No Time

Today, I was practicing my martial arts when Xiao Bing, my little sister yelled out something.

Xiao Yu had been planning to go to a slave auction. Alone.

I know that he wanted to not show us horrible sights but he's still a kid himself. Even if he's the most mature out of all of us, he's also the most sensitive and caring. I believe that even if he does horrible deeds, he would never get used to them.

There's proof for this belief. When Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing were feeling guilty about the stuff they've done for underworld organizations, I could only console them because I didn't know what else to do. But Xiao Yu... he ignored them and cried for several weeks because he felt guilty. In this way, he cares for us immensely and his heart's very sensitive.

When Xiao Bing asked what he was going to do, Xiao Yu gave in and told the truth. He always gives in to us. It's kind of funny to see him so exasperated with some of our near impossible requests!

But in stark contrast, he also seems to be strict on us. Extremely strict.

The reason why I strive to become better and better in martial arts is to protect all of us from whatever disaster that's going to come soon. Xiao Yu, when teaching us martial arts and other techniques, is very, very, and another very, scary...

When he first taught us, he was fine with our training level and kept it that way. But as we got older and got better at fighting, he got more strict and strict as if something terrible was going to eat us up if we didn't train as hard as we did.

He's harsh when training us, but harsher to himself.

After training, he tends to our wounds and gives us food cooked by himself. He gets cooking lessons from famous chefs with those fancy Michelin restaurants. His cooking always gives us a piece of heaven and reminds us how caring he is. And in stark contrast, Xiao Bing's cooking is straight from h.e.l.l...

Ah, what I meant by being harsher to himself is that when we are being trained, Xiao Yu trains with us. Whenever we felt like complaining, we just looked towards where Xiao Yu was and was determined to catch up to that sweating, hard-working, and otherworldly beautiful person.

Xiao Yu has plenty of scars from practice. He goes off somewhere to the mountains sometimes and sometimes to a faraway city. Since Mom never pays any attention to us, he can get away easily. But when he leaves, he always leaves a note where he's going to, and how to contact him if something ever happens. When he comes back, he's full of wounds and wounds and some presents. We were always curious about where he went, so we all followed him one day.

He went to an amus.e.m.e.nt park and rode plenty of rides. We rode the rides to follow him but then ended up having fun and playing around. At the end of the day, we were lost and didn't know how to get back home...

Xiao Yu, seemingly out of nowhere, popped out and asked us if we had fun.

We could only chuckle embarra.s.sedly and follow him back home.

I guess he already knew that he was being trailed and didn't want us to find out where he was going. He really doesn't want us to worry about him but we can't help it...

Anyways, after that incident, we never followed him again.

Well, about the slave auction.

There's apparently going to be a 100 slaves from all over the world.

Xiao Yu said he wanted to buy us a fake guardian for when we run away. He planned for all this probably...

Our parents used to be fine people. Now, they don't care about us at all. Being the childish people we were, Xiao Yu could only try to calm us down and persuade that our parents would bring our downfall or something. He looked totally helpless trying to calm us down. In the end, we decided to only trust ourselves and watch out for our parents. After all, Mom abuses us, well tries to, she's helpless against our blocks and can only curse at us. And Dad... he might be worse since he doesn't even visit us at all. I even heard that he has another daughter from his mistress who's the same age as Xiao Bing. I really don't know why we even cared for them when all that happened to us...

Anyways, since I was worried about Xiao Yu going alone, I decided to come along. Of course, Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai were coming along too. They said they had some reports to turn in so they'd go along with us to the auction while they're there.

Xiao Lai wants to get a smart guardian. Xiao Bing wants a handsome guardian. I just want someone who can be responsible and loyal. Xiao Yu doesn't mind whoever as long as he can act his role as our guardian properly.

So, we've come to a huge company. Last time we came, we were all speechless that the underworld would be hiding under one of the most powerful companies in China. Stardome, an entertainment and s...o...b..z company.

Xiao Yu said that the more powerful they are, the easier it is to hide.

We didn't understand what he meant until we actually partic.i.p.ated in our first meeting.

It was full of the rich, powerful, and famous.

It'll be the same today I guess.

We prepared masks and wore new suits. Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai have badges as people of the underworld, so they're ident.i.ties are fine if known, but since Xiao Yu and I aren't affiliated with them, we have to hide our ident.i.ties.

"Wow, Jing Ge! You're so handsome! I bet all the ladies would want to hook up with you!"

Xiao Yu frowned.

"Who taught you to speak like that?" he scolded.

Xiao Bing giggled and said, "Yu Ge, you aren't scary at all~"

I really don't know how my innocent and shy sister turned out like this...

