Chapter 40: Can’t Say a Word of Sweet Talk
After returning home, Chi Wang couldn’t get any peace. Xiao Fu had already been frequently bothering him; now that he had a reason, the messages wouldn’t stop. Just from not checking his phone for one afternoon and half an evening, WeChat showed 99+ messages.
Chi Wang was shocked: Bro, you sure have a lot to say.jpg
He clicked in, and it was all images and text messages.
Xiao Fu had taken photos of every flower and plant in his home, the room he had prepared for him. In every photo, his finger appeared, arrogantly pointing at each item, sending them all to Chi Wang.
Among them were some scenery introductions.
A cat passing by was pointed at by Xiao Fu’s finger, with a text note: [A stray cat that often comes to my house to steal sausages.]
His finger pointing at a large batch of sausages drying outside, with a text note: [Sausages made by the housekeeper at home; you can eat them this year.]
His finger pointed at the lake beside the villa, with a text note: [Fishing is very convenient; big brother will take you fishing. Although I haven’t caught a single fish, I have several years of experience.]
Blah blah blah, he sent a ton.
Apparently, he had already fantasized about living an idyllic life together with Chi Wang.
Looking at this endless stream of messages that couldn’t be scrolled to the bottom, Chi Wang felt an indescribable feeling.
…Very warm.
This feeling was too unfamiliar.
He didn’t know about others, but due to his personal experiences, he was particularly distrustful of familial affection.
He was pregnant, with a baby in his belly; he could eventually accept this. One reason was that the baby hadn’t been born yet, was just a fetus. Something he hadn’t seen yet, even if he accepted it, there were still several months to buffer.
But from getting the paternity test to receiving the result, it only took a few hours. Suddenly, he was told that Xiao Fu was his biological brother—that was too fast; he couldn’t accept it all at once.
However, he was open-minded; the fact that Xiao Fu was his brother was undeniable, and Xiao Fu indeed wanted to get close to him. He had no reason to push him away, so he decided to let nature take its course.
As for Xie Siheng, he had just told him earlier that he would keep his distance from Xiao Fu, and now he was slapping himself in the face. Chi Wang felt somewhat embarrassed.
But there was nothing he could do; his attitude was clear, but a heaven-sent big brother could only be accepted with tears.
Now, looking at the messages Xiao Fu sent him, completely different from the previous suggestions of leading him into a life of debauchery, but rather a homely and livable life, Chi Wang felt it was really nice.
A very fresh feeling filled his heart, making him feel indescribably bashful.
A bit of shyness that only he himself knew.
Embarrassed that he wasn’t actually that strong, that he could still be moved, somewhat like a child who becomes overjoyed upon seeing such a situation.
Chi Wang replied with an emoji of a little yellow bean person carrying a small backpack and smiling. Xiao Fu didn’t like it; now he insisted on sending, somewhat wanting to challenge the other’s bottom line, but also very reserved.
Xiao Fu quickly replied with a built-in system emoji of a yellow bean person being patted on the head.
Chi Wang laughed.
*
That day, Qiao Yuzhen went to work as usual.
She hadn’t planned to work, but Chi Cheng’s monthly medicine cost several thousand yuan, and she often prepared supplements for him to eat. What Chi Wang sent wasn’t enough; she had to work as well.
Chi Cheng was the son she had longed for, so she doted on him especially. Even when he hit her, she couldn’t bear to scold him, and over time, he was spoiled, with a very bad temper, but she enjoyed it.
For the sake of Chi Cheng, she was willing to do anything!
She worked as a warehouse administrator, a job found through a friend of Chi Kangnian, with a high salary of 6,500 yuan a month.
Chi Wang didn’t send her money, so she could only use her own salary to pay for Chi Cheng’s injections.
She didn’t know what was wrong with Chi Cheng; he was very short. He was 13 years old, in his first year of middle school, and only 148 cm tall. When Chi Wang was in his first year of middle school, he was already 163 cm, and by the third year, he had grown to over 170 cm!
She didn’t know how tall Chi Wang was now, but during high school, he had grown even more. Standing next to her, he was a head taller. She estimated he must be around 1.8 meters now, probably even taller.
If only Chi Cheng could have that height!
She harbored a lot of resentment toward Chi Wang; after all, he wasn’t her biological son and wouldn’t be considerate.
Now that Chi Wang didn’t send her money, she couldn’t do anything about it. If Chi Kangnian were around, perhaps he could control Chi Wang, but that deadbeat had run off years ago, unhappy that she hadn’t given him a healthy son, off to live with another woman.
In the first year, he still had some conscience and would send some money back; afterward, he completely ignored them, not even returning during the New Year.
Qiao Yuzhen felt she was truly miserable, not a single day of happiness.
Work was boring; she sat in a corner playing on her phone.
Someone came to unload goods; she didn’t get up. Her coworker glared at her and went to help unload.
At that moment, the supervisor hurried over, asking, “Who is Qiao Yuzhen?”
Qiao Yuzhen stood up, weakly saying, “I am. What’s the matter?”
