Chapter 75

Chapter 75

"075"

Once night fell, Lu Ao climbed into the second-floor master bedroom.

The door was unlocked and the window unsealed, since Xiao Anfeng's hands were cuffed to the headboard.

He was in pajamas, and when a spoonful of porridge was brought to his lips, he turned his face away again in silence.

Xiao Jingli pulled the spoon back, set it in the bowl, and put the bowl on the nightstand. "Starting now, if you don't eat, I don't eat. I'll starve right along with you."

Xiao Anfeng's expression wavered a little. His right hand gripped the blanket tight, his lips moved like he wanted to speak, but in the end, nothing came out.

Xiao Jingli reached for Xiao Anfeng's head, but even with the headboard at his back, Xiao Anfeng still banged his head against it with a "thud," his pupils shaking as he stared at Xiao Jingli, gritting his teeth. "Please, I'm your... son!"

Xiao Jingli shot up, his voice heavy and low. "If you were my son, why didn't you call him 'brother' when Xiao Liqin was fucking you?"

Xiao Anfeng's pale face grew even more unsteady. He dropped his head and went quiet.

Xiao Jingli looked down at the crown of Xiao Anfeng's head and reached out again. This time, Xiao Anfeng didn't flinch. Xiao Jingli let out a long sigh, his voice softening again. "Fengfeng, I'm not your dad. I'm just standing in for him to take care of you. I've never seen you as a son."

Xiao Anfeng stayed quiet. Xiao Jingli pulled his hand back, sat on the edge of the bed, and tilted Xiao Anfeng's chin up. In the light, Xiao Anfeng's eyes were bloodshot, tears still clinging to his lashes, and his lips were bitten red and swollen.

Xiao Jingli swallowed his desire and leaned in. "Fengfeng, I truly love you—"

"Stay away!" Xiao Anfeng broke down, reached under the pillow, pulled out a silver fork, and pressed it to his neck. Tears streaming down his face, he glared at Xiao Jingli. "If you push me any further, I'll die!"

Xiao Jingli's dreamy gaze went cold. He stared at Xiao Anfeng. Seeing no give in him, Xiao Anfeng steeled himself and pressed down hard. The fork actually sank into his skin, though no blood had appeared yet.

Xiao Jingli's face went pale. He finally stood and threw out a line. "Your birth mother is in the capital. If you want to see her, eat properly."

Once Xiao Jingli left the room, the door was left wide open.

Xiao Anfeng listened to the footsteps fade. Only when silence returned did he relax and lower the fork. He lay back under the covers in despair, still clutching the fork.

After a while, he crawled out from under the covers and, crying, spooned up the bowl of porridge that had gone cold.

When he was done, he smashed the bowl. Footsteps echoed in the hallway—Xiao Jingli was back.

Xiao Jingli crouched down to inspect the broken pieces of the bowl. Satisfied that the porridge had actually gone into Xiao Anfeng's stomach, he stood up, reached out to ruffle Xiao Anfeng's hair, and nodded with a smile. "That's a good boy."

Xiao Anfeng bore it and finally spoke. "I want to meet her."

She was his biological mother.

Xiao Jingli nodded. "Fine. As long as you're good, I'll have her brought here tomorrow to spend the holiday with you."

Xiao Anfeng trembled, then looked up at Xiao Jingli after a few seconds. "You're not messing with me?"

Xiao Jingli's eyes softened as he looked at him. "I love you so much; how could I ever bear to lie to you?"

Xiao Anfeng said nothing, biting his lower lip. Xiao Jingli pressed his advantage, grabbing Xiao Anfeng's hand and holding it in both of his, speaking with deep affection. "Fengfeng, I'm going crazy with love for you. How can I make you believe me?"

Xiao Anfeng didn't pull his hand away. Face numb, he turned to look out the window. "I want to eat dinner with her tomorrow."

"No problem. I'll send someone to pick her up tomorrow. At six, we'll have the reunion dinner as a family, right on time."

Xiao Anfeng added, "I want to know her name."

"Zhao Lan. Lan, like the wind in the mountains."