Xiao Yu gave up trying to scold Xiao Bing and called a limousine rental shop.

It was because Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai wanted to seem like rich people. Aren't we rich already?

Anyways, being in suits and a simple mask made us look like adults. I'm fairly tall for a 9th grader, 178 cm. Xiao Yu is a bit shorter, 175 cm. Xiao Lai is shorter than us, 162 cm, but he's still very tall for a 5th grader. Xiao Bing is only a 3rd grader, but much taller than the rest of her cla.s.s by being a 140 cm girl.

Apparently, for Xiao Bing, the organization thinks of her as a legal loli. Whatever that is.

I'm wondering why we rented a limousine if we can't even drive...

We rode a bus to the rental shop and Xiao Yu paid the rental fee.

After people were out of sight and mind, Xiao Yu told us to get in the limousine. So we did.

At first, we thought he was going to go get a driver for us.

Who would have thought he went in the driver's seat instead?

Xiao Yu drove very fast. Too fast that we all felt sick... His driving skills were enough to rival a race-car champion. Dodging cars in front, left, and right of us, the long limousine sped away without cras.h.i.+ng into anything. In fact, if it weren't for the sickening feeling that we had, all of us would have been whooping and feeling the rush of air.

The first thing we did when we got out of the limo was to search for a bathroom. Xiao Yu merely frowned as if he asked why we were about to throw up if he went this slow. Xiao Bing complained and asked him why he drove so fast. Xiao Yu's reply was... phenomenal.

"Because I can. I'll pay fines later."

This kid...

Because of his reply, all our bile was swallowed back in and we no longer needed to search for a bathroom.

Getting out of the parking lot, we made our way to the elevators and asked the guard in there to take us down after we showed the invitation.

The guard pressed several b.u.t.tons and the elevator flew down.

When the doors opened, a spectacular hallway filled with valuable vases, marble floors, priceless paintings, and gold plated pillars was shown.

Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing strolled around leisurely since they've already been to the place hundreds of times, but Xiao Yu and I had been here only once, so we were still quite amazed at all the wealth.

Xiao Yu and I followed our younger siblings around as they turned in their reports to a lady at the front desk.

After that, Xiao Yu handed the invitation to the lady and a guard was called to escort us.

There were already many people in the large theatre-like stadium and we were the last ones to come in.

Hearing the "Bang" of the door behind us, everyone turned to look.

They were probably confused why 4 kids showed up.

Some people came up to us and I put everyone behind me.

It was only when Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai a.s.sured us that they were their friends that I let them go off on their own.

Xiao Yu found us some seats while I was trying to put my siblings behind me. He's something alright...

An auctioneer came up and everyone got back to their seats.

"h.e.l.lo ladies and gentlemen, today, as the invitation said, is our auction for a 100 slaves from around the world! The slaves already have a Chinese learner chip in their brains, so they'll be able to know every word in about 5 hours! Please ready your money and bid as high as you can!"

Most people laughed at the end but I just couldn't since selling humans were wrong in the first place. Xiao Lai was joking around with Xiao Bing and Xiao Yu was staring at the stage.

From the 1st to the 50th slave, Xiao Yu didn't bat an eye. They were all girls and beautiful. They all looked terrified and were crying silently. Dressed in chains and rags, they looked very pitiful.

Xiao Bing asked Xiao Yu why he didn't pick a girl as our guardian.

"Girls are scary."

Well, I guess it's true. Even Xiao Bing is scary by having her current job at this young age. Or is Xiao Yu traumatized from all the horrible women around us? Mom, stepmom, our half-sister?

He then said, "Besides, didn't you see their movements? They were trying to seduce the younger men and looked disgusted with the older men that were trying to buy them. And Xiao Bing wants a handsome guardian."

I really hadn't noticed... Well, Xiao Yu should know what's

Starting from the 51st to the 87th slave, Xiao Yu dozed off and napped.

There were men who were introduced with high IQs and sold themselves to pull their families out of debt. They fit my category as a responsible person and Xiao Lai's wishes as a smart person, but it didn't fit in with Xiao Bing's.

"Those men were too old and fugly! I want a handsome guardian! Yu Ge said we could get one!"

They weren't that bad, were they? They looked above average and were only in their late 20s and early 30s.

Xiao Lai thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, we probably need to get a handsome person. Or else, how would we explain our astonis.h.i.+ngly good looks?"

I only said one thing. "Narcissist."

Soon enough, on the 88th slave, the announcer announced that it was going to be full of handsome young youths.

By this time, because of the auctioneer's loud voice, Xiao Yu woke up from his nap and frowned.

