QT: LAC Chapter 11: First World (11)

Chapter 11: First World (11)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

That evening, Bai Xu made a big dinner for his brother and lover, and then they hugged together and chatted with each other, covered with quilts, and spent a pure and harmonious night.

The next day, eating his brother’s breakfast, Bai Duan finally came out of the ‘newlywed’ sweetness and began to dig up the old accounts.

“I won’t say goodbye to brother, but since the Zheng family is not good to you, and you don’t care, why didn’t you come back to see my parents and me?” Bai Duan half lay on the table, his voice was discontented. “You emailed me, but Mom and Dad never heard from you. They were also worried about you.”

Bai Xu stopped as he was tidying up the dishes and chopsticks, sat beside him, and took Bai Duan into his arms, “Little Duan, I was your brother for six years, grew up with you, and marked your body with my brand, and I am thrilled. But I can’t always be your brother, you know.”

Bai Duan nodded inexplicably, “Of course, we like each other, not only as brothers but also as lovers.”

“That’s right.” Bai Xu chuckled, “Homosexuality is not in line with the mainstream of today’s society. Since we were brothers growing up together, it would be even more difficult. After all, even if we are not related by blood, in the eyes of most people, including your parents, we are brothers. When brothers fall in love, it’s considered incest.”

Bai Duan was speechless. He licked his lips and drooped his head somewhat.

“So, I needed to get rid of this brotherhood label as soon as possible, and the Zheng family gave me a chance. I left home for four years without contacting your parents, to dilute their concept of that I’m ‘their son,’ and to pay more attention to my identity as Zheng Ershao’s son. Only in this way can my experience of accompanying you for six years not be a hindrance between us, but a help.” Bai Xu shrugged his shoulders. “After all, apart from my gender, your parents will be confident when they hand you over to someone who knows you, loves you, cared for you for six years, and knows the root of the matter, rather than a strange man who inexplicably emerges.”

Bai Duan nodded blankly, accepting Bai Xu’s explanation without any resistance, and felt that it was quite reasonable. Anyway, it was enough for him to leave everything to his brother. Bai Duan believed that Bai Xu would solve all his difficulties for him without any harm.

Although the question of coming out of the closet to his family bothered Bai Duan for three seconds, he quickly regained his confidence in Bai Xu and referred to another matter, “You once said in your email that you would like to settle some grudges once you returned to the Zheng house, what’s the matter?”

Seeing that Bai Duan had regained his spirit, Bai Xu was relieved. He rubbed Bai Duan’s head and got up to continue washing the dishes and chopsticks on the table in the kitchen. His tone was casual again, “You ask about that? That’s because I found out that my abduction was not an accident, but a deliberate attempt.”

Bai Xu’s attitude was relaxed, but Bai Duan was frightened. He jumped up and ran to the kitchen door and grabbed the door frame. “Who is it?!”

“Mrs. Zheng Ershao, my mother in name.” Bai Xu answered as he washed the dishes.

Bai Duan frowned.

When he arrived in Beijing, he also learned a lot about Mrs. Zheng. Bai Duan did not like Mrs. Zheng Er-shao because she was very unkind to Bai Xu, but in his heart, this was a destitute woman, who was ignored by her father, oppressed by her stepmother in childhood, and scourged by Zheng Ershao when she grew up. Now her only son was silly, and he was sympathetic.

However, ignoring that sympathy, Bai Duan did not question Bai Xu’s words, “Is it really her?! So, did she do anything to you?

“No. Even if she did, she would not succeed.” Bai Xu turned his head and smiled, soothing Bai Duan’s mood. “I am not a child without self-protection now.”

Bai Duan was a little relieved, “How can she do such a thing…”

“It should be something stimulated from an early age, so a type of mental illness.” Bai Xu wiped his hands, turned to Bai Duan and took him into his arms. “When she was a child, her brother, who was an illegitimate son, occupied the magpie’s nest and robbed her of everything that belonged to her, sowing seeds everywhere and this illegitimate son was blooming everywhere. She was worried about this son. She wanted him to be ground into dust but took a wrong road, and got farther and farther away from her original goal.” Bai Xu’s tone was calm and almost indifferent. “There must be a pity for hateful people and vice versa. She is indeed worthy of sympathy, but what about the innocent children who were harmed by her?”

Bai Duan lay silently in Bai Xu’s bosom, quiet for a long time. After digesting the news, he looked up slightly. “She did a lot of such things?”

“Yes.” Bai Xu took him to the sofa and sat down. “If you are not born legitimately, you will need to be sent far away. If you are born and raised, you will be sold far away. Otherwise, at the level of Zheng Ershao’s heart, how could he find me when the Zheng family was not looking for an illegitimate child?”

“Your father, he didn’t know?” Bai Duan was a little incredible.

“I think he should know.” Bai Xu pulled the fruit tray over and stuffed a grape into Bai Duan’s mouth. “Only when he had married and had children, he didn’t care about illegitimate children. More importantly, even if Mrs. Zheng was not spoiled, she was also someone with a deep background. He could not provoke her, he dared not provoke her, and maybe he was a little ashamed of his wife and simply wanted to shock her. With one eye closed, one eye turned into a shrinking tortoise, right when he found nothing, and it seemed foolish. He was anxious. Regardless of Mrs. Zheng’s objection to bring me back, he did it.” With a slight sneer, Bai Xu was contemptuous. “When he was young, he played too hard and lost his health. Now it’s too difficult to have another son. What’s more, there’s a tiger in the house who looks covetously, and he doesn’t know when she’s going to shoot. He can’t gamble.”

