If you [explode], I will report it to the police now.
The bathroom was filled with the sound of running water. Chen Sizhe sat on the sofa with his upper body hunched over, his hands clasped on his thighs near his knees, his fingers motionless.
Before the sound of water in the bathroom stopped, the first sound was the door lock being turned.
Wen Dai, carrying several bags, squeezed in, closed the door behind her, changed into slippers, and headed straight for the bathroom.
Looking at the semi-transparent glass bathroom door in front of her, she raised her hand and knocked, raising her voice: "Changxi, I left your clothes at the door. Come out and get them after you shower. I bought your shoes one size larger than you said. Kids grow very fast. You were kidnapped by those traffickers for more than half a year, so your shoe size might have changed a bit."
"Hmm!" came a muffled reply as the head emerged from the water.
The other sets of clothes that were meant for Changxi to change into were thrown into the washing machine by Wen Dai. When she returned to the living room, Chen Sizhe, who was sitting on the sofa looking like a pensive person, raised his face.
He looked into her eyes and suddenly said, "You're not planning to support him, are you? Is living alone making you lonely? Or is it your maternal instincts kicking in? If it's your maternal instincts kicking in, I'll call the police right now."
"..." Forced to stand still by his words, Wen Dai tilted her chin, her upper and lower teeth touching, her slightly furrowed brows revealing speechless peach blossom eyes that stared at him.
She tilted her chin back, smacked her lips twice, and said, "Chen Sizhe, please don't think of your business partner as so desperate. We've been working together for almost a year now. Don't you have a clear understanding of my character?"
Before the dripping sound of the shower had even faded, Chen Sizhe got up from the sofa. He lowered his chin, looked Wen Dai in the eye, and said in a low voice, "What you should be doing now is not letting him take a hot shower, not buying him clean clothes, and not giving him a place to live; what you should be doing now is reporting him to the police, or sending him to the detention center, and truthfully explaining to the investigators how you found him. Whether he ran away from home and hid there, or was abducted by human traffickers and escaped to stay there, none of this has anything to do with you."
"The Law on the Protection of Minors states: 'Any organization or individual who discovers any situation that is detrimental to the physical and mental health of minors or infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of minors has the right to dissuade, stop, or report or accuse to the relevant departments such as the judicial authorities, civil affairs, and education.' To put it simply, in this case, this clause means that you must report to the relevant departments."
He controlled the volume, seemingly trying to avoid the noise in the bathroom, but the seriousness was already evident in his gaze as he stared at Wen Dai.
"Do you know what the consequences of taking him in will be? You will be suspected of child trafficking; if he does not return to his guardian in time due to delayed reporting, his family may file a civil lawsuit. Taking him in will only bring you a lot of trouble. Being investigated is not a pleasant feeling, especially when they cannot find the real culprit."
Wen Dai didn't speak, she just looked at him with her chin raised.
A click of the tongue escaped Chen Sizhe's lips. He exhaled a long breath, pursed his lips, and frowned, looking at her eyes seriously. "They might accuse you of illegal detention and say that you brainwashed Changxi, causing him to say that you are not the murderer. They might even forcibly label Changxi with Stockholm syndrome because he is only ten years old and his mental development is immature. Therefore, the most important thing you should do now is to report the case to the police and send him to the detention center."
Her lips were nibbled between Wen Dai's teeth. She blinked and said, "I understand... I'll take him to the detention center after he finishes his shower, or should I report it now? But I feel like I'd be letting him down."
Her shoulders slumped, overwhelmed by distress, and she dragged herself to the sofa to sit down.
Chen Sizhe, who was standing still, turned around and sneered, "You're just going to let him have his way just because he says he doesn't want to go home? What if his parents are worried about him right now? If you want to get yourself into trouble, I don't care; but there should be a limit to meddling in other people's business. Do you have to wait until you're in jail to learn your lesson? You have an alibi for finding the body in 607, but you must have had a hard time there, right? You're a suspect in this matter. If you still want to let it go, then you'll be the one to take the blame."
The man's fox-like eyes stared at her indifferently, his harshness reaching its extreme.
