LA ⋆ Chapter 12: The Mountain Demon in the Forest

Cheng Ai didn’t respond to him. Instead, he made a phone call on his own, explaining something to someone on the other end, and after hanging up, he came to stand in front of Sheng Yao’s desk, looking down at him from above.

Take a moment to feel out the atmosphere. It didn’t seem too bad, actually.

Sheng Yao pressed his palms together in front of his mouth, his eyes wide open, showing a sliver of white beneath his irises when he looked upward—the very picture of innocence. Internally, he cursed himself a little. Things had come to this point; there was no point clinging to dignity now.

Cheng Ai looked at that face, which carried a hint of naive sweetness, and felt a kind of helpless exasperation. He said coldly, “Just keep working.”

“Thank you, President Cheng.” Sheng Yao raised his clasped hands above his head. But still, something about the logic of getting fired for actively browsing job postings felt off.

“Don’t keep checking job listings anymore.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll uninstall it right now. As long as the company wants me, I’ll work here till the end of time.”

Whatever—as long as he could keep working. Sheng Yao finished his declaration of resolve, but Cheng Ai didn’t leave.

Sheng Yao bit his lower lip and hesitantly asked, “Is there anything else you need, President Cheng?”

“Why did you send that message in the first place?”

“…”

Sheng Yao said nothing, and Cheng Ai didn’t move either.

Sheng Yao covered his eyes with his hand, thinking that if he said “Someone told me this would make you too embarrassed to fire me,” Cheng Ai would probably be very willing to fire him on the spot.

Fortunately, some unknown deity came to his rescue and interrupted this interrogation.

Cheng Ai suddenly took a phone call. After a few exchanges, his expression turned very dark.

“Get ready. You’re coming with me to Chengxi Police Station.”

“Okay.” Sheng Yao didn’t ask why and stood up immediately.

Whenever the two of them traveled alone, Sheng Yao served as the driver. In the rearview mirror, he could see Cheng Ai impatiently pressing the bridge of his nose. Even the privileged class had their own troubles.

Sheng Yao parked the car and followed Cheng Ai inside.

“Xiao Ai, dear! Come see your little brother—he’s hurt so badly!”

The moment the two of them stepped through the police station door, they heard a voice first, and then saw a woman dressed in elegant, expensive clothing blocking their path. She looked young enough to have some age on her, yet she was so well-maintained that it was impossible to guess her actual years.

Cheng Ai gave a slight eye roll. “I’m not a doctor.”

“Oh, Xiao Ai, how can you talk like that?”

Cheng Ai walked straight past her and went directly to speak with the officer.

Sheng Yao followed close behind, listening from the side. Suddenly, he caught sight of “Cheng Ji” on the record. Wait—his younger brother? Right, the woman had just mentioned her younger brother was injured. But hold on—why was Sheng Yi also on there?!

Sheng Yao made an “Uh—” sound, his tone rising sharply.

Both the officer and Cheng Ai turned to look at him.

“No, no, it’s nothing… Please continue.” Same name and surname, maybe?

The officer said, “Right now the two of them are telling different stories, but neither has evidence. Your younger brother says the tutor liked him and wanted to hold him, and he fell while struggling. The tutor says your younger brother threw the first punch—he pushed back, but when asked why he threw the punch, he won’t say. There’s no surveillance in the bedroom, so neither of them is being entirely truthful.”

Cheng Ai asked, “How badly is he hurt?”

The officer said, “Just scraped some skin. No bleeding.”

“…” Cheng Ai turned toward the woman and let out a long, drawn-out sigh from his throat, grinding his teeth. “Can’t you settle a matter over a little scraped skin? Don’t you know what kind of person he is? How many tutors has he gone through now?”

“Oh, your father isn’t here, and I can’t handle these things.”

Sheng Yao felt deeply uneasy, desperately wanting to know if this Sheng Yi was the same Sheng Yi he knew. After all, it wasn’t that common a name.

Sheng Yao asked, “Where are they? Should we go talk to them?”

The officer said, “In the mediation room.”

Cheng Ai nodded. “Thank you.”

The door to the mediation room swung open in an arc, the view gradually widening. On either side of a long table, on one side sat a boy slouching at odd angles, and on the other side stood a boy leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Cheng Ai’s expression became quite colorful when he saw the standing boy. When the boy looked up and called out “Ge,” Cheng Ai went from pleased to startled, then from startled back to pleased.

“Your younger brother?!” Cheng Ai nearly whipped his head around to stare at Sheng Yao.

Sheng Yao nodded mutely and walked toward Sheng Yi, gripping both his arms and looking him up and down. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Sheng Yi shook his head.

After Sheng Yi had grown up, he rarely called Sheng Yao “ge” anymore. In this moment, he somehow resembled a little child waiting in kindergarten for a parent to pick him up, and he let slip a note of grievance.

The child on the other side of the long table had delicate features, rosy lips, and hair that was rather long. At first glance, one might even mistake him for a girl. When he raised his eyes to look over, he curved his lips into a smile that was like a mountain demon in the forest—there was something mischievous about it.

Sheng Yao glanced toward Cheng Ai. These two didn’t look like brothers at all.

This kid actually resembled the weeping, well-dressed woman standing beside him.

Sheng Yao lowered his voice and whispered, “I don’t believe what they’re saying. Tell me the truth. Why did you throw the punch? What happened between you two?”

Sheng Yi lowered his eyes. “I don’t know what he was going crazy about. I pushed him away, and he just fell on his own.”

Cheng Ji had been about to say something when he suddenly got a tap on the head. He realized Cheng Ai had arrived, and his expression became somewhat more restrained.

Cheng Ai asked, “Where’s the scrape?”

Cheng Ji rolled up his pant leg, revealing his ankle, which was scraped raw and faintly reddened. “My ankle got scraped on the bed frame when I fell.”

“That’s enough,” Cheng Ai said irritably to the woman. “There’s no real injury. This isn’t worth bringing to the police station. Take him home.”

The woman pointed at Sheng Yi. “Xiao Ji said he was forcibly kissed!”

“Where’s the evidence?” Cheng Ai cut her off. “If you’re not comfortable, just hire another tutor.”