Chapter 16: A Sweet Encounter

Xu Hengzhou took the milk candy from Xiang Chen’s hand, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed the candy into Xiang Chen’s mouth: “Eat it, I have plenty more.”

“Really?” Xiang Chen mumbled, his speech slurred with the candy in his mouth, his baby voice sweeter than the milk candy.

Xu Hengzhou watched as Xiang Chen happily ate the candy, thinking about the information he had gathered about Xiang Chen, feeling even more pity.

“Really, I have a lot of food,” Xu Hengzhou said, patting Xiang Chen’s head as he watched Xiang Chen finish the candy in his mouth contentedly.

“That’s great,” Xiang Chen said, envious.

“I’ve been thinking about the instant noodles at home these past few days, I have a lot of braised beef, it would’ve been great if I brought them with me.” He sighed again, “If only I hadn’t drunk so much, my childhood friend bought me barbecue, I didn’t even finish it, I really want to eat it!”

“Drinking?” Xu Hengzhou quickly caught the main point.

Xiang Chen realized his slip and gave an embarrassed smile, “My childhood friend insisted on having a drink with me……”

Under Xu Hengzhou’s amused gaze, Xiang Chen gradually fell silent, finally mumbling, “Well, you rejected me, I was really sad and drank.”

Xu Hengzhou couldn’t help but pinch Xiang Chen’s chubby cheeks, saying in a bad mood, “You even got my name wrong, do you think I can agree with you? Who knows if you like me or Wang Dagui?”

Xiang Chen looked up in surprise, “So you don’t dislike me, right?! I like you, only you!”

Normally, Xu Hengzhou should be very happy, but looking at the little guy in front of him, who reached up to his chest, his heart suddenly felt heavy. But seeing Xiang Chen’s sparkling eyes, he still softened his voice and said, “I don’t dislike you.”

Xiang Chen became even happier, so happy that he didn’t know what to do, he circled around Xu Hengzhou twice, pushing his own little bag and gold ring into Xu Hengzhou’s hands, “All my things are yours, and I’ll share my food with you in the future!”

He was really happy, his mother had passed away when he was very young, and his father brought home a stepmother who was not as good as she seemed.

Xiang Chen was too young to deal with her, after suffering a few times, he cried and refused to live with them, following his grandparents instead.

Later, when Xiang Chen’s sexual orientation was exposed, his father was furious, and with the stepmother’s interference, he was disowned.

Fortunately, there were still his grandparents, but they too were gone, leaving Xiang Chen alone.

Perhaps it was too lonely, Xiang Chen was very sensitive to others’ kindness and malice, and his reactions were very strong, he always wanted to repay those who were kind to him.

Xu Hengzhou was his first and only love, he almost wanted to give everything he had to Xu Hengzhou, so when he thought Xu Hengzhou disliked him, Xiang Chen was indeed very sad.

Now, Xu Hengzhou said he didn’t dislike him, Xiang Chen was overjoyed, he just wanted to give Xu Hengzhou a lot of things, but he didn’t have any, he was no longer the spoiled rich boy with five properties, even his jewelry was reduced to a single ring…..

Xu Hengzhou looked at Xiang Chen, who was filled with joy and then disappointment, and he didn’t know what was going on in his little brain.

Xiang Chen was slightly depressed for a while, then he thought about what else he could give Xu Hengzhou, and then he cheered up again, pleading, “Can I be your little brother?”

Xu Hengzhou: “What?”

“Just a little follower!” Xiang Chen said excitedly, “I’ll do whatever you say, run errands for you, give you all the good food and fun stuff, and even carry your backpack for you!”

Xiang Chen was not joking, he had a deep impression of such movies as “Young Gangsters” when he was young, but at that time, he was too young to understand the implied meaning of righteousness, he just envied the big brother who had a group of obedient little brothers.

Then, the obedient little brother in Xiang Chen’s imagination was probably as he had just said to Xu Hengzhou, listening to the big brother, giving up good food and fun. He had always wanted such a little brother, but he couldn’t get one.

Therefore, Xiang Chen thought for a long time and felt that if he became this little brother, Xu Hengzhou would definitely be very happy. If they couldn’t be lovers, they could be brothers.

After listening to Xiang Chen’s idea, Xu Hengzhou didn’t know what to say. He was so stupid, if he didn’t take care of him, he would be bullied to death.

“How about it? Let me be your little brother!” Xiang Chen continued to insist.

Xu Hengzhou rubbed Xiang Chen’s head and said in a bad mood, “Wait until you are taller than me to say that!”

Xiang Chen frowned, “You are already taller than me, I will never grow taller than you……”

Before he could finish, Xu Hengzhou stuffed a piece of candy into his mouth.

Xiang Chen, with the candy in his mouth, still didn’t want to be quiet, he mumbled, “Can’t eat it anymore, we should save it, it will be gone if we eat it all……”

Xu Hengzhou was really helpless with him. Towards Xiang Chen, he was willing to feed and water him, but to let him reveal the matter of taking him to the mall now, it was impossible.

