I Want To Marry My dad, Not My Uncle - Chapter 10

“As soon as Diego is out, we can change our identities. Get ready; we run tomorrow.”

Xingchen hung up the phone and immediately began packing. He had arrived with only one suitcase, and now he was leaving with only half a suitcase worth of belongings. Wearing gloves and a shower cap, Xingchen began wiping down every surface he had touched. He even checked the floor for hair with a green laser light, ensuring every tiny strand in the trash bin was cleared away. He packed the trash neatly next to his suitcase, put on his overcoat, and waited for dawn.

The coat was warm, and even wearing just a shirt underneath, he did not feel the cold. Xingchen hugged his arms, trying to keep himself warm. But for someone whose heart was already cold, where could true warmth come from?

Dawn broke. Xingchen dragged his suitcase along the muddy road. The wheels were caked with slush, so he left the case in a storage locker near the restaurant. The restaurant was warm, but Xingchen’s eyes were cold and wet. He looked at the seat where Vincent usually sat.

“I am sorry.”

“What?” Annie asked, looking puzzled.

Xingchen shook his head. “Nothing.”

Xingchen worked for a few hours. He stuffed all his morning tips into Annie’s locker, then closed the door. He rested his hand against the cold metal, bowing his head.

“Heh. How ridiculous.”

He composed his expression and picked up the ordering tablet just as Vincent arrived.

“Sir,” Xingchen said with a sweet smile.

Vincent’s gaze was gentle. “Are you unhappy?”

Xingchen’s smile stiffened for a second. “No, not at all.”

Vincent reached out, and Xingchen lowered his head like an obedient little cat. Vincent ruffled his hair. “I will take you to a show tonight. If you are not happy working here, you do not have to continue.”

Xingchen’s eyes felt hot, but he quickly reined in his emotions. “I am fine. I already promised the manager I would stay until after Christmas. It is only a few more days.”

“Very well.” Vincent smiled gently. “Wait for me after your shift.”

Perhaps due to other reasons, Xingchen felt Vincent was unusually gentle today. However, no matter how gentle he was, it had nothing to do with him. Today’s target, the handsy Raymond, had arrived. As long as he swiped Raymond’s card, it would solve his immediate crisis. Raymond would never return to this restaurant anyway.

Xingchen waited restlessly for Raymond to pay, his escape route already mapped out in his mind. As soon as the transaction went through, he would disappear from this state within two hours. Finally, after a long wait, Raymond finished his meal. Xingchen grabbed the POS machine and walked toward him.

Just as he was about to reach the table, Xingchen was suddenly lifted into the air. He nearly screamed. The restaurant’s customers looked over, and just as the manager was about to approach, Annie blocked him. Vincent’s pressure was so heavy it was suffocating, and his expression was terrifyingly cold.

Xingchen whispered, “Sir, what are you doing?”

Vincent did not say a word, simply carrying him out of the restaurant.

“Sir, mmph.” Xingchen was roughly thrown into the car, his tailbone aching. The door slammed shut. Before Xingchen could react, Vincent pinned his hands down and ripped open his shirt.

“Mmph, what are you doing!” Xingchen struggled, trying to cover himself, but the hand on his wrists held him like an iron clamp. His fair skin was exposed to the air. Xingchen looked thin, but he had a layer of lean muscle and clear abdominal lines. Vincent hooked the waistband of his trousers, threatening to pull them down. Xingchen burst into tears.

Vincent stopped, grabbed his chin, and forced him to look into his eyes. “Why?”

“Why what?” Xingchen sobbed intermittently.

Vincent released him, picked up the POS machine from the floor, pulled a small skimming device off it, and threw it at him. “Why!” This time, Vincent’s voice was filled with anger. Xingchen’s heart trembled. Vincent grabbed his chin, his grip painful. “Have I not given you enough money?”

Xingchen clutched the small device, his body trembling involuntarily. “I, I.”

“You have straight A grades. I could understand not wanting to study, but why do this?” Vincent was so close that Xingchen could clearly feel his hot breath; the temperature inside the car was so high it made him sweat.

“I, my straight A grades,” Xingchen’s mind struggled to keep up.

“Is it that no matter how much I give you, it is never enough?” Vincent tore the rest of his shirt open. “Do you just want to go to jail?”

His upper body was gradually laid bare. No matter how he struggled, it was useless. As the last piece of fabric left his body, he cried and hugged Vincent, shouting, “I did not want to! I did not want to!”

“But my mother is in a psychiatric hospital, and my father is cutting off her expenses to move her to a public hospital!”

“How can she survive in a public hospital? Her condition requires her to be strapped to a bed twenty-four hours a day there!”

“I.” Xingchen’s tears soaked Vincent’s suit. “I cannot abandon her!”

The youth’s body was frail and trembling. Vincent slowly raised his hand and stroked his smooth back. “Why did you not ask me?”

“I could not,” Xingchen wiped away his tears. “You have already given me so much. If I said my mother was sick at a time like this, I would sound too much like a con artist. And I was embarrassed to keep asking.”

Vincent sighed, took off his own coat to drape over him, and held his shaking back. “How much more do you need?”

Xingchen gradually calmed down and sobbed, “The basic hospital room and care alone cost 1,500 per day, not counting treatment.”

“Yuan?” Vincent asked.

“Yes,” Xingchen nodded.

Vincent frowned. “Where did the money I gave you go?”

Xingchen buried his face in Vincent’s chest. “I already owed six months of fees. The hospital was about to sue.”

