w.a.n.g Dahu felt that he was never this angry in either his former life or this current one.

When he jumped down to pull Li Qingran up out of the hole, he saw the other boy’s face and limbs covered in feces, the eyes were lifeless. A blood thirsty impulse to kill filled his mind.

As soon as Sun Dazhuang’s group saw w.a.n.g Dahu come up, they all felt a little guilty.

The group of children was no different from a pack of dogs that only knew how to make noise. They didn’t dare to actually get in a fight. Seeing w.a.n.g Dahu desperately guarding that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, they couldn’t help but feel fear. That kid even dared to attack the crazy old madman Li.

“Leave!” Sun Dazhuang’s obese figure quickly retreated, leaving behind a few kids who stood around looking at each other before running away.

Right now w.a.n.g Dahu didn’t care about them. He rushed Li Qingran onto his back and ran home.

In the courtyard, Hei Bei[1] heard their movement and started to howl.

The old woman pushed the door open to look and saw her grandchild suddenly appear, covered in feces, scaring her so much that her heart almost leapt out of her chest.

“What happened? What happened?” Dahu’s grandma shakily came forward, “Why have you come back… How did you turn into a pile of p.o.o.p?”

“Aiya! Grandma, I’ll explain in a minute. Get the pot and heat up some hot water.”

w.a.n.g Dahu set Li Qingran on his bed, quickly removing all of his clothes.

Li Qingran shut his eyes tightly, lying silently without moving, as if he were dead, making Dahu’s heart even more anxious.

The waste hole was large, but not very deep. Furthermore it was wintertime, most of the feces inside were fresh. Even if you fell inside, it wouldn’t endanger your life. Butーw.a.n.g Dahu was distressed as he stroked the purplish pale face, the humiliation was the most terrifying aspect.

The water boiled, Dahu and grandma helped wash Li Qingran clean.

He also quickly bathed himself.

The two people opened all of the windows and doors before the disgusting smell that made people want to vomit finally aired out.

The old woman took her grandchild outside the room and started asking all sorts of questions.

w.a.n.g Dahu sighed. Before anything else, he phoned home.

On the other end, as soon as she heard his voice, Zhang Fang immediately burst into tears.

Early that morning, Dahu snuck out of the house and hitched a ride on the long distance bus to Xing Ye village. Zhang Fang was busy at the shop, she temporarily didn’t pay attention. When she noticed something wasn’t right, w.a.n.g Dahu had already reached his destination.

What is the most terrifying thing for a mother?

The answer is losing one’s child.

At this moment, hearing her son was safe and sound, how could Zhang Fang not be excited?

Of course, she was so moved that she was enraged.

w.a.n.g Dahu listened to the great lady, his mother, scold him over the phone, feeling a bit guilty inside. This time he was more overboard than any other time in the past. He honestly listened to the cursing for more than half an hour, up until Zhang Fang said, “When you come back, I have to teach you a lesson. Now give the phone to grandma.” After that, his ears were finally freed.

He walked as softly as a cat into the room, Li Qingran was still quietly lying on the bed. w.a.n.g Dahu carefully tucked in the corners of the quilt for the other boy.

After a few hours, they sky was completely dark.

Dahu’s grandfather returned from the village committee and his grandchild’s sudden appearance scared him a great deal.

Dahu’s grandma saw that and quickly intervened. Thinking about it made her scared too, but because she was able to meet her grandson again, her heart was happy.

“Our family’s Little Tiger is so talented! He’s so young but he can sit on the bus by himself, quite commendable!”

Normally, being praised like that would make w.a.n.g Dahu raise his chin and say “I am indeed a tiger, not a dog[2].” However, right now he was still worried about Li Qingran! He wasn’t in the mood to joke around. The old man watched his listless grandchild and was still distressed in the end. He lectured Dahu a few times and then let it go.

Grandma took advantage of the fact that her grandchild came back. She was excited, and decided to make two more fried dishes.

w.a.n.g Dahu helped her in the kitchen, tending to the fire.

“Grandma…” Staring into s.p.a.ce, w.a.n.g Dahu gently asked his grandma, “How long has Ran Ran’s mother been gone?”

The knife that was cutting meat slightly paused. The old woman sighed and said, “Basically, seven or eight days!”

“Was it really running away?”

Grandma turned around and looked at her grandchild. Saying Kong Xiumei ran away was not quite as accurate as saying that she eloped with someone else. But these words were not suited for a small child to hear, so she turned and said, “Who knows, maybe after two days she’ll come back!”

Come back in two days?

That wasn’t possible!

w.a.n.g Dahu thought sadly to himself, “In the previous lifetime, Kong Xiumei never came back.”

He honestly couldn’t say what he felt in his heart towards that woman.

Was she pitiful? She definitely was pitiful.

Was she unfortunate? She definitely was unfortunate.

Should she have escaped? She definitely should have fled.

But, what about Ran Ran?

He was just as pitiful, just as unfortunate. What should Ran Ran do now?

His mother was alive, but abandoned him, making his life even more miserable. What should Ran Ran do now?

