Chapter 12: Clearly protecting yourself, fleeing from the battlefield, Song Li Li, have I ever taught you to behave like this?
Song Xiaobao in a broken and incoherent way had a hard time explaining what had happened.
Since Wei Qian had stopped picking them up from school, the benefit of a "double popsicle" every evening was gone, and Xiao Bao was very unhappy about this. However, she didn't dare ask Wei Qian for money, and Wei Zhiyuan definitely wouldn't ask. It was even more impossible to expect their dage to even think of this trivial nonsense.
So the two of them agreed to walk along the path every day to collect cans and hide them secretly under Xiao Bao's bed, waiting to sell them for money.
This day, she doesn't know why, but when Xiao Yuan was halfway through their usual path, he suddenly didn’t allow them to continue walking down the path, and the two of them went back around to the main road. Song Xiaobao did not understand what was going on and quarrelled with him as usual, but this time Wei Zhiyuan didn’t even respond as he dragged her along the way.
At that time, Wei Zhiyuan's expression was too scary, so Song Xiaobao finally complied meaninglessly.
Song Xiaobao, a student, was a very typical case of a wimpy kid. She would usually be arrogant and overbearing (1), but she could turn into a small quail the second others raised their voice.
Fortunately, she was a girl, otherwise, she might have been good material for a father-in-law when she grew up. [TN: The word used here could mean dads husband or eunuch but I used the husband's dad meaning because I hate my dad's side of the family #sorrynotsorry]
Wei Zhiyuan took her aimlessly around the main road, first to the department store at the crossroads, twisted and turned, and then came out and looked around very vigilantly. Taking her through several small shops, all from the front door in and the back door out, wandering around for more than half an hour.
Only after that did Wei Zhiyuan take Xiao Bao in the direction of home, when it was already a bit dark.
To get home, one had to go through a small alleyway, a necessary route, and there was no way to go around it.
Song Xiaobao saw that Xiao Yuan was carrying his school bag in his hand instead of carrying it properly. With the bag unzipped and one of his hands stuffed inside the bag, not knowing what he was looking for, he searched all the way through it without taking his hand out.
Then she heard footsteps. Wei Zhiyuan's nerves seemed to tense up for a moment, and Song Xiaobao saw a man walking over.
She could not tell exactly how old he was or what he looked like, she could only tell that he was an adult, a stranger as big as Sanpang's father.
Wei Zhiyuan suddenly gave her a strong push and told her to run.
Up to this point, Song Xiaobao still could not understand what was happening, but Xiao Yuan's attitude brought her great fear, and although she did not know what she was afraid of, she was so scared that her hairs stood on end.
She instinctively obeyed his words and ran to the end of the path. The more she ran, the more frightened she became and could not resist looking back to find Xiaoyuan with his hand out of his schoolbag. It turned out that he had a steel pipe hidden in his schoolbag, which the rod held in both hands and as he leaned against the wall, watching the stranger warily.
Glancing back at her, Wei Zhiyuan angrily shouted at her, "Run! Call for Dage!"
Song Xiaobao didn't dare to stop and ran home in one breath, but only when she reached the door did she realise that she had no keys at all - there were three sets of keys to the house, one Wei Qian had, one was kept as a spare, and one was previously held by Sanpang's mother but was now given to Wei Zhiyuan.
Wei Qian had originally thought that since the two children were always going in and out together, one set of keys would be enough, and since Xiao Bao was so fidgety, he was afraid she would lose them. But at such a critical moment, the two children had both forgotten about this matter.
If she hadn't run into Lei Zi, who had rushed to the house after receiving a call from Sanpang, the little girl would still be crying at the door with no idea what to do.
Wei Zhiyuan had been homeless for a while and was much more sensitive to all sorts of malicious people than Xiao Bao. Perhaps he felt he was being followed halfway, so he took Xiao Bao on a detour. His method of handling this was actually very correct, but he was still a young child after all. In the end, he was still unable to lose the other person and managed to get blocked.
At this time, Sanpang also arrived. Sanpang was really uneasy, and after making a phone call took a car back.
As soon as he got out of the car, he said to Wei Qian, out of breath, "It's okay, Qian'er, don't worry, Brother Le also heard about it, after he knew it was your house, he immediately sent someone to help you search, you ......"
His words were suddenly interrupted as Wei Qian lifted his hand with an expressionless face and slapped the side of Xiao Bao's face.
