A Sand Sculpture in the Red Dust - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Li Huaichen

　　[Orient Express: What the hell?]

　　[Mighty King Kong: @What a huge universe, please speak human language, thank you.]

　　[What a huge universe: Li Xiangfu adopted a child who looked exactly like him.]

　　There were a lot of ellipses in the group.

　　People who usually stayed in shallow water were also blown out.

　　[A hit among thousands of girls: Exactly the same? How old is the child?]

　　[What a huge universe: Looks like six or seven years old.]

　　[A Hit among thousands of girls: …I’m starting to develop conspiracy theories.]

　　Liu Yu wanted to know more about the situation, as if he was not the one who said he was leaving a minute ago. He looked up from time to time to talk to Li Xiangfu, and his subordinates quickly replied to the messages.

　　”Chatting with friends?” Li Xiangfu was sitting on the sofa on the left, peeling melon seeds for Li Shasha, and asked casually.

　　Liu Yu laughed dryly and was about to put away his phone when he heard a new message in the group:

　　[Orient Express: Haha, Li Xiangfu has no shame at all and deliberately said that the child was adopted. The subsequent measures are that he deliberately treats the child coldly to arouse the sympathy of the old man, so that the old man will personally ask for the child’s household registration and accelerate the process of the child’s complete integration into the Li family.]

　　[Millions of girls are crazy about this: @Orient Express, your analysis is awesome! He is indeed someone who has fought against three illegitimate brothers!]

　　[Da Li Jin Gang: Brothers, please type your awesomeness on the public screen.]

　　Several people were chatting in the group, and Liu Yu frowned as he watched the screen full of “awesome” comments, but he could see some truth in them.

　　A big family has seen everything. If one deliberately teaches one’s children to please their elders, one will be showing his scheming on his face. On the contrary, if one deliberately treats one’s children coldly, the elders will definitely feel distressed.

　　Thinking of this, Liu Yu couldn’t help but glance at Li Xiangfu, who was peeling melon seeds nonchalantly. It should be a scene of a loving father and a filial son, but the two sides did not communicate at all.

　　He coughed, and when Li Xiangfu looked over, he asked, “The biological mother of this child…”

　　”He’s adopted,” Li Xiangfu said calmly, “So naturally he was abandoned by his parents.”

　　Unexpectedly, he would say this openly in front of the child. Liu Yu cursed him in his heart for being a disgrace.

　　On the other side, Zhao Kai realized it late and had not yet informed his boss about the child’s matter. He only told the other that a friend would come to visit Li Xiangfu in the evening. He hesitated about how to word the matter, and took out his mobile phone several times and put it aside.

　　Li Xiangfu used Li Shasha as an excuse: “Let’s get together next time. He didn’t sleep well on the plane.”

　　”Okay,” Liu Yu’s contempt disappeared, and he said with a smile, “We must get together in these two days. I’ll be the host.”

　　Li Xiangfu smiled slightly: “Okay.”

　　This smile was captivating enough. Liu Yu had seen the so-called three parts ridicule and four parts indifference in the past, but this was the first time he had seen five parts reluctance and five parts dignity and virtuousness.

　　Virtuous?

　　He shuddered at his own choice of words.

　　Liu Yu was so shocked that his steps were unsteady when he left. He didn’t realize that the moment he turned around, the smile on Li Xiangfu’s face quickly faded.

　　After sending away the annoying uninvited guest, the moonlight outside the house was like water, which suddenly aroused his interest in playing the guqin. However, such beautiful scenery and beautiful weather was in need of a good guqin.

　　Before traveling back in time, Li Xiangfu spent all the living expenses his family sent him every month. Now that he has returned, the balance on his card is pitifully small after buying the plane ticket. A good guqin wouldn’t be too cheap. With his dark history, his family would definitely be extremely strict with his pocket money during this period to prevent him from doing anything wrong.

　　Li Xiangfu closed the door and had an idea when he saw Zhao Kai.

　　He first winked at Li Shasha and whispered a few words of advice.

　　Li Shasha ran to turn on the TV, holding the remote control and searching for the programs he was interested in. It seemed to be related to his growing environment abroad. Zhao Kai discovered that he was always searching through foreign films.

　　”Brother Zhao.” Li Xiangfu suddenly spoke.

