Chapter 56: Seemed Like Just Now
"Bang!" At the moment the bedroom door closed, Bai Shishi’s heart was still racing, and she touched her soft lips with her right hand.
"I think I just kissed him..."
Lin Tian didn’t care much; whether it was a kiss or not, I didn’t lose out.
Suddenly, the silence overtook him, and Lin Tian couldn’t escape the clutches of sleep, falling into a deep slumber.
The next morning, Lin Tian groggily opened his eyes to see the sunlight piercing his eyes, and lazily got up from the mat.
After getting up, Lin Tian looked around, and saw the door of Bai Shishi’s bedroom wide open, and the pillows and quilt neatly folded.
"Where is she?" Lin Tian noticed no one was in Bai Shishi’s room, and the house was quiet: "Boss!"
"Boss!" After calling several times and getting no response, Lin Tian rubbed his sleepy eyes and suddenly woke up.
"Where’s the boss?" Lin Tian muttered to himself, circling the house but genuinely couldn’t see Bai Shishi’s figure.
Unintentionally, Lin Tian glanced at the clock on the wall and stuck out his tongue: "It’s almost ten, Bai Shishi must have gone to the tea house!"
"I’m doomed, she might have deliberately not called me to get up!"
"Chen Zhen on my first day of work today will mark me absent and deduct my hard-earned money!" Lin Tian’s heart ached at the thought of money being deducted for missing work.
By chance, his gaze landed on a piece of paper on the coffee table. Lin Tian mumbled, "If I remember correctly, that paper wasn’t there last night."
Walking over to the coffee table and picking up the paper to examine it, he saw it clearly said, "Lin Tian, considering you helped me earn sixty-four million last night, I decided to reward you well!"
"Today, your boss allows you to sleep in. When you wake up, remember to clean up the house, throw out the garbage, and by the way, there’s milk and bread in the fridge, eat if you’re hungry!"
"If you don’t like these, I left twenty bucks for you, roughly enough for breakfast!"
"See you later, I’m heading to the tea house first!"
Lin Tian grinned: "Bai Shishi, you’re really stingy, only giving twenty bucks for breakfast!"
Despite the laughter, Lin Tian still felt warm inside; when was the last time he felt cared for like this?
"Could this be the feeling of home?" Lin Tian gazed at the paper in his hand, lost in thought.
After washing up and tidying the house, Lin Tian took the breakfast money Bai Shishi left him and went out.
A cup of soy milk and a pancake is Lin Tian’s favorite breakfast, but at this time there weren’t many mobile stalls selling breakfast, maybe some were near parks or squares.
The nearest place to Bai Shishi’s house was People’s Park, and Lin Tian vaguely remembered a shop beside the park selling breakfast.
Arriving at People’s Park, Lin Tian saw the sign for a pancake breakfast shop and went inside, calling out to the busy shop owner: "Boss, one hot soy milk with sugar, one pancake!"
"Got it!" The shop owner replied, sweat dripping as he made the pancakes.
Soon, Lin Tian’s breakfast was ready, and he began to wolf it down.
"Big brother, pity me, I haven’t eaten in days, give me some money!"
In the midst of enjoying his meal, Lin Tian heard a voice and turned his head to look.
A filthy little boy stood beside him, about five or six years old, with a frail body and sallow face from long-term malnutrition.
His hair was black but matted from not being washed for a long time, greasy and shiny, with several scars on his forehead and one side of his cheek, as if he had been beaten.
Underneath the pitiful appearance were lively black eyes, blinking with endless fear and dread, as if terrified by this dirty society!
"Go, go, go, get lost!"
"If you don’t leave, I’ll break your legs, who the hell told you to come here and bother my business, a bunch of motherless brats!"
The shop owner naturally saw the begging little boy approaching Lin Tian, immediately waving the kitchen knife in his hand to drive him away, his eyes filled with disgust and annoyance, devoid of any sympathy.
The begging little boy was scared by the shop owner, his sallow face turning pale, stepping back but unwilling to leave, looking at Lin Tian with pleading eyes.
Seeing the shop owner advancing with a knife, Lin Tian shielded the little boy behind him, puzzled: "Boss, he’s just a child, why do you need to scare him like this?"
"Ah, young man, you don’t know!" The shop owner replied gloomily, "Look at him, all dirty and smelly, seeing him puts customers off their food, and he comes here every day, it really affects business, how can I run my business like this in the long run?"
"But after all, he’s just a kid who doesn’t know anything!" Lin Tian ignored the shop owner’s complaints, looking towards the little boy: "What do you want to eat?"
The shop owner, seeing Lin Tian’s overflowing compassion, shook his head with a wry smile: "Young man, it’s obvious this is your first time here, don’t bother, anything you give him, he won’t eat!"
"He only wants money, no matter how much, give it to him and he leaves..."
Upon hearing this, Lin Tian lowered his head, looking into the fearful and questioning eyes of the little boy.
Facing that gaze, the little boy’s eyes were filled with terror, pitifully saying: "Big brother, please have pity on me..."
To verify the shop owner’s words, Lin Tian tore half of his pancake and offered it to the little boy: "Will you eat this?"
Only to see the little boy shake his head, still repeating: "Big brother, please have pity on me..."
At this moment, Lin Tian was quite surprised; wasn’t he very hungry?
But why not eat?
He was already so hungry, yet picky about food?
Shouldn’t he be devouring it hungrily?
His dark eyes looked at the little boy’s hand, holding a dirty bowl filled with money, from ten-cent and fifty-cent coins to five- and ten-yuan bills.
Seeing this, Lin Tian suddenly realized, just as the shop owner said!
He only wants money!
Lin Tian sighed, feeling sorry for him but also wanting to help, he took the remaining ten yuan from his breakfast money and tossed it into the ragged bowl.
The little boy grinned broadly and joyfully left.
"See, I wasn’t wrong, was I?" The shop owner, seeing Lin Tian give money, said, "Young man, it’s your first time here. As you come more often, you’ll understand. Even with love in your heart, you can’t help everyone, you just need to remember, there’s always something detestable about pitiable people!"
"Why is it like this? He doesn’t seem like a fraud?" Lin Tian was very surprised; if it were an adult, he would definitely question it.
But a five or six-year-old child, what could he possibly know?
"Alas!" The shop owner sighed without saying more.
Lin Tian was surprised by the shop owner’s reaction, watching the little boy walk away, feeling somewhat sad!
At what should be the purest age, has he been influenced by this dirty society to only recognize money?