“Boss?”
The boss pointed toward a sleek black car parked at the curb, a genial smile on his face. “Someone’s here for you. Take the afternoon off with pay.”
Liang Zhixia followed the boss’s gesture with his gaze. From the lowered rear window poked a cute little face.
Lu Manman.
But why was the boss giving him paid time off?
He kept his puzzlement to himself and didn’t voice it. Yesterday’s full day of work had left him utterly drained.
By then, Lu Manman in the car was starting to grow restless. His chubby little hand waved frantically at Liang Zhixia.
The boss beamed. “The Little Young Master is getting antsy. Hurry on over, Little Xia.”
Liang Zhixia started toward the car but paused midway, suddenly aware that he was dressed in men’s clothing, looking unmistakably like a boy.
His steps faltered. Should he keep going, or head back to change into something more feminine first?
Lu Manman had clambered onto the seat cushion and was waving out the window. “Xia Xia! Manman’s right here!”
A few passersby had already turned to stare. Gritting his teeth, Liang Zhixia pressed on, opened the car door, and slid inside.
The little boy wasted no time, wriggling straight into Liang Zhixia’s lap. He tilted up his cherubic face and lisped in a babyish voice, “Xia Xia, Manman waited for you forever.”
Liang Zhixia felt a pang of regret. He ruffled Lu Manman’s hair. “Sorry.”
Sorry for brushing off the boy’s invitation earlier.
Truth be told, he hadn’t taken the earnest words of a three- or four-year-old seriously.
Lu Manman, oblivious to the nuance, bobbed his head from side to side. “It’s okay! Manman forgives Xia Xia.”
The corners of Liang Zhixia’s mouth curved up. “Thank you, Manman.”
Lu Quan might be infuriating, but his little brother was utterly endearing.
He settled Lu Manman into the child safety seat and double-checked the straps before the driver pulled away.
Meanwhile, Lu Quan set aside the document in his hands, his brows knitting tightly. “Do I really have to go?”
The assistant nodded. “Chairman Lu named you specifically.”
Lu Quan pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew this was his grandfather’s way of testing him. “Understood,” he said coolly.
A weeklong business trip abroad meant a full week without seeing Zhizhi.
That night, he’d thought the tension between him and Zhizhi had eased. Yet over the past two days, Zhizhi had only initiated conversation twice, brushing him off otherwise.
His eyes drifted to the glowing screen of his phone. A message from the butler: Lu Manman had already gone to pick up Zhizhi.
He glanced up at the assistant. “When do we leave?”
The assistant hesitated. “Now.”
Lu Quan fell silent.
He never should have had the butler remind Lu Manman about this.
There would be no going home to see Zhizhi tonight.
Elsewhere, the driver pulled up, and Liang Zhixia unfastened Lu Manman’s seatbelt.
Once out of the car, Lu Manman grabbed his hand and pointed eagerly at the grand villa ahead. “This is Manman’s house! Come on, Xia Xia—Manman told Butler Uncle to make a huge feast.”
Liang Zhixia glanced around, recognizing the upscale villa complex where he’d done that part-time gig last time.
He trailed after Lu Manman into the opulent residence.
The middle-aged butler he’d met before stood at the entrance, bowing respectfully. “I am the Lu Family butler. Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu are away from home. Please come to me with any needs.”
Liang Zhixia nodded politely. “Hello.”
Neither Lu Manman nor the butler batted an eye at his male attire. Only one explanation came to mind.
Lu Quan must have said something to them.
The butler tactfully withdrew, leaving them to their time together.
Ever the gracious host, Lu Manman chattered on in his childish lilt as he gave the tour. “This is where the grown-ups talk. Those are Daddy and Mommy’s shoes. That’s where Chef Uncle works. And this… this is Brother’s Secret Base. Nobody’s allowed in!”
Liang Zhixia eyed the locked room in the shadowed corner of the third floor. It gave off an unsettling vibe.
Fitting for Lu Quan’s private domain.
“Let’s keep moving, then,” he suggested.
Lu Manman tugged him along to see more, eventually leading him to the backyard, where an Abandoned Small House stood.
The boy halted and gave Liang Zhixia’s hand a little pull.
Understanding dawned. Liang Zhixia crouched down. “What is it, Manman? Something you want to tell me?”
Lu Manman spoke in a grave toddler tone. “You can’t go near that little house. There’s a man-eating monster inside—even Ultraman couldn’t beat it!”
Liang Zhixia peered at the structure. Ivy choked the walls in a tangle of green, and the sagging roof looked decrepit against the villa’s pristine glamour. It seemed wholly out of place.
Curious, he asked, “Why do you say that, Manman?”
Lu Manman squatted beside him, pressing his pudgy fingertips together, his round face scrunching up. “Brother told me. He said there’s a monster there. Daddy and Mommy say so too.”
Liang Zhixia narrowed his eyes at the unremarkable eyesore. Lu Quan spinning tales of monsters? Surely just to scare the kid.
Then Lu Manman let out a world-weary sigh, far too mature for his age. He nestled into Liang Zhixia’s arms and whispered conspiratorially into his ear.
“I’m only telling Xia Xia this. Daddy and Mommy said Brother got grabbed by the monster when he was little. It was super scary.”
Liang Zhixia hadn’t anticipated stumbling into such a juicy family secret. He whipped his head around in alarm, scanning for eavesdroppers.
The last thing he needed was to get silenced for this.
