Would Xi Wei agree? Would he drop the little baby in front of this youth?
Xi Wei stopped and seemed to consider what Ya Sang had ordered him to do.
Zeno's heart tightened.
Hey protagonist, I won't eat so much, don't give me to this Ya Sang jerk! QAQ
Xi Wei, of course, could not hear the cry of Zeno's heart, but he could feel the little bundle on his chest shudder. He patted Zeno's back and furrowed his brow, coldly whispering, "Don't move."
Zeno immediately fell silent, stretched his little face to rub it against the protagonist's face, and picked up a few mud stains on his cheeks in the process.
The inspiration behind this move was his young neighbour growing up. Whenever he was in trouble he would run to Zeno's place, and whenever Zeno tried to take him home he would pull that trick. Zeno could only surrender to that cute little devil—even a god could not stop the meng.
Xi Wei stared down blankly, overcome with the urge to pinch Zeno's little cheeks after that sudden move of his. If he was looking down from heaven, the protagonist would probably understand that he was dying of meng overload.
When Ya Sang saw Xi Wei stop as he had ordered, he assumed that this idiot does not have the guts to defy him. After waiting while Xi Wei simply stood there, he began growing impatient. He threw the bread right away, so it should be simple to hand over the child.
"You stupid fool, do I have to come get it myself?" He bellowed, and Zeno desperately wished he could find some way to plug his ears.
Xi Wei remained motionless and calm; his eyes were steady as he gazed at the brutish teen. Ya Sang felt like those empty eyes were looking straight into his heart. He experienced a faint flicker of fear followed immediately by shame—how could he be afraid of this fool?
Ya Sang took two large steps forward and pointed at Zeno, "I did not expect a fool like you could actually find such a cute baby, it must definitely be a girl. I want it, obediently hand it over. "
Zeno's heart screamed, cute or not I'm definitely a boy okay! When the protagonist changes my diaper, the truth will definitely come out!
Something seemed to be wrong.
I really want to puke on his nasty face.
While Zeno thought so, his body acted up independently.
After a small "splat" sound, Ya Sang's face was suddenly sparkling due to saliva, while a little baby was suddenly twisting his head, avoiding looking at him.
The corners of Xi Wei's mouth twitched briefly.
Ya Sang immediately lashed out, determined to vent his anger on Xi Wei—the one making him work so hard to get the baby 'girl'. He grabbed the wooden stick that he had been carrying around, lifted it above his head and brought it down on Xi Wei's back. The strike tore the thin fabric of his shirt and left a red welt blooming on his back.
The impact from this hit caused Xi Wei to stumble. If he were a strong man, determined to stand and fight to protect his dignity, then he may be fine. However, the protagonist was not even at the level of an ordinary person, so he simply collapsed.
Despite the fact that his thin body struck the snow forcefully enough to make a full body imprint, Xi Wei kept Zeno safely tucked in his embrace and tried his best to keep him from making any contact with the snow.
Zeno was shocked when the protagonist suddenly fell. Unsure of the cause, he panicked and wanted to struggle, but found his arms tightly clamped and completely immobilized.
Ya Sang suspected that Xi Wei was trying to play him by suddenly appearing to faint. He came closer, kicked Xi Wei in the back, and screeched, "Fool, stand up, don't tell me you're trying to stall!"
Xi Wei remained motionless, as if he really had fainted.
Ya Sang frowned deeply. He did not really care if Xi Wei was dead or alive; he was just a weak little chicken who was asking to be beaten. He started using the stick he had in his hands to pry Xi Wei off of the baby.
As Ya Sang bent down, Xi Wei tensed his body, his hand firmly gripping his knife. As long as he was close enough, even this shoddy knife could draw blood.
Before he could convert his tension into action, Xi Wei, who had his ear on the ground, heard footsteps—many, many footsteps. He clenched his knife more tightly, but remained on the ground as he was.
Ya Sang smoothly pulled out Zeno.
Zeno could only feel the protagonist's arms loosen around him. Ya Sang clutched him too tightly, his facial expression ugly. This, coupled with Zeno's concern over the protagonist, drove him to cry out, "Wahhhh!"
Ya Sang sported an irritated look on his face, and shoved a mouldy chunk of bread into Zeno's mouth. With this all he could let out were muffled whines.
Zeno still had a low-grade fever, his emotions were running amok, and his mouth was filled with a mouldy bread taste. He was so uncomfortable he almost fainted.
Suddenly, the air was filled with the crunching of footsteps near and far. A group of people dressed in warrior regalia appeared in the alley, led by a burly man with only one eye. A fearsome scar stretched across his face from the left eye to his right chin, and it seemed to be the remnant of the wound that cost him his eye.
This scar did not affect his charm at all, but rather made him appear wild, manly, and cool.
