The Wealthy Old Man’s Palm-Sized Pet - Chapter 19

The curriculum for freshman year was quite demanding, with classes scheduled every day from Monday to Friday. Aside from lectures, there were club activities to attend, which sometimes even occupied the weekends.

Taking advantage of some free time over the weekend, Song Zhiyuan returned to his family home, a place he hadn’t visited in quite a while.

The security door still bore the marks of being kicked in. Inside, the house remained exactly as it was when he had left: the damaged walls, the smashed appliances, and a thin layer of dust covering the floor. Everything was frozen in time from the moment of his departure.

This meant that Song Tianlai had never returned. He had clearly decided to take the one million yuan and vanish for good. Indeed, a man like Song Tianlai would never consider the consequences his flight would bring upon his son; he was simply that selfish, cold, and heartless.

After a quick cleaning, Song Zhiyuan managed to spend a makeshift night there. The next day, he went ahead and had the security door replaced.

While the door was being changed, his neighbor, Brother Li, heard the commotion and came out. He had initially assumed someone was looking for trouble again, but he saw it was just Song Zhiyuan replacing the door.

Since the previous major disturbance, Brother Li had hardly seen Song Zhiyuan. The debt collectors hadn’t returned; word had it that they were swept up in a “crackdown on organized crime” and arrested, and that so-called predatory lending company had been dismantled entirely.

Peace had finally returned to the building, and the residents were back to their normal lives.

Now that things had settled, Brother Li felt quite apologetic about his previous behavior specifically, how he had forcefully tried to make Song Zhiyuan move out. He had wanted to apologize for a long time but could never catch him in person until today.

Brother Li asked, “Still haven’t found your father?”

Song Zhiyuan replied that he hadn’t.

After some small talk, Brother Li offered his apology: “Zhiyuan, I’m sorry. I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have, including telling you to move out. At the time, they were making such a scene… there are elderly people and children in the house, and they were all terrified.”

The other neighbors shared this sentiment. When those people were coming every day to cause trouble, they couldn’t wait for Song Zhiyuan to leave. But once those thugs were arrested, they began to feel that perhaps it hadn’t been Song Zhiyuan’s fault after all.

Song Zhiyuan said it was fine; he understood. He wasn’t particularly close to the neighbors to begin with, so he hadn’t taken their words to heart.

Seeing how calm he was, Brother Li hesitated before asking, “That person who helped you that day… was he your… friend?”

Many people had seen Chu Wei when he came to help Song Zhiyuan. That man looked extremely wealthy, and the debt collectors had stopped coming immediately after his visit. It wasn’t likely that loan sharks would suddenly develop a conscience; there was only one reason they would leave: someone had helped pay off the debt.

Consequently, many people speculated about the relationship between Song Zhiyuan and that man, and most of those speculations were less than kind.

Brother Li asked this as a way to warn him, but Song Zhiyuan remained silent. He simply walked into his home and closed the newly installed security door. Truly, he didn’t care at all about what others thought of him.

During the weekend, there were no classes. Song Zhiyuan didn’t have a very broad social circle, so he stayed home, gave the dilapidated place a thorough cleaning, and spent some time playing games online.

It wasn’t until past eight in the evening that he finally felt hungry. Since it was so late, he didn’t want to cook and decided to go out for a bite.

A sensor light in the hallway was broken, leaving one area quite dim. As he was heading up the stairs, a figure suddenly lunged out and blocked his path at the landing.

By the faint light, Song Zhiyuan saw that the man blocking him was a neighbor from a lower floor. The man lived alone; Song Zhiyuan had only seen him once or twice, and they were barely on nodding terms. They didn’t really know each other—Song Zhiyuan didn’t even know his surname so he had no idea what the man wanted.

“Is something the matter?” Song Zhiyuan asked. His voice was cold and emotionless in the dark.

The man looked at Song Zhiyuan with greed. From this distance, he could smell the boy’s scent—it was like sweet peaches, making him want to take a bite. Previously, the man would only stare at Song Zhiyuan’s back from afar, but now he felt bold enough to approach him.

Ignoring Song Zhiyuan’s obvious irritation, the man licked his lips and smiled. “Song Zhiyuan, how much money do you want?”

Song Zhiyuan stood there in a black hoodie, hands in his pockets, glancing at him calmly. His beautiful face often gave people the false impression that he was easy to bully, but in reality, he was a fierce wolf cub—a fact Song Tianlai knew all too well.

The man didn’t realize Song Zhiyuan was angry. His gaze was practically glued to the boy. “Don’t look at me like that. Isn’t it true? I saw it that day—that man paid off your debt, and you got into his car later, didn’t you?”

“I knew it. How could someone with a face as pretty as yours be honest? How much for one night with me?”

Song Zhiyuan’s gaze grew colder. “Move.”

The man’s words became increasingly shameless and filthy. “Why act? Haven’t you already been used by a man? Stop playing pure. When you came back last time, those marks on your neck were made by a man, weren’t they? Is two thousand enough? If you sleep with me for a night, I’ll give you five thousand.”

“Your dad ran away, right? How about this: if you’re willing to follow me, I’ll give you thirty thousand a month.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the stairwell. Every sensor light in the building triggered at once, and the dogs being walked in the neighborhood were so startled that they all began barking in unison.

