Chapter 255: The No-Name Star Beckons, the Benefactor Becomes a Simp 26

Chapter 255: A Nobody Crooks His Finger, and the Sugar Daddy Becomes a Lapdog 26

In the end, Lin Huaiqing managed to persuade Qin Song to wait for him in the capital.

When he saw Lin Huaiqing off at the airport, Qin Song was clearly in a mood.

Before boarding, as Lin Huaiqing was about to go through security, he turned back and glanced at Qin Song.

He found the other man was looking at him too.

As if he had made up his mind, Lin Huaiqing hurriedly dropped his luggage and turned around to rush back to Qin Song.

In the busy airport terminal, ignoring the stares of the crowd, he wrapped both arms around Qin Song's neck, stood on his tiptoes, and planted a feather-light kiss on his lips.

The surprise came so suddenly that Qin Song hadn't even registered it before the soft, sweet touch on his lips—a sensation he had never experienced before.

Thirty-two years of pent-up frustration melted away in one move.

It was the first time Lin Huaiqing had ever seen Qin Song so stunned. He quirked a smile and reached over to fix his tie.

"While I'm gone, work hard and don't call me all the time. Got it?"

Long-distance calls cost a fortune!

What Lin Huaiqing didn't know was that his smooth little moves had Qin Song wrapped around his finger.

In truth, Qin Song hadn't taken in a single word of Lin Huaiqing's instructions—he only heard Lin Huaiqing say to call him.

Was there even a question? He'd call the second Lin Huaiqing landed, and keep calling 24/7.

Who knows what could happen in that remote mountain area Lin Huaiqing was heading to? What if someone snatched him up?

"Mr. Lin Huaiqing, your flight XZ6536 is about to depart. Please proceed to the boarding gate immediately!"

The loudspeaker was already blaring, and Lin Huaiqing hustled onto the flight home as fast as he could.

Right before getting on the plane, Lin Huaiqing shot Qin Song a quick text, then switched his phone to airplane mode.

The flight was smooth and landed over ten minutes early. He then switched to a bullet train and a bus.

It wasn't until the bus left the towering city behind and rolled into the wide-open fields that he finally started to feel those pre-homecoming jitters.

He had no clue how long the ride was, but by the time he got off the bus, his butt had gone completely numb, and he was hobbling along.

Dragging his suitcase down the bumpy dirt road, using the few memories of home he had left, Lin Huaiqing finally rolled into the village before sundown.

The village had developed more than he'd expected.

A bunch of old folks were sitting under the old locust tree at the village entrance, playing cards and shooting the breeze.

When they saw a stranger walk in, they put down their cards and started checking him out on the sly.

He didn't know a single one of them—they weren't even in the original owner's memories. Their stares gave Lin Huaiqing the creeps.

"Hey! Who are you? Who are you looking for in our village?" A middle-aged guy who looked like some kind of village bigwig called out.

"I'm Old Lin Number Two's kid. My sister's getting married, so I came back for the wedding."

The original owner's dad was the second son in the Lin family, so the villagers called him Old Lin Number Two.

Hearing that, the villagers swarmed over excitedly:

"Oh! It's the Lin boy! Look how big you've gotten! And handsome too! How many years has it been since you were last home?"

"No kidding! I thought you looked familiar, but I didn't want to say anything! Do you remember me? I used to carry you around when you were a kid!"

"What a lively young man! Must be in his twenties, huh? You married? What do you do in the city?"

A bunch of random relatives and neighbors he barely knew kept yapping in his ear, like he was being swarmed by paparazzi all over again.

Except this time, there was no Xixi to save him.

Given his weird situation, he had no clue how to deal with this "ambush" of old folks. He just stood there like a statue, getting bombarded with questions.

But when they saw he wasn't much of a talker, they slowly lost interest and finally let him go.

Once Lin Huaiqing left, those "friendly" villagers finally had something to chew on and started whispering:

"That Lin kid's gone downhill. He used to be so talkative as a kid, and now he won't even greet people."

"Tell me about it. Goes to the city for a few years of work, and now he thinks he's all that! Doesn't even say hi to anyone."

Lin Huaiqing, of course, had no clue what those "warm" villagers were whispering behind his back.

He just kept walking and finally reached the old Lin house on the east side of the village.

Unlike the other villagers' one-story houses, the Lin family had a three-story building that stuck out like a sore thumb among all the flat roofs.

A big yellow dog was lying by the gate. When it saw Lin Huaiqing coming, it stood up cautiously and started barking.

Lin Huaiqing froze, too scared to move. A guard dog like that might actually bite if a stranger walked into the yard.

Luckily, someone inside heard the barking and came out to see what was going on.

"Big Yellow! Knock it off!"

Lin Xinxin was doing laundry in the yard. The second she stepped out, she saw her big brother standing there, frozen because of the dog.

"Bro?! You're back!" Lin Xinxin launched herself into Lin Huaiqing's arms, crying happy tears.

"Xinxin! How've you been all these years?"

Lin Huaiqing gently patted Lin Xinxin's back, trying his best to act like a good big brother.

He remembered that when the original owner left the village to work in the city, Lin Xinxin was just a kid, maybe ten or so.

Now, in the blink of an eye, she was all grown up.

"I'm good! What about you, bro? Work going okay in the city? You send money home every year—do you have enough to live on?"

"Enough! Of course I do. Your big bro's a star now. I can take care of myself and the whole family."

Saying that made him feel a twinge of bitterness.

Ugh—

That jerk! He knows damn well the original owner has a whole family to support—when is that big-shot star gonna pay back what he owes?

Hearing the noise from the courtyard, Lin's mother hurried over as well, exclaiming excitedly:

"Qing'er! Is that my Qing'er back? My boy! You're finally home!"

"Mom..."

"My son, you've lost weight. I've missed you so much. Why did you only come back now?"

As mother and son reunited, Lin's mother sobbed uncontrollably, but Lin Huaiqing couldn't squeeze out a single tear no matter how hard he tried.

Maybe because he'd never had a mother himself, he couldn't really relate to the moment.

Back inside, Lin Huaiqing finally saw the father who had been bedridden for years.

Years back, Father Lin had gone to the city for work and ended up breaking his spine. The contractor only paid out thirty thousand yuan, and he had been bedridden for several years now.

The family's only income came from renting out their land and the money Lin Huaiqing sent home every month.

You could say life was pretty hard for them.

Seeing Lin Huaiqing return, Father Lin was also delighted, "Ah! Good that you're back! Real good! Today our family is finally together again. Great!"