Chapter 16

A night of making love left Liu Lin looking dishevelled and faint, with a slight bulge to his stomach.

Yao Qi carried him into the bathroom and cleaned him up. Fortunately, he regularly exercised in the gym, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to carry Liu Lin.

“I grew up in the red light district.”

As Yao Qi lowered him into the bathtub, he finally heard Liu Lin speak.

“I don’t remember much about the past. Anyway, before they divorced, the woman who gave birth to me told me that she was glad to have me around, but she would never kiss or hug me. She rarely did any kind of physical contact with me. The most she ever did was to praise me.”

“Don’t touch me—” the woman screamed with a face full of disgust, as if seeing some kind of abhorrent thing. She harshly slapped away the small hand that was reaching towards her, but when she saw the sad expression of the child in front of her, she quickly put on a strained and unsightly smile. “Mom didn’t mean it—Ah-Lin scored another full marks, that’s really great, haha…”

“I was actually very well-behaved at that time. I only wanted her to praise me more, and smile at me more.”

“That kid from the Liu family is so pitiful. He’s obviously such a good kid, but he’s stuck with that kind of parents.” The adults grouped together and whispered about him, darting looks of sympathy that stabbed at the child, putting on an act of lament and pity while at the same thinking that the matter had nothing to do with them.

“My so-called father only came back once every two to three months and treated me like I didn’t exist whenever he did, so I have no feelings about him.”

“Go to the toilet, don’t disturb my talk with your mother,” said the man with an indifferent face, telling the child to go inside by cocking his head towards the toilet. Once he did, the man never gave him another look.

“But my grandma really liked me. She was a very gentle person—just like you.” When he talked about this, Liu Lin paused for a long time without saying anything, leaning on Yao Qi as he recalled the past.

“She liked to hold me in her arms as she talked for on and on. She would kiss me and give me candies that were close to melting, very sweet and sticky.”

“Our Ah-Lin is such a good boy, come here, let grandma hug you—” the old lady opened her arms, looking at him with a warm smile.

A frown wrinkled Yao Qi’s eyebrows as he listened. He raised his hand and vigorously rubbed Liu Lin on his head.

So that was why.

When he asked Ah-Lin his reason for choosing him among so many other people, Ah-Lin said to him, “You look gentle. I like gentle people.”

When he saw Ah-Lin going crazy for the first time, he was scared out of his wits and pulled the man into his arms, but who could have thought that Ah Lin would unexpectedly calm down after that.

So that was why kisses and hugs could calm down his Ah-Lin.

So that was why Ah-Lin liked to eat sweets.

So that was why Ah-Lin was terrified of cold violence.

So that was why.

Yao Qi was so distressed he kept giving tender kisses to the man in his embrace.

Liu Lin softly nuzzled against him like a cat, enjoying Yao Qi’s comfort.

“Later on, my grandma died. She passed away peacefully, lying on her bed. When she was found the next day, her body had already gone cold. Both that man and that woman, and all those troublemaker relatives gathered in one place and kicked up a fuss.”

“She’s my mother, of course the house should be mine!”

“Aiya, you can’t say that. You two are husband and wife, so this is your joint property.”

“What on earth are you saying? The house belonged to the old lady, her own children should be the only ones to inherit it!

“At that time, I really wanted my grandma to hug me again, so I went to lie over her body. But her body was cold, and it felt uncomfortable. I didn’t understand. Obviously, before that, I could always feel a sense of comfort whenever she hugged me.”

“What bad luck! Ah-Lin couldn’t have been possessed, right!? Pull him down quickly!”

“Fucking brat, who taught you to do such a scary thing? Huh?” The man roughly grabbed the child’s arm and yanked him down, swinging his hand to slap him.

“Then they got divorced, but none of them wanted me.”

“He’s your own child! You are his father!”

“You talk as if you’re not his mother!” The man sneered, “If it weren’t for you and that bastard, how could Xiao Su have left me!”

