Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even if everyone in the family thought that Jing Jihan was dead, Jing Luozhou still felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity at this moment.
“You…” he hesitantly asked, “brother?”
“Yeah.” After a pause, a cold voice sounded on the other end.
It seemed inconvenient for him to talk.
Jing Luozhou almost lost his grip on the phone. “What the f*ck! You’re not dead? Why don’t you come back quickly? Grandpa—”
“Now is not the time to return.”
His eyes turned serious upon hearing that. “Yes, your previous guess was right. There’s indeed something wrong with our second uncle. He must have found out that you know something. That car accident of yours definitely has something to do with him, but brother, your car’s safety system was up to standards, so why did you still…”
“I know. The car’s safety system was damaged artificially, so preparatory measures were put in place in advance, but some mistakes in the process caused the brakes to fail. The car should’ve hit the mountain wall, but it fell off the cliff, instead.”
“I went to see the crashed car that day; it’s really horrible to look at. You didn’t break a leg or become crippled, did you…”
Only a real brother would make such a joke at this time.
Jing Jihan retorted indifferently, “D’you want to see if I can overtake you by two laps on the racing track next year?”
The corner of Jing Luozhou’s mouth twitched fiercely. “…Okay, fine. I won’t tell the others for now, but I’ll find a way to convey it to our grandpa.”
As a professional car racer, it was too big of an embarrassment to be overtaken by his brother by two full laps.
Jing Jihan was quiet for a moment.
Not knowing what situation he was in now, Jing Luozhou quickly asked, “Where are you now? I’ll help you move to another place.”
“No need; I’m hanging up.” Jing Jihan finally responded, but his voice was lukewarm. He then hung up, leaving only the monotonous beeping of the phone—
Jing Luozhou: “…”
Those who did not know would think that his brother had fled to the other end of the world and was not staying in a gentle township. He even refused to live in a comfortable place?!
…
Jing Luozhou walked out of the ward. Afraid that his grandfather’s eyes were dim and could not see the movements of his mouth, he directly made all the finger codes he used with Jing Jihan as a child. The hint was obvious enough.
His brother’s call had come in time. As long as the old master was well, the foundation of their family would not be shaken by Jing Jihan’s temporary disappearance.
—
In summer, typhoons often raged in Jiang City.
At night, thunder and lightning flashed outside the window. Jing Jihan had just closed his eyes to rest when the door was pushed open gently.
In the room, only the wall lamp in front of the bed was turned on. In the blink of an eye, he saw Mianmian coming in with the white teddy bear in her arms. The little girl’s eyes were red.
“Uncle, the thunder outside is so loud. I don’t dare to sleep alone.” Her voice was whiny and aggrieved.
The man saw her bare feet on the ground and sat up with a slight frown. “Why are you barefoot? Come over here.”
Shi Mianmian immediately ran forward with the teddy bear. She climbed to the side of the bed and tiptoed with great effort. After successfully climbing up, she squeezed directly beside him on the bed.
“Is your mom not around?” Seeing that the girl was close to tears, Jing Jihan raised his hand and stroked her head. His voice was gentle despite himself.
The lass sniffed and rubbed her nose. “Mommy went to bed with me. I was woken up by the loud thunder, and she was gone…”
Upon hearing this, he got up and walked and slowly looked outside. Sure enough, Shi Su was not around.
In this kind of weather, at such a late timing, to leave her sleeping child, she must have had something urgent to do.
Jing Jihan returned to the bedroom and saw Shi Mianmian sitting on the bed, watching him with red eyes. She expressed her desire to sleep here with him and refused to return to her empty room.