Chapter 66 Part 1

Little Wutong hugged his backpack and sat tightly next to Chi Nuan in the car. As soon as he got in, he noticed Gu Ningzi, who was also in the back seat, and couldn’t help leaning toward Chi Nuan’s ear: “Mommy, this auntie is so pretty.”

He had tried his best to lower his voice, but the car space was limited, and everyone heard it.

He Zhen turned back with a smile. Little Wutong met her gaze, subconsciously reached for Chi Nuan’s hand, hooked her thumb, and still used his little voice, tinged with inexplicable excitement, said: “It’s that auntie, the one who gave me candy.”

Chi Nuan asked Little Wutong: “Little Wutong, what should you say to the aunties?”

Little Wutong said politely: “Hello, aunties. Thank you for giving me and Mommy a ride home.”

He Zhen: “You’re welcome. What grade are you in?”

“First grade.” After Little Wutong obediently answered, he sniffed: “…Mommy, what did you eat tonight?”

Chi Nuan said softly: “Barbecue.”

Little Wutong: “You drank alcohol too?”

Chi Nuan: “You could smell it? I only had a little.”

Little Wutong looked at her with concern: “Mommy, did having dinner and chatting with Auntie Du and the others, and drinking a bit, make you feel better?”

Chi Nuan was stunned by his question. She thought she had disguised it well in front of Little Wutong later on, but she hadn’t expected him to still notice.

Chi Nuan felt a little guilty. She had made Little Wutong worry.

“Much better.” She leaned affectionately on Little Wutong’s cute watermelon head, and Little Wutong happily smiled.

Their exchange was soft and gentle. He Zhen watched them from the rearview mirror and felt a kind of calming attraction that soothed the heart.

The car drove into the neighborhood. Although Chi Nuan kept saying it was fine to drop them off here, Gu Ningzi didn’t say anything, so He Zhen drove all the way to the building where Chi Nuan lived.

Chi Nuan held Little Wutong’s hand as they got out. Little Wutong stood outside the car with his backpack on. Chi Nuan bent down to look at Gu Ningzi in the car. Not knowing when they would meet again after parting now, she said reluctantly: “Goodbye.”

Since entering the neighborhood, Gu Ningzi had been looking out the window. Only when she heard Chi Nuan’s voice did she turn her head: “Goodbye.”

Little Wutong went around to the driver’s side window, gripped his backpack straps, and shyly smiled at He Zhen. He asked her: “Auntie, can you give me more of that candy from last time?”

Chi Nuan had been about to say something more to Gu Ningzi when she heard this and softly exclaimed: “Little Wutong…”

She walked over. Little Wutong turned to look at her, and Chi Nuan shook her head at him: “You can’t do that.”

Little Wutong also knew it was wrong to ask others for things directly. He lowered his head: “But Mommy, this is what you like… I want you to be happy.”

Chi Nuan pulled Little Wutong a bit farther from the car, holding back the sourness surging in her eyes and nose. She said to him: “Chi Zheng, Mommy is already very happy that you think of her this way. But Mommy hopes you understand that ‘wanting’ to do something and ‘being able’ to do it are two different things, okay?”

Little Wutong nodded and looked past Chi Nuan toward He Zhen, a bit embarrassed.

The back seat window rolled down, and Gu Ningzi beckoned to Little Wutong with her finger.

Little Wutong’s eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over. Gu Ningzi gestured for Little Wutong to hold out both hands, then placed a full handful of chocolate candies in his slightly cupped palms.

“Thank you! Thank you, Auntie!” Little Wutong couldn’t help shouting loudly to Chi Nuan behind him: “Mommy! Look! Auntie gave me so many!”

A faint arc lifted at the corner of Gu Ningzi’s lips, very subtle, and it vanished in an instant.

The car window rolled back up. This time, Gu Ningzi really left.

Chi Nuan and Little Wutong watched them until the car’s taillights disappeared from sight before going upstairs.

Little Wutong stomped heavily, and the voice-activated lights in the stairwell turned on. Chi Nuan’s heart felt heavy and oppressive. She sighed silently, took out her phone, and messaged in the Five Friends Love Group: “Home safe.”

No one replied. They were probably still in the thick of it over there. Zhao Jingjing had declared that tonight they wouldn’t stop until they were drunk.

Chi Nuan put her phone back in her bag. As she looked up, under the dim yellow light of the voice-activated lamp, the slightly mottled wall was sprayed full of red paint. A huge “KILL” character suddenly came into view, eerie and chilling. Chi Nuan’s knees went weak on the spot.

Little Wutong poked his head out from behind her, his big eyes filled with fear and timidity: “Mommy, what do those words say up there?”

Chi Nuan didn’t answer. She hugged Little Wutong’s shoulders, and the two of them shakily made their way up to the sixth floor. They found that this floor was even worse. The door across from theirs had been thoroughly splashed with red paint. “Pay back your debts or face the consequences” in eight huge characters floated on the wall like blood.

The man of the house across the hall had gotten addicted to card games a few years ago. Later, people from his circle started taking him gambling everywhere, betting bigger and bigger. The neighbors all said his external debts had compounded with interest, and now he probably owed a few hundred thousand.

Chi Nuan quickly unlocked her own door with the fastest speed and flashed inside with Little Wutong. She locked two locks in succession before feeling slightly more secure.

It was already very late, and Little Wutong was long overdue for bed. But after the scare in the stairwell, as he brushed his teeth, he was still asking Chi Nuan what had happened.

“Uncle Zhu across the hall might have gotten into some trouble,” Chi Nuan told him honestly.

“Oh.” Little Wutong gurgled and finished brushing his teeth. “Mommy, I definitely won’t cause you any trouble. I’m very obedient.”

Chi Nuan: “Yes, you are…”

Little Wutong went to sleep. It was nearly eleven when Du Min privately messaged Chi Nuan: “We’ve changed venues to keep drinking [spinning].”

Chi Nuan: “Make Zhou Damao drink less. You three girls are there.”

Du Min: “[OK] It’s fine, we didn’t drink baijiu.”

Du Min: “By the way, while you were in the bathroom, we talked to Gu Ningzi about you. The work atmosphere at school is bad, and you’re raising your brother’s child all alone. It’s really too hard. We’re all classmates—if she doesn’t help, who will? Nuannuan, don’t blame us for meddling. We usually don’t say it, but we all feel sorry for you. Unfortunately, we have more heart than power and can’t help much.”

Chi Nuan’s vision blurred instantly.