For a moment, the residential area was filled with the sound of barking dogs. In the dim hallway, the man crouched on the ground in agony, clutching his crotch.

At the police station, the man had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, with reddish-brown stains seeping through. From the moment he arrived, he had been wailing like a ghost, claiming Song Zhiyuan had assaulted him. He demanded a hospital examination and insisted that Song Zhiyuan pay compensation.

It was only at the station that Song Zhiyuan learned the man’s name: Chen Da.

Chen Da sat there with a bruised and swollen face, looking at Song Zhiyuan with terror. He truly couldn’t believe that the slender, weak-looking Song Zhiyuan could be so violent and ruthless when he fought.

Chen Da claimed it was all Song Zhiyuan’s fault, saying he had simply greeted the boy when Song Zhiyuan suddenly attacked him. He adamantly demanded medical expenses. Chen Da figured that since it was just the two of them, Song Zhiyuan would be too embarrassed to repeat their conversation and would have to suffer in silence.

When asked why he had started the fight, Song Zhiyuan said Chen Da had harassed him.

Chen Da immediately protested, calling it nonsense. He claimed he couldn’t possibly have harassed him because he liked women, and that Song Zhiyuan was lying. He kept clamoring for medical fees, threatening to sue if he wasn’t compensated.

After the officer’s mediation, Song Zhiyuan agreed to pay; he simply didn’t want to deal with such a person any longer than necessary. However, because he had caused an injury, someone needed to come to the station to pick him up.

Song Zhiyuan thought for a while and realized he didn’t seem to have anyone he could call. Finally, he dialed Fu Can—the only person he could contact right now.

While waiting, Chen Da received a phone call. Afterward, he suddenly admitted to the officer that he had been the one to provoke Song Zhiyuan with lewd words and actions. He stated he no longer wanted any compensation.

Chen Da’s sudden change of heart struck Song Zhiyuan as strange.

Soon, Fu Can arrived. After they walked out of the station, Fu Can was still fuming. “If it were me, I would have hit a guy like that even harder than you did.”

When Chen Da, who was following behind, heard this, he quickly hailed a taxi and fled. Song Zhiyuan alone was ruthless enough; adding an angry young man glaring at him was more than he could handle. If he didn’t run now, he feared he’d get another beating.

With the matter resolved, Fu Can insisted on driving Song Zhiyuan home.

“Thank you,” Song Zhiyuan said.

Fu Can replied, “I’m actually quite happy you called me.”

Song Zhiyuan smiled. “I suppose you’re my only friend, so thank you.”

“If you consider me a friend, stop saying thank you. You’re always thanking me.”

Fu Can understood that while Song Zhiyuan appeared to get along well with everyone and seemed very friendly, he was actually a very lonely person. He was like a tightly closed clam—no one could pry him open or step into his inner world. He could be nice to everyone, yet remain distant from everyone at the same time.

Perhaps only the most gentle heart could open Song Zhiyuan’s closed mind; Fu Can hoped he could be that person.

On the way home, Fu Can asked again if he had been bullied or if he’d be harassed by that man again, since they lived in the same building. Song Zhiyuan said the man wouldn’t dare. Chen Da wouldn’t dare provoke him again, which finally put Fu Can’s mind at ease.

He told Song Zhiyuan that if Chen Da ever bothered him again, he should call him directly, and he would come over to help him beat the guy until his own family couldn’t recognize him.

Song Zhiyuan thanked him once more and promised to treat him to a meal sometime.

Fu Can then added, “Actually, for today’s matter, we should still thank my uncle.”

Song Zhiyuan froze instantly. “How does your uncle know?”

Surely Fu Xingnian wasn’t at Fu Can’s house again and found out when I called?

Fu Can quickly gave the answer: “I was worried you were in trouble. My uncle has many connections and knows the ropes, so I asked him to help out. See? We got out very smoothly, didn’t we?”

In his haste, he hadn’t realized that Song Zhiyuan had already mostly handled the situation.

“So, your uncle knows about today?” Song Zhiyuan asked.

“Yeah, he knows,” Fu Can confirmed.

Song Zhiyuan pressed his palm to his forehead. He had hesitated for so long specifically because he didn’t want to call Fu Xingnian. Fu Xingnian hadn’t contacted him in over two weeks, and he hadn’t wanted the man to know. He never expected that Fu Can, thinking the situation was dire, would call his uncle.

Seeing his expression, Fu Can assumed he was afraid of his uncle like everyone else, so he comforted him: “Don’t look at how serious and scary my uncle usually is; he’s actually quite a good person. Last time you were sick, he was very helpful in finding the hospital director. This time, as soon as he heard you were at the station, he was eager to help as well.”

The more Fu Can spoke, the more he felt something was different. “Zhiyuan, my uncle seems to actually like you quite a bit. He probably can’t even remember the names of my other friends, but he knows you.”

Fu Can meant that Song Zhiyuan was a unique existence to him, and even his uncle liked him.

Song Zhiyuan gave a wry smile. Fu Xingnian certainly “liked” him.

So, Fu Xingnian already knew about the fight and he knew that Song Zhiyuan had called Fu Can for help.