.

Pei Zhi sat there, his back ramrod straight. The look on his face was something Lin Xishan couldn't quite put into words.

Not anger, not hurt—more like a blankness, as if he'd been struck by something and hadn't yet come back to himself.

"What he said is true." Lin Xishan spoke first. "Everything he just said is true. I was going to tell you today too."

"Young Master Lin." Pei Zhi's fingers curled, gripping the edge of the table. He repeated the three words, his voice barely above a whisper. "The young heir of the Lin Group. So you're not poor at all, huh?"

Lin Xishan weighed his words, trying not to sound like a jerk: "Half true, half false."

Pei Zhi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"My name is Lin Xishan—that's true. I'm a low-income special admit—that's also true. My father, to test me, froze my cards and made me earn two million on my own before I could go back and take over the company. So yes, I'm poor—that's true, and my account balance was under three figures at the end of every month—also true." He paused, looking at Pei Zhi. "But I'm Lin Yuanzhou's son, heir to the Lin Group—that's also true. I didn't mean to hide it from you. At first, there was no need to mention it. Later, I was afraid it would scare you away."

Pei Zhi said nothing.

After a long moment, he spoke, his voice low: "So what you're saying is that the million I gave you was nothing to you."

"No." Lin Xishan's tone was serious and earnest. "That million was everything you had. I never once thought it was nothing."

Pei Zhi didn't respond. He lowered his eyes, his lashes casting a shadow on his cheeks.

Lin Xishan watched him, a sudden knot forming in his stomach.

He'd pictured a lot of ways Pei Zhi might react to finding out the truth. Anger, disappointment, walking away.

But now he just sat there, too quiet—like a cat spooked by a sudden sound—not hissing, not running, but with every hair standing on end.

Lin Xishan could feel it: at this moment, he'd been pushed outside Pei Zhi's boundaries for the first time.

Damn it, all because of that Liu Guoqiang. If he'd stuck to his carefully planned script step by step, the problem wouldn't be nearly this big.

He'd make his dad hire an even better lawyer and tack on more charges.

"Pei Zhi." Lin Xishan called his name softly.

Pei Zhi didn't respond.

Lin Xishan stood up, walked around to the other side of the table, and sat down in the chair next to Pei Zhi.

He didn't rush to touch him, just scooted his chair a little closer.

"Are you angry?" Lin Xishan asked.

Pei Zhi's voice was a little hoarse: "I don't know if I should be. You don't seem to have done anything wrong."

"But Lin Xishan, I hate being lied to more than anything."