DLRAS Chapter 15

Chapter 15: But it’s not like yours—a childhood friendship.

It had been half a week since they added each other as friends, and Huo Niansheng had never initiated a conversation with Chen Wengang.

The subsequent coordination for the venue was handled by Yu Shanding, who contacted the Zheng Corporation.

Since Huo Niansheng didn’t take the initiative, Chen Wengang couldn’t think of a reason to contact him either. Chen Wengang wasn’t one to break the ice, and it was even harder to start a conversation through a screen. So he simply remained silent, until today when his screen was flooded with meaningless characters and short voice messages.

Chen Wengang clicked on one of them and listened through the series, unsurprised to find they were all nonsensical “ah, ah” murmurs.

He stroked the child’s head. “Did you cause trouble for brother?”

Xiao Bao excitedly climbed into his lap, persistently trying to snatch the phone back from his hand.

He was swiftly suppressed by Lu Chenlong, who carried him off to another room. “You should hurry and explain to him.”

Huo Niansheng’s status showed as online, but he had simply let the harassment happen without any response.

Chen Wengang sent him a message: “Sorry, a child was playing with my phone just now.”

This time, the other person came to life. Not two seconds later, a call came through directly to him.

Chen Wengang stared at “Huo Niansheng” popping up on the screen, momentarily lost. His finger slowly moved to the answer key and swiped.

A light laugh came from the other side. “I figured. Where did you go that a kid even snatched your phone?”

Chen Wengang pushed open the door and found a rattan chair in the courtyard to sit on, holding the phone to his ear.

“It’s my friend’s younger brother. I’m visiting their home.”

“Which friend? Have you known each other for a long time?”

“He’s a childhood neighbor. We grew up together.”

“That’s truly enviable,” Huo Niansheng said. “The older you get, the harder it is to form deep friendships. It’s always you being wary of me and me being wary of you. A friend you’ve known for so long is worth cherishing.”

Chen Wengang let out a laugh. Huo Niansheng laughed too. “What’s wrong? Did I say something sentimental?”

“No, I was just remembering when we were little and didn’t have much pocket money, we’d buy one portion of sweet soup each and share. He always let me have the last bite, saying I was like a little bean. Speaking of which, I was really short back then, and he would even fight for me.”

“That is indeed a very good friend. It’s a pity I don’t have one.”

“Isn’t your relationship with Boss Yu also very good?”

“Old Yu has known me for a long time, indeed. But it’s not like your childhood friendship.”

The door to the house opened again. Lu Chenlong had cleared the messy table and was now carrying a large basket of greasy bowls and dishes to wash at the faucet in the courtyard. Seeing this, Chen Wengang stood up and said a final sentence, “Sorry, I have something to attend to here.”

Huo Niansheng said with a smile, “Then let’s chat another day. Rest early.”

However, Lu Chenlong was not appreciative at all. He shooed Chen Wengang aside.

“Alright, go play. You wash? Look at those delicate hands of yours.”

“So virtuous.” Chen Wengang clicked his tongue twice and casually put his phone in his pocket. However, the sink was too small to accommodate two large men, and he really couldn’t squat down. He could only pat Lu Chenlong on the shoulder and head back inside to wrangle his brother.

Xiao Bao was playing by himself in the living room. On the living room’s TV cabinet was a laminated A4 paper. Chen Wengang picked it up and glanced at it. It was a rehabilitation training plan made by a teacher from the previous therapy institution. He couldn’t be more familiar with this training system.

He held the child in his arms and showed him bright, colorful number cards. The numbers from 1 to 10, which an ordinary child would recognize in kindergarten, were as difficult as climbing to the heavens for Xiao Bao. He couldn’t concentrate, his head swaying from side to side, unable to be still. Chen Wengang held his small hand.

Adults have to accept the reality that if children are sponges, some are just born with poorer absorbency. It’s very likely that even if you expend all your energy, you can’t expect a satisfactory return from them; they can only become a tiny bit better than yesterday. In other words, just to get that tiny bit better, someone needs to devote all their energy to him without any regrets.

Huo Niansheng glanced at his phone, which displayed “Call in Progress.” He lazily propped his feet up on the desk, listened for a while, then simply put the phone on speaker and tossed it near his feet.

Just now, Chen Wengang thought he had hung up, but he actually hadn’t. The call had been mistakenly left on until now. The amplified voice echoed in the office.

