Chapter 73: Lifting Up
Qin Xu was very surprised. He grabbed the child and examined his face carefully. He saw that his eyes indeed resembled Jiang Yang’s, it was just that his face was still child-like, and his features had not completely developed, “You’re called Jiang Yang, then is your father called Jiang Jian Hua and your mum Liang Ying?”
The little boy’s eyes widened, and he was even more shocked: “How did you know?!”
Sure enough, this is Jiang Yang as a child.
After Qin Xu was surprised, his mood improved. He finally met someone he was familiar with and his heart calmed down. It was then filled with curiosity. This is Jiang Yang. He was already so cute at a young age, all soft and tender. He couldn’t help but want to pinch those chubby cheeks of his a few times.
As he thought this, he immediately put it into action. He not only pinched that soft face of his, he even ruffled his hair with a satisfied and happy smile.
Little Jiang Yang was completely stunned. His face blushed red and a humiliated expression slowly formed on his face. For a boy, it was extremely humiliating having his face pinched and head rubbed! So angry!
The other child who ran over to find little Jiang Yang watched the tall and strong Qin Xu smile like that while messing with his friend was suddenly scared to tears. “Wuwuwu, someone’s bullying Jiang Yang. What to do………”
The other child was also panicking, “Let’s get our mummy and daddy. No, we should find the police uncle…….”
After all, they were just six or seven-year-old children. With one look, they knew that the other person was someone that they couldn’t deal with. The disparity between them was almost like a novice player going up against a full levelled final boss! They were both nervous and scared and couldn’t calm down at all.
Qin Xu didn’t think that just touching little Jiang Yang’s face would terrify the little children to that extend. He felt like he had done something wrong and he proceeded to fumble around and coax them: “Don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person……”
The teary-eyed children started crying even more fiercely, “This is what bad guys always said on TV! Bad people won’t ever admit that they are bad uwaaaaa!”
Qin Xu: “…………..”
If it was just that, then it wasn’t anything major but even little Jiang Yang looked at him with vigilance. In a hurry, he suddenly remembered a trick that he could use to placate them. From his pocket he pulled out a coin and showed it to the children: “Look, what’s this?”
The children glanced over at him while busy crying and pouted. Isn’t it just a coin?
Qin Xu smiled and then clenched his fist. With his other hand, he waved around over it like he was casting some magic. He muttered a few words and then opened his hands again, “Look.”
The palm of his hand was empty.
The children suddenly widen their eyes in surprise and momentarily forgot to cry. Their small faces were filled with shock, where did the coin go?
Little Jiang Yang was also extremely curious. In disbelief, he reached his small hands and searched his hands and pockets to see if it was hidden in there.
Qin Xu grabbed onto his small, warm hands and said: “It tickles. Wait, I’ll pull it up for you.
Then, under little Jiang Yang’s fervent gaze, he rolled up his sleeves to reveal his slender and muscular forearm. The coin however was nowhere to be seen.
Jiang Yang was confused. In a childish voice he asked: “Where did you hide the coin?”
Qin Xu smiled: “I don’t know, it disappeared. Let me find it…..Ah, wait.”
Suddenly, he bent down with bright eyes and stared at little Jiang Yang. This made little Jiang Yang a little surprised and nervous. He unconsciously clenched his little fist, “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Qin Xu’s fingers brushed past his hair like he was looking for something. He said: “I found it, it’s here.”
Little Jiang Yang watched him take out the coin from his hair and suddenly became very excited. His pair of bright eyes stared at Qin Xu and his expression was filled with amazement. Those burning hot eyes of his made Qin Xu feel a little embarrassed. This was nothing but a little trick used to tease little children with.
But the children were completely fooled by him. They looked at him as if he was someone amazing and was filled with worship. The vigilance that they had earlier was instantly gone and they started saying sweetly, “Brother, please teach us.”
But something like magic was something that would no longer be fun if you revealed its secrets. He had also finally managed to find something that he could use to coax the children with so if he reveals this last hand of his, what else could he use?