“Do you think I want to give birth to him!? You damned rapist! I hate you! I hate your son!”

“It’s only because I had drunk too much! Otherwise, how could I have slept with you! How could my mother ask me to take responsibility! How could Xiao Su leave me?! Take that little bastard and get out right now!”

“If your mother hadn’t begged me, if my family hadn’t forced me to drop it and not blow up the matter so as to not disgrace the family name, I would have sued you for rape and let you go to jail! You rapist! Scumbag!”

The child who was locked inside the toilet buried his head in his knees, quietly sobbing as he listened to the two of them shouting and screaming at one another.

“In the end, my custody was given to the woman. She abandoned me just a few days after.”

“Ah-Lin, be good and wait here for mom to buy you a cake. Isn’t today Ah-Lin’s birthday? Mom is going to get you a big cake—” the woman gestured to the child in front of her with a bright smile. Then one by one, she pried off the tiny fingers that were gripping the corner of her clothes, turned around, and left.

“I knew that woman wanted to throw me away. I knew it very clearly, but I still stood there waiting for her. At that time, I thought that she better not let me find her ever again, or I’ll definitely find a way to kill her.”

Liu Lin spoke very casually. His face was devoid of expression, as if he was merely narrating a story.

“That child… hasn’t he been standing there for two days already? Did he get lost… Hey, should we report it to the police?”

What kind of lost child would stay so quiet without crying and screaming, he doesn’t look like one… Don’t be a busybody.

“After that, I was kidnapped to the red light district by child traffickers and given to one of the local gangsters in the area. He initially wanted to break my legs and make me work as a beggar, but after seeing how fierce I was, he decided to train me to become his goon.”

“Fuck—” the man cried out in pain, reflexively flinging away the culprit. This freshly kidnapped brat actually dared to bite him! Eyes vengeful, he strode towards the child who had just been tossed to the floor and ruthlessly kicked him several times.

His kicks were unrestrainedly strong, but the child only grunted without letting out a scream. Stunned by this, he couldn’t help but stop his movements.

The man squatted down and clamped the child’s face with his hand, forcing him to lift up his head. That face was already drenched with tears, and his lips were bleeding from the force of his own bite, but those eyes were frighteningly clear.

A pair of eyes full of hostility.

Huffing out a snigger, the man hauled the child by the arm and hurled him to his underlings. “Don’t kill or maim him, find someone to teach him how to fight.”

“I wasn’t always this crazy.”

“What are you afraid of?” The man stepped on the child’s head and harshly grinded down his foot, “Are you afraid of their knives? Or are you afraid of getting hurt? I thought you weren’t afraid of pain.”

The child curled up in pain and bit down hard on his lips, not daring to make any sound.

“You should know why I’m training you like this.”

Because such a young child who possessed such vicious eyes was hard to come by.

“What do you think I want from you? I want a dog. Think about it, what kind of dog should a person like me be keeping?”

“—Right, a fierce and crazy dog ​​who only listens to me. A dog who can scare off anyone else just by seeing it,” the man spoke lightly, but the crushing strength of his foot remained just as heavy. “You’re not crazy, you’re not fierce, and you’re also afraid of pain, so how can anyone be scared of you? If you can’t get stronger, how can you become my dog?”

Finishing his speech, the man dramatically sighed, “From today onwards, for every single day, I’ll send someone to help you get used to the pain. Don’t worry, they won’t go as far as crippling you. You can even fight back.”

“Until you learn how to become a good dog.”

“He got ahead later on. The higher he climbed, the more paranoid he became. I’ve already turned this crazy and unbridled, and he felt like he couldn’t keep me in check, so he started planning to kill me. I knew about it. Anyway, I’ve already slaved under him for so long and paid back all the favour I owed him for raising me, so I outwitted their ploy and deceived them into thinking that I was dead.”

