Chapter 106

Chapter 106

◎ Mind-Blowing Twist: Did My Big Nephew Come Here on a Rocket?! ◎

By the time Li Qingjiang and Zhao Zheyuan parked the car and came back, Meng Qi had already stopped crying, but he was still listless, his head drooping even lower than before.

This made Zhao Zheyuan think he was still upset about being recognized by the print shop owner, so he tried to comfort him, "That guy said he'd keep it a secret, and he doesn't seem like a liar from how he talks and acts. Let's just trust him for now. When we get back, Liangzi and I'll look into his background."

Not wanting to explain why he was really down on the street, Meng Qi just went along with it and hummed an "Mm."

While Zhao Zheyuan was talking to Meng Qi, Qu Liang, who had no clue what was going on, kept looking back and forth at them, his big eyes filled with confusion. As soon as Meng Qi hummed, he grabbed Zhao Zheyuan and asked, all nervous, "Brother Yuan, who are you talking about checking? Are we being watched?"

Zhao Zheyuan relaxed his face, pressed Qu Liang back into his seat by the shoulders, and explained as he walked toward the front of the vehicle, "I'll tell you when we get back. Now sit tight, we're leaving."

Qu Liang reluctantly said "Oh" and slumped down in his seat, looking bummed.

Then Zhao Zheyuan grabbed the handlebars, twisted, lifted his leg, and mounted the tricycle's motorcycle-style seat in one smooth move. Qu Liang watched, jealous, and perked up instantly. He got all restless again and insisted on swapping places with Zhao Zheyuan—he didn't want to sit in the back; he wanted to ride up front.

"Not today. Sit still and don't mess with your brother while he's driving." Li Qingjiang, sitting across from Qu Liang, leaned forward, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him back into his seat.

Qu Liang pouted, looking totally wronged. "Why won't you let me ride? Only Brother Yuan gets to ride? My skills aren't bad, you know! What, just 'cause I've been gone a few days, you three already ganged up on me?"

That was rich, considering how Miracle Doctor Li talked about him all the time. Meng Qi silently sided with Li Qingjiang.

Li Qingjiang, though, said casually, "Sit tight. I'll tell you why when we get on the side road."

Half an hour later, the car smoothly turned onto a winding, narrow path. But before Li Qingjiang could explain, Qu Liang was already turning to Zhao Zheyuan. He shot up from the back, grabbed the railing near the driver's seat, and leaned over to stare at Zhao Zheyuan's profile, completely unbothered by the danger—though at just over ten kilometers per hour, there wasn't much risk anyway.

Qu Liang whispered in Zhao Zheyuan's ear, teasing, "Brother Yuan, you walking a snail? I'd be faster walking than you driving. Can you even handle this? If not, let me take over."

Meng Qi looked at Qu Liang's back, wanting to say something but holding back. He wanted to tell him it wasn't that Brother Yuan couldn't handle it, but that he couldn't—no, more like the two of them thought he couldn't... But then he figured it was hard to say, so he shut his mouth, lowered his head, and pretended to sleep.

Zhao Zheyuan kept the speed at just over ten kilometers per hour, completely ignoring Qu Liang's chatter.

Qu Liang had already lifted his foot, like he was about to step over the railing and sit behind Zhao Zheyuan to hit the gas. Li Qingjiang quickly grabbed him and pulled him back, then said slowly, "There's a reason for the weirdness, kid. Driving this slow has a purpose."

"What reason?" Qu Liang asked.

Li Qingjiang got all mysterious. "You're about to be a little uncle."

"A little what? Little uncle? Me?" Qu Liang shot back, totally confused. He couldn't understand what Li Qingjiang was saying or how it had anything to do with his Brother Yuan driving slow.

Brother Yuan, little uncle, little uncle—who's calling me little uncle? As he thought about it, Qu Liang suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "Little uncle?!"

Was his Brother Yuan gonna have a baby?!

At that thought, Qu Liang first shot a disbelieving look at Zhao Zheyuan's back, then quickly turned back to Li Qingjiang, asking anxiously, "Who's my Brother Yuan having a baby with? No, wait—who's been sneaking around and stealing my Brother Yuan right under my nose?"

What nonsense...

Li Qingjiang shook his head with a sigh, deciding to just spell it out and stop Qu Liang from guessing, since Qu Liang, with his eyes only on his Brother Yuan, would never get it right.

