Chapter 10 – Missing

T/N

Remember to take breaks between when reading as needed! We still have a long way to go before we even get to the regret/revenge stage!

—

Xiao Luo Zhi really likes Aunt Ren.

It wasn’t that he was fearless from the very beginning. A child who dared to run amok was not because there was someone behind him who could back him up at all times.

Aunt Ren is the one who will definitely protect Luo Zhi.

Aunt Ren’s name is Ren Shuangmei.1 She is as sassy as her name, intellectual, elegant and decisive. Aunt Ren is in charge of the entire Ren family. So even if she didn’t give Luo Chengxiu any face, Patriarch Luo could only grit his teeth and swallow it down.

It’s unknown how many times Xiao Luo Zhi, who was covered in bruises, secretly called and found Aunt Ren to complain to, and then was led to leave the Luo family with her head held high.

…

Aunt Ren gave Luo Zhi the car when he was twelve years old. Mrs. Luo had pushed him down from the second floor for some reason, and later when he woke up in a hospital bed, Aunt Ren gave it to him.

Of course, the twelve-year-old Luo Zhi can’t drive yet, so Aunt Ren hooked her pinkie finger with his, and both of them promised to keep this matter an absolute secret.

This car was Luo Zhi’s absolute secret base.

Luo Zhi carefully hid all the secrets that he refused to show others in the car as if they were treasures to be hidden from the world.

The diaries from childhood to adulthood, the presents he bought for himself every birthday, the songs he wrote only for himself, the photos only he has ever seen, the paintings he drew, and all the things that Aunt Ren left for him that have long been forgotten. The old handwritten letter, everything that he had to show to prove to Aunt Ren that he is living happily and well…

He is like a very funny poor wretch dragon, like a miser, occupying his cave and guarding those precious treasures that are seems worthless to humans.

Luo Zhi didn’t ask Ren Chenbai if anything in that car had been left behind.

There is no need for this question to be asked.

When Ren Chenbai had enough playing around with his prey and decided to extinguish that glimmer of life with his own hands, he never had the habit of leaving a glimmer of hope.

Good habit.

The warrior who came from the sky to slaughter the wicked dragon full of justice and evil blew up his own crystal.

Luo Zhi suddenly felt a little funny in his heart.

He doesn’t know what’s funny, whether it’s Ren Chenbai who is going crazy because he destroyed the last trace of his mother with his own hands, or he himself who is breaking apart bit by bit from a certain place.

Ren Chenbai at least has one advantage, even if he is mad, he will never hit someone.

Otherwise, Luo Zhi still has to think about how to roll under the bed the fastest way, how to tear off the needle on the back of his hand to protect himself, how to poke a few blood holes in Ren Chenbai, and then take the opportunity to kick Ren Chenbai to death and beat Ren Chenbai so hard that he couldn’t get back up…

Luo Zhi leaned crookedly at the end of the bed and lowered his head and thought for a while. He really couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

What is he thinking, he can’t move at all now.

It was as if something was cutting open his chest, or a hand was directly pulling open his back, stepping on his shoulders, and cramping his tendons bit by bit.

But at least there was no more tinnitus anymore.

Luo Zhi carefully listened for a while, only to find that it was not just tinnitus that had disappeared.

All the voices around him also disappeared completely. Not only was it not noisy, but he found it was actually quite comfortable, with only the lullaby that Aunt Ren used to sing to him, as she gently hugged him, softly playing in his mind.

The moon is bright, the wind is quiet, and the leaves cover the window lattice.2

The moon is so bright tonight.

It was so bright that he was homesick.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, Luo Zhi carefully looked at the vehicle destruction certificate again, and found the smallest line of an inconspicuous address in the corner.

…

Luo Zhi was missing.

When reporting this matter to Ren Chenbai, the doctor on duty looked at the cold expression Mr. Ren had on his face, an expression he never saw on his face before, and was too frightened to say a word.

…They never expected that this would happen.

Just this morning, a few little nurses who didn’t follow stars or surf the Internet couldn’t help but blush and whisper about how the patient in 1503 was so obedient and well-behaved.

The patient was handsome, obedient and cooperative. If they wanted him to take his medicine, he would take it, and if they wanted to test his blood sugar, he would obediently stretch out his hand.

As soon as the blood sugar measuring needle pierced the skin, the pale and cold hand trembled slightly. The beautiful eyes were covered with misty moisture, but there was still a shadow of a smile.

It seems that he doesn’t like to talk very much, but he will secretly stuff notes for them, with red banknotes folded into hearts inside, and politely ask them to help buy some of clothes for him.

So, before noon, a white shirt, jeans, a baseball cap and a pair of sneakers arrived, and then they disappeared with Luo Zhi.

