28: The black Audi and its clingy brother

Lin Xiaocao's face flushed crimson in an instant, and her heart raced so fast it felt like it might leap out of her throat. She whipped her head around and stared at Wang Fugui in disbelief.

His face was backlit, making it hard to see clearly, but his domineering presence felt overwhelming.

"Your life is mine."

"You have to do whatever I tell you to do."

These words pounded into her ears one by one, making her heart flutter more than any sweet talk ever could. Since she was a child, she had heard countless compliments and flatteries, but no one had ever declared ownership over her in such a crude yet matter-of-fact tone.

She opened her mouth, wanting to retort and call him a bastard, but not a single word would come out of her throat. The mixture of anger and shame clogging her chest left her only able to glare at him with misty eyes.

Seeing her like this, Wang Fugui thought he had spoken too harshly and scared the Silly girl. He scratched his head and added in a low, muffled voice.

"I... I mean, don't go trying to kill yourself again. Live well. Once I've earned enough money in the future, I'll find you a wife."

"A... a wife?"

Lin Xiaocao's brain buzzed, and the strange emotion that had just welled up was instantly doused with ice-cold water. She was so angry she almost jumped out of bed. This blockhead! This stupid ox! This young lady is a girl!

But she couldn't say those words. She could only turn her face toward the wall, cover her head with the quilt, and curl into a ball, ignoring him completely.

Seeing that she had finally settled down, Wang Fugui nodded in satisfaction. He had finally managed to subdue her. Yawning, he walked to his floor pallet in the corner, preparing to catch some more sleep.

~

Meanwhile, at the rusty main gate of the Red Star Machinery Factory, the black Audi had already driven away.

The old man in the security room was animatedly boasting to the co-worker who had arrived for the morning shift.

"You didn't see the spectacle! Hah, a black sedan with four rings! The two men who got out were in black suits and sunglasses, just like in the movies."

"What were they doing?"

"Looking for someone! They showed me a photo. Wow, that girl was truly beautiful!" The old man gestured. "Big eyes, fair skin, long hair—prettier than the stars on a calendar! They said she’s some rich young lady who ran away from home."

He picked up the enamel mug on the desk, took a large gulp of water, and smacked his lips.

"They asked if I'd seen her. I told them I’ve been at this factory for thirty years and seen all kinds of young girls, but never one that pretty. Besides, could a golden phoenix like that ever fly into a dump like our factory?"

"And then what happened?"

"Then, the man left a business card and said there’d be a heavy reward for any clues—ten thousand yuan!" The old man lowered his voice, mysteriously holding up one finger.

"Ten thousand!" The co-worker gasped.

The old man huffed proudly and carefully tucked the gold-embossed business card into his drawer. The more he looked at the girl in the photo, the more familiar she seemed, yet he just couldn't remember where he'd seen her. He must be seeing things; if he had seen such a fresh and pretty girl, there was no way he wouldn't remember.

When Wang Fugui went to the workshop for his shift, he happened to pass by the security room and overheard most of the conversation.

"Ten thousand yuan?"

He did some mental math; that was nearly three months of his three thousand eight hundred. But he just gave it a passing thought. City folks' business was too complicated; ten thousand yuan wouldn't be that easy to get. It was better to just move his bricks honestly and focus on keeping his three thousand eight hundred.

He hoisted a bag of cement and put the matter entirely out of his mind.

~

After Zhang Qiang left, Wang Fugui's life finally returned to peace.

Or rather, a surface-level peace.

He keenly sensed that the way Chen Yun looked at him had changed.

Before, it was a complex scrutiny mixed with disdain, curiosity, and a certain kind of need. Now, that cold outer shell seemed to have been shattered by something, revealing something scalding and undisguised underneath.

That afternoon, just as Wang Fugui finished his shift, he was cornered by Chen Yun at the door of the storage room.

"Wang Fugui."

She was holding a mesh bag containing several bright red apples and a small piece of meat wrapped in oil paper.

"This is for you," she said, handing over the bag. "To help that... little brother of yours recover."

Wang Fugui instinctively took half a step back, wanting to refuse. "Supervisor Chen, this... this won't do. I can't take your things."

But Chen Yun took a step forward, nearly shoving the bag into his arms. The cool scent of soap on her seemed to carry a certain warmth now, stubbornly wafting into his nose.

"Take it. It's not for you, it's for him." Her voice was soft but carried a tone that brooked no refusal. "He's so sick, and you're a grown man; how would you know how to take care of someone?"

Looking into her overly bright eyes, alarm bells rang in Wang Fugui's head. "My mother! This is even scarier than Zhang Qiang cornering me!"

He held his ground, refusing to take it.

