In the Depth of the Forest, Eventually, a Deer Is Seen [BL]

Part 2

5

I work the night shift at the convenience store. At 5:30 in the morning, after changing shifts with a colleague, I changed my clothes and walked out of the convenience store's main door.

That familiar Porsche Cayenne was parked at the entrance. It was dawn, and through the car window, I could vaguely see Lu Jin An's cold features.

I felt a bit panicked, but I had to pretend to be calm, silently telling myself, I'm just a passerby, I'm just a passerby.

"Hello, our boss Lu is in the car, please come with us."

Ah, it seems I couldn't avoid it after all.

I followed the bodyguard into the car and sat next to Lu Jin An.

Three years had passed, the scent of jasmine hadn't changed, but Lu Jin An felt even colder than before I knew him.

Lu Jin An sized me up, and after a long time, he finally asked.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

I pretended to be in a difficult position, clutching the corner of my clothes tightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Shen Qi Huai, are you playing dumb now?"

Lu Jin An's tone rose a bit, and my eyes darkened.

"Although I don't know who you are, I think you've mistaken me for someone else..."

Lu Jin An was stunned.

I pulled out the photo of me and Shen Qi Huai from my wallet. In the picture, Shen Qi Huai was weakly leaning in my arms, pale-faced, with shocking tubes inserted in his body.

"My brother died two years ago from terminal cancer. I am his younger brother, Shen Qi An."

Lu Jin An looked at my face and then back at the photo.

"Your brother never mentioned me to you?"

I shook my head, still clutching the fabric tightly.

"I got lost as a child, and it was only in the last year of his life that he found me. By then, he was too ill, rarely awake."

This wasn't entirely false, as he could easily verify this kind of thing with a little investigation, and I wasn't stupid enough to lie about it.

After I finished speaking, the air seemed to stand still, but I could see Lu Jin An's trembling hands.

"Mr. Lu, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

After saying that, I took back the photo in his phone and left without any hesitation.

6

I got to know Lu Jin An under the identity of Shen Qi Huai.
After I got lost, Shen Qi Huai became the only child of the Shen family. At home, he was like a robot to our parents, always punished for not studying well, making noise while eating, or failing to meet our parents' expectations.

In this oppressive environment, Shen Qi Huai developed a dual personality. At home, he was the heir who dared not defy his parents, and outside, he was the arrogant young master Shen.

In fact, the Shen family and the Lu family were not closely related, merely having some financial dealings.

As for why Lu Jin An was chosen at that party, it was just because the young master thought no one would dare to take a chance using Lu Jin An's name.

But I accepted the bet, maybe he didn't expect that.

7

I visited Shen Qi Huai's grave.

There were genuine emotions, but also some acting. After all, ever since the day I met Lu Jin An, that black Cayenne had been following me. Perhaps Lu Jin An never expected that his beloved had truly died.

I placed the clean, elegant bouquet in front of Shen Qi Huai's tombstone, and looking at the face on the tombstone, which looked almost exactly like mine, tears filled my eyes.

I grew up in an orphanage, and logically, I shouldn't have been so close to Shen Qi Huai. But in reality, he and I had recognized each other as brothers long ago.

8

Lost? Technically, I was sent away by Shen Qi Huai.

Shen Qi Huai, three years older than me, understood the means by which the Shen family trained heirs. At the age of five, he had already begun the endless life of an heir trainee, not just through scolding but also confinement in a dark basement as punishment if he was disobedient.

The basement had only a dirty mattress and a desk.

It would be off if Shen Qi Huai didn't develop psychological issues under these conditions. The Shen family seemed to have noticed this problem, so they included me in the list of successor candidates as well.

Probably not wanting me to endure this inhumane treatment, one day while the nanny wasn't paying attention, he took me and ran out of the Shen family's gate.

We stood at the entrance of the orphanage, and I looked up at Shen Qi Huai's blurred face.

"Qi An, you must live under the sun for me."

That was my last memory before I moved into the orphanage.

Shen Qi Huai had a lot of pocket money, which he hardly used, all given to the orphanage teachers to take good care of me.

Because of this, my life in the orphanage wasn't too bad; at least I wasn't looked down upon for my material needs.

After I grew up, I attended college while working part-time to earn money, and Shen Qi Huai often had people send me a lot of things, but I hardly ever saw him.

I know that after I left, Shen Qi Huai's life became even worse. He lied that I had gotten lost by myself, thinking it would lead to a severe beating, but no one in the villa blamed him.

Everyone sickly smiled.

"Qi Huai, this is the path a superior should take, and the steps you must take to become a successful person."

This strange statement was something the five-year-old Shen Qi Huai couldn't understand.

This was what the dying Shen Qi Huai told me by the bedside.

As a child, he thought that arranging the orphanage teachers and all these were his own doings without raising any suspicions at home, but in fact, every step was under the Shen family's surveillance.

They didn't expose Shen Qi Huai, simply because I was a backup raised outside by the Shen family, a contingency in case Shen Qi Huai failed as an heir.

Shen Qi Huai spent his days in the Shen company's high-intensity learning of business and management, and any time off he had, he would go to an underground bar to drink. Under these conditions, not only his physical health but also his mental health had long been broken.

His arms were covered in knife wounds, and his blood had stained the entire bathtub red in numerous failed suicide attempts. He was sent to the hospital by the Shen family after they realized Shen Qi Huai had severe mental issues, but they had absolutely not expected his physical problems.

Shen Qi Huai's cancer cells had spread throughout his body, and even with hospital treatment, he had less than a year and a half left, coupled with his severe mental disorders, there was always the possibility of him dying at any moment.

When Shen Qi Huai returned to the Shen family to pack things for the hospital, he overheard a conversation between our father and mother.

The gist was that Shen Qi Huai was no longer viable, and they must bring Shen Qi An back to continue training as an heir.

When Shen Qi Huai heard all this outside the door, it was the first time he harbored a killing intent towards his parents.

"Why... make me live a life worse than death, and yet also make Qi An suffer the same..."