In the infusion room, since it was still early, only the two of them were there. Outside, however, some people had already come to pick up their medication.
Zhu Yun Xuan looked at Li Rui and thought about the things he had seen in Li Rui’s bag earlier. He couldn’t help but feel a little envious. The money Li Rui carried with him was probably something his parents would have to work an entire month to earn, not to mention that he even had a pager, which was quite extravagant. “Why did you suddenly come to my house?” he asked.
“I…” Li Rui sighed, “I wanted to see you.”
Zhu Yun Xuan didn’t respond and avoided the topic. “Did you get hit? Your forehead is all red, and your finger looks like this…” The child he had met in his previous life, when he was eleven, seemed to have run away because of abuse, right?
Li Rui thought for a moment, then told him everything that had happened since his rebirth. He continued, “My grandparents have always been very biased. Everyone thinks that since I have such a rich mother, I shouldn’t ask for anything else. But the life I live is worse than even my cousins.” Actually, the material neglect wasn’t the worst part. What hurt him the most was how everyone ignored him.
His grandfather pampered his cousin to the bone, and his grandmother always took his cousin with her wherever she went. Yet, he was often left locked in the house alone… Everyone else had parents. He did too, but it was as if he didn’t. He saw them at most once a month.
That was bad enough, but his mother had high expectations for him and didn’t like the way he hesitated, and his father treated others better than he treated him!
“Do you want to change your current situation?” Zhu Yun Xuan asked, his eyes wide. He had always been the most favored in his family, and for a rich kid like Li Rui… well, in the countryside, some parents were biased like this, but it was mostly biased toward sons over daughters. It was rare for parents to treat their only child this way.
“If I didn’t want to change, I wouldn’t have run away.” Li Rui replied. In his previous life, he had been a child who didn’t even know he could rebel, and it wasn’t until he was eleven that he realized his mother was different. But this time, it was different. He didn’t want to stay in that house, bullied by his cousin and having his things taken by his cousin.
“If you want to change, you better bring them here now and let them see the consequences.” Zhu Yun Xuan glanced at Li Rui’s finger and spoke.
“Mm.” Li Rui nodded. Originally, he just wanted to see Zhu Yun Xuan and then follow his mother to Shanghai, but now that Zhu Yun Xuan had been reborn too…
“Zhu… Yun Xuan, now that you’ve been reborn, what do you want to do?” Li Rui asked, looking at the chubby child.
His own goals were pretty clear, but what about Zhu Yun Xuan? What did he want to do?
“I want to make sure my family lives a good life. If possible, I also hope to live a good life myself.” Zhu Yun Xuan said. However, while it sounded simple, it was much harder to achieve, especially the second part.
“I also hope that I can have a good life in this lifetime…”
Li Rui looked at Zhu Yun Xuan, hesitated for a moment, then grasped his hand. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure!” Zhu Yun Xuan quickly withdrew his hand, smiling as he agreed, but secretly grumbling to himself, he might still be a kid, but that didn’t mean people could take advantage of him!
Once Li Rui’s IV was finished, he hurried to the bathroom, his stomach growling as he was starving, after only eating part of the lunch from yesterday noon, the only thing he had eaten since arriving in Wende Town was a few meat buns.
“I don’t have any money on me, but you do, right? Let’s go get some soy milk and sesame flatbreads at the shop outside!” There was a shop selling sesame flatbreads and fried dough sticks right outside the health clinic, and Zhu Yun Xuan had seen it when he first came in.
Zhu Yun Xuan pulled out the change that Li Rui had used to buy buns the day before, after all, if a kid were to walk around with ten yuan to buy food, people would definitely get suspicious.
Li Rui had a fever, but after an IV drip, he felt a little better. As for the injury on his finger, he had endured it for so long that he couldn’t just give up now.
At this moment, the fried dough sticks cost three mao each, and they were even larger than the ones sold for one yuan each twenty years later. The sesame flatbreads came in various prices, from fifty mao to seventy mao, or even one yuan, depending on what the customer wanted.
Zhu Yun Xuan ordered two sesame flatbreads at seven mao each, two fried dough sticks, and two bowls of salty soy milk, then sat down at a table outside.
Because the health clinic was right next to the village’s primary and secondary schools, this sesame flatbread shop was usually quite busy, but now, during the summer vacation, it wasn’t as crowded. Still, many people came for breakfast, mostly kids.
Some elderly people would come to buy fried dough sticks, dipping them in soy sauce to eat with porridge, or they would chop them into small pieces, add salt and monosodium glutamate, then soak them in hot water to make “fried dough stick soup,” which was also considered a dish.
The southern-style sesame flatbreads were made with lard, salt, sugar, onions, and pickled vegetables, wrapped up and then rolled thin with a rolling pin, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and pressed against the oven wall to bake. When they were fresh, they were crispy, and when paired with fried dough sticks, they were even more delicious. Of course, the ingredients could be adjusted according to one’s taste.