Frustrated, Wen Dai scratched her hair, frowned, and pouted, then compromised, "Okay, okay, I know. I'll do as you say. I'll report it to the police now, otherwise he'll probably run away on the way to Chizheng Police Station, and I won't be able to catch him."
Despite feeling guilty towards Changxi, Wen Dai still did what she had done. She explained the incident and her current location to the investigators, and hung up the phone after learning that they would be there immediately.
She tossed her phone onto the sofa, propped herself up on her thighs, and dragged her weak body to the kitchen to get a cup of instant noodles to soak. She also heated oil in a pan and fried an egg.
The sound of water stopping in the bathroom drifted into the living room with the sound of a sliding door being dragged. Wen Dai brought in a bowl of instant noodles with an egg on top, her gaze shifting to Chang Xi as he emerged from the bathroom—
Having washed away the grease and dirt, Changxi's hair was still wet, which he had swept back. Even though he was wearing cheap, clean clothes, the little boy with his slicked-back hair exuded an air of pampered elegance, revealing his delicate features and soft, tofu-like skin.
The instant noodle cup made a dull thud when it landed on the coffee table. Wen Dai hooked a small stool with her foot and dragged it to the coffee table. She waved to Chang Xi and said, "Come on, sit here. I don't have any vegetables at home, and there's nothing I can cook for you. Just have some instant noodles to fill you up. I added a poached egg for you."
"Thank you, sister." Changxi's voice was still a little hoarse. He pursed his lips, cleared his throat, lowered his head and face slightly, and dragged his adult slippers, which were much too big for him, to sit on the small stool.
Seeing the small, thin child in front of her hunching over his instant noodles, with the protruding bone on the back of his neck, Wen Dai felt a pang of guilt, though she didn't know where it came from. She looked away, walked to the cabinet, and took out some throat lozenges from the glass dish on top of it.
Before long, a cup of warm water and throat lozenges were placed beside Changxi, who was eating instant noodles. He slowly lifted his face from the noodle bowl, tilted his head, and met Wen Dai's face, who was squatting by the coffee table.
A smile appeared, and her bright, almond-shaped eyes reflected Changxi's figure. Wen Dai said gently, "Your voice gradually became hoarse after being abducted by human traffickers, right? If you don't take care of a voice that has been damaged for too long, the damage will become irreversible. Changxi doesn't want her voice to be hoarse forever when she grows up, does she? If possible, try not to let the pain leave any traces. There's no need to erase it; just seal it away in the past."
His gaze remained fixed on the woman's dimples, but Changxi's eyes suddenly unfocused, and the face that met his gaze gradually blurred. A strange yet intimate feeling spread through him, and he subconsciously said, "I wish you were my mom and dad."
"Huh?" Wen Dai, who was trying to soothe the child, was caught off guard by his words.
Realizing what he had said, Changxi's eyes widened suddenly. He pursed his lips, turned his face away, and lowered his gaze to the bowl of noodles. His fingers tightened around the plastic fork, and his explanation was stiff and dry: "I miss my parents. I just hope that the people who find me are my parents."
Almost thinking she might be pregnant, Wen Dai relaxed her tense shoulders and glanced at Chen Sizhe, who was still standing in front of the sofa.
Seeing Chen Sizhe's pupils sweep over Changxi and then his eyelids close up and down, Wen Dai, feeling satisfied, turned her face back to Changxi, her voice slightly tinged with joy: "So you missed your parents, huh? Well, you won't have to miss them for long. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be able to see them or talk to them soon."
However, Changxi's subsequent reaction was beyond Wen Dai's expectations.
After slurping the noodles clean from the instant noodle cup, Changxi stopped drinking the soup and turned to look at Wen Dai in astonishment, asking with a hint of disbelief, "What do you mean?"
“According to the law, I can’t keep you at my home to take care of you. I have to report it to the police station, otherwise I’ll have to put on handcuffs. I reported a case when you were taking a shower just now…” Wen Dai first laid the groundwork for her actions before confessing, but even so, she felt a little guilty and dared not meet Chang Xi’s eyes.
