Big Brother / Da Ge / The Unknown

Chapter 12

Song Xiaobao, with halting and ineffective speech, finally managed to explain what had happened.

Ever since Wei Qian stopped picking them up from school, the nightly treat of a "twin popsicle" was gone, which greatly displeased Xiaobao. However, she dared not ask Wei Qian for money, and it was certain Wei Zhiyuan would not ask either. Hoping that their elder brother would remember such a trivial matter was pure fantasy.

Therefore, the two of them devised a plan to take a shortcut home every day and collect cans along the way. They would secretly stash the cans under Xiaobao's bed to sell later for money.

One day, for some unknown reason, halfway through their journey, Zhiyuan suddenly refused to take the shortcut. They ended up walking back to the main road. Xiaobao, puzzled, argued with him as usual, but this time, Zhiyuan didn't engage and forcefully dragged her along.

Zhiyuan's expression was so terrifying that Xiaobao ended up complying without any resistance.

Xiaobao, in this case, was a typical timid child, easily cowed by a harsh word or look, quickly becoming meek as a quail.

It's a good thing she's a girl; otherwise, she might have grown up to be prime eunuch material.

Zhiyuan led her aimlessly along the main road, first into a department store at the crossroads, meandering through before leaving. He then looked around cautiously and led her through several small shops, entering through the front and exiting through the back, wandering around outside for over half an hour.

Afterward, Wei Zhiyuan took Xiaobao and started walking towards home. By that time, it was already getting dark.

To get home, they had to pass through a small alley, which was the only way and could not be avoided.

Xiaobao noticed that Zhiyuan was not carrying his backpack properly but was holding it in his hand, with the zipper open. He had one hand inside the bag, searching for something all the way, but never took it out.

Then, she heard footsteps. Wei Zhiyuan's nerves seemed to tense up instantly, and Xiaobao saw a man approaching.

She couldn't describe his exact age or appearance, crying as she tried to explain, only saying he was an adult, similar in size to San Pang's father, a stranger.

Suddenly, Wei Zhiyuan pushed her hard, telling her to run fast.

Even then, Xiaobao couldn't understand what was happening. However, Zhiyuan's attitude filled her with great fear. Although she didn't know what she was afraid of, she was terrified to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat.

She instinctively followed his instruction, running to the end of the alley, becoming more and more scared. Unable to resist, she looked back and saw Zhiyuan taking his hand out of the backpack. It turned out he had hidden a steel pipe inside. Holding it with both hands, he pressed himself against the wall, warily watching the stranger.

Catching her looking back, Wei Zhiyuan angrily yelled at her, "Run! Call big brother!"

Song Xiaobao no longer dared to stop and ran home in one breath. However, it was only when she reached her doorstep that she realized she didn't have the keys. There were three sets of keys to her house: one was with Wei Qian, another was kept as a spare, and the third, which was previously held by San Pang's mother, was now given to Wei Zhiyuan.

Wei Qian initially thought that since the two kids always went in and out together, one set of keys would suffice. He was also concerned that Xiaobao, being clumsy, might lose them. However, at a critical moment, both kids forgot about this arrangement.