Lei Zi was startled and jumped up to move between Wei Qian and Xiao Bao: "Qian'er, hey, Qian'er! She's still young, a little kid, what does she know? What's your issue with her?"
Sanpang was ruder and rushed over in three steps, snarling at Wei Qian's ear, "What the hell are you, a donkey? Where are you hitting people? Don't you know you can't hit a child's face? Are you crazy, Wei Qian? What if you hit her deaf with such a heavy hand? Huh?"
Xiao Bao was beaten for the first time in her life. She was so shocked, she didn't react at first, and only after a while did she feel a burning pain on her face. She reached out her hand to cover her face in disbelief, her face flushed, and her eyes began to fill with tears.
Wei Qian, who had been pulled aside by Sanpang, looked at her coldly, "I dare you to cry! You still have the face to cry?"
Xiao Bao really did not dare to cry and tried her best to hold it back. But she really couldn’t help it a high pitched sob came out like a cramp and her face went from red to purple.
Wei Qian pulled his arm out and looked down at the pitiful little girl: "Where did you leave him alone?"
Xiao Bao sobbed and sniffled out an alley name: "I ...... I just, just now told Brother Lei Zi, said ......"
Lei Zi hurriedly said, "Right, right, I let the others know, now brothers are going over there, Qian'er don’t worry about it."
Wei Qian bent down and looked straight into Song Xiaobao's eyes, "Clearly protecting yourself, fleeing from the battlefield, Song Li Li, have I ever taught you to behave like this?"
There were two words in this sentence that Xiao Bao didn't understand, but that didn't stop her from comprehending the meaning. This was even more painful than her dage slapping her, and Song Xiaobao's tears finally fell in big globs.
Sanpang couldn't stand it and pulled Xiaobao behind him: "How can you talk? You're venting your anger! You have to get your own sister involved before you feel good, right? What's wrong with you?"
Wei Qian ignored him, fished out the key from his pocket and handed it to Lei Zi, saying politely, "Thank you, brother, have a glass of water inside, I can't entertain you today. I have to go take a look at first."
After saying that, he didn't even look at Song Xiaobao, he turned his head and left.
Song Xiaobao cried even more. Sanpang hurriedly bent down and picked her up, clumsily patting her back like a big bear and coaxing her, "Sister, let's not cry, your brother didn't get vaccinated this year and his rabies have broken out. It's all right, San-ge will find you a towel to put on it, it won't hurt anymore in a while, don't be afraid, San-ge is here, your brother won't dare to hit you again."
Xiao Bao lay on his shoulder and cried her heart out.
In Song Xiaobao's childhood, she could only remember the embrace of one person, her San-Ge.
When it came to summer, San-Ge had a smell of sweat that could not be washed off his body, and no matter how clean he was, he still stunk. Not to mention, sometimes he smelled of grease and vegetables, which choked her, yet that was almost....... the only bit of warmth and comfort she could get.
Her short-lived mother had died so early and so undignified that she had no memory of the woman.
And her dage ...... didn't seem to have hugged her much since she had clear memories, and the most intimate acts were at best a few strokes on her head.
Xiao Bao sometimes kicked the covers in the middle of the night and did not cover up when she was woken up by the cold, all on purpose. She pretended to be asleep and waited for her brother to come and cover her up, and he would very gently pull the covers up and tuck in the corners, sometimes ruffling the hair on her face to one side by hand.
It was a warmth that he didn't have during the day and was rare to see.
She knew that her brother loved her, and she knew that he gave her whatever she wanted, but she was still afraid of him. Often when she asked for things, she was scared to ask for them, and she was not very justified in doing so. This was because her brother was always cold-faced and frowning at home, and he didn’t even have the patience to talk to her or watch TV with her for a while.
Xiao Bao always felt that although her elder brother loved her, his love was very limited and if she was too annoying, he might take back the little love he had and stop giving it to her.
Xiao Bao bawled, not because Wei Qian had beaten her, but because she was afraid that her big brother would not like her anymore.
She was afraid that her big brother would not like her anymore. Unfortunately, San-Ge was a rough man and could not comfort her.
Wei Qian met Xiao Yuan halfway. He was following one of Le's brothers, called Xiao He, who was not very close to Wei Qian but had some occasional dealings with him.
