Chapter 60

editor/TLC: serefina & Rin

Although Zhang Hang had insight into the whole situation, his heart still sunk when he sensed another person’s breathing in the room. Everyone wanted their parents to love them, but his wishes would always just be an impossible dream.

But this was no big deal. He was already receiving the world’s purest, deepest feelings, and the rest didn’t matter.

Thinking of Lu Chengye’s concern for him, Zhang Hang couldn’t help but show a very warm smile, which Zhao Xiaolian thought was for her. She thought about it, then first gave her partner a look to reassure him.

She sat opposite Zhang Hang and put a piece of pork rib in his bowl. Zhang Hang touched the soup bowl Zhao Xiaolian had intentionally put in front of him and lowered his head to taste the pork rib. They were very salty, so after eating you would need to drink water. And the soup bowl was placed right in front of him…

“That… It seems there is too much salt in the dish. Since Mama was cooking for you, Mama got too nervous when thinking about that.” Zhao Xiaolian’s voice was gentle and considerate. Zhang Hang had never heard her speak with such a gentle voice since he was born.

He suddenly felt very tired and put down his chopsticks, saying, “I remember a parent-teacher conference when I was a child, when my father happened to be on a business trip. I came to you with my first grade report card, excitedly wanting you to attend my parent-teacher conference. Do you remember what you did at that time?”

Zhao Xiaolian’s words caught in her throat. She didn’t remember it at all.

“You didn’t even say anything too horrible,” Zhang Hang said quietly. “You just said, ‘I have to go play mahjong, don’t bother me with such trivial matters.’ After all, it was a small thing, so you don’t remember.”

“Another time,” seeing that Zhao Xiaolian was speechless, Zhang Hang continued, “the nanny asked for leave that day, and Dad was at a dinner party. I was hungry. You had just come back from playing mahjong, and I went to you and said I was hungry. Do you remember how you answered me?”

Zhao Xiaolian opened her mouth and still didn’t speak.

Zhang Hang’s mouth quirked up into a cold smile. “Of course you don’t remember. At that time, you said, ‘I’ve already finished eating. Can you not make some noodles yourself?’”

Zhang Hang used his chopsticks to tap the bowl, producing a crisp sound, then continued speaking, “You’ve always said that during that time, you had no choice but to abandon me, and were powerless to defend yourself. Zhang Qiming didn’t want you or me, and Zhang Jianguo was a heartless man who didn’t recognize his own son. There was really no way for you not to leave the city where you already couldn’t continue living. To tell the truth, I wasn’t very sad back then either, because only those who care about being abandoned would be sad. Being left behind by a stranger I had never known could not be called abandonment. You simply ignored me again, nothing more.”

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“But I don’t want to be your tool anymore.”

As soon as his voice fell, the man who had been waiting in the dark for Zhang Hang to pass out after drinking the soup rushed out, but it was too late. When Zhang Hang had come in, he’d slipped a small piece of thick paper into the door lock. Such a door could not be locked firmly, and could be easily kicked open from the outside. The sound of the bowl breaking was Xiao Ren’s signal to come inside.

They were nothing more than two habitual scammers, so catching them basically took no effort. The man who worked with Zhao Xiaolian took out a modified pistol, but it made no difference. The SWAT kicked it out of his hand so fast that he didn’t even have a chance to turn off the safety.

“It’s done,” Xiao Ren patted Zhang Hang’s shoulder, as if wanting to give him strength, “I looked in the squadron yesterday and found a man whose build and face is very similar to yours. Put him in a blindfold and cover his mouth with duct tape, and a stranger who’s only seen a photo of you wouldn’t be able to tell that he isn’t you. You don’t need to take risks, Hang Hang,”

“Is he your man, or someone Lu Chengye hired?” Zhang Hang asked.

“Well, I can’t hide anything from you.” Xiao Ren shrugged and said, “Last night, your Big Black didn’t sleep, and instead spent a lot of money to find someone who looked like you. Ultimately, he really did find someone who wanted money and was willing to be a hostage. Since he isn’t you, even if he was found out, he wouldn’t have enough value to be used to threaten Lu Chengye. His degree of risk would be much lower compared to yours.”

Zhang Hang knew Lu Chengye had been absent-minded last night. First, Lu Chengye worked vigorously to make Zhang Hang unable to lift a finger, then took advantage of him being asleep to get up and go to the bathroom. Zhang Hang didn’t know what he was doing, only thinking that Lu Chengye had tired him out too much. He was half asleep and half awake, and when he woke up in the morning, he thought it had been a dream.

Lu Chengye, this person…

The corners of Zhang Hang’s mouth raised slightly. Over the years, his facial expressions were indifferent and his emotions were faint. After meeting Lu Chengye again were his expressions a bit more cheerful, but it was very difficult to respond with enthusiasm. This sort of smile was already his limit in front of outsiders, yet it was obvious how happy he was.

Xiao Ren hadn’t seen him smile like this for a long time, and felt happy for Zhang Hang despite his jealous heart. He had known his little brother for ten years, and that little brother was about to be eaten by an ill-intentioned black dog. He would not believe that anybody else could do such an unimaginable thing as change bodies, but regarding Lu Chengye and Big Black, he believed and wished them well.

“Tch,” Xiao Ren said, still in quite a bad mood. “Don’t worry about it and go home, okay? As long as you guys get someone to keep an eye on the two culprits and don’t let them run away, I will definitely bring them to justice. Although I am helping Lu Chengye, this can be considered as indirectly helping you. I’m giving you guys two gifts, so don’t resent me for being stingy. I’m an honorable and honest captain who is very poor!”

