“Brother, don’t leave. Wait, wait…”
When Li Xingchuan got up, he casually picked up a wooden stool.
Su Tang grabbed Li Xingchuan’s hand: “Don’t go…”
Li Xingchuan gently pulled his hand away: “Do you want to see them get beaten up?”
Su Tang’s eyes were wet with tears, and he shook his head incessantly: “I don’t want to see it. Don’t go…”
“There are a lot of them. Brother will get hurt.”
In Su Tang’s world, the concept of “resistance” had never existed.
His mother taught him how to get beaten up in the safest way, and his grandfather taught him to stay far away when seeing danger.
Yet at this moment, Li Xingchuan was carrying a wooden stool, clearly rushing into danger to start a physical fight.
——That was something Su Tang had never dared to imagine, nor did he know what the consequences would be.
His body and mind were now left with nothing but a vast and boundless terror.
“No, I won’t. Just watch.”
Li Xingchuan pulled open the door and gently pushed Su Tang, who was following closely behind, back into the room.
Turning around, he bumped right into a little chubby boy who was charging forward like a cannonball and slamming straight into the door panel.
Li Xingchuan was already taller than his peers by a head. Standing on the step now, he looked all the more condescending. He raised a hand to press down on the sweaty forehead of the little chubby boy and asked, “Are you the one who wanted to beat Su Tang into a ‘grandson’?”
Unable to lift his head under the pressure, the little chubby boy stomped his foot and shouted angrily, “Yeah, I’m your old man!”
“Who the hell are you, daring to stick your neck out for this little—”
Before the word “out” could finish falling, his forehead was suddenly hit by a heavy blow. The little chubby boy only felt something hot oozing out of his temple.
With wide eyes, he reached out and wiped, his hand coming away covered in fresh blood.
Whether from the pain or the fright, the little chubby boy let out a terrified, muffled grunt in his throat, stumbled backward, and fell backward onto the snow.
Li Xingchuan took a few steps forward, squatted down, patted the little chubby boy’s suddenly pale face, looked up at the surroundings, and spoke in a calm voice:
“Anyone else?”
His tone was very flat, carrying a gloomy and cold murderous aura on his face.
That did not look like the expression an eight-year-old child should have—he was tall, his eyes were mature, and he could beat someone unconscious as calmly as eating a meal or drinking a cup of water.
He simply looked like a monster, a cold demon ready to tear everything apart at any moment.
No, not like one.
He looked completely like one.
The troublemakers were all half-grown kids. One of them had received a glare from Li Xingchuan somewhere else just yesterday, and witnessing this “monster” make a move with his own eyes, his crotch grew warm and a foul-smelling urine stench drifted out.
“It’s Li… Li Xingchuan…”
“Oh mother!”
“Run!”
The group of kids instantly scattered like frightened sparrows, turning to flee, but their legs shook so much they could barely lift them, stumbling and pushing each other in the snow.
Li Xingchuan gave a low, sneering chuckle.
He chased after them in a few strides, kicked one down, raised his fist, and smashed it right into the face. That kid cried out in terror: “I was wrong! I’ll never dare bully him again!”
Li Xingchuan wasn’t having any of it.
With a backhand punch, he gave the guy a symmetrical pair of bruises.
He seemed to be getting into the swing of things, dropping this one and grabbing that one…
Until—
He heard Su Tang’s cry.
That small, trembling voice drifted over in the cold wind, calling out over and over: “Brother, brother…”
Li Xingchuan let go of his hand and shook his head.
He had been too focused on fighting and hadn’t noticed when Su Tang ran out.
Su Tang had tripped in the snow and was struggling to get back up, his face covered in tears.
In just a short moment, that little face was soaked through with tears, and his frostbitten hands kept wiping the corners of his eyes: “Brother…”
When Li Xingchuan walked over to Su Tang, out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a few adults covering their mouths and peering over in this direction, some making phone calls and others looking down texting.
Yet not a single person stepped forward.
Li Xingchuan ignored them.
He simply walked up to Su Tang, knelt down, and grabbed his ankle: “Sprained?”
Su Tang sobbed and shook his head: “No… just fell down.”
Li Xingchuan raised his eyes and looked at Su Tang.
A hollow bewilderment suddenly welled up in his heart.
He had assumed that after venting Su Tang’s frustration, Su Tang would look at him with brighter, more adoring eyes and smile, his eyes curving into little crescents.
