Even a Pinky Promise Can Be Broken

The rain was still falling the next day, though it had eased a little. People in the shantytown rose early, and a noisy clamor of voices came from downstairs at daybreak.

There was a steamed bun shop downstairs. Tong Zhao took an umbrella and came back with a steamer basket of fresh pork buns and some thin-skinned shaomai. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Shu Sizhuo standing in the middle of the living room, his little face full of fear and unease. When he saw Tong Zhao come in, he pressed his lips together and forced back the moisture in his eyes.

"You're awake? You didn't get to sleep until the middle of the night. Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Tong Zhao asked with a smile as he folded his umbrella. "I just went downstairs to buy you some buns. They smell pretty good."

Shu Sizhuo stood there for a long moment before walking over and taking the buns from him. Head lowered, he murmured a hoarse "Mm," then said, "I thought you'd left."

Tong Zhao looked surprised. When Shu Sizhuo took the buns into the kitchen, he followed him. Gazing at the little boy's pitiful, frail back, he said softly, "I won't leave. I promised I'd help you get home."

Shu Sizhuo didn't answer. There were only three plates in the cupboard. He took one out, washed it clean, and transferred the buns and thin-skinned shaomai onto it.

His well-behaved manner seemed to tell everyone, I'm very obedient. Please don't leave me behind.

A pang of sympathy rose in Tong Zhao's heart. He strolled over, his eyes shifting slightly, then tilted his head and held out his little finger with a smile. "Do you trust me? How about we make a pinky promise? Once we do, we'll keep our word, and it won't change."

"Even a pinky promise can be broken," Shu Sizhuo said quietly. He remembered his mother making a pinky promise with him too, saying she would always stay with him.

"Then we'll stamp it after we make the pinky promise. With double protection, it won't change." Tong Zhao held out his hand.

Shu Sizhuo looked at the fair, clean hand and thought for a moment. In the end, he held out his little finger and hooked it around Tong Zhao's, then raised his thumb and pressed it against the other man's to seal the promise.

Tong Zhao grinned, showing a set of white teeth. After sealing the promise, Shu Sizhuo withdrew his hand and carried the plate out, with Tong Zhao following behind him. Unable to resist, Tong Zhao reached out and ruffled his hair. When Shu Sizhuo looked back, he said cheerfully, "Little Sizhuo, you're so cute."

Shu Sizhuo froze for a moment, then hurriedly turned back around. "Don't say that," he said awkwardly.

Tong Zhao smiled at the sight of his reddened ears and found him even cuter.

As a tasker who had appeared out of nowhere, Tong Zhao had neither money nor power. There was no way he could rely on his own abilities to take on the mistress and fight the villains, then bring Shu Sizhuo back to the Shu family unharmed and in glory.

The situation had been urgent when he transmigrated, so he had to get Little Sizhuo out first and consider what to do afterward.

Now that his nerves had settled, Tong Zhao gave it some thought and came up with an idea. Couldn't he simply notify Shu Sizhuo's maternal uncle in the United Kingdom ahead of time?

This uncle was actually a child Shu Sizhuo's maternal grandmother had given birth to abroad during her second marriage. He and Shu Sizhuo's mother had the same mother but different fathers. They had never been particularly close and rarely kept in touch. Later, after their mother died, they saw each other for the last time at her funeral and lost contact.

After the Shu family suffered a tragedy, his older sister and brother-in-law died, and his nephew was sent to Ode Mountain House, it took a full year for the uncle to receive the news.

All Tong Zhao needed to do now was find the uncle and notify him ahead of time. Couldn't he leave the rest to him?

As for how to notify the uncle, Tong Zhao tried another little shortcut. He summoned the system and asked directly for the uncle's contact information, only for the system to demand twenty thousand as soon as it spoke.

Tong Zhao was badly startled and hurriedly told the system to go, go, go—far away... He had just graduated and started working, and he was flat broke. Where was he supposed to get that much money?

