The Little Fool Saves the Masochistic Novel Protagonist CHAPTER 42

Chapter 42

In the car, Shen Yicheng looked back at Chi Aibei. “This is the one you brought last time, right?”

Before Lin Xiu could speak, Chi Aibei suddenly sprang up, hugging the back of the front seat and staring at Shen Yicheng. “I remember you, Muscle Man!”

Chi Aibei remembered him. When Lin Xiu went to that building to get something before, this was the man who came out with him. Although he wasn’t wearing a tank top today, Chi Aibei still recognized him immediately—mostly because he remembered that face which didn’t seem to match those muscles.

Lin Xiu pulled Chi Aibei back. “Behave yourself.”

Chi Aibei asked Lin Xiu, “Gege, who is he? Don’t make friends with shady people outside.”

Shen Yicheng laughed. “I am indeed not a good person.”

Lin Xiu wasn’t good at dealing with drunks, especially a little drunkard who loved to talk nonsense. “Sorry, Brother Cheng, he’s drunk and talking gibberish.”

Shen Yicheng wasn’t going to get angry with a kid. He glanced at them through the rearview mirror and saw the kid in Lin Xiu’s arms staring at him warily with wide eyes. Shen Yicheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Control him, he’s going to stare a hole through me.”

Lin Xiu reached out and covered Chi Aibei’s eyes. “Sleep for a while.”

Chi Aibei tried to pry Lin Xiu’s hand away a few times but failed. He mumbled, “I’m doing this for your own good!”

Lin Xiu: “Yeah, you’re doing it for my good. Go to sleep. You can’t handle your liquor but you can’t read labels either; drinking alcohol like it’s soda.”

With his vision blocked, Chi Aibei started to get sleepy. In his daze, he heard Shen Yicheng mention something about a boxing match and something being problematic. Chi Aibei fell asleep before he could hear clearly.

Shen Yicheng said casually, “If I didn’t know you were a student, I’d think you were an undercover cop infiltrating the underground boxing ring.”

Lin Xiu glanced at Chi Aibei, who had gone quiet on his lap. “And yet you still trust me.”

Shen Yicheng smiled. “I really did suspect you at first. Mainly because you’re so secretive. You’re clearly a high school student, yet you talk more like an old man than I do. But the ruthlessness when you box is quite similar to mine.”

Lin Xiu smiled along with him.

How could it not be similar? I learned it all from you.

When Lin Xiu first went in [to prison], if he hadn’t met Shen Yicheng, he might have died inside long ago. Although he couldn’t escape his fate in the end, Lin Xiu still wanted to repay this favor.

Shen Yicheng went to prison because he took the fall for someone else. Lin Xiu wasn’t clear on the details, only knowing it was because of a boxing match. Calculating the years Shen Yicheng spent inside, it should be happening this year.

Shen Yicheng drove them to Xi Nong. Seeing Chi Aibei sleeping like the dead, Shen Yicheng asked, “Need help?”

Lin Xiu hoisted the person directly out of the car, carrying his backpack in the other hand. “No need, I can carry him.”

Shen Yicheng raised an eyebrow. “Like carrying a piglet.”

Lin Xiu thought to himself, Isn’t he just a little piglet? He wouldn’t even know if I sold him.

Halfway home, with Lin Xiu carrying him over his shoulder, Chi Aibei patted him. “Ugh, Gege, I’m going to throw up…”

Lin Xiu put him down. Chi Aibei squatted on the ground and retched a few times.

Lin Xiu: “Can you walk?”

Chi Aibei squatted there and shook his head. “No.”

There were only a few steps left. Chi Aibei squatted there, refusing to be carried over the shoulder and refusing to walk.

Lin Xiu, helpless, could only squat down to let him get on his back and piggyback him home.

…

The next day, Chi Aibei was woken up by Lin Xiu. After brushing his teeth, he came out and saw Lin Xiu eating steamed buns at the table. He ran over and grinned, “Morning, Gege.”

Lin Xiu looked at him expressionlessly. “Sober now?”

Chi Aibei picked up the milk on the table and took a sip, stubbornly saying, “Actually, I wasn’t drunk.”

Lin Xiu looked at him speechlessly. “Not drunk?”