And so, Qin Xu pretended to be conflicted, “But this…..isn’t something that I can teach anybody.”
The children’s’ bright eyes didn’t have a trace of frustration. Instead, they felt that this was something extremely precious and their desire to learn was even stronger, “Then what should we do for you to teach us?”
Qin Xu mulled over this and he deliberately squinted his eyes with a look of complication. He whispered in a mysterious voice: “This kind of thing is very important. I can only pass it onto people who are close to me. Others can’t know about it……..”
This attitude of his made the other children follow suit and also lower their voices. This made them look even more adorable. “I promise I won’t tell other people so can you teach me?”
Qin Xu dragged out a sound and looked conflicted, “But I’m not close to you. Not familiar with you at all.”
The children were stunned. He said that they would need to be close to him so that he could teach them but what should they do to become close to him? The little radish heads huddled together and started discussing but what they said still reached Qin Xu’s ears.
“To be close means that the relationship is good, like mummy and daddy? But I have mummy and daddy, that brother can’t take their place.”
“But I really want to learn. Can we just let him for one day and then ask for mummy and daddy back the next day?”
“You don’t want your parents? I’ll tell aunty and uncle!”
“N-no. It’s just for one day. They’re still my mummy and daddy!”
After discussing for a long time, the little radish heads still couldn’t reach a proper conclusion. Their little faces were filled with conflict as they said to Qin Xu: “We can’t bear losing mummy and daddy. Is there another way?”
Qin Xu was about to be rendered to tears by little Jiang Yang’s cuteness. He found it really fun teasing these children, “Apart from your mummy and daddy, there is another person who will be close to you.”
“Who? Grandma and grandpa?”
“That’s not wrong but I was referring to someone other than them.”
“Who else is there?” The children were confuddled.
“Your future wives.” Qin Xu laughed.
“….Wife?” The children were a little confused. They wrinkled their brows in thought, “So, if you’re my wife then you’ll teach me?”
Qin Xu laughed: “In theory, yes. But I’m a man so I will be marrying a wife in the future and I will only teach that person.”
The little radish heads were very disappointed, and they pouted their lips in dissatisfaction. One even complained quietly: “Sigh, why am I a boy.” He had only said that he wanted to change gender because he really wanted to learn the magic trick and didn’t really mean it. He would soon forget that he had even said it the next day.
Qin Xu said: “Although I can’t teach you, I can still perform a few for you. If you manage to find the trick to it, then I won’t even need to teach you.”
After this, the little radish heads were once again very spirited. This was particularly the case for little Jiang Yang. He looked at Qin Xu with a burning gaze that was about to bore right through him.
But, no matter how big or round his eyes were, he could only exclaim in surprise and admiration. He couldn’t figure out the secret the magic trick, but he didn’t regret it at all. He just thought that this big brother is too amazing. He would also from time to time be his little assistant and this only made him very happy. When he touched Qin Xu’s forearm with his little hands, he found that it was surprisingly hard.
The other two children heard his cry of surprise and also moved to poke at Qin Xu’s arms with curiosity. They then touched their own forearms. It was very different. They asked: “Big brother, why is your hand so hard?”
Qin Xu: “This is muscle. It proves that the body is strong. In the future you will exercise more, and you’ll also have it.”
The children, including Jiang Yang, were envious.
Qin Xu’s eyes met with Jiang Yang’s gaze and he couldn’t help but be in a good mood. On a whim he reached out and held him under his armpits before lifting him up into the air and throwing him up and down. The weightless feeling initially made little Jiang Yang surprised but, after experiencing it for a while, he found it fun and started laughing cheerfully. While laughing he revealed his small teeth and even a lovely dimple at the corner of his mouth.
Really is too cute.
Qin Xu played with him like this and didn’t feel tired at all. His heart was filled with indescribable emotions as he watched little Jiang Yang laugh.