"Young youths? We missed our chances of getting a guardian. Let's go home."

Hearing Xiao Yu's comment, Xiao Bing grabbed ahold of his arm.

"Brother, let's at least see the handsome boys ok? Since we came all the way here, let's also buy one of them! Please, please, please?"

Xiao Yu, as always, gave in.

Some men began leading in the remaining slaves.

The ones who came in looked very handsome.

"We still look better," Xiao Lai complained.

But even Xiao Lai was a little slack-jawed at the 100th slave.

It was a platinum blonde haired boy with piercing yellow eyes that glowed in a silver shade in the lighting. His skin was in a very lightly tanned condition and looked as smooth as jade, while his lips were in a lovely pale pink shade and looked even softer than his skin. The young boy seemed to be around Xiao Lai's age, very young. Just like an angel, he practically glowed.

The announcer informed every one of the boy's facts.

"Everyone, this boy is from Greece. He was sold away by his father who was in prison for selling drugs and his mother who was a prost.i.tute. His price will directly go to his parents who have debts upon debts. Isn't he just pitiful and lovely? If you want him, bid as high as you can!"

Everyone hurriedly bid for the 11 slaves to get to the last bidding.

Xiao Bing and Xiao Yu's eyes were sparkling for the golden boy.

I could get Xiao Bing but why Xiao Yu?

"Xiao Yu, why do you want to get that boy?" I asked to satisfy my curiosity.

His answer was as expected.

"Not only does he fit your descriptions: handsome, smart, responsible. He'll be very useful for the upcoming disaster."

It was too bad that we couldn't get a guardian like Xiao Yu wanted but I guess a person that would help us with the disaster would be useful. And we'd at least be able to free one of those pitiful slaves... Since Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing are used to these kinds of evil deeds, I get them, but I don't get why Xiao Yu also seemed to be fine with this kind of stuff.

I asked and he only told me that he'd tell me about it later. My brother has a lot of secrets... He always says later to things he doesn't want to mention. But when is that 'later'?

At least he doesn't lie to us. When he lies, it's very obvious, but since Mom doesn't even pay attention, she doesn't know when he lies or not.

You see, when Xiao Yu lies, he stands up impeccably straight, puts his hands behind his back, and glares at the person in front of him before he lies. And when he does lie, the back of his neck is flushed. It's quite cute in reality and we always get a laugh out of how Xiao Yu doesn't realize he's doing that.

While I was thinking about this kind of stuff, a loud voice surprised me.

Well, several voices actually.

"3 thousand!"

"40 thousand!"

"80 thousand!"

"100 thousand!"

"110 thousand!"

"120 thousand!"

"150 thousand!"

"200 thousand!"

"400 thousand!"

"700 thousand!"

"900 thousand!"

"1 million!"

Lots of people wanted to buy the boy. Xiao Yu hadn't started to bid, so Xiao Bing was starting to get anxious.

"Brother~ You said we could buy one slave at least. Can we get him?"

"We'll get him but let's wait until the prices die out."

Relieved, Xiao Bing sighed and sat down.

Xiao Lai wasn't very interested in the boy, but he was taking down the names of the people that had their masks off and were shouting high prices. No doubt that he was planning to get money off of them somehow...

The bids started to die off after it reached 8 million. It was about time to bid but Xiao Yu still waited.

Suddenly, a "20 million!" was shouted. People whispered. Of course, it was a very high price, why wouldn't people talk about it? The woman who had shouted 8 million earlier had a regretful look on her face. These people spent too much money to buy a person... I honestly didn't know if this was right. I mean, it's bad, but I don't get why. They all either willingly sold themselves or was sold, so what made it so bad? That they had to become servants that did anything? Why didn't they try harder so that they wouldn't have gotten into this in the first place? Xiao Yu said that I had no recognition of right or wrong. He said that to us, there would only be likes and dislikes. Xiao Yu had said that it was a good thing for the future event that he keeps on saying is very disastrous, but he also told me that I should keep my emotions in check from now on, just in case.

The person who had shouted 20 million was an overweight old man. Xiao Bing wrinkled her nose at him since the man was looking at the 100th slave l.u.s.tfully. He was even drooling and had a suspicious tent rising out of his pants! Xiao Lai also noticed and looked scornfully at the old man.

Xiao Lai and I looked towards Xiao Yu. He looked to be contemplating something. We figured that Xiao Yu was still innocent and didn't learn about this stuff. Yup, our all-knowing, kind, smart, adorable, and amazing brother was to be kept safe and away from all these disgusting matters.

Xiao Yu spoke up.

"Yu Ge, actually I still have about 37 million that I've been keeping away..."

