Chapter 48
On Saturday evening, Chi Wendong came to the school to pick up Chi Aibei.
Wearing the small suit Chi Wendong had custom-made for him, Chi Aibei ran out of the school gates. He dashed right past Chi Wendong, who was waiting by the car, and ran all the way to the vehicle, craning his neck to peer inside.
Seeing that the boy didn’t even spare him a glance, Chi Wendong grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back. “I didn’t tell Mom and Dad you were coming. Once we get there, find a place to stay out of the way.”
Chi Aibei wasn’t listening to a word Chi Wendong said. He nodded haphazardly in agreement.
Chi Wendong clicked his tongue. “What are you looking at? Your brother is right here.”
Chi Aibei glanced at Chi Wendong, hugged him with a grin, and said, “Brother, I missed you.”
Chi Wendong: “…” I couldn’t tell at all.
Although he couldn’t tell, Chi Wendong was still mollified by the remark. He let go, and Chi Aibei ran over to pull open the rear door. Finding the back seat empty, he didn’t even have time to put on a disappointed expression before he caught a glimpse of a familiar lock of hair through the gap in the front seats.
He quickly backed out of the rear door and tapped on the passenger side window. “Brother?”
The window rolled down. Lin Xiu turned his head, his gaze colliding squarely with Chi Aibei, who was practically clinging to the glass. The little fool’s smile was a mix of ingratiation and caution, looking at him like a puppy that had done something wrong.
Lin Xiu really had to hand it to him. Anyone else would have lost their enthusiasm after being given the cold shoulder for so many days. But this kid… he was behaving so normally that Lin Xiu couldn’t tell if he actually knew he was in the wrong.
Lin Xiu suddenly felt that pretending to be angry to teach him a lesson might have been a miscalculation. This child’s brain circuitry was different from ordinary people; he would have to try a different tactic next time.
When they arrived at the cocktail party, Chi Wendong told Chi Aibei once again that their parents didn’t know he was coming. This time, Chi Aibei actually listened.
Chi Aibei didn’t have much of a reaction to that; he didn’t want to see them anyway.
“What about Brother?” Chi Aibei asked.
“I’ll take him to see Mom and Dad first. We’ll come find you in a bit,” Chi Wendong said.
Chi Aibei looked at Lin Xiu with some concern. Chi Wendong patted his head. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
Watching Chi Wendong lead Lin Xiu away, Chi Aibei stood there without moving.
“It’s you?”
Hearing someone speak behind him, Chi Aibei turned around. His gaze lowered to the person sitting in a wheelchair, and he recognized him instantly. “Wheelchair Brother?”
Meng Huaiqing was dressed more formally than the day they met at the mall, though not strictly formal. He wore a suit with the shirt collar slightly open, no tie or bow tie, giving him a casual air. Yet, that faceāone not easily forgottenāstill wore the same smile as that day.
Meng Huaiqing hadn’t expected to see him here. He was somewhat surprised. “You’re here for the party too?”
The word “too” implied he was also a guest today. Chi Aibei thought, What a coincidence. “Sort of.”
Meng Huaiqing had met most of the children of similar age in this circle, but he had never seen this boy before. “Which family are you from?”
Just as Chi Aibei was about to introduce himself, he heard an affectionate “Junior Brother.”
Meng Ying ran over, lifting the hem of her gown, and called out to Meng Huaiqing, “Brother.”
Chi Aibei looked at Meng Ying, then at Meng Huaiqing. “Brother?”
Meng Ying introduced them. “He’s my brother. Why are you two together? Do you know each other?”
Chi Aibei hadn’t expected the world to be so small. The Wheelchair Brother was actually Senior Sister Meng Ying’s brother. And her brother was disabled.
Meng Huaiqing also hadn’t expected such a coincidence. He smiled. “The brave little friend I told you about last time is him.”
Meng Ying had a realization. “No wonder. I said the person I saw at the mall that day looked like him.”
Mall?
If Meng Huaiqing remembered correctly, Meng Ying had said the person she thought she saw at the mall was the Chi family’s kid.
Meng Huaiqing looked at Chi Aibei again. This child seemed quite different from what he had heard.
Meng Ying bumped into an acquaintance and was called away. She came and went in a rush, as if she had only come over specifically to introduce her brother. Chi Aibei looked bewilderedāwho introduces someone without even mentioning their name? Senior Sister was too unreliable.
