âSpy?â
Just as I expected.
âYes! I can be your spy! I will tell you what Suyang and Shen Shaoqian are up to. Iâm actually a lot more useful than you may think, little sister...â
âBut why do you want to help us? Suyang brother is supposed to be your boss.â
âIn brief, I canât stand Mi Fan. Also, I like meddling in other peopleâs affairs, ok?â
With my graceful words, I managed to convince Shen Shaonu. After a moment, she nodded.
âI can take you to see Zhengyang. But Iâm not sure whether or not he will accept you.â
Kids were sure troublesome.... Clearly I was helping them. Rather than thanking me graciously, it was as if I were begging to take part instead. Ugh... forget it. I didnât want Suyang to continue meeting Mi Fan again and again. Iâm also doing this for myself. Hence, it was crucial that I 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.
Now that I think of it, Lu Zhengyang was a poor child. His father was beaten up to death in his jail cell. He was filled with so much hatred at such a young age. In addition, he had no one else to rely on...
Actually, Shen Shaonu could be considered his reliance, right? After all, she lent him 50k.
âWhy did you come?â 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?
âDo you still remember me? Last time, I was also present when you went crazy at the coffee shop.â 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 wasnât anything he should be proud of.
A few moments later, he replied, âWho are you?â
âAh...you really donât remember me! I heard about your situation and I want to help you. When are you off work? Iâll wait until youâre done. Then, we can talk in more details.â I sat down on a customerâs seat.
âUmm.. I have to go for tutoring, so I wonât be staying. Today, I only came to lead her the way.â Shen Shaonu stated and then hugged her backpack as she hastily left.
âWhat do you know that made you want to help me?â
âI donât actually know anything, but because the person I trust wants to help you, I have decided I want to help you as well.â
âThe person you trust? Is it Shaonu?â
âI guess... although I havenât known her for long, I can tell she is a good child.â
âDid Shaonu ask you to help me?â
âNo.â
âThen, why? Many people try so hard to avoid muddy water. Why are you taking the initiative to step into it?â
âWhy do you have so many questions?â I was impatient as I happened to notice a customer with her hand raised. I indicated to Lu Zhengyang, âYou should go serve your customer before she puts a complaint about you. Go work. Weâll talk about the specifics after youâre done.â
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. âAfter working for so long, you must be hungry, right? What do you want to eat? This one is on me.â
âYouâre going to buy me dinner?â
âYup. Order!â This BBQ meat store had reasonable common people prices. It was affordable for me to treat a person.
Lu Zhengyang stood up, âIf you want to pay for my dinner, I donât want to eat here. Let me take you elsewhere.â
âDonât pick an expensive place! This older sister is merely an average assistant with an average income. Donât pick something too expensive!â I warned.
I followed Lu Zhengyang. He took us to the food stall outside.
I didnât expect the punk to help me save so much money, so 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 wouldâve 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. âEhhhhh, arenât you in senior high school? Youâre not allowed to drink!â
âIâm already an adult. I can drink. Plus, in the world of adults, donât they drink and chat? If we donât drink, how are we going to chat?â
I had my left hand pressing down on the beer bottle, and my right smacking his head, âYou punk, why are you acting? Who told you, you canât chat without drinking?â
I seized the opportunity to take the two bottles of beer from him, âOwner, please take these beers back. We donât need it.â
âYou....â Lu Zhengyang seemed annoyed by my actions but he didnât say anything else.
âWhen 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.â
âI have too many questions to ask, but right now I cannot remember any of them. Iâm thankful you want to help me. But I must tell you something ahead of time. This is a....â
âTroublesome issue.â I cut off Lu Zhengyangâs words, âI know your situation isnât a simple dispute. But Iâm the type thatâs curious. The more troublesome it is, the more I want to help out.â
âDo you know what happened to me?â Lu Zhengyang revealed a crestfallen expression that was appropriate for his age.
âIâve only read bits and pieces from the web. But I assume 80% of it is false?â 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, âIf itâs ok with you, can you tell me about your father?â
âYou want me to tell you? I donât 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.â
âDo you know the mastermind behind this?â
Lu Zhengyang shook his head.
âThen what was their motive for accusing your father?â
Lu Zhengyang shook his head again.
âDo you actually believe I want to help you? Or are you afraid that Iâm a bad person theyâve sent from the other side?â
Lu Zhengyang coldly laughed, âRegardless of the commotion I make, they ignore me... why would they purposely send a person to get close to me?â
Thatâs true...
âBut if you donât know anything, then you...â
âMy father is innocent!â Lu Zhengyang hollered as he slammed onto the table. His youthful face was flushed, âI 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 is involved is Mi Fan. She and some people had joined forces and put the criminal charges on my dad! Itâs obvious that my father didnât do anything. All he did was try to help his student who was lying on the streets!â
Seeing how furious Lu Zhengyang was, I felt kind of guilty. I wasnât 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 sonâs expressions were very similar. They both had a sorrow that words couldnât describe.
Most likely, my chat with Lu Zhengyang had evoked all his buried emotions from within. After we were done eating, he was 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 didnât waste any time and directly confronted Lu Wenxue to reveal my ability.