Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1226: Deepening cracks

"Lin."

Opening the cafe’s doors, he came face to face with Shui. He looked taken aback.

"You...I thought you left."

"Why did you think I would leave?" Her eyes narrowed.

She approached closer and peered into his tired eyes. A tinge of redness was tucked away somewhere in the corner of his eyes.

Lin smiled. "I am fine. I will get busy now. We have to open the cafe."

"...You don’t have to work today."

"I do, or it would become a habit."

Shui was waiting for Lin to talk about it.

Did he meet his parents? Did he talk to them? What was going on in his mind?

There were so many questions Shui wanted to hear about from him, but it was evident that he was avoiding that topic. She wondered if she should ask but decided against it.

From behind a pillar, Cai was spying on them with his eyes even more fatigued and redder than Lin’s.

"Cai. What are you doing there?"

He stiffened and almost hit his head against the pillar.

"Is today’s stock all set?" He blinked.

"I-I..."

He nodded. "It’s okay. We will check on it together. You get freshen up."

"Bro..."

Lin walked towards him and patted his head. "I know it’s hard, but we will be okay."

Though his words meant to provide reassurance, they lacked his usual confidence. It was as if he himself carried a hint of hesitation.

"Are you mad at me, Bro..." he bit his lip, tears brimming his eyes.

"No. Why would I?"

"You don’t have to hold back."

"I am not holding myself back, nor am I lying about it. I know why you did what you did. It’s okay, Cai."

He patted his head again and headed in the kitchen.

"Bro is upset," Cai pressed his lips as Shui approached him.

"I can see that...He doesn’t want to talk about it."

"I don’t know what to do."

Shui didn’t know herself what to do either. No amount of flowery words were going to dial down the severity of Hou Luli’s reality.

"Let’s just wait for him..."

—

But days passed by, yet Lin hadn’t said a word about Hou Luli. He remained busy with cafe work. The only part that had changed over these days that Shui noticed it very obviously was Zhong Sihan becoming a repeat customer. He would simply take a table and order a bunch of dishes throughout the day while also never toning down his flamboyant personality.

Shui, who was another repeat customer, asked Cai, "Something is the matter between them. Lin obviously makes it a point not to serve him. He dumps it every time on you."

"You noticed that too? I thought I was the only one. Bro is actively avoiding him. I don’t understand why. Did they fight?"

"It’s actually easy to get into a fight when Zhong Sihan is the other person," she dryly said. "He has definitely pissed him off somehow."

"Hey! You are dilly-dallying a lot, huh?"

Cai hurried over. "I am sorry. Your order will be ready in ten minutes."

He folded his arms. "No, I am not satisfied. I want to talk to your manager."

Shui’s brow twitched.

"There is no manager here. It’s just me and Bro."

"Then call the owner."

"He is busy in the kitchen. You tell me what you want to say, I will pass on the message."

"I don’t want to play passing the parcel game. I want to see the owner. As a customer, I am extremely dissatisfied."

"He is busy."

"Do you want me to leave a bad review online?"

Shui finally couldn’t take it and said, "Okay, enough is enough. As you know, Lin has enough on his plate already. Why do you want to piss him off even more?"

"Because he refuses to meet his future father."

"Go on like this and that meeting will never happen. You are making it difficult for him to work."

He sneered. "I won’t leave till he shows his face to me."

Her eyes narrowed and the air like an invisible lightning crackled between them.

The day then continued and ended just like any other day and it had gotten late in the evening, yet Zhong Sihan hadn’t moved an inch from his chair.

"It’s time to close the cafe," Lin approached him and plainly said.

"Hah! The owner finally shows his face."

"You need to stop doing this."

"Then you need to start talking to me," he raised a brow. "What do you think silence will help you with?"

"Peace."

"Peace is always an illusion."

"What do you want?"

"Sign the adoption papers."

Lin didn’t give him any further chance. "Cai, escort him out-"

"AFTER - Listen to me completely, you brat. I am not done talking."

Zhong Sihan tapped his fingers on the table as if giving it one last thought.

"Sit."

Lin took the other chair.

"Okay, it has been brought to my notice that the continuous lying about my health and giving you fake emergency calls might be the reason you are blatantly ignoring me like this."

He didn’t say anything.

"So I won’t do that anymore," his expression, however, didn’t completely match his sentiments. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Good."

"So when are you going to sign the adoption papers?"

"I am not going to sign the papers."

His gaze darkened. "Okay, I have lost my patience with you! Who do you think you are to always keep rejecting me like this? Don’t forget that I took care of you in prison, which is why you even got a spine to begin with! But you keep humiliating me like this over and over again!"

He got up, his temper flaring like a volcano.

"Fine then! If you don’t want to become my son, then don’t be. Not like I am losing out on anything here. Go and keep serving those selfish parents of yours like a damn servant! Sure, your mother’s impending death would melt your heart, wouldn’t it? Filial piety should be shown towards those who deserve it. But yeah, go ahead and think about the past and people that don’t matter anymore, instead of those who-"

Zhong Sihan stopped midway pinching his lips hard. He looked away, not wanting to meet his gaze anymore.

"Good luck with you and your damn parents."

"Mr. Zhong-"

But he had stormed off the cafe, never to return again.