The soy milk served later would be quite diluted, but the soy milk here was thick. The salty soy milk, made with soy sauce, had pickled mustard greens, fried dough sticks, and green onions in it. When it was served, Zhu Yun Xuan added some local chili sauce and vinegar.
“Vinegar in the soy milk?” Li Rui, who had placed the fried dough stick in the sesame flatbread and took a bite, was a bit surprised.
“I just like it this way,” Zhu Yun Xuan replied. Since the vinegar had curdled the soy milk, he used a spoon to scoop it out and eat it.
Both kids had small appetites, but the portions of soy milk and fried dough sticks were enough. At first, Zhu Yun Xuan hadn’t noticed this, but when he did, he immediately put down the sesame flatbread that he had only taken two bites of. “Let’s share a sesame flatbread. I’ll take less, I already had porridge at home.” Even though the porridge didn’t fill him up.
Li Rui’s eyes brightened. He was already happy enough to be eating alone with Zhu Yun Xuan, and now he could share food… He really wanted to give Zhu Yun Xuan the part he had bitten off, but after looking at his expression, he reluctantly had the uncle who was making the sesame flatbreads cut a piece from the untouched part for Zhu Yun Xuan.
The two of them finished breakfast, and just as they did, Jiang Yue Xiu arrived, riding a bicycle. When she saw Zhu Yun Xuan eating the sesame flatbread, she immediately went to pay.
“Mom, he already paid!” Zhu Yun Xuan spoke up right away, then handed the sesame flatbread he hadn’t eaten to Jiang Yue Xiu. “Mom, here, eat.”
“Why did you buy an extra one?” Jiang Yue Xiu patted her son’s head.
“It’s not like that. This sesame flatbread is mine. I can’t finish it,” Zhu Yun Xuan smiled at his mother.
Li Rui stood aside, watching as Jiang Yue Xiu immediately picked up the already heavy Zhu Yun Xuan. He suddenly realized that, in his memories, no one had ever held him like that.
Jiang Yue Xiu bit into the sesame flatbread. When she saw that Li Rui’s condition had improved a lot, she was about to take him to the police station, but Zhu Yun Xuan stopped her. While pulling Jiang Yue Xiu back to the health clinic, he spoke, “Mom, Li Rui knows how to contact his family!”
“You know how to contact your family? Do you need to make a call?” Back then, installing a telephone at home still cost a lot of money, and the Zhu family didn’t have one. However, places like the health clinic had telephones.
Li Rui didn’t understand what Jiang Yue Xiu was saying but roughly understood the meaning. He took out the mobile phone from his bag and started fiddling with it, putting in the battery he had taken out earlier, though he didn’t say a word.
“This isn’t a toy?” Jiang Yue Xiu asked in surprise. A mobile phone! She had only seen toy versions that used two AA batteries!
However, no one answered her, as the moment the battery was installed, the mobile phone rang.
Li Rui answered the phone but didn’t speak. He looked at Jiang Yue Xiu.
Jiang Yue Xiu took the mobile phone and looked around before cautiously holding it up to her ear. Then Zhu Yun Xuan also leaned in.
The voice on the other end wasn’t loud, but it was clear that the person had amplified their voice and was shouting: “Xiao Rui, is that you? Xiao Rui?”
Jiang Yue Xiu didn’t know how to respond. She was stunned, and while she was still in a daze, the voice changed: “Who are you? Isn’t this Xiao Rui? Is Xiao Rui with you? What do you want?”
A rapid-fire, female voice came through, and Jiang Yue Xiu was even more not sure of what to say.
Zhu Yun Xuan glanced at Li Rui, who was planning to play dumb, and then looked at his somewhat helpless mother. He decided to take the phone from Jiang Yue Xiu.
“Hello, hello!”
“Hello, can you hear me? Is this Xiao Rui?” The woman’s voice on the other end sounded impatient.
“I can hear you. I’m not Xiao Rui, but this mobile phone belongs to him. He’s currently in the hospital,” Li Rui replied in standard Mandarin. He wasn’t worried about Jiang Yue Xiu suspecting him, as he had already been in kindergarten for two years. Even though the teachers in the rural kindergarten often spoke in the local dialect, they always used Mandarin for nursery rhymes and such.
“What happened to Xiao Rui?” Zheng Xiaoqing quickly asked. She had just learned the night before that her second son was missing, and she was frantic. She had searched all night but found no clues!
At this moment, she could no longer focus on the matters in Shanghai, so she quickly returned to Hangzhou.
She was already full of anger when she returned, but upon facing her equally anxious husband and confused in-laws, knowing her son was still at home when her husband returned, even her short temper couldn’t flare up recklessly!
