Chapter 65: Speaking to the son
“Spy?”
Just as I expected.
“Yes! I can be your spy! I will tell you what Suyang and Shen Shaoqian are up to. I’m actually a lot more useful than you may think!”
“But why do you want to help us? Suyang brother is supposed to be your boss.”
“Long story short, I can’t stand Mi Fan. Also, I like meddling in other people’s affairs, ok?”
With my graceful words, I managed to convince Shen Shaonu. After a moment, she nodded.
“I can take you to see Zhengyang. But I don't know whether he'll be willing to talk to you.”
Kids are sure troublesome… Clearly I'm helping them. Rather than thanking me graciously, it's like I had to beg to take part. Ugh… forget it. I don’t want Suyang to continue seeing Mi Fan again and again. I’m also doing this for myself. So, I really have to get to the bottom of this case as soon as possible.
Shen Shaonu said Lu Zhengyang worked at a BBQ meat store everyday after school.
Thinking about it, Lu Zhengyang was a pitiful child. His father was beaten up to death in his jail cell. He was filled with so much hatred at such a young age. He also had no one else to rely on…
Actually, Shen Shaonu could be considered his reliance, right? After all, she lent him 50k.
“Why did you come here?” Lu Zhengyang looked at Shen Shaonu and briefly glanced at me without saying anything. It appeared he had forgotten about me. What the heck? Was my existence level so low?
“Do you still remember me? Last time, I was also present when you went crazy at the coffee shop.” Even if my chances were one in ten thousand, I still wanted to know.
Hearing my words, Lu Zhengyang nervously looked around his surroundings. He was afraid other people had heard what I said. After all, he knew what he did wasn’t anything he should be proud of.
A few moments later, he replied, “Who are you?”
“Ah...you really don’t remember me! I heard about your situation and I want to help you. When are you off work? I’ll wait until you’re done. Then, we can talk in greater details.” I sat down on a customer’s seat.
“Umm.. I have to go for tutoring, so I won’t be staying. Today, I only came to bring her here.” Shen Shaonu stated and then hugged her backpack as she hastily left.
“What do you know that made you want to help me?”
“I don’t actually know anything, but because the person I trust wants to help you, so I have decided I want to help you as well.”
“The person you trust? Is it Shaonu?”
“I guess… although I haven’t known her for long, I can tell she is a good child.”
“Did Shaonu ask you to help me?”
“No.”
“Then, why? Many people try so hard to avoid muddy water. Why are you taking the initiative to step into it?”
“Why do you have so many questions?” I was impatient and happened to notice a customer with her hand raised. I indicated to Lu Zhengyang, “You should go serve your customer before she files a complaint about you. Go work. We’ll talk about the specifics after you’re done.”
Since I had to wait for Lu Zhengyang, I ended up having dinner at the store.
After four hours later, he was finally finished his shift. The owner of the store was glaring at me the entire night because all I had ordered were a dish of barbecued meat and a can of coke. Yet, I sat there during their peak hours as well. Most likely, he was crumbling on the inside.
When Lu Zhengyang sat down in front of me, I pushed the menu towards him. “After working for so long, you must be hungry, right? What do you want to eat? This one is on me.”
“You’re going to buy me dinner?”
“Yup. Order!” This BBQ meat store had reasonable common people prices. It was affordable for me to treat a person.
Lu Zhengyang stood up. “If you want to pay for my dinner, I don’t want to eat here. Let me take you elsewhere.”
“Don’t pick an expensive place! This older sister is merely an average assistant with an average income. Don’t pick something too expensive!” I warned.
I followed Lu Zhengyang. He took us to the food stall outside.
I didn’t expect the punk to help me save so much money; my impression of him increased a few levels. But it was too loud here. Everyone around were drinking and yelling.
Actually, in the past, there were a few times where I had wanted to try out places like this. But I had no one to go with. If I came alone, it seemed odd and out of place in this type of atmosphere. So, I never ended up coming.
Who would’ve thought that this child would grant my wish today? He ordered some skewers, a few small dishes, and two bottles of beer.
Just as Lu Zhengyang was about to open the beer, I stopped him. “Ehhhhh, aren’t you in senior high school? You’re not allowed to drink!”
“I’m already an adult. I can drink. Plus, in the world of adults, don’t they drink and chat? If we don’t drink, how are we going to chat?”
I had my left hand pressing down on the beer bottle, and my right smacking his head, “You punk, why are you acting? Who told you, you can’t chat without drinking?”
I seized the opportunity to take the two bottles of beer from him. “Owner, please take these beers back. We don’t need it.”
“You….” Lu Zhengyang seemed annoyed by my actions but he didn’t say anything else.
“When we were at the BBQ meat store, you had a lot of questions you wanted to ask me right? Go ahead and ask. I will answer them all.”
“I have too many questions to ask, but right now I cannot remember any of them. I’m thankful you want to help me. But I must tell you something ahead of time. This is a….”
“Troublesome issue.” I cut off Lu Zhengyang’s words. “I know your situation isn’t a simple dispute. But I’m the type that’s curious. The more troublesome it is, the more I want to help out.”
“Do you know what happened to me?” Lu Zhengyang revealed a crestfallen expression that was appropriate for his age.
“I’ve only read bits and pieces from the web. But I assume 80% of it is false?” Seeing how depressed he was, I honestly felt bad for making him think back about his past. But I had no choice, so I tested him, “If it’s ok with you, can you tell me about your father?”
“You want me to tell you? I don’t know how I should begin. Everything happened too suddenly. While I was clueless, my father had been accused of an inauspicious, horrid crime and died innocently in prison.”
“Do you know the mastermind behind this?”
Lu Zhengyang shook his head.
“What was their motive for accusing your father?”
Lu Zhengyang shook his head again.
“Do you actually believe I want to help you? Or are you afraid that I’m a bad person they’ve sent from the other side?”
Lu Zhengyang coldly laughed, “Regardless of the commotion I make, they ignore me… why would they purposely send a person to get close to me?”
That’s true…
“But if you don’t know anything, then you…”
“My father is innocent!” Lu Zhengyang hollered as he slammed onto the table. His youthful face was flushed, “I know what type of person he is because he is my father! As his son, I believe him. So I must help him redress an injustice! The only person I know who is directly involved is Mi Fan. She and some people had joined forces and put the criminal charges on my dad! It was obvious that my father didn’t do anything. All he did was try to help his student who was lying on the streets!”
I felt guilty for igniting Lu Zhengyang's fire. I wasn’t sure how to comfort him. But suddenly, a half transparent figured appeared behind him.
While I was trying to figure out whether I was hallucinating or not, Lu Wenxue had already sat down next to Lu Zhengyang as he lightly patted his back. Currently, the father and son’s expressions were very similar. They both had a sorrow that couldn't be put into words.
Most likely, my chat with Lu Zhengyang had evoked all his buried emotions from within. After we were done eating, he couldn't stop bawling his eyes out on the way home.
It was difficult to calm him down. Eventually, his sobs became silent tears. After I walked him home, I didn’t waste any time and directly confronted Lu Wenxue to reveal my ability.