DLRC – Chapter 45 You Actually Shook Off My Hand!

Yu Hui didn’t listen to her. Whether he actually heard her or simply ignored her, no one could tell. What was certain was that his crying didn’t stop—in fact, it only grew louder and more intense.

This was the first time Du Yuerong had ever dealt with a child as young as Yu Hui. She had no idea why he was crying—okay, maybe she had a vague idea—but under the current circumstances, she was completely at a loss.

“Hey! Kid, stop crying! Where’s your mom?!”

“Mama… Mama! Mama, Huihui will be good, don’t lock me up, Mama—boohoohoo—”

Just when he had stopped pounding on the door, Yu Hui started again, his cries louder than ever. The sound pounded in Du Yuerong’s head. She frowned and started knocking even harder on the door.

“Hey! Why are you pounding on the door nonstop? Just open it already!”

No response, no sign of the door opening. She had no idea why this kid was crying so hysterically. Where was his mom anyway? How could she just leave a child home alone? Didn’t she know how dangerous that was?!

This was so annoying. She had finally managed to get off work early, and now she had to deal with a child who didn’t even understand human language.

She was seriously…

Inside, Yu Hui kept crying, his voice practically splitting the heavens. The only words out of his mouth were “Mama” and “Don’t lock Huihui in,” or “Huihui will be good.”

Every single word made the veins in Du Yuerong’s forehead throb with tension.

After listening for a while, she finally started to piece things together—looked like the kid’s mom had gone out and locked him in the room, and now hadn’t come back for a while. The child couldn’t even open the front door by himself!

Du Yuerong silently cursed Yu Wei for being such an irresponsible mother. Listening to the heart-wrenching cries from inside, she actually started to get anxious.

If the little boy kept crying like this, he was bound to go hoarse—or worse, cry himself to death!

So she raised her voice and called out anxiously, “Hey, kid! Stop crying! Your mom’s back, she’s back! Don’t cry!”

Sure enough, Yu Hui, who had been drowning in sorrow over his “abandonment,” paused for two seconds and stopped crying. Du Yuerong waited about a minute. Just when she relaxed, thinking the coast was clear and was about to turn to leave—

The kid burst into tears again!

“Oh, come on! I beg you, I still have to work tonight—can you just stop crying already?!” She felt like crying herself now.

Everything had lined up perfectly today—bad timing, bad luck, bad everything. All the residents on the third floor were apparently out. Who knew if anyone was home downstairs? A glance into the landlord’s unit in the courtyard showed it locked up tight. Looks like both husband and wife were out too.

Totally out of options, Du Yuerong let out a long sigh, then dragged her exhausted self out of the courtyard. Ten minutes later, she jogged back, bringing an older man along with her.

More accurately, she had dragged the man here. He had a huge army-green duffle bag slung over his shoulder, stuffed to the brim with who-knows-what. He was panting heavily from being hauled up to the third floor by this persistent woman.

And sure enough—Yu Hui’s mom still wasn’t back!

“What, are you rushing to get reincarnated or something?!”

“Exactly! I am rushing to reincarnate!” Du Yuerong had no time to explain. She dragged the man straight to Yu Wei’s door and said, “Uncle, help me open this door.”

The crying inside hadn’t stopped. It was still ear-splittingly loud. The uncle, now getting a sense of the situation, nodded quickly and pulled out his tools, starting to pry open the lock.

“This lock’s stuck. No wonder it won’t open from the inside. It’s also really old—should’ve been replaced ages ago,” he said as he worked. He was experienced and quick; in just a few minutes, the door was open.

Du Yuerong frowned. She didn’t care how old the lock was. She waved impatiently at the man. “Fine, fine. Install a new one while you’re at it.”

“Alrighty!” the man said cheerfully. Who would say no to more business? “So, which model do you want?”

“Whatever.”

“Okay, I’ll go with a mid-range one then.”

Just as he was about to start, Du Yuerong suddenly stopped him.

“Wait—no, give me the most expensive one.” Let Yu Wei feel the pain in her wallet. Maybe that way she’d remember not to leave her kid home alone again. She couldn’t count on good-hearted neighbors always being around!

Once the new lock was installed, the door finally opened.

At the doorway, little Yu Hui, whose legs had long gone numb from standing, suddenly saw two figures appear before him. His crying abruptly ceased.

The once adorable little dumpling, now looked like a pitiful mess—face soaked in tears, eyes swollen red, all signs of “cuteness” vanished.

