Chapter 44: First Wisdom Teeth "Will never separate again."...

Chapter. Forty-fourth

“Dongdong——”

"Qiu Du, are you in there?"

There was a cautious and tentative knock on the door, and Lu Shuyao's worried voice rang in her ears.

Chen Qiudu struggled to raise his head from the shadows, his low whimpering like a fragile wild cat licking its wounds. His pupils were covered with a thin layer of heavy mist, and a few tears still lingered in the corners of his red eyes.

Chen Qiudu did not reply to Wen Jiangchu's message. He turned off his phone and quickly walked to the door. He raised his hand to wipe away his tears, lowered his eyelashes, and opened the door.

"Sorry, Sister Lu, something happened, but it's okay now. Is there anything you need me for?"

How could Chen Qiudu's thick nasal voice and crying voice possibly mean "it's all right"? Lu Shuyao wanted to ask anxiously, but ultimately chose to give up.

She understood Chen Qiudu. No one could force him to speak if he didn't want to. However, Lu Shuyao also guessed a little. Apart from Xu Qiuju, the only person who could make Chen Qiudu so sad was Wen Jiangchu.

"Yes, I'll take you to meet the students. Everyone is so excited to meet the new teacher that they can't even sleep."

Lu Shuyao pretended to be relaxed and changed the subject. Seeing that he was stunned, she grabbed Chen Qiudu's hand without hesitation and walked towards the classroom where the children were.

"Most of the children here were rescued after the fire. They're parentless, and school is their only refuge. However, there are a few children who weren't affected by the fire, and they come here because their parents are unable to take care of them due to work."

"They all have good personalities. They might be a little wary and reserved towards you at first, but don't take it to heart, Qiudu. After getting to know them for a while, they'll start to treat you like family."

After that, the two came to a door covered with childlike stickers. Lu Shuyao encouraged Chen Qiudu to open the door.

The children's ages varied, some were only seven or eight years old, and some were thirteen or fourteen, but they all got along very well.

Seeing Chen Qiudu appear, they hurriedly stood in a row according to their height, carefully looking at the suddenly appearing Chen Qiudu, with anxiety and panic in their eyes, but more of curiosity.

"Children, this is the new teacher in our school. Could you please welcome her?" Lu Shuyao stepped forward first and introduced Chen Qiudu in a soft voice.

"Hello everyone, I'm Chen Qiudu. I'm not much older than you. You can just call me Brother Chen." Chen Qiudu tried hard to get rid of the tension in his body and forced a seemingly gentle smile at the corner of his mouth.

However, the children in front of them huddled together even tighter, leaving only a little girl standing to one side, staring straight into Shen Qiudu's eyes.

Then, she slowly walked in front of Shen Qiudu and raised her hand. Shen Qiudu didn't understand what she was going to do, but still bent down.

The little girl was silent. She wiped the tear from the corner of Chen Qiudu's eye with her hand and said in a soft voice, "Brother, there are tears in your eyes. Let me help you wipe them."

The little girl looked ten years old, but she had trouble speaking. Lu Shuyao sighed helplessly and explained, "Her parents both died in the fire, and they pushed her out of the house together. She suffered a great deal of psychological trauma, and gradually became less talkative. After entering school, she didn't communicate much with her classmates. This is the first time I've seen her speak so many words. It seems she likes you very much."

"Then Qiu Du, try taking her with you today."

Hearing this, before Chen Qiudu could speak, the little girl took the initiative to hold Chen Qiudu's hand hanging by his side, raised her head and looked at him with bright eyes, fearing that he would refuse.

Chen Qiudu smiled and nodded, then took the little girl's hand and sat in the corner of the classroom.

Apart from the most basic teaching materials and stationery, there were only a few pieces of origami in different colors on the little girl's desk.

"Little boy, do you like origami and handicrafts?" Shen Qiudu put the phone aside and asked softly.

The little girl nodded and said, "Quiet, so I like it." Then she took out a folded flower from a tightly closed small box and handed it to Chen Qiudu.

"Huahua, this is for you."

"Is this... Trumpet Creeper?"

Chen Qiudu was shocked for a moment. The origami flower in her hand was indeed in the style of trumpet creeper. It was red in color and was made very beautifully. It didn't look like something a little girl of her age could make at all.

"Hmm, the smell on my brother is trumpet creeper!"

The little girl jumped for inexplicable joy, and her elbow just happened to touch the mobile phone on the desk. The screen lit up, and a photo of Wen Jiangchu and Shen Qiudu suddenly appeared in front of her eyes on the screensaver.

Chen Qiudu subconsciously wanted to hide his phone, but the little girl took the initiative and poked Wen Jiangchu in the photo with her finger, "Who is this big brother?"