Chen Yun suddenly gave a soft laugh, one tinged with self-deprecation and helplessness.

"What are you afraid of? Afraid I'll eat you?" She paused, her voice dropping even lower. "He's not home, and he won't be coming back often anymore."

These words were like a key, unlocking all of Wang Fugui's confusion. He remembered the night he had reminded her that "the smell is quite mixed."

It seemed she had figured it out.

"But now that she had, my trouble has arrived!"

Wang Fugui wailed inwardly, but his face maintained its simple and honest look. He snatched the bag and dove into the room.

"Thank you, Supervisor Chen! I'll thank you on behalf of Little Grass!"

With a "bang," he quickly shut the door, cutting off Chen Yun and the dangerous aura around her.

Leaning against the door, his heart was still pounding. "My three thousand eight hundred is at risk again!"

From that day on, Chen Yun's "offerings" never stopped. Sometimes it was a few warm buns, sometimes a bowl of steaming chicken soup, and once she even sent over a brand-new cotton quilt.

With nowhere to hide, Wang Fugui could only use Lin Xiaocao as an excuse every time, quickly taking the items and then immediately closing the door.

He even heard Chen Yun speak outside the door several times.

"That room of yours is too damp. Is it cold at night? Why don't you... come up to my place for a bit? I have heating there."

Every time, Wang Fugui pretended not to hear.

My mother said there's much gossip in front of a widow's door. Besides, she's not a widow; she's a tigress! My three thousand eight hundred is important, but my life is more important!

~

As the days passed, the weather grew noticeably cooler. The leaves in the factory had all fallen, and the workers had put on thick cotton coats.

Wang Fugui's constant 38-degree body temperature became the most precious resource in the entire workshop during this late autumn season.

"Oh, Brother Fugui, help me lift this material, I can't move it alone." A young female worker blushed as she approached Wang Fugui, her arm "accidentally" brushing against his back.

"Fugui, come give me a hand, this machine is stuck." Another woman in her thirties called out to him, taking the opportunity to press her cold hands against his arm for warmth.

Wang Fugui turned no one away; in his eyes, this was just mutual aid between co-workers. His boundless energy allowed him to do the work of three people, so helping out a bit was nothing.

He didn't notice at all that the gaze of the female workers was hotter than the factory's boilers. In this cold weather, his status as a piece of "tang sanzangs flesh" had become even more attractive.

But the biggest beneficiary was Lin Xiaocao.

Since recovering from her fever, although her body was still weak, her spirits were much better. However, along with that, she became increasingly clingy.

Wang Fugui simply thought the sickly girl was physically weak, afraid of the cold, and in an unfamiliar place, so it was normal for her to depend on him as her "savior."

At night, the storage room was cold and damp. Wang Fugui was like a furnace and felt hot even with a thin quilt, but on Lin Xiaocao's cot, even with the new quilt from Chen Yun, she still curled into a ball from the cold.

In the middle of the night, she would always unconsciously roll off her small bed or simply grope her way to Wang Fugui's floor pallet and squeeze in beside him. Like a kitten seeking a heat source, she would press her icy hands and feet against him.

Wang Fugui had been woken up by the cold several times, and looking at this "brother" who had appeared beside him, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Finally, Wang Fu...

...gui also couldn't be bothered to struggle with it anymore.

Forget it, I'll just treat her like a hot water bottle. Anyway, he's a guy and I'm a guy; what's there to fear from two grown men squeezing together?

He even gallantly extended his arm for her to cuddle with while she slept. With her head pillowed on his arm and her body pressed tightly against him, Lin Xiaocao's breathing would level out, and she could finally sleep soundly.

Wang Fugui had no ulterior thoughts about this; he just felt that raising a brother was more exhausting than raising a son.

However, his young and vigorous body began to have some other reactions.

Every morning when he woke up, he felt very uncomfortable in his lower body. That morning vitality common to all young men made even a strong man accustomed to heavy labor feel a bit embarrassed.

Especially when a warm, soft body was pressed against him.

This morning, before dawn.

Wang Fugui woke up once again with that familiar feeling of stuffiness. He opened his eyes groggily; beside him, Lin Xiaocao was sleeping soundly, one leg resting restlessly over him.

He moved slightly, wanting to shift her leg so he could get up to relieve himself.

But as soon as he moved, his body stiffened.

"My mother!"

Wang Fugui's mind instantly cleared, and his whole body froze like a stone, not daring to move an inch.

At that very moment, the sleeping Lin Xiaocao's body gave a sudden jolt. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She felt it.

An astonishing heat, accompanied by an unignorable presence, was pressed right against her.

Lin Xiaocao's body stiffened instantly.