To be a little onion for one more week…
Seeing that Li Xingchuan still stood motionless on the spot, Li Shenglan added another sentence: “I don’t need an employee like you.”
Li Xingchuan looked up at him, his spine suddenly straightening into a rigid line.
At just over one meter thirty, he was already considered quite tall among his peers, but he was ultimately still a child.
However, at this moment, the face reflected in Li Shenglan’s eyes revealed a look that didn’t belong at this age—
It was a kind of quasi-confrontational coldness and competitive spirit, the kind only seen at a negotiation table.
Li Shenglan was momentarily dazed.
It was as if he had suddenly come face-to-face with a mirror.
An inexplicable sense of gratification and superiority welled up from the bottom of his heart—he was actually feeling a faint pride for this precocious maturity in his son that went beyond his age.
After all, he is my child.
My own flesh and blood.
Li Shenglan thought to himself.
Li Xingchuan looked at him and asked solemnly: “Do I not have any value that you can make use of?”
His tone was too serious.
It was as if he were truly participating in an interview where no room for joking was allowed.
Li Shenglan couldn’t help but chuckle lowly: “I do.”
“What?” On that face of Li Xingchuan’s, usually numb and unruly, a rare trace of blankness appeared, as if he hadn’t understood, or as if he were waiting for something.
“I need a normal, obedient, and worry-free son.”
Li Shenglan paused slightly and said slowly: “But you don’t fit the bill.”
“I can do it.” Li Xingchuan took a step forward. “You just need to give me money. I can be normal, obedient, and worry-free.”
The slightly upturned corners of Li Shenglan’s mouth slowly leveled out.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze resting on Li Xingchuan’s face for a moment: “There is one more condition—you must be someone I can hold my head high about, someone I can present to others.”
When the words fell, he realized that his habitually steady fingers were actually trembling slightly.
He calmly withdrew his hand and added another sentence: “You have to be a filial son who can handle being in the public eye. You cannot let me feel humiliated whenever others bring you up.”
Li Xingchuan said: “Okay, I can do it.”
“As long as you increase the money.”
“In the future, you can increase any conditions at any time.”
“As long as you add money—add enough money. Even if you break my legs, I won’t run away again.”
“Xingchuan,” Li Shenglan’s voice deepened, “then you cannot intentionally disgrace me anymore.”
“Are you determined?”
Li Xingchuan suddenly raised his head, as if terrified that Li Shenglan might go back on his word: “Call your assistant over.”
“Let’s sign the agreement now.”
“Right now.”
Li Shenglan lowered his eyes, and a fine streak of cold light swept across the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses.
His voice was low, sounding begrudgingly willing: “Very well.”
However, the fingertips falling on his phone screen were moving so fast they blurred—
[Xiao Zhao, come to the manor immediately.]
[Old Chen, come to the manor immediately.]
From nine in the morning until seven in the evening.
The four people in the study were so busy they didn’t even leave the room to eat.
—The extra person was Li Xingchuan’s psychologist, Dr. Chen.
Li Xingchuan didn’t feel that a psychologist needed to be present to sign this kind of contract.
But Dr. Chen said he just happened to be coming to report other matters to Li Shenglan and coincidentally caught this moment, so he kindly offered to help Li Xingchuan look it over, to let this “Party B” suffer fewer losses.
—He also reminded him that Li Shenglan’s assistant was a professional person from the University of Politics and Law, and that Li Xingchuan, being alone, could easily be tricked by the clauses.
After some thought, Li Xingchuan nodded in agreement.
At 7:00 PM, the contract finally reached the “final version” that satisfied Party A.
Li Xingchuan opened the document and saw that Li Shenglan had added dozens of trivial patches to the previous version, even becoming as specific as:
“Party B, Li Xingchuan, shall not engage in uncivilized behaviors such as throwing bowls or overturning tables for any reason during meals…”
Some clauses simply made Li Xingchuan want to laugh:
“In public, Party B, Li Xingchuan, shall not call Party A, Li Shenglan, by his full name, and must address Party A as ‘Dad’ in a friendly manner…”
Li Xingchuan had no opinion on those nitpicky requirements.
