Be My Strength 205 Am I cool today?

Once they were done with lunch, DX took Kai Xin and Caleb to a mall that catered mostly to the rich. Due to the type of people that would visit the mall, he had to put on his mask to avoid being recognized.

Even when he was in disguise, they had to deal with whispers from the passersby.

"Look at that beautiful family. Are they celebrities?"

"The man is so tall! He must be a model! And that boy walking between them is so adorable."

"That girl dressed so poorly though. Is she the maid?

Even though the people thought they were whispering, DX and Kai Xin heard them clearly. DX was annoyed by it but she found it funny that people would think that she was the maid. She could not clean to save her life!

Leaning over, Kai Xin whispered, "This is whispering. That is talking."

DX smiled at her attempt to poke fun at others. Truth be told, he liked this. Well, for the most parts anyway. Glancing down at the little human that was standing between him and his lover, he smirked.

He purposely walked between Caleb and Kai Xin so that they would have to release their hands that were interlinked together. Before Caleb could do anything, DX took his little hand and gently pulled him to his other side.

Obviously, the child was displeased with the arrangement and he scowled at DX as he thought, "Why do I have to hold your hand?"

As if he heard Caleb's thought, DX gave the little boy a smug look as he thought, "Because I'm the only man who can hold hers."

Kai Xin knew what those two were doing and she laughed, "Du XiAn, do you know that you are pretty childish?"

Without any sense of shame, he agreed with her, "But only when I'm with you..."

When Kai Xin and DX saw an apparel store that catered to children, they went in to buy some clothes for Caleb and the kids at the orphanage.

While the adults were choosing the clothes, Caleb felt bored. Soon, he was wandering around the store and touching everything that was of interest to him. When he saw a toy store nearby, he immediately yelled, "Toy! Toy!"

"Caleb!" yelled Kai Xin as she watched the boy running into the toy store.

"Go. I'll come after I pay," said DX.

By the time she arrived at the store, she found Caleb looking down guiltily while a woman berated him.

Standing next to the woman was a crying toddler while there were boxes of toys around them. Kai Xin saw a Transformer action figure in Caleb's hand and guessed that he probably knocked the boxes over when he took it.

She wanted to step forward and carry him away from the scary woman but she was curious as to what he would do. After all, she cannot always be there for him.

"Don't you know you shouldn't run around in crowded place? What if you hurt our Little Treasure? Luckily he did not get injured!?

"Sorry..." said Caleb as he kept his eyes glued to the ground. The woman was scaring him with her loud voice but he tried to remain brave. Tian Le told him that as an orphan, he needed to be able to stand without expecting anyone's help.

"What a rude child! Don't you know you have to look at people when you apologize? Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"But I don't ave pa rans.. " mumbled Caleb as he held tightly onto the Transformer. When he saw the toy, he got too excited and went to grab it.

While he was climbing the shelf to get to it, he accidentally bumped into the boxes and it toppled over. The toddler that was playing nearby was startled by the commotion and started crying.

When she heard that Caleb was an orphan, instead of being nicer, the woman grabbed his hand and said loudly, "Why are you even here? Are you here to steal? This place is too expensive for orphans like you."

Caleb's lips started to tremble when he heard her accusation, and her grip on his wrist was starting to hurt.

He glanced around and saw the judgmental looks from the adults who were watching the scene unfold. Unable to maintain his bravery, he started to cry while he apologized over and over again.

"Sorry...Sorry...I'm sorry..."

"Bitch..." Kai Xin muttered angrily below her breath before heading over. She slapped the woman's hand harshly and took Caleb over to her side.

"Ouch! Who is this crazy woman? Someone call the guards!" yelled the woman.

Ignoring her, Kai Xin knelt down on one knee and checked Caleb's hand. A bruise had formed on his wrist.

She wiped the tears off his face and smiled. When he looked up at her, she signed to him, "It's OK. You did well. Mama Zhen is here..."

"I didn't steal..." signed Caleb before he wiped his tears with his sleeves.

"I know, I know..." said Kai Xin as she glared at the woman who acted high and mighty towards a defenseless young child.

"I didn't mean to scare the baby..." signed Caleb as he looked at her with teary eyes.

"I know. It's an accident. You shouldn't run around but she has no right to say those things either," signed Kai Xin.

Picking Caleb up so that he felt protected, Kai Xin was about to leave the store when she was stopped by a security guard.

Having heard the woman's loud voice, someone called for the security guards and one of them arrived shortly thereafter.

"What is happening here?" asked the guard.

"The kid is trying to steal from the store...and that woman is probably his accomplice. Please catch her. She even slapped my hand!" accused the woman as she showed the red mark on her hand to the guard.

