Chapter Text
Wei Wuxian woke up at three in the morning. No. Scratch that. The man hasn’t slept at all even though it’s been hours since the last round he had with this woman beside him.
As a man, he has long learned that he has a very insatiable appetite and doesn’t stop at three rounds but five. Good thing most of the women he slept with can keep up with him just fine.
Without looking back at the woman- he only met her at the bar then they went on with it after getting inside the hotel- he started to wear his discarded clothes.
The woman is not a prostitute but he still leaves a cheque anyway, lest he accidentally made a mistake and impregnated the woman. He doesn’t want them knocking on his door one day claiming that they’re carrying his child. So if he really did impregnate them, then the woman doesn’t need to ring him up for sustenance. Besides, money is not a problem for a CEO like him.
As he drove to get home, he lets the music fill up his car. He made it so that it would be loud.
As he sang along to the sad song entitled Soledad, he suddenly noticed a group of guys standing at the side street. He was just going to ignore them thinking maybe they were just drunkards wanting to play around at this hour, when he noticed that two of them are holding a child. A struggling child in between the two men.
The child he noticed is a male one. He looks like he was six or seven years old. Long straight, smooth, black silky hair, making Wei Wuxian feel embarrassed because his was like a birds nest most of the time. But thank God for salon people- they did a good job taming his long hair. The child also has a beautiful? Handsome? Face. He doesn’t know how to describe the child so he’ll just settle on both. The child looks gorgeous despite baby fat cheeks.
Ah, he gets it now. Fu**ing bastards. Kidnapping such poor children just because they were weak. Nice try, but he’s not gonna sit back and relax while they plan on making the child a sex slave or maybe get his organs and sell it to some rich people who needs the organ for their sick child.
“ Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Let the child go! “ he says once he was out of his car.
Hearing him, the thugs turned their heads to look at him.
“ This is not what it looks like sir! “ says what looks like the leader of the group.
“ Oh really? Fine. Kindly explain to me why you are holding this child then. “ Wuxian says crossing his arms.
“ This child, we know his mother! While we're on our way home, we bumped into him here in the street! We just want him to go with us so we could head back home together but he won’t! So.. “
After hearing that, Wei Wuxian looked at the child. The child is no longer struggling. He only looked at Wei wuxian. His face is blank making the man wonder if he’s afraid or not.
His looks, the child’s looks, suddenly made him feel quite uncomfortable for some reason. Like he’s trying to tell Wei Wuxian something incomprehensible. Like somehow he knows some secret Wei Wuxian has kept in his heart.
That’s definitely not a look of fear. What it is, he doesn’t know either.
How strange.
Going back to the man though, Wei Wuxian knew the man was lying. Of course he knew. He can always tell when someone is lying to him. As a CEO, he needed to had the ability to identify liars because he didn’t want to be manipulated by anybody, anyone whose hungry for power and wealth. And Wei Wuxian can see a lot of those people inside his own company. But jokes on them, he already made himself ready for whenever they try to secretly launch an attack.
But still, there was something in the child that makes him want to do the opposite of what he wanted to do. And so instead of calling out on the man’s lie, he decided it was better to ask the child if what the man said was true.
Yet, before he can utter a word, the child suddenly spoke up, his eyes still plastered on Wei Wuxian. “ Let go. “
Hearing that, the person holding the child on the right said. “ Huh? But Uhmm..chi..little boy.. be a good boy and let big gege’s guide you back home alright? Mama is surely worried for you now! You don’t want mama to get worried don’t you? “
Then the child turned his head to look up at the man. “ Let go. You do know in yourself you do not know A-Niang. “
(AN: ‘A-Niang’ is Chinese word which means ‘Mother’)
The man made a face of anger and said. “ What are ya talking about boya! Don’t lie! Now let’s go home before mama gets worried for ya! “
What a stupid bastard. He just blowed up their cover by reacting like that!
Wuxian was just finally going to take action when he saw the look on the child’s face. Once more, it intrigued him and once again, he decided not to do something yet.
Good thing he didn’t do anything because what the child will say next is something they never expected. One can even say, it is somehow amusing.
