Marrying My Bestie's Ferocious Brother - He Calls Me His Baby!-Chapter 201 - 200: Who Says I Only Have a Pocket Watch? I Have White Rabbit Candy Too!
Gu An’s small body was as tense as a rock, with little hands gripping the handlebars tightly.
"Screech!!!"
The sound of a piercing brake screech.
Two old-fashioned 28-bar bicycles, like two out-of-control bulls, suddenly dashed out from the corner.
Blocking Lin Wan Yi’s path.
Just less than half a meter away.
Lin Wan Yi’s heart skipped a beat, her finger almost pressing down.
"Oh, my old waist!"
"Old Liu, why are you riding so fast! Almost hit An An!"
A familiar raspy voice.
Lin Wan Yi focused her eyes.
The ones who tumbled down from the bicycles weren’t fugitives.
It was Professor Liu with grayed hair, and the puffing, glaring Professor Wang.
The two were sweating profusely, with mud splatters all over their pant legs.
Lin Wan Yi released her grip on the spray bottle, her shirt soaked with cold sweat from her back.
"Professors? What are you..."
Professor Liu tossed his bike to the ground, not caring if it got damaged.
He rushed to the stroller in a few strides, like a protective mother hen.
"Luckily, made it in time!"
He pointed at Professor Wang’s nose.
"This old thing insisted on taking a shortcut, afraid you’d leave, almost got us two old bones left on the road!"
Professor Wang wasn’t going to take it lying down.
He pulled out a stuffed mesh bag from his coat.
Inside were bright red cherry tomatoes.
In Beijing’s harsh winter, this bag was worth more than gold.
"Xiao Lin, don’t listen to his nonsense."
Professor Wang leaned in towards Gu Ning with a smile.
"Ningning, see what Grandpa brought you?"
"These are just picked from our Agricultural College’s experimental field, they’re sweet!"
Gu Ning, who was initially just curious about the two quirky old grandpas, had her eyes light up instantly.
The plump little tomatoes looked delicious.
"Yiyah!"
Gu Ning was not polite at all.
She reached out her two chubby hands, clawing at the air. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Drool almost trickling down from her mouth.
Professor Wang proudly handed one to Gu Ning.
"Call me Grandpa."
Gu Ning clutched the fruit and gave Professor Wang a sweet smile.
Her eyes curved into crescents.
"Mwah~"
She blew a kiss, full of affection.
Professor Wang was over the moon, dancing with joy.
"Did you see that? Did you see that?"
"That’s talent! This child is naturally close to plants!"
Beside them, Professor Liu rolled his eyes dramatically.
"How cliché!"
"You’re bribed so easily with a few rotten fruits?"
He dismissively nudged Professor Wang aside.
Then.
He reached inside his padded coat, fumbling for a while.
Took out something golden.
A pocket watch.
A pure gold case, engraved with intricate German inscriptions.
"Click."
Professor Liu pressed open the watch cover.
It wasn’t an ordinary watch face inside.
But an exposed movement.
Precise gears, golden hairspring, ruby bearings.
"Tick, tick."
The crisp mechanical sound echoed in the quiet alleyway.
Gu An, who showed no interest in the cherry tomatoes and had a cold demeanor, was moved.
His head snapped over.
Those jet-black eyes, reminiscent of Gu Yanshen’s, fixated on the pocket watch.
In the pupils, the ever-turning gears reflected.
The gaze wasn’t just for a toy.
It was like he was looking at the whole universe.
Gu An’s little hand reached out.
The fingertips trembled slightly, wanting to touch the pulsating hairspring.
That was his instinctive craving for mechanics.
Professor Liu was supremely pleased.
"How about that? This is science!"
"This, I brought back from my study abroad days, pure handmade mechanics!"
Seeing Gu An’s hand almost touching the watch.
"Pop."
Professor Liu flipped his wrist, closing the watch cover.
Gu An grabbed at the air.
His little face turned dark instantly.
He looked up, glaring coldly at Professor Liu.
His eyes seemed to say: Open it up for me.
Professor Liu, like an old rascal, dangled the watch in his hand.
"Want to play?"
"Call me Grandpa."
"Just call Grandpa, and I’ll let you play with it."
Gu An pressed his lips together.
He didn’t speak.
He couldn’t speak.
He looked at the golden pocket watch, then at his sister still giggling with the cherry tomatoes beside him.
Suddenly.
He moved.
He reached out and grabbed a handful of cherry tomatoes from Professor Wang’s mesh bag.
Probably about four or five.
Moved as swiftly as a little robber.
Before Professor Wang could react.
Gu An had already shoved the handful of cherry tomatoes into Professor Liu’s hand vigorously.
Then.
He once again reached out for the pocket watch.
Opened his palm.
The message was clear:
Payment made.
Give me the goods.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
The two old professors’ jaws dropped, almost hitting the ground.
Lin Wan Yi was also stunned.
What kind of logic is this?
Barter trade?
Equivalent exchange?
He’s only six months old!
Professor Liu looked at the few squeezed cherry tomatoes in his hand, and then at Gu An who looked as though it was only right and proper.
Suddenly.
"Hahahahaha!"
Professor Liu erupted in a bout of laughter.
Laughed so hard tears came out.
"Genius! Absolutely brilliant!"
"This kid is amazing!"
"Doesn’t need to learn to know how to trade!"
He stuffed the invaluable pocket watch into Gu An’s arms.
"Take it and play!"
"Borrowed for you for a night! With this brain, not learning physics is a loss to the country!"
Gu An got the watch.
Completely ignored the hysterical Professor Liu.
He bowed his head, adeptly using his fingernails to pry at the watch cover’s seam.
The world once again became irrelevant to him.
The sky had completely darkened.
The streetlights in the distance lit with a dim, yellow glow.
Lin Wan Yi glanced at the sky, the lingering unease in her heart had not entirely dissipated.
"Professor, it’s too late, I need to take the children back."
The two professors knew better than to delay.
"Alright, alright, head back quickly."
Professor Liu waved his hand.
"Remember to return the watch tomorrow! It’s my lifeblood!"
"And An An! Must come to my lab tomorrow!"
Lin Wan Yi smiled and nodded.
She pushed the specially-made double stroller, bidding farewell to the two professors who were still arguing over who was superior.
The wheels rolled over the ground.
Ba Jiao Alley arrived.
There were no streetlights here.
Only the high walls on either side, casting large shadows.
The wind stopped.
The area became unnervingly silent.
The lighthearted atmosphere from earlier felt swallowed by the darkness.
Lin Wan Yi paused her steps.
She glanced down.
Gu Ning had fallen asleep clutching a cherry tomato.
Gu An was still studying that pocket watch with the faint moonlight.
"Tick, tick."
The sound of the watch ticking was particularly jarring in the deadly quiet alley.
Something was off.
Too quiet.
At this time of day, there were usually a few dog barks at the alley’s entrance.
Today, not even crickets chirped.
Lin Wan Yi’s hand reached into her messenger bag once more.
Just then.
In the darkness at the end of the alley.
"Buzz"
A deep rumbling sound echoed.
It wasn’t a bicycle.
It was heavier wheels.
Lin Wan Yi’s head snapped up.
Ten meters away.
From the heap of junk, a flatbed tricycle suddenly pushed out with force.
No brakes.
Gaining momentum from the alley’s slope.
Like a massive rolling stone.
Aiming directly at the stroller, charging straight over!
And behind the tricycle.
Three figures in military overcoats slowly stood up straight.
The objects in their hands glinted coldly under the moonlight.
They were knives.