——Yet Su Tang was crying.
An unfamiliar, out-of-control panic surged up.
Li Xingchuan raised a hand, used his thumb to wipe the dirt off Su Tang’s face, and asked in a low voice, “I beat them up for you.”
“Why are you still unhappy?”
Su Tang was shaking all over. He held onto Li Xingchuan’s hand, his voice soft and urgent: “Brother, let’s go find the uncles and aunties over there to help, okay…”
He looked at the little chubby boy lying in the snow, hiccuped from crying, and said intermittently:
“We can’t let anything happen to him…”
“Otherwise the police uncle will take Brother away…”
“I don’t want Brother to be taken away…”
Seeing that Li Xingchuan had stopped going wild, some adults not far away finally gathered up the courage to approach.
There had been a great deal of chaos right outside Su Tang’s door.
Meanwhile, far across the bridge in the central area’s family villa, and in the eastern area’s garden maintenance department, everything had also blown up.
Grandpa Li was the earliest to receive the news.
At the time, he was already sitting in the downtown headquarters building. When his phone rang, his face darkened drastically, and he immediately drove back to the estate at full speed.
As for Grandpa Su when he got the news, he was cheerfully holding a pair of large shears, trimming branches for a bush.
A colleague rushed over holding a mobile phone in a panic, his voice completely altered: “Quickly see if this is your doorstep! The young master is going to beat a child to death!”
Grandpa Su felt the blood in his entire body turn ice-cold and rush straight to his head, almost collapsing on the spot.
Yet when he stumbled back in a panic, what he saw was this exact scene—
An unfamiliar little chubby boy lying motionless outside his door.
And his little grandson sitting right there in the snow, sitting in front of the feared “little monster” young master. That young master, rumored to be haughty and tyrannical, was lowering his head right now, using his expensive sleeve to… wipe Su Tang’s tear-stained, dirty little face?
Walking behind the two like someone sleepwalking, Grandpa Su happened to hear the young master bewilderedly asking Su Tang:
“I beat them up for you. Why are you still unhappy?”
And his own little grandson, who usually feared even thunder, was actually holding the “little monster’s” hand on his own initiative, discussing with him how to clean up the mess?
Good news: The precious grandson is fine!
Bad news: Their family is probably in big trouble!
Recovering his wits, Grandpa Su rushed forward in a single stride to the side of the little chubby boy. First checking the boy’s injuries and seeing he was still breathing, he let out a sigh of relief, intending to carry the little chubby boy to the infirmary first.
Only to see that the estate infirmary vehicle had already parked at the intersection, and people were stepping out carrying a stretcher, running hastily toward the little chubby boy. The people around had also sprung into action to help.
Composing himself, Grandpa Su hurriedly turned around and walked quickly back toward his own grandson.
Su Tang’s vision was already covered by a layer of moist water mist.
Unable to tell whether it was from fright or crying.
His little face flushed with an abnormal fever, his body shivered in fine tremors, accompanied by a wave after wave of coughing and wheezing.
With weak legs, he couldn’t stand up or walk. Li Xingchuan simply carried him on his back.
Borne in a daze upon Li Xingchuan’s back like riding a bumpy cloud, he dimly caught sight of his grandfather’s figure.
Su Tang pressed his face against Li Xingchuan’s shoulder, his voice soft, hoarse, and murmuring: “Grandpa…”
Carrying him, Li Xingchuan was just walking toward the direction of the medical vehicle.
Hearing this, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
He slowly turned his head sideways and saw the anxious-looking old man following closely behind.
An inexplicable irritation suddenly clogged his chest.
——His reputation was too bad. Su Tang’s grandfather hated him, rather scaring Su Tang than allowing him to get even an inch close to Li Xingchuan.
That moment when Su Tang saw through him as “that wolf” had ultimately arrived after all.
Carrying Su Tang, Li Xingchuan continued walking forward, awkwardly explaining: “He’s not feeling well.”
“I’m taking him to the infirmary.”
Reaching out to take his grandson back, Grandpa Su said, “St… Still, let me do it!”
He held a natural wariness toward this young master.
Yet in his heart, he truly couldn’t let go of the child.
This young master looked like he bore no malicious intent toward his grandson, but… he himself was an extremely unstable source of danger.
What if he got annoyed carrying him halfway and frowned enough to throw his grandson down… That was something he was entirely capable of doing.