"It's not your Brother Yuan. It's him," Li Qingjiang pointed at Meng Qi, who was dozing with his arms crossed next to Qu Liang, and said bluntly, "His kid would still call you little uncle. And your Brother Yuan's a quiet guy—who could steal your 'tower' in such a short time? Use your head; it's obviously not him."

Qu Liang pouted and retorted, "That's not necessarily true. My Brother Yuan's got tons of charm. Plenty of people chase after him—men, women, old, young..."

"Qu Liang!" Zhao Zheyuan, unable to take it anymore, finally called out to stop him from running his mouth.

Qu Liang raised his chin defiantly and finished his sentence to Li Qingjiang, "You don't get it, so don't talk nonsense."

Wait, was this really the time to discuss Zhao Zheyuan's charm? Li Qingjiang's expression as he looked at Qu Liang was truly indescribable.

Qu Liang felt embarrassed under the stare, slowly lowered his head, rubbed the tip of his nose, and changed the subject. "Oh, so who's the young master with? There aren't any female teachers at our school. Is it someone from the nearby village?"

Meng Qi, still pretending to sleep, pulled his feet back a little.

Li Qingjiang rolled his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared, but then he realized it was hard for the average person to imagine a man getting pregnant, so he forgave Qu Liang's wild imagination. Looking at Qu Liang's innocent, bewildered eyes, he shook his head in exasperation and explained, "Just the young master himself. No one else."

"The young..." Qu Liang's brain finally clicked. He sneaked a glance at Meng Qi, then furtively looked back at Li Qingjiang and mouthed, "He's giving birth himself?"

Li Qingjiang finally nodded in relief.

But the next second, Qu Liang howled again, "No way, you're messing with me, right? How can one person give birth? Even if the young master can, uh, you know, there's got to be a second person. Don't tell me..." Qu Liang's eyes slowly widened as another absurd thought escaped his lips, "Don't tell me it's the young master and my Brother Yuan's kid?! Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! That's way too fast! Holy crap, my big nephew came here on a rocket!"

Meng Qi: ...

Li Qingjiang: ...

Zhao Zheyuan: ...

"Can you stop pinning everything on your Brother Yuan? Yes, he's charming, but this has nothing to do with him. Put him aside for a second and forget about him, okay?" Li Qingjiang was almost at his wit's end with Qu Liang's one-track mind. Finally, he let out a sigh, half-laughing, half-crying, and summed it up, "I should've just told you the answer straight up instead of letting you guess wildly."

Qu Liang finally pulled back his shocked, twisted expression, sat back down sheepishly, and muttered, "Yeah, it's not all my fault. I've got few brain cells to begin with, and you went and messed with them."

Li Qingjiang: ...

"So, now do you get why we're driving so slow?"

Qu Liang nodded obediently. "Got it."

He probably also figured out why Meng Qi would give up being a pampered young master to hide out incognito in this overgrown wilderness.

He stole another sidelong glance at Meng Qi, who was still pretending to sleep with his arms crossed, feeling pretty awkward. Then he shuffled two steps closer to Meng Qi, bumped his knee against Meng Qi's, and apologized sheepishly, "Sorry about that, young master. I was out of line earlier. Just pretend I let out a string of farts and forget all about it."

Meng Qi: ...

How was he supposed to keep "sleeping" now...

So Meng Qi stuck out his index finger, lifted the brim of his cap, tilted his head to look at Qu Liang, and feigned just waking up as he asked, "Huh? What did you say? I was asleep and didn't hear a thing."

Qu Liang grinned mischievously, pushed Meng Qi's cap brim back down, and said coyly, "Nothing at all. Go back to sleep. Is sitting like that comfortable? If not, you can sleep on my lap."

Meng Qi: ...

When they got back to the school and got off the vehicle, Qu Liang was even more over-the-top than Zhao Zheyuan had been initially. He insisted on scooping Meng Qi up in a bear hug to carry him out, which annoyed Meng Qi—and embarrassed him too. Meng Qi shoved him away with a swipe, sending Qu Liang stumbling aside, then stepped out of the cargo bed himself. His feet hit the ground before his legs were even fully straight!

What was the point of being over 1.8 meters tall? All legs below the neck—he could manage just fine on his own, thank you very much.

