Chapter 8

Early the next morning, An Xiang took An Zimo on the earliest bus to C City, then transferred to a high-speed train back to Jiang City.

It was already noon when they arrived.

Rolling dark clouds hung over Jiang City. Perhaps a torrential downpour had just passed; the ground was unusually wet, and the fresh scent of plants mingled in the air.

This city was always in a hurry. Even rainy weather did not stop pedestrians in their tracks.

As An Xiang walked out of the station, she held An Zimo's soft little hand tightly, afraid she might lose him in the crowd if she let her attention slip.

It was rush hour, and with the unsettled weather, taxis were hard to come by. An Xiang led An Zimo under a tree and stopped, booked a ride on her phone, then waited quietly.

"Momo, are you cold?"

An Zimo wore a blank expression and gave no response, as though he had not heard her.

An Xiang was already used to this attitude from her son. From last night until their return today, he had barely spoken to her. But she could understand that. Her son had developmental delays and cerebellar atrophy. It was good enough that he had asked her for food on his own last night. How could she ask for more?

Hearing every one of her thoughts, An Zimo glanced at her face out of the corner of his eye, unmoved.

The car was taking a while. An Xiang's legs had gone numb from standing, so she hugged the backpack to her chest and crouched by the roadside, bringing herself level with An Zimo.

"Momo, are you hungry? Should we get something to eat before going home?" An Xiang checked the time. It was exactly twelve. If they went home now, there probably would not be enough time to cook.

She could manage, but she was worried about her child going hungry.

Just then, a black sedan sped toward them. There was a puddle beside the road, and at that speed, it would definitely splash them. An Zimo's mind worked swiftly, and he quickly moved out of the danger zone, leaving An Xiang crouching there alone.

Splash-!

As expected, the speeding sedan sent up a beautiful arc of water, every last drop pouring over An Xiang's head.

Looking at An Xiang, drenched in rainwater like a drowned rat, An Zimo raised his eyebrows and smiled.

She did not get angry. She simply got up and moved away from the intersection, dutifully took wet wipes from her backpack to clean the water from her face and body, tossed the used wipes into a nearby trash can, then checked on An Zimo.

Seeing him standing safe and sound behind her, An Xiang sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Mommy thought you'd gotten soaked too."

The smile An Zimo had not yet put away froze. He frowned without answering.

Suddenly, the car that had driven past slowly reversed toward them. The passenger door opened, and a young man in a suit stepped out.

"Sorry, sorry. We're in a hurry, so we were driving a little fast. Are you all right, miss?" The young man smiled gently, looking An Xiang up and down.

Her water-soaked white shirt clung to her skin, outlining her shapely figure. Several obvious mud stains marked her clothes, evidently left by the splash.

Xu Chuan immediately felt embarrassed. He took several red banknotes from his wallet and offered them to An Xiang. "Please take this to buy a new outfit. Again, I apologize."

An Xiang had yet to react and stared blankly at the several thousand yuan.

Thinking he might not have offered enough, Xu Chuan added another thousand. "Here. This should be enough."

An Xiang: "..." Is this guy an idiot?

Seeing that she was still silent, Xu Chuan frowned. "Miss, we're in a hurry. What do you think?"

An Xiang came to her senses and waved her hands. "No, I don't need that much..."

Her voice was pleasant, sweet and soft, like a gummy candy filled with honeyed fruit.

She looked sweet too, with her hair in a loose French braid and a little pale yellow daisy adorning its end.

She smelled good as well.

Xu Chuan unconsciously softened his tone. "Then tell me, how much would be appropriate?"

"Actually, there's no need..."

"Xu Chuan."

An exceedingly cold voice came from inside the car, abruptly interrupting their conversation.

Xu Chuan's back stiffened. Not daring to delay, he hurriedly stuffed the money away, took out a mall membership card instead, and pressed it into An Xiang's hand. "This is a shopping membership card for the mall. You can get ninety percent off everything there. I have something to do, so I'll be going. It was a pleasure meeting you." With that, he jogged back to the car.