It was just acting, anyway.
He used to hear people say that money is hard to earn and excrement is hard to eat; at the time, he thought the saying was vulgar, dirty, and unbearable to the ear, never imagining he would have to eat excrement himself one day.
He impatiently flipped to the clauses where money could be added—for example:
“If Party A, Li Shenglan, requires Party B, Li Xingchuan, to accompany him to specific occasions, Party A has the right to notify Party B at any time and inquire about his willingness to accompany him. If Party B agrees to accompany him, the single appearance fee shall be ¥100,000 (one hundred thousand yuan only).”
When signing his name, Li Xingchuan couldn’t help it, and after pondering repeatedly, he still asked: “Li… that is, Dad…”
“Do you have any specific occasions recently that require me, Party B, to attend?”
A look of sudden blankness also appeared on Li Shenglan’s face.
It wasn’t until Dr. Chen stepped on his foot under the table that he came back to his senses.
Li Shenglan deepened his voice and sounded begrudgingly willing: “Not necessarily.”
—He still remembered what Dr. Chen had told him back then: taming Li Xingchuan must be like fishing. You can’t be too far, you can’t be too near; you have to treat yourself as a carrot and treat Li Xingchuan as a stubborn donkey.
But no sooner had he finished speaking than Dr. Chen suddenly gave a soft “Oh?” on the side:
“Mr. Li, have you forgotten? Isn’t there a children’s charity gala next week? Those old-school figures will all bring their proudest children to attend. You mentioned a while ago that if Xingchuan were more obedient, taking him would be quite face-saving—after all, in terms of appearance and temperament, Xingchuan is far more outstanding than those little brats in their families.”
Li Xingchuan immediately responded: “Party B agrees to accompany him.”
Seeing Li Shenglan just staring at him without speaking, Li Xingchuan suppressed the nervousness in his heart, raised his face, and his voice sounded as if he were using a loudspeaker:
“Dad!”
“Party B agrees to accompany him.”
“That hundred thousand yuan—can it be paid to Party B in advance?”
No matter how loudly Li Xingchuan shouted that “Dad,” the hundred thousand yuan ultimately couldn’t be obtained in advance.
—Li Shenglan even took this opportunity to advise him at a leisurely pace: in the business world, rules are supreme.
Li Xingchuan replied with outward submissiveness, “I have remembered, thank you for the teaching, Dad,” but in his heart, he wished he could bite through Li Shenglan’s cane on the spot and give him a fierce eye-roll.
Li Xingchuan pushed open the study door and walked out in a polite and presentable manner.
Behind him came a soft “creak,” and the door was closed.
The submissive and peaceful expression on his face faded away completely in an instant, and dark clouds gathered in the bottom of his eyes.
He exhaled a long, heavy breath of pent-up foul air.
—But as soon as he thought of the hundred thousand yuan he could get next week, and the monthly contract fee arriving at the end of the month, a faint light reignited in those pitch-black pupils.
The money earned from Li Shenglan’s hands was not included in the mandatory repayments. He could save it, or spend it freely at any time!
Be a little onion for one more week, Su Tang.
Next week, there will be new clothes to wear.
Thinking this, Li Xingchuan’s mouth hooked into a long, almost cruel arc.
The expression on his face was terrifyingly gloomy, yet a wicked smile hung at the corners of his lips.
Passing servants dared not make eye contact with him; one by one, as if they had seen a ghost, they lowered their heads and carefully walked around him.
Su Tang recovered on the second day.
His illness was always like this.
As long as it didn’t trigger severe coughing or asthma, most common headaches and fevers came and went quickly.
Grandpa said that Li Xingchuan had come to look for him a total of three times while he was sick, but he had been in a deep sleep all three times.
So, Li Xingchuan hadn’t entered the room to disturb him.
On the third day, Su Tang waited and waited, but couldn’t wait for Brother to come.
Grandpa had gone to work, and he was the only one left in the house. Although the new home was beautiful and bright, he still felt lonely.