Chi Aibei nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Seeing him acting as if nothing had happened, Lin Xiu didn’t believe a word. “Last night…”

Chi Aibei suddenly remembered something. “I saw the person who drove us home yesterday before. He’s not a cram school teacher, right?”

Seeing he still remembered Shen Yicheng, Lin Xiu asked, “What else do you remember?”

Chi Aibei recalled carefully. “He seemed to say something about a boxing match.”

He remembers the things he shouldn’t quite clearly.

Lin Xiu asked, “Anything else?”

Chi Aibei hadn’t heard much. Lin Xiu had covered his eyes at the time, and he fell asleep shortly after. He shook his head. “That’s it, I think.”

Lin Xiu laughed in exasperation. “You tossed and turned for half the night and only remember that?”

Tossed and turned for half the night?

Chi Aibei was stunned. Didn’t he just go to sleep when they got back?

Looking closely, Chi Aibei noticed dark circles under Lin Xiu’s eyes. It looked like he hadn’t slept well. He asked cautiously, “I didn’t do anything bad, did I?”

Lin Xiu took a bite of his bun. “Wouldn’t call it bad, but I just want to know—when did you become my father?”

Chi Aibei: “!!!”

Last night, when Lin Xiu came out of the shower, he was blocked at the bathroom door by Chi Aibei. Chi Aibei had swayed, pointed at Lin Xiu’s nose, and demanded to be called “Daddy.” He also babbled about getting Lin Xiu onto his household register and taking on the responsibility of being a father.

Lin Xiu hadn’t wanted to engage with a drunk, but this drunk was more troublesome than a goblin. He climbed onto Lin Xiu’s bed and made a ruckus for half the night, calling himself “Daddy” endlessly.

Chi Aibei’s mouth twitched. What to do? He hadn’t expected to speak the truth after drinking.

Lin Xiu finished his bun, stood up, walked behind him, and patted his head, warning, “No more drinking from now on.”

Chi Aibei felt an imposing pressure. Although he was the “Daddy,” he didn’t dare to act rashly at this moment.

He nodded while chewing on the milk straw.

Seeing that he was behaving now that he was sober, Lin Xiu didn’t hold it against him. “Eat quickly. There’s an exam today. Let’s go to school early after eating.”

Chi Aibei had almost forgotten. The teacher had mentioned the exam on Friday.

His plan was to surpass Lin Yang in two months. He never forced things outside of his plan. Even with the exam today, he didn’t intend to do any last-minute cramming.

Before the exam, Chi Aibei even mentioned in the basketball team group chat that he had gotten drunk and acted crazy yesterday. The group mocked his poor alcohol tolerance.

Lin Xiu saw him unhurriedly playing on his phone and asked, “Do you want to review for a bit?”

Chi Aibei pressed buttons on his phone and said, “No need. Even if I review, I can’t get first place.”

Lin Yang turned around. “My ninth-place ranking is no longer enough to satisfy you? You actually want to get first place?”

Chi Aibei looked at him. “Do you know why you’re always ninth? It’s because you don’t have the dream of being first.”

Jiang Yu had heard from Lin Yang about the game yesterday. Although he had seen Lin Xiu and Chi Aibei play the day they joined the team, hearing Lin Yang say Lin Xiu broke someone’s rib still felt a bit unbelievable.

Lin Xiu glanced at Jiang Yu, who kept staring at him. “Something wrong?”

Jiang Yu quickly looked away. “Nothing. Just heard you came to school to play ball yesterday.”

Lin Xiu gave a “Mn” and didn’t elaborate.

Chi Aibei forgot to ask yesterday. “Gege, why did you come yesterday?”

Lin Xiu didn’t answer. “Put your phone away. The exam is starting.”

Chi Aibei glanced at the phone in his hand, thinking about how Wang Xu came to the dorm to find him yesterday while he was video calling Lin Xiu. “I thought you didn’t hear.”

Lin Xiu: “I’m not deaf.”

Chi Aibei: “…” Uh, Gege’s words are a bit choking today. Is he still angry because I wanted to be his dad?

Chi Aibei put away his phone and cleared his desk. He’d better take the exam seriously. What if Lin Xiu got even angrier if he failed?

Jiang Yu said, “I’ve tutored you for so long. I don’t ask for first place, but just don’t get last place, and I’ll consider it giving me face.”

Chi Aibei made an OK gesture. “Don’t worry, this face must be given.”

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