Seeing the situation in from of him, the scar faced man stopped along with his crowd of younger brothers, asking with interest, "Robbery?"
Ya Sang stood slack-jawed for a few seconds after seeing this man, then quickly moved to flatter him. He dared not draw near and remained standing where he was, greeting him respectfully with a bow, "Mr. Xi Lun, I am honoured to see you."
The scar faced man laughed, his laughter very deep and mellow. The sound was ten million times nicer than listening to Ya Sang's discordant speaking tone.
"Do you know me?" He asked.
Ya Sang continued to suck up, "This is Fenhong Street, how could someone not know you, sir?"
The man, who was called Xi Lun, did not answer the question, and just kept asking, "Since you know where you are, why are you fighting in the back alley of Fenhong Street?"
Xi Lun asked the question with a wide smile on his face, but the tone of his voice caused Ya Sang to immediately break out in a cold sweat.
He averted his eyes and held up Zeno in front of the scar-faced man while explaining, "It is not a fight, but that fool on the ground stole my sister, you see, this is the girl in my hand. This young one knows Mr. Xi Lun needs some good stuff, and if my younger sister can follow Mr. Xi Lun, she will surely have a good life in the future."
Zeno whined in protest.
Xi Lun gave Zeno a once over. After seeing his appearance, his eyes flickered with surprise. Even if it was still small, he could see that this child possessed exquisite features. Not even a fool would believe that this child was Ya Sang's little sister. To what extent could genes even mutate ah?
However, Xi Lun still reached out and took Zeno into his arms.
Ya Sang puffed up with pride. He knew this girl's looks were not ordinary; he could certainly sell her for a good price.
He was not able to gloat for long when a wooden stick struck his head, the movement accurate and ruthless. Ya Sang saw stars for a moment before his eyes went slack and he collapsed to the ground in silence.
Xi Wei was standing behind him, holding the stick that Ya Sang had just tossed aside.
Xi Lun rested one arm over Xi Wei's shoulder after slowly clapping his hands a couple times, and praised him, "That was pretty well done."
Xi Wei said nothing and watched him vigilantly.
Xi Lun glanced over his alert figure and chuckled in amusement, "Come on, I know this kid is yours."
Xi Wei considered for a moment before nodding.
Xi Lun spoke to him again, "Before I hand her back, wash your face."
Xi Wei did not ask why and quietly squatted down, grabbed a handful of snow, and rubbed it all over his face. The snow was cold and his face was red with the cold, but his proper appearance emerged from the filth.
Xi Lun observed quietly, without questioning, until Xi Wei was clean and stood up. "So, Jasmine's son, is this your daughter?"
Xi Wei was a little surprised, "You…know…me?"
Xi Lun, with one hand holding Zeno, and one hand behind his back, answered coolly, "You don't remember me?"
Zeno felt like ten thousand beasts were treading across his heart; could this plot even be saved? Why would this scar-faced man, destined to appear a decade from now, appear at this moment? The rhythm of the plot was completely collapsing.
"Curse" did have a man named Xi Lun, but when he appeared in the novel, the protagonist was twenty-one, and in the prime of his life. Xi Lun played the relatively insignificant role of a father to one of the harem members. The one noteworthy detail was the fact that he knew the protagonist's mother, Jasmine!
This decade younger Xi Lun was a cool guy, and he gave off the heavy aura of a gang boss. Just thinking that in the next decade he would become a middle-aged uncle made it hard to even look at him.
This also made it hard for Zeno to recognize when he first showed up. The gap was way too large ah!
The Harem father appeared!
Would the harem follow close behind?
But the protagonist was only eleven years old!
The premature appearance of the harem made it useless!
Wake up storyline!
Xi Wei thought for a moment before pointing to Zeno and saying, "Boy."
Xi Lun looked carefully at Zeno's face and muttered, "It's not a girl?"
If Zeno had teeth, he would jump up and bite his nose.
Xi Lun contemplated for a long time, but he knew Xi Wei would not deceive him about something like this, and he continued. "I remember your brother died three years ago and is too old anyways, so is this child your son?"
Xi Wei did not deny his question.
Although this may seem a little weird, it was not impossible for an eleven year old to have a baby. Xi Lun knew that Xi Wei was not the type to tell a lie, and he did not possess the empathy to adopt a child with no blood relation to him. When you remove the incorrect answers, what remained could only be the truth.
Praise this man for his wit!
Xi Lun looked at Zeno emotionally, "I remember when Jasmine told me she was going to have a child, and in a flash her son has a son."
Zeno found himself completely thunderstruck by this man's words.
Xi Wei just quietly listened without interjecting. The scar-faced man had been talking to himself, "Well, looking closer, this child really looks like you ah, it really is father and son—both cast from the same mould."
Does your daughter know you prattle on like this?
Does your daughter know how big your brain really is?
Obviously he just looked like a cool guy…