Chu Yigui connected his phone to his headset, and after successfully setting it up, he dialed the number again. Yang Xiaoyu answered immediately, clearly having been waiting for a long time.

"Yi Gui, can you hear your mother?" Yang Xiaoyu's voice came through the earphone.

Unable to speak directly and attract Wan Qiu's attention, Chu Yigui tapped her phone with her finger in response.

“Yi Gui, let’s agree on a code. If it’s a signal, tap your phone once; if not, tap it twice.” Yang Xiaoyu’s voice was much calmer now, clearly having composed herself. “I was too impulsive just now. Did I scare him?”

Chu Yigui looked at Wan Qiu, who seemed to have completely forgotten what had just happened, and tapped twice on her phone. No.

Yang Xiaoyu visibly breathed a sigh of relief before saying, "I saw you talking just now. What did you say? Can I know?"

Chu Yigui paused for a moment, then instead of sending a message, asked Wan Qiu, "Is this place close to your home?"

“Yes, it’s very close,” Wan Qiu replied.

Yang Xiaoyu understood Chu Yigui's implication: "Are we going to his house now?"

Chu Yigui tapped her phone once. Yes.

“Well done, Yi Gui.” Yang Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment. “Thank you for your help, Yi Gui.”

Chu Yigui glanced around and gave a reassuring smile after noticing a black car.

Wanqiu's daily routine is very regular. He goes out in the morning and follows a fixed route to search for trash cans.

Because he needed to get home before his mother got off work and prepare dinner, he found the most suitable route after many trips, which would get him home just in time.

Although the accident caused some delays, he still had plenty of time to get home because he had given up on a few trash cans and needed to go to the farmers' market.

Wanqiu pulled his little cart, pondering what he should do when he brought his friends home; all he could think about was eating and drinking.

Do you have any food left at home?

There are still leftovers at home from when Dad brought his friends back yesterday.

But do we need to drink alcohol? Do we have any alcohol at home? Some uncles said minors can't drink alcohol, while others said it's okay.

So you really are going to drink it, right?

When friends come to my home, they all drink alcohol.

"How much wine do you want?" Wan Qiu suddenly stopped and turned around to ask.

Chu Yigui paused, her expression slightly taken aback: "What?"

"I don't have enough money." Since he should use his own money to entertain his friends, Wan Qiu pondered his savings for a moment. "I can buy... buy..."

Wan Qiu tried hard to calculate how many bottles of wine he could buy with his money.

"Why are you drinking? Minors can't drink alcohol." Chu Yigui's brows furrowed involuntarily. "Your parents...they let you drink?"

"Sometimes I'll let him, sometimes I won't." Wan Qiu unconsciously pinched his lips, below which were his swollen and bleeding gums from when his uncle pressed a wine bottle against them. The swelling hadn't gone down yet, and it seemed as if the smell of alcohol still lingered on the wound.

"Why do you sometimes allow it and sometimes don't?" Chu Yigui pressed.

Wan Qiu blinked and answered truthfully, "If I eat with my parents' friends, they will ask me to drink alcohol. If my parents' friends come and don't let me eat with them, they won't let me drink alcohol."

"Ah!" Suddenly, a sharp, angry, and irritable voice came from the earphone. Chu Yigui subconsciously frowned and turned down the volume.

"Those bastards, what do they do to my child? He's so young! Who dares to let him drink alcohol? It's bad for his health. They don't feed him, and they still let him drink. He's become so thin! What will happen to his health?! I'm going to kill them! I'm going to kill them!"

Yang Xiaoyu's anger was uncontrollable, and Chu Jianshu tried his best to suppress Yang Xiaoyu's rage.

"Xiaoyu, calm down, you can't hear me." Chu Jianshu's voice was rather weak, probably because the phone was quite far away.

"I don't drink alcohol." Even though Chu Yigui felt that feeling sorry for Wan Qiu wasn't something she needed to do, when she actually heard it, her feelings were not quite the same as she had imagined. "I like to drink water."

Wan Qiu was also somewhat relieved, as this meant he should be able to buy more meat with the money he had on him.

The price of a bottle of beer can buy a lot of meat.

He hoped to entertain his friends well.

Wanqiu went to the market and sold the cardboard boxes and beverage bottles he had just collected that day to a shopkeeper who also collected these things. Unfortunately, he didn't get much today and only received 1.2 yuan.

He had eight yuan on him, totaling nine yuan and two jiao, which was enough for Wanqiu to live on for many days.

There are still leftovers from yesterday's meal at home. My parents don't usually eat leftovers, so they're all his. He can give them to his friends. Luckily, he only ate the broth this morning and didn't finish the vegetables.

Use six yuan to buy meat, and the rest of the money to buy some vegetables, choosing the freshest ones.

"You're here early today?" The scrap collector seemed quite familiar with Wan Qiu's manner.

"Yes, I need to go home early to entertain my friends," Wan Qiu said, standing in front of the boss.

"Wow, that's great! You've made a friend. That must be fun." The boss smiled as he watched Wan Qiu leave.

When Wan Qiu came out of the dilapidated shop, he immediately saw Chu Yigui standing in the middle of the market waiting for him.

Chu Yigui is very beautiful, her clothes are also very beautiful, and she is tall, making her particularly eye-catching.

Belatedly, Wan Qiu suddenly realized that today was a very strange day, as he had unexpectedly become friends with a very handsome boy.

Chu Yigui.

As the name lingered on his tongue, Wan Qiu vaguely felt a strange emotion flash through his mind.

He seemed to recognize the name.

But I don't remember why it felt familiar; it's like a name he knew a long, long time ago.

But why have I forgotten him despite knowing him so well?

It seems to be... a very important matter.

The scrap metal shop owner was surprised to find that Wanqiu actually had a friend. He reached into his pocket and found a few coins. He wondered if he could give Wanqiu an advance so he could buy some good food to treat his friend.

Just as the shop owner stood up, several strange customers suddenly entered his small shop.

Judging from their clothes and demeanor, they were clearly not the kind of people who would appear in such a place. The boss became a little nervous when he was suddenly surrounded.

"Hello boss, we'd like to ask you some questions. Do you have a moment?" the tall, refined, and handsome man asked softly.

Normally, the boss wouldn't care, but for some reason, he felt uneasy just looking at the person in front of him. His instincts told him that this person was not as easy to deal with as he appeared.

"What?" The shop owner swallowed hard. Surely someone dressed in a high-end suit, with neatly combed hair, wouldn't come to rob a small shop like his, right?