Unbridled 4
After Ding Ji introduced himself that day, this person had not given him his name. He didn’t bother to try asking now, so he just watched No Name1 pulled out painkillers from his pocket and put them in his mouth. He then reach for his glass bottle and took a few large gulps.
“You’re not that particular, are you?” He took back the bottle that No Name handed back.
“Isn’t this a water glass?” No Name wiped his mouth.
“Nah,” Ding Ji opened the lid and wiped the mouth of the bottle with a paper towel. “This is an old Nescafé bottle, it’s probably older than me.”
No Name didn’t speak.
He looked up, and No Name’s expression was a bit ugly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“If you’re so particular, why are you letting other people drink your water?” No Name was speechless. “If you’re gonna wipe it off, don’t wipe it in front of them, alright?”
“I didn’t think you’d actually drink from it,” Ding Ji said.
No Name stretched out his left hand.
“Not looking.” Ding Ji swatted his hand away but still glanced back at it.
“Bottle.” No Name said.
Ding Ji was stunned for a moment, then capped the bottle and handed it back to him.
No Name unscrewed the lid, raised his head and took another two sips, and then he put the bottle back on the steps beside him. “Can you tell me how you found out that I was heartbroken?”
“What’s up, can’t guess?” Ding Ji glanced at the bottle from his peripheral.
“It’s easy today,” No Name said. “I can even guess how you bullshitted that answer.”
“Then,” Ding Ji raised his head, “how could I tell you? I don’t even know your name.”
“Lin Wuyu,” No Name said.
“What?” Ding Ji didn’t hear clearly.
“Lin Wuyu,” No Name repeated and pressed his temples.
“Wuyu?” Ding Ji said, “From Great and Boundless2, huh.”
Lin Wuyu pressed his temples again and paused for a moment.
‘Noble and benevolent character’ wasn’t that bad, after all his name was from this phrase3, but suddenly blurting out ‘Great and Boundless’ didn’t match the character of this sloppy scammer.
Stereotyping people isn’t good. Lin Wuyu conducted self-reflection for a second, then nodded. “Yeah.”
Ding Ji leaned back on the steps behind him and didn’t speak anymore.
Lin Wuyu’s head still hurt. Whether it was for going back to school or looking for something to eat, he couldn’t muster up the energy to move.
Furthermore… since Ding Ji looked somewhat similar to Xu Tianbo, he might not want to leave right away.
Therefore, he sat down next to Ding Ji and stared at the basketball hoop not that far away.
It was still early, so only two guys were shooting hoops.
After a few moments of silence, Lin Wuyu spoke first. “Do you always come here?”
“I come every once in a while,” Ding Ji said. “My grandma’s house is nearby.”
“Oh,” Lin Wuyu responded.
“You’re from the affiliated high school, right?” Ding Ji asked.
Lin Wuyu quickly lowered his head and looked down at himself. His shirt, pants and shoes were all his own, without any signs revealing any information.
“I’ve known since the last time we met,” Ding Ji smiled as he stretched.
“Last time?” Lin Wuyu thought about it for a while, but he couldn’t find anything that would let people guess what school he went to.
“Give me your hand,” Ding Ji said.
Lin Wuyu glanced at him and stretched out his left hand in front of him.
“Your fingers are pretty long,” Ding Ji used his fingertips to stroke his palm a few times. “You…”
Lin Yu bent his index finger and pushed his fingertips away.
“Mm?” Ding Ji turned his head.
“Itchy,” Lin Wuyu said.
“Unreasonable,” Ding Ji curled his lips with some disdain, then swiped his palm a few more times with his fingers hanging in the air.
“What were you planning on seeing?” Lin Wuyu was quite interested.
“I was just looking at whatever,” Ding Ji said. “And you can listen to whatever.”
“Okay.” Lin Wuyu nodded.
“You don’t have a good relationship with your parents, right?” Ding Ji asked.
Lin Wuyu didn’t make a sound.
Ding Ji didn’t seem to need him to answer, and he continued to stare at his hand. After looking at it for a while, he leaned back on the steps. “These past ten years or so haven’t been interesting for you, and everything is going smoothly.”
“Is that so?” Lin Wuyu withdrew his hand and looked down.
