Did The Same Kind Appear?

Knocking was heard at the door.

With no response, the knock came once more.

"Coming, coming!"

In the early morning, Xu Lan was woken up by the someone knocking at his door, and as he opened it he was greeted by the anxious and angry landlord's stares!

"Xiao Xu1, did you see Bai Wu? I didn't see him when I woke up this morning, I looked everywhere and still no sign of him," the old landlord asked impatiently as he leaned on his walking stick.

"Ah, Bai Wu, when I came back I carried him back here. Thank you for taking care of him for me last night," Xu Lan conveyed his thanks profusely and then invited the landlord over to have some tea.

"No thanks, it's too early to be inviting me over for tea. It's good that everything's alright. I was worried he ran off. If young boy such as himself became a target of nasty people, my conscience wouldn't be at peace." The old landlord feeble-mindedly declined Xu Lan's invitation.

"Yes, yes, everything's alright. Thanks for your concern and sorry for the inconvenience."

Xu Lan profusely expressed his gratitude. It was the first time that he met with the landlord, and he did not expect that the old grandpa would have such a dated mindset.

"Oh Xiao Xu, this isn't about you! How could you leave the boy alone at home while you went out? It was night time. Surely you must've seen the news about the recent murders?" The old grandpa struck his walking stick firmly against the floor and said, "What if something bad happened in the night and you regret having gone out? Look at how adorable the boy is, how could you have the heart to leave him alone at home?!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. He was so angry he almost told Xu Lan to let him take care of the boy since he felt that Xu Lan was unfit to become a parent.

"Yes, yes. Thank you for your advice. I'll remember next time." Although Xu Lan was embarrassed, he wanted to laugh. With a flurry of apologies, Xu Lan bowed, made a pledge and sent the old man off.

The landlord propped himself on his walking stick and walked down shakily. When he reached a corner, he stopped.

"You should bring him down to play sometimes. My grandson's the same age, but he's living with his father now…"

That aged and somewhat hopeful voice thoroughly purged all remaining sleepiness from Xu Lan's brain.

"Yes! Definitely! When I'm busy, I'll let him keep you company," Xu Lan answered determinedly.

On one hand, Xu Lan thought of his own father. After Xu Lan ended up in Huaxia, he had no means to communicate with his family. He did not know what his old man's reaction would be after knowing that he went missing. On the other, Xu Lan thought about himself in the future. If he was in his later years, would he have been like the landlord, hoping and expecting that his kid would once again return to him?

Xu Lan threw his head back and rid himself of those jumbled up thoughts.

"Papa, who was it?" With the bolster from yesterday night, Bai Wu stood at the entrance of the bedroom door and asked.

"The grandpa. If I'm not back home next time, you go ahead and play with him, okay…" Xu Lan said after walking over to the boy and squatting down.

"Brother Lan! Are you ready? I'm here to fetch you to work," came Li Xiu's gleeful voice from below. A few toots of the horn accompanied his sentence.

"Li Xiu?" Bai Wu unknowingly imitated Xu Lan's penchant to squint whenever the man was jittery or thinking over things. It was as if that action could conceal the maliciousness in his eyes.

"Call him big brother." The moment Xu Lan heard Bai Wu rudely calling out Li Xiu's name, he immediately stopped to correct the boy.

Bai Wu had been hostile toward Li Xiu since the first time both of them met. Xu Lan had noticed this, but he never thought that it could come to the point where Bai Wu would call Li Xiu by name.

When Li Xiu received no response, he slowly walked up and was met with Bai Wu, who stood at the door to stop him.

"Why are you here?" asked the apathetic Bai Wu.

"I'm here to pick Brother Lan, your father, up. Where is he? Is he awake?" Li Xiu squatted down so his eyes were level with that of Bai Wu's, and those sharp eyes immediately pierced the boy's body.

"You don't seem to like me," Li Xiu curiously remarked as he adjusted his glasses.

