In a street corner alley, the child neatly laid out the stolen goods on the ground. Among them was a men's wallet with a scratch. The child's gaze fixed on it. Opening it, he took out the two hundred yuan and loose change, placing them in a basket. Even for a wealthy person, this person had an unusually large amount of money. At the time, the driver had braked suddenly, and he lost his balance the moment he got the wallet. It ended up under his seat. If the person had been paying more attention, he would have noticed. But mainly, he was distracted by something else. Could an old injury from long ago really attract so much attention? The child rubbed his wrist, then picked up the wallet. Inside were printed photos. The person in the photos was clearly his son. There was mud on his wrist; he wiped it off casually. When he came back to his senses, the photo in his hand was taken by someone beside him. That person was a bit taller than him, with a broken brow, and looked at the photo with an expression that said, "I know this person." The thief asked directly, trustingly, "You know this kid?" "Of course. More precisely, I know his dad." So, he had stolen from that man. Sui Dongsheng's eyes lit up. He felt a strange satisfaction as he pocketed the two hundred yuan from the wallet. Sui Dongsheng: "Anyway, he's a lucky bastard. He probably doesn't dare to drive anymore and only takes the bus." "What do you mean?" Sui Dongsheng had bought that day's newspaper and celebrated all night. Unfortunately, the man had survived, but even if he lived now, he would still die later. But he couldn't say that now. "Brother He, this is the guy who, after my mom abandoned me, embezzled my dad's pension." So much money never reached him, forcing him into an orphanage, becoming a kid without parents in others' eyes. Sui Dongsheng put on a pained expression. He Xiuyuan hesitated, feeling that the man didn't seem like that kind of person, especially since he had fought against human trafficking and participated in charity events. He had seen it in the newspaper—the man did the same things they did. Sui Dongsheng froze, his fake pain fading. This was the first time He Xiuyuan had shown such disapproval toward him. But he still had to coax him. The police would soon arrest them, and he needed someone to take the fall for him. No one was more obedient than He Xiuyuan. "Those are all rich people's acts. They're great at pretending. Your parents' boss invited them to dinner too, but it was just to make them work harder." He Xiuyuan's expression returned to normal. He took a deep breath, remembering how his parents died on the construction site from heat exhaustion. He had wanted a refrigerator, and that's why they worked so hard. He thought he was a jinx. When he entered the orphanage, he wanted to die. But Sui Dongsheng, with similar experiences, talked him out of it and helped him find purpose. He Xiuyuan truly believed Sui Dongsheng was always right. Including now—taking a little money from all these rich people and giving it to the poorer ones to let them live happily—wasn't that right too? He Xiuyuan didn't know. But he would do as Sui Dongsheng said. Only, "If you don't need this photo, you can put it back in the wallet and let me handle it." He Xiuyuan had stronger counter-surveillance skills and had never been caught disposing of things. Sui Dongsheng nodded. He didn't want such an unlucky person's photo anyway. He didn't know why the Ji family had decided to take in Jiang Yuxu this time, but it was probably the same—how could a biological child allow an adopted child to share the inheritance? They would eventually clash and fall apart. The current friendliness was just an act. Sui Dongsheng looked at the annoying smile and sneered in disgust. He Xiuyuan put the photo back in the wallet, stacked it with other wallets, and disappeared into the alley. Sui Dongsheng was so jealous his teeth itched. It seemed everyone around him had abilities he lacked. How enviable. But they all listened to him, and that felt good. He would need a lot of money for future dealings, but it was fine—he already had plenty. This money would help him achieve what he had in his past life faster.
