Chapter 12: Come With Me
Lian Li had no mother since she was young; Lian Jingcheng raised her, acting as both father and mother.
To Lian Li, her father was not just a father, but the pillar that supported her world.
A young girl of twelve, still in junior high, her father had promised to take her on a trip before school started in September, with the destination of her choice.
Before learning of her father’s accident, she was flipping through National Geographic magazines at home, taking notes as she read, planning to surprise her father when he returned.
The moment the final destination was decided, she received news that her father had died in a car accident.
For a child raised by her father, this was undoubtedly earth-shattering.
Lian Li stumbled her way to the hospital; her father, who had been laughing and talking with her that morning, was now a cold corpse that night.
The world collapsed with a roar.
Unable to accept reality for a moment, she stood there motionlessly, looking at her father covered in a white sheet, her eyes as if veiled by a layer of gray, filled with the desolation of survival and a deathly, numb silence.
Thunder roared, ferociously tearing open the pitch-black sky, and in an instant, torrential rain poured down on the entire city.
The Capital City was vast, and it was rare for rain to completely cover the entire city. Yet that night, the sky was a dark, oppressive mass, and the whole city plunged into a downpour, as if it had become a city of rain.
Late at night, Lian Li walked out of the hospital, drenched by the pouring rain.
The world darkened with the sky, and no one was around. She squatted on the ground powerlessly, as if a world had been isolated around her by the heavy rain.
A hollow sense of despair continuously attacked her. Something churned in her stomach, making her feel nauseous and want to vomit, but she couldn’t. Only her eyes felt hot and swollen.
Her eyelashes were wet with rain and tears, blurring her vision. As Lian Li blinked, a star seemed to fall.
Suddenly, the rain was blocked. Through her tear-blurred vision, someone walked towards her unhurriedly.
Lian Li was soaked, her hair clinging to her fair cheeks. She raised her face, her dark eyelashes trembling slightly, and looked at the approaching person through the damp mist.
At that time, Jin Yan Ting was twenty years old. He wore a patient uniform, yet it couldn’t hide his innate nobility.
He held a black silk and steel-ribbed umbrella over her head with one hand. In the vast world washed by the rain, she appeared very small, and the umbrella could easily cover her completely.
It was an August thunderstorm, with cold winds and dark clouds. But a hint of blue appeared in the east, deep and clear, impossible to ignore.
He was the blue in a gray and black city.
Jin Yan Ting extended his hand to her, his gentle and deep voice piercing the cold rain, slowly falling:
“Come with me.”
His steady voice in the darkness was so profound, giving an endless sense of security and reliability.
In her world of emptiness and silence, it seemed only he remained.
The young girl grasped a lifeline.
Ever since she left with Jin Yan Ting that rainy night, he had treated her very well, even doting on her.
He fulfilled all her material desires and accompanied her for meals and holidays… Every warm moment of Lian Li’s past nine years was imprinted with the name ‘Jin Yan Ting’.
The moon hung high in the sky, its silver radiance filtering through the gaps in the clouds into every moment of the human world. The sea covered the land, and the heart became an island in the boundless expanse.
No one is an island.
He was like concentric ripples on water, gradually dissolving the isolated island in her heart.
The car drove into the apartment complex. Moonlight streamed through the car window into the carriage, like a mottled, brilliant galaxy.
Lian Li pulled herself back to the present, opened the door, and got out of the car. She no longer looked at the bright moon in the sky but at the ground illuminated by the dim streetlights.
Assistant He in the driver’s seat unbuckled his seatbelt, took a small bag from the storage compartment, and got out.
Lian Li turned to look at him.
Assistant He held up the cat food and said, “There’s a stray cat over there. I went to check on it on my way.”
Hearing this, Lian Li stood still for a few seconds, not rushing upstairs, but walking towards Assistant He.
A small wooden house housed a pure white Scottish Fold cat. Assistant He squatted down, feeding it food bit by bit. It wagged its tail happily.
Seeing Lian Li, Assistant He was a little surprised but not worried. The cat couldn’t get out, and Lian Li had her limits and wouldn’t knowingly break the rules.
“Last month, President Jin came down from your place and happened to encounter Bai Bai when it was injured.”
Assistant He, while petting the now-recovered cat, stated, “President Jin asked me to take it to the vet. After the visit, I returned it to the residential area’s doorman.”
Bai Bai, the name of this cat.
Lian Li stared intently at Bai Bai, who in turn gazed back at her with innocent eyes, looking pleadingly.
Bai Bai was a cat begging for favor with its wagging tail, but she was not.
Lian Li didn’t linger any longer. She turned and walked upstairs, stepping on the stairs.
Thump, thump, thump.
The calm and steady footsteps were still barely audible in the empty and silent villa.
Li Ye unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and poured it into the water bowl designated for the God of Wealth. Hearing the sound, he stood up and looked towards the source of the noise. His boss was coming down the stairs, adjusting his cuffs.
Li Ye said respectfully but without being overly formal, “Mr. Jin.”
The God of Wealth took a few sips of water, then looked up, his dark, round eyes fixed on his master.
Then, Li Ye saw the once aloof behemoth trot happily towards his boss, lifting its large head to look up at him.
“…” Double standards!
Jin Shi Yue’s well-defined fingers stroked the thick fur on the God of Wealth’s back. His gaze swept over inadvertently, and he narrowed his eyes as he noticed something.
He parted the God of Wealth’s clean fur with his long fingers and reached towards the collar it wore, hooking out a bracelet hanging from the metal tag.
Li Ye’s eyes narrowed. He took a careful look at the bracelet with two red jade pendants and his mind raced, reaching a conclusion: “It might be Miss Lian’s.”
Tonight, besides Jin Shi Yue, only Lian Li had touched the God of Wealth, and this bracelet was clearly something a girl would wear. It wasn’t hard to guess.
Li Ye was about to say he would hand it over and return it to Lian Li, but Jin Shi Yue twirled the bracelet on his finger and easily gathered it into his palm.
“The Old Master has been waiting. Go and bring the car.”
The boss was going back to have a late-night snack with Old Master Jin. Li Ye immediately took the order. As for the bracelet, the boss must have his reasons for not mentioning it.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lian Li entered the house and turned on the lights, instantly illuminating the room.
This luxurious apartment was in a good location, close to the school, but it wasn’t her real home.
Lian Li smiled and shook her head.
She hadn’t even figured out what the definition of “home” was for her family, yet she had jumped to such a conclusion.
Not rigorous at all.
Her mobile phone had unread messages. Lian Li opened WeChat to check.
Xue Shufan: 「 I’m really impressed. The new team member in the laboratory is just a showy but useless fellow! 」
Xue Shufan: 「 Cells need to be changed regularly and cannot be left for too long. Yet he forgets every single time! 」
Xue Shufan: 「 Lili, why are there so many spring bamboo shoots in autumn? 」
Spring bamboo, a homophone for “stupid pig.”
Lian Li held her phone with both hands, her fingertips tapping the keyboard. Just as she was about to reply, she suddenly noticed her bare wrist.
Huh, where was her bracelet?
