Chapter 8 – Momo
“This little brat!… Damn it… Stuttering fool…”
Zhang Hui, who was watching the broadcast in the lounge, was furious and cursed angrily.
However, he abruptly shut his mouth when Cheng Che pushed open the door and remained sullen, keeping the unspoken curse of “damn” stuck in his throat.
Cheng Che didn’t even look at him and walked straight towards Coach T. His intention was to bid farewell in person, saying, “Goodbye, Coach…”
He bowed respectfully, showing a sense of gratitude towards his mentor.
Coach T smiled and replied, “Thank you, Clear. Until we meet again.”
He just let him go like that?
Zhang Hui couldn’t accept it and dragged his obese body, wobbling, to confront Cheng Che: “No, Clear, why don’t you stay? Look, I’ve already printed the preview contract for you.”
With a greasy face and a fake smile, it was quite repulsive to witness.
Saying that, Zhang Hui took the newly printed contract from the table to show him: “Take a look, the one you signed last year is different from this one. This is the starting contract, and the salary is 8,000 yuan per month.”
It was nothing but false prosperity, deceiving and fooling children.
“Hmm…”
Since he had nothing better to do, Cheng Che decided to watch the drama for a while.
Watching Zhang Hui desperately trying to deceive him into renewing the contract, there were several times when Cheng Che almost couldn’t help but burst into laughter:
Zhang Hui, you idiot, are you trying to deceive someone mentally challenged?
“…”
“I’ll tell you…” Seeing the bright and attentive eyes of the stuttering fool, Zhang Hui’s malicious interest was piqued, and his smile became even more lewd.
He reached out and wrapped his arm around Cheng Che’s waist, whispering, “Since we’re almost adults now, with one great accomplishment, tonight, Big Brother Hui will bring you two beautiful sisters to have some fun. Hehe.”
What is this nonsense?!!
Cheng Che forcefully pushed him away and retreated to a spot eight steps away.
This Zhang Hui was truly disgusting…
And Zhang Hui thought he was just shy, shamelessly approaching him again: “If you don’t want beautiful sisters, how about I arrange two hot chicks for you?”
“Get lost…”
Zhang Hui’s repulsiveness made Cheng Che’s stomach churn, but due to not having eaten lunch or dinner, he couldn’t vomit anything.
With a lack of sleep and no meal, playing four intense matches in a row, Cheng Che was starting to feel light-headed.
Zhang Hui deliberately put on a serious face, saying, “What kind of language is that, young man!”
Combining firmness and gentleness was the most effective way to deal with the stuttering fool.
But now, the stuttering fool was no longer the same as before.
This was a different stuttering fool.
“I-I’ll go to the… bathroom.”
…
Cheng Che opened a bottle of mineral water and rinsed his mouth in the bathroom.
After he finished, he returned and saw Zhang Hui once again with a playful and smiling face, as if he hadn’t been the one wearing a stern and fierce expression just moments ago.
“Are you alright, good kid?”
Cheng Che restrained the impulse to beat him on the spot and stuttered, saying, “Show me… the preview… contract.”
Coach T even turned his gaze in their direction upon hearing that.
Zhang Hui was also delighted and quickly went to fetch the contract and handed it to him: “Take a good look, if there’s nothing unsatisfactory…”
“Shh…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when Cheng Che tore the contract into two halves and, in front of everyone’s eyes, threw them into the trash can.
“What… What do you mean?” Zhang Hui’s face contorted in anger, attempting to appear fierce and terrifying.
Cheng Che silently criticized him, thinking that anyone with a bit of emotional intelligence wouldn’t change their facial expressions so frequently.
However, he understood that Zhang Hui’s emotional intelligence wasn’t actually low. His current display of low emotional intelligence was simply because he didn’t care about himself.
This could be considered another form of “sincerity” in a different sense.
Cheng Che brushed his hands as if there were dust on them and smirked, “Zhang Hui, don’t you get tired of changing your face every day? If you’re not tired, I’m tired for you… Stop talking, my decision is final, no one can stop me.”
“Who dares to stop your father? Your father will shoot his mouth off at anyone who tries.”
Zhang Hui replied, “Actually, it’s quite tiring for me to listen to you stuttering and then not stuttering.”
“Don’t think that just because a bad person gives you a little bit of sweetness, they are a good person. This was one of the lessons I learned in my previous life after living for twenty-one years.”
Confucius[mfn]Confucius, also known as Kongzi or Kong Qiu, was a Chinese philosopher, teacher, and politician who lived during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history[/mfn] once said, “Repay hatred with sincerity and repay kindness with kindness.”
