Seeing that, Third Aunt breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Bai Le had most likely gone out to find something to eat. That was for the best; she could get this difficult guest out of the way at mealtime.
After leaving, Bai Le turned left and walked out of the alley onto the main street.
There were no skyscrapers in the small county town, and the tallest shops along the street were only two or three stories high. Although Bai Le had been here for quite a few days, he still found it all very novel.
He picked a breakfast shop at random and sat down. Then he ordered a basket of steamed dumplings and a bowl of seaweed soup, helped himself to some side dishes, and began to eat.
His appearance and clothes made him stand out somewhat in a little shop like this. After all, people like him were hard to come by in a small county town.
Bai Le, however, noticed nothing. His appetite had been poor lately; he couldn't stomach food that was too greasy or too bland. After only a few steamed dumplings, he found them a little too rich, and the taste of the low-quality meat filling made his stomach feel even worse.
He sighed, put down his dumplings, and took a sip of seaweed soup. He had been here for almost a week but hadn't found a place to live. One reason was that he couldn't be bothered, and another was that getting three meals a day was difficult, so he had simply settled into a local inn.
But for all his planning, he had never expected the landlady to be a bad cook.
Bai Le forced himself to take another bite of a dumpling. No matter what, it tasted better than the landlady's cooking, and he couldn't be willful now. No matter how bad it tasted, he had to eat his fill.
"Big Brother!"
Suddenly, an exclamation rang out beside his ear. Bai Le looked over and saw a girl of eleven or twelve with a ponytail rushing toward him.
"Nian Nian? Why haven't you gone to school yet?"
The Nian Nian he was talking to was the landlady's daughter. She had just started her first year of middle school this year. As she ran toward Bai Le, several other girls in school uniforms ran over with her.
"Nian Nian, who's this?" one girl asked her in a whisper, blushing and thinking she was being very discreet. "He's so handsome."
"He's the big brother staying at my house," Liu Niannian said in a clear voice.
After that, she didn't forget to answer Bai Le's question. With a serious expression, she said, "I'm not afraid of being late. The teachers at school don't bother with me at all."
The corner of Bai Le's mouth twitched. That really was impressive.
"Big Brother looks just like a celebrity on TV," another girl beside her couldn't help saying.
Bai Le propped his chin on his hand, his elbow on the table, and said with a smile, "What celebrities do you know?"
At that, the girls all began talking at once.
When Bai Le heard Liu Niannian mention the name Meng Rong, he couldn't help pausing in surprise. Then he broke into a smile.
"Then do you want to meet him?"
Liu Niannian didn't catch on. "Meet who?"
"Meng Rong. Don't you like him?"
Liu Niannian thought what he was saying was a little strange. "You can get me a meeting with him?"
Bai Le lightly flicked her forehead and said smugly, "Of course."
Meng Rong was the trainee his company had launched. He was now active in a boy group formed through a talent show. The group had been gaining a lot of momentum lately, and his own popularity remained high.
"Stop lying." Liu Niannian clearly didn't believe him.
Bai Le wasn't angry. He chuckled and said, "You'll see when the time comes."
After breakfast, he whistled as he wandered back to the inn. His room was on the second floor, and he could see the whole alley from its window.
Once inside, Bai Le took off his heavy coat and immediately climbed into bed to curl up. There was no air conditioning or heating here, and the cold kept him from sleeping well at night.
To be honest, he was already beginning to regret choosing a place like this.
He wondered how things were at home. His dad must have been nearly driven mad with anger when he saw his note. Without even thinking about it, Chen Suqiu was definitely gloating, and his mom had probably quarreled with his dad too.
He didn't know whether Bai Yin and Xi Yan's matter had been settled, either. If the two of them got married while he was away, he wouldn't get to see his little sister in a wedding dress.
He wondered if his group of disreputable friends missed him. When the time came, they would surely bombard him with questions if he brought a child back. Though he had already thought of a way to deal with them, it still gave him a headache.
All sorts of thoughts ran through Bai Le's mind. Finally, he touched his lower abdomen and sighed inwardly.
Now he could only stay here, cold and hungry, and the source of it all could be blamed on that night.
Xi Yan had always been suspicious and very careful about what he ate and drank, so the aphrodisiac the original owner had used on him worked through an airborne scent. Because of that, Bai Le hadn't been able to resist at all. He too had been aroused and lost himself in it. The lingering memories of that night faintly resurfaced: it seemed that, at the start, he had been the one clinging to Xi Yan and refusing to let go, begging him over and over.
At the thought, Bai Le couldn't help blushing, wishing he could bury his head deep under the covers.
How embarrassing.
By evening, the temperature had dropped a little more. Bai Le felt a faint discomfort in his throat and his head was heavy and muddled. He knew he had most likely caught a cold.
So he had the landlady bring him a hot-water bottle to warm his icy feet, then browsed on his phone to see if there were any hospitals nearby.
It wasn't just to get some medicine, but also for the little one in his belly. He still needed prenatal checkups. It was better to be safe than sorry.
But in the end, he found nothing, so he got dressed and went downstairs to ask the landlady if she knew of any hospitals.
"A hospital? Are you sick?"
Bai Le nodded. His nose was blocked, so his voice sounded a little nasal. "I might have caught a cold."
Third Aunt frowned. "Then do you want to take some cold medicine first? Go to the hospital tomorrow instead. I'll have my husband take you."
Complaints aside, no matter what, since she had taken the money, she had to look after him properly.
Bai Le didn't agree immediately. Instead, he looked somewhat conflicted.
He didn't know if he could take cold medicine now. What if it was bad for the child in his belly?
After hesitating for a while, he ultimately refused. "I'd better not. I can't just take medicine at random. I'd better go to the hospital and ask a doctor first."