Bai Duan’s expression was complicated. For a time, he did not know how to evaluate Zheng Ershao and his wife. A moment later, he resolutely shifted his attention away from thinking of this, “Well, how do you want to get revenge?”

“How can I get revenge? Of course, it depends on my weapon: the law.” Bai Xu smiled and said, “I am a good law-abiding citizen!”

Bai Duan: “…”

Although his brother did not do anything against the law, for some reason, Bai Duan felt that the credibility of his statement was almost zero.

“So when you go back to the Zheng house, you just want to find evidence?” Bai Duan opened his mouth and skillfully accepted Bai Xu’s feeding. “Have you found it?”

“It’s a bit difficult.” Bai Xu sighed. “I didn’t think there was Mrs. Zheng’s son before. I thought it would be a great joy to solve the problem of traffickers. As a result, they had been caught by the police too early. It frightened Mrs. Zheng as if the grass was beaten and startled the snake. It gave her several years to erase the evidence. Now it is challenging to look for it again.”

“What should I do then?” Bai Duan frowned and was worried.

“Rest assured.” Bai Xu chuckled. “Although the previous evidence is missing, I did not just eat rice in the Zheng family for four years. If there is no evidence, then I can make evidence. Ten years after the traffickers’ business, Mrs. Zheng estimated that she had forgotten it long ago, which could lead the snake out of the hole. After all, bad things are addictive. As long as they get benefits and are not caught, the next time they take chances, they would move to danger.” Looking down at the inexplicable Bai Duan, Bai Xu smiled and held him to his chest. “The net has been lowered, I just need to retrieve it. If you weren’t so anxious to come to me, I would have probably finished the task soon and gone back to you. Next, I’ll invite you to watch a big play. By the time you start school, the play will probably be settled.”

As Bai Xu said, three days later, the grand opera began without warning, which shocked the upper circles of the capital and even the whole nation.

On that day, the police cracked another case of human trafficking, arrested dozens of traffickers, and found children on the spot. Of course, this was not the most shocking, but more importantly, it also involves a massive scandal involving a rich lady who contacted these people and traffickers to sell illegitimate children.

One of the abducted children was only three years old and was the illegitimate son of Zheng Ershao in Beijing. His mother rushed to the police station after receiving the police’s notice. She cried and looked mad with her lost and recovered child, and directly accused Mrs. Zheng of being the real murderer behind the scenes.

“I’ve heard the kind-hearted man say it, he didn’t leave his real identity, but I dare not believe it! As early as I was pregnant, I knew she wanted to harm my child! Thanks to that kind person’s reminder, I avoided the past and gave birth to the baby smoothly! “The woman who called herself Zheng Ershao’s lover said, “Then, I listened to the man’s advice and kept a good eye on the child. I dared not let him out of my sight, but in case of any precautions, I still could not prevent it!”

Subsequently, the police and criminals verified that after interrogation, the other party finally confessed, admitting that they did receive such contacts, the other party gave them money, asked them to go to a place to take the children away, but the connection was not Mrs. Zheng, and it needed further investigation.

This kind of big family scandal and the process of interrogating and solving a case should belong to the category of confidentiality, but somehow, it was leaked on the Internet, which immediately caused a public outcry. Subsequently, many netizens were so enthusiastic about this matter that they really picked up the unbelievable news under the guidance of the conscientious person. Zheng Ershao had many illegitimate children, but now, they all disappeared inexplicably. The only one who still existed, but also had the experience of being abducted and trafficked, escaped on his own.

The disappearance of a child may be unexpected, but so many children were missing for no reason, which was extremely frightening. Many people linked the case to the human trafficking case, which was solved ten years ago. Although the evidence had been erased, no one believed that it had nothing to do with Mrs. Zheng.

For a time, many women who had maintained a relationship with Zheng Ershao appeared to say that their children had been abducted. Saying that they were either bribed money or under pressure of the other party’s power, and so, until now, they were silent about it.

These women were not worthy of sympathy, but they also corrected the complaint against Mrs. Zheng from the side. Even if the police failed to collect evidence, Mrs. Zheng’s reputation was damaged entirely. She and Zheng Ershao were cold-hearted, and their child was silly. The Zheng family could no longer let her continue to be their daughter-in-law. Her father, inspired by her stepmother, completely abandoned her, saying that he did not have such a morally corrupt daughter.

Old Mr. Zheng never paid much attention to his youngest son, until things got more significant, he never knew that he had such a cruel daughter-in-law, and was instantly upset. Although he did not look down on those illegitimate children, they were the blood of the Zheng family, how could they be so severely ruined by others?!

Old Mr. Zheng was so angry that he fell on the spot and ordered Zheng Ershao to divorce her, but he did not think that the bloody storms of the Zheng family had just begun.

Just when the public’s perception of Zheng Ershao and his wife fell below the bottom line, another big surprise burst out, pointing directly to a series of charges such as Zheng Dashao’s smuggling, tax evasion, collusion between officials and businessmen. State officials immediately intervened in the investigation, with clear objectives and obvious preparations, while the only mainstay, Old Mr. Zheng, could not bear such successive blows. He fainted immediately after learning the news and was sent to the hospital for first aid.

However, in a short week, the once red-hot Zheng family had revealed their dark side. Meanwhile, nesting in Bai Xu’s apartment, Bai Duan was staring at Bai Xu, who was gracefully peeling apples for him. This person was not very good.

Bai Xu cut the apple into small pieces and stuffed it into Bai Duan’s mouth. With a smile, Bai Xu hid his merits and fame.