CH 15

Chapter 15: Come Home with Me

After driving around aimlessly, Yin Chang saw the hotel and checked in directly. Not wanting to see anyone or talk to anyone, he turned off his phone. He simply wanted to be alone.

With a ‘clank’, another empty wine bottle was thrown to the floor by Yin Chang. Dizzy, he fell backward and laid down. Like a mantra, he repeatedly mumbled:

Shao Junling.

Shao…… Jun…… Ling……

Alone in the dark and silent room, he was a little drunk. In his mind, the words his father said before he died echoed in his mind:

“Little Chang, for your eighteenth birthday… I‘m sorry, but Dad won’t be able to visit.”

“In another month, Dad will be back home and I’ll be able to make it up to you, OK?”

“I’m preparing a large gift for you. I guarantee that you will like it.”

After a while, the voice in his mind was that of lawyer Wang’s:

“It is stated in the family registry that you are adopted.”

“Has your father mention the name ‘Shao Junling’ to you some time ago?”

“Yin Dong only had considered adoption with the boy in the name of a father-son relationship……”

……

Ha! If it wasn’t for the news, would he have ever known the truth?

Yin Chang didn’t know when he fell asleep last night as he only remembered the suffering he felt.  Even after waking up and opening his eyes, the room was still dark. Yin Chang groped around him and found his phone. When he checked the time at a glance, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

He turned on the network settings, and what followed was a series of missed calls and unread message prompts, most of which were by Lu Lingxuan. A few were by Yao Manhuai.

Yesterday at 23:45 (11:45pm):

Yao Manhuai: “Yin Chang, first of all, I must apologize to you. What happened yesterday was the result of my negligence and Yang Jiajia’s negligence. I’m sorry that Auntie didn’t protect you well. I can understand your state of mind very well.”

Yao Manhuai: “I already know where you are now, but you can stay there until you feel better. I won’t let anyone disturb you. When you returned to China, you didn’t change your driver’s license to a domestic one. You were caught on camera speeding. Pay more attention to driving safely!”

Today at 07:21 (7:21am):

Yao Manhuai: “At present, we have already contacted the Welfare Institute and have learned the truth. We are considering what truth we need to produce officially so the news to calm the public…. However, regarding Shao Junling’s future, you may need to come forward to discuss his future arrangements.”

……

Yin Chang had a headache. Like an ostrich escaping from reality, he dropped his phone, laid his head back down, closed his eyes, and buried his head. He lay there for nearly an hour before he was able to crawl out of bed. He went to wash his face, brush his teeth then grabbed his car keys. He checked out and headed to the parking lot.

When he got into the car, he sat in the driver’s seat and took a few minutes to pause before he entered the Welfare Institute address in the car’s navigation system. Half an hour later, the navigation voice prompted him that he had arrived at his destination.

In fact, Yin Chang did not think clearly about why he came to this place. Seething with jealously, he begrudgingly brought himself there. He wanted to see for himself just how similar Shao Junling looked like his father.

The Welfare Home was located in the suburbs on the west side of the city. As the facility covered a small area, the building was low-rise with white walls and red tiles and looked very old. Instead of walking directly to the front door, Yin Chang circled half way around and parked his car outside the backside of the welfare center where few people passed.

A chain linked fence surrounded the property and through it, Yin Chang could see a broken basketball hoop in a half court, as well as swings, a slide and other playground equipment. Since it was approaching evening, there weren’t many kids outside on the playground. A few children gathered together in twos and threes to run around and play.

With his hands in his pocket, Yin Chang stood outside the fence and looked at each child one-by-one in an attempt to find Shao Junling. He shouldn’t feel irritated at his failure to spot the child, but he was. Since there were a large number of kids in the orphanage, it would be hard pressed to find him immediately. Shao Junling could be anywhere within the facility.

After a while, a single note of a bell resounded over the din of child’s play in the courtyard. As the children cheered and yelled ‘dinner’, they ran back inside in a swarm.

No one was on the playground.

Yin Chang stood silently watching for a while, and feeling boring, he was about to turn around to leave. Suddenly a child appeared from behind a tree. He looked closer, wanting to see what the child looked like. When he saw Shao Junling, Yin Chang suddenly held his breath and stopped.

The child slowly moved to the sandbox in the corner of the courtyard and squatted down, presumably to play with and dig in the sand.

Watching the small back crouching down, Yin Chang’s mood was extremely complicated. A few minutes later, a few older children came outside. Having noticed the boy at a glance, they walked over to him.

Yin Chang thought they were looking for him to play. Instead, the older boy shouted at him: “Little Mad Dog, why don’t you eat?”

Hearing him being called a strange name, Yin Chang frowned and narrowed his eyes. He recalled the news report stating he had been bullied at the orphanage.

Under the older boy’s provocations, the younger children followed his lead and laughed at him.

“Little mad dog doesn’t eat. He eats sand. Ha-ha-ha!”

