Chapter 127 - Welcome to the Club

The bright screen illuminated Ruan Jin's face as he surfed the net while he was on his laptop. He was seated on the carpeted floor, back against a wall. On the bed next to him was his mother, sleeping for the night.

Li Feng had been sending him details about the apartments that he could readily give. These apartments were vacant rooms in residential buildings that Li Heilong owned, and Li Feng had the authority to waive all rent and other expenses connected to the building. Of course, Ruan Jin still had to pay for the bills.

What made Ruan Jin laugh-cry was that all of these were in high-security residences that rich heirs and celebrities would live in. Not only did the rooms have an excellent view of the cityscape, but they were also equipped with the best furniture available in the market.

If anything, his mother might even think her son just sold his body and soul for a house like this.

"Have you picked one?" Li Feng sent a message after not receiving an answer for a long while. "You should ask your mom which one she liked if you can't decide."

Ruan Jin had ended up telling him, and the two other hors.e.m.e.n of course, about what went down in his house. Wen Taio and Xu Disung also found out about Ruan Jin's 'give me a house or I won't help you' whim… as well as Li Feng's 'okay, pick one' situation.

This was also a reason why Li Feng only sent in apartments in high-security buildings and not ones in secured subdivisions instead. This way, they could control the people who could actually enter the apartment, making sure the abusive drunk boyfriend wouldn't be able to get near his mother.

"No, no, I can't let my mother see this. Let's just settle with one nearest to the commercial district. Because if Ting decides to kick us out after the temporary closing, I need to get a job since I won't be in school anymore." Ruan Jin scratched his head. The insurance only worked while he was in college. If he got kicked out, they would be lucky if they could still cash it out.

"I see. If you'll be coming with us to Cherry, then I can cover for the time you'll be there. Consider it a test subject fee."

"Test subject?"

Li Feng s.u.c.k.e.d in cold air. "Visiting Liu Xiaodan is hard on its own, but if we get in under the premise of a project Cherry Med launched, we can easily get inside and even stay for a few—" Li Feng stopped typing. Should he say days? Weeks? How long would it be, exactly?

He just backspaced a bit and hit send: "Visiting Liu Xiaodan is hard on its own, but if we get in under the premise of a project Cherry Med launched, we can easily get inside and even stay."

Ruan Jin squinted at the man's generosity. This was very strange, but Ruan Jin couldn't even rely on himself. He had no career and no degree to speak of. "How much will it be for a month?"

"Twenty thousand. I can go higher."

"F.u.c.k rich people." Ruan Jin cussed in a hiss. He couldn't even earn half of that from a part-time job in a month, and Li Feng could 'go higher'? How happy would Ruan Jin be if he could become a millionaire all of a sudden? Then again, if he asked Li Feng, staying rich wasn't all sugar, spice, and everything nice.

He then replied: "Forty." 'So even if I die, Mom would still have some left to live with.'

Li Feng raised his brows when he saw the reply. He then murmured, "He really has no idea how big experiments pay their subjects, does he?"

He turned to the second screen of his computer and browsed the test subject contract Ren Shanyue drafted and saw the six-figure monthly compensation to the subject's family. "Forget it, if this gets approved by Cherry, I will just relay these to the two of them."

At the other side, Ruan Jin sighed. He took a look at the back of his sleeping mother before looking over the houses again and noticed that one of them had a lie-in clinic within the building. If accidents happened, they had resident nurses to readily help. Knowing his mother…

"Hey, this one really did have resident nurses?" Ruan Jin sent another message to Li Feng.

"Yes, they do."

"Let's go with this one, then."

Li Feng then looked for the contact person of the building and asked them to ready the room for occupancy. However, it was already midnight, and asking for papers to be processed at this hour was impossible. Then again, he was Li Feng; his name itself was enough for the management to process occupancy even at midnight.

How convenient that his father was already awake for some hours and had been staying in their house to recover. That meant that he was awake long enough to tell his assistant to give Li Feng free rein on those houses even if he didn't know why Li Feng was touching those houses now.

"When will you be moving in?" Li Feng sent a question.

"As soon as possible."

"I already talked to the manager of the residences. They'll be ready to receive you as soon as office hours start tomorrow."

Ruan Jin was feeling tired, and knowing that an apartment was waiting for them made him feel lighter. He just picked up bottled soft drinks and took a sip when the reply popped up. He choked all of a sudden, spraying a good amount at the laptop.

