DLRAS Chapter 44

Chapter 44: He was quite squeamish when he was little.

But in truth, whether Mu Qing wanted to get famous or hold a solo art exhibition—even if he managed to hold one at the Louvre—it was a relief for Chen Wengang. At the very least, it meant Mu Qing’s focus was entirely on himself.

Ever since the forum moderators clamped down on the rules, posts attacking people’s reputations lost their breeding ground. A batch of accounts was banned, and hardly anyone dared to speak recklessly anymore. So, just as that junior schoolmate had mentioned last time, the place where Chen Wengang’s face appeared most frequently now was the Confession Wall.

Somehow, the photo Qi Tongzhou had taken of him last time had even leaked out.

The photo only showed a slender, tall figure from behind, thus escaping the moderator’s sanctions. Those who knew him could recognize who it was, while those who didn’t hailed him as an “atmospheric beauty.” It briefly became a trending image, with some even stealing it to use as their profile pictures.

The only person unhappy about it was Qi Tongzhou himself. Feeling his hidden treasure had been exposed, he spent quite a while on his social media feed trying to hunt down the person who had reposted it.

Of course, Chen Wengang was completely oblivious to all this.

By the time he was presentable enough to go out and meet people again, finals week had arrived. The results of the previously mentioned “Campus Star” selection were announced, and somehow, he had naturally been crowned the champion. It wasn’t until a reporter from the university media called him that Chen Wengang learned it was customary to do an interview.

The young student reporter was afraid he would decline: “Senior, it’s just a two-hour chat. It won’t delay your exam review.”

Chen Wengang chuckled: “I’m worried about delaying your review. Can you guys manage the time?”

The other replied, “It won’t delay us, it won’t. This is the final issue of the semester, and we want to wrap it up perfectly.”

And so, an interview was squeezed in on the very day of the call, and they chatted in a coffee shop for two hours.

The reporters and editors of the campus newspaper were all students themselves, mostly sophomores and juniors.

Looking very professional with their voice recorders and DSLR cameras, their faces still bore the clear innocence of youth, and the questions they asked were generalities like, “What do you like to do in your free time?” They weren’t entirely professional, but that vibrant, youthful energy was something rarely found once one entered society.

After it ended, Chen Wengang even treated them to a meal.

The juniors felt he was approachable and easy to talk to, so they didn’t hold back. They called over the editor-in-chief and a few others who were studying in the classrooms, booking a private room at a small restaurant near the university gate. A group of young people chattered away, the clinking of glasses and bowls making a joyous racket.

Chen Wengang smiled as he watched them horse around. This was natural youth—a vibrant vitality he could only observe from the sidelines.

But sitting among these young people, his ears ringing with their laughter, a bit more flush crept into his cheeks as well.

After stepping outside, the group bid him farewell.

He waved his hand, parting ways with the crowd of youths, leaving behind a solitary silhouette.

Chen Wengang had few classes and few exams. When he received Chen Xiangling’s call, he had just walked out of his final exam room.

The issue was that the tenants renting his family’s house were causing a scene.

His eldest uncle had returned the house his father left him, the paperwork was complete, and he had requested the tenants move out once their lease expired.

The landlady had originally agreed, but after the husband asked around and realized they couldn’t find rent this cheap anywhere else, he suddenly wanted to back out. The family had already bought a new house elsewhere, but it was still under renovation, requiring them to wait six months to a year before moving in.

The pressure of the mortgage was heavy, and they pinched every penny. With only a six-month to one-year transition period left, renting another place would indeed be a hassle. Moreover, after living there for several years, the sheer volume of a household’s belongings was substantial, making the manpower and material costs of moving quite high.

These were all understandable circumstances, but when Chen Wengang arrived, Chen Xiangling was currently being shoved out the door by the husband—

“Don’t think we don’t know the law! As long as we’re still living here, even if you are the landlord, you can’t trespass on private property!”

Chen Xiangling was still foolishly trying to reason with him: “Your lease has already expired!”

The man had a fierce look on his face: “You locals just like to bully us outsiders! You clearly said back then that we could renew the lease; otherwise, we wouldn’t have brought our whole family to live here! Let me tell you, a verbal agreement is still an agreement. You’re breaching the contract!”

Chen Wengang quickly stepped forward and supported his younger cousin: “What’s going on? What are you getting physical for? Are you even a man?”

Seeing him, Chen Xiangling felt wronged: “Ge…”

Amidst the shouting, he roughly understood what was happening.

Chen Wengang knew that Lawyer Cao had been sending assistants to urge his uncle’s family to fulfill the agreement. His uncle didn’t bother with household affairs and left it to his aunt, who was too lazy to deal with it herself and simply sent her daughter to negotiate with the tenants.

Chen Xiangling had come today thinking the lease had already expired. Seeing the front door unlocked, she had pushed it open and walked right in.

As a result, the husband charged out, mistaking her for a thief, and shoved her outside.