“You have siblings,” Ding Ji continued. “Whether you have brothers or sisters or how many you have, I’m unsure.”
Lin Wuyu was still looking at his hands. After he said this, he began to feel a little unsure.
Ding Ji’s ability to observe details and grasp people’s character was quite strong, and this was the key to his ability to deceive people. However, deducing the family status of strangers; even after thinking about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
Especially about him having siblings.
“I’m not too sure about you,” Ding Ji stared at his face with his head tilted. “There may be some twists and turns in the future, but it’s hard to say. It’s probably related to your emotional state.”
“Are you looking at these three lines?” Lin Wuyu pointed to his palm creases. “Career, love and lifelines?”
“That’s so basic,” Ding Ji shook his head. “There’s also this line and this bump. While you look you also have to…”
“While you’re chatting with me, you also have to guess, right?” Lin Wuyu said.
“…You’re such a wet blanket,” Ding Ji tsked.
“You’re pretty good,” Lin Wuyu laughed. “Did you learn this?”
“Where would I even learn this? who would I even learn it with? Idiots, all of them.” Ding Ji waved his hands disdainfully. “Don’t believe those who say they want to teach you.”
“Mhm,” Lin Wuyu rubbed his hands.
“So do you have an older brother or an older sister?” Ding Ji asked.
Lin Wuyu paused and, after a while, said, “Why didn’t you ask if I had a younger brother or younger sister?”
“You don’t have that vibe,” Ding Ji said. “I know a lot of people with younger brothers or sisters, and they’re nothing like you.”
“Looks like fortune-telling takes some dedication,” Lin Wuyu said. “You have to observe people in everyday situations as well.”
Ding Ji didn’t ask any more about his siblings. Lin Wuyu had casually diverted the topic in a very natural way. If he hadn’t thought about it and wanted to verify, he wouldn’t even have noticed that the topic had passed.
It seemed like Lin Wuyu didn’t want to talk about this with others. If he didn’t have a good relationship with his parents, it probably has something to do with his siblings, and Ding Ji didn’t like to poke into the private matters of strangers.
If Lin Wuyu hadn’t drunk most of his bottle of water as if nothing had happened, then sat down and refused to leave, he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to chat so much with this person.
“Is there anything to eat nearby?” Lin Wuyu asked. “Something yummy?”
“You don’t have to be so polite,” Ding Ji said without thinking. “I’ve eaten already.”
Li Wuyu looked ahead and laughed, “I”m looking for somewhere to eat.”
“Oh,” Ding Ji didn’t feel embarrassed and thought for a while. “If you don’t want to go somewhere that far, just cross to the other side, and all the dogs go.”
“All the dogs go?” Lin Wuyu was stunned.
“I’m not cursing at you,” Ding Ji cleared his throat. “It’s the name of a shop. They sell coffee, pizza, snacks and the like, and the taste isn’t half bad.”
“Isn’t it ‘All the Dogs Come’?” Lin Wuyu asked.
“Well, if you go from here to there, and all the dogs go from here to there, then call it ‘All the Dogs Go’,” Ding Ji said. “You only call it “All the Dogs Come” after you’ve sat down in the store.”
“… Okay then,” Lin Wuyu nodded. “Have you eaten there before?”
“I’ve eaten there once, and it’s a restaurant for single dogs. The photos on the wall are all for people that met there.” Ding Ji stretched out his hand in front of him, and counted on his fingers, “I foretold that I had a peach blossom4 in my future so I went there to try my luck…”
Before he finished speaking, Lin Wuyu looked away and started laughing.
“Don’t laugh,” Ding Ji said seriously. “What if it’s accurate someday?”
“Is it accurate?” Lin Wuyu asked, smiling.
“No.” Ding Ji frowned. “At that time, I divined it to be within 7 days, so now that the seven days have passed, I estimate it to be half a month.”
“Has half a month passed yet?” Lin Wuyu suppressed another smile.
“Tomorrow will mark half a month,” Ding Ji waggled his finger.
“I’m the only stranger you’ve talked to in the past half month, right?” Lin Wuyu said.
“Mhm,” Ding Ji glanced at him. “Is it you? My peach blossom? At best, you’re just a watermelon.”