“Let’s go sit over there,” Meng Huaiqing said.
Chi Aibei snapped back to reality. When he looked for Chi Wendong and Lin Xiu again, he couldn’t find them in the massive banquet hall.
He nodded and followed Meng Huaiqing to a rest area on the side.
A waiter came by with drinks. Just as Chi Aibei reached out to take one, he heard Meng Huaiqing say, “Give him a glass of orange juice.”
Chi Aibei retracted his hand. He looked at Meng Huaiqing, who smiled and said, “Not of age yet, right?”
Chi Aibei nodded. “Mn, I didn’t plan on drinking anyway.”
Meng Huaiqing had two younger male cousins at home who were like monkeys jumping up and down all day, incredibly annoying. Seeing the child in front of him obediently withdraw his hand and defend himself, Meng Huaiqing smiled gently. “Children indeed shouldn’t drink. Drink when you’re an adult.”
Chi Aibei: “My brother says I have a low tolerance and won’t let me drink.”
A good boy who listens to his brother. Meng Huaiqing said, “Then listen to your brother.”
Suddenly, someone ran up from behind Chi Aibei and shouted at Meng Huaiqing, “Why did you run over here? Hey, let me ask you, can this wheelchair of yoursā”
The voice sounded familiar. Chi Aibei turned his head just as a slouching figure swept past his eyes.
Di Zuo belatedly realized there was someone sitting on the sofa opposite Meng Huaiqing. Meeting those crystal-clear eyes, Di Zuo frozeāwasn’t this the little beauty he had been dreaming about? Why was he here?!
Di Zuo shifted his target and plopped down right next to Chi Aibei. Looking like he had found a long-lost treasure he wanted to swallow whole, he asked, “Why are you here? Who did you come with? Isn’t your family poor? Why would you run to a place like this? You aren’t here to wait tables, are you?”
Chi Aibei: “…”
If he hadn’t opened his mouth to speak, Chi Aibei almost wouldn’t have recognized him. His gaze moved up inch by inch to look at Di Zuo’s black hair. “…Why isn’t your hair blue anymore?”
Meng Huaiqing raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Clearly, Di Zuo knew this kid too.
For a legendary “child,” his social circle was unexpectedly wide. But what was this about Di Zuo calling him “poor”?
Di Zuo ruffled his hair. “Dyed it back.”
Meng Huaiqing asked Chi Aibei, “You’ve seen his blue hair?”
Chi Aibei nodded. “Mn.”
Less than three days after dyeing his hair that ghostly color, Di Zuo’s grandfather had threatened to break his legs, forcing him to dye it back. Very few people had seen the blue hair. Meng Huaiqing didn’t expect this kid to be so unlucky as to have witnessed such an eyesore.
Chi Aibei scooted back a bit and asked Meng Huaiqing, “Wheelchair Brother, is he your friend? Isn’t he a human trafficker?”
Meng Huaiqing: “…Human trafficker?”
Meng Huaiqing looked at Di Zuo. It was the first time he’d heard someone describe him as a human trafficker. He couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
Di Zuo clicked his tongue and closed the distance Chi Aibei had just created. “I already told you I’m not a trafficker. But you, whose poor kid are you?”
Di Zuo hadn’t believed the “my family is poor” line back then, and now seeing him here with Meng Huaiqing, he was even more certain this little sweet bean had been bamboozling him.
Seeing Chi Aibei frowning and continuing to scoot away, Meng Huaiqing asked, “How exactly do you two know each other?”
Di Zuo said, “We met when he was selling milk tea.”
Di Zuo couldn’t figure out why a kid who could attend this kind of event would go sell milk tea.
Chi Aibei slowly added, “He came to hit on me while I was working. He had blue hair then and kept pestering me to talk. I thought he was going to kidnap me and harvest my kidneys.”
Di Zuo, who hadn’t known the kid thought all that: “…”
Meng Huaiqing, hearing such outrageous words for the first time: “…”
Thinking of that blue hair Di Zuo had a while ago, Meng Huaiqing agreed it was an eyesore, but not to the extent of mistaking him for a kidney-harvesting trafficker. Seeing Di Zuo’s speechless face, Meng Huaiqing said, “Boys should indeed protect themselves when outside.”
