CH 36.3

Thanks to this quarrel, Ning Wan and Fu Zheng had figured out the situation. Unfortunately, it was clear that neither of the instigators wanted to take responsibility--

Wang Dongliang was the first one in the wrong, and furthermore was no match at cursing against Bai Sheng. It didn't take long for him to lose the argument. However, he obviously had no wish to take the wheel. "I have Yao Kang's telephone and work address, but nothing else!"

As he spoke, he took out a pen and paper from his bag, scribbled quickly, then handed it to Fu Zheng. "This is Yao Kang's contact information. That's all I know. You take it, and don't contact me again about the follow-up. You can even report me to my company if you want. Anyway, I really can't do anything abuot the matter. Whoever owns this house is in charge! I wasn't the one who lied to get it sold!"

Having said that, he hurried off unreasonably. The policeman attempted to dissuade him from leaving, but after all, Wang Dongliang was not a criminal suspect, so he couldn't be coerced. Wang Dongliang was a young man, and he evaded the policeman nimbly and fled downstairs.

When Bai Sheng saw that Wang Dongliang had run away, he too naturally refused to acknowledge his debt. Spreading his hands, he said shamelessly, "That's how it is. Information, I did hide some, but the house was mine, and now it's yours. The price, I even reduced for you thanks to this child - you must know that you bought it at much lower than market rate, right? There's no such thing as a free lunch in the world. I made a mistake, I lost money, and even though you have to deal with this little problem, wasn't it a deal for you at the rate of hundreds of thousands of yuan?"

Bai Sheng was obviously a secretly hidden master of logic. "Simply put, we had our own disagreements previously and you talked me into giving you a 100,000 yuan discount back then, so you should solve the problem of the child yourself." He even had the cheek to smile while enthusiastically patting Fu Zheng on the shoulder. "There's a silver lining to every cloud, so look on the bright side. Aren't you thirty already?"

First he paused, then gave a knowing look to both Fu Zheng and Ning Wan. "Married at the age of 30, yet with no children. Have you considered how there's a lot of pollution in the air nowadays, and it's really bringing the fertility rate down? Why, many young couples can't conceive without help of IVF nowadays. What good fortune that you came across such a suitable home! Buy one get one free - not only will you have a house, but also a son!"

? ? ?

While Ning Wan was standing there completely stupefied, Bai Sheng smiled brazenly and continued, "Anyway, this matter none of my business, so I really can't help. I'm not a kid's TV show host, I'm no good at finding a the lost daddies of helpless little tadpoles. If you want to stir up trouble, go do it at the real estate agency, and maybe they'll pay you more money!"

He checked his phone. "Oh my, it's getting late. I have to go to the airport. My flight to LA, it's leaving soon. Mr. Policeman, I'm afraid I'm pressed for time. All the paperwork for the house has been filled out, so let them solve the problem themselves!"

Having said all these slightly off things, Bai Sheng brushed himself off to hide his great glory and fame1, and went downstairs, his face righteous. The policeman hurried to dissuade him once again, but thanks to his justification about having to catch a plane, they could not force him to stay.

Thankfully the policeman was fairly conscientious. "Looks like this turn of affairs is rather complicated, since the person trespassing on your property is affiliated with neither the real estate agent or the former owner. Even if the two were willing to sit down and talk things out, we would get nowhere, and it's obvious that they don't get along. What about this? I'll look into the father of the child and have him come take the boy away. Will that work?"

Fu Zheng nodded. "Thank you very much."

Unfortunately, this route didn't work either. The policeman rang the number for Yao Kang that Wang Dongliang had provided on the spot, only to find that his phone had been turned off. According to Wang Dongliang, Yao Kang worked in a plastic factory out in the suburbs, quite a ways away, which must be closed by now. It was obvious that the issue could not be resolved that night.

The policeman had also thought this far. "Let me handle the matter for you tomorrow. But as for the child... I could take him to the police station, but that really wouldn't be the right environment for him. He's still so young... Why don't you get him a hotel room and have his father reimburse you for it later--"

But before the policeman could finish, the boy who had so far been completely unaffected by the whole ruckus dropped the phone he had been watching cartoons on. "No! This is my home! I'm not leaving! It's you all who should go! Mr. Policeman will arrest you!"

