Chapter 9

Lu Shiqi was the kind of person who was soft but not hard.

If Pei Manman had been a spoiled brat, coming into the house and not treating it as someone else’s, doing whatever he wanted, Lu Shiqi would have already taken action to teach him to be a better person.

He wouldn’t have given Ling Yue the chance to discuss it, and he wouldn’t have agreed to help take care of Pei Manman.

But Pei Manman was timid and introverted—whether he was a little green tea inside or not, at least his outward appearance was meek and his attitude was humble.

This made Lu Shiqi lose the need to be tough with him from the very beginning.

Challenging the strong is for progress, what’s the point of bullying the weak?

Only people who are incompetent bully those weaker than themselves.

At this moment, Lu Shiqi felt like he had been forced to bully someone weaker than himself.

He felt a mix of regret and anxiety that was hard to describe.

Luckily, there was no one around to watch, otherwise, if others saw this scene, Lu Shiqi would probably jump off a building to prove his innocence.

The right thing to do was to immediately explain to Pei Manman that he didn’t mean anything by it.

But if he did that, Lu Shiqi couldn’t bring himself to do it.

What was the difference between explaining and apologizing?

Did he actually have to apologize to the little poor ghost? No way, absolutely not.

Lu Shiqi thought to himself, he wasn’t wrong, it was Pei Manman who apologized first, he didn’t ask for that.

Was it his fault that Pei Manman was timid and cowardly?

Would they be able to chat anymore?

How would he take care of Pei Manman?

Lu Shiqi found a lot of excuses to justify himself, but when he spoke again, his obviously controlled and softened tone betrayed his lack of confidence.

“…What are you apologizing for? Why are you apologizing for nothing? Don’t make it seem like I’m bullying you.”

Although his words were still not polite.

And when people are embarrassed, they tend to pretend to be busy.

After saying all that, before Pei Manman could respond, Lu Shiqi took the initiative to change the subject.

“Also, since you don’t want to go back, why did you say that?”

“Do you think we’ll send you back?”

He hit the nail on the head.

Pei Manman nodded honestly, “…Yeah.”

He also felt like he had guessed correctly.

But Lu Shiqi was very puzzled, “…Why do you think that?”

Mainly, they had no reason to do that.

They had just brought the child home the day before, and then they made him sick that night, and the next day they were going to send him back?

What kind of family were they?

Even if Lu Shiqi didn’t like Pei Manman, he wouldn’t be so heartless to him.

Pei Manman lowered his head, his voice filled with disappointment and dejection, “…Because I got sick, it’s a lot of trouble, I’m giving it to you.”

Lu Shiqi’s brain automatically corrected the order of the words, and then combined it with the context, and he understood. It turned out that the little guy was worried that he would be kicked out because he was sick.

Lu Shiqi fell silent.

At this moment, he remembered some of the things Ling Yue had said yesterday.

Pei Manman was a very pitiful child, he had no parents, no home, and he had been living with different relatives, moving from one place to another.

And his relatives weren’t very nice to him, they only provided him with enough to survive.

Just hearing about it, Lu Shiqi didn’t have much empathy, and he didn’t understand this kind of bitterness and humility very well.

But looking at Pei Manman now, he seemed to understand a little.

Then he remembered his own bad attitude towards him yesterday, and the guilt he had suppressed began to rise again.

Although he didn’t know the specific situation yesterday, it didn’t change the fact that he had taken the initiative to bully the weak, to be incompetent.

He really wasn’t a good person yesterday.

He could dislike Pei Manman, he could suspect that Pei Manman’s motives were not pure, but no matter what Pei Manman was like, he shouldn’t have taken the initiative to bully him.

He decided to engrave this sentence in his mind, to use it as the first principle in his interactions with Pei Manman.

“…What kind of trouble is that? It’s normal to get sick, everyone gets sick, if you get sick, you should go to the hospital.”

When he was broken, he even started talking more.

Even though no one else was around, Pei Manman probably wouldn’t understand, but Lu Shiqi seemed to be trying very hard to explain something.

“For us, this is not a problem… and we won’t send you back for such a small thing.”

And hearing this, Pei Manman’s dim eyes lit up again.

Although his language skills were limited, his hearing was fine, and his basic comprehension was also fine.

“Unless you want to go back yourself.”

Hearing the last sentence, Pei Manman finally looked up.

Compared to his previous paleness and fatigue, his humility and pitifulness, his face didn’t change much this time, but his eyes had regained their expectation, they were watery and sparkling.

Like a little puppy, his long eyelashes fluttered, staring straight at Lu Shiqi.

His whole little face instantly became lively and cute.

“I won’t get sick anymore!”

Even his tone of voice became heavier.

The little guy hurriedly promised in a loud voice; this was the most logically coherent sentence he had said today.

Lu Shiqi’s brain went blank for two seconds again.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t deny it.

When he met Pei Manman’s eyes, he easily became slow to react.

…He actually was a little cute?

No, impossible.

This was definitely his delusion, or maybe it was Pei Manman’s green tea tactics.

Yes, that’s very possible!

…This little green tea is scary!

