Lima syndrome

When Bai Jitai returned to his room, he appeared calm on the surface, but in his heart he was already in turmoil. He took off his coat and threw it hard on the bed, and the tie he used to hide his true nature was also pulled askew.

Xu Shiyuan, this ignorant bastard, had to provoke him again and again, and Bai Zhiyan, this bastard, actually dared to glare at him because of him.

He thought that targeting a student with his identity and status was a very degrading thing to do, but Xu Shiyuan was so annoying that he didn't need to show mercy.

Xu Shiyuan went to a women's clothing store, covered in dirt. He carefully selected a new cotton-padded jacket for his mother despite the disgusted and disdainful looks of the shop assistants.

When the stack of bills hit his face and he picked them up one by one and put them away, his unique self-esteem was shattered.

Because he had to go out for a competition, he simply quit his part-time job to focus on his studies. So when he returned home with new clothes, his mother had not yet returned from her night shift.

He looked around his shelter, a semi-basement of less than 30 square meters. There was only one window in the room, which barely let in a ray of sunlight. Every night he had to endure the annoyance of car horns. He had lived in such a harsh environment for more than ten years.

Xu Shiyuan couldn't help but think of the time when he went to Bai Zhiyan's house. He had never seen such a big courtyard, nor such a gorgeous and beautiful house. Even Bai Zhiyan's bedroom was bigger than his home.

There are also the snacks that Bai Zhiyan likes to eat, the clothes he wears of brands he can't recognize, and even the paper and pen he uses when studying. These differences remind him all the time that he and Bai Zhiyan are not from the same world.

What Bai Jitai said that day was not wrong. Class is indeed transmitted through blood, and the first watershed between people is amniotic fluid.

Perhaps the destination that he will have to spend his entire life to reach is where these chaebol families are born into.

He had been in a daze for long enough, until his mother opened the door and startled Xu Shiyuan, who was like a statue.

"Shi Yuan, why did you come home so early today?"

After Xu's mother entered the house, the coldness in her body did not dispel. She unbuttoned her clothes with shaking frostbitten hands. Her movements were stiff and slow. Compared with her peers, she looked ten years older.

Xu Shiyuan put aside his distracting thoughts and forced himself to put on a smile, "Mom, come here and try on the new clothes I bought for you."

"Oh my god Shi Yuan!"

The woman exclaimed and quickly put down the cloth bag in her hand, "How can you afford to buy this for mom? A cotton coat costs a lot of money, right? Did you secretly go to work part-time again?"

Because Xu's mother always hoped that Xu Shiyuan could study with peace of mind, they had a quarrel when she found out that he was secretly working part-time behind her back. Xu Shiyuan also promised her that he would never go out to work again before she let it go.

"How could that be, Mom?" Xu Shiyuan handed over the clothes. "I promised you before that Yinxing will arrange for me to go to Incheon to participate in a competition in two days. This is the prize money for the competition."

"really?"

"Of course, how could I lie to you."

Xu Shiyuan said this without changing his expression. The longer he spent with someone, the more potential he had in becoming a liar.

"But this is definitely not cheap." Xu's mother had a look of joy on her face but also a mixture of heartache in her eyes. She felt that if she were a capable person, why would she need her child to be so sensible.

"It's really not that expensive, try it on and try it on."

Xu Shiyuan helped his mother put on her clothes. The fluffy, soft and warm cotton clothes wrapped around her body quickly dispelled the chill in the room.

Mother Xu was wearing new clothes, her eyes gradually became moist. She gently stroked her son's cheek, full of emotion.

Xu Shiyuan looked at his mother, his heart full of contradictions. He knew that he could not give up his feelings for Bai Zhiyan, but the gap in reality made him hesitate.

He even wanted to overturn all his previous fantasies. Even if he climbed up Bai Zhiyan's high branch and became a superior person, what would it matter? He would still be inferior to him and could never be better than those who were born in Rome.

If I can't be on par with him through my efforts, it would be quicker to drag him into the quagmire.

After being picked on for a whole day, Bai Zhiyan finally got a break after returning to his room. He ignored the annoyance in his heart and opened his suitcase to start packing the things he would need for his outing in two days.

"Beep beep-"

Bai Zhiyan's body trembled when his cell phone rang. He set an exclusive ringtone for Xu Shiyuan. Fortunately it wasn't him, otherwise he would have had a nightmare again tonight.

He turned on his phone and saw a message from Chi Chengxun.