Changxi put down the instant noodle cup in his hand. Judging from his reddened eyes, it was clear that he had strong self-control, as long as he didn't smash the cup directly on the coffee table.
"How could you do this? When you brought me out of there, you clearly said that I could stay at your house temporarily and go back whenever I wanted." Changxi's hand slid down the cardboard of the instant noodle container, and her eyes, red with tears, were heartbreaking to see.
He clenched his fists tightly and said in a muffled voice, "I shouldn't have trusted you. Why say something you can't do? If I had known you would report me to the police, I shouldn't have come back with you!"
He jumped up from the stool and squeezed past Wen Dai to run out, but just as he was about to rush to the door, Chen Sizhe grabbed him by the back of his collar again.
"First of all, you're wandering alone, and there's a risk of being kidnapped by human traffickers. Secondly, it's impossible for her to keep you at home. You can't let someone else face financial loss and restrictions on their personal freedom just to meet your demands. Don't you think that's selfish? If she keeps you at home, she might be considered a 'real' suspect. This kind of thing has been happening for years. I won't say you're playing this childish, rebellious game against your family, but you can't drag others down with you."
Changxi, whose collar he was being grabbed by, was still struggling to move forward. His fair face was flushed red, as if he had been steamed, and tears were falling from his eyes one by one, with a continuous stream of tears as if they were gushing out.
A near-scream echoed through the living room: "I didn't ask you to interfere! My safety is my own business, it has nothing to do with you. I will bear the consequences of my own choices. It's your meddling that has ruined me!"
"Changxi." Wen Dai suddenly called his name. The man who was leaning forward with his shoulders swaying paused, and she straightened up, supporting herself on her knees. Her tone was low and gloomy: "You can probably tell from my family's circumstances that I live a very frugal life. The clothes I bought for you might not cost much to others, but for me, it was like cutting my meager savings in half. I don't blame you for being resentful, but could you please stop wasting your clothes?"
Looking back at his shoulders, Changxi glanced at his ripped clothes, hesitated for a moment before straightening up. He grabbed the hem of his clothes and tugged at it to adjust it, then lowered his head and remained silent.
Chen Sizhe, who had been holding Changxi by the back of his collar, loosened his grip a little. He reached out and placed his other hand on the boy's shoulder. The hardness under his palm came from Changxi's bones covered by skin. He lowered his eyelids and his gaze met Changxi's upturned eyes.
"You said you don't want to go home because no one there expects you to, but if no one expects you to, why are you still wandering around outside?"
Changxi didn't have a chance to answer a question, because Chen Sizhe calmly revealed his true thoughts: "Because you expect to be expected by them, you hope to get the proof that they expect you, you want to wait for the news of finding you to spread throughout the streets and alleys, you want to feel cared for."
The overly tall man hunched over, his hands resting on Changxi's shoulders. One looked down, the other looked up. In their face-to-face conversation, his cool tone carried weighty words: "If you don't expect anything from them, if you truly believe you are not expected to be, then you won't be wandering. Humans have a natural instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm. If you are certain that no one cares about you, why wander? Why put yourself homeless and endanger your life? If you truly believe you are not expected to be, and you don't crave their attention, then the best thing you should do is go home. Rather than wandering alone, it's better to return to a comfortable life."
“When no one is kind to you, no one cares about you, and no one loves you, you must be kind to yourself; you must care about yourself; you must love yourself.” He looked down at Changxi, his words resounding.
The shame of having her true feelings exposed disappeared after Chen Sizhe's complete statement was revealed, and Changxi stared at him blankly with her head held high.
The tall man before him seemed like a narrow mountain to him. His effeminate features lacked gentleness; instead, sharp angles and a cold tone assaulted him. There was no emotion in his eyes, yet every word he spoke seemed to come from the heart.
His throat felt blocked, and Changxi didn't know what to do but maintain his current dazed state, but the fist hanging by his side was already clenching.
The determination was made, accompanied by the sounding of sirens.
The sound of sirens and brakes approached from afar, entering the poorly soundproofed house. A moment later, the tightly closed door, which Changxi hadn't had time to run out of, was knocked on.
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