Only the folded hospital gown was left on the pillow, and the quilt and bed sheet were neat and tidy, as if no one had ever lived there.

Ren Chenbai looked at the hospital bed, and his voice was cold as he asked, “Who bought it for him?”

The doctor on duty knew that he was asking about clothes. He hesitated for a while before answering in a low voice, “…I bought them all.”

Even he couldn’t help but call his son and asked vaguely what color shoes young people of this age like.

How could Luo Zhi be liked so easily?

Coupled the two rescue efforts, they only spent a day and a half together. They all felt that this was a young man whose heart could not help but soften.

They all felt that they couldn’t help but soften their hearts when they were in front of the young man.

What did he do to make the people around Luo Zhi hate him so much?

The doctor on duty, of course, did not dare to ask these questions.

Due to Ren Chenbai’s orders, they didn’t dare to be friendly to Luo Zhi. They could even be called indifferent.

The little nurses collected the blood and left, their faces flushed when they went out.

…

Ren Chenbai looked at the folded hospital gown.

Last night, Luo Zhi actually told him that the car was a relic of his mother.

Ren Chenbai had never lost his composure before, he almost tore down Luo Zhi. Once the moment of anger and panic passed, he immediately sent for someone to contact the junkyard3 he sent the car to.

Of course, the car was destroyed long ago.

After all, it was Mr. Ren who personally ordered it to be disassembled and pushed into the smelting furnace without sorting out the things in the car. This was not an illegally stolen car, and there was no criminal record. The police even authorized its demolition.

It’s just a trivial matter.

The boss of the processing plant laughed along with him, and carefully claimed credit for Ren Chenbai, specifically assuring him that “there was not a single screw left.”

Because of this incident, Ren Chenbai didn’t care about coming to the hospital again during the day.

But the result of a day is nothing more than fetching water from a bamboo basket.4

…

Ren Chenbai’s plans have always been meticulous, and this meticulousness is now being rewarded to himself, allowing him to destroy his mother’s relics with his own hands.

Not a single screw left.

Looking at the empty hospital bed, Ren Chenbai suddenly remembered what happened last night.

Luo Zhi didn’t ask him anything, nor did he say anything.

Luo Zhi knew him better than he knew himself. It took Ren Chenbai a whole day to finally confirm that it was because of his own actions that he couldn’t keep anything, and Luo Zhan had already realized that at that moment.

Just like how Luo Zhi knew that very well, he also knew that as long as he asked a few more people to help him buy clothes, Ren Chenbai would have no reason to deal with anyone in the hospital.

What was there to deal with?

The usually gentle and cheerful Mr. Ren became furious and abused his power to fire people  because “the nurses in the private hospital helped their patients”?

Ren Chenbai was not that kind of person.

Facing everyone except Luo Zhi, Ren Chenbai has enough reason and a bottom line.

Under the nervous gaze of the doctor on duty, Ren Chenbai just stood silently for a while. He then turned around and walked towards the dean’s room, “Show me the monitoring.”

The doctor on duty breathed a sigh of relief, and responded to him.

Ren Chenbai’s strides were so big that the doctor on duty had to trot to keep up. When he did catch up, he was hesitant to speak.

Ren Chenbai asked in a soft voice, “Is there anything else?”

“Mr. Ren.” The doctor on duty began, “When Mr. Luo is found, do you want us to do a full body examination?”

Ren Chenbai frowned, “Why?”

“It’s hard to say, but there may be other problems with his body.”

The doctor on duty recalled the situation at that time. In addition to the two critical illnesses caused by hypoglycemia, Luo Zhi’s original physical condition seemed to be a bit worrying.

It’s just that Ren Chenbai didn’t allow them to meddle too much, as if as long as Luo Zhi was still alive, nothing else was mattered.

But can a person really bear this kind of torture?

After the two rescues, Luo Zhi’s own survival instinct was as low as the weakest flame in the wind, and it would go out at the slightest disturbance.

And the night passed, when they went to make rounds this morning, Luo Zhi was sleeping on the bed, as quiet as a gray-white embers.

The doctor on duty looked at Ren Chenbai’s complexion, and tentatively said, “Mr. Luo seems to be unable to hear.”

—

…

1

霜梅 (Shuāngméi) – From Chinese 霜 (shuāng) meaning “frost, ice” combined with 梅 (méi) meaning “plum, apricot”.

2

Window lattice are wood/vinyl/metal strips that hold the small pieces of glass in a window. It’s a style of window (“lattice windows”).

3

It was originally translated as “scrap processing plant” but I changed it to reflect what it’s called over here

4

When someone has done something but in vain.