Although he didn’t know where he heard this sentence, Cheng Che felt it made sense and had always regarded it as a standard to live by.
After giving Zhang Hui a good scolding, he turned around and left gracefully. Going downstairs, he took a deep breath as he faced the familiar street.
Ah, no matter what, he had finally left that place filled with nothing but waste and idiots, aside from Coach T.
Feeling simple.
The young man in white walked north along the sidewalk with a light and brisk pace, for some reason feeling like he was going to fly.
Probably the feeling of freedom.
His stomach growled with hunger, so he found a small stall selling mooncakes by the roadside and ordered a four yuan mooncake.
The auntie skillfully cut the bread, added the fillings, and bagged it up in one go, pointing to the QR code for WeChat or Alipay hanging in front of the cart.
Cheng Che opened his phone… but it wouldn’t turn on. His phone had run out of battery and shut down.
“The network is slow. It hasn’t loaded yet,” the auntie said as she handed him the mooncake. “Here, take it for now.”
His face immediately flushed, feeling embarrassed and shy as he shook his head. “Auntie, m-my phone… it’s out of b-battery, I can’t… I can’t pay…”
What a messy excuse. Would the auntie think he was like a scammer trying to get free mooncakes? Cheng Che thought that way and didn’t dare to reach out and take it.
“It’s tr-troublesome… Auntie, c-can I… not have it?” he stammered, looking pitiful.
…
The auntie’s face turned serious, and she seemed like she was about to get angry.
Cheng Che lowered his gaze, unable to look her in the eye.
“Take it and eat.”
Unexpectedly, the auntie didn’t give him a chance to refuse and forcefully handed him the mooncake. She also took a box of yogurt from the side box and gave it to him, saying, “Eat it after you finish.”
“Ah?” Cheng Che was more flustered than when he played in the finals. “I-I don’t need it, Auntie… I-I don’t want…”
“Take it.”
The auntie’s tone was firm.
“Okay…”
Auntie: “Don’t go, stand here and eat. Let me tell you a story.”
Cheng Che: ???
Young Cheng Che obediently stood aside and listened to Auntie as she told a story from the past…
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl who had an argument with her mother and ran away from home, crying.”
“At night, the exhausted and hungry little girl arrived in front of a wonton shop, but she had no money.”
“The old man selling wontons treated her to a bowl of delicious wontons. The little girl was very grateful and said, ‘Grandpa, you’re so kind, much better than my mother.'”
“The old man replied, ‘Silly child, I only treated you to a bowl of wontons, but your mother has been cooking for you all these years!'”
“The little girl suddenly realized the truth and apologized to her mother. Mother and daughter reconciled and became close again.”
“The story is over.” Auntie, who sold the mooncakes, asked, “Do you have any feelings about it?”
Then, the seemingly runaway child with a lost expression asked a shocking question, “If her… if her mother’s cooking… wasn’t good… would she still… go back?”
“What a silly child,” Auntie thought to herself, speechless and choked up.
“Auntie means that no matter how big the conflicts are with your family, you should never run away from home!”
Auntie banged the cutting board twice with the knife and, with a serious tone, she said, “Go back home, child. Your parents are waiting for you.”
Although Cheng Che didn’t grasp the seriousness of her words, the banging sound of the knife on the cutting board was quite intimidating.
“No… that’s not… I’m not…”
He paused mid-sentence, swallowing the words he wanted to explain.
The red-shirted young man walking from the other side of the road… if he wasn’t mistaken, he should be Stars, the senior three years younger than him!
How could he let Stars see him in such a state, eating mooncakes by the roadside… No, this must not happen!
Cheng Che’s idol burden was quite heavy, resulting in his quick response to handle this “crisis”—he immediately squatted down and hid behind the mooncake stall.
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
Quick reaction, but quite foolish.
…
Stars approached the area, indeed it was Stars.
He was a contented Stars, strolling along the street after having his fill of food and drink.
Congratulations, you’ve unlocked Lin Xingling’s limited skin: Street Wanderer.
Cheng Che hugged his legs with his arms and rested his forehead on his knees, curling up into a ball.
Can’t see me, can’t see me…
Auntie, noticing the child’s strange behavior, suddenly had an idea.
“Hey, you, the child over there, come here! Your child is here!”
Author’s note:
【Mini Theater】
Author: Xingling is here to pick up his wife~
Lin Xingling: Huh? Wife? Where is she?
Cheng Che: …
Lin Xingling: Hey! I’m coming!!!
Author: In the next chapter, they’ll go for milk tea together~
Cheng Che: (smiling)