The System Forces Me to Be a Scumbag Male Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 7

As July drew closer, the weather grew increasingly stifling. The southern heat was thick and humid; without moving a muscle, standing outside for just two minutes was enough to leave a person drenched in sweat.

Xianxi Primary School dismissed at four o’clock in the afternoon. For most of the children, the walk home took anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. The commute for Shen Siyang and Sang Xiaoshi fell right in the middle of that range.

The two walked out of the school gates, facing the blazing, unyielding sun.

Shen Siyang asked, “Are you really not coming over to my house for dinner tonight?”

Sang Xiaoshi nodded. “Tonight, Uncle m-might come back.”

He had already eaten dinner at Shen Siyang’s house for four consecutive days, successfully avoiding Luo Qifeng each time. But today was Friday, and they couldn’t afford to take that risk anymore.

This was the first time Shen Siyang had heard Sang Xiaoshi bring up his uncle on his own initiative.

A thoughtful look flashed across his eyes. He tried to compromise: “How about we go play in the nearby park for a bit and head home before five? Would that be okay?”

Sang Xiaoshi’s eyes lit up slightly. “Y-yes, that’s fine.”

There were quite a few parks, large and small, near Xianxi Primary School. Since some time had passed since the dismissal bell, the larger parks were bound to be occupied by the kids who got there early. Shen Siyang and Sang Xiaoshi picked a smaller park nearby instead.

When they arrived, the park’s lawn swing happened to be empty. They took off their backpacks and climbed onto it.

Shen Siyang settled into his seat and stacked their backpacks together on the left side of the swing. He and Sang Xiaoshi sat close together on the right. Using his hand to gently push against a nearby post to get the swing moving, he looked at Sang Xiaoshi and opened up a heart-to-heart conversation: “Xiaoshi, let’s have a chat.”

Sensing the serious undertone in Shen Siyang’s voice, Sang Xiaoshi unconsciously sat up straight. He balled his hands into small fists against his knees and looked at Shen Siyang with wide eyes. “O-okay.”

Shen Siyang hadn’t been entirely sure how to broach the topic, but seeing Sang Xiaoshi looking like a student prepared to listen intently to a lecture, he couldn’t help but smile.

He gently patted Sang Xiaoshi’s terribly serious little head. “No need to be so tense. It’s just a casual chat.”

“O-oh, alright.”

Anyone could see he was still incredibly tense.

Seeing this, Shen Siyang dropped the small talk and cut straight to the chase. “I just wanted to understand your family situation a little better. Are you currently living with your aunt and uncle?”

Sang Xiaoshi visibly grew even more nervous. He nodded uncomfortably, keeping his eyes on Shen Siyang.

Shen Siyang offered a reassuring smile and spoke in a very earnest tone: “Xiaoshi, when I make friends, I only care about what kind of person my friend is. As for their family or the people around them, I don’t care about any of that. I’ve already accepted you as my friend, so I will never end our friendship over anything that has nothing to do with you. Do you understand what I mean?”

Sang Xiaoshi stared intently at Shen Siyang, as if processing the words. After a long moment, he nodded very solemnly. “U-understand. Brother Siyang is also, also a friend, a-accepted by Xiaoshi.”

Shen Siyang smiled warmly. Seeing that Sang Xiaoshi had finally relaxed, he continued, “Is it alright if I ask about your parents? If you don’t want to answer, you can just tell me no.”

Sang Xiaoshi’s hands curled tight against his thighs again. But he kept his eyes on Shen Siyang, and after pressing his lips together for a while, he answered softly, “D-Daddy, M-Mommy, a, a year ago, the car fell down, the, the mountain.

They became s-stars in the sky.”

Shen Siyang felt a prickle of warmth in his eyes. “Who told you they turned into stars in the sky?”

Sang Xiaoshi replied softly, “The lawyer u-uncle.”

“That lawyer uncle is really smart. I only found out about that from reading books.” Shen Siyang pulled Sang Xiaoshi close, leaning his head against the boy’s. “Does Xiaoshi know how to find Mom and Dad?”

Sang Xiaoshi nodded like a little chick pecking at grain, answering quickly, “K-know. The, the two brightest o-ones.”

Shen Siyang chuckled softly, resting quietly against him for a good while.

As the sun began its slow descent, it burned away most of the oppressive heat in the air.

“Xiaoshi,” Shen Siyang spoke up again. “Are your aunt and uncle good to you?”