"Yes..." Because the girl was too young and had little understanding of emotions, Chen Qiudu didn't know how to introduce her for a moment.

“Is it Brother Shen’s boyfriend?”

"Boyfriend?" Chen Qiudu's breathing became panicked for a moment, and he smiled calmly, "Why do you say that? Little boy, do you know what a boyfriend is?"

The little girl was very serious. "I know. My mom told me before that a boyfriend...a boyfriend is someone who is always by your side, like my dad."

"And I've seen pictures of my mom and dad, and they were posed like that, too."

Even such a young child was remarkably calm when he spoke of his departed loved ones. Perhaps he had already cried all his tears long ago.

Chen Qiudu felt a tightness in his throat. He picked up his phone and met Wen Jiangchu's gentle features on the screensaver photo. His nose felt sore. "Yes... that's great, kid."

"He's my boyfriend."

“But Brother Shen, shouldn’t your boyfriend be with you? Why, he’s not here?”

Chen Qiudu's eyes darkened and he took a deep breath. "He...he went to fight monsters to protect me. So he is a very good person and a super awesome brother."

The little girl was confused by this, "Then this brother will definitely win!"

Chen Qiudu was amused by the little girl's serious look, "Why is that?"

"Because Brother Shen is very handsome, more handsome than many boys I've ever met! Well... good-looking people in novels always have happy endings!"

"Is that so..." Chen Qiudu carefully covered the corner of the table with his palm, watching the little girl devote herself to origami again, his thoughts gradually drifting away.

She stuffed a piece of white origami into Shen Qiudu's palm.

“Brother Shen, I will teach you how to fold trumpet creeper. This is what my mother taught me.”

"Mom said if you miss her, you can fold some paper for her."

Chen Qiudu took the origami and glanced at the bottom of the table.

The space that was big enough to accommodate one person was filled with two large cardboard boxes. Inside the boxes were all delicate trumpet creepers of various colors, so full that they were overflowing, just like the girl's unexpressed longing for her mother.

"Brother must be missing the brother in the photo too. Fighting monsters is hard work. This time we have to do better than ever!"

"I don't miss him..." Chen Qiudu stubbornly refuted in a low voice, which was heard by the little girl. "No."

"My brother's eyes looked strange when he looked at the photo, and his eyes were red just now. He must have been crying because of that brother!"

The hidden thoughts were bluntly revealed by the innocent little girl, causing Chen Qiudu's ears to instantly turn red. He pursed his lips and said no more, and obediently followed the little girl's steps to start folding paper.

*

Due to the shortage of teachers, the children's current course schedule is not complicated. In addition, today is the weekend, Lu Shuyao finished school early, and Chen Qiudu followed Lu Shuyao to take the children to dinner.

After dinner, the sky outside the window reflected the golden glow of the sky. In order to help digest the food, Chen Qiudu took the girl for a walk near the slums.

Thin clouds gathered together and rolled over the tall buildings. The warm yellow sky looked like an overturned colorful oil painting. The temperature of the wind was just right, but Chen Qiudu's mood was not good. His fingers fell on the screen, tapping and stopping, and finally deleting it helplessly.

Suddenly, the little girl took Shen Qiudu's hand and led him to a specific location consciously, "Brother, let's go to the bridge."

Chen Qiudu's mind was completely focused on the chat records with Wen Jiangchu, and without thinking too much, he just went along with her wishes.

When they reached the bridge, the little girl suddenly stopped, shaking the corner of Shen Qiudu's clothes, raised her hand and pointed at the vague figure at the end of the bridge, and shouted: "Brother! Your boyfriend is here!"

Chen Qiudu's mind froze, his mind was blank, and he could only mechanically raise his head to look at the blurry figure.

Wen Jiangchu was standing at the end of the bridge, wearing a sleeveless black vest. There were wounds on his arms, cheeks, and arms, and even bruises and blood stains on the corners of his lips. He looked as if he had just escaped from a tense and anxious chase and could no longer wait to see Chen Qiudu.

"The temperature has just dropped..."

Chen Qiudu murmured, his pupils trembling, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid, completely losing the ability to move and think. His entire body was so stiff that he couldn't move a single step. He could only watch helplessly as Wen Jiangchu walked closer and closer to him.

Finally, it stopped only five centimeters away from him.

Chen Qiudu raised his head, a faint smell of blood lingered around him, and there was even an extremely ugly scar on his left cheek, but Wen Jiangchu didn't care at all. In his eyes, there was only Chen Qiudu.

"Baby Qiudu, I'm back."

