Chapter 12.2

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The shock of successfully defending justice in the Hongshan District could not withstand the few seconds of witnessing the teacher playing with a knife.

When Jiang Wang dealt with an emergency, most of the things in his mind would be from his work-based rationality. Only after returning home would his mental quality clear up and think better. 

The knife game was very popular among soldiers in the United States, and it was originally from the western culture on their side.

But for this kind of thing to be done by Ji Linqiu, who held a book to teach students every day, the scene looked extraordinarily different.

He originally thought he was familiar with the teacher, but now he had a lot more things he became curious about.

What was normal but unreasonable was that after the incident blew over, Ji Linqiu continued to attend classes like nothing happened. The children still chatted around him and tried to kiss up to him discreetly. The parents were still pulling at his sleeves and talking non-stop, with their faces full of appreciation and liking.

When Jiang Wang came to pick up the child from school, he looked at the backs of the crowded people for a while.

Peng Xingwang looked up and observed him, “Brother, do you want to get closer too? You can only come early next time.”

Jiang Wang reached out and knocked his head.

“Ah! Why are you knocking on me again!”

With the gangsters begging for mercy, Zhanlong Feitian and other related organizations were quickly taken down.

This kind of small gang had no fixed stronghold. It was purely a joint effort of the unemployed and children from high school pretending to be something that they weren’t. There was no resistance at all and it collapsed with one blow.

In any case, this was a good thing to cleanse the social culture and eliminate security risks of the small town.

The police station also specially awarded Jiang Wang a certificate.

“Outstanding Citizen of Hongshan District”

Jiang Wang took a photo with the comrades in the police holding the certificate of commendation in both hands.

“Everyone is for me, and I am for everyone.^[1]One for all, all for one; Many people have helped me, so I should try my best to help others. This is what I should do, thank you for your encouragement.”

The man deliberately wore a more handsome pure black leather jacket, which made his back all sweaty after the photos were taken.

But he was really handsome in this outfit. He looked like the eldest brother in a TV series, especially righteous and heroic.

Peng Xingwang padded his feet and hung up the certificate to the side wall of the living room. He stared at himself, who had a silly smile in the photo for a few seconds.

“The eyes are too small to look good.” He sighed softly, “It would be nice if I looked like Big brother.”

Jiang Wang reached out and pulled the child’s face cupping his hands on both sides, “What are you thinking?”

“…It’s obviously carved out of the same mold.”

That being said, Jiang Wang discovered some details earlier.

There was a high probability that the current Peng Xingwang now looked different from himself when he was a child.

He knew exactly what he looked like in his early teens.

Gloomy and introverted. Even if he was wearing big red and green clothes, his face seemed to be covered with a layer of gray when he took a photo.

Peng Xingwang would not suffer for the many years to come since he was fished out of the abyss early by him from 20 years later. After properly raising him for a while, he gradually returned to the mood of a child, and his smile was particularly pleasing.

The man looked at his appearance for a while, and said soothingly, “It’s okay, it’s a blessing to look a little more naive.”

The child was silent for two seconds, he didn’t think this was a compliment at all.

“By the way…“ Peng Xingwang took out a receipt from his school bag and hesitated, “In the school… There will be a summer camp activity coming up, but it’s okay, we’re not required to participate.”

Jiang Wang took a look at the list, and became aware of the situation.

Within a few days of the summer camp, it was actually a few teachers who took the children on an outing in the surrounding area to bond. This gave the parents a holiday in disguise.

He signed and agreed in two strokes, and the nib of his pen clicked on the paper to see where else to fill in.

The child leaned to the side, for fear that he would not see the price clearly.

“Two thousand and eight…”

Jiang Wang stopped to look at him.

Peng Xingwang was slightly lost, “Why don’t I keep track of my debts in a ledger and pay you back when I grow up?”

He couldn’t understand this kind of detached feeling from his parents’ blood relatives. He didn’t want to show that he was born ungrateful, so he also tried to reciprocate what he was given.

This was really difficult for a seven-year-old child.

Jiang Wang thought for a while, and filled in the number in the address bar at the back.

“In fact, when your eldest brother was a child, he was taken care of by many people like this.”

He said slowly, “If you feel embarrassed, then… When you meet children who are also having a hard time when you grow up, just help them as well.”

“If you can’t meet such a child, save the kittens and puppies on the roadside that could be freezing to death. This eldest brother will be very satisfied with such actions.”

Peng Xingwang took the receipt and nodded earnestly. For a while, he stared at the words on it.

Jiang Wang felt that the child worried too much, but it was impossible to clear up the facts. That I was you and you were me. He could only rub the other’s head over and over again like a dog.

The child let out a long sigh.

“Big brother,” he held up the receipt high. “Your birthday is actually— It’s the same day as mine!”

“And it’s the day after tomorrow!”

Jiang Wang’s hand stopped in mid-air.

Oops, he forgot this small detail.

Since he was too busy thinking of filling the date before the timeline, the exact birthday had not been changed.

Peng Xingwang looked at the ID number information, and when he saw 19780711, he caught the key point immediately.

The child seemed to be afraid that he had read it wrong, and handed the receipt to him, “Is this right?”

The eldest brother nodded slowly, “Right… What a coincidence.”

Peng Xingwang cheered loudly.

He seemed to realize that he was actually a lucky child. Being able to be born on the same day as the elder brother he admired. He was as happy as when he got the “Three Good Student Award”^[2]Good morals, good academic standing and good health.

“Big brother! We are actually super destined.”

“Then, can I give you a birthday gift?! I want to sing to you!”

Jiang Wang reached out and covered his face.

Troublesome.

Not to mention that he hadn’t had a birthday for the past ten years. He had also usually given his colleagues a serious excuse to get out of eating and drinking.

