CH 35.3

Missing an Appointment (3)

Mu Wanli turned her again and stared at Brother Qiu. “Okay, you can leave now. You’ve been busy with this task for several days now. Go back quickly and get some proper sleep.”

From running to Xiao-Yun’s hometown to save people, running a thousand miles to bring the child back, being caught at the police station for most of the day to carrying the child to the hospital today, it had been a few torturous days for the arm-tattooed man.

Xiao-Yun stood up and bowed deeply in Brother Qiu’s direction while tears streamed down her face. “Brother Qiu, Xiao-Zhuang can’t speak. I’ll replace him to thank you for this big favor and kindness…”

Brother Qiu was scared and hurriedly took a step back. “Aiya, don’t say it like this. If you want to thank someone, just thank Sister Li. I only did what she told me to do!”

Mu Wanli smiled. “All right. Come here to have lunch tomorrow. I’ll give you a proper thank you on behalf of Xiao-Yun.”

Brother Qiu blushed. “Sister Li, I won’t be courteous then. Please make pickled vegetables with beef fat. I ate it once before and have been craving it ever since.”

Mu Wanli fiercely glared at him and reached out to push him out of the door.

Ruan Qingmu pulled Mu Wanli into his room. “Mom, the kid will sleep in my bed from now on. My room is usually empty too. It’s a crime not to use it.”

Mu Wanli looked at the mattress on the floor and froze.

No matter how kind, this was her only son. Usually, she would hate not giving him the best of everything. Did her son also have to make a bed on the floor in this small room now?

“Mumu, don’t care about –”

Ruan Qingmu gently intercepted her. “Mom, let’s settle it like this.”

The seventeen-or-eighteen years old youth was already quite tall. He stood upright under the light with a light smile, like a summer breeze slipping through the bamboo forest. The look on his face had the look of an adult’s.

Mu Wanli blankly looked at the slightly unfamiliar son, feeling slightly aggrieved.

“Okay, let’s do it like this for now…”

Ruan Qingmu laughed and took the small suitcase into his hands. “Mom, I’m leaving then.”

Mu Wanli panicked. “It’s already so late. Do you still have to return to school now? It will be past ten o’clock when you arrive there. What if the dormitory is closed?”

Ruan Qingmu shook his head. “It’s no problem. I can make it in time.”

He certainly wouldn’t take public transportation. He would go out and take a taxi. No matter how poor he was, he needed to return as quickly as possible!

Mu Wanli was helpless. “Fine, you can go then.”

The house was in such a mess. It was better for her son to return to school than stay here.

She turned around, looked at the little mute who followed closely behind Xiao-Yun, and sighed. “Xiao-Yun, let go of him. We need to bathe Xiao-Zhuang. His body is very dirty.”

Although his wounds had been treated in the hospital, the doctors couldn’t wash his whole body. Brother Qiu and several nurses couldn’t approach the little kid as he would scratch around and whimper.

Xiao-Yun was in tears and spoke with difficulty. “Sister Li, I… I can’t see…”

Xiao-Zheng and Xiao-Yun were blind and they couldn’t communicate with this mute brother. Someone needed to take care of him. But the fact of the matter was that Xiao-Yun needed to depend on other people for everything herself and she felt miserable and despair in her heart because of that.

Mu Wanli sighed. “I know. I’ll bathe him.”

She crouched down, pulled the little mute, and gestured for him to take off his clothes. “Here, aunty will bathe you to get clean, okay?”

The little mute suddenly shrank his body and firmly hid behind Xiao-Yun, not willing to go out no matter what happened.

Mu Wanli and Xiao-Yun pulled at him for a long time, but the little mute didn’t want to let go. It was a messy and difficult situation.

“Aiya, how old is this kid? Is he feeling embarrassed?”

Xiao-Yun whispered. “He’s almost seven years old.”

Mu Wanli was slightly surprised.

He looked like a five-or-six-year-old kid and completely didn’t match the height of his true age.

She felt helpless and funny. “Even if he’s seven or eight years old, what is he afraid of this old lady for? Xiao-Zheng is a man, but he can’t see, ah!”

Just as she was getting anxious, Ruan Qingmu’s voice sounded out.

“That’s enough. I’ll give it a try.”

***

Inside the bathroom, Ruan Qingmu placed a basin of water and a small plastic stool beside it, putting the little mute to sit on the stool.

It was also weird. Brother Qiu had clearly saved this child, but the little mute was still afraid of his savior. On the other hand, he was quite obedient when Ruan Qingmu came up to him.

When Ruan Qingmu tugged on his hand, he didn’t fuss or scream. He silently stared at Ruan Qingmu with his dark eyes and big head.

Ruan Qingmu lightly touched his nose. “Look at your little appearance. You’re blaming me again, aren’t you? You insisted on following me no matter what in your previous life and didn’t get anything good in the end, ah.”

When he saw this kid, his heart trembled in his chest. He truly couldn’t ignore him.

He looked very similar to his close bodyguard from his previous life. Especially his pair of eyes that looked familiarly black and shining. It was deep and empty as if he had seen all the sorrows in the world.

The little mute couldn’t understand his words. He lowered his head and inserted his dirty feet into the large basin, grinning and silently laughing.

Ruan Qingmu looked at his naked little body and sighed.

This was too dirty, but there were many wounds and gauze all over his body. He couldn’t take the shower tap and shower him or soak him in the bathtub.

Ruan Qingmu picked up a towel, moistened it with water, and wiped it across the little mute’s body. “I’ll wipe you. Don’t dodge it, ah.”

As the saying goes, nine out of ten deaf people were mute. It was mostly because their hearing was bad and they couldn’t hear what other people said, so they couldn’t learn to speak. This child could clearly babble and make sounds, meaning that his vocal cords were obviously fine.

The little mute stared at him and didn’t dodge indeed.

His little body was pathetically malnourished, his limbs were weak, and his neck was so thin that it looked like it could break at even the slightest strength, but his face was good-looking. After being wiped clean, it revealed a delicate and pretty face similar to his sister’s.

Ruan Qingmu picked up a towel and wiped him down bit by bit while avoiding the wounds on his body.

No matter how careful he was, it was inevitable to touch those wounds on the poor boy’s body. The little mute would sometimes suddenly twitch and let out a soft scream. However, he would obediently sit and look down at the water basin blankly as if he was accustomed to the pain.

Ruan Qingmu said as if to himself, “You’re so young, but why is your life still this miserable? I used to have a little bodyguard who couldn’t speak too, but he wasn’t born like that. Moreover, he was stronger than you.”