In his crazed attempt to dab the liquid off before it could even seep through the keys, he ended up sending a jumble of letters and a heart emoticon separately. They were already sent for minutes when Ruan Jin realized it.

He could only sit in silence, finding the will to not bash his head against the screen.

Li Feng was busy reviewing the drafted contract with Ren Shanyue over the phone when Ruan Jin's reply came. A frown knitted his brows and tried to decipher what the jumble of letters meant, only to be shocked by the heart emoticon. What's worse was that he had already switched screens and had been sharing it with Ren Shanyue so she also saw the notification.

"…Liu Xiaodan's friends are really strange…"

"Well, welcome to their club, Feng."

In the bedroom on the fourth floor, Min Ye was having a nightmare. He was strangely tossing and turning in his sleep while m.o.a.ning in pain. A dark cloud seeped into his room, and the Mother had materialized next to him. Her actual right hand reached out and patted his cheek, sending him into a sound sleep.

She then pulled back and looked around the room. As her eyes landed on the spot next to the cabinet, she saw a small child sitting on the floor and staring straight at her. The Mother then smiled as she moved her head to the side.

"How interesting. You still ended up here. Xiaodan… he seemed to be very close to you." The Mother chuckled as if she was talking to someone familiar.

"He's my Baba. Don't play with him." Guangru frowned a little, amusing the Mother with his behavior.

"Oh, a real father, is it? Tell me… how is he planning to have you born? Don't you think he's just taking advantage of you and your powers? Based on what I see, he's actively harnessing more and more than he should. Are you letting him use you? Just like the others before?"

Guangru shook his head. "I have a Mama, but she's not nearby. We're both working hard to make it work. Say, why is that black mop-face targeting my Baba? There are also strange things in the Treatment Hall… aside from new faces I've never seen before. We both know all the kings here… they are…?"

The Mother smiled deeper and decided to creep closer to the small child. "It's been decades. What do you expect? Besides, this place was turned into a basin of negative aura. People even bring in other ghosts to be fed to us. If you stayed here, you would've been more than… that."

Her words slowed down as she looked down at the child with cold eyes. "Your powers dwindled to a point that you're unrecognizable. What are you planning to achieve by being mortal? Even if you get a body, it would be useless unless it's as strong as Xiaodan's…

"How about you drop your notion to become a real child and take control of him? It would be better, and you will have a burst of power." The Mother chuckled. "When the time comes, you wouldn't have to worry about people giving birth to you…"

"What's the point of being born if my parents don't love me?" Guangru got to his feet and turned in the direction of the Treatment Hall. "Baba is giving me a steady source of food. Before they all knew it, I would be able to return to my former self. Afterward, they should leave… before I eat them all."

"Kekeke, the ancient wishing tree is relentless." The Mother then retreated and turned into a dark cloud. "Then, I rest my case. When you see Xiaodan again, remember to make him surrender the lamp. It's a gift I'm not willing to part with after all."

Guangru went to leave the room. "I'll just make him another one then so you could keep yours."

The child then phased through the door and arrived at Xiaodan's bedroom. Old Xiong was resting there after being tattered in a fight. Guangru climbed up the bed and patted the big face softly. "I'm sorry about the pain, Old Xiong. There's nothing I can do for now. If I tried to fight them at this rate…"

"Hush your worries, little one." The spirit inside the bear hummed in the voice of an old man. "I had been in this world for so long that a little tearing is not going to harm me at all. Say, can you feel it? Such a strong-willed junior…"

"Junior?" Guangru tilted his head to the side and hummed. He then closed his eyes and sent out his senses to the ones that had been infected by him. His round eyes then tore open as he looked up at the old bear. "Can you help him? You're from the same kind, right?"

"I could, but worry not. He will not be tired enough to bleed for children." Old Xiong laughed softly as if worried about aggravating his stitches. "He's focused on keeping the oath of protection in another household that was bound to have death.

"Do not fear, little one. He will be fine. We guardians are sturdier than you lot." The bear seemed to close his eyes and rest. "Fragile souls or clouds of consciousness will never compare to our strength. Rest now, you still have a father to watch out for. He'll be home soon."

"Okay." Guangru curled up and slept on Old Xiong's belly. "I can't wait for Big Brother to be back."