It was not that he suspected Xiang Chen, but Xu Hengzhou was born with a character that was not easy to trust others. He was willing to risk being discovered to give Xiang Chen food, which showed how much he liked Xiang Chen.

Perhaps, Xiang Chen’s IQ also gave Xu Hengzhou a great sense of security……

Xiang Chen finished the milk candy in his mouth, licked his lips satisfactorily, and said to Xu Hengzhou with a smile in his eyes, “It’s really delicious.”

Xu Hengzhou was charmed by his little appearance, well, Xiang Chen was good-looking when he grew up, and he was really cute when he was a little dumpling, just like a little angel who was sweet and soft.

When he smiled obediently towards Xu Hengzhou, Xu Hengzhou had already put his hand in his pocket, almost to take out another candy.

Before the candy was taken out, a little girl’s panicked voice suddenly came from outside, “Brother, brother? Where are you, brother?”

Xiang Chen was startled, turning to open the door, but Xu Hengzhou held him back, lowering his voice, “From the family that bought you?”

Xiang Chen nodded, “It’s a little girl, very cute.”

“Wait a moment,” Xu Hengzhou said in a low voice, “Don’t let anyone know you know me, next time meet, pretend it’s the first time, understand?”

Xu Hengzhou’s mind worked quickly, knowing from Xiang Chen’s story that he couldn’t stay at Chen’s house for long, it was better to keep him under his own eyes.

It was also Xiang Chen’s good luck that by coincidence, Xu Hengzhou had already created an identity for him. Although it was a bit of a pit to really become his brother, looking at Xiang Chen’s appearance now…… well, brother is brother, he is not a pervert.

As for the future…… after such a long time, whether their feelings would change or not was still uncertain, it was too early to say. When Xiang Chen grew up, if Xu Hengzhou still liked him, he would naturally think of other ways.

But Xu Hengzhou couldn’t go to Rosston Wenbin and say his brother was found, what could be more reliable than seeing it with one’s own eyes, just let Rosston Wenbin see the little red mole on Xiang Chen’s hand, he would go to investigate on his own.

The reason for not letting Xiang Chen say they knew each other was to avoid arousing Rosston Wenbin’s suspicion.

Xiang Chen didn’t understand why, but he still nodded obediently, afraid of Chen Xiaohua being anxious, he quickly stuffed the candy in his hand back into Xu Hengzhou’s hand, leaving only one, which was for Chen Xiaohua.

After delaying for a while, Chen Xiaohua outside was already anxious, her voice was running towards the staircase, and she was still calling, “Brother! Brother! Chen Dabao!”

Xiang Chen: “……”

Xu Hengzhou: “…… Pfft.”

“Don’t laugh!” Xiang Chen ran over, not knowing whether to cover Xu Hengzhou’s ears or mouth, anxious to the point of red eyes, looking pitiful.

Xu Hengzhou barely suppressed his laughter, rubbed Xiang Chen’s little dumpling face, “Okay, I won’t laugh.”

Xiang Chen, seeing the smile in Xu Hengzhou’s eyes, was not very satisfied, stressing, “I don’t go by that name, they are calling it wrong, I didn’t respond.”

“Well, okay,” Xu Hengzhou nodded, patting Xiang Chen, “Go, or they will be anxious if they can’t find you.”

Xiang Chen clenched the big white rabbit in his hand and ran out, just as he ran out, he heard the boy’s clear laughter.

Xiang Chen: “…… I didn’t hear anything!”

Chen Xiaohua turned a circle at the staircase, asked an old lady downstairs, and knew that Xiang Chen hadn’t gone down, so she ran up again, just in time to meet Xiang Chen at the door.

“Where did you go?” The little girl ran with sweat on her head, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xiang Chen was safe.

Xiang Chen smiled and stretched out his hand to Chen Xiaohua, “Here you go.”

“What is this?” Chen Xiaohua took the big white rabbit, played with it for a while, “There’s a little rabbit!”

“Big white rabbit! Have you never seen it?” Xiang Chen said in surprise. He remembered his grandmother saying that she had eaten big white rabbit when she was a child, did this kind of candy not exist now?

Actually, Xiang Chen was mistaken, big white rabbit was born in 1959, only two years before, and because of its low production and current shortage of materials, big white rabbit was a high-end product among candies.

The price of ordinary candies ranged from 1.2 yuan to 1 yuan, while big white rabbit was 2.4 yuan, so it was understandable that Chen Xiaohua had not seen big white rabbit.

Chen Xiaohua shook her head, “No.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Chen directly peeled off the candy wrapper and stuffed the candy block into Chen Xiaohua’s mouth, “It’s candy, eat it.”

Chen Xiaohua had just been fed a candy ball, then a big white rabbit, which was much better than Xiang Chen’s low-quality candy ball. But for Chen Xiaohua, there was no bad candy, only good and better.

The little girl was so happy that her mouth watered, she chewed and was happy, forgetting to ask where Xiang Chen had gone just now.

Xiang Chen looked at the closed door next door, leading Chen Xiaohua back, he forgot to ask about Xu Hengzhou, he would ask next time if he had a chance. He had delayed half a day this morning, Chen Guoliang and the others should be back.