Xiao Anfeng repeated Zhao Lan's name under his breath, still not pulling his hand away, and slid back under the covers. "I'm tired. Can you leave now?"

Xiao Jingli looked at him for a long moment, then pulled his hand back. "Hand me the fork. I promise I won't touch you."

After a moment's hesitation, Xiao Anfeng gave it to him.

Xiao Jingli gripped the fork tightly, tucked the blanket around him, and said, "Sleep well. Tomorrow you'll see your mother looking your best."

Xiao Jingli left, and the room went quiet again. Lu Ao stopped recording, waited another two hours to make sure Xiao Jingli wasn't coming back, then slipped out of the villa without a sound.

The villa's security was a piece of cake for him—he could come back anytime.

About a kilometer from the villa, there was a stretch of woods by the road. Lu Ao walked back to the car, and the man dozing in the back seat snapped awake.

The man was in his early forties, with a crew cut and a round face—one of those faces you could pick out seven or eight of in any crowd, perfect for a private eye.

The man sat up grinning. "Boss, you're back."

Lu Ao asked, "Still no word?"

The man replied quickly, "That PI is really something—I lost him every time I tried to tail him. I figured—" his tone turned cautious, "since we want the same thing, I left him my number. If he reaches out, I'll let you know right away!"

Lu Ao didn't answer. In the rearview mirror, his dark eyes were empty, and the investigator felt a chill run down his spine.

He was genuinely scared of Lu Ao—young but terrifying. If the pay weren't too good to turn down, he'd never take on a client like this.

Two words: terrifying.

Lu Ao stayed silent, and the investigator held his breath, scared that acting on his own might have been a mistake.

After a long moment, a low voice saved the investigator from his dread. "Contact me the second you hear anything. I'm taking your car. You can go."

"Got it!" The investigator hopped out of the car.

At the same time, his phone pinged with a payment notification—the fee for the car. The investigator's eyes immediately crinkled into a smile, and he bent down to wave at the generous boss as he started the car. "The roads are slippery—drive slow and be safe."

Lu Ao turned up the heat and drove off, heading for Lanmen District.

Lanmen Road was an old street in the capital's old town, mostly resettlement housing with poor amenities and bad transport links. But in the capital, where land was worth its weight in gold, the cheap rent drew in a lot of migrant workers.

Zhao Lan had rented a resettlement apartment in Lanmen District.

Two bedrooms, one living room. Zhao Lan stayed in the smaller room, while the master bedroom had a brand-new bed and wardrobe—the room she'd saved for Xiao Anfeng.

The hope was slim, but she still dreamed that one day her child would come home.

Zhao Lan's heater had been broken for a week—no heat, the place as cold as an icebox. She'd filed a repair request before the New Year, but because of the holiday, a repairman only showed up on the morning of the second day.

The repairman was wearing a mask. Zhao Lan poured a cup of hot water and handed it to him, smiling. "Sorry to make you come out during the holiday. Have some water first—it's freezing."

A hearty laugh came from under the mask. "This is how I make a living—no need to be so polite. I'll pass on the water. The sooner I fix it, the sooner it warms up."

He went back to working on the pipes.

Zhao Lan listened to the young voice—about the same age as Xiao Anfeng. She lowered her head, disappointed, gripping her cup tightly. After a moment, she asked again, "Are you from around here?"

She could tell it was a local accent.

"No." Lu Ao prompted, "My family couldn't afford it, so I moved to Beijing right after middle school. Been almost eight years now."

Zhao Lan asked, "Why don't you go home for the New Year if you're from out of town?" Her emotions surged again, "Aren't your parents worried about you?"

Lu Ao replied without missing a beat, "I gotta make money. My folks are back in the countryside, and they're getting up there in age. I'm their only son, so I gotta save up as much as I can for them."

Zhao Lan smiled and shook her head, "That's where you've got it wrong. All parents want is to see their kids. Money can always be made again, but for them, seeing you is the hard part."

Lu Ao didn't push back, just smiled, "You're right. Once I get through this busy stretch, I'll head back."

Zhao Lan got more and more caught up in the conversation and couldn't help saying, "I have a son too, about your age. If he came back to spend the holiday with me..." Her eyes reddened, "I could die happy."

