Chapter 40

Chapter 40

"040"

Lu Ao still carried the faint scent of body wash—clean, simple soap notes.

The same scent that lingered on Xiao Lancui.

Xiao Lancui didn't pull away, but Lu Ao let go quickly, lowering his eyes to look at Xiao Lancui. "Can we get some stir-fry?"

Xiao Lancui took Lu Ao to a private dining spot.

It was on Xiao Liqin's list of places to go.

There was even a map of this place in the original notes. Once, when Xiao Anfeng had a fight with Lu Siye, Xiao Anfeng blocked Lu Siye and went completely off-grid. The next day, Xiao Liqin brought Xiao Anfeng to this restaurant for a meal, and Lu Siye showed up.

When Lu Siye tried to forcibly take Xiao Anfeng away, Xiao Liqin—always restrained and proper—swung a punch.

The two brawled in the rain, and a passerby caught it on video and posted it online.

They arrived at the restaurant just after two o'clock, past the lunch crowd, so they got a table without a reservation.

Xiao Lancui asked for a quiet private dining room.

The pictures on the menu all looked appetizing, so Xiao Lancui let Lu Ao do the ordering. Lu Ao scanned the menu back and forth and picked three dishes.

Stir-fried mushrooms, broccoli, and Chinese sausage; a pork patty with Chinese yam and water chestnuts; and a radish, corn, and pork rib soup.

All light, easy-to-digest dishes perfect for someone just getting over a serious illness.

Xiao Lancui added three dishes with bolder flavors—young guys had big appetites and liked their food with some kick.

He also ordered a can of Coke.

Xiao Lancui had tried it once and didn't care for it, but he'd noticed a lot of young people loved the stuff.

Xiao Mian certainly did—the mini fridge on the third floor was always stocked with imported, extra-fizzy cola.

When the Coke came, it was poured into a regular glass with a few square ice cubes. Lu Ao loved it, just as expected, and chugged the whole thing in one go.

Xiao Lancui took a sip of his warm water and asked, "Want another one?"

Lu Ao carefully read Xiao Lancui's expression—a habit born from years of depending on others' goodwill.

Of course, the Lu Ao who'd been buried in the imperial mausoleum had never been sensitive like this.

Xiao Lancui said patiently, "If you want something, just say so. I don't do guessing games."

Lu Ao nodded right away, holding up two fingers. "Can I get two more glasses?"

Xiao Lancui ordered two more glasses of iced cola for him. Besides the rib soup, everything else was made fresh to order, so the food came out slowly. The waiter brought out a few small plates of appetizers first.

One of the plates was brown sugar rice cake sticks. Xiao Lancui watched Lu Ao openly, and Lu Ao noticed them too.

He immediately picked up a brown sugar rice cake stick and said cheerfully, "Bro, I love these brown sugar rice cake sticks! You should try one!"

He set it down on Xiao Lancui's plate.

The hardest lie to spot is the one mixed with truth.

All his habits were now the exact opposite of before—which would've been too obviously fake.

Xiao Lancui looked away, picked up the rice cake stick, and took a small bite. Still too sweet. He put down his chopsticks and said, "You have it. I don't like sweets."

"Oh, okay." Lu Ao nodded innocently and casually reached over with his chopsticks, grabbed the half-eaten stick from Xiao Lancui's plate, and popped it into his mouth. "Then I'll eat them all!" he said while chewing.

Xiao Lancui was quiet for a beat but didn't say anything in the end.

At least nothing went to waste.

The dishes came out gradually, and by the time they finished eating, it was almost three.

Xiao Lancui had a surprisingly good appetite—he polished off a bowl of rice, three or four ribs, and half a bowl of soup.

Lu Ao finished off everything else, scraping the plates clean.

The restaurant served fragrant rice with fresh peas in a little wooden bucket. They refilled it three times, and Lu Ao cleaned it out every time.

On the third refill, the waiter asked helpfully, "Would you like me to bring a bigger bucket?"

Lu Ao was uncomfortable around strangers and just ducked his head without saying anything.

Xiao Lancui answered for him, "No need. Just another iced cola, please."

The waiter brought the iced cola. Once Lu Ao finished it, Xiao Lancui paid and also had a bag of brown sugar rice cake sticks packed to go.

Lu Ao beamed as he carried the bag of rice cake sticks. The two stepped out of the restaurant to find it pouring rain—they'd been so caught up in eating and talking in the private room that neither had noticed.

Xiao Lancui pulled out his phone to order a ride when a car suddenly pulled up and stopped right in front of them.