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Bo Yuxu was a celebrity at school. His inspirational background, the gossip about his brother, and his academic progress were all hot topics. Countless students wanted to be friends with him and win his favor. Even durian candy was acceptable for the sake of friendship. An Ran closed his notebook and said excitedly, "Yuxu, you're really popular." Bo Yuxu's forehead darkened. He had no idea where An Ran got such things. Just hearing them made him want to crawl into a hole. Ji Yanyi actually looked at him with envy—what was there to envy? Bo Yuxu said helplessly, "Durian candy isn't bad, and I don't think I'm that popular." But being unpopular was fine; making friends only slowed down his problem-solving speed. An Ran hadn't expected Bo Yuxu's first reaction to be defending durian candy. Such deep love! No wonder the rumor about having to eat durian candy to be friends with him started. It apparently came from the class monitor of Class One, so it was credible. Recently, An Ran had transferred to the class next door. He quickly integrated by giving out beautiful paper flowers, becoming the fastest new student to fit in. He rarely had the chance to run into Bo Yuxu, who seldom left his seat and never initiated contact except with his brother and the class monitor. Today, both classes had PE together, so they finally met face to face. An Ran discovered something fascinating: if you stared at Bo Yuxu for half a minute, he would come over and greet you. This trait was unbearably cute. An Ran held back a laugh. Noting the similarity in Bo Yuxu's eyebrows and father's, he found the part that resembled his mother: soft-hearted despite a tough exterior. An Ran had scraped his knee and couldn't run. Normally, PE involved laps, and he was debating whether to push through it. But Bo Yuxu stopped him and stood with him in the shade of a big tree. Bo Yuxu said, "Perfect—we're both physically weak. Besides, sweating in this heat will make us stink and look messy. Let's slack off together." It felt like he was saying, "You don't have to force yourself to fit in; I'll keep you company." It was incredibly heartwarming. Of course, most of this was An Ran's imagination. When Ji Yanyi finished running, Bo Yuxu stopped his flushed-faced brother and handed him a towel. Ji Yanyi refused, and Bo Yuxu's disgusted expression made it clear… Most of his dislike for running was genuine. An Ran smiled, pushing away his fantasy. In the silence, he recited what other classmates in his class thought of Bo Yuxu.
Back to the present, An Ran had just finished talking about durian candy, and Bo Yuxu was concerned about An Ran's situation. "How's your social life?" An Ran was startled. He hadn't expected to receive so much help as a new student—from moving desks to classroom cooperation. Some kids who had helped him grumbled, 'They're just doing it for the little red flower.' But An Ran thought if helping him earned them those honorary red flowers, that was great. Otherwise, he'd feel he was wasting their time. An Ran knew who came up with that brilliant idea. He gave Bo Yuxu a reassuring smile. "So don't worry. Your mother's decision won't be wrong." Bo Yuxu pressed his lips together. Here it was again—someone who trusted his mother even more than he did. It made his worries seem like distrust of her. An Ran soothed him, "It's okay. I know you asked because you're worried about me." Bo Yuxu glanced at An Ran in surprise, then relaxed and gave a soft "Mm." Ji Yanyi's eyes widened. He couldn't believe his shy little brother would openly admit to caring about someone. Had something happened that he didn't know about? Ji Yanyi stared blankly at An Ran, who gave him a warm smile. Ji Yanyi scratched his head and smiled back. "I heard Yanyi went to the zoo yesterday and saw pandas, zebras, and even hippos. How enviable." Ji Yanyi had been bragging about it all morning, but he didn't expect it to spread to other classes so quickly. Was it really that impressive? Ji Yanyi chuckled. "Actually, we saw pandas last time. This time there weren't as many people. We saw zebras and hippos, and took lots of photos." Photos? An Ran's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Can I see them?" Ji Yanyi waved his hand regretfully and started complaining. "No, my idiot dad lost them. He even went to the police station today. So stupid." What a pity. An Ran hadn't expected Ji Xingzhi, his benefactor, to do something so foolish. Feeling disappointed, An Ran was about to say something, but Bo Yuxu noticed. "If you like photos, we can take more. We have a camera at home that wasn't lost." An Ran froze, realizing his reaction was too obvious. In his artist's eyes, he could clearly see the corners of Bo Yuxu's mouth lift. An Ran had seen through Yuxu once, and now Yuxu saw through him. An Ran blushed and tried to look away naturally, his desire to play the understanding older brother gone.
Soon, school ended. Bo Yuxu and Ji Yanyi walked home together. Passing the street where the wallet was lost, Bo Yuxu couldn't help but look around. He didn't expect to find it, since his mother and that man had searched for half an hour. Even if that man was careless, his mother wasn't. But to his surprise, in a small flower bush, he spotted the wallet. Opening it, he saw the money was gone, but the photos and negatives were still neatly in the inner pocket.