32 Could Do Better

Of course, he looked twenty. He was just twenty-one after all.

The door then opened as a chatting married couple walked in the room. They were surprised to see the girl and the big black bear in the room. Who was she? The receptionist flashed a smile at the elderly couple. "Are you the boy's grandparents? I can't ask a minor for a signature. Can I have yours?"

"Signature? What for?" Wu Qianqian was amused by the beautiful black bear sitting on the floor next to Liu Xiaodan's feet. She then looked at the delivery form and signed it for the girl to leave. "Thank you for the delivery."

"No problem!" She flashed a smile at the elder woman... only to find the child nowhere. She looked around and thought that maybe he had run out to escape his grandparents. Such a naughty child to buy an expensive toy. That was probably their money, not his.

The girl had left, and Wu Qianqian sat next to her son to inspect the bear. It looked brand new and not tampered with. She then felt its fantastic fur and loved every bit of it. The father grew closer as well and patted the bear's head to make it bob, enticing the elder woman more. He even feigned the inspection down its body, moving the arms and playing with the woman.

His mother's rather youthful giggling awakened Liu Xiaodan. He opened his eyes and saw his mother's back immediately. The son hummed as he looked further down and saw a big black bear... and his father playing with his mother like they were forty years younger. Perhaps they had always been playing like children since they were childhood sweethearts.

Liu Li chuckled as he enjoyed every giggling Wu Qianqian made, sounding like the tinkling of old bells that had always been so beautiful. However, a wave of embarrassment washed over him when he realized his son was watching them. He then cleared his throat and stopped; his mother only laughed out before turning to look at her son. She had a very endearing expression.

"Xiaodan! Someone sent a bear to you! It's so cute!" His mother was so fond of the bear, and he could imagine his father taking note of this. There would be another bear soon enough. However, his mother hummed. "The delivery girl asked us if we were his grandparents... why would a child buy something like this for you?"

"A child bought this? How did he get the money?" Liu Xiaodan couldn't sit up to see the bear thoroughly, but he knew it was rather beautiful. Liu Guangru promised him a gift, didn't he? His cute son didn't steal this, right? Wait, there was a delivery lady. How did he pay for an expensive bear like this?

"A child bought you an expensive bear?" Liu Li found no need to redeem himself. He knew his son would never think badly of his parents' antics; they had always been so sweet to each other anyway. He sat next to Wu Qianqian and waited for an answer.

That was when Liu Xiaodan hung his head with a bitter smile. "It's Guangru..."

The name rang a bell in his parents' minds, but they decided to listen to him without thinking about everyone else's input. Liu Xiaodan had a wider smile upon realizing that they didn't talk harsh at him for having a killer ghost child by his side. He then took a deep breath. "You probably heard about him, but... he's not hostile towards me. He even gave a bear to keep me company."

"That Guangru... the same child that... kept on disturbing Ms. Nayi?" Liu Li frowned at his son again. He was playing with a bear sent by a child with blood on his hands; he felt complicated about this now. Then again, there was a sweet delivery girl that took the bear here. Did the child trick the girl into delivering the bear?

"Yes, Dad. The same child..." Liu Xiaodan hung his head low, his hands clutching at the blanket on his lap. "I have to say sorry to Nayi. It was my fault Guangru kept on tailing her. Then again..."—his eyes grew dim—"that Huang Kun guy was making things difficult for her. Then, his whole gang started eyeing at her. I... I don't think I should stop Guangru from staying with her.

"What happened days ago was something I didn't think would happen. Guangru had always been so behaved. I... have to talk to Nayi about what happened. I'm pretty sure she would forgive me at least... or not." Liu Xiaodan sighed and gazed at the black bear. "...Guangru is a good boy. He could do better next time."

Wu Qianqian only made a sad face after the little story. "Aren't you scared Nayi will leave you because of this? A regular woman would never handle the clutches of the supernatural. She might end up hurting you more than you can handle..."

Liu Li could only look at his wife before turning to his son. "Xiaodan, listen to us. I know you want to make this work, but there could be a better turn if you just forget about dangerous things. You are already knee-deep into this mess that began with this child." He looked at the bear and felt bad for the child instead. "You should leave him before he hurts you. With how things progressed based from what they said, no one would be able to stop him if decides that he was done with you."