　　He laughed dryly: “Young Master, I don’t deserve to be called brother.”

　　”What era is this? There are still many young masters.”

　　At first, “young master” was just a teasing name. Li Xiangfu remembered that when he was still young, people around him would affectionately call him “Xiangfu.” Later, after he got into trouble many times, people outside would often say “young master of the Li family, be patient.”

　　Over time, this name gradually spread.

　　Li Xiangfu laughed at himself and said, “It sounds better to call me by my name.”

　　Zhao Kai reluctantly called out “Xiang Fu”, and subconsciously felt that it must be no good since the other party suddenly approached him to talk to him.

　　Unexpectedly, Li Xiangfu just said something insignificant: “Thank you for picking me up today.”

　　Zhao Kai followed with a few polite remarks, and the two sides were at a loss for words. For a moment, the only sound in the spacious living room was the sound of the television.

　　Before the atmosphere became more tense, Zhao Kai thought that since Liu Yu had left, it was unlikely that Li Xiangfu would cause any trouble, so he prepared to consider leaving. While watching TV and thinking about his words, his eyes were attracted by the plot being played.

　　In the dark basement, the tied-up man curled up on the ground, kicked in pain, and was interrogated about the details of his past life. The kidnapper was a young and handsome man. After getting enough information, he pulled out a few strands of the victim’s hair, returned to the mansion, and deliberately wrapped the hair around a comb.

　　After shaking off the water on his hands, the man raised his eyes and inadvertently saw half of his clothes reflected in the mirror.

　　He slowly grinned, took out a knife from his pocket, rushed out and grabbed the old butler who wanted to escape, hiding a hint of ferocity under his elegant appearance: “Sure enough… you have begun to doubt my identity.”

　　The scene flashes back to the real rich young man who eloped with someone because of homosexuality a few years ago. Unexpectedly, his lover had evil intentions. Not only did he imprison him, he also had plastic surgery to make himself look similar and chose an appropriate time to run back.

　　The father of a wealthy young man is seriously ill and is extremely happy about his son’s return. Only the housekeeper who has worked for the family for decades keenly notices that something is wrong.

　　This is a foreign film, and the bloody scenes are shot extremely realistically.

　　With a wave of his hand, the dagger pierced the old butler’s body and blood gushed out.

　　”Oh!” The old butler was stabbed in the waist and screamed sharply.

　　Zhao Kai felt as if he was stabbed in the kidney and his body trembled.

　　”Ah!”

　　Another knife.

　　Zhao Kai’s expression became even more unnatural.

　　Some things cannot withstand careful thinking. For example, he remembered that Li Xiangfu seemed to have no mole, but now there is a very small mole at the corner of his eye, very close to the eyelashes, which adds a bit of charm.

　　This kid specifically picked this movie to watch on demand. Is he sending a distress signal?

　　Li Xiangfu suddenly stood up and asked, “What would you like to drink?”

　　Zhao Kai: “No, I’ll go back first…”

　　Li Xiangfu did not give him a chance to refuse and walked to the kitchen: “Juice or wine?”

　　Zhao Kai had goose bumps on his neck, as if a cold sword was placed on it. He didn’t dare to act rashly, for fear of angering the other party and getting stabbed in the back.

　　”Vodka.” His throat moved: “With ice.”

　　‘I urgently need strong liquor to give me courage.’

　　Staring at the image of Li Xiangfu standing there quietly crushing ice, Zhao Kai turned his head and wanted to take the opportunity to say a few words to Li Shasha. The child’s eyes flickered: “Dad is watching us.”

　　Zhao Kai turned his neck stiffly, and the ice cone with a cold glow was shaking up and down. Li Xiangfu looked at him with a smile.

　　Zhao Kai pulled the corners of his mouth with great effort, and said, “You don’t need to put much ice.”

　　”Okay.” The voice was as gentle as fresh candied fruit, but Zhao Kai didn’t know if this candied fruit was poisoned.

　　Such a smile made Zhao Kai shudder. He easily put aside all his worries and sent a text message to his boss: [If there is nothing, please come back as soon as possible.]

　　The phone call came in quickly, and the old-fashioned voice was a little impatient: “What trouble has he gotten into again?”