At the same time, the driver's door swung open, and a man stepped out with an umbrella, walking around the front of the car and heading straight for Xiao Lancui.

Not a huge surprise—it was Xiao Liqin.

Knowing Xiao Anfeng's temper, he was probably holed up somewhere right now, ignoring everyone, phone off and unreachable.

Xiao Liqin had been looking everywhere, hitting every spot Xiao Anfeng might've gone.

He'd brought Xiao Anfeng here plenty of times, so there was a real chance of running into him.

"Xiao Lancui! What the hell did you say to Anfeng?" Xiao Liqin's eyes swept over Lu Ao, dismissed him, and locked onto Xiao Lancui with disgust.

He had no idea when Xiao Lancui had found out, but the only person who'd tell Xiao Anfeng was Xiao Lancui!

And there was something else—he needed to find out exactly what Xiao Lancui knew. If it was just the illegitimate son thing, he wasn't worried. What he feared was Xiao Anfeng's real identity coming to light.

Xiao Lancui's lips had just started to move when a blur of motion shot past him. Before he could even react, Lu Ao had grabbed Xiao Liqin by the collar and thrown a punch.

The punch came out of nowhere—within a second, Xiao Liqin's nose exploded in pain, hot blood pouring from his nostrils. His entire upper body reeled backward, the umbrella flying from his hand, and in an instant, Lu Ao had him pinned to the ground, pummeling him.

Xiao Lancui was also surprised by Lu Ao's sudden ferocity. He watched coldly as blood mixed with rain streamed down Xiao Liqin's face, not moving, observing from where he stood.

Xiao Liqin quickly recovered from the shock of pain. He was tall and burly himself, and with Lu Ao's right hand unable to move much—plus Lu Ao deliberately holding back, hiding his skill and relying only on raw brawling—Xiao Liqin gasped, braced his elbows, and shoved Lu Ao off with force.

Seizing the opening, Xiao Liqin scrambled up from the rain-soaked ground. He wiped his fingers across his nose, his suit now caked with mud from the wet pavement.

Passersby were starting to notice. Mindful of being in public, he held back from fighting back and reached for the car door to leave.

But the moment the door opened, Lu Ao charged again and slammed a fist into his mouth.

Xiao Liqin was caught completely off guard, his head hitting the car frame and the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth. This time, he was truly furious. Spotting that Lu Ao's right arm was broken, he snatched it, wrenched it behind Lu Ao's back, and slammed his head into the car roof, about to throw a punch.

"Big brother," Xiao Lancui spoke up, "isn't that a bit much for a kid, though?"

Kid?

Xiao Liqin frowned, staring at the face that was glaring at him like a rabid dog, neck twisted.

His face was covered in surgical stitches, so you couldn't make out his features, but he definitely looked young. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw passersby already filming on their phones. Xiao Liqin ran his tongue over the heavy taste of blood in his mouth, shoved Lu Ao aside, got in the car, and sped off.

Lu Ao almost crashed into Xiao Lancui. He caught his balance, his right arm dangling uselessly at his side, his left hand pressed to his chest, standing in the rain, head bowed. His brand-new coat was completely soaked.

Xiao Lancui said simply, "Come here."

Lu Ao shook his head, refusing to obey.

Xiao Lancui went back inside the shop to borrow an umbrella. When he returned, Lu Ao looked like an abandoned puppy, his eyes glistening as he stared at the restaurant door. When he saw Xiao Lancui come back out, surprise lit up his eyes, but then fear crept back in, and he ducked his head again.

Xiao Lancui popped open the umbrella and walked over to Lu Ao. Lu Ao visibly flinched all over, his head sinking even lower.

Xiao Lancui asked, confused, "Do you know Xiao Liqin?"

Lu Ao shook his head immediately.

Xiao Lancui was puzzled. "Then why'd you hit him?"

Lu Ao muttered something, but the rain was picking up, and Xiao Lancui couldn't make it out. He leaned in closer to Lu Ao's face. "Say that again."

Then he heard Lu Ao's stammering voice: "He was cursing you."

Xiao Lancui's long lashes fluttered. He said evenly, "You know hitting people is wrong, right?"

Lu Ao nodded, then quickly shook his head, repeating, "He was cursing you."

Xiao Lancui tilted his head, studying Lu Ao's face. Lu Ao noticed and ducked his head even lower, whispering, "Brother, I'm sorry, don't be mad—"

The next second, cool fingers, smelling of clean soap, gently cupped his chin and tilted it up.

Xiao Lancui's voice was soft. "Don't move. Let me see your face."