When the guard looked at Caleb, Kai Xin gently pressed his head down towards her shoulder so that he would not be intimidated.

"Miss, please follow me..."

"Are you going to listen to her side of the story and not mine?" asked Kai Xin.

The guard looked at the woman who was obviously well off and then he looked at Kai Xin who was dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans.

Without any investigation, he made his judgment based on their attire.

"Please come with me, miss." said the security guard sternly.

"I will go with you but in case you did not know, wrongful and malicious imprisonment will cost you a maximum $X of damages. Furthermore..."

Kai Xin turned to the woman and said, "Causing bodily harm to a minor is considered as child abuse in this country. Once convicted, it will be imprisonment up to X numbers of years."

The woman turned red. Pointing at Kai Xin, she snapped, "What child abuse! That is a false accusation! I did not touch the kid!"

Kai Xin took Caleb's bruised wrist and showed it to the guard before saying calmly, "Without any reason, she grabbed my child roughly and hurt him. If this is not child abuse, what is? Are we living in the 1600s where people can simply hurt children just because they are too young to retaliate?"

"She's lying! The kid said that he has no parents! He's an orphan! That's why I catch him! That Transformer action figure is a limited edition that cost more than $500. How could someone like her afford it?"

"Someone like who?" A cold and clearly annoyed voice came from behind Kai Xin.

She did not bother to turn since she knew the owner of the voice.

"Sir, you are?" asked the guard as he tried to get a good look of DX who was still wearing the mask.

"I'm the boy's father," answered DX. He took a quick glance around the store before asking, "What did you call my wife earlier? Someone like her? What do you mean someone like her?"

Slightly afraid of the masked man whose presence seemed to be too big for the store, the woman took a step backward before answering, "She's obviously poor! Look at her attire! From her top to her bottom, even if you added everything up, it would still be less than $100. How could she afford anything here?"

DX scoffed, "What an ignorant shrew."

She noted the branded clothes on DX and laughed suddenly, "I was wondering why the woman is here. Sir, if you are going to have a young woman as your mistress, at least make sure she dressed accordingly."

The temperature of the room suddenly dropped as DX narrowed his eyes on the woman threateningly.

"W-What? My husband is Minister Wang So. If you touch me, he won't let you off."

Ignoring her threat, DX turned to the employees and said, "I'm buying everything in the store."

There was a long silence before the woman scoffed, "Don't listen to him. He's bluffing!"

He took out his credit card and threw it towards the cashier.

When the cashier caught it, he took a quick glance before looking twice. His hands shook as he stared at the card. The legendary All-Black Credit Card from X Bank.

It was a special card reserved only for those that earned more than $800 million a year and had a billion dollar worth of assets.

"Y-Yes, sir!" said the cashier as he started scanning all the toys.

"You've gone overboard," Kai Xin said with a bored tone.

"It's fine. It's coming out of your allowance anyway," joked DX.

"What?" She growled at him playfully.

He picked up the Transformer from the floor and handed it to Caleb who was still clinging to Kai Xin.

In a much kinder voice, he said, "This is yours now."

"Thank you..." said Caleb shyly before he hugged the toy.

Turning to the woman, Mrs. Wang, DX said, "Apologize to my wife and son now."

"W-What?!"

"Do not make me repeat."

Embarrassed, the woman just took her son and ran out of the store.

DX shook his head. He would have forgiven her if she apologized.

He took out his phone and gave Han Ye a call, "Find a way to demote Minister Wang So. If he wants to get his position back, tell his wife to make a televised apology."

"Yes, sir." As usual, Han Ye did not ask any questions. Knowing his boss, it probably had something to do with his 'Kara'.

While DX was sending a message to Old Mo to pick up the toys and clothes, he felt a little tug on his leg pant.

When he saw that DX was looking at him, Caleb said shyly, "Thank you...Papa Du..."

With a smirk, DX patted the kid's head before saying, "Don't cry so easily next time. How can you cry so easily? Be like your Mama Zhen. Use your words to fight your battle."

Caleb glanced at Kai Xin before turning back to DX. Making an OK sign, he said "Uhm!"

On the way back, Kai Xin asked, "You bought too much."

"That's not just for Zi Han Orphanage. I told Old Mo to divide the toys and send it to the other orphanages around the area."

"That makes more sense."

DX glanced at the rearview mirror and when he saw that Caleb was asleep, he pulled the car aside and leaned close to Kai Xin.

"Am I cool today?"

She laughed and placed her hands on his cheeks before saying, "Yes! My man is the coolest today."

With one swift move, he placed his hand behind her neck and kissed her deeply. As she responded to his kiss, he thought, "Dear God...I don't think I would ever be sick of this..."

Chapter end

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