Chapter 43 Part 1

“After you get off at the station, take the subway to Sanli Station. Your brother will be waiting for you at the exit.”

His mother’s commanding tone came through the receiver. Liang Zhixia turned off his phone and wheeled his suitcase onto the subway bound for Sanli Station.

As for the “brother” his mother mentioned, he was only a year younger than Liang Zhixia. The boy had a rotten personality and never bothered to hide his malice toward him.

Liang Zhixia couldn’t even remember when he had offended the guy.

It made no sense.

Some time later, the subway announcement rang out.

“The train is approaching Sanli Station. Passengers for Sanli Station, please prepare to disembark…”

The doors slid open.

Liang Zhixia stepped off with the crowd, his pace slowing the closer he got to the exit. He had no desire to see that so-called “brother.”

Sunlight spilled across the floor at the station exit. As he stepped out, the chill clinging to his body dissipated, and his icy fingertips gradually warmed.

But then an irritating voice cut through the air.

“Brother!”

Squinting against the sunlight, Liang Zhixia looked up. There on the steps at the exit stood his “brother,” grinning widely and waving at him.

The boy was well-built for his age, over six feet tall, dressed in what he clearly thought was stylish clothing. A row of shiny earrings glinted from one ear.

Spotting Liang Zhixia’s gaze, he hurried over to grab the suitcase.

Liang Zhixia’s eyelid twitched. He shoved the suitcase back. “I’ll push it myself,” he said coldly.

Any passerby would have assumed they were a pair of loving brothers.

In reality, Liang Zhixia had no doubt that handing over his suitcase would lead to an “accident” halfway there.

It had happened before.

He tightened his grip on the handle. “Let’s go.”

Ji Zhaohao rolled his eyes and pouted, kicking a small pebble by his foot. “You’re no fun.”

He’d already imagined the hilarious scene of deliberately wrecking the guy’s suitcase, but it had been seen through. He shouldn’t have bothered coming to pick him up.

His phone buzzed insistently in his pocket. Annoyed, he fished it out and was about to snap at the caller when he saw the message on the screen.

He rolled his eyes again, then grinned. “Fine, come pick me up.”

As he spoke, his gaze landed on Cheap Brother. Sunlight formed a halo around the other boy’s head, leaving Ji Zhaohao momentarily stunned. Still, he walked over. “My friend’s coming to pick us up.”

Liang Zhixia frowned. He’d seen Ji Zhaohao’s thuggish friends from afar before. They didn’t seem like the type anyone would want to deal with.

He hesitated. “I’ll just take a cab.”

Ji Zhaohao grabbed his arm before he could walk away, his puppy-dog eyes drooping as he flashed a grin. “No can do. Mom told me to pick you up. How’s it gonna look if we don’t go back together?”

He glanced down at his Cheap Brother. A faint, refreshing fragrance filled his nostrils, seemingly wafting from the other boy.

People who’d been on long trips usually carried some unpleasant odor, but Cheap Brother smelled amazing.

An intrigued smile played on Ji Zhaohao’s face as he leaned in to sniff closer.

Liang Zhixia didn’t notice his expression. He frowned and shook off the hand. “Don’t touch me.”

Ji Zhaohao’s smile vanished in an instant. His eyes darkened as he glared daggers, flinging his arm back. “Who the hell wants to touch you, you pervert who’s into guys?”

Liang Zhixia’s fingers trembled on the suitcase handle. He lowered his gaze, his expression inscrutable, his face growing even colder as he pressed his lips together.

Ji Zhaohao let out a sinister chuckle. “You don’t want Mom finding out about that, do you?”

Just then, the rumble of engines echoed from the roadside.

“Brother Hao! We’re not late, right?”

Several motorcycles pulled up, their riders decked out like gangsters, all “bro this” and “bro that.”

If Liang Zhixia still couldn’t see that Ji Zhaohao was setting him up, he’d have been a fool.

The leader, Yellow Hair, hopped off his bike. Flip-flops slapped against the pavement as he ruffled his hair and sauntered over to Liang Zhixia, eyeing him curiously.

“Brother Hao, this your bro? He’s pretty cute!”

The others burst into laughter.

“Lemme guess, looks just like a girl, haha!”

“Chicks dig pretty boys like that these days.”

“Damn, you jealous or what? Haha!”

Passersby shot them disgusted looks and gave them a wide berth.

Liang Zhixia glanced at Yellow Hair’s mop of straw-like locks. It was way uglier than Zhuzi’s hair.

He gripped the handle tighter and turned away. “I’ll take a cab back.”

With that, he headed toward the intersection.

Ji Zhaohao shot Yellow Hair a look. The guy got the message and jogged after Liang Zhixia with a sleazy grin, reaching out to grab his clothes.

Liang Zhixia dodged sharply to the side, his expression icy. “I don’t like being touched.”

Having lost face in front of everyone, Yellow Hair’s expression darkened. He lunged to grab Liang Zhixia.

Liang Zhixia pointed at the surveillance camera nearby. “Touch me again, and I’ll say you’re trying to rob me. You wanna spend a few days inside?”

For a good-for-nothing punk like Yellow Hair, nothing was worse than getting locked up with no freedom.

He spat on the ground and muttered, “Fucking germaphobe.”