Yesterday, as an observer, seeing him do this to Ling Yue, Lu Shiqi was just unhappy. He didn’t expect that today, when it was his turn, he would actually be confused!

No, he had to stay calm.

Pitiful as he might be, he couldn’t be seduced by the little green tea!

“Can you control something like getting sick… if you could really do that, there wouldn’t be anyone sick in the world.”

Lu Shiqi coldly avoided his gaze and changed the subject.

“Okay, you’ve already had some water, you should go brush your teeth, wash your face, and then take your medicine. After you finish your medicine, go have breakfast.”

“But you just got better, so you can only eat something easy to digest today, I won’t let you eat too much.”

It was fine as long as he knew he wouldn’t be kicked out.

Pei Manman entered a state of peace of mind, and his little face finally showed some relaxation and naturalness.

Because it was Lu Shiqi who brought him this good news, and because his emotions were high because of this good news, he felt that Lu Shiqi didn’t seem so scary anymore.

He gave Lu Shiqi a sweet smile and obediently replied, “…Yeah!”

…

The subsequent situation was as Lu Shiqi had predicted. By the time Pei Manman finished brushing his teeth and washing his face, almost twenty minutes had passed.

Luckily, Pei Manman was very good and obedient when he took his medicine.

It was clear that he was reluctant, his brows furrowed in a troubled frown, but he didn’t make a fuss, and he drank it all in one gulp.

The medicine needed to be taken before meals, and he could only eat after fifteen minutes.

Taking advantage of this time, Lu Shiqi took Pei Manman to measure his height and weight.

The results shocked Lu Shiqi quite a bit.

He knew that Pei Manman was thin and small, at least a circle smaller than children of the same age, and this was something that everyone could see with their eyes.

But when the actual data was measured, he found that Pei Manman’s height and weight were still stuck at the level of a three-year-old, and he immediately had a new understanding of Pei Manman’s previous miserable life.

Lu Shiqi considered himself to be quite a picky eater.

Although he was naturally low in appetite and didn’t easily feel hungry, he had a clear understanding of his own eating habits, and he knew that he just ate less.

He had even been diagnosed with malnutrition before because he ate too little, and his weight had always been below standard, he had never successfully gained weight.

But he was taller than children of the same age, at least he had reached the standard in that aspect.

So what kind of life had the little guy been living?

Did he never get to eat his fill every day?

Thinking back to yesterday, he could eat so much, and he looked so happy while eating… He clearly loved to eat, but he couldn’t eat enough?

How much less than him did he have to eat to be so short and thin?

Lu Shiqi instantly felt that his task had become heavier.

No matter what, he had to get the little guy to reach the standard height and weight for his age, otherwise, people would really suspect that Ling Yue was abusing the child.

After recording the data, Lu Shiqi finally took Pei Manman to the dining room.

Their family chef, who had been in a state of depression, was now full of energy, as if he had prepared a big meal and was waiting for them.

It turned out to be just ordinary noodles.

“I heard that the little guest had gastroenteritis and went to the hospital last night, so I specially made brown sugar noodles today, which can replenish energy and is easy to digest… Just eat a little bit first, you can’t keep your stomach empty.”

Lu Shiqi had no appetite for this.

Red sugar water with a clump of white, thin noodles floating in it, just looking at the appearance was hard to make anyone interested.

But Pei Manman wasn’t a picky eater, and he was really hungry.

Seeing the steaming noodles, he had to take a bite no matter what.

He picked up his chopsticks, picked up a few strands, and slurped them into his mouth.

A very smooth set of small moves.

The chef stood beside Pei Manman, expectantly asking, “How is it, little guest? Is it delicious?”

And Pei Manman’s answer didn’t disappoint him.

The little guy raised his head, his eyes filled with genuine surprise, and he praised, “It’s delicious! It’s sweet, so delicious!”

Lu Shiqi couldn’t believe it.

But the chef was beaming, the sense of accomplishment he had lost on Lu Shiqi was now found back on Pei Manman.

Finally, someone understood his food.

This bowl of brown sugar noodles looked simply, but it actually took a lot of effort.

The brown sugar was brought from the chef’s own home, and it was a traditional sugarcane sugar that he had specially brought from another province through a friend.

Not only was the color good when it was cooked, but it was also not too sweet or greasy, it was refreshing and delicious.

The noodles were made fresh that morning with rice flour.

This rice flour was of good quality and texture, it was full of rice aroma when you opened the bag, and the noodles made from it were also delicate and refreshing, easy to chew and digest.

It was very suitable for children with weak stomachs.

Anyway, Pei Manman ate it with gusto.

The sugar water wasn’t too sweet, it was fragrant when you put it in your mouth, and it was heated to the perfect temperature. When you drank a mouthful, your taste buds were instantly refreshed, and you felt like you had come back to life.

The noodles were also fragrant with rice, they were smooth and slippery, not too hard or too soft, just right.

Delicious, love to eat.

Pei Manman almost buried half his face in the bowl, eating with gusto, savoring every bite.

Even the most unappetizing person, seeing the little guy’s so pleasing eating habits, would think that this was a delicacy from heaven—even Lu Shiqi began to doubt himself, could these noodles really be delicious?