After returning home, Cheng Yue was dragged directly into the bathroom by Ji Xu and ordered to clean off all the alcohol smell before he was allowed to come out.
While standing under the water, Cheng Yue felt a sharp pain in his wrist as he was massaging shampoo into his hair. He winced and looked at his hand, seeing a large bruise on the outer side of his wrist. It wasn’t broken skin, but some areas were seeping a little blood, which looked quite alarming against his pale skin.
Cheng Yue rinsed his hand under the warm water and touched his lower back with his other hand. Indeed, he felt pain in several places.
This made Cheng Yue hurry through the rest of his shower because the hot water was making the injured areas start to burn.
Ji Xu had just tossed the dirty clothes into the washing machine and tidied up the living room when the bathroom door opened.
He looked at Cheng Yue, who was coming out with wet hair, and glanced at the wall clock.
It had been less than ten minutes.
“You…” Ji Xu frowned, “You just got wet and came out?”
Cheng Yue rubbed his head and smiled awkwardly, “I’m clean now. I’m going to bed. I have classes tomorrow.”
Ji Xu watched him for a while, then nodded and waved for him to go back to his room.
Ji Xu then went into the bathroom himself, taking 30 minutes to wash off the sticky feeling from his back. While showering, he thought about how if it had been someone else who vomited on his back, like Tang Pang, he would have made sure to clean him up thoroughly.
But with Cheng Yue, he couldn’t bring himself to be that harsh. Even when hitting, he would only target the fleshier parts like the buttocks.
Why was that? Ji Xu wondered to himself.
Perhaps it was because Cheng Yue was a bit pitiful. Although sometimes he was quite reckless, he could also touch your heart when he was being considerate.
Ji Xu sighed, feeling that raising a child had greatly tested his patience.
After showering, Ji Xu hung Cheng Yue’s backpack, which was on the coffee table, on the coat rack by the entrance.
As he was about to turn off the living room lights, he heard a low intake of breath coming from Cheng Yue’s room.
Ji Xu, with his good hearing, caught the faint sound despite its low volume. He frowned, lowered his footsteps, and approached Cheng Yue’s room door. The closer he got, the more he could hear the suppressed gasps of pain, and he even heard Cheng Yue curse softly.
Ji Xu knocked on the door and asked, “Cheng Yue?”
The gasping sound inside stopped immediately.
Cheng Yue, nervously looking at the door, said, “Ah? What’s wrong?”
“Can I come in?” Ji Xu asked.
“Ah…” Cheng Yue quickly jumped off the bed, hurriedly throwing the iodine and cotton swabs that were scattered on the bed under the pillow, and went to open the door.
As Ji Xu entered the room, he immediately smelled the alcohol in the air and his face darkened. “You…”
Cheng Yue looked up at Ji Xu with increasing anxiety, trying to hide his right hand behind his back.
Before Ji Xu could finish his sentence, he noticed Cheng Yue hiding his hand and narrowed his eyes, reaching out to grab his arm.
Cheng Yue initially tried to pull away but couldn’t resist Ji Xu’s strength and had to let him take his hand.
Ji Xu looked at Cheng Yue’s clearly swollen and bruised wrist with a frown, unsure of what to think.
“I’m fine…” Cheng Yue, frightened by Ji Xu’s expression, was worried that the injury would remind Ji Xu of his earlier visit to the bar, so he had been hiding it.
Ji Xu gently pressed his fingertip on the bruised area of Cheng Yue’s wrist and heard him gasp. He then moved his hand away, guided Cheng Yue to sit on the sofa, and asked, “What did you apply?”
“Disinfectant…”
“Next time you get hurt, remember to tell me.” Ji Xu opened the first aid kit and took out two sprays.
Cheng Yue nodded somewhat uncomfortably as Ji Xu pulled his hand over.
Ji Xu examined the red and swollen area on Cheng Yue’s otherwise fair skin. His gaze darkened as he suddenly pressed his fingertips on Cheng Yue’s wrist.
Cheng Yue felt pain from the pressure but dared not resist. He could only lower his head, frowning and gasping quietly, missing the strange emotion that was suppressed in Ji Xu’s eyes.
Ji Xu was aware of his own problems, but he never intended to impose his less respectable preferences on Cheng Yue. Not only because Cheng Yue was a child, but also because he called him “uncle.”
However, Ji Xu found pleasure and a sense of mental satisfaction in watching Cheng Yue endure pain and breathe through it slowly.
Looking at Cheng Yue’s pained expression and recalling what Tang Jing had said, Ji Xu felt that he might have been holding back too much.
Cheng Yue endured for a while, and when he couldn’t stand the constant pressure anymore, he finally cried out in pain. His skin was more sensitive than usual, so it was quite an achievement that he had lasted this long.
Hearing Cheng Yue’s cry, Ji Xu released his hand and carefully sprayed the medicine over Cheng Yue’s wrist.
“Go to bed early; you have school tomorrow,” Ji Xu said. Cheng Yue quickly pulled his hand away and hurriedly replied, “Okay,” before rushing back to his room.
Ji Xu watched as Cheng Yue almost ran back to his room, chuckling to himself. He placed the spray on the coffee table and went back to his own room.
The next morning, Cheng Yue got up as soon as his phone alarm rang. He quickly got ready and, upon opening the door, saw Ji Xu returning from his morning run.