Zhang Hang smiled and hugged Xiao Ren. This was his friend and his brother. In his most difficult time, Xiao Ren, who was only 20 at the time, offered him shelter. They were brothers and family. He would remember this debt in his heart forever.

To prevent Zhang Hang from having an accident while going back, Xiao Ren found someone to take Zhang Hang home. By then, Lu Chengye was pacing around in a state of anxiety. When he saw that Zhang Hang had returned, he took a sudden big stride forward and pounced. Not only did he embrace the younger man, but he also licked his face a few times.

The policeman who brought Zhang Hang back: “……”

Lu Chengye had no time to deal with him. When he was Big Black he would always lick Zhang Hang, so he was used to it. It was only natural he wouldn’t want to change this habit.

Zhang Hang apologetically sent off the young policeman whose three views had been severely tested, then soothingly petted the big dog’s hair. “It’s okay, you don’t need to worry.”

After Lu Chengye’s fur was smoothed down, he sat contently next to Zhang Hang and said, “Rest assured. I’ve already found someone to keep an eye on them, so even if those two wanted to escape it would be very difficult.”

Just as Lu Chengye said, Xiao Ren caught the man connected to Lu Chengfeng. This man did not have much of a backbone and gave up Lu Chengfeng very quickly. It was hard for Lu Chengfeng to escape as he was a public figure, and he was immediately arrested, confessing Lu Yuantao’s name in less than two hours. Lu Yuantao was a man of great renown in the Lu family. Generally speaking, he was the notary Lu Chengye would choose if he wanted to make a will. This time Lu Chengye drew up a will, naturally, he also came to him. Originally, Lu Yuantao wanted to alter the will so long as he was familiar with the lawyer, but Lu Chengye had made it public. It was known to the people of the world, so Lu Yuantao could not change it at all, and he had no choice but to think of a way to deal with Zhang Hang,

The case itself was very simple. In his early years, Lu Chengfeng made it clear that he would not go into the family business, severing ties with his family and making his debut in the entertainment world. Lu Chengfeng’s father was also equally straightforward. After his death, he really did leave most of the company’s shares to Lu Chengye and a small part to his young daughter. Lu Chengfeng received nothing more than some real estate and jewelry.

After the fighting spirit of adolescence passed, Lu Chengfeng struggled to make progress in the entertainment circle. He was famous, but after more than a decade of muddling along, still had not been able to make it to the top. Sooner or later, he would be eliminated from the circle by a newcomer. He needed a strong backer, and the Lu family’s assets were his support. Unfortunately, Lu Chengye inherited his father’s fine tradition of not caring if he said he didn’t care, letting Lu Chengfeng struggle and fail in the entertainment circle. Ultimately, Lu Chengfeng was forced to scheme with Lu Yuantao to kill Lu Chengye and seize the family’s assets.

Lu Yuantao was actually very just, but unfortunately his son was disappointing and had a bad habit of doing drugs. He himself was an honest and noble man, and his household didn’t have much in the way of savings. However, his son failed rehab multiple times, and the household became very poor. Lu Chengfeng seized this weakness and teamed up with Lu Yuantao to attack Lu Chengye.

The truck driver who caused the accident was Lu Yuantao’s son’s drug friend. After the incident, in order to cover up his crime, Lu Yuantao found someone to assassinate the driver. Evidence of the bribery and assassination was found based on their confession.

As for Zhao Xiaolian, she was a habitual offender who wanted to use Zhang Hang to make money, and was also used. In the early years, she and her accomplice Qin Fei first did a fairy jump scam to cheat people out of money. Later, they started selling insurance and set up a shell company to swindle more money. They mostly scammed elderly people who had a bit of money stocked up, and cheated a lot of people out of their hard-earned money. The amount was very large, enough for them to be punished severely.

It took a long time to file the case, investigate, and hold a trial. After about six months, Zhao Xiaolian was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She could have been sentenced to only about ten years for fraud, but her collusion with Lu Chengfeng to perform an attempted kidnapping increased the sentence.

Before she was sent to prison, Zhang Hang went to the detention center to see Zhao Xiaolian. During this period, Zhao Xiaolian asked to see Zhang Hang countless times, but Zhang Hang didn’t agree to meet with her. This time, Zhao Xiaolian’s voice was full of hatred.

“Why did you come here!? You collaborated with the police and looked on indifferently while your own mother was sentenced to prison!” Zhao Xiaolian shouted at the top of her lungs, and the officer in charge of bringing her through the detention center looked at her strangely.

Zhang Hang was very calm, and had long realized that for Zhao Xiaolian, reasoning with her or appealing to her conscience was useless. Her outlook on the world was based on herself. As long as she was dissatisfied, it was wrong.

“If you make a mistake, you will be punished. Even elementary schoolers know that,” Zhang Hang said. “I will give you a sum of money every quarter to ensure your comfort in prison.”

After saying this, he left, ignoring Zhao Xiaolian shouting herself hoarse.

When he walked out the front gate of the detention center, he heard the sound of a car on the side of the road and smiled.

Big Black was waiting for him. Just as he did during those five years, this man would always wait for him.

This patience and waiting was completely his, and this would never change.

sere: ASDF IM SOBBING (but also anyone else think that the ending was so sudden?)

Rin: I’m so ridiculously happy. GaHH I love nice circular endings like this, I love when Hang Hang’s monologue ends a chap!

bear: don’t worry guys, there’s extras! HOWEVER, the extras will be released a week apart, on 3/30 and 4/6, in order to give poor burnt out me time to translate them with all the shenanigans going on as of late. on that note, stay safe everyone, and thank you for going on this journey with my editors and i!