Sickly Wife, Childhood Sweetheart Raises Her - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Invitation (First Published on Jinjiang)

“Why did they bully you…”

When Su Tang regained a trace of consciousness, he was already sitting at his own old dining table.

A sweet taste spread in his mouth. He lifted his face a bit blankly, looked at the tall figure beside him, and asked in a low voice, “What did big brother give me to eat?”

Li Xingchuan’s expression could not be considered good.

He was crossing his arms and surveying this dilapidated old house that looked like an antique. Hearing this, he lowered his head, his gaze pausing on Su Tang’s face for a split second: “Candy.”

A piece of expired candy.

Placed in a rusted iron box in the corner of the cupboard.

Just now, when he half-supported and half-carried Su Tang back, the child was almost completely limp against him, mumbling incoherently with words like “dizzy,” “haven’t eaten,” and “hypoglycemia.”

Li Xingchuan had never been depended on by anyone.

He actually found it somewhat novel, letting the other person hang onto him like a koala, and even unusually and patiently settling the person on a stool before lifting the vegetable plate covered on the table—planning to casually let him eat something to pad his stomach.

Unexpectedly, Su Tang suddenly reached out and vaguely shielded the plate. Although his gaze was unfocused, his tone was exceptionally stubborn: “Wait for grandpa, eat together…”

Li Xingchuan’s patience instantly hit rock bottom.

He straightened up and asked with little emotion, “Does your home have anything else edible?”

Thus, under Su Tang’s guidance, Li Xingchuan rummaged through boxes and cabinets, obtaining this box of expired fruit candy that had been left goodness knows how long and had become slightly sticky.

Su Tang felt much better.

At this moment, he was already able to stand. He meticulously picked out a new piece of candy, raised his small hand, and held it out in front of Li Xingchuan: “For big brother to eat, it’s very sweet.”

“Thank you, big brother, for sending me home.”

Li Xingchuan didn’t take it.

Su Tang hesitated for a moment and stuffed the candy back into the box.

An expression of serious thought surfaced on his face, and then he reached his hand into his pocket, pulling out the small flashlight that he hadn’t been willing to lose even while being beaten, offering it to Li Xingchuan: “For big brother to use.”

“It’s very bright.”

Li Xingchuan lowered his eyes and glanced at the old flashlight with its heavily worn outer shell.

He didn’t speak.

Yet right at this moment, his abdomen gave a very uncooperative and distinct “gurgle” sound.

Li Xingchuan’s face darkened, and he turned around, saying, “Leaving.”

Su Tang’s drowsy head was pulled back to a sliver of clarity by this commotion.

He suddenly remembered that just now when he was groggy, Li Xingchuan seemed to have lifted the vegetable plate… was he wanting to eat something? And he had actually stopped him.

A strong sense of regret instantly seized him.

How could he not let big brother eat? Not to mention this one meal, big brother had helped him so much that even ten meals couldn’t repay it.

Besides, big brother’s stomach was already growling.

Su Tang hurriedly stepped forward and used all his strength to hug Li Xingchuan’s arm: “Big brother~”

“Eat a meal before leaving, okay?”

His body was still weak and limp, and the little hands holding Li Xingchuan’s arm lacked strength, yet they trembled slightly from trying too hard.

“I don’t eat these.” Li Xingchuan’s tone was cold as he crossed the threshold and stepped outside.

Su Tang couldn’t hold onto Li Xingchuan, and in his anxiousness, he broke into a sharp and urgent fit of coughing and panting.

Su Tang was filled with remorse, thinking that big brother had already left.

Little did he know that just as he coughed twice, Li Xingchuan crossed the threshold and turned back.

Li Xingchuan stood in front of Su Tang and asked, “Will it taste good?”

Su Tang was so happy that his eye sockets moistened, and he nodded repeatedly: “It tastes good.”

“I’m not lying to big brother!”

The food had already grown cold.

