“Sent by Li Xingchuan…”
Su Tang lifted his small face to look at Li Xingchuan, his eyes filled with sparkling admiration. He nodded vigorously: “I’ve remembered it, Brother~”
Halfway through the charity gala, Su Tang gently tugged at Li Xingchuan’s sleeve and whispered that his stomach hurt and he wanted to go to the restroom. Li Xingchuan then took him by the hand and led him to the washroom.
After sending Su Tang into a small cubicle, he didn’t walk away; instead, he stood right outside the closed door, his gaze fixed on it as he quietly waited.
Only about a minute passed before a wave of noisy voices suddenly broke out outside the restroom.
The voices were still somewhat distant, but Li Xingchuan’s physical functions were exceptionally good, and his hearing was sharper than an ordinary person’s.
He originally had zero interest in other people’s conversations, but as luck would have it, these people mentioned his name:
“Shen Jiaojiao said she wants to coax Li Xingchuan’s ‘fake younger brother’ into coming to our First Primary School to study.”
“Li Xingchuan’s face always stinks to high heaven… but that fake younger brother of his is truly pretty, and obedient. I want to play with him too.”
“Come on, would Li Xingchuan agree?”
“The fake younger brother isn’t a real younger brother, does he have any say in it? Could he possibly lock people up? Let me tell you, Shen Jiaojiao said that when the kid heard he also had a chance to go to First Primary School, his eyes lit up…”
Before the word “up” could finish, the person speaking abruptly cut off their voice.
——The group of children accompanying them also froze in unison.
Before they even reached the entrance of the restroom, they saw Li Xingchuan walking out from inside with a gloomy expression. Relying on his height advantage, he lowered his head slightly, his icy gaze sweeping across each and every one of them like a knife, resembling a venomous snake poised to strike.
Everyone stopped in their tracks simultaneously, pushing and shoving against one another, with none of them daring to step forward.
Li Xingchuan suddenly raised his hand.
The children shrank their necks back all at once.
Yet they saw him simply reach out, grab the decorative candlestick on the wall, and wrench it right off.
He extinguished the flickering candlelight with his bare hands, gripped the bronze candlestick in one hand, and flicked open a Swiss Army knife from his pants pocket with a “click,” blocking the center of the corridor as he leisurely began to whittle the candle.
Everyone: “…”
Li Xingchuan whittled twice, then suddenly lifted his eyes.
The children collectively took a step back.
They watched as a smile of a nearly cruel coldness slowly rose on his face, his voice low and slow:
“Whoever dares to lay a hand on him.”
“Whose head is that going to cost.”
As the words fell, the candlestick he had whittled rolled to a stop right at everyone’s feet.
Everyone present was just a child; who had ever witnessed this kind of spectacle?
A group of children like cats stepping on their tails at the same time shrieked and bounced apart, turning around to run for their lives without even looking back, not even caring about the bathroom anymore:
“Oh my god!”
“He’s completely nuts!”
“…”
Su Tang came out after pulling up his pants, but didn’t see Li Xingchuan.
The black ceiling and dark floor tiles made the already dim, yellowish light of the restroom feel even more oppressive and gloomy. He panicked a little, forgetting even to wash his hands as he hurried out.
Unexpectedly, the moment he dashed out the door, he crashed headfirst into a familiar embrace.
Lifting his small face, he saw Li Xingchuan walking inward. Li Xingchuan looked down at him: “I’m right outside, don’t panic.”
Su Tang’s face flushed, and he softly replied: “I know, Brother~”
“I haven’t washed my hands yet, I’ll go right in and wash them.”
Li Xingchuan took his little hand and led him back: “Come.”
By the children’s sink, Su Tang stretched out his arms, obediently letting Li Xingchuan hold his little hand while warm water flushed from the tap.
Su Tang didn’t move an inch, his mouth just chattering away: “Wow, it’s automatic~”
“It’s warm water without even adjusting it.”
“So amazing, so amazing~”
After rinsing, Li Xingchuan led him over to the hand dryer. The warm breeze carrying a faint fragrance blew across, making Su Tang squint his eyes in comfort.
Just as he was enjoying it, he heard Li Xingchuan say in a low voice: “Much better.”