The fact that they would celebrate each other’s birthdays by themselves was almost like greeting oneself in front of a mirror.

Peng Xingwang only thought he was embarrassed. So he pulled out the piggy bank by its tail and took out all the coins and paper bills inside. He hummed a song and went out to order him a cake.

“Wait.” Jiang Wang was really embarrassed. The iron-blooded man had never eaten cake with a child in his life.

He stopped Peng Xingwang, but couldn’t speak when he saw the child’s bright smile.

If he refused… he abruptly twisted it back into his stomach.

“Don’t order chocolate flavor,” the man said with a tight expression, “And no strawberries, just an ordinary cake.”

“Okay!”

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On the 11th of July, the alarm clock hadn’t even gone off yet. But a child suddenly blew up ribbons as if someone had shot them.

Jiang Wang almost ejected the quilt from being startled. His temples throbbed when he saw Peng Xingwang with a paper crown on his head.

“Big! Birthday! Star!” The child tiptoed to put on his birthday hat, “Happy birthday!”

Peng Xingwang was actually embarrassed, but he still mustered up the courage to give him the birthday card he had written. He took out a gift wrapped in red paperboard from his king’s cloak surrounded by bath towels.

“Thanks! Thank you!” He said loudly, “Big brother, I love you!”

As soon as the voice fell and before Jiang Wang could react, the child ran away. “I’m going to school!”

Jiang Wang witnessed this whole process of his shy behavior in his childhood. He took a deep breath and lowered his head to open the greeting card and read it first.

The greeting card was bought at the commissary next to the school. It can be seen that the child tried to avoid the cards full of fairies and Ultraman, and found a perfume card in the most simple style.

“Big brother,

I wish you liveuntil 7 0 0 years old!

You must be ha ppy every day!

Your Peng Xingxing.”

Extremely exaggerated 28 five-pointed stars were drawn using crayons next to the words.

Jiang Wang rubbed his brows and kept laughing. He now wanted to press the child back and practice his calligraphy.

Already moving up to the second grade, and still cutting up characters like being split by five-horses. The homework had even made him less organized.

The gift had been wrapped using double-sided adhesive tape from art class. The corners were crooked and the adhesive surface exposed, but on the front of the gift, two adults holding a child were drawn on the red paperboard with a pencil. A crow also flew in the sky.

‘…The birthday gift is for me but he still remembered to draw Teacher Ji, whatever.’

Jiang Wang’s expression looked displeased. He got up and took a fruit knife to slowly disassemble the paper along the glued surface, unwilling to destroy the stickman drawn by the child.

After he came to this world, every second he spent with Xingwang was like exploring his forgotten self.

In the depressed, numb, and violent adult shell, he was once alive, happy and bright.

The gift looked like an onion and was carefully wrapped in three layers.

The two layers of gift paper were peeled off, and inside was a wooden box.

Jiang Wang felt something in his mind move, but he couldn’t remember where this box had appeared.

As soon as the box opened, a little bear with a crystal ball was revealed.

The fluffy resin bear slept soundly holding the crystal ball. In the crystal ball was a brightly lit cabin, which was also the home of the bear in his dream.

With a gentle shake, bright six-pointed snowflakes danced in the air, and the surroundings of the forest hut lit up to show warmth.

He remembered.

This was the last toy his mother bought for him before leaving the city.

But Peng Xingwang gave it to him again.

Jiang Wang never dared to ask for anything at home when he was a child.

Even if it was his birthday, he would cleverly pretend not to know anything.

He couldn’t remember the trivial quarrel they had when his mother left. He only remembered that it snowed heavily that day, the sky was gray and the moon could not be seen.

The woman bought him a bear that he had been watching through the store window for a long time, then kissed him on the forehead and left.

Later, the little bear was locked in the depths of the bookcase, and then it was forgotten by everyone.

Jiang Wang stood holding the crystal ball, and suddenly realized that the 28-year-old self sometimes still couldn’t understand the mind of his eight-year-old self.

What did the child want to say when he gave this forgotten home to himself?

Jiang Wang scratched his hair irritably, and suddenly didn’t know what kind of gift he should give back when he picked him up from school later.

Xingxing had given him the most precious and only gift he could take out.

It’s like thanking him for his care and protection for the past month, and it’s also like wanting to tell more in whispers that he doesn’t dare to say in his heart.

Jiang Wang skipped work and visited most of the gift shops in the city.

The expensive ones were not good, the cheap ones were also not good, nothing was good enough.

The man really couldn’t think of anything, so he called Ji Linqiu halfway through, and asked for help.

As soon as school was over, Peng Xingwang anxiously walked out with Teacher Ji. He seemed to be waiting for an answer from Jiang Wang.

A certain man standing at the entrance looked very cool.

Wearing the best-looking motorcycle jacket, he was waiting for him with his hands in his pockets near a group of gray-haired old men and women.

Teacher Ji patted him lightly on the shoulder, and Peng Xingwang ran over with small steps, still a trace of embarrassment on his face.

Jiang Wang picked him up and quickly kissed him super hard in public.

“You can call me Brother from now on.”

“I am your Brother.”^[3]Previously Peng Xingwang called him dage(大哥) which is the polite address and can also be interpreted as the boss/leader. Here Jiang Wang told him he could now address him as qinge(亲哥) which … Continue reading

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TL NOTE:

“In the depressed, numb, and violent adult shell, he was once alive, happy and bright.”
This sentence hit me right in the feels ༼ಢ_ಢ༽

(Anyway an early greeting) Happy Birthday Jiang Wang and Xingwang!! Their birthdays are on July 11, still a bit far irl but let’s celebrate it when the time comes! (~‾⌣‾)~

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