“ Child, do not do this. This one knows that your mother is sick and you need money to pay for her surgery. However, will she be happy once she knew where the money come from? “ says the child to the man in his left trying to sound mature with that high pitched voice of his.
Huh? What is this? What is this? Is this the child’s strategy to get out ? How cute! Wei Wuxian thought laughing in his head.
Some of the men laughed and even said. “ Nice try guessing kid! But you didn’t hit the right guess! Try again! Haha”
But the child didn’t budge. He kept on looking at the man. The four men, decided to look at the man as well clearly waiting to deny the fact. But then the man suddenly loosen his grip on the child and stepped backwards with surprised face. “ How.. how did you..know? I never, I never said anything…”
What. The. Heck! It was.... true?!
“ It’s true?! The Fu** man! You told us you wanted to join us for brotherhood?! “
Ah, so this is like some brotherhood of kidnappers, isn’t it? Fu*king bastards.
“ How the Fu** would you let me in if I decided to tell you the truth?! I needed the money! “
Not minding the exchange, the child turned to the man holding his left and then said. “ Child, stop destroying yourself. I know your parents did not treat you right. They abused you. But that does not mean you have to follow their example and act like them. You can still be a good brother to your younger siblings."
The man made an angry face but then suddenly, there were tears in his eyes. “Wha-what are you talking about?! And just how am I acting like them?! Like my Fu*king parents! I’m not acting like them! Stop acting like you know everything! “ then he suddenly let go of the child’s arms and sat down on the ground sobbing loudly.
“…”
“…”
“..”
The other three men went speechless but Wei Wuxian was not. His face suddenly turned serious.
Based on the man’s reaction, what the child said seemed right as well. But maybe it was just a fluke? Another good guess? Maybe this child is a gifted psychic?
Having no one apprehending him, the child walked towards another man- the leader of the group - and said. “ Child, you were once a good man. But because of a betrayal, you turned into evil.
I do not hate you for that. But it is my prayer that you go back into the light. It is not too late to go back yet. “
The said man was not convinced by that and asked instead. “ Let’s say that were true, can you tell me when exactly that Fu**ing thing happened? “
Wei Wuxian cupped his chin thinking. ‘Mm. This one’s quite smart. Worthy of being called a leader. Sigh. If only he was a leader for the good! Anyways! There’s no use dwelling on ifs. Let’s just see if the child can reply to that. If he gets the right thing, maybe I’ll stop thinking it as a fluke or mere guess.. ‘
Instead of replying with the date, the child said instead as he looked away sighing. “ Even if I tell you. You still won’t change your mind. “
“ Now don’t be stupid! Just tell me if you know when or not! Stop trying to break us brothers apart! “
“ Yeah! “ agrees the other two beside the leader.
The child then muttered in a monotoned voice saying.
“ January 14, 2000 at 7: 45 in the evening, at an amusement park in YunPing, you saw your bestfriend kiss your girlfriend. You expected the woman to pull away and slap him but that’s not what happened. She reciprocated the ki-“
“ Shut up!! Shut up! “ he said as he reached out to the kid and shook him.
"Hey man! Let go of the child!" Says Wuxian feeling sudden anger welling up in him.
But the man didn't mind him saying. “ How dare you remind me of what happened that day?! I just asked you what the date was! Not the entire Fu**ing story! Why did you have to speak like you know everything I feel?! What the Fu**! “ then he pushed the child away making the child drop on the ground.
“ Fu**! This is a waste of time! Let’s go boys! “ he said walking away. The other two followed him, but the other two, the ones who apprehended the child did not. They stayed rooted on the ground.
“ The Fu** are you two doing?! Why’d you remain standing there?! “
The two then stood in a flash and immediately followed the leader.
Wei Wuxian looked at them thinking. ‘ Fu*king bastards.'
Then in his peripheral view, he saw the child stood and wipe the dirt on his white robe, sounding pah-pah-pah.