“What’s much better?” Su Tang immediately asked curiously, tilting his head up.
The tip of his nose was lightly flicked by Li Xingchuan: “The chilblains on your hands, they’re much better.”
Su Tang hurriedly raised his hands, lifted his little face, spread his fingers wide against the light, closed them, and inspected them closely.
He hadn’t even noticed it himself, but those hands really were different from before.
——They weren’t swollen at all now.
The new home had a dishwasher so he didn’t have to wash dishes by hand anymore, and he would also rub on the hand cream Brother gave him every day. Without realizing it, a pair of hands had turned tender and soft.
Happily, he spun a small circle around Li Xingchuan, his voice full of jubilation: “Much better, much better~”
“Thank you, Brother!”
After an entire gala, Su Tang had walked around quite a bit exploring left and right.
By the time they headed home in the car, he was already feeling sleepy.
Yet he still stubbornly nodded off a bit at a time while talking nonstop with Li Xingchuan.
As he talked, he himself didn’t even quite know what he was talking about.
Hearing Li Xingchuan murmur “Sleep for a bit” in a low voice, half-asleep and half-awake, he obediently shut his mouth and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, daylight was already flooding brightly outside the window—he had actually slept straight through to the next day, and found himself already lying in his new home.
Su Tang hurriedly hopped out of bed, only to find that the pretty little formal suit he wore yesterday had been replaced; instead, he was wearing a baggy, plush pajama set. Like most of his clothes, this pajama set was old clothing sent by distant relatives or his aunt. Ever since he was three years old, he had grown up wearing these “clothes from a hundred families.”
The pajamas emitted the clean fragrance of laundry detergent, and he happily tugged at the little rabbit ears sewn on the side—these pajamas, which had accompanied him through two winters, were his absolute favorite!
Pushing open the door, he happened to see Grandpa bustling about, carrying and holding several exquisite gift boxes over.
Su Tang eagerly asked: “Grandpa, Grandpa, did I fall asleep in the car last night?”
Grandpa Su seemed too busy to hear his question clearly, only saying: “Tangtang, come quickly, help Grandpa hold this.”
Su Tang took a box and curiously weighed it.
Grandpa Su had a somewhat complex look on his face: “Come, put it on the bed.”
Five minutes ago—no, five minutes later, Su Tang looked at the new clothes spread out on the bed, just the right size for him. With sparkling eyes, he suppressed his anticipation and asked in a small voice: “Grandpa… are these mine?”
Dancing, eager light leaped in his eyes: “Did Grandpa make a lot of big money and buy me new clothes?”
His gaze lingered over the fluffy down jacket, the soft thermal underwear, and the nice trousers, finally resting in front of a pair of fuzzy pajamas that looked even more fitting and comfortable than the ones he had on. He stepped forward and touched them gingerly.
Grandpa Su nodded: “They’re yours. Which one do you like best? Put it on and try it?”
Su Tang gave a cheer and leaped up, impatiently changing out of his old pajamas and slipping into the brand-new set. Running over to the mirror, his eyes practically sprouted stars: “I, I declare—this is now my favorite pajama set!”
Watching his grandson’s jubilant appearance, the slightly complex expression on Grandpa Su’s face gradually faded, ultimately transforming into an relieved smile: “These were all sent by people Li Xingchuan sent over.”
“Brother gave them to me?!” Su Tang spun a tiny circle on the spot, his eyes shining even brighter. He tried on every single piece of clothing on the bed, finally deciding to wear the off-white long down jacket first today.
Turning to Grandpa, he let out a surprised gasp: “So warm!”
“Grandpa, the clothes Brother bought me—just wearing two pieces is warmer than wearing over a dozen pieces before!”
Standing in the morning light, Grandpa Su thought silently to himself—
This favor he owed was truly getting harder and harder to ever pay back.
As Su Tang was looking left and right at himself in the mirror, he suddenly heard Grandpa softly ask: “These past few days, has Li Xingchuan… never bullied you?”
Su Tang immediately lifted his sparkling eyes to look at Grandpa: “Brother is so nice to me!”