An Xiang stared blankly at the thin little rectangular card in her hand. Only when a horn sounded beside her did she hurriedly pick up An Zimo and get into the car.

"We're going to Star City Mall." An Xiang glanced at the membership card. Their destination seemed to be the very place printed on it.

The roads were congested after the rain. As soon as Xu Chuan got back into the car, they hit another red light.

The wait was long and irritating. Xu Chuan could distinctly feel the oppressive atmosphere beside him. Clearly, his earlier behavior had displeased someone.

"Don't do pointless things again." Pei Yizhou's tone was cold, and he did not look up. His eyes were lowered, his overly long eyelashes casting dark silhouettes beneath his eyelids.

Pretending not to hear him, Xu Chuan scooted over with a grin. "It's such a shame you didn't get out just now."

Pei Yizhou's brow creased slightly. He closed his laptop and discreetly moved away.

"That girl smelled especially good." Xu Chuan carefully recalled An Xiang's scent. That sweet but not cloying scent of blood was extremely rare. He added, "She'd probably taste good too."

Still courting death, Xu Chuan nudged Pei Yizhou's arm. "Did you see the little boy beside her? I reckon he's her younger brother. He looks just like you did as a kid. That expression that makes you want to smack him is exactly like yours." He paused after speaking. "I don't mean I want to smack you. I'm simply using exaggeration to describe my astonishment."

"President Pei, we've arrived."

The car stopped. Pei Yizhou pushed Xu Chuan away and got out without a word.

At the same time, an unremarkable Hyundai stopped on the other side of the intersection.

Pei Yizhou vaguely sensed an inexplicably familiar presence. His steps halted, and his gaze swept lightly toward the intersection, but all he saw was an endless stream of people coming and going.

Xu Chuan asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Pei Yizhou withdrew his gaze and strode into the company building on his long legs. Without looking aside, he told the secretary following him, "Have the planning department get the North City District acquisition proposal to me as soon as possible, and hurry up with the construction plan too. Try to finish all the work before Friday."

"Understood. I'll get on it right away."

"Cousin, shouldn't we eat first...?" Before Xu Chuan could finish the question, that tall, slender figure had disappeared behind the elevator doors.

Xu Chuan pursed his lips, flipped the doors off, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered out of the building.

He rubbed his chin and considered for a moment, then headed straight across the street.

Perhaps because of the rainy weather, the mall was not as crowded as An Xiang had imagined.

She first went to the clothing section on the second floor, bought a dress without much fuss and changed into it, then took An Zimo to find somewhere to eat.

"Momo, do you want KFC?" An Xiang did not know An Zimo's food preferences, so she carefully asked his opinion.

KFC?

An Zimo had lived to fourteen in his previous life without ever eating fast food. His mother had single-handedly controlled his meals and daily life, including his schedule. He had no room to make his own choices at all.

Seeing that An Zimo was not speaking, An Xiang made the decision herself. "Then let's have KFC. Momo probably hasn't had it before." Children these days all liked fried foods like these. An Zimo had grown up in the mountains, but presumably he was no exception.

An Xiang took An Zimo to the KFC restaurant and found a seat by the window.

"Mommy's going to order now. Sweetie, watch our things for me, and remember not to go with strangers." With that, she went to line up at the counter.

An Zimo stared out the window expressionlessly. The surroundings were noisy, and he irritably turned the volume of Mind Reading down to its lowest setting.

Looking at An Xiang's retreating figure, An Zimo's eyes flickered slightly. The thought of running away arose again.

But just then, a shadow fell over his head, and someone sat down directly opposite him.

An Zimo immediately recognized him as the person who had offered them money earlier.

"Little guy, are you watching Mommy's things?"

Xu Chuan smiled kindly, but An Zimo saw the word "pervert" written all over his face. He gave a soft snort and ignored him.

