Chapter 28
Jing Ciying woke up to a phone call from his aunt.
It was the weekend, and Ruoruo, free from school, had been asking for him. His aunt, also off work, had gone to the market early that morning and prepared a feast. She wanted him to come over.
He readily agreed.
He got ready and was about to leave when he saw Pei Songji waiting downstairs.
He glanced at his watch. 7:00 am.
How long had he been there?
He had seen Pei Songji so often lately that he wasn’t surprised anymore, just resigned. “What is it this time? Lost your way again?”
Pei Songji, knowing his intentions were transparent, said jokingly, “Not exactly. I’m not familiar with this area. Do you know any good breakfast places around here?”
Jing Ciying knew he had ulterior motives but didn’t bother calling him out. He pointed towards a nearby breakfast stall.
Pei Songji seized the opportunity. “Have you had breakfast? Want to join me?”
“No, thank you. I’m going to my aunt’s.”
“I’m free. I can give you a ride.”
“No, thank you,” Jing Ciying said, turning and walking away, glancing back to make sure Pei Songji wasn’t following him.
He wasn’t. He had actually entered the breakfast stall.
Jing Ciying was tempted to hide and observe, to see if Pei Songji actually ate anything.
Pei Songji’s meals were prepared by professional chefs, meticulously planned and hygienically prepared. He was also a germaphobe. Could he stomach street food?
He doubted it, but his aunt was waiting, so he hurried on.
The aroma of pork rib soup greeted him as he approached his aunt’s apartment.
He was about to knock when the door opened, and Ruoruo rushed out, launching herself into his arms. “Brother!”
She hugged him tightly. “How long are you staying this time?”
“A week.”
“Yay!” she exclaimed, delighted. “I’m so bored by myself. Now you can take me out to play.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Anything! As long as it’s not staying at home. Mom makes me do math problems all day.”
“Whose fault is that? Your math skills are terrible,” his aunt said, emerging from the kitchen.
“Mom! Not again!” Ruoruo covered her ears.
Jing Ciying ruffled her hair, trying to divert the conversation. “Aunt, what are you making? It smells delicious.”
“Pork rib soup. Your favorite.”
“Mom woke up at 5:00 am to make it. See, Brother? She loves you more than she loves me,” Ruoruo said.
“Of course,” his aunt teased. “Can you even compare yourself to your brother?”
Ruoruo, feeling slighted, huffed and ran off.
Jing Ciying chuckled, helping his aunt serve the soup.
He went to call Ruoruo for breakfast, finding her staring out the window.
“What are you looking at? Come and eat,” he said, approaching her.
“Brother, look! Such a beautiful car!”
“Car?” He followed her gaze and saw a Rolls-Royce Cullinan parked downstairs.
He recognized it instantly. It was Pei Songji’s car.
Although a relatively low-key car in Pei Songji’s collection, it was still incredibly ostentatious in this small city.
He had seen Pei Songji enter the breakfast stall earlier. He hadn’t followed him.
But he was here now, which meant he knew where his aunt lived.
He must have done his research.
It was typical Pei Songji, so he wasn’t surprised, just annoyed. “Come on, let’s eat.”
“Okay.”
After breakfast, Ruoruo wanted to go out, but her mother insisted she finish her homework first.
Seeing Ruoruo’s misery, Jing Ciying offered, “I’ll help you. Ask me if you have any questions.”
“I… I don’t understand anything,” Ruoruo confessed.
“Then I’ll explain everything,” he said, his voice laced with a hint of malicious intent.
He hadn’t realized she was serious.
A middle school student who didn’t understand anything?
But he had made a promise, so he sat down with her, patiently explaining each problem, his own sanity slowly eroding.
“Tell me honestly, what’s your math score?”
“Sixty.”
“Too high.”
“Thirty.”
“Really?”
“Twenty-five.”
He gave her a knowing look and sighed, ruffling her hair.
Ruoruo flinched, thinking he was about to hit her.
“I’m not going to hit you,” he said gently. “I just want to teach you a valuable lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“There’s more to life than studying.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “You’re right! I don’t want to study anyway.”
“Then what do you want to do?” he asked, curious.
“I want to collect trash! I love collecting bottles! I’m the champion of our school’s bottle-collecting contest!”
Jing Ciying: “…”
“What?” she asked, confused. “Didn’t you just say there’s more to life than studying?”
He pushed her head back towards her textbooks. “Study.”
Tutoring a middle school student was exhausting.
He had no appetite for lunch.
“What’s wrong? Why the long face? Did your brother upset you?” his aunt asked, instantly identifying the culprit.
Ruoruo remained silent, avoiding her gaze.
His aunt, knowing exactly what had happened, chuckled.
“Alright, alright, I’ll let you off the hook. You can go out this afternoon.”
“Yay!” Ruoruo exclaimed. “Brother, I want to see a movie!”
“Okay,” he agreed readily. Anything was better than more math problems.
They left the apartment.
He remembered Pei Songji’s Cullinan.
He hesitated. Surely he had left by now. It was lunchtime.
But knowing Pei Songji, he wasn’t entirely sure. He wanted to check, but Ruoruo had already run ahead.
He followed her outside and saw the car was still there. Ruoruo was staring at it with wide-eyed fascination.
Pei Songji was standing beside the car, smiling at her.
Jing Ciying hurried over, but it was too late. “Do you like this car?” Pei Songji asked Ruoruo.
Ruoruo, flustered by the unexpected attention from such a handsome man, mumbled, “Yes.”
“Where are you going? I can give you a ride.”
“Really?” she asked, her eyes shining with excitement.
“No,” Jing Ciying interrupted.
“Brother…” Ruoruo looked at him, her lower lip trembling.
He tapped her forehead lightly. “Don’t you know better than to get into a stranger’s car? What if he’s a bad guy?”
Pei Songji chuckled. “Do I look like a bad guy?”
“Bad guys don’t have ‘bad guy’ written on their foreheads,” Jing Ciying retorted.
“I just wanted to offer you a ride,” Pei Songji said, sensing his anger.
“No, thank you. We’ll take a taxi,” Jing Ciying said, pulling Ruoruo away.
He stopped, turning back to Pei Songji, his voice stern. “Mr. Pei, please don’t loiter outside my apartment building.”
He continued walking without waiting for a response.
“Brother, do you know him?” Ruoruo asked, curious.
“No.”
Ruoruo rolled her eyes. “Brother, I’m bad at math, not stupid.”
“What are you trying to say?”
She wanted to say she wanted to ride in the fancy car, but she knew better than to argue with him. “Brother, that car is so beautiful. I’ve never seen such a beautiful car. It looks so luxurious. I wish I could ride in it…”
He glared at her.
She quickly changed her tune. “But it doesn’t matter. A car is just a car. It doesn’t matter how it looks.”
Satisfied, he took her to the intersection, reaching for his phone to call a taxi.
His pockets were empty. He had left his phone on the dining table.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back. I forgot my phone.”
“Okay,” she replied.
“And don’t get into that man’s car. Do you understand?”
“Don’t worry, Brother,” she said, puffing out her chest.
Although not academically inclined, she was generally obedient. And he would only be gone for a few minutes. He trusted her.
When he returned, Ruoruo was sitting in Pei Songji’s car, her face alight with excitement, and Pei Songji was standing outside, waiting for him.
Jing Ciying: “…”
He was using Ruoruo as leverage.