Grandpa Su fell silent for a moment, then said warmly: “The free-range chickens Grandpa keeps in the yard have started laying eggs. From now on, whenever Li Xingchuan comes over to play with you, you can pick a few eggs, steam them in the egg steamer, and share them with him.”
Su Tang blinked his eyes, sensing that Grandpa’s attitude toward Brother had softened, and hurriedly asked: “Then… can I go take the initiative to look for Brother to play from now on?”
“You can.” Grandpa Su nodded.
“I want to go right now!” Su Tang tidied up his hem and turned to run out.
Only to be gently reined in by Grandpa.
“Not today.” Grandpa Su said.
“Why?” Su Tang asked nervously.
“Today and tomorrow, you have to go with me to the city center to see your aunt. She’s not feeling well and has no one looking after her.”
“Me? Do I have to go too?”
“Of course, you have to go along.”
Su Tang instantly drooped, his little face collapsing.
——He actually didn’t really want to go to his aunt’s house.
He liked his aunt because she always mailed him clothes. But he didn’t like his aunt’s cousin—wait, his aunt’s son, his older cousin. The cousin was very mean to him and even said he was “a wild child that even mom and dad didn’t want.”
Su Tang felt deeply wronged in his heart.
He was not a wild child at all. Mom and Dad were just too busy and worked too hard with their jobs, which was why they couldn’t come back to see him often—in his drawer, he still kept many letters written to him by Mom and Dad!
He mumbled dejectedly: “Then I want to tell Brother. Grandpa, help me call him.”
“I already told him last night.”
“That’s different,” Su Tang sniffled, “I want to tell him myself.”
When Li Xingchuan received Su Tang’s call, he was rummaging through the storage room for his toys.
He had handed all one hundred thousand yuan he demanded from Li Shenglan over to the butler to purchase clothes for Su Tang, keeping not a single penny for himself.
Yet he eagerly wanted to dig out some fun things so that when Su Tang returned from Grandpa’s place, he could offer him a fresh dose of happiness.
Yesterday, Grandpa Su only said there was something going on at home and he would be taking Su Tang out for two days. It wasn’t until this phone call from Su Tang that he learned it wasn’t just “going out,” but going to some aunt’s house.
Su Tang even mentioned in the call… there was an “older cousin” at Aunt’s house?
Older cousin?!
He didn’t know that besides himself, Su Tang had another “brother”?
Hanging up the phone, Li Xingchuan sat quietly on the sofa for a while.
He wanted to call Grandpa Su back and ask—can I go with Su Tang?
Yet the moment this thought arose, he remembered the cold electronic shackle on his ankle. Su Tang could go anywhere he wanted, while he, without permission, couldn’t even step a foot outside the gates of this manor.
Suddenly raising his hand, he swept the pile of toys on the table crashing down to the floor.
His complexion was frighteningly gloomy, and various images uncontrollably churned in his mind. A single thought clung tenaciously to him—
Go to Aunt’s house.
Go meet that “older cousin.”
Was that older cousin also studying in the third grade at that “First Primary School that the whole world attends”?!
That damn sentence echoed in his ears on a continuous loop:
“Shen Jiaojiao said that when the kid heard he could go to First Primary School, his eyes lit up…”
“His eyes lit up…”
Li Xingchuan couldn’t take it anymore.
He rushed all the way out, practically seething with anger, right outside Li Shenglan’s study.
Seething with anger, he knocked lightly on the door.
——No one.
He rushed over to Li Shenglan’s bedroom.
Knocked on the door.
——Still no one.
Leaning against the wall, Li Xingchuan dialed Li Shenglan’s number.
Seeing Li Xingchuan’s call, Li Shenglan had a momentary daze.
Three years ago, he had someone equip Li Xingchuan with a mobile phone.
Yet Li Xingchuan had never called him even once.
This was the very first time.
“What is it?” Li Shenglan’s voice was deep.
“Dad.” Li Xingchuan’s voice was also very deep.
Father and son both fell silent for a moment.
“Mn, what’s the matter?”
“Dad, I want to go to school.”
“You want what?”
“I want to go to school.”
“Dad, I want to go to school, I want to go to First Primary School for fourth grade.”