Lu Ao kept at the pipes, "Did your son go abroad?"

Zhao Lan shook her head, then said, "Might as well be overseas." She gave a bitter smile, "I'd rather he'd gone abroad..."

Lu Ao went quiet, then asked Zhao Lan, "Do you mind if I smoke? I'd like to have a cigarette."

Zhao Lan shook her head, "No, go ahead." She set her cup down and stood up, "You keep working, I'll leave you alone."

Zhao Lan went back to the living room.

Lu Ao pulled out a cigarette case, took out a long white cylinder that looked like a rolled cigarette, and lit it casually.

There was still some noise coming from the living room at first, but it gradually went quiet.

Lu Ao stubbed out the long cylinder, walked to the sink, and flushed it down the drain. A moment later, he took off his mask. Two wads of silk were stuffed in his nostrils—he burned those to ashes too and flushed them down the drain.

He carried his toolbox into the living room. Zhao Lan had inhaled the calming incense and was already out cold.

Lu Ao grabbed her coat, put it on her, then carried her out.

This calming incense could knock someone out for a full day and night.

Not far, in the parking area on the ground floor.

Lanmen Compound didn't have a parking lot; cars were just parked all over the place in front of the buildings. During Spring Festival, the area was actually pretty empty—hardly any cars. Lu Ao put Zhao Lan in the back seat and got into the driver's seat himself.

Before long, a Bentley pulled up nearby. The driver got out and hurried into Zhao Lan's building.

About ten minutes later, the driver came back out, got in the car, and waited. Well past six, the Bentley gave up and left.

A little while later, Lu Ao took Zhao Lan back home, came back down, got in the car, and pulled a matcha milk pudding ice bread out of his pocket. He took big bites of it while sending Xiao Lancui a WeChat message.

"Alan, what'd you do today? [kiss]"

Xiao Lancui saw the kiss emoji, blinked his long lashes, then quickly looked away, turning his gaze to the door nearby that was about to come off its hinges.

That interior door, worth tens of thousands, was finally about to be smashed in by Xiao Liqin after two days and two nights.

Xie Jingfang's face was ashen. She stood in the doorway and said, "Breaking the door down won't help. If you want to leave, you'll have to step over my dead body!"

The banging stopped. Xiao Liqin, who'd been silent the whole time, finally spoke. His voice was hoarse and terrifying, as if soaked in blood, "Mom, if Dad takes him away, something's gonna happen!"

Xie Jingfang sneered, "Xiao Anfeng is the product of his true love. What could possibly happen."

Xiao Liqin's voice broke, "Mom, I'm begging you, let me out. Something really will happen to him. I'm begging you—I love him, I can't lose him..."

Xie Jingfang gritted her teeth, "You can love a man all you want, but Xiao Anfeng is the one exception. I won't have it!"

Xiao Lancui's ears were suddenly covered. He wasn't surprised who it was and said flatly, "Take your hands off."

Xiao Mian removed his hands and heard Xiao Liqin's messy confession again.

Since they arrived at Yujing Garden this morning, similar scenes had repeated several times. Xiao Mian looked exhausted, slumped back into the sofa across from him, closed his eyes, and groaned, "I'm afraid you'd find it annoying."

Xiao Lancui nodded. It was indeed noisy.

Xiao Liqin was on the verge of collapse.

Xiao Lancui lowered his head and casually opened his phone, carefully recalling what he had done today.

He replied to Lu Ao.

"Ate tangyuan in the morning—peanut and sesame flavors, a bit too sweet. Had one of each. Read for a while at noon and played a few games of chess."

He paused, then added.

"Now, waiting to let a worm out of its cage."

Two messages sent, and the detective's message came in too.

This time there was also a photo.

Xiao Lancui opened it—it showed a woman in her early forties getting out of a Bentley.

The woman's face—

Xiao Lancui's long lashes lifted slightly. She looked like Zhao Lan.

Just then, a reply popped up from Lu Ao, "What are you letting the worm out of its cage for?"

Xiao Lancui smiled faintly.

"To bite."