Not far north of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, there was Zhong Hua Road bus station.
The No. 39 bus slowly drove close to the station and stopped. Both doors opened at the same time. The crowd who had been waiting for the bus immediately rushed to the front door. From the back, a lady got off the bus with a little boy.
When there were no more people getting on or off the bus, the bus driver pushed a button. The doors closed. The bus drove out of the station and headed towards the next stop.
The lady was about thirty years old. She looked quite young. By the way she dressed and the fact that she took the bus, one would suspect she came from a normal family.
Her name was Gu Le. She had just taken her son back from his friend’s birthday party and was about to head home. Zhong Hua Road stop was the closest station to her home. She had to walk relatively far from there to get home.
The little boy, Yi Le, pursed his lips and walked reluctantly. He didn’t look too happy. Gu Le had to drag him along.
He should’ve been very happy after the birthday party. What had upset him?
The birthday party was held in a hotel. Everyone had fun. The food was great. The birthday cake was so good that the kids ate it all. All the kids were well-fed. As the party approached the end, the birthday boy casually asked Yi Le, "Next week is your birthday. How about we have a party here again?" Yi Le agreed in front of everyone without thinking. "Sure! Why not!"
It was an awkward moment for Gu Le. A meal like this would cost at least a few thousand Yuan in this fancy hotel. They didn’t have much extra money after paying their mortgage and they were trying to save up for a car. An extra expense like this didn’t help. As a result, she said, "Let’s invite your friends to our house for the party. I will make some yummy food for you guys!" All of the other parents were very understanding, including the birthday boy’s parents. They all agreed to this idea. However, Yi Le felt that his mom lost his face, so he was grumpy since they left the hotel.
Gu Le tried to comfort him. However, the harder she tried to comfort him, the grumpier Yi Le became. Gu Le didn’t really take it seriously. The only things in her mind were to go home, cook and then discuss with his dad how to calm down the child. Yi Le was a good boy. He should be fine soon.
At this time, her cell phone chimed. She had received a message. She let go of Yi Le’s hand and took her phone out. It was Yi Le’s teacher! She started reading the message immediately.
The teacher was happy with Yi Le. She said Yi Le behaved well and was engaging in class. He was friendly to his peers as well. The only thing was that he was naughty sometimes and would draw on the blackboard after it had just been cleaned.
Gu Le first expressed her gratitude towards the teacher. She carefully thought about the wording of the message and promised she would talk to Yi Le about his behavior of drawing on the blackboard.
She didn’t notice that after she let go of Yi Le’s hand, the grumpy kid was left behind.
When he walked by Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Yi Le looked inside and saw a black and white kitten looking at him with her silver-grey eyes. Yi Le loved dogs but not cats. He thought cats were too girly. He was a real man so he didn’t want anything to do with cats. He tightened his eyebrows and stared at the kitten.
He was almost 50 feet behind Gu Le. She was focused on her cell phone, busy returning his teacher’s message.
Yi Le was upset and down. He thought that his mom didn’t love him anymore. "Is it because I wanted to have my birthday party in the hotel? Mom is so stingy!" he thought.
They walked past Amazing Fate Pet Shop. There was an intercession in front of them. After this intercession, if they headed west, they would reach their home.
Yi Le suddenly came up with a weird thought. He wanted to punish his mom.
As a result, he decided to hide from his mom. If his mom could not find him and got worried, that meant she still loved him.
There wasn’t any place to hide though! Across from the street, there were a few street vendors selling skewers. Several customers stopped there to buy skewers. If he hid behind the street vendors, his mom might not be able to find him. Then his mom would worry sick and he could come out. She would be on top of the world when she saw him and she might agree to have the birthday party in the hotel.
He was a little worried that his mom would be mad, but he already had an excuse – I am only playing hide-and-seek with you. What a naughty boy!
Children at his age take action immediately when they think of something. Yi Le ran across the street.
Coming at a normal speed, the driver didn’t expect a child would jump out in the street all of a sudden.
There came a sharp screech of a car's brakes…
There was blood…
There was the crowd…
There came the ambulance…
Sorrow…
Two families would have been in tragedy since…
…
Zhang Zian thought Xinghai was not feeling like herself today. She usually agreed to another game, but she didn’t today. Her flashing silver-grey eyes worried him. He told her not to use her magic over small things. If she used magic to attract customers, even if the customer was the president of the United States, he would be mad at her.
"Xinghai, what’s wrong?"
As he asked, Yi Le was making a face at Xinghai who was walking by the store.
Xinghai turned around to look at Zhang Zian.
She seemed like she wanted to say something. She then looked at Old Time Tea and thought for a second. The silver light faded from her eyes.
Xinghai hadn’t changed the future, yet.
She raised one paw, pointed at Yi Le and said, "Zian, that child is going to be hit by a car."
"What?!" Zhang Zian was shocked. He looked at the direction where Xinghai pointed.
There was a little boy, about seven or eight years old. His hair was short. He was wearing a shirt with a bear pattern. With his hands behind his body, he looked like he was walking without looking.
Zhang Zian looked at the road. He thought someone was going to do something stupid like drive up to the sidewalk, but he didn’t see one single weird car. Everyone looked fine.
He trusted that Xinghai would not joke around like that. Then what was it?
Without hesitation, Zhang Zian rushed out the door and ran towards the boy.
Yi Le turned on his naughty mode. He was about to cross the road and heard a man’s voice behind him. "You! Stay there!"
That scared Yi Le. He stopped, turned back and looked. It was a man he didn’t know, so he was highly alert.