Lin Wuyu decided to go to “All the Dogs Come” to have a meal.
When he got up, he hesitated for a moment, then decided not to invite Ding Ji.
After all, they aren’t that familiar, and Ding Ji had already eaten and refused in advance.
“Their ice cream is delicious,” Ding Ji said. “You can try it. It’s vanilla flavoured, and it’s a massive cup.”
“Okay,” Lin Wuyu nodded, hopped down the steps and walked over.
When he was about to walk out of the small park, he looked back and found that Ding Ji was no longer sitting there and that a few bikers were going up and down.
He continued to walk forward, stopped after a few steps, turned around again, stared at the bikers for a while, and was a little surprised to find that the shirtless one was Ding Ji. He was originally wearing a T-shirt, but casually took it off and tucked it into the waistband of his pants.
He was too careless, stripping in public?
Li Wuyu took out his phone, opened the camera and aimed the lens at them.
Ding Ji was pretty skilled. There were a few moves where it looked like he was about to fall from the highest step, but he turned around and returned to his starting position in the blink of an eye.
Lin Wuyu really liked these kinds of things. When he was in junior high, he and some classmates were obsessed with biking for a while, but they didn’t end up biking for too long. His mother felt that it was a waste of time, he should’ve been studying, and he might even get hurt. The most important thing was, she felt that it was impossible for Lin Wuyu to get good at it.
“It’s not like you’re your older brother.”
Lin Wuyu didn’t care too much about these words. He felt that maybe he really didn’t mind. He has his own judgement about himself, or maybe he just got used to it. After all, he had heard these words a lot since he was a kid.
However, sometimes these words were really disappointing.
It’ll make people subconsciously start to doubt themselves.
After entering high school, he didn’t really play around much.
Looking at Ding Ji now, he had the urge to borrow his bike and bike around for fun.
Although he won’t.
When he was hesitating, Ding Ji stopped and casually glanced up.
He probably saw him and waved his hand.
His eyesight’s pretty good, huh?
Lin Wuyu waved back.
Ding Ji waved again.
Lin Wuyu kept responding, feeling that Ding Ji was ill.
After three rounds, he noticed Ding Ji’s gesture wasn’t him waving, but pointing towards him.
“Hm?” Lin Wuyu lowered his arm, looked to his side, and, unable to hold back, swore for the first time this year out of shock. “Holy shit!”
On his right, a baby stroller has somehow appeared at some point in time.
The scariest thing was that there was a baby in the stroller that wasn’t even the size of his forearm.
He quickly glanced around but didn’t see anyone.
It was past rush hour for getting off work and school, and it wasn’t even past dinner time. Only a few people were walking on the road. There wasn’t even a shoe within a 20-meter radius, let alone people.
How the stroller had arrived at his side, he hadn’t the faintest idea.
Looking around, there wasn’t anyone to ask either.
“I’ll go over and take a look.” Ding Ji got on his bike, lifted the handlebar, and jumped directly down the three steps on the rear wheel.
“Are you sure it’s not a stroller that he pushed over himself?” Da Dong also jumped off, followed him and pedalled over there. “Many aunties use this kind of stroller to buy groceries…”
“Does he look like an aunty!” Ding Ji furiously pedalled a few times, but he was still about 20 to 30 meters away from Lin Wuyu. He put his T-shirt back on his body and yelled at Lin Wuyu, “Is there a kid inside—”
Lin Wuyu nodded.
“Where’d it come from?” Ding Ji rushed to the side of the stroller, subconsciously suppressing his voice when he saw the sleeping baby inside. “This baby is only a few months old, right?”
“Not a few months,” Da Dong leaned over and took a look. “My little nephew has grown more than this in three months.”
“Where did it come from?” Ding Ji looked at Lin Wuyu.
“No clue,” Lin Wuyu said. “You saw this stroller before I did.”
Ding Ji stared at the child in the stroller for a while, then raised his head. “So this is… an abandoned baby?”
“Probably,” Lin Wuyu lightly tapped his finger on the handle of the stroller. “Hurry up and call the police.”
