“Yo, the wild child is even wearing KN…”
Li Shenglan had never dared to dream that there would ever be such a day in his life—
This son of his, full of rebellious bones and acts of defiance to the point where Li Shenglan had felt thankful enough as long as he didn’t go against humanity or harm society, would actually take the initiative to propose to him that he wanted to go to school.
Li Shenglan’s mind drifted blankly for a moment before he replied in a deep voice to Li Xingchuan: “We’ll talk when I get back.”
After hanging up the phone, he summoned Dr. Chen to his headquarters office and told him word-for-word about Li Xingchuan’s request, which was abrupt to the point of being abnormal.
“Did something happen at the charity gala?” Dr. Chen analyzed.
Li Shenglan said: “I don’t know the specifics. I only saw him chase away a child who was talking to Su Tang.”
“It must be that the child mentioned something. When all is said and done, it was still because of Su Tang, right?” Dr. Chen chuckled lightly: “This is a good thing.”
Li Shenglan seemed to tacitly agree.
Dr. Chen knew that deep down, Li Shenglan longed for Li Xingchuan to go to school just like a normal child. However, Li Xingchuan had a “prolific record of bad behavior” since childhood. Aside from being diagnosed by multiple doctors with problems such as “extreme irritability,” “antisocial tendencies,” and “mild cognitive impairment,” he had even been questioned as to whether he had inherited the “mental illness” from his mother’s side…
These labels, like heavy shackles, had long bound Li Xingchuan tightly.
Yet—
In this world, which parent is truly willing to let their child be regarded as a “monster”?
Whenever even a sliver of a possibility of improvement appeared in this “monster,” they would grasp onto it with all their might. Even if they had to bear unknown risks for it, they had to give them a chance to break the shackles.
“But it cannot be Chengguan First Primary School,” Dr. Chen said.
Li Shenglan made no comment either way.
Dr. Chen then continued: “First Primary School is a municipal key school with strict campus discipline and very high standards for student behavioral norms. Moreover, it’s a public school. Once we enroll, if we want to continuously observe and intervene in Xingchuan’s condition, we’ll likely face many restrictions.”
“Indeed.”
“Put Xingchuan in Qinghe,” Dr. Chen suggested.
——Qinghe International Primary School was a private elite school primarily funded by the Li Group.
In terms of academic rankings, it might not be as top-tier as Chengguan First Primary School, but its advantage lay in being very close to the manor, and the school management, in a sense, could all be considered Li Shenglan’s “subcontractors.”
Letting Li Xingchuan enter Qinghe was undoubtedly the safest and most controllable arrangement at present.
“I’ll have Xiao Zhao make the arrangements,” Li Shenglan said.
Dr. Chen added: “There’s one more thing—”
“Be sure to instruct the school to strictly keep Xingchuan’s identity confidential and not publicize it outside.”
“Otherwise, given Xingchuan’s sensitive perception of his environment, he will definitely sense his own ‘specialness.’ He has ‘mild cognitive impairment’; we need to make him feel just like the other children, which will be more conducive to the healthy development of his psychology and behavior.”
After saying this, Dr. Chen paused slightly, then laughed again: “Bring Su Tang’s information along as well, and have Xiao Zhao handle them together.”
He seemed to have complete insight into Li Xingchuan’s thoughts: “Xingchuan wanting to go to school is nine times out of ten just to be able to be with Su Tang.”
“Xingchuan is still a child after all.”
“How would he know that if Su Tang could go to school, his grandfather would have sent him long ago.”
“His grandfather’s side… probably won’t agree.”
“Other schools are indeed unsuited for Su Tang’s physical condition, but what kind of conditions does Qinghe have? Don’t you know? If Su Tang must go to school, Qinghe will be his best and safest choice.”
“——I’m guessing his grandfather hasn’t considered Qinghe. It’s just that… they can’t afford it.”
Li Xingchuan waited with a restless mind for an entire day.
The first thing Li Shenglan did when he returned home was to walk into the study, sit down in the chair by the floor-to-ceiling window, and slowly drink a cup of black coffee while facing the garden outside the window in the twilight.
Li Xingchuan had spent this entire day cooped up in this study, lying flat on his back on the sofa like a dried salted fish with his legs splayed, staring blankly.
When he heard the faint click of the fingerprint lock opening, he jerked up with a start, scooped up the feather duster by his side, and began dusting the non-existent dust on the bookshelf with a calm, unruffled expression on his face yet light and careful movements.
Out of the corner of his eye, catching a glimpse of Li Shenglan’s stunned figure frozen in the doorway, a flash of smug success crossed the depths of his dark pupils extremely quickly. Acting as if he had just discovered his father’s return, he raised his face and called out properly and obediently:
“Dad.”
Until the coffee in his hand spilled onto the carpet, Li Shenglan snapped back to his senses and replied somewhat stiffly: “…Thanks.”
Watching his son bend his back for money and stop at nothing to achieve his goal while remaining brazenly and openly honest about it, he fell silent for a moment before finally speaking: “Stop working, sit down and chat?”
On the sofa, father and son occupied opposite ends, their tones carrying a low murmur that was a mirror image of each other.
Both of their voices were very calm, yet they faintly revealed a silent confrontation:
“You can only go to Qinghe.”
“I want to go to First Primary School.”
“Why must it be First Primary School?”
“Su Tang likes First Primary School.”
Li Shenglan chuckled softly: “But Su Tang can’t go to First Primary School.”
Li Xingchuan frowned: “Why?”
“First Primary School is very difficult to transfer into, and the academic ecosystem is intense. The main thing is that it’s far from home and doesn’t allow day students. Su Tang’s health is too poor; he’s not suited for boarding. Even if First Primary School actually gave him admission qualifications, his grandfather wouldn’t agree.”
