After the Breakup, My Ex-Boyfriend’s "White Moonlight" Became Obsessed With Me - Chapter 14

Jin Zhengxiong shifted his gaze toward Yin Zheng, who was standing beside him.

After observing him closely for a moment, realization dawned on him. “You are—you’re that boy from Yin Yuping’s family, aren’t you?”

Yin Zheng nodded and bowed slightly. “Hello, Grandpa Jin. I am Yin Zheng. Yin Yuping is indeed my father.”

Jin Zhengxiong took his hand, patted it, and sighed. “It’s been so many years since I last saw you; I almost didn’t recognize you. I think the last time I saw you, you were only in your teens.”

“Yes. I didn’t expect that after all these years, Grandpa Jin would still remember me.”

Yin Zheng was taller than the old man, so he kept his head slightly lowered while speaking.

Jin Zhengxiong said, “Of course I remember you. Back then, my Lanlan always loved looking for you to play. It’s a pity she had something to do today and couldn’t come; otherwise, you two could have caught up.”

Yin Zheng smiled and said, “I haven’t seen Sister Lan in many years either. I’ll visit her another day to catch up. Today, the most important thing is celebrating your birthday.”

Jin Zhengxiong laughed heartily. “Good, good, good!”

“Grandpa Jin, do you still remember me?”

At that moment, He Yan suddenly popped up, hooking his arm around He Ran’s shoulder with a bright smile.

He Ran couldn’t stand his spineless slouching and nudged him in the waist with his elbow, whispering, “Stand up straight!”

He Yan curled his lip and had no choice but to stand properly.

This was the first time Yin Zheng had met He Yan. Seeing his intimate behavior with He Ran, the smile in his eyes faltered for a split second. However, after seeing He Yan’s face, he relaxed, and the smile returned to his features. He had likely guessed the newcomer’s identity.

Sure enough, a moment later, Jin Zhengxiong laughed loudly and pointed at He Yan. “You rascal, I could forget anyone but you.”

“When you were little, you were always fighting with my Sheng’er. Every time, you’d beat him black and blue, and he’d come back to me crying.”

He Yan was instantly embarrassed. “That—that was just me being young and ignorant. Grandpa Jin, please don’t be mad at me!”

Jin Zhengxiong replied, “Why would I be mad at you? It’s my grandson who still remembers it. He’s always nagging me, saying he’ll settle the score with you the next time he sees you.”

Beside them, Jin Sheng, whose face had been dark ever since He Yan appeared, muttered dissatisfiedly, “When did I ever say that?”

“See, he still won’t admit it!” Jin Zhengxiong laughed again. “It’s a pity that since you went to the capital, there’s been no word from you. This boy was depressed for quite a while.”

“I was not!” Jin Sheng’s ears turned slightly red. “Grandpa, if you keep talking nonsense, I’m going to get angry!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop!”

He Yan awkwardly scratched the tip of his nose, walked over, and draped his arm around Jin Sheng’s shoulder, grinning. “So Brother Sheng still remembers things from when we were kids? How about I let you hit me back tomorrow, okay?”

Jin Sheng wasn’t prepared for the sudden movement. Caught in the embrace, his face flushed instantly as he stammered, “W-what are you talking about? I—I forgot about that long ago. Let go of me!”

He Yan said lightheartedly, “Oh! Don’t be so shy! Come on, let’s go over there and play?”

He turned back to Jin Zhengxiong. “Grandpa Jin, Happy Birthday! I wish you a life as vast as the Eastern Sea and as long as the Southern Mountain! You guys chat; Brother Sheng and I are going over there!”

Jin Zhengxiong waved his hand. “Go on, go on! Just don’t fight!”

He Yan said, “How could we? Don’t worry, Grandpa Jin, I definitely won’t lay a hand on Brother Sheng!”

Before He Ran could say anything, the two had already run off. He could only apologize helplessly to Jin Zhengxiong. “My younger brother is unruly. I hope Grandpa Jin won’t take offense.”

Jin Zhengxiong’s smile was kind. “He’s just a child; it’s better to be lively. You boys enjoy yourselves. If you need anything, just look for your uncles. I won’t stay here and disturb you.”

With that, supported by Jin Jiarong, he went to sit and chat with several older guests.

Once the elders left, He Ran calmed down. He decided to wait until the banquet ended to ask Ji Yang for the truth.

He looked at Yin Zheng and asked suspiciously, “Since you don’t have some shameful relationship with him, why didn’t you just tell me?”

Yin Zheng raised an eyebrow, feigning distress. “Wasn’t it because of you? Every time you see me, it’s like you’ve eaten a firecracker. You never listen long enough for a person to finish their sentence.”

He Ran sneered. “Explaining clearly only takes two sentences. You’re the one who insisted on making things complicated.”

“I just wanted to talk to you a bit more. Having not seen each other for so many years, didn’t you miss me at all?”