Ji Xu was surprised to see Cheng Yue already up. He had planned to take a shower and then wake Cheng Yue up since it was still early.
“I’m going to school,” Cheng Yue said, grabbing a random bag of bread from the fridge as he prepared to leave.
“Don’t forget the milk on the table,” Ji Xu reminded him.
“Oh,” Cheng Yue went back to grab the milk.
“Do you want me to give you a ride?” Ji Xu raised an eyebrow.
“I can manage,” Cheng Yue replied enthusiastically, trying to separate his current self from his behavior the previous day.
“Do you have money?” Ji Xu opened a small drawer next to the coffee table and pulled out five one-hundred-yuan bills. “Pocket money.”
Cheng Yue looked at the money, unsure whether to take it. Although 500 yuan was only a meal’s worth to him in the past, he currently had no income and relied on Ji Xu. Taking Ji Xu’s money felt inappropriate.
“Just keep it as an advance; you can pay it back when I’m older,” Ji Xu, seeing Cheng Yue’s expression, chuckled and pushed the money into his pocket.
“It’s for a month, so spend it wisely.”
“Okay,” Cheng Yue nodded firmly.
Ji Xu smiled and said, “Spray the medicine again, and I’ll pick you up after school.”
“Sure,” Cheng Yue turned and sprayed the medicine, then called out toward the bathroom door where the sound of running water was coming from, “I’m leaving!”
Without waiting for a response from the bathroom, Cheng Yue grabbed his backpack by the entrance and ran off.
He couldn’t be late for school!
After Ji Xu finished showering and changed clothes, he drove to the office. Up to this point, the plans he and Tang Jing had made were progressing perfectly. Everything was in place, except for the final push.
He wasn’t sure which way the wind would blow in the end, so Ji Xu spent these days ensuring that everything was set up to guarantee success.
Tang Jing had been working hard as well and sighed when he saw Ji Xu at the office. “You’ve almost done it all. You’ve drained the pond, and no matter how much the fish struggle, they can’t escape your grasp. There’s no need to dig more on the shore.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Ji Xu always aimed for meticulous work. If he could crush the problem directly, he wouldn’t hesitate to drain every bit of air.
Moreover, the current situation wasn’t absolutely secure. If they lost the lawsuit, Ji Xu would only lose his reputation and job.
But for those children hoping to see the sun again, losing was a matter of their entire lives. Such matters couldn’t be gambled with; it had to be foolproof.
After finishing the day’s work, Ji Xu, reminded by his assistant Zhang Mengmeng, left work early.
Today was a school holiday for Cheng Yue. After just one day of classes, he was on a month-long break. Ji Xu wasn’t sure if Cheng Yue was lucky or if he was just unlucky.
When Ji Xu arrived at the school gate, Cheng Yue was just walking out with Chen Zong, chatting and laughing.
Ji Xu sat in the car, peering through the window at the boy walking beside Cheng Yue, narrowing his eyes at the hand resting on Cheng Yue’s shoulder.
Chen Zong felt his arm growing cold, almost like it had rheumatism, and had to remove it from Cheng Yue’s shoulder and rub it vigorously.
Cheng Yue, turning his head to ask what was wrong, saw Ji Xu getting out of the car and waving at him.
He smiled at Ji Xu and waved back.
Chen Zong looked at the imposing man and marveled at his physique before asking, “Is he your brother?”
“…My uncle,” Cheng Yue replied as he bade farewell to Chen Zong and walked toward Ji Xu.
“He’s the one who took you to the bar?” Ji Xu asked as Cheng Yue approached.
Seeing Ji Xu bring up the bar incident again made Cheng Yue a bit guilty. He nodded and repeatedly assured Ji Xu that he wouldn’t go there again.
“Alright, get in the car,” Ji Xu said with a smile, not wanting to press the issue further.
As Ji Xu was driving home, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He glanced at the slow-moving traffic ahead and pulled out the phone.
It was a call from Mu Jia.
As soon as the call connected, Mu Jia’s panicked breathing came through the line.
Hearing this, Ji Xu knew something was wrong. He calmly asked, “What’s happened?”
“There’s been blood spilled in front of my house…” Mu Jia, fighting nausea, looked at the bodies neatly arranged on the ground and the many skinned dead rats.
“I’m afraid to go outside, I…”
“Stay inside and don’t go out. Don’t worry, I’m coming over,” Ji Xu said, calming Mu Jia a bit before hanging up. He stepped on the gas and drove toward Mu Jia’s place.
Cheng Yue saw the call’s contact name on his phone as he was about to leave.
A person named Mu Jia.
On the first day he went to Ji Xu’s house, it seemed this Mu Jia had called once. Cheng Yue remembered Ji Xu hadn’t denied if it was a date with a girlfriend.
Although Cheng Yue was curious about why Ji Xu didn’t live with his girlfriend, he didn’t ask directly.
But once Cheng Yue became curious about something and couldn’t find the answer, it felt like an itch he couldn’t scratch.
Ji Xu noticed Cheng Yue fidgeting in his seat and frowned. “Is something wrong with your butt?”
“No…” Cheng Yue forced himself to stop moving and, with a dazed brain, said, “Auntie called you over. It might be inconvenient for you to take me with you…”
