During the afternoon, Lu Yan once again borrowed Wei ge’s motorcycle to go buy groceries. After almost a week of eating instant noodles, he felt like he was turning into noodles himself.
It was the weekend, and most residents were resting in their apartments. Although Wei ge expressed his inability to understand why Lu Yan needed to take his motorcycle out and had zero interest in lending it, Lu Yan’s persistent efforts paid off. In the end, Wei ge threw the keys out of the third-floor window.
“Wei ge, you will always be my great xiongdi.”
“Just hurry up and go.” The messy haired Wei ge stood at the window and shouted.
Lu Yan only went to the market to buy groceries very occasionally. Although he wasn’t a frequent visitor, he gained some fame in the area—fame earned through bargaining.
When Lu Yan returned, he could see a suspicious vehicle parked near the ruins of District Seven. As he got closer, he noticed the silver emblem on the car’s body and the familiar wings at the rear.
This was the second time he saw this out-of-place modified car.
Lu Yan eased off the throttle, allowing the motorcycle to come to a stop right next to the modified car.
With one foot on the ground, he leaned forward and knocked on the car window, whistling. “You’re here?”
The car window slowly rolled down.
The first thing Lu Yan noticed wasn’t some young master, but the little head that turned from the young master’s arms.
Then Lu Yan locked eyes with a pair of dewy large eyes.
It was a child.
A child still in the midst of nursing.
The child suddenly stopped drinking halfway, frozen as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Xiao Heng responded to Lu Yan’s greeting with a casual “Hmm”. Then, he naturally patted the baby’s back for a while. He didn’t stop until the child blinked his eyes and let out a burp with a hint of milk scent.
The scene was somewhat bizarre.
Firstly, someone like Xiao Heng didn’t seem like the patient type to take care of a child. He gave off the vibe of someone who would resort to violence at the slightest provocation, especially towards a baby.
The “burp” sound melted Lu Yan’s heart, making him want to reach out and pinch the child’s cheek. In fact, he did just that. After his fingertips touched the chubby cheek of the baby, Lu Yan asked, “Is he yours?”
“……”
Xiao Heng looked up at him. “Do you think that’s possible?”
Lu Yan replied, “Hard to say.”
“No,” Although reluctant to explain, Xiao Heng said, “He’s my younger brother.”
Lu Yan couldn’t resist pinching him a couple more times.
“He usually doesn’t like people touching him.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Not only did he not allow anyone to touch him, he wouldn’t even drink a drop of milk if it was offered by the household servants even if he were starving.
Wljb Lfcu kjr jogjlv atf mtliv kbeiv rajga mgslcu, wjxlcu la agbeyifrbwf ab rbbatf tlw. Lbkfnfg, jr rbbc jr Wljb Lfcu olclrtfv rqfjxlcu, atf mtliv erfv tlr mteyys ilaaif olcufgr ab ugjrq bcf bo Oe Tjc’r olcufgr jcv uluuifv ja tlw.
Oe Tjc rilutais yfca atf olcufg atja kjr yflcu tfiv jcv ibkfgfv tlr nblmf ab jwerf tlw, cba mjglcu ktfatfg tf mbeiv ecvfgrajcv bg cba. “Olaaif ues, rfflcu atja sbeg ybcfr jgf fzagjbgvlcjgs jcv kf’gf vfralcfv ab wffa, ifa ylu ygb afjmt sbe j rfmgfa wjgalji jgar afmtcldef.”
Xiao Heng coolly remarked, “Forget about the guitar.”
“…” Lu Yan said, “Can’t let this go, huh.”
When Xiao Heng got out of the car holding the child, Lu Yan parked the motorcycle in the so-called garage, which was basically a small area outlined by Wei Ge with worn-out plastic sheets next to the apartment building.
It exuded a certain impoverished atmosphere.
“What’s this?” Xiao Heng glanced at the makeshift structure.
“Garage.”
Lu Yan took the key out and lifted the two bags hanging on the front of the motorcycle. He explained, “The wisdom of the poor hard working residents. It’s fine for blocking wind and rain, but if there’s a typhoon, it’s better to carry the bike inside.”
Last time Xiao Heng came, he didn’t pay much attention. On that day, he just learned that Xiao Qishan had a child and then gave the woman some money to send her away. As for the baby, the plan was to send him abroad once the paperwork was settled.
After all, having an illegitimate child wasn’t good for one’s reputation. Sending the child abroad would conveniently make it seem like it never happened.
He argued with Xiao Qishan.
After running out, he felt thoroughly annoyed.
Lu Yan walked ahead, and when they reached the third floor, he returned the key. “Wei Ge, do you want a big tomato? I’ll give you one.”
“Don’t play around, you little brat,” Wei Ge first extended a hand from the door crack, and then opened the door. “Wait a minute, this xiongdi looks a bit familiar. Isn’t this the guy you mistakenly caught last time?”
Bringing up the incident of mistaking someone for another person still felt awkward.
Both Lu Yan and Xiao Heng wanted to skip this topic, but Wei Ge looked at them and said, “As the saying goes, no fight, no acquaintance. Meeting in the jianghu is fate… Hey, this kid is quite cute.”
Wei Ge was a burly and well-built guy who relied on his imposing aura for debt collection. Not only was he muscular, but even when he smiled, it seemed more like a forced expression. He leaned in to playfully tease the child, but the baby ended up bursting into tears.
…
Unfortunately, they came at an inconvenient time. Room 601 returned later than usual, and there was no response when they knocked on the door.
