Even If I’m Reborn as a Cute Dragon Girl, I Will Still Make a Harem Book 5: Chapter 232: Men

The door to the room creaked open. Chen Xing stepped inside, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.

The teenager was still lying there, motionless, as if all the life had drained from him. If it weren’t for the faint rise and fall of his chest, Chen Xing might have believed he was already dead.

“How horrible… to strike a young boy so brutally…”

Chen Xing kneeled beside Tadashi, propping him up. He winced at the sight of the teenager’s face that was swollen as a pig’s head. The boy couldn’t even open his eyes.

With a shaky voice, he whispered, “Hey, boy… Can you hear ?”

“Who… are you?” Tadashi’s lips quivered as he struggled to force his weak voice out of his throat.

“You can still talk… That’s good… That’s good…” Chen Xing pulled out a thermos, filled a cup with warm water, and brought it to Tadashi’s lips. “Here… drink so water. Be careful, don’t choke.”

Glug, glug…

Tadashi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he drank, desperately absorbing the liquid into his body.

He estimated that he had been captive for more than ten hours. Coupled with the blood loss, he was already on the verge of dehydration. The water Chen Xing fed him tasted like sweet rain after a long drought, and almost imdiately, Tadashi felt a little better and stronger.

“I won’t be feeding you anything for now. I only have cookies and instant noodles here. In your condition, you should only be able to handle liquids,” Chen Xing said softly.

He poured a little more water onto his hand and gently wiped the blood from Tadashi’s face. It was only then that Tadashi managed to barely open his eyes to make out the disheveled middle-aged man in front of him.

“T-Thanks…”

“No need to thank . After all, we’re the ones who captured you. We should be the ones to apologize to you,” Chen Xing replied.

Once he had finished cleaning Tadashi’s face, he realized that the boy was actually quite good-looking. He pulled up the chair Tadashi was sitting in and loosened the ropes binding the boy’s wrists a little more.

The teenager’s hands were already turning black due to poor blood circulation. Had Chen Xing not loosened the ropes, they might have started to necrotize.

When he finished, Chen Xing sat cross-legged in front of Tadashi. He pulled out a crumpled cigarette box from his pocket, shook out a cigarette that was obviously of inferior quality compared to the one he had yesterday.

“Want one?” he asked, offering it to Tadashi.

“N-No, thanks… We… don’t smoke…”

“Good. Kids shouldn’t smoke.”

Chen Xing smiled as he tucked the cigarette back into the box. Since the kid didn’t smoke, he decided not to either. Besides, he’d heard that secondhand smoke was even more harmful than smoking itself.

“My son, that little rascal, started smoking a long ti ago. I bla myself, really. I was so focused on work back then, I didn’t have ti to discipline him. If I could go back to that day when I first caught him smoking, I’d take the day off and teach him a hard lesson.”

“……”

“Do you have parents, boy?”

Tadashi bowed his head and shook it.

“What about relatives?”

Tadashi shook his head again.

“Sheesh, that’s rough for soone so young like you.” Chen Xing let out a long sigh before asking again, “Why didn’t you go to an orphanage? At your age, there’s no reason they wouldn’t take you in.” ꭆᴀΝỘ₿Ë𝙨

“We… don’t like orphanages…”

“Why?”

“There’s no freedom…”

“No freedom?”

Chen Xing was taken aback for a mont before he burst out laughing in amusent. “You can’t even afford a al. Is freedom really a priority?”

“…In any case, We hate it there. We stayed for a week and escaped.”

“So… how long have you been out on your own?”

“Five years…”

“Five years? You’ve been begging on the streets for five years?”

“We are not beggar!”

Tadashi suddenly lifted his head and snarled like an enraged little beast. Chen Xing froze, then quickly apologized.

Tadashi stiffened for a mont before his angry expression softened too.

“No, We are sorry too…”

“No need to apologize. Anyone would be angry at being called a beggar,” Chen Xing said, shaking his head with a smile. He paused for a mont before continuing, “In fact, I’m really impressed. You refuse to steal, rob and beg, yet you still managed to survive. That’s truly remarkable.”

“It’s nothing amazing…”

“Hoho, that rascal of mine at ho can’t even wash his own clothes. I really wish he could co and learn a thing or two from you.”

“It’s too bad that…”

The light in Chen Xing’s eyes dimd briefly, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

“Haha, oops, I’m getting off-topic. Let’s talk about sothing else.”

“……”

“Who is that woman to you…?” Chen Xing asked cautiously.

“!”

Tadashi imdiately tensed at the question, glaring at Chen Xing like a wild animal guarding its food. His lips pressed together tightly, as though determined to remain silent.

“Chill, chill…” Chen Xing waved his hands and smiled. “I’m not like that idiot, Wang Defa. I know I’m not going to get anything out of a kid like you. I’m just curious…”

“……”

“It’s true… I can tell that woman isn’t your relative—if she were, you wouldn’t be wearing rags, not with how wealthy she is.”

“……”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it…”

“…She is…” Tadashi suddenly spoke up, his voice hesitant. “She’s my future consort…”

“What?”

Tadashi spoke very softly, so Chen Xing didn’t quite catch it.

“She is… Our… future… consort…” Tadashi spoke slowly and clearly, though each word trembled with emotion.

Chen Xing froze for a mont, trying to process the aning of Tadashi’s words. Then, suddenly, he burst out laughing like the audience of a cody show.

“Hahaha, that’s… that’s… really… surprising…”

“W-What… What’s so funny about that?!” Tadashi retorted indignantly.

“I’m sorry… I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just shocked by your statent. So, what happened next? Did that woman say yes to you?”

“…Not yet, but I’ll work harder and move her with my sincerity, no matter how long it takes.”

“Haha, that’s the spirit! A man gotta have that kind of determination!” As if recalling so old, exciting mory, the disheveled man suddenly began gesturing animatedly with his hands as he spoke.

“I really miss those days. You remind of the ti I was pursuing my wife. Although she has put on weight now, her face has so wrinkles, and she’s always naggy, complaining about this and that, she was actually the most beautiful woman in our village twenty years ago. The line of n who wanted to marry her could stretch from the entrance of the village all the way to the farthest corner. Back then, I was penniless. I had nothing, but with my words, I won her heart. I wonder how many sons of rich families were stomping their feet.”

“That was truly the proudest ti of my life. I thought, if I could win her, I could conquer anything in society. But… reality gave a hard slap. My business failed and I lost all my savings. I had no choice but to do sales, running around the streets and alleys promoting products. At that ti, nearly all my relatives started avoiding .”

“She went from being a pretty young girl who loved dressing up, to a naggy woman who had to worry about the finances of the family. Now that I think about it, I wish she hadn’t chosen . Then, she wouldn’t have to suffer with for so long. Instead of enjoying what life has to offer, she spends her days pinching every penny from morning to night, trying to make ends et.”

“Co to think of it… it’s been so long since I even bought her new clothes…”

Drip…

Tadashi snapped his head up and realized the man before him had tears streaming down his face.