"Ji Yan, when we were investigating illegal debt collection today, a debtor was forcibly taken away by Bai Jitai's people and his organs were removed. His family has contacted me, but I received a report from Bai Jiying because the debtor's family couldn't find Bai Jitai and Bai Zhengren, so they found Bai Jiying."

What a coincidence! Bai Zhiyan was thinking about how to bring Ji Chengxun and Bai Jiying together so that they could work together, but he didn't expect the opportunity to come so soon.

"Brother Chengxun, this is a good opportunity. Bai Jiying said before that she wanted to cooperate with me, so there is no need to hide our relationship from her."

"That's what I was thinking, so I explained our relationship to Bai Jiying. Although she was surprised for a moment, she quickly accepted it and expressed her willingness to cooperate with me."

This is a good thing. Bai Jiying is willing to join forces with Ji Chengxun to deal with Bai Zhengren and Bai Jitai, and their chances of winning are increased by one point.

"That's great, Chengxun, you must protect yourself."

"I will, but Bai Jitai is insidious and cunning. Even if we receive the debtor's family, we can't get any evidence of Bai Jitai's crime. I'm afraid the time we agreed with you will be delayed again."

"It's okay. Bai Jitai's frequency of causing trouble for me has decreased a lot recently."

It was clear that Bai Jitai was bullying him just today, and this was a comforting lie told by Bai Zhiyan.

"That's good. Remember to come to me if you have any problems. n_n"

“I will, Seung-hoon.”

After chatting with Ji Seung-hoon, Bai Zhiyan's fatigue of the day was relieved. He put away the packed suitcase and fell asleep holding his mobile phone.

The next day, as soon as Bai Zhiyan entered the classroom, he was found by the anxious counselor.

"Student Bai Zhiyan, I finally waited for you."

"What's wrong, teacher?"

Bai Zhiyan's arm was held tightly by him, and he looked at him in panic.

"I'm going to take you to take the make-up exam. Incheon needs your scores in all subjects. Come with me quickly."

The counselor hurriedly pulled Bai Zhiyan away, and as soon as he walked out the door, he bumped into Xu Shiyuan who had just entered the classroom.

After the two collided, the counselor was knocked back a few steps by Xu Shiyuan, and Bai Zhiyan was also affected.

"Ugh, my shoulder!"

Xu Shiyuan looked at the counselor's grinning face and wanted to apologize to him, but as soon as he lowered his head, he saw Bai Zhiyan's wrist being held by him.

His eyes darkened, and he pretended to be worried about the counselor's injury, turning his body around and distanced himself from Bai Zhiyan without leaving a trace.

"Teacher, are you okay? I didn't see you."

Xu Shiyuan looked at the counselor with a guilty look on his face. It was his fault that he was too flustered.

He waved his hand, "I'm fine, class monitor, you should go back to class, I still have to take Zhiyan to the make-up exam."

"Well, teacher, you are busy." Xu Shiyuan bowed slightly and continued to walk into the classroom and approach Bai Zhiyanshi, cheering him up with a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Do well in the exam, and let's work hard together when we get to Incheon."

A chill came over Bai Zhiyan. He was now wondering whether it was a mistake to agree to participate in the competition on impulse.

There was only one subject that needed a make-up exam, and the school gave Bai Zhiyan a new set of test questions. Based on the cramming he had done in the past few days and the experience he had learned once in his previous life, Bai Zhiyan still easily got the second place after the results came out.

The date for going to Incheon was set for Friday and Saturday. Bai Zhiyan and Xu Shiyuan took the vehicle arranged by Yinxing to Incheon together. The school there also enthusiastically sent people to pick them up.

Xu Shiyuan still looked indifferent, Bai Zhiyan couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry, but he was very annoyed.

Although Xu Shiyuan didn't take the initiative to talk to him along the way, Bai Zhiyan could feel a vague gaze staring at him, making him feel creepy all over.

"Shi Yuan, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I didn't expect Baek Ji Tae to do that to you."

Bai Zhiyan spoke first to break the silence. He was not yet at the point where he could break up with Xu Shiyuan, not to mention that Bai Jitai's sudden appearance yesterday was not within his imagination.

When Xu Shiyuan heard him mention what happened yesterday, his face instantly turned ugly, and he finally lowered his head to hide the burning gaze.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Zhiyan. I'm more worried that Director Bai will hurt you when he's angry than me being insulted."

"He won't do anything to me."

