Chapter 97: The Lonely Warrior

Standing on the stool for a while, Shen Xiyan still didn’t see anyone.

Curious, he stepped outside, thinking that since it was broad daylight, Su Jin couldn’t possibly have been kidnapped to be someone’s concubine, right?

Then he found a “on the verge of breaking down” Su Jin at the door of the big house next door.

When Shen Xiyan saw her, she was chatting with a little brat—probably the landlord’s son, judging by his age—playing with a toy car in his hand.

“Little brother…

.. do you know where the screwdriver is at home? Let your sister borrow it…”

“I live in that room. I’ll give it to you after I’m done.”

“We’ve met before, do you remember?”

“Remember! You’re the one who got your mom to hit me! Tch tch tch!”

Three spits flew out in quick succession.

Shen Xiyan clearly saw one drop land right on Su Jin’s shoe tip, and her eyes twitched violently at the corner.

If the same thing happened to Shen Xiyan, she probably would have tolerated it… right?

After all, you can’t really argue with a kid. You’re not going to hang him up and beat him.

But if Qin Sheng found out…

Spitting on her shoes wouldn’t matter. Instead of wasting time arguing, it’d be better to just buy a new pair. Time saved could be better spent flirting with Shen Xiyan.

But if the spit landed on Shen Xiyan’s shoes, it’d be over. Especially since this was a deliberately naughty kid, Qin Sheng would definitely hold the brat down and lick the spit clean.

She wouldn’t let Shen Xiyan suffer even a little.

Su Jin was a normal person, so she endured it: “You’re the one who broke into my room first…”

“My room! My room! My mom said you’re just a stinky renter! Renting the cheapest place and still whining…”

Su Jin’s face darkened as she left. Turning the corner, she saw Shen Xiyan and took a tissue from him, clearly knowing the whole thing had been witnessed.

She bent down and wiped the spit off her shoe, gritting her teeth: “I really want to beat him up!”

Kids are naughty and disobedient—what else can you do?

Just beat them!

But Su Jin couldn’t bring herself to hit a child. The parents, on the other hand, could beat him mercilessly. They were family, but Su Jin was a stranger.

Beating the brat in front of everyone would immediately earn criticism.

But not beating him made her angry inside.

No, no, I have to control my wild instincts.

Shen Xiyan watched the scene with amusement, laughing: “Who told you to dress like that? If you showed up at noon looking like that, he might not even finish talking…”

“Shut up!”

Su Jin was in a bad mood: “It’s not the first time. I found out before he sneaks into my room to eat my snacks. Told his parents, and they said ‘kids don’t understand.’ So I locked the door.”

“When I’m home, I don’t really mind sharing. But one time after I finished typing, I went to shower, and he sneaked in to mess with my computer.”

“When I came back, there was suddenly a family bucket in the files, the antivirus was beeping, and all my 80,000 words of drafts were gone… 80,000 words!”

“Do you know what that means? I wanted to kill him. I asked his parents for compensation, but again, ‘kids don’t understand.’”

“They were “generous” enough to waive half a month’s rent. Do I want a few hundred yuan? I can make more than that writing a single chapter! It pissed me off!”

“His parents are the landlords?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why do you still live here?”

“It’s cheap!”

.. You’re short on money?

Su Jin didn’t say anything.

Shen Xiyan probably guessed she had some unspeakable trouble and comforted her: “Look at it from another angle…”

“Having such a brat, the parents must be troubled too. No, the responsibility lies with the parents.. Growing up means taking some losses.”

“His losses when he grows up have nothing to do with me! I just want air conditioning now. If I kill him, will my body temperature drop? Can I hug him to cool down?”

“Hey hey hey!” Shen Xiyan’s eyes widened.

What are you seriously saying?

“Forget it! Forget it! I shouldn’t have come looking for this brat from the start, just asking for trouble. I’m going to the hardware store to buy one.”

Grown ugly, grown useless, what does it have to do with her?

If her own son grew up like this, she’d kill him on the spot!

“… How far? Look at me.” Shen Xiyan grabbed Su Jin’s sleeve.

How could there be a hardware store next to the school?

Rent is expensive and no one buys this stuff here. The nearest one is seven or eight hundred meters away. Walking would be exhausting. Taking a taxi during rush hour… are you crazy?

By the time she got back, Wenwen would probably be starved at home.

“You?”

Su Jin squinted at Shen Xiyan, not taking it seriously: “You’re a guy, you’re worse than me.”

“That’s because you don’t know how to get along with kids. Watch and learn.”

Shen Xiyan pulled out his phone, checked the time, and searched on Weibo, filing the plan in his mind.

Su Jin silently crossed her arms and watched, then her chest sank.

“!!!”

She looked around, and when no one was watching, quickly pulled up her bra.

That was close, close. She almost got exposed as a fake.

When Shen Xiyan first arrived, like Su Jin, he peeked inside the house, apparently looking for someone.

“Little brother, are your parents home? I’m a tenant, came to borrow something…”

The kid glanced at Shen Xiyan but ignored him, quietly playing with his toy.