……

They had underestimated the combat effectiveness of six to seven-year-old children. When the boy heard that they were going to make him leave for the night, he rolled on the ground, crying and wailing, absolutely unwilling to go. Even Ning Wan was helpless, let along Fu Zheng. Resigned, the two bid goodbye to the policeman.

"Why don't you let this kid stay in this house tonight?" Ning Wan suggested, looking at the boy's tears and feeling a little unwilling.

Although they hadn't met the boy's father, Yao Kang, he had colluded with a real estate agent in order to rent Bai Sheng's house at a low price. She didn't know how or why, but he had even forged the real estate purchase contract, and furthermore deceived his own son, claiming that he had bought this house and that it was the child's home. It was completely understandable for the boy, who trusted his father wholeheartedly and believed that this was his own home, to see her and Fu Zheng as the bad guys.

Fortunately, she had bought a lot of the daily necessities today, and so there was nothing lacking in the house. Ning Wan took a look around, brought out the bedding she had prepared for Fu Zheng, and began to spread it out on the floor again...

Meanwhile, Fu Zheng felt like that day had been a drunken rollercoaster - first the hemorrhoid cushion, then the "buy one get one free" child package. He thought that he had hit rock bottom buying a second-hand house. He couldn't believe that he had actually bought a second-hand house that came with a thunderstorm. His life experience hadn't led him wrong so far, cheap things really were no good...

But one thing Fu Zheng was very clear on - he wouldn't be sleeping here tonight anyway.

"Don't set up the bedding," he stopped Ning Wan. "Just let the kid sleep on the bed. I won't be here tonight."

"Then are we going to leave the child here alone?" Ning Wan's eyes widened. "No way! He's still so small, he can't be unsupervised! He can sleep on the bed, while you sleep on the ground!"

So on top of that, the bedding on the ground was for himself...

How Fu Zheng felt about that was hard to put into words, but his attitude was firm. "No."

"Why?" Ning Wan frowned.

"I'm allergic to children," Fu Zheng told her calmly. "I don't get alone with them, I can't communicate with them, I don't like them, and I can't take care of them."

Ah... So you just didn't want to take care of the kid. You still dare say that so confidently?!

Ning Wan lost her temper too. "Fine, I'll stay then! But before you go, we'll have to give him a bath!"

The tears the boy Yao Fei had shed had dried, and he was now standing numbing in the living room. His dirty little face was even uglier due to his tears. It looked as though he hadn't had a bath in a very long time. Who know how long he had been wandering around outside after Bai Sheng changed the door locks on him?

"You first get him into the tub. I'll go out to the supermarket to buy some pajamas and another towel and toothbrush for him..."

"Wait," objected Fu Zheng, "Weren't we going to bathe him together?"

Ning Wan replied, logic on her side, "Men and women shouldn't be in too close of contact. He's a little boy, so of course you should bathe him. I said 'we' just now just to be polite. While you're bathing him, I'll go buy him a change of clothes!"

When she was done speaking, she pushed the child toward Fu Zheng and left...

Fu Zheng looked at the dirty little boy before him and felt suffocated.

Was he a low-budget washerwoman in Ning Wan's eyes?

But something had to be done about the dirty child. He was so rank that Fu Zheng could almost smell him from where he was standing…

Fu Zheng took a deep breath, looked at the child, and making an effort to sound calm said, "Take off your clothes."

He was condescending to bathe the boy, but the child unexpectedly looked nervous and refused. "Daddy said you can't take off your clothes in front of strangers."

Then he looked at Fu Zheng with wary eyes, as if looking at a pervert.

Fu Zheng almost laughed, he was so angry. "That means not to undress in front of strange women. I'm a man, a man, you understand?"

Unfortunately, the child didn't buy it. Still vigilant, he answered, "Dad said that there are some male perverts who are even worse than the female ones!"

Unable to breathe, Fu Zheng clenched his teeth to try and keep control. "Do I look like a pervert to you? Have you ever seen such a handsome pervert? Why would a handsome man like me be a pervert?"

"It's hard to say," the boy sniffed. "'You may know a person's face but not his heart'," he added solemnly. "Generally, good-looking perverts are extra perverted."

“……”

Fu Zheng felt like he was about to die of anger.