Su Tang wanted to heat it up, but he was afraid extra actions would disturb big brother’s mood and cause big brother to lose patience and leave again, so he had no choice but to uncover the plate and eat the cold dishes together with big brother.

Fortunately, a small pot of white porridge was still being kept warm on the stove. When scooped out, it was still bubbling with a warm heat, which was very comforting to the stomach.

Su Tang used a small dish to carefully set aside some vegetables for grandpa, and pushed the rest entirely toward himself and big brother.

After swallowing a couple of mouthfuls of porridge, he couldn’t help raising his bright, sparkling eyes and asking in a small voice, “Big brother, it’s good, right?”

Li Xingchuan replied indifferently, “It’s alright.”

Yet paired with that completely cold plate of stir-fried potatoes and bean sprouts, he silently ate three bowls.

When he stood up to scoop a fourth bowl, he found only a shallow layer of rice broth left at the bottom of the pot.

Li Xingchuan paused his movement, feeling too embarrassed to scrape that bit of pot bottom. So he put down the bowl, crossed his arms and leaned back against the edge of the table, lowering his eyes to watch Su Tang hold his small bowl and drink the porridge bite by bite like a cat.

“Why do they bully you?” Li Xingchuan asked.

“Because I can’t afford the ‘occupation fee’.” Su Tang’s voice was muffled.

“Occupation fee?”

“It’s the use fee for the stone bridge.” Su Tang explained in a low voice, his logic carrying a child-like seriousness, “My feet stood there waiting for grandpa, occupying their place, so I have to pay money. If I don’t pay, I get beaten.”

Li Xingchuan sneered: “Next time they do this again, you just tell them to go across the bridge and ask Li Xingchuan for it.”

He looked at Su Tang: “Did you remember?”

Su Tang raised his head, his eyes filled with innocent confusion: “Will Li Xingchuan help people pay money? Is he doing charity?”

“.”. Li Xingchuan suddenly didn’t feel like talking.

Su Tang, however, went on talking to himself with a slightly mysterious tone: “However, they probably wouldn’t dare to cross the bridge.”

“Why?” Li Xingchuan asked.

“Because across the bridge—” Su Tang lowered his voice as if sharing a major secret, “There are wolves!”

“Grandpa told me, it’s that kind of wolf that specifically eats little kids, one bite each.”

His tone carried the absolute, unwavering certainty typical of children: “They definitely know too. Because even though they always play on the bridge, I’ve never seen them cross over to the other side of the bridge!”

Watching Su Tang’s vivid little expression, the corners of Li Xingchuan’s brows twitched imperceptibly.

This foolish little thing still hadn’t realized up to now that the “wolf” living across the bridge in grandpa’s words was sitting right in front of him?

However, he was about to find out soon.

Because—

The electronic foot shackle coldly locked around Li Xingchuan’s left ankle suddenly stopped its continuous, faint vibration at this very moment.

It completely quieted down.

And this quietness meant only one thing: the “guardian” of this foot shackle—that wealthy estate-owner father who had long since lost his patience with him—had finally reached the limit of his endurance, stopped continuing his empty warning summons, and directly activated precise positional tracking.

Su Tang knew nothing about what kind of “monster” he had taken in.

He had also finished eating and was currently standing in front of the dilapidated washstand, standing on tiptoe to wipe away the mud and dirt from his face and clothes against the misty little mirror. The mirror reflected his pretty cheeks, wiped slightly red. He suddenly turned his head, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Li Xingchuan, his tone full of kind anticipation: “It’s so dark already, why don’t big brother leave tomorrow?”

“When grandpa comes back, I’ll sleep on the mattress on the floor with grandpa. Big brother can sleep on this bed tonight, okay?”

He seemed to feel this arrangement was entirely proper, and thoughtfully added with a trace of small pride: “If grandpa knows I’ve made a friend, he’ll definitely be especially happy.”

Then a bashful look appeared on his face again: “It’s just… big brother, please don’t tell grandpa about me getting beaten…”

This small room was thirty square meters at most, and could be seen through at a single glance. Eating, living, using—all traces of life were squeezed into this square inch. Not only was it cramped, but a medicinal scent also floated in the air.

