Little Gods – Chapter 5

13

“Why aren’t you eating anything yourself?” Su Qiong ate for a while, then discovered that aside from serving Su Qiong food, Lin Fu’s chopsticks hardly moved. 

“I am eating,” Lin Fu didn’t have any appetite, but he went through the motions and ate a small mouthful. He asked with pretend carelessness, “Your parents don’t live with you?”

Su Qiong’s gaze was transparent. The god pointed upwards to the ceiling, lightly saying: “They’re in heaven.”

All the big Gods of Poverty are indeed in the heavens, so this wasn’t wrong. 

This small thing, he’s an orphan… Lin Fu suddenly couldn’t breathe. 

Su Qiong giggled, and, like an elementary schooler lauding their parents to their fellow classmates, he said with eyes full of adoration: “Before, my parents were amazing.”

Those big Gods of Poverty could make a billionaire go bankrupt in a few days, so it’s easy to not make a move now!

So it’s ‘losing both parents causes the family fortunes to decline’… the completely misunderstanding Lin Fu put down his chopsticks with a heavy heart, gazing quietly at Su Qiong’s fine, delicate features. 

That explains it. This adorable person unexpectedly sank into the depths of this kind of poverty, Director Lin thought sadly. 

“What’s wrong?” Su Qiong looked at him carefully. 

Lin Fu shook his head, his voice gentle enough to wring out water: “Nothing, eat some more.”

After he finished eating, Su Qiong tidied up the take-put boxes and put them back in the bag, taking Lin Fu downstairs on his way to the garbage. 

Su Qiong walked in front. Lin Fu put his hands in his pockets, leisurely following behind and thinking over something. 

“Can’t throw the trash just anywhere,” Su Qiong tilted his head toward Lin Fu when speaking, the corners of his soft lips lifting simply, “This old apartment has cockroaches, mice, all kinds of pests.”

Lin Fu looked at him in distress: “…”

“One time I was sleeping, half-dreaming half-awake, and a squad of mice ^[1]Fun fact, I think a group of mice is called a mischief of mice, but I left it as squad to go for the militaristic feel ran across my face.” Su Qiong said, as if delivering a hilarious joke, “I jumped up in the middle of the night to wash my face, but when I finished rinsing, I was full of energy and couldn’t sleep at all hahaha.”

Lin Fu felt dizzy, silently clenching the stairwell’s handrail: “…”

Su Qiong laughed to himself, but then his large eyes blinked a couple of times and he uneasily looked in Lin Fu’s direction: “Why aren’t you laughing? Isn’t it funny?”

How is that funny?! Lin Fu mobilized his stiff facial muscles, giving Su Qiong some face and laughing dryly: “Have you considered living somewhere else?”

“I haven’t considered it…” Su Qiong hung his head embarrassedly, “I don’t have the money.”

Lin Fu stared at the fair nape revealed when Su Qiong’s lowered his head, felt a surge of hot blood, ran two steps around to face Su Qiong, and grabbed Su Qiong’s thin wrist: “You can live at my place.”

Su Qiong immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum, hair flying: “No, no, no, I can’t. How could I be that shameless?”

“It’s nothing shameful,” Lin Fu spoke sedately, but firmly, “I have a few unused properties. Vacancies are vacancies, after all. You can help me take a look at the properties; otherwise, I’ll have to specially hire people to do it.”

Su Qiong removed his wrist from Lin Fu’s grip, face red: “I really can’t. Your place is definitely expensive.”

Thinking of Su Qiong’s mystical powers^[2]玄幻: Not clear on the details, but it has to do with metaphysical Chinese philosophy from the Han and subsequent dynasties. It’s pretty much saying Su Qiong has the mystical power of making … Continue reading, Lin Fu fell silent: “…”

His properties were all either located in pricey, upscale sectors, or they were suburban mansions. Either way, they were all quite expensive. 

Su Qiong forced a smile: “If I go and live there, it’ll catch fire.”

Lin Fu: “…”

14

The two of them looked at each other wordlessly, then went downstairs. 