“Are you deaf? Why don’t you talk? “

“Hey! You have nothing to say, huh?”

One after another, the children provoked him and when they saw that he didn’t respond, they started pushing him instead.

The boy crouching on the ground jumped up suddenly and growled at them. He stared then down and bared his teeth.

“Wow! Little Mad Dog is going crazy again! “

Several people took a step back in initial fear, but soon ignored the boy’s abnormal behavior.

“Oh, he’s not eating sand, he’s hiding here alone crying!”

“What are you crying for?”

“He’s Daddy is dead. Of course, he’ll cry!”

……

Witnessing the chain of events before him, a fire was ignited in Yin Chang’s heart. He subconsciously clenched his fists.

The boy turned bright red before spitting out a retort: “NO! You lie!”

“It’s not a lie, it’s true!”

“Yeah, he’s dead!”

“It’s on the TV!”

“No!” The boy jumped suddenly and pounced on the boy, and tried to punch him.

“He’s going crazy. Run. Ha-ha-ha……”

A few of the older children laughed and scattered. They made faces at him in the distance and over time, they got bored and started ignoring him, leaving the boy to huddle by himself and repeat over and over again: “No! No!”

Then his small voice got quieter and softer …

That meaningless rebuttal may make people completely unaware of what he wanted to express, but Yin Chang understood it completely. The boy was expressing the long-held feelings of injustice he felt by shouting no. He didn’t want to believe and accept Yin Dong’s death.

One son was inside the fence, one son was outside the fence.

It was only after Yin Chang’s vision was blurred that he reacted to his tear-soaked eyes and wiped them. Feeling embarrassed, Yin Chang turned away and didn’t want to look at the scene anymore. But, just as his hand reached the car-side door, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

…… You saw it with your own eyes. What kind of life did the child have living in this place? Are you still jealous of him?

…… In the past eighteen years, what kind of life did you have as an adopted son? No matter what the reason was for Yin Dong concealment of this fact, he was not ashamed of you.

…… If Shao Junling really was Yin Dong ’s flesh and blood, do you have the heart to let him stay here and continue to suffer?

…… Yin Chang, Yin Chang. Ah, if you really leave like this, what would be the difference between yourself and those cold-blooded trolls on the internet?

……

For a moment, Yin Chang was subjected to a great amount of conscientious condemnation for preparing to leave. He turned back right after his inner voice demanded attention. Through the fence, he saw the boy standing alone with his head down, and his nose sniffling, as if he was abandoned by the whole world.

Yin Chang couldn’t take the emotional turmoil anymore and in the next second, he grabbed the fence and lifted himself over it. He walked right over to the playground.

Several children, who were playing in the vicinity, were startled by the sudden person going over the fence. They all stared at him in surprise.

Yin Chang walked towards Shao Junling step by step and stopped when he was only a short distance away. As he approached a hushed silence fell, but being immersed in his own grieving Shao Junling hadn’t noticed Yin Chang. Finally, he looked up and discovered him.

Shao Junling instinctively took a small step back because of the difference in height. As if he fell from the sky, he couldn’t believe who the handsome young man was standing before him.

Lowering himself, Yin Chang kneeled on one knee and looked at him straight in the eye: “Shao Junling?”

Because he had drunk last night and was still hangover, his voice was slightly hoarse. The boy may have been scared silly. With red puffy eyes, he continued to stared at Yin Chang without saying a word.

Yin Chang frowned slightly and asked slowly: “Your name is Shao Junling, right?”

Shao Junling nodded slowly.

It was at this distance that Yin Chang could see it clearly. There were indeed scars on his arms and scratches and bruises on Shao Junling’s face. The news really wasn’t exaggerating at all.

Yin Chang tried to make his voice sound a little softer and took on a more cordial attitude. He asked: “Do you know who I am?”

Shao Junling stared at him, opened his mouth and said, “Brother … brother?”

When he heard Shao Junling call him Brother, Yin Chang suddenly relaxed his brow. Even though he still held a grudge, at least his admission proved that Show Junling had been in contact with his father. Deep down, Yin Chang felt comforted.

Yin Chang smiled faintly at Shao Junling and gave him a soft affirmation: “Mnn-Hmm.”

Shao Junling’s face turned red so quickly that he lowered his eyes. Perhaps he was embarrassed to call Yin Chang his brother.

Tentatively, Yin Chang reached out to rub the boys head. Shao Junling didn’t avoid the contact.

“Dad’s gone. I only found out about you yesterday…”  Yin Chang asked somewhat hesitantly, “Would you like to…… come home with me?”

——————

The author has something to say: [Vignette]

Staring at Yin Chang, Shao Junling inner thoughts are revealed:

My Brother…. Why is he so big! QAQ

He’s still so handsome! (/// A ///)

But in the video he was very young! >///<

Now, I have to grow up fast! (=__=)
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