The Billionaire's Hidden Affection

The enthusiasm of the world is limited.

In this era of information explosion, in less than a month, the focus completely shifts.

The initial heated attention and overwhelming discussions quickly change their battleground. Which celebrity had an affair, where did a train derail, which official got involved in a scandal again... News about the crashed plane gradually stops becoming a concern.

The life and death of hundreds become a legend buried by time.

Relatives remain in grief, while others have already moved on.

Only occasionally, during casual chats, people might curse, "What nonsense, there’s still no follow-up after all this time..."

Or they might say, "They must compensate the families a lot of money, right? Could it be a few million? That would be nice..."

And so, everything just fades away without resolution.

Everyone goes back to what they were doing.

This was the first time Wan Donglin returned home in a month.

Liu Daqing heard the sound and came out, but was momentarily stunned. Seeing his son with long hair and beard, looking like a wild man, his whole body gaunt as if he had shed a layer of skin. In the hot weather, who knows how long it had been since he washed or changed clothes, he almost smelled foul.

"Donglin..."

He was unusually exhausted, collapsing onto the sofa without saying a word.

Liu Daqing said gently, "Go take a shower and get some rest."

He agreed, and as Liu Daqing arranged for something to be prepared for him, he turned around and found him already fast asleep on the sofa.

The servant whispered, "Madam, should we wake the third young master?"

She shook her head with a bitter smile, waving them away.

Her torment over the past month was also imaginable. First hearing them release news again and again, then denying it again and again, hope followed by despair... In these years, plane accidents had become commonplace. However, Wan Donglin never gave up, continuously spending money to find underground channels to help search.

She knew it was futile, but you can’t awaken the sanity of a madman.

If spending money could buy peace of mind, she would willingly turn a blind eye.

Even she herself suffered from insomnia night after night, completely unable to believe that such a lively person could vanish from the world overnight.

But truly, she had no news at all.

Gradually, Liu Daqing has begun to accept this reality. Life at seventy is rare, at her age, she’s seen enough of life and death and accepts it with equanimity.

Wan Donglin awoke in the deep of night.

He opened his eyes in confusion, saw the dim light, and his mother wearing reading glasses looking at a newspaper.

"Mom, why aren’t you resting?"

Liu Daqing said kindly, "Are you hungry? I’ll join you for a late-night snack."

What was meant to be a snack turned out to be more sumptuous than a regular meal. Wan Donglin devoured the food ravenously, though he tasted nothing. On the dining table was a bottle of fine white liquor. Liu Daqing poured two glasses, handing one to her son: "Donglin, tonight I’ll have a drink with you."

He desperately needed this drink, took it, tilted his head back, and drank it in one go.

Liu Daqing only sipped a little, then put her glass down. Watching her son pour himself a full glass again, she didn’t stop him, letting him drink as much as he wanted. At a time like this, not drinking might make him sick from holding it all in.

After finishing a bottle of white liquor, Wan Donglin became completely lively.

He chuckled, "Mom, do you feel upset?"

"..."

"Hey, from now on no one will ever call you Empress Dowager again... truly... there will never be anyone in this world who will call you that again..."