Chi Aibei nodded and glanced at Di Zuo, who was leaning in again. “Can you stop crowding me? I don’t have any room left.”
It was a large sofa, but Chi Aibei was practically sitting in the crack.
Di Zuo took out his phone. “Add me on WeChat and I’ll give you space.”
Chi Aibei frowned and looked at Meng Huaiqing, as if asking, Is he really a good person?
Even though he had dyed his hair back, Chi Aibei still felt this person was weird. What kind of decent person calls a boy a “beauty” for no reason?
Meng Huaiqing grew up with Di Zuo; he knew Di Zuo’s nature better than anyone. Seeing that shameless expression, he knew exactly what the guy was up to.
Di Zuo changed partners every few days. Meng Huaiqing usually never said anything, but this time he decided to be a stumbling block. He told Chi Aibei, “He’s not a good thing. Don’t pay attention to him.”
Seeing Meng Huaiqing ruin his fun, Di Zuo kicked Meng Huaiqing’s wheelchair. “Can you stop speaking nonsense?”
The space was tight, and Di Zuo’s kick sent the wheelchair sliding back a bit, bumping into the sofa behind it.
Meng Huaiqing silently moved the wheelchair back, looking as submissive as he had that day at the mall. Chi Aibei couldn’t understand how this person had such a good temper. He frowned and looked at Di Zuo accusingly. “Do you always bully him?”
Di Zuo paused. “Me, bully? Bully who?”
Chi Aibei pointed at Meng Huaiqing. Di Zuo followed his hand. He didn’t know how the kid reached that conclusion. This child’s brain seemed different from normal peopleāif he didn’t think Di Zuo was harvesting kidneys, he thought he was a bully. Did he look that much like a bad guy?
Di Zuo: “Me? Bully him?”
Growing up, when was it ever not him getting schemed against by this dog, Meng Huaiqing? They did bad things together, but Di Zuo took all the blame. Meng Huaiqing bullying him was more like it. When had he ever bullied Meng Huaiqing?
Meng Huaiqing saw that Chi Aibei had misunderstood because of the kick. Instead of explaining, he poured oil on the fire. “Exactly. I’m disabled, please don’t bully me anymore.”
Di Zuo: “…” Fck me! This dog is pretending to be crippled to trick a child?*
Meng Huaiqing took out his phone. “Add me. I don’t harvest kidneys.”
Perhaps because Meng Huaiqing looked refined, Chi Aibei felt an inexplicable closeness to him. He added Meng Huaiqing without a second thought, which made Di Zuo insanely jealous.
He grabbed Chi Aibei’s wrist and shoved his phone in Chi Aibei’s face. “You added him, so add me too. I promise I won’t bully the disabled anymore.”
Chi Aibei could see they were friends, and someone invited to today’s gala couldn’t possibly be a human trafficker.
Thinking that knowing more people might be useful later, Chi Aibei scanned Di Zuo’s phone.
Di Zuo’s profile picture was a handwritten character “Zuo” (Left), and his WeChat name was “Zuo Daye” (Grandpa Zuo/Lord Zuo).
Chi Aibei: “…” Even his WeChat name doesn’t look like a good person’s.
After half a month, Di Zuo finally got his Little Sweet Bean’s contact info. He asked Chi Aibei, “What’s your name? I’m Di Zuo. The ‘Di’ from Di Renjie, the ‘Zuo’ from left and right.”
Chi Aibei was just about to introduce himself when he heard the name “Di Zuo.” His brain buzzed, and his heart sank like lead…
Di… Di Zuo?
He looked at Di Zuo’s profile picture again. That character “Zuo” suddenly became blindingly harsh.
Wasn’t this the rapist who, just to disgust He Chenjiang, tried to violate Lin Xiu, only to have his junk kicked and broken by Lin Xiu, sending Lin Xiu to prison for it? The one who later hooked up with Jiang Yu, and the two of them conspired to make Lin Xiu rot in jail?!
Chi Aibei turned his head, looking at the face he had repeatedly mistaken for a bad guy… He had actually added the person he wanted to beat to death most in the entire novel as a friend?
Murder is illegal…
Killing bad guys is also illegal…
Chi Aibei gripped his phone tightly… If I delete him now, is it still too late?
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