Chapter 133 - It's bad to lie

.....

The next day,

Since Xiao Lei and Xiao Zhihao did not have anything to wear, they decided to go to the mall in the afternoon for a little shopping as well as bonding time. 

"Mum, are we rich now?" Xiao Zhihao asked while his mother piled a bundle of clothes on his extended arms. 

"Erm... We are comfortable now, I guess," Xiao Lei said as she placed her arm around her son's shoulders. "Don't worry about money. That's my job. Go and try these on." 

Xiao Zhihao groaned as his mother pushed him into a changing room. "I don't need an expensive suit."

Xiao Lei closed the curtain and leaned against the wall outside while her son changed. "But this is to President Du's house. It's not proper to show up in a t-shirt and jeans."

"How about a polo shirt?" Xiao Zhihao asked as he walked out with a dark grey shirt. 

Xiao Lei shook her head and sent him back. She then said, "No. It's not a tea party. We need something that's more suitable for a dinner party."

Xiao Zhihao sighed as he continued to change. He tried on 5 sets of clothes, but they did not fit him well.

They then continued to walk around the store. He was walking around looking at tags on the clothes while sighing occasionally. Everything in the store was more expensive than he thought, and this was supposed to be the cheapest store in this mall. 

"Mum, how about we- Oof!" 

A kid, who was playing a video game on his Nintendo Switch while walking quickly, suddenly came out from Xiao Zhihao's blind spot and bumped into him.

Pak!

When the kid fell, the gaming console fell onto the floor as well. Since Xiao Zhihao was a lot bigger than the kid, he did not fall down. Instead, he stood where he was while he rubbed his chest where the kid's head bumped into it.

"The kid's head is quite hard," he murmured as he rubbed his chest. He saw that the kid was very young, probably an early elementary school kid. When he offered his hand to the kid, the kid frowned and slapped his hand away. 

Xiao Zhihao watched as the kid stood up and dusted his expensive-looking light green polo shirt and white pants. When the kid picked up his Nintendo Switch and saw a huge crack at the screen, he sighed loudly before glaring at Xiao Zhihao, as if blaming him for damaging the game console.

"You bumped into me," Xiao Zhihao said as he raised both his hands up. 

The kid did not say anything. He just kept glaring at Xiao Zhihao. 

"What's wrong?" Xiao Lei was looking around at the second level of the store when she realized that it was taking her son too long to come up. So she came back down to look for him.

"Ah, the kid bumped into me," Xiao Zhihao said and explained to his mother. 

"Are you alright, kid?" she asked the kid with a smile. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" 

"Young Master! Young Master!" A woman came running into the store and when she saw the three, she immediately pulled the kid away while screaming at Xiao Lei, "What are you trying to do to my young master?!" 

The kid pushed that woman away and ran to hide behind Xiao Lei. When Xiao Lei and Xiao Zhihao looked at him with confused expressions, he pointed at the other woman and said, "Kidnapper!"

"What?" Xiao Lei glared at the other woman. 

"Kidnapper? I'm his nanny!" the other woman said and rolled her eyes. 

The woman wanted to reach out and get the boy, but Xiao Lei slapped her hand away.

"Ouch!"  

"Leave the kid alone," Xiao Lei growled as she signaled Xiao Zhihao to take the kid further back. 

"Young Master!" the woman called out frantically and tried to reach for him, but Xiao Lei stood in front of her and blocked away. "You are the kidnapper!" 

Xiao Lei remained calm. "I can't let the kid go with you. If you are his nanny, get his parents to come and pick him up themselves."

"How am I to know that you won't kidnap my young master?!" the woman snapped. 

Xiao Lei looked around and when she saw a salesgirl, she waved the girl over. She introduced herself and then told the salesgirl what was happening here. 

Once the salesgirl understood the entire matter, she looked at the other woman and said, "I'll make sure that Ms. Xiao won't leave here. Please bring the boy's parents over." 

The woman had no choice but to go out and look for the kid's parents. Meanwhile, Xiao Lei took her son and the kid up to the second floor so that they could continue to shop around.

While they walked around looking at the clothes, Xiao Lei asked the kid, "What's your name?" 

The kid was looking at the cracked screen of his Nintendo Switch and did not appear to hear her. 

When she asked again, he still did not hear her. Xiao Lei frowned and exchanged glances with Xiao Zhihao, and the latter tapped the kid's shoulder to get his attention.   

When the kid looked at him with a frown, Xiao Zhihao asked without any voice, "Can you hear us?"

"I can, of course!" the kid said while he patted his chest. 

"But I didn't make any sound," Xiao Zhihao said; this time with voice. When the kid realized that he had been tricked, he got so mad that he stomped his feet down, hard.

Xiao Zhihao chuckled and asked, "Where's your hearing aid?"

Folding his arms together, the kid scoffed, "I threw it away!" 

"What's your name?"

"None of your business!" the kid said and stuck his tongue out at Xiao Zhihao. He then ran off. 

"Go after him," Xiao Lei said while shaking her head slowly. They only had a few hours, but now they were stuck babysitting an unknown kid. However, she did not feel good letting such a young kid running around without any supervision.  

The kid was making a mess around the store and throwing off the racks while he ran around with Xiao Zhihao running behind him. 

"Stop it!" Xiao Zhihao snapped when he caught the kid's arm. "Look what you've done!"

"Let me go!" the kid yelled. He then started to cry as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Dad!!!" 

Within a split second, a hand pushed Xiao Zhihao away before the kid was carried up. 

"Dad!" The kid smiled for the first time while he wiped his tears away. 

"Who are you?! What are you doing with my son!" the man snapped as he glared at Xiao Zhihao.

Instead of backing away in fear, Xiao Zhihao frowned. "He's your son? He's very naughty. Look what he did to the store!" 

The man looked around before he frowned at his son. He then signed, "You naughty thing! I only went for a short meeting!" 

The kid stuck his tongue out. The kid signed back, "It's your fault!" 

The man sighed. He then looked at Xiao Zhihao and said, "I'm sorry for getting angry at you. It's just that my son is very precious to me, and his nanny told me that someone was holding him captive. I see my nanny was wrong."

Xiao Zhihao raised both hands and said, "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to the employees of the store. They have to clean up this mess."

"Did you catch him, Zhihao?" Xiao Lei asked as she ran down the stairs. When she saw Xiao Zhihao standing in front of a well-dressed man, she frowned and went over to pull her son back. "You are?"

"I'm the boy's father." The man nodded at her. 

Xiao Lei looked at the naughty kid, and the latter nodded. 

The man smiled. "I heard from his nanny, and I don't blame you for thinking that she's a kidnapper. It'll be great if everyone in the country can be as cautious as you."

Xiao Lei nodded. She was only cautious because she knew what it was like to be a kidnapped victim. If she could help, then she would. 

"You liar. It's bad to lie, do you not know?" Xiao Lei asked with a stern voice as she looked at the boy.

The kid stuck his tongue out at her, which caused his father to frown.

"Caleb... Don't be rude. Look at the trouble you caused."