Chen Wengang grabbed Chen Xiangling’s hand; the slender, pale back of her hand had bumped against the doorframe, scraping off a bit of skin.

He spoke coldly: “If there’s a misunderstanding, can’t you use your mouth to ask? She’s a young girl; what kind of thief looks like this?”

The man was quite burly, his face heavily jowled and looking like someone you shouldn’t mess with. But his wife was a bit more reasonable. She came out of the house, pulled him back, smacked his back a few times, and scolded him before turning to offer an apologetic smile to the young landlord in front of her:

“Handsome boy, pretty girl, I’m so sorry. He was definitely wrong to push you just now, but you can’t just barge into our house like that either. When we signed the contract with the previous landlord, we clearly agreed that we could keep living here. How can you just change your mind like this?”

Chen Xiangling puffed out her cheeks and glared at her.

The woman paused for a moment and spoke pitifully: “Honestly, we are just a humble family. It’s truly not easy coming out here to make a living; every penny we earn is blood, sweat, and tears. We have kids to raise too. You don’t look like you’re short on money, we just want to stay for another half a year. Otherwise, could you just give us a grace period? Let’s both take a step back, and we’ll pay you a few more months of rent at the original rate? Once our house is ready, we will definitely move out.”

Chen Wengang kept a cold face, ignoring her, still holding Chen Xiangling’s hand to check her injury.

The landlady said, “It was all a misunderstanding just now. Dacheng was entirely in the wrong. I’ll have him apologize.”

The husband, however, showed no intention of apologizing.

Finally, Chen Wengang smiled politely at her: “I understand the situation. Everyone has their difficulties. If you had said this earlier, I could have made an exception for a few months. But your husband pushed my sister, so I don’t really want to discuss it anymore. I suggest you find another place to live.”

And so began the wrangling. The other party kept playing the victim, saying it was hard for their family to make ends meet. The husband worked on construction sites, the wife had no job and stayed home to look after the kids, and schooling expenses were fierce. In short, not giving them a few months’ grace period was driving them to their deaths.

Chen Wengang simply led Chen Xiangling away for the time being. The sun was beating down, making people sweat profusely, so they found a place to sit and eat shaved ice.

Chen Xiangling let out a big sigh: “That family is so annoying. We’re the ones who haven’t had it easy.”

Chen Wengang finally reprimanded her: “Is that the issue here? He got physical, why didn’t you run?”

Chen Xiangling peeked at him secretly. Chen Wengang patted her head: “Being assertive is a tactical attitude. Arguing with a grown man is just stupid.”

At this moment, Chen Wengang seemed to lack his usual refined scholarly air. Narrowing his eyes, he stirred the milk and red bean ice, and Chen Xiangling felt he was calculating something in his head. When he confronted the husband earlier, he was at a disadvantage in terms of size, but he didn’t seem the least bit weak in terms of aura.

Chen Xiangling was very curious: “Ge, what are you thinking? What are we going to do about the house?”

Chen Wengang smiled: “Nothing. Hurry up and eat, your ice cream is melting.”

He looked down and sent a message, but this time he didn’t contact Lawyer Cao; he sent it to Lawyer Zhu instead.

Lawyer Zhu was probably busy; he replied with an “OK” gesture and didn’t say anything else.

Putting his phone away, Chen Wengang finished his ice and took Chen Xiangling home. Since they were already there, they dropped by his uncle’s house to take a look.

On the way, they also dragged Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu out of an internet cafe where they were playing games.

These two younger cousins had already finished their school finals. Spoiled by their mother, no one cared that they spent all day soaking in the internet cafe playing games. These illegal cybercafes had chaotic management and turned a blind eye to minors sneaking in.

When Chen Wengang dragged the two out, he saw that the innermost private room was entirely occupied by kids around ten years old.

He sighed.

Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu were happy to see him, swarming him and hugging his waist, demanding red envelopes.

In the past, during every winter and summer vacation, Chen Wengang would give his uncle’s kids some pocket money under the guise of rewarding them for their studies.

It wasn’t until recently that Chen Xiangling told him that her share had all been taken and kept by her mother.

If she didn’t hand it over, her shrewd mother would be endlessly difficult, one moment complaining the family was tight on money, the next telling her to go pay the water and electricity bills. This was why Chen Wengang had taught her to be assertive—it was to get her to hold onto her own money. Who knew what this girl had interpreted it as?

He didn’t show it on his face, looking down at them calmly: “You’re big kids now. The rules for handing out ‘scholarships’ have to change. I have expectations for you; once your exam results are out, only those in the top ten of their class will get a reward.”

The two young ones wailed: “That won’t work, that’s too hard—”

“Ge, that requirement is too high! Could you even do it yourself?”

Chen Wengang smiled and said: “Is it hard? I was always first in my class.”

The two were sharp though; by the time they got home, they realized what was up and accused their cousin to his face of not wanting to give them pocket money.

Chen Zeng awkwardly gave each of his sons a slap and told them to hurry back to their rooms to do their summer homework.

