Chapter 19 - 1#
Zhao Xing felt like an idiot.
Last night, Zhao Xing hadn’t really been able to sleep.
Lying flat on his bed, he stared at the electronic card, at the enormous amount of repentance points displayed on it, and the face of Luo Mingshan involuntarily flashed through his mind.
Luo Mingshan lying on his back, gently rubbing his cheek against Zhao Xing’s with the tip of his nose.
Luo Mingshan standing at the entrance of the interrogation center, quietly waiting for him among the crowd.
Luo Mingshan looking up at him, softly saying, “I am big brother’s little slave.”
Zhao Xing pressed the electronic card against his forehead, his heart feeling slightly warm in that spot.
In that instant, he suddenly thought—
Luo Mingshan really did do something wrong to him, but at that time, he was only five years old, and he was coerced by Little Fatty Liang. He must have been very scared back then.
A five-year-old child forced into doing something wrong.
Is it… perhaps not unforgivable?
If anyone is to blame, it’s Little Fatty Liang.
So when Zhao Xing saw Little Fatty Liang appear before him, besides being furious, he also felt a relief, as if a weight had been lifted.
Zhao Xing didn’t know how Little Fatty Liang had the courage to show up in front of him, shamelessly greeting him, but that person’s timing was just right.
Perfect for bearing all of Zhao Xing’s old hatred and anger.
At that moment, Zhao Xing truly intended to cripple him—for himself, and for Luo Mingshan.
But Zhao Xing never expected Little Fatty Liang to play dumb, stubbornly denying everything he had done.
Snot and tears streaming down his face, he wailed with grievance:
“I didn’t! I never did any of those things! I swear!
“Twelve years ago, I left the prison first! My mom got out early too! I never instigated Luo Mingshan to slander you!
“I was the one who left first! I got out before you! I just didn’t say goodbye to you! A lot of people knew I was already gone! I swear I’m not lying!!!
“It was Luo Mingshan who lied, that kid lied! Fuck!”
Between Little Fatty Liang and Luo Mingshan, Zhao Xing naturally believed the latter more.
He simply didn’t believe Little Fatty Liang’s excuses, so he stormed into the freshmen registration room of Academy 8, used Little Fatty Liang’s work card to open an idle class-sorting test room, and forcibly pushed Little Fatty Liang into the lie detector chair.
Going through this process cost Zhao Xing 200 repentance points, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to shut Little Fatty Liang up and let him die knowing the truth.
But in the end, it was Zhao Xing himself who was left speechless.
—The lie detector chair proved that Little Fatty Liang hadn’t lied.
Little Fatty Liang cried out in grievance: “Luo Mingshan is sick! He staged the whole thing himself, so why does he have to pin it on me?!”
Zhao Xing’s head buzzed.
“Little Fatty Liang has already proven his innocence on the lie detector chair. Luo Mingshan, do you want to give it a try too?!” Zhao Xing sneered.
Luo Mingshan lowered his eyes, still silent.
Zhao Xing grabbed Luo Mingshan by the collar and dragged him toward the freshmen registration room of Academy 8.
Along the way, countless people looked over, secretly following, observing, pointing and whispering.
Zhao Xing pretended not to see.
When they arrived, Zhao Xing roughly pressed Luo Mingshan into the electric chair and connected the power.
The iron rings completely restrained Luo Mingshan’s waist, abdomen, and hands, immobilizing him completely.
“Speak.”
Zhao Xing held the remote control, looking down at him with an icy gaze: “If you don’t talk in five seconds, I’ll manually activate the electricity.”
Zhao Xing counted for him.
Five, four, three, two, one.
When the countdown ended, Luo Mingshan’s lashes drooped low, his pale thin lips pressed tightly together, saying nothing.
Zhao Xing cursed, threw the remote control aside, and kicked his calf in rage, his tone furious: “I’m telling you to fucking talk!”
Luo Mingshan finally lifted his head.
He looked into Zhao Xing’s eyes, his lashes trembling, his clear pupils seemingly overflowing with sorrow.
At last, he spoke, his voice hoarse: “I slandered you because I didn’t want you to leave.”
Luo Mingshan looked at him, enunciating each word: “Because I am selfish, stupid, and cowardly. I didn’t want you to leave the prison, didn’t want to be separated from you. So I created an accident, fabricated lies, hoping you would continue to be educated in the prison and stay with me.”
Zhao Xing was stunned.
It was only when Luo Mingshan grew to the age of six in this human body that he realized he was not human.
Before that, he was no different from ordinary human children. If anything, one could only say he was a bit dumber than others.
It seemed as though he had “woken up” looking like a three-year-old child.