Xiao He was walking in front, looking back from time to time to see if the child behind him was still following him. Wei Zhiyuan had met him once and knew him well, but refused to let Xiao He pull and hold him, only willing to carry his steel pipe behind him without saying a word.
The little thing didn't look up as he walked, concentrating on his feet, and from Xiao He's angle, he could only see the tiny swirl of hair on top of his head.
When Xiao He found Wei Zhiyuan, he didn't see the legendary pervert who had been picking on children, only an old aunt in her sixties with a long broom in her hand guarding Xiao Yuan, asking him a few questions from time to time.
The pervert had already run away. Wei Zhiyuan's coat had two buttons broken off, his face was half swollen, there was a big gash on his head, obviously, someone had pressed the child's head against the wall. The tip of the steel pipe was stained with a bit of blood, and there were marks on the wall and the ground from the sharp steel pipe, so it was clear that there had been a battle.
This little fighter never gave up his weapon from start to finish until he was lucky enough to alert an elderly aunt who happened to be passing this way.
When Xiao He went over, Wei Zhiyuan was resting in a corner. Sensing someone approaching, his shoulders visibly tightened and shrugged and his whole body tensed up. Although Xiao He didn't move, he had the illusion that if he took another step forward, the steel pipe in the cub's hand would dare to make contact with his head.
Xiao He stopped and tentatively called out "Xiao Yuan". Wei Zhi Yuan struggled to open his swollen eyes and looked at him for a moment, recognising Xiao He, before his body relaxed slightly.
The old aunt looked suspiciously at the young man, who looked like a gangster, and asked uneasily, "Son, do you know him?"
Wei Zhiyuan nodded his head.
Only then was the old aunt relieved and left with her long broom, lamenting at the end, "What kind of people are they? They should be shot. The world is in such a mess."
Xiao He checked and found that the child's clothes were still intact, so he, at last, breathed a sigh of relief.
As he was walking ahead, Wei Zhiyuan followed behind him, not too far and not too near. He was stumbling a bit, but his attitude was very tough. He did not let people help him, nor did he look up at people. Xiao He felt that at a young age, he (WZ) had an outlaw-like temperament, as if he didn't know pain or fear, and instinctively fought hard for others.
Xiao He also stopped trying to talk to him, because this little boy's face was full of blood and bruises, and his murderous look gave him the creeps.
That was until Wei Qian rushed over and picked up Wei Zhiyuan in his arms.
The little boy seemed to freeze for a few seconds before he realised who was holding him, and as an afterthought he relaxed, the steel pipe in his hand “clanked” and fell to the ground, bouncing twice.
Xiao He saw the pale hands covered with dust and blood clasp Wei Qian's clothes tightly.
Then Wei Zhiyuan began to shiver. It was as if the child was born half a beat slower than others, and only now did he understand what was happening, and only now did he just realise that he was afraid.
He called out like a kitten, "Ge ......"
Xiao He watched the child carefully bury his head into Wei Qian's neck like a kitten and thought he was going to cry, but Wei Zhiyuan didn't cry in the end. He just shivered in his big brother's arms for a moment, and after a while, as if to confirm something, he called out again, "Ge."
Wei Qian asked, "Does it hurt?"
Wei Zhiyuan had never known that his dage could be so gentle at times, he was almost flattered, first nodding instinctively, then reacting and shaking his head vigorously.
He was not expecting two lines of nosebleeds to flow down as soon as he shook his head. Wei Zhiyuan immediately lifted his sleeve and wiped it off in one go, secretly putting his blood-stained hand behind his back for fear that his dage would dislike it.
But this time, his dage, who had a bad temper: did not dislike him, did not put him down, even allowed Wei Zhiyuan to put his arm around his neck and put his head on his shoulder. Then, he carried Wei Zhiyuan home all the way.
Wei Qian was still a teenager, his head was more or less a good size, but his shoulders were not fully stretched out. His bones were bulging out and his muscles had not had time to grow into shape and were hard.
But the more this hard shoulder hurt Wei Zhiyuan, the more secure it felt.
The little boy unknowingly fell asleep in such a hard, medicinal smelling embrace.
(1) Not sure if I translated it right but I googled it and it was a phrase with that meaning. Baidu Link
CRYING, I'm so happy Xiao Yuan is safe WOW! It's really funny reading the chinese comments because they're all angry at Priest for the way they're abusing us! Once again, let me know if there are any mistakes and have a nice day! Exam week for me starting today, wish me luck!Support the author here