　　Just then, Li Xiangfu came over with a wine glass. Zhao Kai couldn’t explain it clearly and could only stammer and “hmm”. Fortunately, his boss was a smart man who didn’t get to the bottom of the matter across different spaces. It seemed that he had to come back.

　　Zhao Kai was so excited that he almost shed tears.

　　The film was fast-forwarded through once, and the child sat there very quietly, and started watching it again from the beginning. Zhao Kai once again intuitively felt that this was a signal for help.

　　Li Xiangfu put down his wine glass and suddenly walked around to the back of the sofa. Zhao Kai immediately stood up, took out his lighter as calmly as possible, and walked to the window pretending to smoke.

　　”No smoking,” Li Xiangfu frowned slightly and stretched out a finger to shake it: “Children shouldn’t smell it.”

　　The sound of tires rolling over the parking lot was heard outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Zhao Kai recognized it as his boss’s car. When he saw the headlights on, he had only one thought in his mind: ‘I’m saved!’

　　The door was pushed open, and the cold night breeze poured in.

　　The man was tall and straight, with a completely different temperament from Li Xiangfu. As the eldest son of the family, Li Huaichen had a strong aura. Even in crowded occasions, he was not a figure that could be ignored.

　　Seeing his troublesome brother, he narrowed his eyes and threw the key aside. However, he did not react as much as when Zhao Kaichu saw Li Xiangfu.

　　Zhao Kai moved closer to his boss, coughed lightly, and pointed him in the direction of Li Shasha.

　　Li Huaichen had a blank expression on his face: “You have become more capable.”

　　The person on the other side had done so many ridiculous things in the past that he almost killed himself, so it didn’t seem strange that someone died.

　　He didn’t say a single word. Although Li Huaichen was cold, he wouldn’t discuss things openly in front of the children.

　　Afraid that the atmosphere, which had just been eased, would become tense again because of the adoption issue, Zhao Kai desperately winked at this ignorant young master, hoping that he would stop telling lame lies.

　　Unfortunately, Li Shasha himself said, “I was adopted.”

　　Obviously an outsider, Zhao Kai tried his best to change the subject: “Xiang Fu has changed a lot. I almost didn’t recognize him when I went to the airport today.”

　　The key point is the emphasis in the first half of the sentence.

　　Li Shasha began to concentrate on watching TV again, and the scene replayed itself…the old housekeeper was stabbed.

　　”Ah!”

　　That scream seemed to reach Zhao Kai’s heart, and he desperately hoped that his boss could figure something out himself. He couldn’t say in person, “I suspect your brother is fake.”

　　In the living room, three adults and one child were sitting quietly, watching TV in silence.

　　After a while, Li Xiangfu got up and went to the bathroom. When he passed by Li Huaichen, he passed his fingers through the gaps in his long hair and blinked, his eyes full of hints –

　　Look at this hair, so black and shiny.

　　When he came back, his fingertips accidentally brushed across the cold back of his hand… Look at the blood vessels, so long and thin and clear.

　　His hint seemed to have finally worked. Li Huaichen’s thin lips moved slightly, and he finally said what the other party wanted to hear: “You have changed a lot since you came back this time. You don’t seem like my brother at all.”

　　After a pause, he said, “It would take too long to contact foreign countries to verify his whereabouts. It would be most convenient to directly do a genetic test.”

　　Zhao Kai, who was standing by, gasped. He spoke so bluntly. What if he really was a fake and got enraged and killed someone to silence him?

　　As expected, Li Xiangfu looked surprised and said, “There’s no need to insult me like this.”

　　Thinking that a fight was about to break out, Zhao Kai tried to find an excuse to slip away, but before he could act, he heard Li Xiangfu say in an uncompromising tone, “If you want me to agree to do the appraisal, you have to pay me.”

　　Zhao Kai stopped walking and looked at his boss, but the boss was not surprised at all, as if he had expected him to say that.

　　”How much?” Li Huaichen asked in a calm voice.

　　Li Xiangfu’s expression eased slightly when he heard this: “50,000 for hair, 1.5 plucked now; for real-person on-site blood collection… 100,000.”

　　The author has something to say:

　　Small theater:

　　Li Xiangfu: If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

　　Li Huaichen: Just say what you want to say.

　　Li Xiangfu: I want to show off, but I don’t have money to buy props.

　　Li Huaichen: …

　　Changed the setting a bit, the protagonist is 24 years old~