So patient, Huo Niansheng thought. Chen Wengang had been repeatedly teaching that little brat to count “one,” “two,” “three” for half an hour straight. As soon as he taught five, six, seven, the kid would forget one, two, three again.

Huo Niansheng could already tell that the little brat had some kind of problem. Just listening was irritating. This friend’s home of his didn’t seem as peaceful and idyllic as his tone suggested. Huo Niansheng, on the contrary, wanted to see how much patience he had, and just how long he would keep teaching.

He finished reviewing two contracts, three decision proposals, and replied to all his emails before the little brat on the other end of the phone finally went on strike before the adult did. In between, Chen Wengang had switched to a few small games, and after they were done, they read a picture book. It wasn’t reading a complete story, just repeating the content on a single page over and over. If he turned to the next page, the little brat would immediately let out a shrill protest, and it was unclear where this persistence came from.

Huo Niansheng had listened to the sentence “A seed travels far away, without needing to take a car or a plane” for at least fifteen minutes. He handled his official business to the sound of this soft, low voice.

His assistant, Amanda, came in. Just as she was about to speak, she saw her boss with a faint smile, holding an index finger to his lips in a “shush” gesture. She didn’t know what Huo Niansheng was eavesdropping on, but she understood and remained silent.

From the other end of the phone, someone called out from a distance: “Wengang! The water’s ready, you go wash up first. Are you sleeping in the living room later? Or sleeping with me in my room—”

The call ended abruptly.

Did he find out? she thought subconsciously. Huo Niansheng turned his gaze to her, his feet finally coming off the desk. “What is it?”

…

In the living room, Lu Chenlong brought over an unused bath towel and towel and tossed them to Chen Wengang. “Still want to sleep on the big bed in my room?” He thought for a moment. “But Xiao Bao also sleeps in my room, and he might be noisy at night… What are you looking at?”

“My phone. It must have run out of battery at some point.” Chen Wengang found it strange. His phone had just vibrated and then he discovered it had automatically shut down.

“Xiao Bao must have been playing with it,” Lu Chenlong said with certainty. “I’ll go find a charger for you.”

Lu Chenlong set up a cot in an empty space in the living room for Chen Wengang to sleep on. He had to go to his uncle Chen Zeng’s house the next day. It wasn’t particularly far, so staying at Lu’s house for a night would make it convenient to get there in the morning.

Then Lu Chenlong went into the bedroom, put his brother to bed on the small bed, and somehow managed to get him to sleep, then slipped out again. The two of them continued to chat for half the night.

Lu Chenlong lay on the cot with his hands pillowed under his head, while Chen Wengang sat curled up on the sofa. Towards the end of their chat, all that was left was shooting the breeze, and when they couldn’t do that anymore, they vented their grievances. If life didn’t even have a place to pour out one’s troubles, the days would be truly unbearable.

Even some hidden thoughts could only be poured out at this time: “You know, the little one was conceived before my mom got sick. She even postponed her cancer treatment just to give birth to him. In the end, my mom was gone, and he’s still like this. For a while, I was really thinking, was it worth it? I don’t know how many times I’ve thought, if I didn’t have this brother, would things have been better?”

Chen Wengang looked at him. In the darkness of the night, his light-colored pupils were dyed a deep shade.

“Don’t say that in front of him.”

“He doesn’t understand anyway.”

“There will be a way.”

“I’m just complaining a bit. If he stays this small forever, I can still watch over him. But what will happen when he grows up?”

All the bitterness was left for the night. When morning came, they welcomed a new day.

In the early morning, a groggy Chen Wengang was woken up by the commotion made by Xiao Bao. Children sleep early and wake up early, getting up to cause trouble at five or six in the morning. Chen Wengang rubbed his eyes and sat up on the cot, seeing him sitting on the floor nearby. When he saw what was in the child’s hands, he was wide awake, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

He gently approached and coaxed, “Baobao, what are you holding? Can you let me see?”

Xiao Bao let out a high-pitched, sharp laugh: “Ya—”

Yesterday, Lu Chenlong had specifically locked the phone in the only locked drawer in the house, yet he had somehow managed to get it again. Even more ridiculously than yesterday, he was even on a video call with Zheng Bingyi.

Chen Wengang was at a loss for words, suppressing the urge to facepalm. He coaxed and tricked, finally regaining control of the phone.

Fortunately, the old man was in a good mood today, dressed in a tai chi suit. “Wengang, why aren’t you up yet?”

Chen Wengang smiled. “Adoptive Father, good morning.”