The supervisor said, “Come here; there’s something to discuss with you.”
She followed the supervisor to the office and found out she was being dismissed.
She was shocked and quickly asked the reason. The supervisor impatiently said, “Dismissed means dismissed; what’s the reason? Ask yourself, have you been working diligently?”
Without waiting for her to explain, he drove her out.
This kind of job didn’t even have a contract; they could fire you just like that. She was bewildered and called the friend of Chi Kangnian who had gotten her the job. This person held a decent position in the company, which is how she got this cushy job.
But when she called him, he didn’t answer. Listening to the endless ringing, she belatedly realized she had been blocked.
Why? With her limited understanding, she was even more confused.
However, this was just the beginning. She rode her electric scooter home; on the way, a woman suddenly rushed out and collided with her. Startled, she stopped the scooter, seeing the woman lying on the ground wailing. Her eyes darted around, and she was about to flee when a man suddenly appeared, grabbing her collar and shouting, “You hit my wife??”
Qiao Yuzhen protested her innocence, but the man wouldn’t listen, insisting on taking her to the hospital.
People around pointed and whispered, but no one helped her. She was dragged by the man and woman to the hospital, registered, took X-rays, and all the procedures required her to pay. In the end, it was found that the woman’s leg was fractured—a broken leg.
When she heard the compensation amount, her pupils dilated, and she finally thought of calling the police.
But when the police arrived, they just tried to smooth things over; who could intervene in this matter? The woman’s leg was broken; that was a fact. She had to compensate.
But the compensation would cost tens of thousands of yuan; how could she have that money?
She wanted to make a scene, but the man stood there like a tower, glaring at her with eyes as big as bronze bells. She didn’t dare.
She hurriedly borrowed a phone to call Chi Wang, but as soon as he heard her voice, he hung up, making her furious.
The man followed her home, noted her home address and Chi Cheng’s school, now biting down and not letting go. She had no way out, feeling tormented and miserable.
She was a lone woman with her son; she had little contact with relatives and neighbors, and in such a situation, there was no one to give her advice. This was the disadvantage of not having a man at home.
At this time, she couldn’t help but blame Chi Cheng for not living up to expectations, being born with such a weak body, causing Chi Kangnian to be more and more impatient with her.
When Chi Cheng came back from school, his complexion wasn’t good either. For once, she noticed but didn’t care for her precious son.
If she had asked, she would have known that today’s events were not coincidences, but she didn’t ask and could only muddle along into the abyss with Chi Cheng.
Xiao Fu had designed a path for them, including Chi Kangnian.
He was very good at tormenting people, and he was especially talented in this area.
When dealing with competitors who displeased him and didn’t have much ability, he would use many insidious methods, forcing the other party to spit out most of their profits, taking a big bite out of them and their family, treating them like leeks to be harvested. When the other party recovered, he could cut them again.
For those with strong abilities, he would act like a hyena, constantly looking for opportunities to harass them. Even if he failed, it wouldn’t stop him from continuing to disgust them with sinister and vicious methods next time, purely in a mindset of “If I can’t kill you, I’ll disgust you to death.”
He wasn’t a righteous person; he knew all the vicious methods in the business world and was even better at tormenting people.
For a long time to come, they would be Xiao Fu’s toys.
All of this, Chi Wang wouldn’t know. In front of him, Xiao Fu was still a clean and pure person—Xiao Fu thought carefully, had he shown any of this in front of Chi Wang?
No. Xiao Fu secretly rejoiced that he had always presented himself as approachable, kind, and generous in front of Chi Wang, without giving him a bad impression.
His keen intuition had saved him once again.
He would be Chi Wang’s most upright, most handsome, and kindest good brother.
*
Chi Wang sneezed heavily several times; Xie Sichen handed him a tissue.
Chi Wang took it, twisted the tissue, tore it in half, used half to wipe his nose, and naturally folded the other half and put it in his pocket for next time.
Xie Sichen: “…”
No need to be so frugal.
Chi Wang didn’t look at Xie, confidently saying, “Someone is thinking of me.”
Xie suddenly said, “I am.”
Chi Wang laughed, his white teeth dazzling, “I’m right in front of you, and you’re thinking of me?”
Xie’s handsome and indifferent face lowered slightly, his upturned dark eyes looking at him with a bit of tenderness. “Hmm.”
After a pause, he said reservedly, “I was just thinking about you a moment ago.”
Chi Wang: Scratching head.jpg
He felt the atmosphere was a bit strange.
Because Xie’s pitch-black eyes, usually impenetrable, were now shining, appearing moist.
To be precise, perhaps it was ‘gazing affectionately’?
Chi Wang’s goosebumps rose instantly; he scratched his head and silently picked at his pretty, rounded fingernails.
“…” Xie shifted his gaze away, his voice coldly adding, “I was also thinking about the baby.”
After another pause, “And Xiaomi.”
Chi Wang: “Oh!”
He lifted his face and smiled at Xie, “Then you’re quite busy.”
Xie: “…Hmm.”
Perhaps he should take a look at the booklist Chi Wang had sent him.