"Why would I like you? I'm warning you, stay away from my papa! Otherwise, God forbid, I might inadvertently kill you one of these days." Bai Wu remarked fiercely while staring at Li Xiu's hypocritical smile.

"Oh, so your father likes you then?" Bai Wu's warning did not anger him; on the contrary, Li Xiu asked even more genially.

"Of course he likes me! Who then, if not me? You?" the boy exclaimed in disdain. He was perplexed as to why Li Xiu asked that question.

"So does your father like dragons then? You should know that everyone acknowledges your kind as being vicious, brutal, violent, and tyrannical. If –"

"Enough! Shut up! How do you know about me?"

Berating Li Xiu in a loud tone, Bai Wu trembled in anger. Fear complemented his anger. At that point in time, he was still young; Xu Lan could still accept him, but when he fully grows up and turns into a dragon…

"Hm, didn't you transform yesterday? Brother Lan saw you, didn't he? You're a brave one, aren't you? Of course, I know. I have my methods. Haha…"

Having said that, Li Xiu let out a contented laughter, but it was absolutely ear-piercing for Bai Wu.

"ENOUGH! SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

"BAI WU! What's wrong with you? I told you to call him big brother, apologize to him immediately!" The first thing Xu Lan saw when he walked out of the bathroom with a towel in hand was Bai Wu standing and shouting at the door.

"…"

"It's alright, no big deal. Are you done, Brother Lan? I was thinking since you don't have a car and the station's pretty far from here, I decided to come here and fetch you. I hope you don't mind." The brashness displayed in front of Bai Wu quickly turned to a meek bashfulness.

The onlooking Bai Wu wanted to puke. That man was so good at acting he should have become an actor. The boy angrily stomped his feet.

"No, no. Thank you. Please wait for me. I'll quickly get ready. Bai Wu, let big brother in." Xu Lan quickly poured a glass of water for Li Xiu and hurriedly went to change into his clothes.

"Aren't you terribly tired?" Bai Wu asked repulsively.

"Hmm, as long as someone likes me, I wouldn't mind being tired. Wouldn't you agree?" Li Xiu walked over and sat on the sofa. He held the glass of water and calmly observed Bai Wu's hatred toward him.

"Why should I? It's not like I can return now," replied the boy, who walked to sit face to face with Li Xiu. Suddenly, Bai Wu's body emitted an imposing vigor. The startled Li Xiu choked on a mouthful of water.

The smile on Li Xiu's face became warmer, but the golden glasses flickered with a clear radiance. In the first place, all he knew was that Bai Wu was a dragon. He did not expect that the boy was so powerful!

"But they're scared of your return," he remarked. If he could just fish out a few more sentences, then maybe…

"Tch…"

"Come over here now. Wash your face and brush your teeth." Xu Lan wanted to bring Bai Wu to the station today. If the boy stayed with the landlord again, who knows what he would see on television.

"Okay." Bai Wu shot Li Xiu a glance and gladly ran over to Xu Lan. The boy knew that Xu Lan was bringing him out.

Hmph! He also did not want for Li Xiu and Xu Lan to be alone together.

When Bai Wu went into the toilet, Xu Lan was in the process of shaving. With his foam-filled chin, the man resembled Santa Claus.

"Come on little buddy, brush your teeth." As soon as Bai Wu entered, Xu Lan handed the toothpaste and toothbrush to the kid.

"Papa, why did Li…er…big brother come here to fetch you?" Bai Wu mumbled as he brushed his teeth. The white toothpaste foam spluttered everywhere.

"It's convenient for him I guess. Be quick. I'm gonna be late." Ignoring Bai Wu's curious eyes, Xu Lan urged the boy to hurry.

"Will he be fetching you all the time, Papa?"

"Well, I'm not sure. He might be leaving in a few days' time." While saying that, Xu Lan took the toothbrush from Bai Wu's hands and gave him a towel to wipe his face.

"I don't like him. I don't like it when Papa and the guy are together," Bai Wu looked down and said.