Lu Ao's heart was instantly thrown into disarray by that voice. He lifted his face, gazing into Xiao Lancui's worried eyes.

His heart was pounding wildly.

His rain-soaked Adam's apple fought to stay still but kept bobbing slightly. He whispered, "Brother, are you still angry?"

Xiao Lancui checked Lu Ao's face. A few stitches had popped open, and there was a fresh gash on his forehead, but it wasn't bleeding.

Everything else looked fine.

He pulled his hand back and said with a faint smile, "I'm not angry."

Lu Ao said anxiously, "I hit someone."

"Hitting someone who had it coming doesn't count." Xiao Lancui didn't bother checking Lu Ao's right hand—it was obviously broken again. He said, "Let's head home. Your bed should be here soon."

Lu Ao visibly relaxed. Only then did he carefully reach into his coat and pull out the bag of brown sugar rice cake sticks.

The sticks were all smashed. He said sadly, "They're still broken."

The next second, another bag of brown sugar rice cake sticks appeared in front of him.

Lu Ao looked up at Xiao Lancui.

Xiao Lancui had gone back to borrow an umbrella and grabbed another bag of brown sugar rice cake sticks while he was at it. Seeing how Lu Ao had been guarding his chest, he'd figured it was those.

"Want some?"

"Yeah!" Lu Ao took them and carefully stashed them in his pocket.

Xiao Lancui was about to head off, but Lu Ao reached for the umbrella again. He waved him off. "I don't want to end up soaked. You can hold it once your hand's better."

Lu Ao didn't feel any pain at all—Xiao Liqin's attack was nothing more than a mosquito bite to him.

He just couldn't show it.

"Yeah!" he said cheerfully, "Once my hand heals, I'll do everything for you!"

At the same time, in a blind spot Xiao Lancui couldn't see, his narrow eyes held a vicious, murderous intent.

Xiao Liqin, Xiao Lancui's eldest brother in this world.

It turned out he wasn't good to Xiao Lancui.

A leaf reveals the autumn—the rest of the Xiao family must treat Xiao Lancui badly too.

The one who poisoned Xiao Lancui might be one of them.

Lu Ao's gaze darkened. It seemed the Xiao family in this era was just as deep in murky waters. The information he'd gotten last time was only the surface.

As Lu Ao was thinking, they arrived home.

The new bed arrived at the same time.

Lu Ao was too large, so Xiao Lancui had ordered a two-meter bed. The secondary bedroom was small, and once the two-meter bed was placed inside, there was no room for anything else.

Xiao Lancui returned to the living room. As soon as he left, Lu Ao followed, bringing a glass of warm water. He didn't sit on the sofa but crouched by Xiao Lancui's legs, looking up at him. "Brother, what you drank this morning was herbal medicine, right? What illness do you have?"

"Just a minor illness." Xiao Lancui took a sip of water to moisten his throat. The temperature was just right, so he took another sip.

Lu Ao had also tasted the other bottle—it was a lung-nourishing decoction. The information he'd received last time said Xiao Lancui had fallen into the sea two months ago.

His lungs must have been affected by that.

Even in a new body, he was still plagued with ailments. Lu Ao was worried but couldn't show it openly. Frustrated, he continued asking, "Brother, was that bad guy just now your biological brother?"

Xiao Lancui set down the cup. "Sort of." He picked up the first aid kit, treated Lu Ao's injuries again, and reset his right hand. As he packed the kit away, he said, "From now on, act with certainty. Don't be impulsive without a sure win. If it happens again, you really will be disfigured."

"Brother, if I become ugly, will you still like me?" Lu Ao looked up at him with eager eyes.

Xiao Lancui put the kit back and went to wash his hands. "Yes."

Lu Ao watched Xiao Lancui enter the bathroom, grinding his teeth in envy.

What did this ugly face ever do to deserve this?

The sound of water trickled in the bathroom as Xiao Lancui slowly rubbed his ten fingers under the warm stream. His phone vibrated.

The private detective had sent a single photo, along with a message.

"Boss, there's another man following Xiao Jingli."

In the photo, Xiao Anfeng crouched at the base of the wall, his eyes full of sorrow as he secretly watched Xiao Jingli.

The sound of water stopped, and he took a clean towel to dry his fingers one by one, the mirror reflecting his face, cold as frost.

Those who injured him would pay the price.

After drying all ten fingers, Xiao Lancui picked up his phone and dialed Xiao Jingli's number.

"Dad, there's something about Second Brother I'd like to discuss with you. Let's meet for dinner outside tonight and talk."