Chapter 695 - Unfulfilled Promise

Lu Jin's eyes lit up. In a muffled voice, he asked. "You speak Chinese?"

"Shh!"

Lu Jin shut his mouth.

The two children quietly listened.

There was no noise in the upper ground. 

It seemed like the group of children had left.

"Uhm… I think they have left. Can you take your hand off me, please?"

The owner of the small hand hesitated.

"I promise I won't shout. I don't want to walk with no clothes." In reality, with Lu Jin's strength, he could shake off the little thief's hand on his own. But he was afraid that the little thief would get scared and ran away like earlier.

The little thief slowly took off his hand.

"Thank you for saving me. But I am still angry at you for running after stealing… What?" 

As Lu Jin scolded, the little thief laid out his palm.

"Give me your shoes."

"..."

"Or else I will call out to them."

"I thought you don't want them to find us?"

"Yes, because they will tear your clothes apart while fighting and it will become useless. So give it to me."

"...But my shoes are dirty now. Besides, aren't you the one who stole from me? I should be the one getting angry." 

"I can't return your cookies, I ate them already. If you don't give me your shoes and clothes, you can't return to that place. I know you don't live here. I saw you coming out of that new car."

"Eh? Even my clothes?" Lu Jin hugged his body with a pitiful face. 

"Yes. My clothes are barely covering me, so I need yours. Anyways, it's easy for you to get another one. Hand it over."

"..."

The little thief did not wait for his answers anymore and started grabbing Lu Jin to take away his shoes.

Lu Jin struggled.

"Hey! Stop that! My shoes are already soaked in the mud. I can give you new ones if you help me return to my car!" 

As he yelled, he ended up inhaling the filthy and smelly air. 

He started to cough and retch.

It was too disgusting! 

"Cough! Cough! What's with this smell?!"

"Shh. Don't yell too much if you don't want to be found out."

Lu Jin glared miserably at the little thief. 

The reason why he was in this dire situation was because this little thief started running away!

"It's your fault in the first place. Not only are you guilty of stealing, you even want to exploit me. If my daddy finds out about this, you're dead."

The little thief did not take his warning seriously. 

"It's either you will be able to leave this place or die here. Then your daddy won't be able to find you. How can he search for a dead body in this trash?"

Lu Jin let out a 'hmph' sound. "My daddy and my grandpa are both very powerful, you know. They can search for me real fast."

"Can they search for you down there too?" 

The little thief pointed below at the dirty sewage.

It was then that he saw it.

It was not just random trash on the black sewage. If one looked closely despite the black mud and undecipherable objects, it was actually a rotten body.

"!!!"

Lu Jin's face paled. His stomach churned. He vomited.

It was not only one body, but a lot of them!

One rotting head stuck out of a sack, and there were countless of these sacks in there.

Lu Jin staggered as he vomited everything out.

The little thief watched him triumphantly as he retched. 

"Welcome to the burial site. This is the dirtiest part of the slums. And the place you are in now is my home. Don't worry, we might be beside the filthiest place, but this is also the safest place. Those guys from above won't come down here since they are afraid of the disease from the dead."

"How… How are you alright, living like this? This is inhumane!"

"...?" The little thief tilted his head. "This is actually freedom. My former home was a lot smaller compared to this place. That place only has a window and we can only come out once we are sold. I am lucky enough to escape and find this place."

After a while, Lu Jin finally stopped gagging. 

He frowned. 

The ignorant little prince never knew that there were people living like this.

While he was living a luxurious life where he could eat whatever he wanted and have as many clothes as wished to wear, the people here were fighting for a piece of clothing. There were even some people like this kid who were calling this place 'home'.

Lu Jin felt like he had seen a whole new world. 

It was not the beautiful world he knew. It was the side of the world that he did not know existed. His mother and his grandfather never told him that such a dark and dirty place existed.

His father brought him here unexpectedly.... Was it because of this? To know this side of the world?

'...Oh!'

Maybe he was here to save people like this kid?

He looked at the ragged little boy, and slowly found the boy to his liking. 

This kid still saved him from the scary ones!

With renewed vigor, Lu Jin grabbed the other's scrawny arm.

"Come with me!"

"...Huh?"

"If you come with me, you'll have lots of delicious food, complete sets of clothes and shoes. You will not starve and you will have fun every day with your toys! I live my life like that, and there is still plenty of room in my home. It is a lot cleaner and bigger than this place! What do you say?"

"...Are you crazy? You'll take in a stranger like me? I even stole your food. Are you planning to sell me? I don't sell much, but I can sell you!"

"Hey! Think about it properly! Even if you sell me, it will not be comparable to the life you will have if you ever come with me. My family is very rich, you know. You saw my car, didn't you? That is only the peak of the iceberg. My family has a lot of cars for you to ride, and buildings for you to live in. You will know what I am saying once you come with me."

Lu Jin stared at the ragged little boy with shining large eyes.

The little thief looked back at him with disbelieving eyes. 

The offer was too good to be true. But it was indeed very tempting for an orphan like him who had nothing.

"It is true, believe me! How about this? Return with me to the place where you stole my food. If you don't want to leave with me after that, I will give you my shoes and clothes. But if you believe what I am saying, then you can come with me."

"...."

The little thief looked at Lu Jin with searching eyes for a long time, trying to determine if he was telling him lies.

Lu Jin's large dark eyes were sincere. They were so bright with pure feelings of sincerity and innocence. 

After a lengthy persuasion followed by an even longer period of silence, the little thief spoke.

"Does your car...still have some cookies?"

"Yes!"

"And clean water?"

"There are!"

The little thief's eyes became firm. 

"Okay, I'll bring you there. You have to give me every food that you have in your car, too. Oh, by the way, I also stole this from your car." 

He took out something from within his clothes. He gave a small box to Lu Jin.

Lu Jin recognized it immediately.

"It's my parent's wedding ring! Thank you! It is very important for my Mom and Dad. You'll never regret your choice. I promise that you will live your life comfortably and freely!"

"Really? I won't starve? I can dress like you?"

"Un! You can eat all you want! Your life will be joyful like mine!" 

"How joyful?"

"We can go to the parks and restaurants with my little brother, play the games and then eat the special food there."

"Really?!"

"Yes! My little brother likes sweet things. He likes to share good stuff with me. He will also share them with you."

"What's your little brother's name?"

"You can call him Little Yin. By the way, what's your name?"

"Gunan. You?"

The two children talked cheerfully, forgetting their miserable surroundings. 

The rain continued to pour outside of the hole, as Lu Jin's promise that day stayed in his heart. 

However, like the tender leaves before the storm, the sweet promise they made was swept away by a torrential typhoon, washing away everything.

Leaving behind only the chaotic wreck of themselves.

******

A snippet from the little Gunan's POV:

The little thief looked at Lu Jin with searching eyes, trying to determine if this kid was telling him lies.

Lu Jin's large dark eyes were sincere. They were so bright with pure feelings of sincerity and innocence. 

The little thief had never seen such a pair of beautiful eyes before. Even his biological mother and former owner never looked at him this way. 

These eyes… They did not arouse negative emotions in his heart. Instead, they actually felt warm and welcoming.

Warmth came to the tips of his toes, to his fingertips, and to the tips of his ears.

It was the first time that he felt this way.

Perhaps...this strange kid was telling the truth?

..........

E/N: I ship them, oh god.

A/n: Ehem, don't change the genre lol