Sang Xiaoshi shifted slightly but didn’t say anything for a long time.

Shen Siyang waited a moment, then softened his voice further. “The other day, I heard Ge Jiabao and the others say that you eat with the dog. Can you tell me what happened?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw Sang Xiaoshi’s eyelashes tremble violently.

Shen Siyang immediately reached out to grasp his hand reassuringly. “You can tell me anything. I will never look down on you or mock you. If there’s a problem, we’ll figure out a way to solve it together.”

Sang Xiaoshi kept his eyes lowered, still not looking at Shen Siyang.

Shen Siyang thought for a moment. “Is it your uncle who makes you do that?”

Sang Xiaoshi’s reaction wasn’t as severe this time. Keeping his head down, he gave a tiny nod after a brief hesitation.

A sudden surge of anger flared up in Shen Siyang’s chest. He took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his voice steady. “What about your aunt? Is she the same as your uncle?”

Sang Xiaoshi slowly shook his head. “Aunt is, is afraid of Uncle.”

“Does your uncle make you squat in the corner and eat with the dog every single day?” Shen Siyang asked again.

Sang Xiaoshi shook his head once more. “When he isn’t home, no, no need. Sometimes, w-when he is in a good mood, no need.”

Shen Siyang felt the fury travel from his chest right up to his throat. “Can you tell me exactly how he demands you to go squat in the corner?”

Sang Xiaoshi’s eyelashes began to flutter gently again. His eyes were naturally beautiful, framed by thick, long lashes. Under the stress, a layer of moisture pooled in his eyes, dampening his lashes; a single blink was enough to make anyone’s heart ache for him.

Shen Siyang almost dropped the questioning several times, but he forced himself to hold back. He knew he had to ask. To completely resolve the issue for Sang Xiaoshi, he needed a crystal-clear understanding of the boy’s situation. Any oversight could cause his future plans to fail.

Fortunately, despite his reluctance, Sang Xiaoshi ultimately answered the question in a soft whisper.

“When we start e-eating, he will call, call Da Huang into the house. Then, then call me to squat, squat next to Da Huang. Give Da Huang food. Then, tell, tell me, if he didn’t take me in, I would have to go outside and, and fight dogs for, for food, and fight, fight others for a place to live. Then he says, he, he is good to me, and I must be grateful to him. Then he, he will give me meat, and and, leave me alone.”

Listening to Sang Xiaoshi’s description, Shen Siyang’s brow knit closer together.

Based on the things he had gathered about Luo Qifeng over the past few days, he had assumed that forcing Sang Xiaoshi to eat with the dog was simply a way for an incompetent, greedy man to vent his frustration—a method of humiliating a child to gain a twisted sense of superiority.

But the details Sang Xiaoshi described pointed to something far more calculated. Luo Qifeng’s behavior looked exactly like—

Shen Siyang snapped his gaze down to Sang Xiaoshi’s beautiful face.

After a week of eating and drinking well under Shen Siyang’s care, the boy’s complexion looked much healthier than when they first met, and his cheeks had filled out considerably. His naturally handsome features had become incredibly endearing now that they were slightly rounded, making anyone who saw him want to reach out and pinch his cheeks.

But that was how a normal person thought. Luo Qifeng was clearly not normal.

Shen Siyang had only been furious at the previous answers, but the realization currently forming in his mind caused a sudden, uncontrollable chill to run through his entire body.

He moved closer to Sang Xiaoshi, dropping his voice to the absolute quietest whisper. Using the gentlest tone he could possibly muster across his twenty-five years of life, he dared to ask, “Xiaoshi, I’m going to ask you something. Don’t be scared. Has your uncle ever touched you? Like, your arms, or your legs? Or has he ever taken, taken off your clothes?”

During the few seconds Shen Siyang spent waiting for the answer, his hands and feet went completely cold, trembling uncontrollably. He had already resolved that if Sang Xiaoshi nodded, he would go find Luo Qifeng immediately.

He would beat the man to death on sight, to hell with the consequences. He wasn’t from this world anyway; at worst, they would go down together. A piece of trash who molested children didn’t deserve to breathe another second of oxygen.

Fortunately, Sang Xiaoshi ultimately shook his head. “N-no. He, he hates me, doesn’t, doesn’t touch me.”

“Really?”

Seeing how grim Shen Siyang’s expression was, Sang Xiaoshi searched his memory very thoroughly before answering, “R-really. Arms, legs, never touch, touched. Clothes also, never, never t-taken off.”