“That brat Liu Lin is too crazy and hard to control,” the middle-aged man frowned, his expression troubled, “Money, sex, alcohol, he doesn’t even like any one of them—I suspect he has his eyes on power.”

“Brother, there’s no need to hesitate. Nowadays, when people talk about you, the first thing they think of is ‘that person Liu Lin is working for’. They’re more afraid of him than of you. If that brat starts getting thoughts about turning traitor…” the words stopped right at this point, the implication loud and clear.

“Haah—” the man sighed, rubbing his temples to stave off his headache, “Then let’s deal with it this way.”

“—Kill him.”

“I thought I would die for real if I couldn’t find a place to hide. Just as I was getting anxious, you passed by right in front of me, looking like an easy target.”

Wrapped in a thick coat, he leaned against the wall and acted as if nothing was out of the norm. But in fact, all the injuries on his body were hurting to the point he was trembling to his bones.

He was looking for a target—one that wouldn’t pose much challenge.

“Hey, Xiao Qi, next time, you better not meddle in other people’s business. There are lots of scammers nowadays, you know.” Two young men passed by in front of him. The one who spoke was frowning, looking helplessly frustrated.

The other person had a faint smile on his face, his lips curved in a gentle arc, a warm aura exuding from his figure.

He looked like a very kind person.

As Liu Lin looked at the man, the corners of his mouth rose—he had found the target.

“You know everything that comes after that.”

Yao Qi had no idea how the man pried open his door. The next thing he knew, a sharp knife was already pressed against his neck. Feeling the pain brought by the blade grazing his skin, Yao Qi was so shocked he froze in place. Under the watchful gaze of the malevolent man, he shut his eyes and said in a low voice, “I didn’t see your face, and I won’t report you the police, the money is—”

Before Yao Qi could finish speaking, the man ferociously cut him off.

“I’m injured. I can’t go to the hospital. Until I fully recover, I’ll be staying in your place. Listen to me and don’t try to play any tricks, or I will kill you.”

The look in his eyes told Yao Qi that this man was someone who had truly killed another person. His skill was evident in the way he was able to silently incapacitate Yao Qi. Since the man dared to tell him about his injuries, it meant that despite his current condition, he was not at all afraid of losing to Yao Qi.

Before you could be sure that you were capable of saving yourself, playing tricks and carelessly asking for help would only make you die faster.

And thus, Yao Qi nodded and said, “Okay.”

Small Theatre

The injured Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin broke into Fox Xiaoqi’s den, viciously threatening the fox that he would eat him if the fox refused to listen to his words.

Fox Xiaoqi was very very scared, so he obediently complied.

But over time, Fox Xiaoqi found that Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin wasn’t as fierce as he appeared to be. Whenever he hugs him, the wolf would hunt back some food for him. Also, the wolf seems to like him quite a lot.

Fox Xiaoqi twitches his ears, thinking that he could ‘eat’ Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin.

Some time later, Fox Xiaoqi begins to feel that something isn’t quite right.

Fox Xiaoqi: Ah-Lin, you’re actually a dog, aren’t you? A Tibetan mastiff? Or a husky?

Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin: Don’t compare me to such a stupid thing!

Fox Xiaoqi: But dogs are so nice. They’re very loyal to their lover (owner) and protect their lover (owner) really well. I like dogs the most.

Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin: …

Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin: Woof!

Fox Xiaoqi happily jumped over and licked Ah Lin’s fur.

Big Bad Wolf Ah-Lin: Woof woof! *happily wagging his tail*

Fox Xiaoqi: [plan successful (*‘︶`*)]

This is why he likes dogs the most, especially Tibetan mastiffs. Look at how obedient they are after you tamed them~

T/n: Liu Lin… 😢 The content of this chapter stressed me out sobs. This weak-hearted translator shall not do such a masochistic thing next time, I’ll definitely pick a light-hearted angst-free story for my next project 😭