“She’ll probably be back soon. If you want, come in and sit for a while,” Lu Yan opened the door and gestured to the child in Xiao Heng’s arms, “He can’t keep crying like this.”
Xiao Heng wasn’t particularly good at coaxing children; at most, he could pat them a few times. If the usually obedient child began bawling, it could simply be compared to a demon descending to the mortal realm.
Lu Yan put the groceries in the kitchen and returned to see Xiao Heng sternly telling the child, “Stop crying.”
“Do you understand ‘stop crying’?”
Lu Yan couldn’t stand it any longer. “Are you complaining that he’s not crying loudly enough?”
Xiao Heng impatiently retorted, “You want to try?”
Lu Yan realized that whenever he was with this young master, there would always be some strange chemical reactions, such as getting into arguments after just a couple of sentences.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Lu Yan said, “Let me show you what it means to properly comfort the wounded soul of a fragile child.”
Although he said it confidently, Lu Yan never coaxed a baby before. Perhaps it was because he held the child in the wrong position, but the moment he took over, he cried even louder.
He adjusted his posture, but the crying continued.
Lu Yan couldn’t think of any tricks. As a flexible and adaptable modern young man, he immediately changed his tune. “Well, I think your way of soothing is actually not bad.”
In response, Xiao Heng gave him a cold laugh.
Xiao Heng leaned against the door, watching him. “Aren’t you supposed to be exceptional at this?”
Who was he looking down on? Couldn’t he stop using that mocking tone?
Why don’t you consider whose territory you are currently standing upon?
Lu Yan patted the child’s back, feeling the need to regain his dignity.
A feasible idea flashed through Lu Yan’s mind. He cleared his throat, planning to try singing a children’s song.
As a lead singer in a band, although he had a diverse repertoire and could sing in eight languages, he didn’t have many options when it came to children’s songs. After thinking for a while, he could only remember a fragment of one, and even then, he didn’t know all the lyrics. So, he chose a section and began to sing.
Lu Yan’s voice wasn’t particularly soft, but it was very recognizable. Especially when he sang in a low pitch, his voice slightly lowered and with a bit of hoarseness.
It was like sparkling wine, delicate yet passionate.
However, the voice was currently singing, “”
“A happy little leapfrog.”
“Little leapfrog.”
“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.”
Xiao Heng: “…”
The kid cried a couple more times, and when Lu Yan sang “ribbit, ribbit, ribbit”, the child hiccupped while crying, and then the crying gradually stopped.
“See that?” After finishing the song, Lu Yan raised an eyebrow at Xiao Heng. “Learn this song properly when you go back.”
Lu Yan didn’t have to go to school to substitute for classes, and he returned to his original appearance. The eyebrow stud he wore today was a small metallic hoop, and when he raised his eyebrow, the tail of his eyebrow lifted slightly.
Pretty cool.
Of course, it would be even cooler if he wasn’t singing about ribbiting.
Xiao Heng didn’t enter the room last time, but due to some twist of fate, he found himself in this building again. He discreetly assessed the room which was neatly arranged despite its small size. Although the person in question played the guitar poorly, there were more than three guitars in the room, and one of them was the picture on Lu Yan’s Wechat profile.
His gaze skimmed over the pile of CD records on the shelf.
Due to the limited space, there wasn’t a clear boundary between the bedroom and the living room. He noticed a pair of jeans casually thrown on Lu Yan’s bed, and on the wall facing the bed was a poster of Vent.
On stage, the lead singer with long hair held a microphone while standing on top of a speaker, displaying an air of self-importance.
The atmosphere was dark.
Eerie red light spilled down on him.
“Is that you?”
“Ah,” Lu Yan followed his gaze. “Yes, from last year.”
“The band that lost two members?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“No.”
“Hey,” Lu Yan noticed that the child wasn’t crying anymore, closed his eyes and hasn’t opened them since. Tears still clung to his eyelashes. “Is he asleep?”
Xiao Heng was about to say, ‘Give him to me,’ when they heard the sound of high heels hitting the ground from outside, along with the jingling of keys.
The woman from 601 still had her usual appearance—short skirt, heavy makeup, and the scent of alcohol.
She was probably a bit drunk. When she tried to insert the key into the keyhole, she struggled several times before finally kicking the door. She slowly squatted down, took out a pack of cigarettes from her handbag, leaned against the door, and was about to light one to sober up.
Then she heard a cold voice next to her saying, “Do you still want your child?”
The woman’s hand shook as the cigarette ignited her fingers.
Before Xiao Heng arrived, there was no way to figure out what this woman was thinking. He couldn’t even find out her real name. In the nightclub, she was called Xiao Lian, while in another place, she became Nan Nan. It took him a few attempts to accurately determine her address.
After giving birth to the child, she delivered him to their home. Aside from taking the money given by Xiao Qishan, she didn’t do anything else. Unlike others who continued to cause trouble endlessly, she remained exceptionally quiet.
Lu Yan stood at the door holding the child, not wanting to get involved in other people’s family matters. For a moment, he was neither advancing or retreating. However, he noticed the woman’s gaze was fixed on the child.
Lu Yan thought, since this child is his brother, and this woman is the child’s mother, then this woman is…
Wait, something doesn’t match up with her age.
“What child?” The woman withdrew her gaze, slowly stood up, and said, “I don’t have a child. You’ve got the wrong person.”
Her voice was very calm. She lit her cigarette, squinting as she smoked. Her eyes obscured by heavy makeup disappeared in the swirling smoke.
Oh, the baby is so cute! I hope Lu Yan and Xiao Heng end up taking care of him 🥹
Is this dropped?