But as Chen Wengang sat for a while, he felt his uncle’s complexion looked somewhat unnatural, his eyes dodging, and he was chain-smoking heavily.

When leaving, he brushed past two hurried-looking people near his uncle’s house. A sudden intuition hit him, and he glanced back.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Wengang called Chen Xiangling: “Make up an excuse, tell your parents you’re going out for an internship… Yes, say the company provides accommodation. Summer vacation is here, and you should focus on your studies. I’ll find you a quiet place, don’t live at home for now.”

Chen Wengang foresaw his uncle taking a fall.

Even without the experience of his previous life, it wasn’t surprising. A man pushing fifty, with three kids at home, still greedy and easily swayed by flattery, losing sight of his limits. Last time Chen Wengang had come, he offered a few words of advice, but he didn’t really want to interfere much.

His energy was only enough to manage himself and Chen Xiangling. He couldn’t manage too much else; if someone needed to learn a lesson, let them learn it.

It’s just that for a girl, he didn’t want her staying at home at a time like this. Chen Wengang had originally found his cousin a one-bedroom apartment, but just as she was about to move in, the landlord changed their mind, saying a niece was coming to live there, and returned the rent and deposit through the agent.

Since that was the case, he couldn’t force it. He asked the endlessly apologizing agent to keep looking.

During the first few days of summer vacation, Chen Wengang happened to take Chen Xiangling to look at a few apartments, letting her see them for herself. Finally, they settled on a new one. This one was even more convenient than the first, located right near her cram school in a quiet environment.

The interior had great natural light, with snow-white walls and wooden furniture in a fresh, minimalist Japanese style, but it was a bit expensive.

Chen Xiangling felt it was a waste of money. After all, the cram school had dormitories; she only needed a place to crash occasionally during holidays and weekends.

Chen Wengang told her not to worry about it.

He moved Chen Xiangling’s personal belongings directly from her vocational school dorm. She also pretended to pack a suitcase for her “internship” at home, dragging it out the door. She turned two streets down, where Chen Wengang’s car was parked on the side of the road.

Lu Chenlong was also in the car, having come to help with the heavy lifting.

While Chen Xiangling unpacked in the rented apartment, the other two went to the supermarket, picking up bedsheets, blankets, pots, and pans, along with some groceries to cook dinner. To simply celebrate the move to her new place, the three of them happily had a hot pot meal despite the sweltering heat.

Chen Xiangling asked Lu Chenlong, “Where is your little brother Xiao Bao?”

“At school, he has a one-on-one teacher watching him.”

“How is the new school?” Chen Wengang asked.

“It hasn’t been long, but I feel like he speaks a bit clearer now, and he knows to call for someone when he needs to pee.”

Moving, cleaning, shopping, cooking, and washing dishes—after half a day of all this tossing about, they were exhausted, and eating their fill made them even sleepier.

Originally huddled together on the carpet watching funny videos, they unknowingly dozed off, sprawled out in all directions.

Chen Xiangling had only taken a light nap and was the first to wake up. Hearing a soft click, Lu Chenlong also stirred.

He sat up, yawned, but said, “Don’t wake your brother; let him keep sleeping.”

Chen Xiangling covered her mouth and smiled; that sound just now was her secretly taking a picture, and she showed it to Lu Chenlong.

Lu Chenlong scratched his head, seeing the photo of him and Chen Wengang sleeping head-to-head on the carpet, and laughed casually: “I’ll show you the old photo albums later. There’s a picture of us in kindergarten in this exact same pose. It proves we’ve been consistent from the start.”

Chen Xiangling giggled softly.

A mosquito buzzed from who knows where. Lu Chenlong waved his hand near Chen Wengang’s face, shooing it away.

“Did you know how much your brother loved to cry when he was little?”

“Really?” Chen Xiangling was skeptical. “I don’t have any impression of that.”

“You’re a girl, you didn’t see it. He put on an act in front of you,” Lu Chenlong said. “He was so delicate when he was a kid. If he dropped his ice cream scoop, he’d cry, and in the end, I had to give him mine to coax him. Uncle bought him a little toy car eraser, and on the very first day of elementary school, someone snatched it. I had to fight his desk mate to get it back. But the eraser had already been cut with a small knife; if he saw it, he would definitely cry again. I didn’t dare tell him and bought him another one. Guess what? He still doesn’t know to this day.”

Chen Wengang finally heard their chattering, rubbed his eyes, and sat up: “What bad things are you saying about me?”

Lu Chenlong’s face didn’t change: “Nothing, all good things.”

Chen Wengang frowned suspiciously: “Impossible, I heard everything.”

Lu Chenlong ruffled his hair: “Dear, you’re just daydreaming.”

Thinking back to their childhood, he had actually envied Chen Wengang. Even though he didn’t have a mother, he had a father who doted on him, treating him like the apple of his eye. Compared to his own scumbag father, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Yet he also sighed, realizing how much time changes things. The delicate little sprout from his memories was completely gone now.

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