As the woman walked towards Cheng Yue, she stopped with a hint of guilt on her face after recognizing him.
Cheng Yue looked at her, slowly stood up from his seat, and walked over.
“You…” Tan Minmin took a step back in her high heels, quickly regaining her composure, “Ah Yue?”
“…Aunt Tan?” Cheng Yue was also surprised, “You’re here for a meal?”
“Yes.” Tan Minmin, holding a small bag, smiled warmly, “Long time no see.”
Ji Xu squinted at the woman and then stood up with a faint smile, “And this is?”
“Ah…” Cheng Yue turned his head towards Ji Xu and answered, “She’s a good friend of my mom.”
Tan Minmin’s eyes brightened when she saw Ji Xu. With a delicate laugh, she tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “Hello.”
“Hello,” Ji Xu replied.
Cheng Yue, looking unhappy, hesitated several times before asking, “Aunt Tan, you know about my family…”
“Ah… I have something to do,” Tan Minmin quickly made an awkward excuse and tried to leave, “Ah Yue, call me if you need anything in the future.”
“Hey…” Cheng Yue was about to grab her to ask more questions but was stopped by Ji Xu, who grabbed his arm.
“Let’s eat first,” Ji Xu pulled him back to his seat.
The food had already been served, and Ji Xu poured a bowl of soup for Cheng Yue.
“She changed her phone number,” Cheng Yue suddenly said, “I tried calling her the day I came back, and since I only had her contact in China, it was out of service.”
Ji Xu raised an eyebrow and asked, “How does she know your mother?”
“Aunt Tan was my mom’s personal assistant…” Cheng Yue looked down at the steak that was served, feeling a bit uncomfortable from the steam.
Ji Xu recalled the woman’s reaction: her instinctive step back when she first saw Cheng Yue, her nervous eyes, and her fingers constantly fidgeting with her bag. These were clear signs of guilt and nervousness.
But if this Aunt Tan had such a good relationship with Ke Miu, her reaction to Cheng Yue shouldn’t be like this. Moreover, the excuses she gave when Cheng Yue asked about the family’s bankruptcy situation seemed more suspicious.
Ji Xu meticulously cut his steak, thinking about the previous incident with the IOU threat, furrowing his brows as he reviewed the situation. He then looked up at Cheng Yue, who was happily eating, and was about to say something but didn’t.
After dinner, Ji Xu only allowed Cheng Yue to have a small portion of ice cream.
“Burp…” Cheng Yue patted his stomach and smiled brightly, “I’m full!”
Ji Xu looked at Cheng Yue’s silly grin, feeling helpless. Fortunately, Cheng Yue’s dimples made the smile look less foolish. Ji Xu focused on Cheng Yue’s mouth and asked, “Why didn’t you have that dimple when you smiled before?”
“Ah…” Cheng Yue heard him and immediately stopped smiling, awkwardly biting his lip. “It showed up? I forgot I shouldn’t smile too broadly.”
Ji Xu raised an eyebrow, “Why?”
“My dad said it looks silly and doesn’t fit a manly image,” Cheng Yue grinned again and pointed at his dimple, “You see, it’s not there when I smile like this. It only shows when I smile widely.”
Cheng Yue gradually widened his smile, tilting his head and pointing at his dimple, “See, it’s showing.”
“Quite cute,” Ji Xu suddenly said.
“Ah…” Cheng Yue was stunned and slowly turned his head back.
“Let’s go,” Ji Xu said, standing up, “Don’t you need to go back to your class?”
“Oh, right.” Cheng Yue, feeling nervous, fumbled for his phone and sent a message to the class group.
[atm-Cheng Yue]: Is the event over? Is there anything else to help with?
As soon as Cheng Yue sent the message, he couldn’t get over Ji Xu’s comment about being cute, which made him feel a bit giddy.
The group responded quickly. Just as Cheng Yue put his phone down, messages started popping up with notifications.
[Boss-Chen]: Almost done. If you’re not going home afterward, I’ll treat you to supper. Sign up with a 1. Heads will roll.
[Brother Huan Zhu-Jiang Gezi]: There’s nothing more to do. Students who are going out to eat can go home directly. No need to come back. Thanks for your hard work.
[Boss-Chen]: Gezi, speak normally. How come a new student showed up, and all the girls in class seem like they’re getting sedatives. I’m scared now just reading your messages.
The messages came in rapidly, and Cheng Yue’s eyes were starting to blur from reading them.
“Why is your face so red?” Ji Xu, walking ahead, glanced back at him, “Take off your jacket.”
“Oh…” Cheng Yue was taken aback and quickly removed his jacket.
Ji Xu squinted, his voice slightly low, “So obedient.”
“Ah?” Cheng Yue didn’t hear clearly, looked up at him, “What did you say?”
“I’m taking you somewhere,” Ji Xu said, leading him to the car.
It wasn’t until about ten minutes into the drive that Cheng Yue asked, “Where are we going?”
Ji Xu looked at the road ahead and said, “I’m taking you to see some angels.”
