The car took a turn into unfamiliar roads. Jian frowned. "My house is not that way. You have to take a left."
"Oh, you said you didn't want to go home."
Jian peered up at the man questionably. 'Am I being kidnapped? He doesn't have that vibe, though...'
Clearing his throat, he glanced out.
"I want to go out."
"Wait ten minutes; we'll reach our destination." He simply gazed at the man. 'Who does he think he is? Goodness, he really is kidnapping me...'
"I don't want to wait." He tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Why won't it open?"
"Child safety lock," the man said with a slight grin.
That was it.
Enough information to know that he was being smuggled away to God knows where. He didn't have any weapons to hit the man, but he did have books.
He quickly picked up the largest book he could find in his bag and hit him straight in the face.
The car veered uncontrollably for a second but steadied quickly.
"You! Stop the car!"
The man just looked at him flabbergasted. "Did you just hit me in the face with a book?"
"If you don't stop, I'll hit you even more!" He held up the book, ready to assault him with his slapping technique.
Xing Yu just let out a loud laugh. "That is a lousy weapon." It was hilarious to think that the boy used a book!
"It's the only one I had. It's deadly in my hands, I swear," the young man raised the book high with a threateningly cute glare.
Xing controlled his laughter. "Okay, we are here," he unlocked the door. The young man quickly scrambled out but soon froze. "Why are we at the mall?"
"You said you didn't want to go home. Heard young kids love to waste away time here." He gestured for the boy to follow.
Blinking, the kid followed after him. "I can still beat you up with my book if you try anything."
His cute warnings were useless. Even if he came at him with human kidnappers' advanced weapons, it would not be able to hurt him. But the little human did not know that, which made it even cuter.
Xing Yu walked up to the food court. Humans in this world really loved eating the most unhealthy food. Youngsters were no different. The young man beside him was salivating, looking at one of the stalls.
Jian watched the burgers flashing on the signboard and licked his lips. He had never had a burger in his life. But he had seen Bian eating one late at night. His younger brother loved spending time and money at the mall, but he had never had the chance to enjoy all this. In his last life, he was too complacent, and before he could know it, the world ended. Such a delicacy like a burger became nonexistent. He gulped loudly. 'I didn't bring any cash... I'll come by next time with my pocket money. I'll buy one for old man too. He might like to try it...' All of a sudden, a huge tray of food was held up to his face. Blinking, Jian gazed up to meet the man's pale green eyes. "Eat."
"Huh?"
"It's yours." He showed the tray to him and took his seat regally on the food court plastic chair. With the huge tray, Jian just stood frozen. "Are these mine?"
"If you don't like them, I can get you something else." The man casually sat there, holding his phone.
Jian was perplexed by his sudden kindness. "Why did you buy me food? You barely know me."
"Do I need to know you to buy you food?" He checked the internet to see if what he did was a mistake or not.
Jian sat opposite him. "It's just... taking food from a stranger is dangerous." He subtly took a fry and chewed on it.
The man raised a brow. "The man who cooked it is a stranger. Why do you eat his food?"
"That..." Jian did not know how to answer this man's strange questions. "That is not what I meant..."
"Then what do you mean?" The silver-haired stranger seemed suddenly interested in this topic.
Sighing, Jian continued. "Kidnappers use sweets and food to trick kids into their van, and eventually, they get sold off somewhere rural."
"I took you in my car and brought you food, so... I'm a kidnapper?" Jian chuckled. "You intend to sell me somewhere?"
"No. Selling humans is not legal."
Once again, his strange wordings brought out a bout of chuckles from him. Jian controlled it with difficulty. "Yes, it's very illegal."
"Yet kidnappers do it? They hurt their own kind?"
"Yes, humans are capable of hurting their own kin." His mood fell to the gutter with this sentence. Humans are treacherous beings. His own brother, who grew up with him, betrayed him. His grandmother, who was supposed to love him, loathed him and bullied him. 'Treacherous indeed.'
"Strange..." The man fell silent in thought.
Jian silently ate the fries and moved on to the burger. The man had brought five of them, each of different flavors. He chose the most basic burger and handed the costliest one to him.
"Eat."
The man shook his head. "I don't want one."
"If you don't eat this, I'll be led to believe that you drugged my food."
That made the man frown and take the food.
Jian smiled. 'Tricking him is easy...'
He unwrapped the paper and took a bite. The juicy meat filled his senses. He couldn't help but groan. "This tastes so good!"
Seeing his reaction, the man had a strange expression on his face. "Is it?"
"Try it. It's so juicy and tasty..." He urged him. The man took a bite and seemed to like it. Jian smiled softly. 'I should stock up on spices and some recipe books. This time I'm going to eat well and live well with my grandpa. No alien or stupid brother can disrupt my happy apocalyptic times.'