Li Xingchuan pressed the tip of his tongue against his back molars without a word, simply putting Su Tang down and watching the old man take the soft, already unconscious little body into his arms.
The old man’s sigh of heartache was unmaskable: “Aha, poor thing, he’s running a fever again…”
“Thank you, Young Master, for taking care of Tangtang.”
“Sorry to trouble you, truly sorry to trouble you!”
Yet the flicker of unease and resentment hidden in that expression was sharply caught by Li Xingchuan.
Slowing his pace, Li Xingchuan watched the old man carry Su Tang away in a hurry.
An expression of hollow bewilderment floated onto his face. He followed lazily behind, the tip of his shoe kicking at the gravel and ice slag on the road every now and then, his brows lowered as if pondering something.
When Grandpa Su held Su Tang and boarded along with the stretcher, he did not turn back to wait for him.
Li Xingchuan watched the medical vehicle drive away.
He finally came to a halt.
“Why are you just standing here in a daze, don’t you want to follow?” Dr. Chen appeared beside him at some point, bending over slightly and looking at him with a smile.
Li Father had originally intended to come as well.
Seething with anger, he had started saying the child was beyond rescue and must be locked up in a special asylum.
It was Dr. Chen who had argued himself hoarse, begging him not to come. He guaranteed there must be hidden circumstances behind this and volunteered to handle it himself, promising to give Li Father a satisfactory account.
Li Father ultimately granted the chance.
Instead, he personally took people, gifts, and compensation to comfort the injured children and their families.
Extremely rarely, Li Xingchuan did not repel Dr. Chen.
Facing this psychological doctor whom he usually detested and found completely incompatible, he revealed a bewildered, perplexed expression, murmuring in a low voice: “I just wanted to protect him.”
“I beat people for him.”
“Vented his anger for him.”
“Why is he unhappy? He even got sick…”
A stir went through Dr. Chen’s heart as he watched this unruly, stubborn kid—whose mouth could normally never be pried open even with an iron bar—voluntarily open up his tightly shut clamshell and reach out communication feelers toward him:
“Why is he like this?”
“Don’t you psychologists know how to guess minds?”
“Help me guess what on earth he’s thinking?”
“No guessing needed.” Treasuring this hard-earned opportunity, Dr. Chen chose his words cautiously, speaking only with gentleness:
“Xingchuan, it’s because people are different from one another.”
His steps were fast, but his words were slow.
To get that answer, Li Xingchuan had no choice but to follow step by step behind him.
Secretly letting out a breath of relief, Dr. Chen continued to guide him step by step:
“Everyone has different experiences, so what they like, what they hate, and what they fear are all different. Everyone’s body is different too—physical strength, courage, and limits of endurance… are all different.”
Li Xingchuan was silent for a moment: “So?”
Like a carrot hanging in front of this stubborn little donkey, Dr. Chen led him along the predetermined direction.
Tentatively patting Li Xingchuan’s shoulder, he said:
“Su Tang has been protected inside a small house since childhood. He has seen few people and experienced few things—when has he ever seen that kind of ruthless fighting style of yours? I heard you even broke someone’s head open. Su Tang must have been terrified, probably feeling like the sky was falling… How could he feel even a shred of safety?”
Li Xingchuan’s lips turned pale.
He remained silent for a long time.
Yet Dr. Chen knew he was listening.
Seizing the moment, he poured those guidance points he had long wanted to convey into the ears of the currently absent-minded Li Xingchuan—
And the other party actually showed no trace of repulsion.
Just as they were talking, Li Xingchuan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Dr. Chen asked, “What’s wrong?”
Looking at the infirmary blocking his path, Li Xingchuan averted his gaze: “I’m not going in!”
Annoyance filled his brows: “His grandfather hates me.”
“We’ve already parted ways!”
Parted ways?
A silent chuckle stirred in Dr. Chen’s heart. No matter how fierce and combative he was, at the end of the day he was still an immature child—always throwing around such heavy, resolute terms.
Having said that, he turned around as if to leave.
Dr. Chen sighed softly and shook his head inwardly.
——Forget it. At least he could confirm that Xingchuan was once again not acting out of a baseless loss of control. Punishment was unavoidable, but there was no need to send him to the asylum.
Just as he intended to follow Li Xingchuan away, the small side door of the infirmary behind them suddenly pushed open—
A soft, tear-choked, and weak voice drifted over:
“Brother!”
“Is that Brother?”
“Brother, don’t leave. Wait, wait for me…”