“Angels?” Cheng Yue was puzzled.
Ji Xu didn’t say anything further. Cheng Yue, having just eaten, started to feel drowsy as he leaned back in the seat.
When they arrived, Cheng Yue looked out the car window at the warm, smiling sunflowers and the two children standing underneath them. He couldn’t help but smile.
As they got out of the car, the two children quickly ran up and hugged one of Ji Xu’s legs.
One child was very happy, making joyful sounds, while the other, though silent, was beaming with joy.
Cheng Yue, curious, bent down and poked one of the children’s faces with his finger.
The child first looked surprised, then glanced up at Ji Xu.
Ji Xu nodded and made a gesture with his hand.
“Ah!” The child suddenly called out and quickly turned to hug Cheng Yue’s leg.
“Hey…” Cheng Yue was startled and instinctively tried to pull away, but the child had already wrapped around his leg, leaving him rooted in place, stiff and unsure.
“It’s fine,” Ji Xu smiled at him, “If you walk away, the child will let go.”
“I’m afraid I’ll step on… step on him,” Cheng Yue said, looking distressed as he stared at the child clinging to his leg, “Let me go, I need to move.”
“He can’t hear you,” Ji Xu bent down and picked up one of the children, “Let’s go.”
Cheng Yue looked down at the smiling child he was holding, awkwardly lifting him up, and followed Ji Xu. He quietly murmured, “Sorry, I didn’t know you can’t hear me. But it seems you also can’t hear my apology, so I said it anyway.”
“Ah!” The child clung to him and suddenly called out, startling Cheng Yue, who held onto the child stiffly, not daring to move.
“Children hugging children.” Mu Jia laughed as she saw Cheng Yue awkwardly and stiffly holding the child. She quickly went over and took the child from him. “Where is Ji Xu? Why are you alone?”
“He went inside.” Cheng Yue sighed with relief, pointed towards the house ahead, and then looked at Mu Jia, who was holding the child, with some hesitation. “Are they…”
“Hmm.” Mu Jia smiled faintly and nodded. “You should go inside. It’s going to rain soon.”
Once Cheng Yue entered the house, he saw Ji Xu sitting on one side talking with a person in a white coat, who appeared to be a doctor.
Cheng Yue went over and listened for a moment before Mu Jia pulled him to play with the children.
After playing with the kids for a while, Cheng Yue was exhausted and out of breath. Taking advantage of a moment when the children were not crowding him, he hurried over to the sofa where Ji Xu was sitting.
He realized that the children were too intimidated to approach Ji Xu.
“Have some water.” Ji Xu handed him a bottle of mineral water from under the table.
Cheng Yue took the bottle and drank eagerly. The cool water flowing down his throat made him feel much better.
After taking a few more sips, he put the bottle down and stared at the room full of children. Suddenly, he asked, “How did they end up in the orphanage?”
“Most were abandoned by their parents, and a small number were rescued from human traffickers but their parents were never found,” Ji Xu explained. “And some are…”
Looking at the bouncing children all around, Cheng Yue felt a bit of an ache in his nose. He thought he was quite similar to these children.
They had all been abandoned.
After a while, noticing that Cheng Yue hadn’t moved, Ji Xu glanced over and saw Cheng Yue with his head lowered, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Xu asked.
Cheng Yue clenched his fists, his voice very soft, “I was abandoned too.”
Ji Xu furrowed his brows, reached out, and lifted Cheng Yue’s chin to make him look up.
“What’s the matter…” Cheng Yue looked into Ji Xu’s eyes, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. “I’m fine. I was just being a bit sentimental. My Chinese teacher keeps calling on me to answer questions lately.”
“You don’t have to smile if you don’t feel like it,” Ji Xu said, looking at him. “You’re still young. Some things are not within your control, but that doesn’t mean you have to bear everything.”
“…Hmm.” Cheng Yue nodded, then smiled again after a moment. “But you did pick me up, didn’t you?”
Ji Xu looked at him and smiled, “Indeed, I found a treasure.”
“Really?” Cheng Yue’s eyes brightened, “I’ve been doing well lately, haven’t I?”
“Never make your own bed, leave your drinking cups wherever you finish with them, forget to close the bathroom door, eat only vegetables and not the rice, and recently your homeroom teacher sent me your monthly exam scores, and not a single subject passed…” Ji Xu listed off each issue, finally questioning, “I’m not even mentioning math and Chinese, but you didn’t even pass English?”
Cheng Yue: “…”
“Alright, let’s go back,” Ji Xu said as he stood up.
Cheng Yue, feeling embarrassed, rubbed his nose and stood up as well.
Suddenly, a thunderclap outside startled Cheng Yue, causing him to crouch down on the ground and cling tightly to one of Ji Xu’s legs.
“What’s wrong?”
Ji Xu was taken aback by his reaction.
Cheng Yue’s face turned pale, and he looked up with wide eyes, listening to the still-thundering storm outside with fear.
Ji Xu looked at Cheng Yue from this angle, his Adam’s apple moved, and his expression suddenly changed.