Shen Siyang let out a long, heavy breath, his back completely drenched in the cold sweat brought on by panic. He balled his hands into fists before raising one to gently rest it on Sang Xiaoshi’s head. “Thank goodness. Thank goodness.”

Sang Xiaoshi could feel Shen Siyang’s intense anxiety and lingering fear, but he didn’t know what he could do to ease his friend’s emotions. He stared at Shen Siyang with a look of mounting concern before finally extending both of his small hands to hold Shen Siyang’s icy fingers.

Feeling the warmth flowing from the boy’s hands, Shen Siyang realized his reaction had frightened Sang Xiaoshi. He quickly offered a reassuring smile, pulling himself together as he muttered in confusion:

“If it’s not for that, then what on earth is Luo Qifeng after? His behavior is nothing but pure, unadulterated PUA.”

Sang Xiaoshi looked puzzled. “P-PUA, what does that, that mean?”

Shen Siyang freed the hand Sang Xiaoshi wasn’t holding and propped his chin up, thinking aloud. “It means constantly putting you down, breaking your confidence, and making you feel like you’re completely worthless and don’t deserve anything in this world. Then, he steps in to offer you a tiny bit of kindness, telling you he’s the only person in the world who will ever care about you. He wants you to think that without him by your side, you don’t even deserve to live, so that he can control you and make you dependent on him. That way, you’ll give him whatever he wants without question.”

Sang Xiaoshi turned Shen Siyang’s words over in his mind carefully. After a long silence, he spoke up, “I-I think I, I know what he, he wants.”

Shen Siyang looked surprised. “You know?”

“The lawyer uncle said that, that my daddy and, and mommy, left, left a lot of money for me, and houses. When I-I am 18, it will all, all be mine.”

“So, he’s targeting the inheritance. That makes things much easier.”

Shen Siyang finally let go of the tension in his chest completely. He asked Sang Xiaoshi, “Is Luo Qifeng coming home tonight?”

Sang Xiaoshi shook his head. “Not sure, maybe t-tomorrow the day after. Weekend, he comes home more.”

“Alright then. Whenever he comes home, if you can sneak out of the house, come find me.”

As he spoke, Shen Siyang hopped off the swing, smoothing out his wrinkled clothes and extending a hand to Sang Xiaoshi. “It’s almost five o’clock. Let’s go, time to head home.”

Sang Xiaoshi nodded with a trace of reluctance, taking Shen Siyang’s hand as he jumped down from the swing.

As they both put their backpacks on, Shen Siyang suddenly thought of something, pausing to ask, “Aside from what I just asked you, has Luo Qifeng done anything else bad to you?”

Sang Xiaoshi paused alongside him, looking up at Shen Siyang with a slightly delayed reaction.

Shen Siyang happened to be standing against the light, a warm halo spreading out around his frame as the breeze carrying the summer heat stirred his soft hair. He had a pair of incredibly endearing puppy eyes, and since he loved to smile, every time his eyes crinkled toward Sang Xiaoshi, he radiated a warmth that seemed to envelop the boy completely.

Sang Xiaoshi quietly stared at Shen Siyang for a long moment. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, and he shook his head.

“Alright, let’s go. Time to head home.”

Shen Siyang adjusted the shoulder straps of Sang Xiaoshi’s backpack, rested a hand gently on his shoulder, and guided him toward home against the setting sun.

“If Luo Qifeng doesn’t come back tomorrow, want to get lunch with me at noon?”

“Where, where are we going to eat?”

“Wherever you want to go, that’s where we’ll go.”

“Wh-what?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Are you dazed? Your brother worked diligently washing the whole family’s laundry for a week to earn a massive fortune of fifty yuan. Where can’t we afford to eat?”

“Wow, Xiaoshi also has p-private savings.”

“No way, really? Doesn’t that mean we can afford an even bigger feast?”

“Mhm, mhm! A very very big one!”

Sang Xiaoshi arrived at his front door right at five o’clock.

The moment he stepped into the courtyard, a heavy, suffocating atmosphere made him unconsciously slow his pace. He slowly fished the key out of his pocket and walked up to the main door.

He slotted the key into the keyhole, turned it, and pushed.

The door had barely cracked open a sliver when a violent voice instantly erupted from inside the house: “Where the hell is Sang Xiaoshi?”