At the same time, a car flew by. The driver was thinking about his newly-wed wife. A happy smile came up on his face. He didn’t know that he just stayed away from a tragedy that was going to change his and his wife’s lives.
Zhang Zian didn’t know what was going to happen. He wasn’t sure which car was going to hit the little boy. Looking around, he walked up to the boy quickly and stopped right in front of him.
Yi Le was scared. He cried, "Mom! Mom! Come save me! Someone is going to beat me up!"
Gu Le hit the "send" button and took a breath. She knew she could not offend the teacher. Otherwise, the teacher might be mean to her child. In the parents’ meeting, she was even more careful talking with the teacher than talking to her boss… The teacher’s words were the truth and no one dared to refute. A message from the teacher was like an order from the King – it simply could not be ignored.
She was trying her best for her kid.
It was almost the Moon Festival. She still could not determine what to give the teacher. Is a 500-Yuan supermarket gift card enough? She heard this teacher didn’t accept gifts and she returned all the gifts sent to her. Gu Le wasn’t sure if the teacher was really a good person or she didn’t want to take small gifts…Whatever! She finally made up her mind that she should go home and discuss the gift with her husband.
At the same time, she heard Yi Le’s voice. As her hand rattled, the cell phone dropped and the monitor broke. She reached out to the side, but nothing was there. Since when did Yi Le disappear? She turned and saw about him 60 feet away, with a man stopping Yi Le.
She almost hit the ceiling!
"You! What are you doing!" She screamed as she flew over.
Within seconds, she was standing in front of Yi Le and dragged him behind her.
Zhang Zian was astonished as well. He thought the little boy was playing alone on the street and he didn’t expect a woman!
He took a few steps back and put his hands above his head, showing that he wasn’t doing anything. At the same time, he was looking around to make sure there were no more unexpected crises.
"Mom! This is a bad guy! He suddenly stopped me and didn’t let me cross!" Using his mom as a shield, Yi Le pointed at Zhang Zian and yelled.
"I am not a bad guy!" Zhang Zian explained helplessly.
Champed with rage, Gu Le didn’t believe a word he said. "You are not a bad guy? If you are not a bad guy, why did you stop my child?" she raised her voice in the hope of attracting some pedestrians so Zhang Zian couldn’t do anything to harm them.
"Your kid was going to cross the street. I was worried he would get hit so I stopped him," Zhang Zian continued to explain.
Gu Le was mad, turned around and asked Yi Le, "Did you want to cross the road?"
Yi Le denied immediately, "No! He is lying!"
Zhang Zian was speechless.
Gu Le stared at Zhang Zian. Her eyes turned from confused to hostile. Between two stories from a strange man and her own son, she chose to believe her son. That was normal.
Some pedestrians stopped and watched them from a distance. They were curious what happened. Were this kid’s parents having a fight on the street? Didn’t look like it.
"I am warning you. Don’t you dare come close to us! I will call the police," Gu Le felt much more comfortable when there were more pedestrians around.
"I didn’t mean anything bad," It seemed like that was all Zhang Zian could say. What else could he say? His cat knew the kid was going to get hurt? No one would believe it!
Gu Le didn’t listen. She took Yi Le’s hand, stared at Zhang Zian and started stepping back.
Yi Le hid behind his mom. He even made a face to Zhang Zian. He felt that he was the big winner! He not only got back his mom’s attention, but also played tricks on this man.
Adults are so stupid!
Gu Le picked up her phone from the ground, rubbed the broken monitor and gave Zhang Zian another hard look.
"Yi Le, let’s go!" She held Yi Le’s hand and walking quickly to the intersection. She kept looking back to make sure Zhang Zian wasn’t chasing them.
She knew she had to tell her husband about everything when they arrived home. They had to make serious plans on getting a car. This world was too dangerous!
Standing in the depressing dusk, Zhang Zian was a bit sad. The pedestrians all looked at him with a strange face. When Gu Le and Yi Le disappeared in the dark, he then slowly walked back to the store.
"Zian, you are the best!" Xinghai said happily.
Zhang Zian forced a smile, "Xinghai, you are the best! If it wasn’t for you, who knows what would’ve happened."
Fina woke up. She murmured coldly, "Mind your own business!"
Zhang Zian sat back down in the recliner, watching people pass by. The store grew darker and darker. He forgot to turn on the lights.
"Buddy," Old Time Tea said.
He cheered up, "What’s up, Miss Tea? Is the tea cold? I can boil some water."
"Nope," Old Time Tea smiled, "When you walked out of that door, what was in your mind?"
Zhang Zian thought for a second, "That kid might be in danger and I want to save him."
"That’s right. You got the desired benevolence. You shouldn’t be sad."
Old Time Tea was pleased, "When I do something, I desire to keep benevolence in my heart. As long as I am honest to myself, I don’t care if other people understand."
Zhang Zian’s heart brightened.
That was true. His only thought was to save the little boy, not to become a hero. He didn’t want gratitude from the mom. All he wanted was to avoid a tragedy.
He already received what he desired. There was nothing to be sad about.
Naughty kids should be taught a lesson, but not in such a cruel way that his life would be taken.
He cheered up when he thought about it.
"Xinghai, go on! I am going to win this time!" He turned on the lights and jumped off the recliner.
"Liar! Big liar!" Xinghai was excited.
"Okay. Try me! You’d better hurry. I am going to count!" Facing the wall, Zhang Zian started counting, "One, two, three…"
Xinghai complained, "That’s not fair. You are counting too fast!"
She then disappeared again.
Watching Zhang Zian playing games with Xinghai, Old Time Tea’s eyes were shining.
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