Vincent took out his phone and transferred 30,000 dollars to him. “Use this for now.”

Xingchen looked at the phone and cried again, his voice hoarse from clinging to Vincent. “Sir, I am sorry.”

Vincent stroked his hair, his voice turning gentle again. “It is alright. Do not touch these things ever again, do you understand?”

Xingchen nodded through his sobs. “Yes, I understand.”

The partition in the car was raised, and Xingchen, unaware if the driver was still there, began to blush. Vincent took a shirt from the console, helped him put it on, and rolled up the sleeves.

“Take a leave of absence today, and go resign tomorrow.”

Xingchen let him dress him like a doll. “Okay.”

Xingchen had thought he would definitely be bedded today, but Vincent seemed busy and had the driver drop him back at the apartment before leaving. Xingchen had not expected to be able to return there. The empty apartment lacked any warmth. He sat on the yellowing mattress, transferred the money, and then left through the back door to visit the locker.

As Christmas neared, the Greyhound bus station next to the storage lockers was filled with people dragging suitcases. Xingchen leaned against the lockers and waited quietly. Two hours later, his phone rang. Not the one in his hand; Xingchen pulled a disposable phone from the inner lining of his coat pocket.

As soon as he answered, a thick, Mexican-accented English came through. “Xingchen, you really saved my dog’s life!” Diego’s mouth was like a machine gun. “You do not know; if you had been an hour later, I would never have seen the sun again. My homie, you really are my savior.”

Xingchen waited until he finished his long, prayer-like rant. “Hurry up and wrap this up.”

Diego: “I will never get mixed up with anyone else again; I am better off as a lone wolf.”

Passengers walked past in waves, but Xingchen remained alone in the biting wind. “You had better mean that.”

Diego: “Brother, you really bled for me this time. Do not worry, I have kept track. I will take care of your next two identities.”

Xingchen: “Then hurry, I have to run right now.”

Diego sounded surprised: “Right now? That will not work; my nest has been raided.”

Xingchen gripped the phone, his knuckles turning white. “Then when?”

Diego: “You have to give me some time. My current identity is compromised. It will take at least two or three months.”

Xingchen rested his hand on the locker door, the chill of the metal freezing his palm. “I know you are in a difficult spot, but I do not need a sophisticated identity this time. Just find me any regular one.”

Diego hissed. “That is not easy to do. Can you not hold out any longer on your side?”

Xingchen was firm. “No.”

Diego hesitated. “Sigh, then, if that is the only way, I have an identity here for a beggar. Or a junkie. Or a stripper.”

Xingchen was silent for a moment. “Is there not anything normal? Even if the status is low, it does not matter.”

Diego sighed repeatedly. “Oh, my Xingchen, I am running so hard I even lost my shoes. Where would I find those? Only these identities are easy to get. For a few hundred bucks, you can even buy a social security card. Brother, take my advice. Jizuo told me about your situation. Yes, we are living under others, but at least it is stable. If you switch to these identities, you will not be able to make money; you will not even be able to live.”

“You have already paid a heavy price for me. You have made a lot of money in a short time, and you do not have a proper identity to escape with. If you rush, you will not be able to cover your tracks, and it will be obvious you are a con artist. You will not be able to get out unscathed. Brother, take my word for it; just hold on a little longer.”

Xingchen was silent for a while before saying, “I understand. You look after yourself first; we will talk once you are settled.”

Diego: “Do not worry. Once I get through this, I will definitely get you a perfect, noble identity next time!”

Xingchen snapped the disposable phone in half and called Jizuo with his own.

Jizuo: “Did Diego contact you?”

Xingchen: “He did, but he cannot help us change identities yet. You need to do something for me first.”

Jizuo guessed: “Find you a mother?”

Xingchen sighed, a rarity for him. “Yes. If you cannot find anyone suitable, find a private psychiatric hospital that is highly confidential and expensive.”

Jizuo: “Sigh, that is not a problem, but do you think it is really necessary? Can Vincent even check that?”

Xingchen: “He knows I have straight A grades.”

Jizuo: “He is really investigating you?!”

Xingchen left his suitcase behind and walked out. “He is not easy to deal with.”

Jizuo agreed repeatedly, then chuckled. “But he is also a good person; afraid you will go down the wrong path, even paying your mother’s hospital bills.”

Xingchen stopped in his tracks, leaning against a utility pole and slowly crouching down. He took off his glasses and covered his eyes. The cold wind howled, flapping against the wanted poster on the pole. After a long while, he finally spoke: “Yes, he is a good person.”

Jizuo realized he had misspoken and stammered, “Do not think too much of it. You were forced into this; otherwise, who would want to live like this?”

In a black car parked by the side of the road, Vincent was on the phone, watching the thin figure by the roadside.

“Vincent! Are you listening to me?” A loud, brash voice came through the phone.

Vincent picked up his phone. “I am listening.”

“Anyway, everyone is on holiday for Christmas, so you should just accompany me on a trip.”

“It has been years since I have been heartbroken. Just think of it as keeping me company to help me clear my head.”

Vincent instinctively wanted to refuse, but instead said, “Alright.”

“Huh? Really? That is great! I am already…”

It started to snow. Huge flakes danced in the wind. Xingchen stared at the ground and reached out to catch one. The snowflake slowly melted in his palm. A large, warm hand gripped his, and the melting snow turned warm in their palms.

Xingchen looked up. “…Sir.”

Vincent tilted his umbrella toward him. “Come with me to Hawaii.”