Chapter 17
"So, all these injuries were inflicted by your father?" Lu Mingxiao frowned. "Has he gone mad?"
Three boys squatted under the only streetlamp in the alley. Lu Mingxiao was still holding the soy sauce he had just bought. He reached out and slapped a mosquito that was circling around Jiang Huaiyu. The loud slap startled the hooded boy so much that he shuddered.
Lu Mingxiao felt a little embarrassed. He quietly flicked the dead mosquito away and took the wet wipe that Jiang Huaiyu handed him to wipe his hands.
"Dude, I'm really sorry for thinking you're a freak, but I think that preventing Jiang Xiaoyu from getting first place is just a delaying tactic and doesn't address the root of the problem."
Fu Yucheng slowly raised his head, his thin face swollen. He looked at Lu Mingxiao in confusion, then at Jiang Huaiyu, muttering, "I really can't... Next time... Next time he'll beat me to death..."
Jiang Huaiyu frowned: "Lu Mingxiao and I agree. Of course I can give you first place. Competing for such a hollow title is meaningless to me, but it can save you from a beating. But what about the future? What if the first place winner gets a scholarship? What if it involves a spot in graduate school? Do you think the people who took the exam with you will still let you have it? Are you sure you want to keep doing this?"
Fu Yucheng's gaze became even more confused: "Then... what should we do?"
Lu Mingxiao clicked his tongue: "You're sixteen this year, not six. Why didn't you fight back? Even if you couldn't beat him, couldn't you have run away? Ask the school or the police station for help. Do you want to be beaten by someone like this for the rest of your life? And when he can't beat you anymore, are you going to take care of him in your old age?"
“My dad knows the principal…” Fu Yucheng said softly, “He was drinking with the principal and said that my good grades were all due to the beatings he gave me, that ‘spare the rod and spoil the child,’ and that he was doing it for my own good…”
"You don't believe this nonsense, do you?!" Lu Mingxiao laughed out of anger. "Where's your mother? He wouldn't beat her up too, would he?"
“My mom… had an affair and had a child with someone else…” Fu Yucheng lowered his gaze, staring unfocused at the ants on the roadside: “My dad said that I must be better than that child, that he wants to make my mom regret it, and that he wants to prove that his genes are stronger than that adulterer’s genes.”
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
Lu Mingxiao: "Ha~ This is really hilarious."
Li Qing's voice drifted from the alleyway: "Lu Dabao! Jiang Xiaobao! You two went to make soy sauce?! If you don't come back soon, the braised chicken will turn into boiled chicken!!"
Fu Yucheng shrank back in fright at the loud shout, and Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu also stood up.
Fu Yucheng looked at them helplessly.
"Tsk..." Lu Mingxiao frowned as he looked at the wrinkled mushroom: "What are you going to do? Will you get beaten up again when you get back?"
Fu Yucheng shook his head: "He won't hit me again, he won't kill me."
After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Huaiyu softened her tone: "If you want to resolve this issue completely, you can contact me via WeChat. But the key to this matter lies with you, Fu Yucheng. If you only want to compromise and beg for mercy from the abuser, it will be difficult for others to help you. You have to save yourself."
The two boys walked side by side toward the alley entrance. After taking only a few steps, Jiang Huaiyu turned back and looked at Fu Yucheng, who was squatting there blankly: "No matter what you decide, I don't have to be number one next time."
Fu Yucheng looked up and muttered to himself, "Won't your dad hit you...?"
But the two boys had already walked away side by side. The aroma of warm food wafted from the alley, different from the smell of alcohol that was always present in his home. The unfamiliar smell had already given him the answer.
He took a deep, greedy breath, almost reluctant to exhale.
...
At 11 p.m., Lu Mingxiao finished washing up and lay down on the bed with a yawn. He was very sleepy, but he couldn't fall asleep.
"Jiang Xiaobao, if Fu Yucheng contacts you, how do you plan to help him?" He turned to the side and looked at the small window on the board. Jiang Huaiyu across the way hadn't turned off the light yet. The beige curtains cast the tall profile of the young man, who seemed to be holding a tablet and looking at something.
“What can I do…” Jiang Huaiyu smiled: “It still comes down to relying on your father’s connections. Contact Dad’s assistant and arrange for Fu Yucheng to go to the Jiang family’s private hospital for a forensic examination to preserve evidence. Have the lawyer send a lawyer’s letter… It would be even better if we could get the video or audio recording of Fu Yucheng’s father’s violence.”
“He’s just an ordinary classmate of yours, you’ve barely even spoken to him, and you’re already willing to help him like this…” Lu Mingxiao said, “Jiang Xiaobao, you’re too kind.”
“These things aren’t difficult for me, but they might change Fu Yucheng’s life.” Jiang Huaiyu put down her tablet, stood up, crossed her arms, pulled up the hem of her short-sleeved shirt, took it off, reached for her pajamas, and continued speaking while buttoning them:
"Besides, you're planning to help too, right? It feels like if Fu Yucheng is willing to resist, you'll be the one to put a sack over his dad's head. I have to remind you, minors may not be able to be criminally detained, but they can't escape school punishment."
After talking for a while, there was still no response from the other end. Jiang Huaiyu asked, a little puzzled, "Lu Mingxiao? Are you asleep?"
Amidst the commotion, Lu Mingxiao suddenly covered his nose, pushed open the door, and went out. Judging from the noise, he went to the pond in the yard and kicked over Tiger's dog bowl with a clatter, causing Tiger to growl in dissatisfaction.
Jiang Huaiyu: ? ? ?