I choked as soon as I heard that.

Xiao Bing also spoke up.

"Yu Ge, I have 58 million. Can we use it to get the boy away from that disgusting pervert?"

I choked once again. Even Xiao Bing knew about this kind of stuff? And why were they keeping the money away?

Xiao Yu looked at them and cooly said, "We'll talk later." and then said something.

"21 million."

This was right as the auctioneer was saying, "Going once! Going twice! So-"

The boy looked surprised and stared at us. Let alone the whole room.

The old, disgusting, fat, perverted man looked outraged.

"23 million!" He shouted.

"24 million." Xiao Yu countered.

"25 million!"

"26 million."

"27 million!"

"95 million."

"..."

Xiao Yu... You really didn't give that man any face... Good job!

Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing froze.

37 million plus 58 million... Exactly 95 million...

Xiao Yu's not-so-small revenge I suppose. But they deserved it. Well, I was a tad bit jealous that they could earn that much money themselves while I hadn't even started working...

The auctioneer clapped and announced, "Thank you, customer, for such a high bid! This boy is officially SOLD!"

We went into a room that was prepared. The boy was directly led to us with a chain attached around his neck and handed off to Xiao Yu.

He only said one thing to the boy and then the boy was handed to me.

I didn't understand until Xiao Lai used a translating device and repeated the sentence.

"You are now Shui Fa, but you can keep your old name, Calix Nikos Cora."

Fa, as a first name, meant "New Beginning". It really did fit the occasion. But really, how did Xiao Yu know the boy's previous name? The auctioneer didn't mention it before!

I looked towards the beautiful boy. Because of his stare, I blushed and looked away to Xiao Lai.

"Xiao Lai, how do you say, 'Nice to meet you, I'm Shui Jing. We aren't bad people, so don't worry.'?"

Xiao Lai bluntly stated, "That makes you sound like a bad guy in the first place. And the auctioneer said that the kid the language chip in his brain."

I felt a warm heat rising to my face again.

"Still. Tell me. Please?"

Xiao Lai searched it up on his phone and whispered it to me.

I repeated the words to the boy and he laughed.

What did I do wrong?

The boy spoke in perfect Chinese with a loud foreign accent.

"You said that you were a complete idiot and chicken! And I could perfectly understand your Chinese. 5 hours pa.s.sed from the beginning of the auction so the language transmitter that they installed into my brain will completely have fused with my brain now. Well, nice to meet you, Shui Jing, I'm Calix Nikos Cora."

I gave a faint smile to Calix and then turned around and blushed. How stupid was I to ask that mischevious prankster brother of mine!

"Shui Lai, we'll see if you've improved on your martial arts in the warehouse!"

Xiao Bing giggled. We all knew that I was better at martial arts than Xiao Yu now. And Xiao Yu, being much more advanced in martial arts than Xiao Lai, made it obvious that I was going to beat him up thoroughly.

"...Ah, big brother, martial G.o.d, great emperor, I already lost all the money I had, can't we talk about this? My heart already broke. I want to at least keep my body intact!"

In a timely manner, my phone rang.

"Ge, I have the car ready. Lead everyone up. We'll go shopping for clothes after this."

Xiao Bing freaked out.

"Jing Ge! Don't let him drive!" she whispered frantically.

Xiao Lai nodded along rapidly.

I understood... but we didn't have any other drivers!

"Um, Xiao Yu, can you drive slowly? A lot slower than before?"

There was no answer from the other side for a long time.

"Fine. Hurry up."

As if we were granted amnesty, Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing cheered.

"I can still hear you guys..."

The two shut up immediately and ran towards the elevator.

I hung up and looked towards Calix.

"Um, let's go now. We'll go shopping."

He nodded and walked behind me.

"I don't know much, but Xiao Yu says that you'll definitely be useful during the upcoming disaster. But don't worry, we won't use you like that!"

Hearing this, as I wanted him to, Calix walked next to me.

He asked, "Who is Xiao Yu? Is he the guy who bought me? How does he know my name?"

I thought for a while before replying.

"Xiao Yu's name is Shui Yu. He's my little brother and an older brother to Shui Lai and Shui Bing, the pair of boy and girl I call Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing. Yes, he's the one who bid for you. But the money that was used is Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing's. You know how Xiao Lai mentioned losing all his money? The two lost their money after wanting to buy you away from the other bidder. They revealed that they had money that was kept away from Xiao Yu and Xiao Yu used their money since he got mad. As for how he knows your name... I don't know. He has some secrets that he's not willing to reveal. Ah, but he always has our best interests at hand. Don't worry about him, he'll soon tell us everything."