"What's your name?" Xu Chuan refused to give up and kept trying to talk to An Zimo.

He leaned against the back of his chair, his little feet swinging from side to side above the floor, his hands tucked into his pockets. There was not a single unnecessary expression on his pretty, adorable little face.

Xu Chuan examined him from every angle, becoming more startled the longer he looked.

Holy shit-he really looks exactly like my cousin Pei Yizhou did as a kid!

No, looking closely, there are still differences.

He's much cuter than Pei Yizhou was as a kid!

"Sweetie, tell Uncle your name. How old are you?" Xu Chuan coaxed him patiently. "Tell Uncle, and I'll buy you candy."

"Sir, if you keep this up, I'm calling the police."

Xu Chuan's expression froze. He fell silent as he faced An Xiang, who had returned with their food.

He swallowed and quietly shifted farther into the seat. "Sorry. I mean no harm."

An Xiang did not believe him at all. With that smiling face, he did not look like a good person.

She set down the tray and said indirectly, "Sir, we're going to eat now."

She was clearly telling him to leave.

Xu Chuan smiled brightly. "What a coincidence. I'm here to eat too. But there aren't any seats around here. Would you mind letting me sit here?"

An Xiang had taken a table for four, and there were indeed no empty seats nearby.

"Suit yourself." An Xiang sat beside An Zimo and passed him his share. "Eat up, Momo. We'll go home when you're done."

The aroma of fried food filled his nose and mouth. The chicken wings were fried golden, and the cheeseburger held a thick layer of meat. Even An Zimo succumbed to the temptation before him.

He could not help swallowing. Temporarily setting aside his grudges and grievances, he grabbed a chicken wing and began taking big bites.

Seeing her son enjoying his food, An Xiang gave a faint, satisfied smile.

Xu Chuan did not like this sort of food. Saying he had come to eat was entirely an excuse. He casually ordered some fries and milk tea, then sat to the side, secretly observing the two of them.

"Um... my name is Xu Chuan. May I ask your name?"

An Xiang did not even lift her head. "We won't be seeing each other again, so there's no need for you to know my name."

Xu Chuan suddenly felt awkward. "I mean no harm. I just wanted to get to know you."

"Mm, I know."

She looked gentle, but neither persuasion nor pressure worked on her. She gave Xu Chuan no opening to get close at all.

Just as Xu Chuan was growing discouraged, he suddenly saw An Xiang take out the mall card he had given her earlier.

"Mr. Xu, here's your card back."

"Huh?"

"The sales assistant just said this is a gold membership, and there's still a lot of money on it. Please take it back."

"Oh, no, I don't really need it either..."

Star City Mall belonged to the Pei Group. Since he was shopping at his own family's business, he really had no need for it.

"I used the card's discount to buy new clothes, so I've accepted your compensation. I don't need anything beyond that." An Xiang placed the card on his table without caring whether he accepted it, then lowered her head and quietly drank the milk tea in front of her.

Xu Chuan's gaze flickered, a trace of something strange hidden beneath his expression.

An Zimo, who was slurping his cola, keenly detected that abnormality. He turned up the volume, gaining insight into every thought of everyone within half a meter.

[Waaah, is this guy a human trafficker? Should I call the police? Should I call the police?] ← This was An Xiang.

[McDonald's still tastes better.] ← This was from the seat behind them.

[Could this little brat really be my cousin's illegitimate son? Fuck! Why does this woman smell so good?]

[I want to eat her.]

This was Xu Chuan.

An Zimo's wrist trembled, and his expression immediately twisted.

An Zimo: There don't seem to be any normal people around me.

An Xiang: You're wrong. Actually, none of us are human, and neither are you.

Who said my male lead has no presence!!!! He does!! He does!

Red envelopes for the first hundred. See you tomorrow.

I hereby apologize to McDonald's and KFC. I wasn't trying to praise one by putting the other down; I like both KFC and McDonald's. Lastly, KFC, please pay me an advertising fee.