The male knew his parents would never let him near a ghost. They had been keeping him away from them since he was a child. Even though he learned that it was better not to get involved, he was indeed already knee-deep in this. Besides, he saw what Liu Guangru really was. That wasn't a normal child; that was something else. What if he thought of leaving Liu Guangru behind, would Liu Guangru just let him go? The answer was no. It didn't matter if Liu Guangru told him the truth about this or not; the words of the other entities had weight.

Liu Guangru had been plaguing this city for a long time, and still, he hadn't been born yet. Perhaps they all turned him down before... and they all died because of it.

While the three were speaking inside the room, a pair of eyes had grown misty. Chuan Nayi just finished her walk to exercise her legs, and she was so excited to talk with Liu Xiaodan again upon hearing his voice. However, when she heard... and confirmed that the ghost child was his dirty dark secret, she lost the energy to open the door. Her eyes had gone misty, and she didn't like to think that she would always see this little ghost child as long as she was with Liu Xiaodan.

Leave? Should she leave him behind? Her eyes blinked once. She lifted her face, and the view suddenly shocked her. No one was in the room in front of her anymore. Chuan Nayi opened the door and looked around to look for the three people that should welcome her. Her lips trembled in fear, for the feeling was so familiar.

She was experiencing another haunting.

However, she had no more time to overthink as she saw Liu Guangru sitting on the edge of what used to be Liu Xiaodan's bed. His big, round eyes were fixed on her, but his smile wasn't there. He wore a rather neutral expression, and yet his gaze was still piercing for the girl. Chuan Nayi glanced at the door that moved to close on its own. With an audible 'bang', silence was broken.

"...Xiao Guangru, what do you want from me? Are you not satisfied with what you have done to me?" Chuan Nayi steeled her heart even though her entire body was shaking. She slowly moved to the couch in the room, on where she sat to keep her knees from getting overworked. Her tears started dripping from her eyes, and her sniffles were the only noises she was making.

"Mama..." Liu Guangru hopped off of the bed and took small steps towards her. Instead of a viciously cold and horrifying aura, the child was just like a child who was trying to apologize for breaking a vase. "Mama... I didn't mean to get mad... you were just... so cold..."

"So cold? Me?" Chuan Nayi laughed in ridicule. Her lips curled to a helpless yet ridiculing smile. "You're a monster, an evil spirit... and you want me to treat you like a sweet child? Are you insane? Is this... is this what Xiaodan had been doing to you? You had killed four people! You almost killed me and Xiaodan! And you want me to treat you like a young brat?!"

The volume of her voice kept on increasing, and so the ice in Liu Guangru's eyes. He wanted to apologize to his mother, and he had never done this in his entire existence. Right now, he was getting yelled at, and he didn't like the tremble it was giving to his small heart. He wasn't human, and he could only take so much. It was happening again. His anger was rising from his chest again.

If she could berate him like this, why didn't Liu Xiaodan do the same?

That was when it hit him. His big round eyes widened yet again at a thought. His father was fully aware of what he did to the woman he loved the most, and yet he kept his calm and even tried to caress him. 'Let's talk later' was the only thing he said. Was he going to help him apologize to his mother... just like what he was saying earlier to his parents?

Silence answered Chuan Nayi, but she could feel that glacial aura around the child. Her breathing constricted while her teeth started teetering. She was so scared to incur the wrath of the ghost child again. She was so scared that she would be killed this time. However, the aura dispersed like a popped balloon, and all that was left was an innocent look on his face.

"Mama, should Baba be mad at me, too? Why wasn't he?"

Chuan Nayi froze at his question. She then roared at him again, her weak hand trying to throw her crutch at the child. "How should I know?! I don't understand him, too! He should be awfully mad at you! You dragged me into this! You..." She then began to cry. "Why did you have to let me see it happen? Why did you have to kill more than one...?"

Liu Guangru pouted as he realized that there was nothing to be done for Chuan Nayi anymore. She was only crying so badly that his words wouldn't come across. He only watched her before noticing that something was trying to enter the room.