However, she was extremely worried, and others were still criticizing Li Rui for being thoughtless. Even she couldn’t help but feel upset, how could a child take money from home and run away? What was going on?
Yet, just like Li Yue, even if they were angry about their son’s behavior, he was still their son. In comparison, the concern was greater. After finally getting through on the phone and hearing her son was in the hospital, she was even more frantic.
“When we found him, his finger was broken, and he had a fever. After we gave him an injection, he wouldn’t wake up!” Zhu Yun Xuan glanced at Li Rui, who sensibly lay down on the makeshift bed in the health clinic.
“What?!” Zheng Xiaoqing was already panicked. “Where is [1]“Xiao” (小) means “little” or “young” jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1673862_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1673862_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Xiao Rui?”
“I don’t know where this place is… Mom, where are we?” Zhu Yun Xuan asked his mother for the address, and his last sentence was in the local dialect.
Of course, he knew his home address, but it was difficult for a child to articulate it clearly, though he was incredibly smart in his mother’s eyes, he was well aware that, in his previous life, he hadn’t even learned to write his own name until he attended kindergarten in town.
After hanging up the phone, the woman called again several times.
Jiang Yue Xiu had a lot to do at home, so she couldn’t stay and accompany Li Rui, who had suddenly “fallen unconscious” again. Since it was already 10 a.m., she went home to cook. Zhu Yun Xuan, on the other hand, stayed behind.
At that time, most people were still simple-hearted. Jiang Yue Xiu, thinking that Li Rui was the child of a wealthy family who had gotten lost, naturally didn’t mind helping more. She fully supported Zhu Yun Xuan staying with him and even mentioned that she would bring food for both of them once the meal was ready.
Zhu Yun Xuan immediately nodded. He hadn’t appreciated his mother’s cooking when he had it every day, but now that he hadn’t tasted it for several years, he missed it terribly. Every meal now was a treat he could never get tired of!
In Zhu Yun Xuan’s mind, Li Rui’s parents would probably arrive from Hangzhou in the afternoon, but unexpectedly, not long after Jiang Yue Xiu had left, Zhu Yun Xuan received another call from her. Shortly afterward, a car stopped at the entrance of the health clinic. A woman in professional attire and a handsome man walked toward the building.
Li Rui really looked like his father! Zhu Yun Xuan couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw the man, then shifted his gaze to the woman in front, wearing high heels and walking very quickly.
“Auntie, are you Li Rui’s mother?” This woman appeared older than Jiang Yue Xiu but had taken excellent care of herself, looking even younger.
“Where is Li Rui?” Zheng Xiaoqing’s face soured as she saw the small health clinic. How could her son’s finger be treated here in such a place?
“Li Rui is inside!” Zhu Yun Xuan could sense the imposing presence of this woman, a result of her long-standing position of authority. If it were anyone else, they might have been intimidated, but he stared right back at her. A woman who only saw her son a few times a year… just thinking about it made him angry!
This child is so bold. Zheng Xiaoqing shot Zhu Yun Xuan a look, then walked inside. After all, her son was more important!
Li Rui was lying on the bed, his eyes open, but silent.
He was thinking a lot. He was reborn and didn’t want to live with his grandparents anymore, nor did he want to play the same timid, stuttering child he once was. He decided to seize this opportunity to free himself!
Zheng Xiaoqing immediately saw Li Rui. Seeing that he was clearly fine, the anger she had been suppressing exploded. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her tone was harsh: “What’s wrong with you? Taking money from home and running off, and now look at what happened to you!”
“You little brat!” Li Yue also entered, and upon seeing Li Rui, he was furious. “You’ve been spoiled rotten! Running away from home like this! I’ll beat you to death!”
Zhu Yun Xuan was somewhat stunned. They had finally found the child, and yet this was their response? No wonder Li Rui wanted him to play along with the act!
He rushed forward and slapped Li Yue on the leg. “You bad person!”
“What are you doing?!” Li Yue grabbed Zhu Yun Xuan, even angrier now that a country bumpkin had slapped him!
“You’re all bad people! You didn’t give Xiao Rui any food, and you even broke his finger! Xiao Rui said he doesn’t want to go back, so let him live with me from now on. My parents are really nice!” Zhu Yun Xuan raised his head and said sternly.
Zheng Xiaoqing was stunned. She thought Li Rui was injured after leaving home. Could he have been beaten? Didn’t Li Yue say Xiao Rui had been throwing a tantrum and they had scolded him?
“Xiao Rui said he’s a child no one wants. He’s locked up at home every day. From now on, let him play with me, and don’t let him go back home to be bullied by his brother and sister!” Zhu Yun Xuan spoke again, his round, chubby face full of seriousness, as he looked at the two adults whose expressions changed repeatedly.
References[+]