“See, the door’s open now. So no more crying, okay?”

Yu Hui froze for a second or two. Just as he paused, Du Yuerong bent down to talk to him, her messy bedhead visible—and the kid wailed again, shoving her aside and trying to run down the stairs.

“Hey—what the hell?!”

Du Yuerong reacted quickly, lunging forward in two steps and grabbing him. “Hey! Don’t go running off! If you get lost, your mom’s gonna blame me!”

Yu Hui squinted through his tears, then blinked a few times and took a closer look at the woman in front of him. Her hair was still that wild, tangled mess. He was so scared he started bawling again.

“Mama—”

“Mama—boohoohoo…”

“Ugh, this kid just won’t stop crying!”

The locksmith uncle chuckled, watching Du Yuerong’s clearly frustrated face. Changing the lock had only taken a few minutes, and after shoving all his tools back into his duffel, he walked over.

“Comrade, the new lock’s installed—six yuan total.”

That made Du Yuerong even more irritated. She was still in her pajamas. Where was she supposed to get money?

She looked at the smiling old man, then shoved Yu Hui into his arms.

“Watch him. I’ll go get the money.”

The uncle took the kid with a smile, but the little guy completely broke down. He wanted to run—to get away from these two strangers—but the uncle was strong, holding him in place effortlessly.

Du Yuerong returned with the money. The uncle finally let go of Yu Hui and started counting the coins.

“Alright, six yuan exactly. Here’s your kid—and the keys. Three of them total. I’m off!”

“Mhm.”

Du Yuerong responded blandly. After he left, she grabbed the little brat again and started walking toward Yu Wei’s apartment—only for the slippery little thing to squirm out of her grip and bolt toward the stairs.

“Oh, come on! You little rascal! No wonder your mom locked you inside!”

Du Yuerong was absolutely livid. She didn’t even have time to close the door and raced down the stairs to chase after him.

The little guy was surprisingly fast. She had to run quite a bit before catching up—he’d already made it out to the main road, at least a hundred or two hundred meters from the courtyard.

Once she got hold of his arm, Du Yuerong stood there, panting heavily.

“I… I’m telling you, if you run off again, your mom’s never coming back, you hear me?!”

But Yu Hui, in his state, couldn’t take hearing things like “Mom’s not coming back.” He started crying again, his voice hoarse, as he was dragged step by step back into the courtyard.

At this hour, most people were at work or school. Only someone like Du Yuerong, who worked night shifts, could find herself stuck in a situation like this.

She was dead tired from her night shift and had zero energy to deal with this kid anymore. Once she got back inside, she slumped down, drained.

All she wanted was to go back and sleep—!

But Yu Hui was still crying, completely immune to persuasion. No matter what she said, he just sobbed for his mom. His voice was practically gone, but he stubbornly kept wailing.

Du Yuerong seriously wanted to smack him.

Seriously—wasn’t this kid normally well-behaved? Why was he acting like a different person now? How scared was he that his mom might abandon him?

Of course, Du Yuerong didn’t know the past between Yu Wei and Yu Hui. She couldn’t possibly understand the depth of his fear. But still, she had no idea what to do with him.

“Okay, okay, I’m begging you. Please stop crying. If your voice gets damaged, it might never heal—then what?”

Resigned, she grabbed his hand and prepared to leave the courtyard to go find his mother.

“Where’s your mom anyway? I heard she opened some dessert shop. Do you know the way?”

But as soon as she said that—Yu Hui shook off her hand violently.

He didn’t want her to hold his hand?!

“What the hell?! I’m trying to help you find your mom and you’re shaking me off?!”

Yu Hui didn’t like this messy-haired big sister. All he wanted was to find his mom. That was the only thought in his little head.

But in the end, being a small child, Yu Hui didn’t stand a chance against an adult. Du Yuerong grabbed his hand firmly and started leading him out.

Just then, Yu Wei rubbed her temples as she arrived at the courtyard entrance—only to see:

A woman with a scowling face holding her tear-streaked, pitiful son by the hand. The little boy’s eyes were red, tears falling like broken beads from a necklace. The sight made Yu Wei’s heart seize with guilt and fear.

“Huihui!” Yu Wei cried, all other thoughts vanishing as she rushed over, knelt down, and wrapped her little boy in her arms.

Normally warm like a little furnace, his body was cold as ice today.

She grabbed his little hand—it felt like a block of ice!