Calix frowned.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

I answered while smiling, "Although you're still Calix Nikos Cora, you're also Shui Fa. Besides, originally, we wanted a fake guardian. But Xiao Yu fell asleep when the adult men were being auctioned. Well, we're your family now, whether you like it or not."

Calix didn't say anything for a while and then spoke something in Greek.

"What?" I probably made a confused face.

Calix laughed and said, "Nothing you need to worry about!"

He began asking me questions after that.

"Do you have any pets?"

"We have a cat, a crow, a gecko, a dove, an owl, a tarantula, a kite, and a raven. Xiao Yu keeps on mentioning something about a cheetah and wolf though."

"That's a lot of pets! Do you guys go to a private academy like they tell in stories?"

"We don't. We go to public schools. Besides, I forgot to tell you before, but our parents... our relations.h.i.+p isn't good with them. We earned all the money by ourselves and don't plan on sharing them with our parents."

"Ah, I got it. Oh, how old are you guys?"

"Xiao Bing is 7. Xiao Lai is 10. Xiao Yu is 12, and I'm 14."

"You guys are so much younger than I expected! Heck, I'm 14 but you're so much taller than me!"

"You're 14 too? I thought you were about Xiao Lai's age!"

"You guys are just too abnormally tall. I'm pretty average, 165 cm. Oh, I know that Xiao Lai's a handsome kid and that Xiao Bing's a cute little girl, but what do you and Xiao Yu look like?"

I had completely forgotten that I still had my mask on. I took it off since it was getting itchy anyways.

"Wow! You're so pretty!"

I frowned.

"Pretty? Not handsome?"

"Yeah, you can beat any girl with your looks. d.a.m.n, you look almost as good as me!"

"Pft. And you're almost as narcissistic as Xiao Lai. And also, if you call me pretty, what would Xiao Yu be?"

We reached the limousine and saw Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing looking aggrieved.

I was about to ask what happened when I noticed Xiao Yu handing over two golden cards to a man. It must've been their bank cards.

I led Calix into the ride and waited for Xiao Yu to come back.

After talking with the man for a little while, Xiao Yu walked towards us.

He got into the front seat and told Xiao Lai, "You can go steal all the money back. But you have to hand it over. And both of your future profits? Make it go directly into our main bank account. There will be no second time, alright? If you really want to keep some of your money, then just tell me. I'll give you some allowance. But what do you guys need to buy at all?"

Xiao Lai answered in a serious tone, "Yu Ge, I want new devices, a headquarters, a summerhouse, and a pool."

Xiao Bing also chimed in. "Yu Ge, I want a teacher for poison arts, a chocolate fountain, a new whip, and a boy friend."

Xiao Yu listened to their requests and told me to take them down on my phone.

He then said, "I'm looking for a headquarters. It can be used as our summerhouse with a pool. I'll get you new devices so Xiao Yu, find the best poison master and get me her information. Xiao Bing, I'll get you a new whip and a chocolate fountain, but I won't get you a boyfriend. But if you ever get one, tell me who it is and where he lives, got it?"

I think Xiao Bing won't ever get a boyfriend... If she does, I'm not sure if he'll last even a day.

Xiao Bing chortled, "Yu Ge, it's not like that. I want a friend who's a boy. All the girls in my cla.s.s don't play with me. The boys are easier to play with. But they only let me join in when we're in the physical education cla.s.s. I heard that Jing Ge is popular and girls like him a lot. Lai Ge hangs out with awesome people in his grade. And I heard that you're really cool and everyone likes you!"

Xiao Yu voiced back, "If I'm really cool as they say, why wouldn't I have any friends? Friends.h.i.+p is a lie, it's better to have no friends than b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who'll betray you when even a little problem rises up."

Xiao Bing angrily stated, "Yu Ge! I heard that all you do in your cla.s.ses is sleep, sleep, and sleep! And I heard that girls put letters in your desk but you don't even look at them! Some girls even cried! And all the boys think you don't like them since you never join in when they play sports! You're known as the 'Cool Beauty'! I'm sure they'd all be friends with you if you tried!"

The only reply to Xiao Bing's speech was an "Oh".

That made Xiao Bing mad and she stayed silent the whole trip to the mall.

Well, it's true that Xiao Yu is known as the "Cool Beauty" in his grade. I do kind of worry for him since he doesn't have any friends. But he always replied back this: "What kind of people want to be my friends if they leave all the group work to me? They can't even work properly, why should I even acknowledge to them?"

It's true that Xiao Yu is emotionless to others if they're not us. If he thinks of other people as mere tools, it's not good for him or others as well. I hope having Calix around helps him accept people in general...