Chapter 16 - The Elegant Lunatic (6)

*** = Scene change

***** = Timeskip

— "Let's pinky promise."

Xu Nianyang didn't go to prison.

When Qingruo saw him again, it was the beginning of March. He was wearing a white sweater under a light grey overcoat and sporting a shorter, tousled hairstyle. His outfit, complemented by his naturally lean physique and exceptional facial bone structure, gave him a spirited appearance.

He stood by a car as he waited for Qingruo, and his eyes softened when he saw her. The young man bore an orchid-like temperament, elegant in grey and white.

Qingruo had just gotten out of class and was moving with slight urgency, as she had to attend self-study in the evening. When she glanced over, her face immediately filled with pleasant surprise, then she ran to him.

"Gege!"

Xu Nianyang smiled gently and nodded. Reaching out, he took her bookbag and chided, "Slow down, don't run."

Qingruo contentedly held onto his arm. "Gege, how come you're here?"

Nearly five months had passed since he went back with the Zhang family, which happened in October of the previous year. This was their first reunion after so long.

The sharp gloominess about Xu Nianyang had been replaced by a warm air of security; however, his inner cruelness and frightful desire for control had not diminished one bit.

Instead of responding, he turned around to place her bookbag in the backseat of the car before moving to open the front passenger door. "I told Auntie that I'll be sending you to self-study after you eat dinner."

"Mhm." Qingruo nodded obediently and climbed into the car.

The Zhang family lived in the capital, which was a three-hour drive from City K, neither too far nor too close.

Xu Nianyang sat down in the driver's seat and leaned over to fasten her seatbelt. After putting the car into gear, he reached for the soft warmth of her hand and relaxed slightly when he felt it.

"I found a new job over there, so I wasn't able to come back and visit you right away. Did Ruoruo behave while I was gone?"

"Yeah!" Qingruo peeked at him as she responded. No dark circles could be seen beneath his eyes, and his complexion was good. However, his dark eyes were thinly rimmed with red. It didn't seem like he got a good rest.

She intertwined her fingers with the back of his hand. Xu Nianyang looked down and smiled before saying, "Wait for me, Ruoruo. I'll return to City K soon."

Qingruo didn't want to ask him how he was doing with the Zhang family. Of course, she already knew why they called him back. This time he didn't end up in prison, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

But it was okay.

The car was parked in the spacious parking lot of the residential area. Only a handful of spots were filled. The social housing area^[1] near the amusement park was completed not too long ago, but not many families had moved in yet.

When they reached their destination, Xu Nianyang got out of the car and picked up her bookbag from the backseat, then he walked around and took her hand.

Furniture was constantly being moved into the tall apartment. Wooden boards were employed to protect the elevator from being scratched up, though they made the space inside seem smaller than it was.

Qingruo was still young, so her body was petite. Xu Nianyang had to extend his arm down as far as he could in order to hold her waist.

The height difference made him wonder how much taller she would grow in the future, though he didn't mind her current height. It was convenient for hugging.

Qingruo spun around in his arms and looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Gege, you really bought this house^[2]?"

[2] It’s technically an apartment of some sort, not a house, but that’s the term she chose to use.

Xu Nianyang's eyes fell on her waist. Although his fingers were separated from her skin by a layer of fabric, he could still feel a trickle of warmth flowing from his fingers into his heart.

"Mhm," he muttered absentmindedly. "Gave the down payment. It hasn't been renovated yet."

He pulled a key out of his pocket and used it to unlock the door before dropping the key into Qingruo's bag.

As he said, the inside of the apartment was completely unfurnished; even the walls were still in their unpainted state. The dust from the cement tickled Qingruo's nose, causing her to sneeze twice as Xu Nianyang showed her around the rooms.

A deep smile was evident in his eyes. After showing her everything, he leaned down and kissed the crown of her head.

Dusty.

He licked his lips and pulled her back outside.

"What type of decorations do you like?"

Qingruo was covering her nose and mouth with one hand while fanning herself with the other.

"Pink! And lots of strawberries!" she responded with sparkling eyes.

She was only fourteen, so it was normal for her to still like those things. Xu Nianyang faltered for a moment before turning his head away.

"Let's go downstairs," he said.

"Okay," she pouted.

"Gege, do you not like the color pink?" she asked, swinging their hands back and forth between them.

"I like it. What do you want to eat for dinner?"

Sure enough, the diversion was effective; Qingruo immediately stuck out her fingers and began to list off a variety of foods, throat bobbing as she swallowed her saliva.

Xu Nianyang silently breathed a sigh of relief as she rattled on.

***

Naturally, Xu Nianyang knew what the Zhang family planned to use him for. He didn't care.

Of all the people in the world, only one little girl mattered to him: Qingruo. A single tear from her eyes could crumble all of his walls. His happiness came in the form of every tear that fell for him… yet the happier he felt, the more havoc the demons in his heart wrecked.