“This kid doesn’t look sick or anything.” Da Dong carefully lifted the blanket covering the baby’s body. “Damn it, it’s a boy, so it doesn’t have to do with the patriarchy…”
“Don’t wake the kid up! Let’s coax him when he cries later. We should call the police first.” Ding Ji pulled out his phone. “Let the police uncle come and coax him.”
“I have no problem coaxing children.” Da Dong was very confident, but he still withdrew his hand.
Lin Wuyu took two steps, sat by the flower bed, and watched Ding Ji call the police.
After calling the police, two aunties saw the situation here and came over.
“Oh, what’s wrong with this kid?” An auntie looked at the stroller, bent down, and stretched out her hand to take the child out. “This isn’t your kid, right?”
Lin Wuyu originally thought it was an enthusiastic crowd, but the auntie’s action made him stand up instantly. People who want to take a child home to raise them shouldn’t be so eager, they have to ask what’s going on first, then see if the child’s healthy or not.
“What are you doing?” Ding Ji stopped her hand. “This is my brother.”
“Your brother?” The aunt glanced at him, without giving in, and wanted to push him away. “Can you even tell me how old your little brother is?”
“57 days old.” Lin Wuyu walked over and grabbed the auntie’s hand.
“You brought out such a small child?” The auntie asked, withdrawing her hand and stepping back.
“What’s that got to do with you?” Ding Ji said.
“You…” The auntie was still a little unwilling. “I’m afraid you’re kidnapping people!”
“Then let me give you a suggestion,” Lin Wuyu said. “Hurry up and call the police.”
The auntie didn’t continue talking, and after staring at them for a bit, she cursed and turned around to leave.
“What did that woman want to do?” Da Dong looked puzzled. “Snatching a kid? She’s not right in the head.”
“Maybe she just wanted to pick up a child to sell.” Ding Ji stared viciously at the back of the aunt for a while, and when he turned around, he found that Lin Wuyu had already sat beside the flowerbed.
Da Dong skillfully pushed the stroller beside him, and the two checked it again and even checked the kid’s breathing.
There was no note on the stroller stating the child’s birthday and wailing that they couldn’t raise the kid. Save for a small blanket, there wasn’t even a feeding bottle.
The kid’s parents probably didn’t give a damn about the future he’ll have to face, and they didn’t even care about the little bit of his past that they erased.
“If the kid wakes up and starts crying right now, he can only suck on his fingers.” Ding Ji sighed and sat next to Lin Wuyu.
Lin Wuyu didn’t answer.
“What do you think about this child?” Ding Ji asked while looking around.
“His parents didn’t want him anymore, so they threw him away,” Lin Wuyu said. “What else could it even be.”
“Why didn’t they want him..?” Ding Ji thought for a while. “He might have some disease that isn’t visible from the outside and they think it can’t be cured, damn it.”
“Some children just don’t matter that much to their parents,” Lin Wuyu said. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re sick or not.”
Ding Ji glanced at him. “Your words…”
Lin Wuyu didn’t look at him but just stared ahead in a daze.
“Or it’s an unexpected pregnancy or something…” Ding Ji said.
“Since when are there so many excuses?” Lin Wuyu said.
He said this very calmly, but there was a lot of energy behind it. Ding Ji couldn’t help but frown, “What’s wrong with you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Lin Wuyu said. “Even if you make up ten thousand excuses for the kid’s parents, it doesn’t matter to him.”
“I just casually said a few words, and the police hadn’t arrived either, so how did I strike a nerve just by sitting here and making stuff up?” Ding Ji was a little upset. “Who’s giving his parents an excuse? Ten thousand; you help me look for ten thousand.”
“No,” Lin Wuyu said.
“Are you hungry? If you don’t have food, you’ll become an idiot,” Ding Ji said. “First time I’m seeing you like this.”
Lin Wuyu didn’t speak, and after a few seconds, he turned his head and looked at him as if he was in a daze. “I’m sorry.”
“Ah?” Ding Ji was stunned.
“Did the police say they were coming right away?” Lin Wuyu asked.
“Mhm, of course, they’ll arrive soon if this sort of thing happens.” Ding Ji looked at him again after he finished speaking, and asked again after a while. “Are your parents close to each other?”