A little boy, about seven or eight years old, was squating by the door of a unit, bawling his eyes out. 

Su Qiong glanced at the boy, going over to pat him on the back: “Why are you crying? Did Aunt Li scold you?”

As it turns out, this was Aunt Li’s son. 

The child’s eyes were hazy with tears when he raised his head, and he sniffled as he explained. Because he watched more than ten minutes of TV and he didn’t pay enough attention to his homework, his mother scolded him harshly. 

Su Qiong let out a long sigh: “If my home had a TV, I would definitely do my homework well.”

The child: “…”

Lin Fu: “…”

Su Qiong ruffled the child’s downy hair: “Wait here for a bit. Gege^[3]哥哥 is older brother, not necessarily blood related will go and buy you something.”

Su Qiong placed the trash bag on the ground, turning to run off in a flash. 

Two minutes later, Su Qiong returned, gasping for breath, and stuffed a flat, brightly colored lollipop into his hand: “Don’t cry, your mom is doing what’s best for you.”

While Aunt Li has a fiery temper, she’s a good person, and she normally cares for Su Qiong, too. 

The child tore open the candy wrapper with a crinkling sound and licked the lollipop. 

Su Qiong said, with sincerity and earnestness: “You need to study well so you can get a good job and support yourself in the future.”

The child wiped his tears, absorbed in eating his lollipop. 

Su Qiong continued: “If you don’t study well, you’ll end up poor, like gege, unable to even buy a lollipop. You’d only be able to buy one if you’re especially gluttonous.”

Lin Fu silently rubbed his forehead: “…”

The child suddenly looked scared out of his wits. 

Evidently, the statement “poor like Su Qiong”^[4]“像苏穷一样穷” the word for ‘poor’ is pronounced ‘qiong,’ as in Su Qiong was unbelievably potent, powerful enough to instantly frighten children. 

“Go back ba, Aunt Li has already made dinner and she’s waiting,” Su Qiong said, smiling gently, “When I went downstairs, I smelled some delicious stew chicken.”

The child’s head drooped: “Okay”

“Is the lollipop good?” Su Qiong asked.

“It’s yummy, thank you gege,” the child rubbed his face like a little cat and he lifted his lollipop, his feet going dundundun as he ran up the stairs. 

“You’re welcome, “ Su Qiong gazed at the lollipop as it vanished up the stairs, reluctant to part with it. He turned around, but he didn’t see Lin Fu. 

Su Qiong spun in a circle, but he didn’t see anyone. Thinking Lin Fu had already left, Su Qiong picked up the trash bag and brought it to the nearest dumpster. 

Once he finished disposing of the trash, Su Qiong went to go back upstairs when he suddenly heard Lin Fu call out from behind him: “Wait.”

Su Qiong turned around and saw Lin Fu standing there, a bunch of lollipops cradled in his hands.

He’d even bought the stand for the lollipops, a golden one with cartoon characters all over it. Stuck in the stand was every kind of lollipop one could imagine: flat and round ones, ones shaped like different fruits and animals. A riot of color looped around the lollipop stand. 

“For you,” Lin Fu stuffed the lollipop stand into Su Qiong’s hands. He suddenly became self-conscious, thinking he was acting a little foolish. He laughed at himself, “I heard you say that you like lollipops.”

It was like he had returned to being a kid. 

“Wa…thank you!” Su Qiong’s eyes seemed to reflect the colorful bounty in front of him, his gaze overflowing with ripples of warmth. 

Although the lollipops were completely encased in plastic…

The air, illuminated by the warm rays of sunlight, was soon filled by the sweet fragrance of the candy. 

“You’re welcome,” Lin Fu swiftly turned around, walked to the car waiting for him and got in. 

Through the car’s tinted windows, Lin Fu saw Su Qiong holding the mountain of lollipops, waving at him with an amiable smile. 

Xiao Zhang, who witnessed everything: “…”

Our Director Lin contracted those convenience store lollipops out for you.

---