Little Jiang Yang played very happily and had forgotten about his other little friends. The other friends however were envious, so they also grabbed onto Qin Xu’s leg crying out that they also wanted a turn.
At this moment, the children started competing. Little Jiang Yang was playing very happily and naturally didn’t want to stop. The moment he saw Qin Xu moving to put him down, he immediately hooked his two chubby hands around his neck and his pair of short legs moved to wrap around Qin Xu. His legs were unfortunately too short, so he could just hang from Qin Xu’s neck like a koala.
Qin Xu didn’t expect him to be like this. After a moment of being stunned, he laughed out loud.
The other two children grabbed onto Qin Xu’s pants and looked up to complain that little Jiang Yang is acting embarrassing and that it’s now their turn. Little Jiang Yang refused and said that he wanted to play a little longer.
Generally speaking, the children should be treated fairly, and everyone should take turns and play for the same amount of time but who is Qin Xu? He is obviously biased towards Jiang Yang. And so, he did as Jiang Yang said and played with him for a while. He then picked up the other children and lifted them up a few times half-heartedly before finally letting them down.
Everyone had a great time, but they remembered that they still had to go home so they could only reluctantly wave goodbye. As for whether they could find the big brother again to play? Qin Xu understood the situation very well and he thought that it wasn’t good to lie to a child, so he didn’t directly agree and only said that he didn’t know.
When the little radish heads reluctantly parted, Qin Xu wandered around the street bored. He thought that he is very strange; after transmigrating he didn’t panic at all. At this moment, a sound suddenly appeared in his mind.
“No need to panic. This is something us systems have arranged. You will be going back soon.”
Qin Xu heard the system’s mechanical sound and felt a little nostalgic. After all, he hadn’t heard from it for a long time, “This is a task? Is there a time limit?”
“Not a task. You can just do as you want. When things are over, you will go back. It won’t take much time.”
Knowing that it was about to end, Qin Xu was even more calm, “Then do I need to find a place to stay tonight? I don’t have much cash, so I might need to sleep on the streets.”
System: “No need. It’ll only be one to two hours.”
Qin Xu was curious: “What is it? Does it have something to do with Jiang Yang?”
System: “I can’t tell you directly, but I can give you a hint. This has something to do with why Jiang Yang is afraid of the dark.”
Qin Xu heard this and couldn’t help but frown. This is ten years ago, and Jiang Yang is still young. If it is something to do with his fear of the dark, then something bad must’ve happened.
Thinking this, He immediately turned and ran back to the park he was at earlier. His first thought was to find Jiang Yang and protect him from any harm. At the same time, he tried to elicit more information out of the system, but it only said that it had happened in the past and he would not be able to change what had already happened.
The system is an artificial intelligence. It has no feelings, so it could remain rational and calm. It said, isn’t the future Jiang Yang fine? You don’t need to worry.
But how would Qin Xu remain calm when he knows that Jiang Yang is going to meet a bad predicament? Even if he knew that he may be in danger, he still wanted to do his best to minimise the danger. That’s the person that he likes, how could he be willing to let him get hurt!
The system fell silent. After becoming silent for a moment, it proceeded to point out Jiang Yang’s location.
On the other side, after little Jiang Yang parted from his friends, he didn’t immediately go home. Using the remaining change in his pockets, he ran off to buy snacks from a nearby store. Because the owner of the store closest to home was familiar with his parents, he would quickly be exposed if he went there so he deliberately walked further on to another store.
Even so, he didn’t go to far from home. Little Jiang Yang was only in grade 1 and had never thought that he would be in any danger. He happily thought about what he could spend his pocket money on when he suddenly felt someone pull him over. A stranger suddenly grabbed his hands and, using the opportunity when he is too shocked to react, he picked him up and walked in another direction.
Jiang Yang panicked. He didn’t know what to do and could only struggle while shouting: “Who are you? Let me go!”
The man however pretended to be familiar with him and said: “Don’t make trouble. There are already enough toys at home.”