A wave of revulsion hit He Ran. He couldn’t help but take a step back, frowning. “Can you stop talking so disgustingly?”

Yin Zheng looked hurt. “Disgusting? These are my sincere feelings!”

“Get lost!”

Yin Zheng sighed, sounding melancholy. “The older you get, the less cute you become. When we were in school, you used to call me ‘Brother Zheng’ with every breath. And now? You tell me to ‘get lost’ at every turn. Sigh—how the world has changed, and hearts have grown cold.”

He Ran couldn’t listen anymore. This man was too good at talking nonsense, and his tone was far too cloying and ambiguous; it made He Ran’s skin crawl. If someone didn’t know better, they would think they actually had some illicit relationship.

He growled in a low voice, “Nonsense! Who ever called you that?”

Yin Zheng said, “You don’t remember? Then let me help you reminisce.”

“Hmm—during your sophomore year, at the graduation dinner for Ji Yang and me, you got drunk, and then—”

“Shut up!”

His voice was a bit too loud, and people nearby looked over curiously.

He Ran’s handsome face flushed with shame. He grabbed Yin Zheng’s arm and pulled him onto the balcony. Releasing him, he hissed angrily, “You still dare to mention that incident!”

Yin Zheng allowed himself to be pulled, following obediently, the smile never leaving his face. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, smiling at him. “Why wouldn’t I dare mention it? Ah! Thinking back, you were so well-behaved then!”

“You!”

He Ran stepped forward and grabbed Yin Zheng’s collar. “I was drunk then!”

He sneered repeatedly. “You played me and then ran off to America. I haven’t even settled that debt with you yet, and you have the nerve to bring it up?”

Yin Zheng’s smile slowly faded. He reached up and held the hand gripping his collar, explaining softly, “Going to America was out of necessity, not because I was afraid of you making trouble for me.”

Perhaps because his gaze was too gentle, He Ran felt an inexplicable sense of unease. He let go, stepped back, and leaned against the railing, feeling his nicotine craving return.

He felt his pockets but couldn’t find any cigarettes, so he asked the man in front of him, “Do you have a smoke?”

Yin Zheng rummaged through his pockets for a while, only to pull out a lollipop. He handed it over with a smile. “I’m quitting. Have this instead.”

He Ran: “…”

He sighed but took it anyway, tearing open the wrapper and popping it into his mouth. The candy was lemon-flavored and a bit sour, but it did a good job of taking the edge off his craving.

After a while, he finally asked, “Hey, why did you suddenly go to America back then?”

Yin Zheng walked to his side, resting his elbows on the railing and looking at the neon lights in the courtyard. The night breeze ruffled a strand of long hair by his ear, and he tucked it back before speaking. “You’ve probably heard that years ago, my family moved the company to America.”

He Ran nodded, the lollipop stick poking out of his mouth as he looked at him. “It’s related to that?”

Yin Zheng gave an affirmative “mm” and continued, “It was my father’s idea, but my grandfather didn’t agree. The two of them had a huge argument over it.”

“But my father—” He paused. “Once he makes up his mind, no one can change it.”

“As my grandfather got older, his health declined and he developed heart trouble. He didn’t have the energy to manage my father anymore, so he let him be.”

“But you know how the environment is abroad; it’s not peaceful. Not long after my father went there, he hit a setback and called my grandfather to come and handle things.”

At this point, he gave a bitter smile. “My father was his only child. He couldn’t just leave him be, so no matter how reluctant he was, he went.”

“To put it nicely, my father was young and impetuous. To put it bluntly, he was reckless and stupid.”

“It wasn’t until my grandfather arrived in America that he realized my father had provoked people who shouldn’t be provoked.”

Hearing this, He Ran turned around to look at him, seemingly guessing what happened next.

Yin Zheng didn’t look at him, continuing, “He slept with the woman of a local gang leader and faced retaliation. He almost lost his life, and the company nearly went bankrupt.”

“After my grandfather reached America, he sought out connections everywhere to help him. On one trip home—”

He looked at He Ran with a wry smile. “Someone planted explosives under the car. By the time I arrived—he had already been cremated.”

He Ran straightened up. With a crack, he bit through the candy in his mouth and couldn’t help but swear.

“Fuck.”

Perhaps because he had never told anyone about this, finishing it all in one breath allowed him to exhale deeply. He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “That was my reason for suddenly going abroad. Now, you should finally believe me, right?”

He Ran didn’t quite catch on. “Believe you about what?”

“Believe that I wasn’t intentionally avoiding you!”

“Fuck—can we stop mentioning that?” He Ran frowned irritably. “Of course I know you wouldn’t avoid me on purpose. Even if you were, there would be no need to go that far.”

Yin Zheng: “…”

He Ran: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Yin Zheng instinctively stood up straighter, his brow twitching slightly. He asked, “You really don’t remember what happened that day?”

He Ran looked blank. “Did something else happen that day? I only remember you making me call you—that thing.”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

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