“Then would his grandfather agree to Qinghe?”
“Qinghe is a private school that values not just academics, but service and care. The environment is more comfortable than public schools, and the catering is more sophisticated. The mere fact that Qinghe has a standalone medical care building is enough to sway Su Tang’s grandfather.”
This negotiation regarding schooling ultimately ended with Li Xingchuan temporarily choosing to trust Li Shenglan.
Li Xingchuan finally stopped those chaotic and disorderly thoughts.
——He finally had the mindset again to lock himself back in the utility room, carefully picking through that pile of old toys he had once cherished, neglected, or forgotten, piece by piece.
Amidst his concentration, he faintly heard the patter of light sounds.
Li Xingchuan turned his face. Outside the window with crisscrossing wooden panes illuminated by the light, it was raining again at some point.
He lost himself in a daze for a moment, and a burst of unwarranted annoyance suddenly welled up in his heart.
——When the weather changes and it rains, Su Tang is always the most prone to falling ill…
Walking over to the window and raising his eyes to look out, the dark clouds pressed low, and the strands of rain fell diagonally in a fine mist.
The sky was heavy and gloomy, just like his dark and murky brow at this moment.
At this very moment, the sky in the urban area of Shengjing was equally oppressed by dark clouds, swept by wind and rain.
The strands of rain tapped against the window of a duplex apartment somewhere in the urban area, setting off the woman’s figure leaning against the bed inside to appear increasingly frail and haggard.
Su Tang curled up in the corner without any sense of presence, quietly nibbling on his fingernails.
The sounds of his aunt and grandfather talking beside him, as well as his older cousin’s shouting while playing video games, seemed completely inaudible to him.
His entire person sank into a blank trance.
His aunt suddenly whipped her head around and screamed angrily at her older cousin: “Play, play, all you know is playing!”
“Stop playing that crappy game of yours! Take your younger cousin to the living room to watch TV, don’t annoy me here!”
Su Tang was daydreaming when he was startled by this sudden, angry roar.
Raising his eyes, he saw his older cousin glaring at him with a gloomy expression.
Su Tang instinctively shrank back.
His cousin twitched the corners of his mouth, squeezing out a smile that wasn’t quite a smile:
“Come on, Su Tang, out. Cousin will take you to watch TV.”
Su Tang subconsciously looked at Grandpa.
Grandpa didn’t seem to notice him and his cousin; having talked about goodness knows what with his aunt, he was currently lowering his head to wipe away tears.
Su Tang gave a worried glance at Grandpa, then obediently followed his cousin out.
His cousin stared down at Su Tang and quietly shut the door.
Su Tang was chilled by his cousin’s gaze and stepped back a bit. Smiling ingratiatingly, he said carefully: “Cousin, anything on TV is fine, you pick whatever you like… I’m not picky.”
With that, he scuttled to the corner of the living room, curled himself into a tiny ball, and sat up straight.
But his cousin didn’t turn on the TV.
He followed over and squatted down in front of Su Tang.
Staring straight at Su Tang, his cousin pressed down his voice and sneered: “You’re really fucking a troublesome pest.”
“What the hell did you come to my house for?”
“Because you came, I can’t even play my video games and I still have to fucking wait on you here.”
“Why are you so damn annoying.”
Su Tang endured the tears spinning in his eye sockets, his fingers curling tightly in secret.
His cousin’s words made him almost blurt out “I’m sorry”—because his arrival made his cousin unhappy, his arrival, and even his very existence, seemed to be a mistake.
Yet another voice suddenly rang softly in his ear:
“People get angry because they are incompetent.”
“Trash who can’t even solve problems—what’s there to be afraid of?”
“He has a narrow mind and even ruins your mood; he’s the one in the wrong.”
“You just say—’Get out of the way, don’t get in my sight.'”
Su Tang looked at his cousin’s gloomy face, his throat quietly catching a choke.
He felt he really was a little piece of trash.
The words Brother taught him, he had clearly remembered them all, yet when it came down to it, he didn’t dare say them.
Lowering his head, he stopped looking at his cousin.
——He didn’t say the sentence Brother taught him, but he also didn’t immediately whisper “I’m sorry” like he used to do.
Su Tang thought that as long as he hid away, his cousin wouldn’t come looking for trouble with him again.
Yet he was wrong.
His cousin actually reached out and grabbed the collar of his down jacket, pulling a crooked smile of mockery: “Yo, the wild child is even wearing KN.”
Su Tang lifted his watery, bewildered eyes.
He saw his cousin rudely flipping through his collar: “Fucking hell, the knockoff looks pretty accurate.”
“Did your grandpa buy it for you?”
“Or did you steal money to buy it?”
“You couldn’t afford a Putian knockoff of this texture either. Where’d you get it?”
Su Tang’s face flushed red as he reached out to push his cousin’s hand away.
With his collar being grabbed, it choked him and made him very uncomfortable.
Yet he couldn’t push him away at all.
In his anxiety, a faint “hmph, hmph” sound escaped from his throat, carrying a suppressed wheeze of cough and breath.
Sensing that he might actually make him cry and get scolded again, his cousin finally let go.
Clapping his hands, he used the tip of his shoe to gently kick Su Tang’s pressed-together legs: “The pants are fucking matching too.”
He scoffed: “No wonder you looked down on my old clothes.”
“Su Tang, do you know that if this outfit of yours were authentic, it would cost over fifty thousand yuan? Even as a knockoff, it has to be a good few thousand.”
“With an outfit like yours, there aren’t many people in our Qinghe Elite School who could afford to wear it every day.”
“Fucking hell, your grandpa is so poor like that, and you’re still stealing money just to put on a front!”