How did he live in the previous life?

A father who had a mental disorder.

A mother who left ran away from home. He was so small, how did he survive?

His Ran Ran was obviously so cute, so kind, deserved so much happiness. Why was G.o.d so stingy? There wasn’t even a tiny bit of hope for him.

“Little Tiger, why are you crying?”

“Ah! The fire was too smokey… Grandma, let Ran Ran sleep over at our house today!”

“Whatever you want!”

At night, w.a.n.g Dahu lay in the quilt and silently stared at Li Qingran beside him.

From the moment he carried the other boy home until now, the other boy kept sleeping like that, not waking up.

The winter night was freezing, the cold moonlight filtered in through the window, making the small face that was already pale seem even more transparent. He unconsciously raised a hand and gently touched the other boy between the eyebrows.

In the previous life, Li Qingran often frowned like this.

Every time he did, w.a.n.g Dahu would act like he did now, gently stroking the other man between the eyebrows. Although the other person would say that it was annoying, their face would reveal a comfortable expression.

w.a.n.g Dahu jokingly called the other man a cat, demanding to have its fur stroked.

He was deep in his memories so he didn’t notice that under his gentle stroking, the person beside him gradually opened their eyes.

“Ran, Ran Ran, you woke up!” w.a.n.g Dahu suddenly sat up, rubbing the other boy’s face with excitement.

However, although Li Qingran woke up, his mental state was no different than before.

Staring blankly, like a soulless puppet.

w.a.n.g Dahu’s heart was pierced at the sight.

It was a waste for him to have lived a lifetime before. He couldn’t find any words to comfort the other boy right at this moment.

“You have me!” w.a.n.g Dahu jumped up, hugging the other boy tightly in his arms. He kept repeating, “You still have me!”

It could have been a few times. It could have been a few hundred times. When w.a.n.g Dahu continuously repeated those words, an extremely tiny cry sounded out. The voice was very small, very fine, but it was overflowing with emotion, full of grief and helplessness.

The only thing w.a.n.g Dahu could do was to hold the other boy tighter and use his body to show the other boy.

You still have me.

Early the next day, w.a.n.g Dahu opened his eyes.

Li Qingran still lay in his arms. He gently changed his position, but didn’t expect that he would still awaken the other boy.

Two people brightly looked at each other.

w.a.n.g Dahu showed off his “gap-tooth” smile.

“You’re awake? You should sleep more, the sky isn’t light yet!”

Li Qingran silently looked at the other boy, closed his eyes, but didn’t reply.

Using a lifetime’s worth of understanding the other person, w.a.n.g Dahu knew this was the small cat agreeing.

Tucking the other boy in, w.a.n.g Dahu dressed himself, washed his face, and got busy in the kitchen.

Last night, grandma made four dishes. Of those, there were still a lot of soy sauce and ribs stewed beans leftover. w.a.n.g Dahu added some fried eggs, the staple foods were congee and steamed buns.

Calling the other person awake, w.a.n.g Dahu personally fed the other boy.

However, the other boy ate very little. If w.a.n.g Dahu didn’t threaten the other boy, he was afraid not even half the bowl would be eaten.

After they finished eating, Li Qingran immediately wanted to get out of bed.

w.a.n.g Dahu quickly asked what the other boy wanted to do.

After a long time, the other boy replied, “Go home.”

Although that place didn’t have a mother, it still had a father, so it was still home. It wasn’t w.a.n.g Dahu’s home, but Li Qingran’s.

“I’ll see you back.”

w.a.n.g Dahu’s clothes on Li Qingran’s body were obviously several sizes too big, making him look even thinner under the clothes. They held hands, two people walking silently towards the east end of the village. It was still the same lonely tattered house as before, as soon as they walked in, they could hear the sound of a door being lightly hit and a man’s intermittent crying coming from a room deeper in the house.

w.a.n.g Dahu looked steadily ahead and asked the other boy in a whisper, “How long has he been like that?”

“…Since mom left.”

For the mentally ill, the most unbearable thing was external stimulation. Kong Xiumei’s departure undoubtedly caused Li Zhanggui to go crazy.

So dangerous!

w.a.n.g Dahu tightly clenched his trembling fists.

In the previous life, he died under the knife of a crazy woman. He understood the risks of being with a crazy person.

Li Zhanggui had the tendency to be violent. If his wife was present, he would beat her. If there was no wife, wouldn’t he beat his son? Ran Ran was still so small, Dahu couldn’t always guard by his side. If something really happened, wouldn’t it be too late to regret?

In the blink of an eye, w.a.n.g Dahu came to a firm decision.

He must not allow Li Qingran to stay with that man.

Translator’s Notes:

…I couldn’t stop crying, which is why this chapter took so long.

[1]黑背Hei Bei, Black Back… if it was a normal sounding dog’s name I’d translate it, but I can’t think of an equivalent name… There’s another dog whose name I’ve forgotten so I don’t wanna use “Blackie”… Anyway you should remember the meaning for now.

[2]Pun on how his name means tiger. I think the meaning is a tiger is stronger than a dog.