Seeing how nothing bad happened to the child since he was able to stand on his own, his anger ceased and then he decided to walk towards the child somehow feeling amused at his ability? Or talent or gift? Or maybe… “ Nice trick you got there! How about you share it with me? “
“ Not trick. “ he replied, still wiping his robes.
“ Tsk. Don’t lie kid! By your get up, I can see that you somehow work for someone really tricky! Maybe this is your karma for tricking people by your charms! “
With that, the child paused and looked up at Wei Wuxian asking “ Charms? “
The man was once again hit by the feeling he felt when the child looked at him earlier. The only difference this time is that he was quite surprised to see the color of the child’s eyes. He did not clearly see the color of the child’s eyes earlier because he was a bit far from him. But now that he was near, he noticed that the color is painfully similar to his. A beautiful shade of mixed silver and grey.
“ Cha..charms! Yes! Don’t think that just because you are a beautiful ( he doesn’t know how he would exactly describe the child so he settled on the word beautiful ) and a pretty child, you can just prey on people who get lost in that pretty face of yours and give you money! It is not good to trick people! “
The child frowned and said. “ A – Zhan does not trick people. A-Niang would scold A-Zhan. Also, A-Zhan is neither beautiful nor pretty. “
A...Zhan?
“ A – Zhan? Is that your name A-Zhan? “
Zhan.. that name. It sounded familiar somehow.
The child nodded.
“ Okay then, A-Zhan. If you don’t trick people then why are you wearing these clothes? Are you cosplaying? And how long were you kidnapped by those thugs huh? “
“I have been here since three. “
“ Huh?! What the heck are you doing out here at such an ungodly hour? “
“ I could ask you the same mister. “
“..”
This.. this child..!
“ Now, don’t be smart with me kid! I’m a grown man! I can go in and out anytime I wanted. “
The child went silent at that. Wei Wuxian was just going to feel smug at making the wise child speechless when suddenly,
“ A grown man does not go out and lay ..” the child scrunched his nose as if he was disgusted and then “ with different woman every night. A grown man settles with one woman and have family with her. “
Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened at that. Just.. just who is this child?! No. The question should be, who the heck is this parent’s child?! How dare they taught the child something like laying...!
“ I do not blame you child. You got hurt by a – “
“ No! Stop! Stop right there! Don’t use that trick on me! Don’t use that trick on me or else..! “ Wei Wuxian says feeling anger welling up on him.
Is he.. is he actually gonna tell Wei Wuxian what happened in his past as well? No. He can’t let that happen! He can’t!
The child didn’t flinch. He only remained looking at Wei Wuxian making the man want to get even more angry. But he reminded himself that this was still a child, a child who was maybe possessed by some entity just like those fantasy movies he watches with Jiang Cheng- his adoptive brother. It make him feel goosebumps and dread at the same time.
Sigh. What am I doing? "Come A- Zhan, I’ll send you home. “ He said and then walks towards his car.
But then suddenly, the child behind him spoke again. “ Give me a cheque. “
Hearing that, Wuxian smirked as he turned back to look at the child. “ Aha! My guess was right! You’re a trickster child! “
Shaking his head, he replied. “ The man who needs the money will come back soon. Give the cheque to him. “
“ The one whose mom was sick and needs the hospital bills? Also, how did you know I carry cheques with me? Aiya! What the heck! I shouldn’t have told you that! “
The child only looked at Wei Wuxian as if he’s gone stupid. Though his face was still blank. What a sarcastic child. He’s now really curious upon who this child’s parents were.
Vaguely, Wei Wuxian remembered an interaction with a certain someone in his past. Who acts exactly like this child.
Sigh. He should just stop thinking about that person because just remembering their face is enough to make Wei Wuxian feel like his heart is being stabbed by a knife.
Now, going back to the topic.
It’s not like he didn’t want to help. Okay, scratch that. He really doesn’t want to help. Most specifically, he doesn’t want to help a stupid person who went kidnapping just to get money for his mamas bills but he will help anyway.
But what the hell? He didn’t remember wanting to do a charity at the Fu**ing side street at a very! Ungodly hour!
But fine. This will be the last anyway. Might as well see this through.
“ Fine. Wait here. “ he says as he went to get the cheque.