When Xu Shiyuan looked up again, his face was full of worry. He naturally grabbed Bai Zhiyan's arms and looked at his face carefully, as if trying to find signs of him lying.

But Bai Zhiyan had been disguising himself for so long that he only had a formulaic smile that made it impossible to find any flaws.

"I'm glad you're okay. I really feel guilty. I didn't expect your brother to have such a strong control over you."

Not only did he not expect it, Bai Zhiyan himself didn't dare to think about it.

"It should be because of the incident with Park Jun at school. He was very angry at that time. Since then, he has always strictly restrained me to prevent me from causing trouble. It's just that I am used to being casual, so we always quarrel over such things. But he won't be really angry with me, so you really don't have to worry."

Bai Zhiyan blurted out a long string of words without thinking. His ability to lie to Xu Shiyuan was getting stronger and stronger, and this kind of lie came out easily for him.

Xu Shiyuan secretly clenched his fists. He just wanted to sow discord between Bai Zhiyan and Bai Jita in front of Bai Zhiyan, not to listen to his nonsense to exonerate Bai Jita.

"Okay, it seems I was overthinking it. As long as you're okay, that's fine."

After the topic ended, the two of them didn't speak again in the car.

After arriving at Hanying College in Incheon, they were immediately invited to the teaching building, and before they had time to rest, they were pulled onto the competition stage.

Before they came, the counselor also told them that this competition was just a friendly match between the two schools, so there was no need to feel too much pressure and they could just deal with it casually.

So Bai Zhiyan followed the instructions carefully and did not put any pressure on himself. While everyone was still thinking hard, he was the first to finish answering the questions, hand in his paper and walk out of the examination room.

But he was unfamiliar with Hanying and didn't want to wander around by himself. Besides, he was not in the mood to hang around here.

There has been no news from Ji Seung-hoon since he got on the car today. He really wanted to ask him how the talk with Baek Je-young went, and he was also worried that their investigation into Baek Je-tae would be exposed.

But he didn't dare to send messages to Chi Chengxun casually, because he said that his job was special and he needed to delete all the messages on his mobile phone at any time without leaving any traces. Bai Zhiyan was afraid that he would be caught if he sent him a message, so later when there was something important to say, Chi Chengxun would contact him first.

"Ugh……"

Bai Zhiyan leaned on the railing by the window in the teaching building lobby, his eyes full of worry.

"Ji Yan, what's wrong with you? Why are you sighing?"

A gloomy and familiar voice sounded, Bai Zhiyan's brows twitched slightly, but he did not turn his head and still had his back to Xu Shiyuan.

"Nothing, just feeling bored."

"Boring?" Xu Shiyuan repeated. After a moment of silence, he seemed to have thought of something. When he spoke again, every word he spoke carried an unspeakable warmth.

"There's no difference between Hanying and Yinxing. It's really boring. Why don't we go out for a walk?"

Bai Zhiyan suppressed his emotions. He had no desire to hang out with Xu Shiyuan. Bai Jitai insulted him like that yesterday, but he could still pretend nothing happened. Who knows what he was planning in his heart.

"No, Shiyuan, you go out by yourself. I'd better go back to the dormitory that Hanying arranged for me."

After he said that, he left without looking back.

“Jiyeon, have you ever been to the Han River?”

Xu Shiyuan's voice sounded slowly behind him, and with just one sentence, Bai Zhiyan was frozen in place, unable to move.

When his mother's health problems first started to show, Bai Zhiyan had heard her talk about her experience of visiting the Han River when she was young, and they had agreed to go there again. But things are unpredictable, and his mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer and never left the hospital again.

There were countless regrets between him and his mother, and these regrets were like heavy shackles that made him breathless. The promises and agreements he had made were like sharp thorns that pierced his heart mercilessly. Every time he completed one, it was like pulling out a thorn from his body, accompanied by endless pain and blood.

Every attempt to make amends was a difficult battle, and he tried his best to fulfill the promises he made to his mother. However, every effort made him realize that the past could not be undone, and what was lost could never be recovered.

But it is in this way that he finds a way to reconnect with his mother, allowing her presence to continue forever in his heart.

Just like the road of no return he chose after returning alone, even though his skin was torn and blood was flowing like a river, he still walked firmly on this thorny road.

Seeing him stop, Xu Shiyuan took advantage of the situation and quickened his pace to walk in front of him. "It's very close to the Han River from here, Zhiyan, don't you want to go and take a look?"

He wanted to, more than anyone else.