Following the direction of his finger, Li Xingchuan looked at the so-called “bed” and “mattress.”

The “mattress” was actually a faded Northeast-style floral cotton quilt spread directly on the cement floor. And as for that “bed,” its width was at most one meter and a half.

Li Xingchuan sat down on the bed, and the wooden boards creaked.

Li Xingchuan asked, “What is your grandpa still doing outside at this hour?”

Mentioning this, Su Tang’s doll-like pretty face immediately revealed a wronged expression: “Working. The annoying regional manager has recently always been making grandpa work overtime, and grandpa comes home later and later.”

“Where does your grandpa work?”

“Doing regional cleaning across the bridge. Grandpa says that wolf locked up over there has been going crazy lately, not only smashing a lot of porcelain, but also almost burning down a small garden, tearing things up even better than a Husky.” Su Tang knitted his pretty brows tightly: “So grandpa has to do a lot more work than usual. Even after getting off work, he can’t leave and has to stay there to tally and register the things that were broken.”

After finishing, he sat dejectedly on the small stool, cupping his face with two small hands like a little adult, and let out a long sigh.

Li Xingchuan looked at him without making a sound.

Yet he knew clearly in his heart that Su Tang’s grandpa’s so-called “overtime” probably wasn’t that simple. Cleaning was logistics work, but tallying and registering was administrative business. Having a cleaner do job responsibilities that didn’t belong to him was nine times out of ten that regional manager intentionally making things difficult and giving someone “hard time.”

As for the region in Su Tang’s mouth that “smashed a lot of porcelain recently”…

Li Xingchuan was far too familiar with it.

——It was precisely the garden villa where he was confined.

A few days ago when his mood was extremely poor,

he really had almost torn the place apart.

“Big brother, sit down, I’ll help you get water to wash your face.”

Su Tang stood up from the small stool and immediately turned around to reach for the enamel washbasin on the rack.

Li Xingchuan still sat on the creaking bedboard, watching this little bean of a person bustling about for his sake. Deep in his eyes was hidden an obscure novelty, alongside an escalating and increasingly growing interest.

He was long accustomed to being waited on, but being carefully “waited on” by a little kid who still needed people to take care of him felt completely different, even making him produce a sense of hazy unreality.

An extremely unfamiliar feeling quietly spread out.

——Was this “porcelain doll” who was outrageously pretty, could light fires and cook by himself, would softly call him big brother, and was currently standing on tiptoe to prepare washing water for him really existing in reality?

He was different from everyone else he had ever seen.

He was foolishly naive in an unbelievable way, more like a pitiful, fragile cat that would actively rub against a person’s palm, secretly clinging.

Watching Su Tang laboriously holding half a basin of water and staggering back, Li Xingchuan’s fingers suddenly started itching inexplicably.

An unfamiliar, indescribable itch darted from his fingertips to his heart.

He didn’t quite understand where this itch came from, nor how to stop it. His knuckles unconsciously tapped against his knee, one tap after another, while a thought abruptly popped into his head: People could raise kittens and puppies, so could they raise a little human?

At this exact moment, eight-year-old Li Xingchuan suddenly birthed a clear, tyrannical, childish, yet incomparably serious wish in his heart: He wanted to raise one. Raise a little human just like the one before him—pretty, well-behaved, who would call him big brother and staggeringly walk toward him.

However, this abrupt “daydream” of Li Xingchuan’s hadn’t even had time to outline a clear shape in his mind before it was ruthlessly shattered by a commotion outside the door.

First, chaotic footsteps and voices sounded not far outside the door with a searching intent, but very soon, those sounds were abruptly choked off as if by an invisible hand, rapidly lowering until they became completely quiet.

Immediately following, a deep, steady, emotionless middle-aged man’s voice rang out, piercing through the thin wooden door and clearly transmitting inside:

“Li Xingchuan is inside, right?”

“Come out and talk.”