As they departed, he cast a lingering glance back at the dilapidated shack. Could the rumor Jiang Ling had mentioned actually hold water?
What had happened to Lu Quan as a child?
He lowered his gaze, a wave of dejection washing over him. None of it was his business anymore. Lu Quan didn’t see him as a friend—why should he go out of his way to care?
Lu Manman proved to be an unstoppable chatterbox, a true little motormouth.
He showed Liang Zhixia every room in the villa except Lu Quan’s and proudly displayed his collection of Ultraman toys—a full wall of them.
“Did your mom and dad buy all these for you?”
It couldn’t have been Lu Quan. The man seemed too icy to buy toys for his brother.
But Lu Manman shook his head. “Nope! Brother bought them all. Brother got Manman all the Ultramen.”
Liang Zhixia realized with a jolt how little he truly knew about Lu Quan. Perhaps he shouldn’t have taken those two men’s one-sided stories at face value and jumped to conclusions about Lu Quan not seeing him as a friend.
After all, Lu Quan hadn’t liked him at first.
And he hadn’t liked Lu Quan.
He’d come around and softened his view—why couldn’t Lu Quan do the same?
Lu Manman had no inkling of the ripple his innocent words had caused.
Liang Zhixia spent the afternoon playing with the boy until the dinner bell chimed and a knock sounded at the door.
“Mr. Liang and Little Young Master, dinner is served.”
Just as Lu Manman had promised, the butler had prepared a lavish spread—dishes Liang Zhixia had never tried before.
After the meal, as he opened his mouth to mention heading back to school, the butler approached. “Would Mr. Liang mind spending a little more time with Little Young Master? Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu just called; there’s an urgent matter at the company, and they’ll be working late.”
Liang Zhixia checked the clock. It was only six, and dusk hadn’t fallen.
He glanced down at Lu Manman’s hopeful eyes and relented. “Of course.”
The boy let out a triumphant “Yay!” and dragged him off to watch cartoons.
Sensing Liang Zhixia might grow bored, the butler brought over a stack of photo albums.
“These contain pictures of Young Master and Little Young Master. Feel free to browse if you’d like.”
Flattered, Liang Zhixia accepted them. “Am I sure I can look?”
The butler smiled. “Absolutely.”
They retreated to a cozy corner. The butler flipped open his little notebook and crossed off “show Mr. Liang the photo albums.” Everything above it was already checked off—all instructions from Young Master.
Lu Manman was engrossed in his cartoons. Liang Zhixia opened the first album. The initial page featured a photo of a scrawny little boy with long bangs veiling his eyes, his expression profoundly gloomy.
He glanced at the caption and froze. That was Lu Quan.
On closer inspection, only the eyes matched—dark pools brimming with shadows.
The Lu Quan of today seemed less brooding than his childhood self.
The next photo showed Lu Quan in his early teens, his long bangs shorn away. He wore an oversized, plain school uniform; the boyish softness had vanished, foreshadowing the striking good looks to come.
Liang Zhixia flipped through every photo in the album. He discovered that Lu Quan only had that one picture from his childhood; the rest were all from after he had grown up.
In every single one, Lu Quan stared darkly into the camera. Not a smile in sight.
The photos of Lu Manman that followed were far more abundant. The boy was only three or four years old, yet he already had more pictures than Lu Quan did from over two decades of life.
Very strange.
At some point, little Lu Manman had crawled over to his side. He peered at the album, jabbing a chubby finger at one of the photos as he exclaimed, “This is Manman!”
“That’s right, this is Manman,” Liang Zhixia replied.
He glanced over his shoulder. The butler was no longer standing in the corner. Liang Zhixia flipped back to the section with Lu Quan’s photos and whispered, “Does Brother only have these?”
Lu Manman’s pudgy little hand turned the pages, mimicking his hushed tone with careful whispers of his own. “Yeah, these are all Brother’s. He was so tiny—smaller than Manman!”
It was the truth. Without those photos, Liang Zhixia never would have pictured young Lu Quan as even skinnier and smaller than Lu Manman.
“Does Manman know why Brother was so small?” he asked.
Lu Manman scrunched up his delicate little brows and shook his head. “Don’t know. Daddy and Mommy never told Manman.”
Liang Zhixia hummed in acknowledgment. He closed the album, unwilling to look any further. It felt too much like sneaking a peek at Lu Quan’s private life while he was away.
He had long outgrown the age for watching cartoons. Well, unless it was a different sort of “cartoon”—then he might steal a glance or two.
The cartoon’s soundtrack proved hypnotic. Liang Zhixia leaned back against the plush sofa, and his eyelids gradually grew heavy.
Long, thick lashes veiled his light tea-colored eyes. Strands of soft hair fell in a tousled mess. Little Lu Manman nestled in his arms, watching with rapt attention.
The boy’s two small hands clutched each other tight. When the kind-hearted, impossibly strong hero finally defeated the villain, he clapped his hands in delight, snatched up the remote, and queued up the next episode.
Some time later—Liang Zhixia couldn’t say how long—Lu Manman’s voice roused him.
“Xia Xia, your phone keeps ringing.”
Liang Zhixia blinked his eyes open. His mind still foggy, he squinted at the screen and pulled up WeChat.
L had sent a barrage of messages.
He lounged against the sofa, scrolling upward through them. Lu Manman, still perched in his lap, tilted his head for a peek. Suddenly, the boy pointed at L’s profile picture. “Brother has this picture too!”
OOPS MANMAN