Once he got it, he went out again and asked the child how much.
“ 2 million. “
He immediately wrote down the amount and hand it to the child. “ Alright. Here. “
“ Are you not afraid I would run away with it? “ asked the child monotonely but Wei Wuxian can tell that somehow, he’s amused.
Once more, he was reminded of how similar the child was to that person seeing this action.
He rolled his stinging eyes before he breaks down in this freaking side street and cry. He then said . “ No. And even if you run, I can still catch you little boya. You can’t run that fast. “
The child inclined his head to the side very slightly not answering or making an action to take the cheque.
“ Just get the cheque already. Stop playing. “
“ You give it to him. “
“ But- “
“ Kami sama!! “ says a voice interrupting Wei Wuxian.
Both him and the child looked towards the voice. There, they saw that it was the man who had a sick mom running towards them.
What. the. Fu**. He really came. Wei Wuxian thought as he looked at the child again who was looking at the man, his mouth now has a very tiny quirk upwards.
Dang man! What the heck is the universe doing?! Here he is trying to forget the person but then here comes a child reminding him of that someone he badly wanted to forget without even doing so much as stand there and act like they are their own mini version! Freaking universe!
Begrudgingly, Wei Wuxian admitted that if he can no longer see that person’s tiny smiles, then at least he can have this little one’s tiny smile. He selfishly wanted this child’s smile to be directed only at him. Selfish or not, he thinks, he wanted to take this child to his home instead of taking him back to his own home.
Damn Wei Wuxian! Get a grip of yourself! You don’t want to be wanted for kidnapping, don’t you?
When the man reached them, he immediately bowed towards the child saying. “ Thank you for saying that to me! You really helped me change my mind! If you are fine with it, let me be your follower forever! Also, please help me find a decent job! By your amazing ability, surely you can help me! My mom was very sick right now and needs surgery. But because we have no money, the doctors won’t do it. I tried to negotiate and told them I can pay them slowly by slowly but still they won’t so, that’s why I did the thing. But I’ll try to negotiate with the doctors again and …”
The man continued to speak. There Wei Wuxian can now understand why the man had to do the thing. Sigh. Some Fu**ing medical practitioners just sometimes focuses on the money instead of actually curing people. No wonder there are more sick individuals rather than cured ones. Most especially in the mental aspect, like what happened to this man.
“ Mr. I am not a God. I am merely a vessel. My only hope is that you return to the light. “
“ Of course Kami Sam- sir..er.. Mr.. child? Uhmm I’ll return to the light! I won’t do such a thing ever again.”
“ Good. Your turn. “ says the child as he turned his head to look at Wei Wuxian.
Rolling his eyes again, Wei Wuxian said “ Fine fine. “ and walked closer to the man.
“ Here! Your reward for doing the right thing!“ then he gave the cheque to the man. The man accepted it and then looked at it feeling confused. His eyes widened when he realized what the paper is. He looked up at the giver sharply. “ Sir, this..? “
Wei Wuxian smiled at the man saying. “ Go to the hospital and slap that money into their money loving faces man! Haha"
“ This is for my mom’s surgery? “
“ Yes! Now go before she gets worse. We don’t want that do we? “
The man shed tears at that and said. “ thank you very much sir!! “
“ Don’t thank me. Thank the little man he..” Wei Wuxian turned to look at the child. But when he turned, he frowned when he didn’t see the child. “ …re. “
He started scanning the surroundings for the child but then there was no sign of him. What the! Where the heck did he go?
The man noticed it as well and says. “ Sir, where did Mr. Child go? “
Yeah. That’s what I’m wondering as well. Don’t ask me. Wuxian thought.
“ I knew it! He’s really a God! He just disappeared out of nowhere! Sadly, I didn’t get to ask for his name. He’s such a God no matter how he denies it to me! Don’t you agree sir? “
A- Zhan. His name is A- Zhan. But Wei Wuxian will not tell the man anyways. Because for some reason, he wanted to keep the knowledge to himself. So instead of saying the child’s name, he says instead smiling.
" I agree with you. “