Shen Xiyan wasn’t in a hurry either, standing there spacing out for thirty seconds.

Then the brat threw a stone at him, saying he was blocking his light.

Shen Xiyan kept apologizing profusely.

That look… so shameless that Su Jin wanted to rush over and beat him up!

Suddenly it made no sense… what could be done?

Then, “Everyone… is brave~~ Your forehead wound, yours, is different, your mistakes.”

A familiar melody hummed softly from Shen Xiyan’s lips.

The little boy stopped playing with the toy car and looked up, dazed.

“Everyone… no need to hide~~ Your tattered doll, your mask, your true self.”

The boy’s eyes began to shine strangely. His body twitched as if shocked.

Slowly, the solo turned into a chorus.

“Love you walking alone in dark alleys! Love your refusal to kneel! Love your defiance of despair! Not willing to cry out loud!!!!!”

Compared to Shen Xiyan’s “Zhishi,” the boy sang hoarsely and with reckless passion.

All emotion, no technique.

Su Jin got goosebumps.

Not because the song was so beautiful or anything, but because she really wanted to go over and kick Shen Xiyan hard to shut him up.

Shut up!!

She admitted that when this song first came out, it was pretty good—she even played it on repeat. But after seeing some short videos of kids singing it…

How to put it?

Suddenly it felt cheap, turned into a children’s song.

Recently, a trend of “secret codes” spread, and out of ten kids, at least seven would respond.

Just seeing those videos made her cringe on the floor.

But Shen Xiyan’s face showed no embarrassment, only delight: “You can sing too?”

“Mm.”

The little boy’s bad temper vanished. His chubby face beamed with pride: “I’m the best singer in class.”

Then their class really must be tormented by that noise.

Shen Xiyan thought so, but smiled: “No wonder it sounds good. Can the others sing too?”

“Yeah!” The boy nodded enthusiastically.

Shen Xiyan gave a thumbs-up: “Impressive!!”

So Su Jin had a song playing in her head too, but a different one:

【In the Spring and Autumn Period,

Bo Ya’s zither skills were famous far and wide.

Fish would sink and even horses would raise their heads to listen…】

Isn’t this just Bo Ya meeting Ziqi?

“Going? Worth it? This tattered cloak!! Fight? Fight! With the humblest dream!!”

Not satisfied with once, Shen Xiyan sang along for a second round.

Passing parents gave him disdainful looks, probably thinking: Don’t do this here in front of the barbershop.

Su Jin was glad she wasn’t standing with him.

This is way too embarrassing!

After two rounds, Shen Xiyan covered his throat, acting as if he couldn’t go on.

Then Su Jin watched the brat excitedly run home and rummage through his stuff, pulling out a toolbox and handing it to Shen Xiyan.

Su Jin was stunned… this actually works?!

Finally, Shen Xiyan came back carrying the box, strutting, looking smug, and said: “See? To deal with a brat, you have to hit the right spot.”

Su Jin’s eye twitched as she rubbed the goosebumps on her arm: “Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Not really. I used to sing ‘come on, Counterattack is coming’ when I was a kid too.”

“Then you really should have just gone to buy one.”

Shen Xiyan rolled his eyes: “What do you know? I gained ‘friendship.’”

“Friendship? With a brat?”

Su Jin glanced at the little troublemaker and suddenly noticed a blue Mao Yeye bill in his hand. The boy was ecstatic, standing up and looking around, eager to try something.

“Hey, why’d you give him money?”

“He sang with me. Can I let him sing for free?” Shen Xiyan waved him off: “Run, run! Go back and check your air conditioner.”

Su Jin felt something was off but couldn’t put her finger on it.

Back home.

“Help me hold the stool. If I fall and break something, that counts as a work injury, and you have to support me for life.”

“Get away!”

Su Jin glared at him, gripping tightly, knuckles white: “Can you manage or not?”

“Don’t rush. Your air conditioner is way too dirty.”

As Shen Xiyan lifted the cover, a thin layer of dust rose: “How long has it been since it was cleaned? Feels like since I moved in. I don’t stay here much anyway.”

“No wonder it’s so filthy. Aren’t you afraid of getting rhinitis?”

Shen Xiyan waved his hand in front of his nose and mouth, then took out two air conditioner filter screens: “I’ll wash these later.”

“Good. Is the air conditioner working? If not, get someone to fix it fast.”

“Don’t worry… let me check.”

With Shen Xiyan’s tinkering, the air conditioner clicked on and actually blew out cold air. Su Jin’s heart skipped a beat as she stared blankly at him.

For years, she had been alone here, having to deal with everything by herself.

Is this what it’s like to have a man in the house?

Things that baffled her suddenly got fixed so easily?

“All done. Step aside, I’m coming down.”

“Oh…”

Su Jin stepped back a little.

Shen Xiyan’s gaze naturally drifted from Su Jin’s collar inward, landing on the black lace-trimmed piece that looked sweet and alluring.

One look, two looks, three looks.