Chapter 106 – The White Moonlight is Forcibly Loved by the Substitute 4
The chaotic night passed. In the small, dilapidated, and messy room, the little boy deftly removed Shuang Yu’s clothes. When he saw the bruised body and the gaping, bloody knife wound on his waist and abdomen, he gasped. His glass-like eyes filled with conflict and unease.
His upbringing had made him more mature than other children his age. The tattoo on Shuang Yu’s back and his various wounds indicated that he was not a good person. The little boy had never heard the story of the Farmer and the Snake, but he felt a faint sense of fear. He wasn’t afraid of retaliation from the bad man, but rather that his father would find out he had brought trouble home and beat him to death! But if he didn’t save him, what if he died in their house? The image of his mother dying, gasping for breath, flashed through his mind.
The little boy sniffled, his glassy eyes filled with determination. His small, cold hand touched Shuang Yu’s burning forehead, and his soft voice was full of resolve. “Don’t be afraid, mister. I definitely won’t let you die!”
He stood up and fetched a basin of water from the cramped bathroom. He wrung out a tattered towel and gently wiped the bloodstains from Shuang Yu’s body. After cleaning the blood, he quickly grabbed a bottle of his father’s hidden liquor, opened it, and poured the strong alcohol onto Shuang Yu’s wounds to disinfect them. Then, he found some clean clothes, cut them into strips with scissors, and quickly bandaged the wounds. They say the son of a poor family matures early, and this child was remarkably skilled at these tasks. The faint bruises visible on his own body suggested that he was a poor child who was often abused.
The wounds on his abdomen and head were treated, but Shuang Yu’s high fever persisted.
“Cold…”
His body convulsed from the fever, and he mumbled incoherently about being cold. The little boy’s family was very poor, and the only blanket they had was already covering him. He remembered how his mother would hold him when he was cold as a child, warming him with her own body heat. Without any hesitation, the little boy lifted the blanket, crawled in, and hugged Shuang Yu’s narrow waist tightly.
Feeling the source of heat, Shuang Yu quickly pulled the little furnace in his arms closer, and his delirious muttering gradually stopped.
“Don’t be afraid, mister. I’ll tell you the story of the ugly duckling looking for his mommy…”
The little boy gently patted his back, his tender, childish voice carrying a miraculously soothing power. The sun slowly rose, and the two, one big and one small, exhausted from the long night, slowly fell asleep, leaning on each other.
***
Shuang Yu felt an itch on his chest. His long lashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the child’s fluffy head.
What… is this situation?!
[My lord, you’re awake! This little boy is your savior!]
Xiao Ai chattered on, describing what had happened after Shuang Yu passed out.
Shuang Yu’s condition was not good. His whole body felt like it was in a furnace, scorching his organs and skin. His mouth was cracked and pale, and his throat was swollen, sore, and dry. The sharp pain from his wounds made him want to go crazy, but all the pain was magically eased by the sleeping little boy in his arms. His expression softened, and he gently patted the little boy’s back as he began to survey his surroundings.
It was clear that the little boy’s family situation was not just bad, but terrible. The entire room was less than twenty square meters, damp, cramped, and filthy. The floor was littered with liquor bottles, and there wasn’t a single decent piece of furniture in sight. It was hard to imagine that a child who grew up in such an environment could still possess such pure kindness. Thinking of the bloody battles to come, Shuang Yu found himself reluctant to let go of this moment of peace.
“What’s the situation outside now?”
[Gu Qiyan’s men and Gu Yanfeng’s men are both looking for you. Meng Ying is nearby. Should I lead him here?]
Xiao Ai replied.
“Lead him here. I can’t hide here forever,” Shuang Yu nodded and said.
“Hey, wake up.”
He looked down and gently pinched the little boy’s cheek.
“Mmm…”
The little boy in his arms stirred, his long lashes trembling as he slowly woke up. As their eyes met, both of them looked a bit stunned.
“Xiao Ai, don’t you think this little boy looks a bit familiar?”
Shuang Yu asked Xiao Ai hesitantly. The next second, the little boy burst into tears of joy, threw himself into his arms, and cried out, “Daddy, are you finally here to get me?”
Shuang Yu was speechless. Now he finally knew why the little boy looked familiar—it was because he looked a lot like the original host! Suddenly becoming a father was quite a baffling experience!
[They’re not related, it’s just a coincidence.]
Xiao Ai quickly explained.
“I’m not your dad, kid,” Shuang Yu explained helplessly, his brow covered in dark lines.
“Liar! We look exactly the same! Mommy said that one day my real daddy would come and save me from this miserable life…”
The little boy protested, both aggrieved and sad, his eyes and the tip of his nose red.
His head ached. How was he supposed to explain to a child that they were just an ill-fated encounter? Shuang Yu pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, ruthlessly pushed the child out of his arms, sat up, took a cigarette from his black suit, lit it, and took a deep drag.
“Kid, how old are you?”
Through the haze of smoke, his handsome face looked somewhat cold. The little boy seemed frightened and didn’t dare to cry anymore, holding it back until his face turned red. His eyes filled with fear as he answered with a sob, “S-seven…”
Seven?! Shuang Yu looked him up and down with surprise. It was hard to tell this kid was seven. He was so thin and small, looking more like a four or five-year-old.
“I’m twenty-two this year, only fifteen years older than you. Do you think a fifteen-year-old me had the ability to get someone pregnant?”
He raised an eyebrow and retorted.
The little boy’s eyes drooped sadly, and he fell silent. “Although I’m not your dad, I still have to thank you for saving me… Big brother isn’t in a good state right now. Can you do big brother a favor?”
Shuang Yu sighed softly and patted the little boy’s head as he asked. He was still running a fever, so his body temperature was higher than usual. The scorching heat of his palm on the little boy’s head was a warm touch that left the boy stunned. This was a warmth he had… never felt before! He subconsciously wanted to hold on to this warmth tightly. He nodded eagerly.
“What’s your name?”
Shuang Yu asked.
A look of shame flashed in the little boy’s eyes, and he shook his head. “I… I don’t have a name. My stepfather didn’t give me one. He always calls me a burden, a dog bastard…”
His memory of his mother was too vague. He couldn’t even remember what she looked like, let alone whether she had given him a name. This backstory was too pitiful… Even Shuang Yu couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity.
“Then… how about I give you a name?”
He gently ruffled the little boy’s dirty hair and asked softly.
“Thank you, mister!”
The little boy’s eyes filled with tears as he nodded excitedly.
“Call me ‘brother’!”
Shuang Yu shamelessly asked him to change his form of address. “Mister” made him sound too old! Xiao Ai thought to herself, You’ve been a Ghost Emissary for three hundred years. It’s a courtesy he’s not calling you grandpa. And you want to be called ‘brother’? How shameless!
“I don’t want to call you brother, it sounds too distant! Can I call you by your name too?”
The little boy asked timidly.
“My name is Si Shuang Yu.”
“Yu, can I call you Yu from now on?”
The child asked excitedly. Seeing that he didn’t object, he threw himself into his arms and kept calling his name. This child was so well-behaved, it was quite endearing!
“Jingmo! From now on, your name will be Jingmo. Do you like it?”
Shuang Yu stroked his head, pondered for a moment, and said. The character ‘Jing’ meant the luster of jade. The child was kind and innocent, like a flawless piece of beautiful jade. ‘Mo’ meant black ink, which was originally a sullied color, yet it represented literary talent, sharing a similar symbolism with the lotus.