…

A taxi happened to pull up at the curb. Liang Zhixia wheeled his suitcase over without so much as a glance at Ji Zhaohao.

The Driver Uncle looked back over his shoulder, speaking in thick local dialect. “First time here, kid?”

Liang Zhixia wiped the sweat from his palms and murmured an affirmative.

Driver Uncle chuckled. “Watch yourself around those punks. They’re always pulling petty thefts and bullying folks.”

The unexpected kindness from a stranger caught him off guard. “Thanks, Uncle,” Liang Zhixia said softly.

When they reached the residential complex, he got out and bid the Driver Uncle goodbye.

He’d been to this place a few times before.

The first was when his mother gave birth to her new son. The second was when he’d come begging for money to pay for his grandparents’ medical bills.

He’d thought he’d never set foot here again. Apparently not.

The security guard in the booth made him register his name. He paused for a moment before scribbling it down.

If he had a choice, he wouldn’t come here at all—wouldn’t have to face those people he neither liked nor wanted anything to do with.

Directionally challenged as he was, he still remembered the way to the Ji family’s apartment.

He took the elevator to the twelfth floor and stood before the door to 1201. Raising his hand, he knocked with his knuckles.

A familiar yet distant voice came from inside.

“Ji Zhaohao, did you forget your keys again? Mom’s told you a million times to—”

The door clicked open, and the woman’s voice cut off abruptly when she saw him.

“Oh, Zhixia. Where’s Xiao Hao? Didn’t he go to pick you up?”

Zhang Mi wiped her hands on her apron and peered behind him.

Liang Zhixia’s expression remained cool. “He didn’t come back with me.”

“Come on in,” Zhang Mi said.

He glanced at the shoe covers discarded by his feet. Silently, he bent down to slip a pair on, then tucked his suitcase into the corner by the door.

Zhang Mi noticed but said nothing.

The kitchen exhaust fan roared noisily. Without sparing him a glance, she returned to the kitchen and shut the door.

Liang Zhixia stood in the entryway, his gaze calmly taking in the apartment’s decor.

It had a cozy, homey feel at first glance.

But it wasn’t his home.

Some time passed before thunder rumbled outside, followed by a flash of lightning that lit up the sky.

He sat on the sofa. The kitchen door opened, and Zhang Mi emerged, anxiously dialing Ji Zhaohao.

“Xiao Hao, are you home yet? It’s raining out there. You didn’t bring an umbrella, did you…?”

Her voice was gentle—so different from how she spoke to him.

He turned to the window. The rain was light. A seventeen-year-old like Ji Zhaohao wouldn’t catch a cold from it, but Zhang Mi fretted over him as if he were a delicate treasure that couldn’t get wet.

The coffee table in front of him was bare. Liang Zhixia lowered his eyes, rubbing his fingertips together. His heart was calm. He just wanted to take what belonged to him and his grandparents.

He wasn’t that little boy who only knew how to cry anymore.

At six-thirty in the evening, Ji Father returned home.

Zhang Mi’s second husband was a researcher at a tech firm. He looked honest enough, but Liang Zhixia knew better.

The two weren’t close and had no interest in talking. They sat on opposite ends of the sofa, each absorbed in their own activities.

Ten minutes later, Ji Zhaohao finally showed up.

As if she’d known in advance, Zhang Mi was waiting at the door to let him in.

The moment it opened, a bouquet of flowers appeared before her, glistening with raindrops.

“Mom, for you. Like it?”

“I love it. Thank you, Xiao Hao.”

Liang Zhixia watched the scene coldly. Ji Zhaohao caught his gaze and flashed him a provocative smirk.

Childish.

With everyone home, they sat down to dinner.

Liang Zhixia picked at his food sparingly. At the table, it was mostly Zhang Mi and Ji Zhaohao chatting away.

After the meal, Zhang Mi untied her apron and said warmly, “Your brother’s birthday is in a couple days. Once that’s over, I’ll give you the photos.”

Liang Zhixia’s lips curved in a mocking smirk.

Was she afraid he’d grab the photos and bolt?

The rain had tapered off outside. He stood. “I’ll come back on his birthday.”

He planned to book a room at a nearby budget hotel—the same cheap one he’d stayed at last time.

Zhang Mi nodded. “All right.”

Ji Zhaohao grinned mischievously and said, “Mom, Dad, I’ll go see Cheap Brother off.”

Zhang Mi muttered softly, “It’s not like he doesn’t know the way, and it’s still raining outside.”

Ji Zhaohao wheedled, “I want to ask Cheap Brother how to get into A University.”

Liang Zhixia slipped off his shoe covers and tossed them into the trash bin. He pushed his suitcase to the elevator and stood there, with no intention of waiting for Ji Zhaohao.

But in the second before the doors closed, Ji Zhaohao thrust his hand out to block them and squeezed inside.

“Cheap Brother, why didn’t you wait for me?”

Ji Zhaohao’s eyes were narrow, and when he squinted them even a little, it gave off an unsettling vibe.

Liang Zhixia couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him. Once the elevator reached the first floor, he pushed his suitcase straight out.

Ji Zhaohao trailed behind, staring at the other boy’s cold back. His own face darkened. Being ignored over and over—huh. On his birthday, he’d make sure Cheap Brother made a total fool of himself.

He hurried to catch up, chuckling, “Cheap Brother, it looks like Mom likes me better.”