He stumbled out of a long, freshly constructed tunnel and then met little Zhao Xing, who was crouching alone nearby, picking up stones to play with.
The moment Zhao Xing saw him, he blushed and covered his eyes: “Ah, little sister, why did you come out without any clothes on?!”
Luo Mingshan didn’t understand what he was saying, so he just stood there watching him.
Zhao Xing covered his eyes for a while, then thought this wasn’t working. He lowered his hand, blushing, took off his own jacket, and with averted eyes, dressed Luo Mingshan.
While putting the clothes on him, he lectured in a childish voice: “You’re a girl, and so cute, you can’t run around naked! What if another boy sees you and insists you marry him?”
But when Zhao Xing crouched down to zip up the jacket, he inevitably saw something and suddenly froze.
“Ah… you’re a boy.”
His tone carried unavoidable disappointment.
Still, Zhao Xing took his hand and led him to “find his mom.”
Holding his hand as they walked, Zhao Xing kept asking: “Whose child is this? Auntie, is this yours? Auntie, is this your child?”
In the end, a disheveled crazy woman took him away: “Xiao Shan, where did you go? Mommy looked for you for so long!”
He made no struggle, so Zhao Xing assumed the crazy woman was really his mother.
The crazy woman took him back to the room, fed him, read him storybooks, and patted his back to put him to sleep.
But when he woke up, the crazy woman screamed at him, telling him to get lost, saying he was not her son.
He didn’t care. He just saw through the crack in the door that Zhao Xing had come out, so he pushed the door open and followed him.
Perhaps because Zhao Xing was the first human he had ever seen, he always subconsciously wanted to follow him.
Gradually, Zhao Xing got to know him. Zhao Xing gave him candy, taught him to speak, and took him around to play.
During the day, he followed Zhao Xing out to play.
At night, Zhao Xing sent him back to the crazy woman’s room to rest.
As luck would have it, the crazy woman was named Bai Jin’er, the ex-wife of a wealthy tycoon. The tycoon even had shares in the prison and co-managed it with the government.
Thus, Bai Jin’er’s living conditions were first-rate—fitted with all kinds of appliances, like a delicate little apartment. And since she had smashed the surveillance cameras, no one had bothered to install new ones.
She didn’t need to go to the academy or the factory. The card she carried had no limit but could only be used by her.
She had a son named Luo Mingshan. Although his surname was Luo, he was a product of an extramarital affair. It was for this reason that she had angered the head of the Luo family and ended up leaving with nothing.
Her son was probably around two or three years old, but had never left the house. So no one knew what her child looked like.
Thus, He brazenly became Luo Mingshan.
Though at the time, “Luo Mingshan” didn’t understand what was happening.
Because every day, he was busy playing with his only beloved Ah Xing gege.
About two months later, Luo Mingshan could already speak fluently.
Zhao Xing had also told him many things.
For instance, that the refrigerator was for storing food.
So when he went back, Luo Mingshan spoke to Bai Jin’er for the first time: “The refrigerator is for storing food, not children. You put the wrong thing. Can you take the child out? I want to put the chocolate Ah Xing gege gave me inside.”
Then, remembering that Zhao Xing had taught him to be polite, he added, “Thank you.”
Bai Jin’er hysterically lunged at Luo Mingshan to hit him. Just then, Zhao Xing came to give him something and saw the scene. Panicked, he grabbed Luo Mingshan and ran out.
From that day on, he was inseparable from Zhao Xing, even sleeping with Zhao Xing on Zhao Xing’s small bed every night.
Luo Mingshan loved it.
He had grown accustomed to waking up with Zhao Xing every morning, falling asleep with him every night, following him on adventures every day, and cheering for him whenever he got into a fight.
But Zhao Xing was always surrounded by other kids, and Luo Mingshan didn’t like that.
Still, it was okay—he was Ah Xing gege’s favorite.
Then one day, Zhao Xing suddenly told him he was leaving.
Luo Mingshan didn’t want him to go.
What could he do?
What could he do?
Just then, he overheard Little Fatty Liang chatting excitedly with a friend: “I’m leaving tomorrow! Great! Hope nothing unexpected happens before I go.”
Luo Mingshan tilted his head.
An unexpected event?
If Ah Xing gege had an accident, then he wouldn’t be able to leave, right?
The day before Zhao Xing’s departure, the two went on their “last adventure.”
In the dim, abandoned corridor with no surveillance.
Luo Mingshan thought: If Ah Xing gege fell from here, would that count as an accident? Would he then not leave?
But… Ah Xing gege was very afraid of pain.
What could he do?