He laid prone in his own little study, earnestly taking out his character practice book to do tracing exercises.
After practicing for five or six pages, he noticed the font in the book was becoming increasingly messy. Finally, with a dim look in his eyes, he put down his pen and jumped off the chair.
—He planned to secretly defy Grandpa’s instruction of “not allowed to go to Li Xingchuan’s house on your own initiative” and go look for Brother himself.
But just at this moment, the doorbell rang.
Su Tang trotted over to open the door for Li Xingchuan. While opening it, he called out: “Brother, Brother!”
Hearing Su Tang open the door, Li Xingchuan began to knock lightly: “Knock, knock, knock.”
—Su Tang actually didn’t understand why Brother had to knock extra every time he came, when Grandpa and he were already opening the door. It was like some kind of ritual.
But he believed Brother must have his own reasons, so he didn’t find Brother strange.
Su Tang stood on his tiptoes to open the door and couldn’t wait to pounce forward, tugging at Li Xingchuan’s sleeve and shaking it: “Brother, Brother, today is Sunday!”
“Brother said last time that on Sunday you would take me to the little garden to see the newly bloomed plum blossoms.”
“Is Brother here to take me to see them!”
Li Xingchuan lowered his head, looked at Su Tang’s hand tugging at his sleeve, and said, “We are going to see the plum blossoms.”
“But we’ll see them inside the house.”
—The wind outside was very strong today.
Su Tang tilted his head, his pretty eyes, which were exceptionally damp after his illness, staring at Li Xingchuan for a while.
He clapped his hands lightly and said: “Okay, okay!”
“In which room are we going to see them?”
Li Xingchuan took a large square box out of the bag he was carrying.
Su Tang’s eyes widened, his deer-like pupils sparkling and full of curiosity.
The box was opened, and零 scattered little parts “clattered” onto the table.
Su Tang circled the table happily: “Brother, Brother, are these plum blossoms?”
“They’re crumbly, crumbly~”
He giggled, his voice like the ringing of a small bell: “They’re crumbly plum blossoms! Crumbly flowers!”
Li Xingchuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He had already prepared for Su Tang to cry loudly due to his breach of promise, and had even repeatedly mulled over several explanations in his heart—yet he hadn’t expected that not a single one would be needed.
Looking at Su Tang, his gaze softened a few degrees without him realizing: “They’ll be even more beautiful in a while.”
“I’ll take you, and we’ll ‘plant’ a plum blossom tree with our own hands, okay?”
Su Tang carefully pinched a tiny piece, touching it lightly with his fingertips.
Then, he pursed his lips and smiled.
After smiling, he touched it more lightly, then laughed even more sweetly, like a jubilant little sparrow, chirping and unable to stop:
“So amazing, so amazing!”
“I’m going to plant a crumbly flower tree with Brother!”
“Brother, Brother, let’s start planting now, please, okay!”
A sour, soft ache welled up in Li Xingchuan’s heart for no reason.
—This box of plum blossom-patterned Legos was nothing but “trash” left over from his picking and choosing, which he had casually thrown into the utility room.
Because he was strapped for cash, he had to rummage through his own little warehouse, wanting to find some knick-knacks suitable for Su Tang’s age.
Coincidentally, he picked up this box of forgotten things that he once despised as being “too girlish.”
At that time, he was so arrogant, how could he have imagined—
That one day, the trash in his eyes would become a shining, sparkling treasure in the eyes of a child.
Li Xingchuan taught Su Tang to assemble the Legos hand-in-hand.
Su Tang nestled in his arms, giggling from time to time—finding a star would make him let out a joyful little gasp, and picking up a small blue hexagon would make him lower his voice in jubilation: “Brother, Brother, look! I picked up a snowflake! A little blue snowflake! Haha, haha…”
Li Xingchuan’s warm palm cupped Su Tang’s ice-cold little hand, leading his fingertips to gently tap on that blue hexagon.
As if by some strange twist of fate, he asked Su Tang in a low voice:
“Next week, I am going to a party with many little children.”
“I think you might like it.”
“Would you like to go with me?”