Lu Mingxiao also got a nosebleed? This summer is just too hot.
By the pool, Lu Mingxiao lowered his head, pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, and splashed cold water on his forehead with the other.
This is insane...
Has he gone mad? Why is he staring at Jiang Huaiyu's shadow...?
He raised his hand to take off the sleeveless t-shirt with blood dripping from his nose, preparing to take a shower, when the door was suddenly pushed open, and Jiang Huaiyu said excitedly, "Lu Mingxiao, Fu Yucheng said he wants to resolve this matter completely."
For the first time, Lu Mingxiao discovered that his eyesight was so good that he immediately noticed a bright red mole under the collarbone in the woman's open neckline.
"That's a good thing." His voice was a little hoarse as he turned and walked toward the small bathroom. "It's a bit too hot. I'll take another shower."
Jiang Huaiyu: "Didn't you just finish showering?"
The door to the small bathroom slammed shut, and Lu Mingxiao's muffled voice came out: "Not clean enough."
...
The next day was the weekend. Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao accompanied Fu Yucheng on a high-speed train to the provincial capital for a medical examination of his injuries. The journey was not far, only forty minutes.
Throughout the journey, Fu Yucheng tightly gripped his ID card.
Lu Mingxiao sat in the middle and, seeing his tense state, casually chatted with him, trying to help him relax.
"Fu Yucheng, what do you usually like to do? You're so tall, why don't you play basketball with us in the future? Our school really needs someone like you."
Fu Yucheng: "I can do half a test paper in the time it takes to play basketball."
Lu Mingxiao: "You've killed the conversation."
"How did you get your ID card? Did you steal it?" Jiang Huaiyu leaned forward and asked, "Will your dad hit you if he finds out?"
Facing Jiang Huaiyu, Fu Yucheng inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief and replied softly, "Just put it back before he gets off work."
Jiang Huaiyu nodded: "Tell me about your father, the more detailed the better, including his workplace and social life, tell me everything you know..."
He patted Lu Mingxiao's arm: "Move aside, let's switch places. I'll sit next to him so we can talk more easily."
Lu Mingxiao reluctantly got up and sat on the far side. Jiang Huaiyu called the lawyer, and the three of them had a brief meeting. Fu Yucheng was initially unwilling to speak, so Jiang Huaiyu encouraged him in a soft voice.
Upon arriving at the station, the hospital sent a car to pick them up. When an elderly, experienced-looking doctor personally greeted them in the lobby, Fu Yucheng belatedly realized that Jiang Huaiyu's identity was probably not simple.
He hesitated to speak, then was taken away by a gentle nurse to get a medical examination. Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu waited for him in the hospital's small garden.
Jiang Huaiyu took the free popsicle and handed it to Lu Mingxiao.
Lu Mingxiao snorted and reached out to take it.
Jiang Huaiyu laughed out loud: "...Who has offended you again? Young Master Lu?"
This feeling of frustration came out of nowhere, and Lu Mingxiao himself didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't very well say, "Because you ignored me the whole way."
It sounded too pretentious, and Lu Mingxiao felt it didn't suit his image.
Jiang Huaiyu sat on the chair next to him, tore open the popsicle wrapper, folded it in half, and handed one half to Lu Mingxiao: "Change it, I want to eat two flavors."
"Oh..." His hands acted before his brain could process it. Lu Mingxiao broke the popsicle and handed it over before realizing, "Oops, wait a minute, I'm still angry."
"So you admit you're angry?" Jiang Huaiyu took a small bite of her popsicle and asked indistinctly, "Because I didn't talk to you the whole way?"
"What are you saying?" Lu Mingxiao retorted like a dog whose tail had been stepped on. "Am I such a petty person? Besides, what do two grown men have to say to each other!"
Jiang Huaiyu just pursed his lips and smiled secretly. The upturned corners of his eyes and the cunning light in his eyes made him look like a smug little fox.
Lu Mingxiao's ears burned from his laughter. He took a big bite of the popsicle, making a crunching sound as he chewed it.
“I’m not familiar with him, we were just talking about serious business.” Jiang Huaiyu finished eating half of his popsicle and started eating the half that Lu Mingxiao had given him: “See, I only share popsicles with you.”
They were eating the same flavor now, the sweet lychee flavor dispelling the summer heat, but the popsicle was too sweet, and Lu Mingxiao felt thirsty. He had already been coaxed, but he was unwilling to admit that he was so "easy to coax", so he snorted and deliberately made things difficult for Jiang Huaiyu: "Then tell me, Xiao-ge and I are the best of friends in the world."
Sure enough, Jiang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow: "Lu Mingxiao, you're so childish. Did you just graduate from kindergarten?"
“See, you’re not sincere.” Lu Mingxiao crossed his long legs, rested his arms on the back of the chair, and said slowly, “I could say it.”
Jiang Huaiyu laughed: "That's because you're shameless..."
Lu Mingxiao turned around and looked at him, his expression nonchalant as he smiled and said, "Jiang Xiaobao, you and I are the best of friends in the world."
He would never say this to Li Rui. If Li Rui dared to be so affectionate with him, he would smash Li Rui's head off...
But if it's Jiang Huaiyu...
Lu Mingxiao felt something was off. Afraid that Jiang Huaiyu would notice, he stood up and said, "I'll go get two more."
The boy's back was tall and straight, and he walked quickly toward the refrigerator in the corner, as if he were fleeing in panic.
Jiang Huaiyu bit into the remaining popsicle, her eyelashes lowered thoughtfully.
It seems a little too sweet.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com