After inwardly cursing the system for being so blackhearted as to jack up the price, Tong Zhao decided to investigate Shu Sizhuo's uncle's phone number himself.

As he applied medicine to Shu Sizhuo's injuries, he told him about his uncle. "Your uncle runs a big company abroad. He can help you hire a lawyer and sue to get back the inheritance that belongs to you, so we need to find him. Only he has the means to help you return to the Shu family."

Ever since he had moved into this shabby rented apartment with Tong Zhao, Shu Sizhuo had known that Tong Zhao was very poor. He had never expected Tong Zhao to actually be able to help him go back. He only hoped Tong Zhao wouldn't leave him behind for the time being. He was homeless now and had no family.

Hearing out of the blue that he had an uncle, Shu Sizhuo was especially surprised.

He had been lying with his head on his arms. At those words, he turned to look at Tong Zhao. "I have an uncle?"

"Your mother never told you?" Tong Zhao asked.

Shu Sizhuo shook his head.

Seeing that he had finished applying the medicine to Shu Sizhuo's back, Tong Zhao put away the medicine box and lay on his stomach beside him on the bed. "Your uncle is your mother's younger half-brother. He's always been abroad, so they didn't have much contact... Ah, I don't know where to find his contact information..."

Before the puzzled-looking Shu Sizhuo could ask a question, Tong Zhao asked him, "Then do you remember your maternal grandmother? Did she ever come back to see you?"

Shu Sizhuo's father was an orphan, and his mother came from a single-parent family. His maternal grandfather had died a few years after remarrying.

The swelling on Shu Sizhuo's face had gone down, leaving only some faint bruises, but his perfect, beautiful features had already emerged. As expected of someone chosen by the General Institute, even at only ten years old and covered in injuries, he still had a breathtakingly handsome air about him.

His long lashes moved slowly, as though he were thinking. Finally, his black, obsidian-like eyes turned to Tong Zhao. "You want to find Uncle's contact information through Grandma?" he asked uncertainly.

"That's right."

"As far as I remember, Grandma never came back to the country to see me."

Tong Zhao sighed in disappointment and reached out to pat his head comfortingly.

"But I remember where Mom lived when she was little." Shu Sizhuo stayed very still as Tong Zhao patted him. "That place is called Beiyan Town. We can go ask around and see if anyone knows Grandma's address and contact information abroad."

"Oh, you clever boy!" Tong Zhao laughed and pressed his head down onto the bed, ruffling his hair some more.

Tong Zhao looked it up. Beiyan Town was in City G, and the journey from City A to City G was close to a thousand kilometers or more. Neither flying nor taking the train was an option, because Shu Sizhuo had neither an identity card nor a household registration booklet.

Passenger bus stations weren't as strict at this time, so they could only take a long-distance bus, going first to City E and then transferring to City G.

Mobile payments didn't exist in the world yet. Tong Zhao pulled out his wallet and took a look, then made his decision. "All right, rest and let your injuries heal for another two days, then we'll set off."

Tong Zhao and Shu Sizhuo set off in the pitch-black middle of the night.

Tong Zhao carried just one bag, containing two changes of clothes for himself and two sets he had bought for Shu Sizhuo at a street stall downstairs.

As they left, Tong Zhao put a baseball cap on Shu Sizhuo and pulled it down, hiding half of his pretty little face.

When they reached the first floor, Shu Sizhuo took a ham sausage from inside his clothes, unwrapped it, and tossed it to the big yellow dog tied up at the entrance to the building.

The big yellow dog caught the sausage in his mouth and wagged his tail at them.

The big yellow dog was tied up downstairs every day to guard the building. Tong Zhao and Shu Sizhuo always gave him something to eat when they passed by, and after a few days, the people and the dog had grown familiar with one another.

The big yellow dog gave a woof, then lowered his head and began eating the sausage.

"Let's go." Tong Zhao took Shu Sizhuo's hand and walked out of the building.