“Morning.” Zheng Bingyi looked behind him. “You said you were staying at a friend’s house yesterday. Was that his child just now?”

“Yes.” Chen Wengang placed Xiao Bao on the cot and walked to the side to talk, lowering his voice so the child wouldn’t hear.

“Is this child—?”

“Yes, he’s a bit special. I’m so sorry for bothering you.”

“What’s there to fuss about? It’s a pity, the child is quite cute. I heard you call him Baobao?”

Chen Wengang moved slightly away from the camera to introduce them. “Because his nickname is Xiao Bao, his full name is Lu Chenyong.” He went back, the camera shaking as it moved a little closer, letting Zheng Bingyi see the child. “Baobao, look here, say ‘Grandpa’.”

Xiao Bao called him ‘brother,’ and he called Zheng Bingyi ‘Adoptive Father’—but he couldn’t lower Zheng Bingyi’s seniority, so he just went with it. Xiao Bao’s eyes darted around, and he waved his hand enthusiastically in some direction. “Grandpa, hehe, Grandpa.”

Zheng Bingyi was in high spirits, truly like a kind grandfather. He turned the camera. “Say hello to your uncle too.”

Only then did Chen Wengang see Zheng Yucheng was also by his side. Their eyes met through the screen. Zheng Yucheng gave him a faint smile.

At that moment, the door behind Chen Wengang opened. In front of Zheng Yucheng, a dark-skinned young man walked out, yawning widely.

Lu Chenlong was wearing a loose, old T-shirt as pajamas and large, army-green shorts, the hem of his shirt lifted high as he casually touched his abs. “Who are you video-calling so early in the morning? It’s not your—hey, hey, the phone, the phone, I’m in the shot!”

The camera quickly straightened. Zheng Bingyi said with a laugh, “It seems it’s not a convenient time for them this early. Let’s hang up then, Wengang.”

The video feed disappeared, cutting off along with Zheng Yucheng’s complicated expression.

Zheng Bingyi glanced at his son. “It’s rare for you to be up so early. Come do some boxing with me.”

Zheng Yucheng didn’t speak, his expression unreadable as he bent down to put on his sports shoes. His father had already pushed the door open to go outside, and he quickly got up to follow. On a tree branch outside, a sparrow flapped its wings and flew out of the yard.

Lu Chenlong, upon learning what had happened, was amazed and picked up Xiao Bao. “Little brother, you’re becoming quite the little spirit.”

Xiao Bao giggled, laughing like a simple sunflower. At times like this, one would never be able to tell he was a different kind of child.

Lu Chenlong scratched his head. “He probably saw me opening the drawer all the time and knows where the key is. Looks like I’ll have to find a new place to hide it.”

Chen Wengang looked on the bright side. “That means he can actually observe independently, imitate adult behavior, and remember simple pattern passwords. If we persist with intervention, there’s a great hope for improvement.”

“Whatever you say, Dr. Chen.” Lu Chenlong took it as a comforting remark and didn’t take it too seriously, but everyone likes to hear good things. He pointed at Chen Wengang and whispered in Xiao Bao’s ear, “Remember this adopted older brother. He’s good to you. In the future, maybe we’ll just go live with him.”

After washing up, he went to the kitchen to prepare a simple breakfast. He fried eggs, cooked porridge, and the buns were from the restaurant yesterday. The restaurant didn’t sell overnight food, so Lu Chenlong usually divided the leftover ingredients among the employees to take home for breakfast and dinner.

Xiao Bao held a porcelain bowl, but after a few sips of the thin porridge, he spilled it all over himself again.

Lu Chenlong’s expression immediately turned distressed—what little sunflower, it was all an illusion. Being a deadly nuisance was the reality. This kind of scene happened at home a hundred times a day. He sighed and put down his chopsticks to clean up. Chen Wengang gave him a hand, helping to carry the child to the yard to wipe him clean. Lu Chenlong went back inside, found a shirt, and changed his brother’s clothes. Chen Wengang had already taken the initiative to scrub the dirty clothes with soap and water.

Lu Chenlong looked embarrassed. “Just give them to me!” He snatched the wet clothes, gave them a powerful wring, and hung them on the wire.

Chen Wengang wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t. He just poked him in the small of his back. Lu Chenlong understood. “I’ll ask you if I’m really in trouble. It’s nothing, hurry up and go.”

__

Author’s Note:

Zheng Yucheng is jealous. He feels that he is the one who should be called the childhood friend.

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