Jiang Yunchuan was still worried.
Yan Yidan felt a pang in her heart.
Was it really such fate—she had reluctantly recruited a kid to atone for his misdeeds, and he turned out to be Jiang Nanshu’s brother?
In that case, Ji Ze couldn’t be allowed to do such a dangerous thing.
If he were caught, getting his hands and feet chopped off would be the least of his concerns; the real issue was that he might lose his life.
But this was also the best opportunity; no one would suspect a kid like Ji Ze, just assuming he was some racing enthusiast’s son brought along to watch.
After only a second of thought, Yan Yidan made a decisive call, “We need to call him back. This place isn’t suitable for minors like him.”
As they started walking towards Ji Ze, he seemed to sense something and turned to look back. His eyes lit up when he saw Yan Yidan, but then he noticed Jiang Yunchuan—his sister’s Fifth Brother—and froze in place, slightly confused.
Yan Yidan shook her head at him to signal that the mission was canceled and told him to stay put and not run.
Ji Ze who received the signal thought: Okay, understood. Can’t be discovered, must not ruin the mission progress. I’ll run away now.
Before Jiang Yunchuan could call out to him, Ji Ze had dashed into the crowd and disappeared without a trace.
Jiang Yunchuan was dumbfounded, and so was Yan Yidan.
What was that kid running for?
She had barely shaken her head at him to stay still; why did he run!
He didn’t respect her as the boss at all!
“Why is he running? With so many people around, where do I even start to look for him?” Jiang Yunchuan stood with hands on hips, annoyed, looking in the direction where Ji Ze had disappeared.
Yan Yidan said, “…I don’t know. Maybe he’s afraid you’d see and then tell his sister?”
Her unease grew larger.
Jiang Yunchuan replied, “Hey! As if I wouldn’t tell on him just because he ran.”
Jiang Yunchuan immediately took out his phone and informed Jiang Nanshu that he had encountered Ji Ze at the Racing Track.
Yan Yidan pursed her lips slightly but didn’t stop Jiang Yunchuan’s actions.
If something happened to Ji Ze because of her, her friendship with Jiang Nanshu might be over. What was most important now was to find Ji Ze and take him away.
Exposing the Ke Family’s dirty business could wait and could be achieved through other means to force those people out.
“Let’s go find the kid first,” Yan Yidan said.
Jiang Yunchuan frowned, “Alright then.”
Meanwhile, Jiang Nanshu, who had just gotten home, received the message.
Ji Ze?
Went to the Racing Track?
He’s a student and should be at school right now, waiting for the 7 p.m. night study. How did he end up at that place, and how did he even get in?
Jiang Nanshu didn’t want to disturb Mrs. Ji, who was still ill in the hospital receiving treatment and waiting for a matching bone marrow transplant to see if she could survive.
Father Ji should be in the countryside raising pigs; he would come to the hospital tomorrow to accompany Mrs. Ji for a couple of days. Ji Ze would also visit Mrs. Ji over the weekend to chat and lighten her mood.
None of them bothered her much.
And Jiang Nanshu, occupied with thoughts of returning to her original world, had already decreased her level of attention towards them.
Sitting on her own sofa, Jiang Nanshu made a call.
The phone rang but no one picked up.
Jiang Nanshu hung up and called again, only to get a message that it was switched off.
Jiang Nanshu looked at her phone and scoffed, “Little brat’s getting bold, daring to do misdeeds behind my back!”
So she sent a message to Jiang Yunchuan.
[Don’t bother with him.]
Jiang Yunchuan: “?”
Jiang Yunchuan looked at Yan Yidan upon receiving the message, “My sister said not to mind him…”
Yan Yidan: “…”
The next second,
his phone rang again.
Jiang Nanshu: [Send me the address.]
Jiang Yunchuan: “…”
He showed his phone to Yan Yidan, “Is she going to do something or not?”
Yan Yidan couldn’t help but laugh, “Nannan is all bark and no bite; she was probably just upset earlier.”
Jiang Yunchuan had no choice but to send her the address.
“But you need real-name verification to get in here, and there are conditions; can she get in?”
Yan Yidan pinched the bridge of her nose, “Leave this to me.”
…
Jiang Nanshu still felt worried.
If something happened to Ji Ze, Mrs. Ji and Father Ji would be devastated.
Both were getting on in years, having raised their children with great difficulty. Having already lost one, if Ji Ze got into trouble, the pillar of support for Mrs. Ji and Father Ji would crumble.
She had just reached the door when she bumped into Jiang Zhouye.
He seemed to have just finished work and was back for a break.
“Fourth Brother? Why are you back?”
Jiang Zhouye paused.
He pursed his lips, removed his sunglasses and mask, “Let’s talk inside…”
Jiang Zhouye also felt irked.
Regarding their parents’ divorce, although he was reluctant in his heart, Mr. Jiang had already decided, and no one could persuade him otherwise. Moreover, his older brothers remained silent, so he could only keep it bottled up.
Logically, he knew his mother was in the wrong, but emotionally, he still wished his family were whole, until Mrs. Jiang sent him a message yesterday asking him to talk to his father, saying she wanted to come home.
But he knew he couldn’t resolve this, only Jiang Nanshu could.
If Jiang Nanshu would act as though nothing happened, or even forgive Mrs. Jiang, then the issue could be fundamentally resolved.
When he saw Jiang Nanshu, the words Jiang Zhouye wanted to say got stuck in his throat; Jiang Yunchuan had already informed him about Mrs. Jiang’s harsh attitude towards Jiang Nanshu.
He stiffened his face, “Let’s go inside and talk.”
“If you have something to say, just say it here, I have other matters to attend to,” Jiang Nanshu said bluntly.
Jiang Zhouye let out a light sigh, “Nannan, do you still hate her?”
[Why is he asking me this? It’s her who should despise me, not the other way around.]
Jiang Nanshu bowed her head, “I don’t dare to hate her.”
Jiang Zhouye: “…”
“Does she have something to tell me? And asked you to pass on the message?”
[Don’t tell me, just a few days after the divorce, she can’t stay at her parents’ house? Is she probing me? That’s her adored family home; the place that demanded I kneel, apologize, and admit fault; the home that lavishes her with attention. Ms. Song is the darling of the Song Family; they always turn to her the moment there’s trouble, they spoil her rotten; how could she have the nerve not to stay!]
Jiang Zhouye: “…”
Listening to Jiang Nanshu’s inner thoughts and seeing her naive, innocent eyes, he found himself unable to say what he had planned.
[Why aren’t you speaking? I can’t forgive her, but I do cherish our family now. This is really frustrating. What do you want me to do? You weren’t there; do you know what she said to me? She said that Chu Muxi, that counterfeit, is her real daughter, and questioned why someone like me didn’t drown in a filthy ditch at birth. If I could choose where I was born, I would have been born to Mrs. Ji and not come to the Jiang Family. But I had no choice; one can’t decide their birth or stop being switched at birth when they’re just a newborn.]
Jiang Zhouye fell silent.
Under Jiang Nanshu’s increasingly dimming eyes, he hurriedly said, “She didn’t look for me. I was just asking. I won’t bring it up again.”
After speaking, he feigned a relaxed smile, “I’ve got a day off to spend at home. The day after tomorrow, I’ll need to travel to another city to record a music variety show where I’m a judge.”