Elder Gu was quick. By the time Meng Qi and the others got back, he'd not only set up the shower room but also cooked dinner: braised eggplant in sauce, braised carp, garlic vermicelli with enoki mushrooms, spinach scrambled with eggs, red amaranth in chili oil, plus a big pot of steaming tomato beef soup—five dishes and a soup, all fragrant and delicious, enough to make everyone's mouths water.

Qu Liang, who'd been rushing and unable to eat properly, was almost moved to tears by the spread. He hugged Elder Gu and wailed, "Uncle Gu, next time I go out, I'm taking you with me! I never want to eat slop again!"

The old man's face crinkled into a smile, and Meng Qi and the others were also amused by Qu Liang's antics, their faces lighting up in different ways.

No wonder Li Qingjiang was always looking forward to Qu Liang's return. With him around, laughter and joy could float over the high walls and drift into the distant, lonely mountains, breathing life into this deep forest.

After dinner, everyone worked together to install the water heater, then gathered in the yard, chatting and waiting in line to shower.

In the distance, rolling mountains stretched out; nearby, a stream babbled. Looking up, the moon was bright and the stars sparse; listening closely, birds sang and insects chirped. Heaven and earth, all things, wove together a warm and romantic rural melody, painting a vibrant and lively picture.

Meng Qi, lost in thought with his head bowed, seemed not to belong in this picture, giving off this weird vibe of being a lone wolf, like he's playing a one-man show.

After all, he was a pampered young master, with a birth background and life trajectory completely different from everyone else present—it was only natural for him to feel a sense of distance. Li Qingjiang clicked his tongue, pulled his gaze away from Meng Qi, and looked up at the sky again, sometimes frowning, sometimes relaxing his expression, lost in his own head again.

Meng Qi kept going back and forth on whether to head to Huaiwu and visit the grandfather of the "Meng Qi" in the book. After all, life was unpredictable; the old man had fallen ill, and who knew how long it would take for him to recover—or if he even could. If Meng Qi didn’t go and missed the chance to see the old man one last time, and if one day the "Meng Qi" from the book returned and learned the truth, how crushed and full of regret would he be?

But going there was definitely walking into a hornet's nest. Whether he could escape unscathed was uncertain. Even with a miracle doctor by his side, he didn’t dare gamble on whether he could survive the ordeal of returning and facing death. Besides, he barely knew the old man—what would they talk about? How would they converse? If he slipped up in front of the old man, would it worsen his condition?

While Meng Qi was still mulling this over, his brain cells tying themselves into knots, Qu Liang, who got first dibs on the shower since he'd just gotten back from the long trip, had already finished and came bouncing back to where Meng Qi and the others were. He first called out to a teacher about to enter the shower nearby, "Teacher Yang, the floor’s slippery, be careful," then turned back to complain to Meng Qi and the group, "These tiles are way too slick—we gotta grab some non-slip mats one of these days. And it’s freezing in there, so we’ve got to figure out a heating setup. Maybe we could dig a hole underneath and install a hypocaust, toss in some firewood to heat it up first."

That was a good idea. Elder Gu chimed in, "That works. I’ll handle it tomorrow."

"We can’t let you do all the work alone. We’re all here tomorrow, so we’ll do it together." Qu Liang smiled at Elder Gu, water dripping from his hair and forming dark spots on the cement floor at his feet.

"Dry your hair first—aren’t you cold now?" Li Qingjiang reached out with his right foot and nudged Qu Liang's ankle, reminding him to dry off instead of rambling.

Qu Liang hopped half a meter away, then said indignantly to Li Qingjiang, "I just got clean, don't mess me up again." After that, he grinned and added, "I’m not cold now, just when I first went in. Especially the moment the hot water hit my head—damn, I got goosebumps all over."

"Even if you’re not cold, dry your hair promptly. The mountain wind is strong, and you might get a headache." Miracle Doctor Li advised.

At the mention of a headache, Qu Liang finally draped the towel from his neck over his head, bent down, and rubbed vigorously for a few seconds, finishing his hair in no time.

Li Qingjiang frowned at the sight.

But before Li Qingjiang could start nagging again, Qu Liang grabbed Zhao Zheyuan and ran toward the house, explaining to Meng Qi and the others as he went, "Me and Brother Yuan gotta talk about some work stuff. You all chat for now—we’ll be back in a bit."