Chapter 11: Has He Been Beaten Stupid?

“Big Brother, do you think he was beaten stupid?” Seeing that Chen Liyang wasn’t around, Zhou Chengnan finally couldn’t help asking in a whisper.

Ever since he woke up after getting beaten and injured, he had been acting strange.

If he was doing this just to trick them into trusting him, there was no point at all. They didn’t have anything on them worth him putting on such a facade.

Zhou Chengdong shook his head. “I don’t know. Until we figure out what he’s after, let’s just wait and see.”

While they were eating breakfast, Chen Liyang entered the two older brothers’ room. Seeing that Zhou Wanning was awake, he lifted her out of bed and switched off the electric fan on his way out.

Zhou Wanning acted like a robot, letting Chen Liyang put on her shoes, wash her face, and set her down at the dining table. She reached out, took the large meat bun he handed her, and ate silently.

By now, Chen Liyang was hungry too. He gulped down a mouthful of soy milk before picking up a fried dough stick and eating it.

Looking at the remaining half of the meat buns, Chen Liyang took the initiative to divide them up among them. “I bought these meat buns specially for you. Two for each of you. You need to eat your fill to have energy for school!”

With that, he distributed the buns to the four of them with practiced ease. That genuine concern didn’t look fake in the slightest.

At the mention of school, the four of them looked at him with complex expressions. If the government hadn’t waived their tuition fees out of sympathy for their hardship, Chen Liyang would never have paid out of pocket for their education.

Hearing the words “go to school” come out of his mouth now felt nothing short of ironic.

Still, they didn’t say anything. It was rare enough that he wasn’t beating or cursing at them, and was even willing to feed them until they were full.

They didn’t want to pick a fight with him right now. Even if he was really just putting on an act, they hoped he would keep playing the part for as long as possible.

In the living room, everyone ate breakfast in silence.

As Zhou Chengdong ate his breakfast, he made sure to feed his little sister soy milk, worried she might choke.

“Alright, I’ll take good care of Wanning. Hurry up and get to school so you’re not late.” Chen Liyang glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already a quarter past seven.

If he remembered correctly, the eldest was supposed to be at school by seven-thirty.

And from here to No. 6 Middle School, even running there would take over ten minutes.

In truth, whether he was late or not didn’t matter to Zhou Chengdong. He wasn’t cut out for studying to begin with, and his grades in class had always been unremarkable.

His whole heart was set on martial arts. His ambition was to open a martial arts school in the future, where he could teach others while constantly improving himself, protecting his younger siblings as well as himself.

He had never mentioned this dream to anyone, though.

Needless to say, if he brought it up to Chen Liyang, the man would never support his dream. He would only sneer at the idea and scoff at him for indulging in wild fantasies.

As for his younger siblings, they were still too young to offer useful advice or help.

He was simply waiting for the day he saved up enough money to make it a reality.

Seeing the man urge them to go to school for the first time in forever, Zhou Chengnan stood up and warned uneasily, “We’re going to school now. Don’t hit Wanning!”

He was afraid that once they were gone, Chen Liyang would revert to his true nature and take his frustration out on Wanning.

If the school didn’t forbid bringing young children along, he would have taken Wanning with him no matter what.

Chen Liyang felt helpless. “Why would I hit her? Don’t worry, I won’t ever lay a hand on any of you again. Now hurry off to school. Time will prove everything!”

Seeing that they really were going to be late, the four of them didn’t reply and rushed off to school.

Watching them leave in a hurry, Chen Liyang couldn’t help sighing. He could tell they didn’t believe a single punctuation mark of what he said.

“Wanning, your brothers have all gone to school. Do you want to go to school too?” He looked down at the little girl beside him and reached out to stroke her hair.

With Wanning’s condition, maybe spending more time around children her own age would help her improve.

Yet under his hopeful gaze, Wanning simply sat quietly on the stool, her eyes cast downward, looking at who-knows-what.

At this sight, Chen Liyang sighed once more. He stood up, carried Wanning over, and set her down on the living room sofa. “Sit here for a bit. Daddy is going to clear the table, and then I’ll comb your hair, okay?”

Although Zhou Chengdong and his brothers doted on their little sister, they were boys after all and weren’t very good at doing hair.

Because of this, Zhou Wanning’s hair often looked like a bird’s nest: yellowed, dry, and full of tangles.

Chen Liyang truly couldn’t stand the sight of it anymore. However, when he began combing Wanning’s hair, he underestimated just how badly tangled it was. No matter how he combed, he couldn’t smooth it out.

Seeing her frown because her scalp was being yanked, Chen Liyang had no choice but to give up.

He remembered his mother used hair conditioner every time she washed her hair, claiming it kept her hair from tangling.

But there was no hair conditioner at home. He planned to go to the supermarket to buy a bottle, and as it happened, they were out of laundry detergent as well.

He realized there were many household supplies that needed replenishing. Aside from shampoo and laundry detergent, plenty of daily necessities like tissues, body wash, and a broom needed to be repurchased.

Once he bought all these things, he didn’t know how much smaller his balance would get.

But these were daily necessities; what had to be spent had to be spent.

So, Chen Liyang took Zhou Wanning to the supermarket. While buying daily supplies, he also picked up ingredients for lunch.

Normally, lunch at home was cooked by whichever of the older kids got home earlier from school, while the original host ate at his company.

Now that he was fired, he had no choice but to eat at home.

What’s more, as a grown man, he couldn’t very well make kids who were still in school rush back to cook for him.

Thus, making lunch naturally fell on his shoulders. Fortunately, he knew how to cook a few simple home-cooked dishes.

A single trip to the supermarket cost Chen Liyang another two hundred Yuan, leaving him with a mere one hundred Yuan for living expenses.

The remaining balance on his card immediately filled him with immense pressure. While paying, Chen Liyang noticed Wanning’s gaze lingering on a lollipop. Although she quickly looked away, he still caught it.

So he picked up a lychee-flavored lollipop. After paying, he immediately unwrapped the packaging, held the candy out in front of her, and asked softly, “Wanning, do you want some candy?”

He knew Zhou Wanning wouldn’t answer him, but he still wanted to gently coax her into speaking. Even if she didn’t open her mouth, he at least hoped for some kind of response.

Yet Zhou Wanning just stared fixedly at the candy, neither speaking nor reaching out to grab it, showing none of a child’s natural instincts.

This gave Chen Liyang a deep sense of defeat. The child was truly impossible to get through to.

In the end, he was the one to admit defeat first, placing the candy into Wanning’s mouth.

Carrying the groceries from the supermarket in one hand, he held Wanning’s hand with the other and led her home.

As soon as they got home, he immediately pulled out the hair conditioner and washed Wanning’s hair.

To his surprise, the conditioner worked quite well. After the wash, Wanning’s hair was much smoother, and he could finally run a comb through it.