Maybe he could advance the creation of the zombie virus and leave only the two of them to stand on the earth. No one would be able to separate them then.

'But Qingruo likes cake. She likes strawberry-flavored milk, and strawberry-flavored candy.'

He didn't know how to make any of those. What should he do?

When he returned to the Zhang family, Xu Nianyang had used the knowledge and experience from his past life to negotiate with the family head, his biological father. As long as the Zhang family didn't use him as a scapegoat, he would help them create a new biopharmaceutical innovation.

Xu Nianyang wasn't the only illegitimate son of the Zhang family head, but his circumstances were the easiest to manipulate. However, his talent far surpassed the family head's expectations.

After the negotiation, Xu Nianyang's first task was to prove his value. Only after he demonstrated a worthy innovation would the Zhang family head agree to the deal.

The innovation Xu Nianyang had in mind was similar to the one he came up with in his past life. He'd worked on it during his three years in prison. However, the version he was giving to the Zhang family was inferior to the original, and it took additional effort to create a product that was lacking but still functional.

In order to guarantee his own value, Xu Nianyang took on all of the work himself. No one from the Zhang family was allowed to get involved. It took him seven consecutive days and nights to finish the project, and during this time, he toiled without getting a single wink of sleep.

The first thing he did after establishing the deal was drive to City K to see Qingruo. Before leaving, he gave himself a drug that would suppress all of his exhaustion.

Children were very forgetful, and this was especially the case with a bubbly young girl like Qingruo. What if she had already forgotten about him…?

He forcibly ended his train of thought there. It was a possibility he didn't want to entertain, a possibility even more terrifying than the end of the world.

After eating dinner with Qingruo, Xu Nianyang sent her to self-study and waited in the car. As he leaned back against the front car seat, enveloped in her scent, the exhaustion hit him all at once. Inadvertently, he fell asleep.

When Qingruo returned from self-study, he was still sleeping. She had to knock on the car window several times to wake him up. Blinking blurrily, he reached out to open the door, pausing when he realized it was Qingruo standing outside.

She moved aside to avoid the door as it swung open, then the next thing she knew, her body was flying forward into his arms as her bookbag slammed against the roof of the car.

Oww," she complained when her nose collided with his chest. "So hard."

Xu Nianyang held her waist tightly. His lips were pursed, his eyes turbulent with bloodthirst as he kissed the top of her head. It wasn't until all of the bloodthirst dispersed that he finally let her go.

Laughing, he got out of the car and stroked her hair. "Little dummy."

Qingruo rubbed her nose. She glared at him and harrumphed without responding. Xu Nianyang was in a good mood again. He gently pinched her cheek before returning to the driver's seat.

"Gege, where are you staying tonight?" she asked.

"I have work tomorrow, so I'm going back to the capital after I take you home."

"Oh…" she murmured. "Okay."

He glanced at her and asked softly, "What's wrong, Ruoruo? Are you not happy?"

The young girl shook her head, but discontent was written all over her face.

Reaching over, Xu Nianyang took her hand and lightly tickled her palm with his nails. She immediately pulled her hand back and glowered at him.

"It's okay. If Ruoruo agrees to behave while I'm gone, I'll come visit you every weekend, alright?" he coaxed, returning his hand to the steering wheel.

Qingruo pursed her lips. "You can go back early tomorrow morning. Driving at night is so dangerous, and you bet you're really tired right now. You were sleeping so deeply earlier."

"No, I was just thinking with my eyes closed. The windows are soundproof," he lied as her apartment complex came into view. Xu Nianyang leaned over to unbuckle her seatbelt before promising, "I'll drive back carefully."

Qingruo gripped her bookbag, obviously reluctant to get out of the car. She turned her head and asked, "Hey, gege, do you want to go in for some tea? My mom and dad should both be home right now. You can leave afterwards!"

Xu Nianyang smiled and pinched her cheeks. 'Clever little kitten.'

"No, I'll greet uncle and auntie next time. You should go in."

The little girl looked away with a huff. She pushed the door open but turned around when her body was only halfway out of the car. In the darkness of the night, her eyes shone like black diamonds.

Her little lips were still pursed.

… She was waiting for him to coax her.

Sighing gently, Xu Nianyang leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then he pulled her into his arms.

"It's late, I don't want to go in and bother them. You have school tomorrow, so remember to sleep early. I'll greet them next time," he coaxed while caressing her hair. "Okay, Ruoruo?"

"Okay," the girl in his arms agreed reluctantly. "Then let's pinky promise."

"Alright." Xu Nianyang hooked their pinkies together and stared at her lips as she made the promise.

Their beautiful shape was palpable even in the dim lighting.

Ruoruo,

I haven't decided yet.

How should I deal with your parents?

Your two most important people.

I want to...

Erase them.

— 【Black Box】

Went yandere there for a moment lul, but dw, he doesn't act upon it. On another note, a translator from Centinni will be picking up this novel. Here's the link to their site for TLP.