Seeing Wen Jiangchu subconsciously raising his hand to pull Shen Qiudu into his arms, Shen Qiudu finally reacted and took a step back, "No, the child... the child is still here."

Chen Qiudu immediately looked around, but where was the little girl?

The moment the temperature dropped, the little girl ran back to school without hesitation, leaving them a chance to be alone together.

"She--" Chen Qiudu was completely stunned, completely unaware that he had already fallen into a trap set by Wen Jiangchu himself.

"Why is this happening? Wen Jiangchu." Chen Qiudu pursed his lips and tried hard to control his emotions, but a faint cry still came out of his voice.

"You didn't reply to my messages at the time, and I didn't dare to send them again, fearing you'd delete me. What should I do then? So... I found Lu Shuyao."

"The little girl's parents died in a fire, and I happened to see her and saved her. I asked Lu Shuyao and her to help me get you out, because I knew if I didn't, you would definitely not want to see me."

"Sister Lu is willing to help you? But she, she previously..."

Wen Jiangchu lowered his eyes and gently rubbed Chen Qiudu's head. "Actually, I was worried that she wouldn't agree at first, but..."

"But she said that she just wants Qiu Du to be happy."

Chen Qiudu couldn't bear it any longer, tears instantly overflowed from the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision.

"Sister Lu..."

Wen Jiangchu panicked instantly, after all, this was the first time Chen Qiudu cried in front of him.

Wen Jiangchu quickly hugged Shen Qiudu tightly in his arms, and placed his palm on the back of his head to caress and comfort him, "Qiudu...Qiudu."

He called out Shen Qiudu's name over and over again, just like when a gun was pressed against his head and he was about to die, his body kept clamoring for him to hold on.

Only by calling out Chen Qiudu's name could Wen Jiangchu feel the urge to live in such an extreme situation.

Chen Qiudu buried his cheek in Wen Jiangchu's chest until his tears soaked his clothes, then he slowly raised his head.

"By the way, your injury—"

"I'm fine."

Wen Jiangchu used his forearms to prevent Shen Qiudu from trying to distance himself, and even deliberately pushed him into his arms. Then he rested his chin on his shoulder and hung his whole body on Shen Qiudu, their hot cheeks touching and their breaths blending.

He closed his eyes, felt the beating of Shen Qiudu's heart, and gently bit Shen Qiudu's exposed skin with his teeth.

"Baby Qiudu, hug me. If you hug me, I won't feel any pain."

Hearing this, Chen Qiudu lowered his eyelashes and hugged Wen Jiangchu's broad back. The difference in size allowed Chen Qiudu to be completely hidden in Wen Jiangchu's body.

But only at this time could Chen Qiudu feel completely safe, and the worries and fears of so many days completely disappeared.

"Qiu Du, I really did it. I took back all the assets of the Wen family, and your artificial gland is also being produced. I succeeded. I didn't give up on you, nor did I give up on the Wen family."

"Thank you, Ah Chu, you are really amazing."

Chen Qiudu's hand carefully touched the scar on Wen Jiangchu's back. He felt so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe, and tears flowed down his face uncontrollably again.

He asked tremblingly, "Achu...does it hurt?"

Wen Jiangchu smiled comfortingly, "It doesn't hurt, not at all. But... can Qiu Du give me a reward?"

"You said, any reward is fine."

Wen Jiangchu swallowed his dry throat, tilted his head slightly, and kissed the corners of Chen Qiudu's moist eyes. He then placed kisses along the tear marks, wiping away the sour tears. Finally—

The warm lips pressed against the corner of Shen Qiudu's lips.

Chen Qiudu closed his eyes. Above his trembling body was Wen Jiangchu's scorching hot body temperature, which made his consciousness gradually disappear.

But in the end, Wen Jiangchu's lips stopped moving. Chen Qiudu opened his eyes in confusion, only to find that Wen Jiangchu, who was always steady and gentle, was now bending over and sobbing softly.

"Qiu Du... Actually, I miss you too. I really thought I would never see you again. Fortunately... fortunately, fate didn't treat us so cruelly."

"Qiu Du...from now on, we can't be separated anymore, okay?"

Chen Qiudu was silent for a while, and when Wen Jiangchu raised his eyes filled with tears, he stuffed the trumpet creeper that the girl had asked him to take before the walk into Wen Jiangchu's palm, then took the initiative to kiss Wen Jiangchu's lips, and even gently stroked his lips.

They held each other's fingers tightly, and under the warm light, their overlapping figures were stretched out very long, and at the end was a sunny lake.

Chen Qiudu closed his eyes and said softly but firmly, "Okay."

"We won't be separated again, Ah Chu."