Chapter 32: Mu Lian

8TH NOV 2022~ VERALUCTL

Mo Jin and Mo Yu were both startled by the commotion Yang Jinling made. As An Jie helped her out, the two girls peeked outside.

Without thinking, Mo Jin widened her eyes and asked, “What happened? What’s going on? Need any help?”

An Jie looked up at her and shook his head. “I don’t know, I think something happened at home for her. Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll go and take a look.”

After that, the young girl dragged An Jie off into a run. Thankfully, Miss Yang did not live too far away and didn’t lead him through a marathon, but just from her speed… An Jie was certain that this girl’s stutter was because she never had enough air in her lungs from how often and fast she ran.

When An Jie finally understood what was going on, he became even more certain that Yang Jinling was a typical airhead, a plain, embroidered pillow1. Her father had been working at the vegetable store today and though he had been fine at first, he had begun to get dizzy. Mrs Yang didn’t take it to heart, thinking that it was because he didn’t have breakfast, but who knew in just a few minutes, the man wouldn’t be able to take it anymore.

Both mother and daughter panicked. Neither could come up with an idea by themselves. Despite the girl’s age, she had really never encountered anything important in her life and went numb from fear; for some reason, her first reaction had been to find An Jie.

From common sense, the most likely explanation for Mr Yang’s symptoms was cerebral bruising, something that could cost him his life if they waited any longer. Because of Yang Jinling’s rash decision, no matter how close An Jie lived, by the time she came back, everything would have finished already.

Thankfully, a passing old auntie had a clear mind. Even though she couldn’t stop the girl from running off, she was able to successfully direct Mrs Yang to call an ambulance.

When An Jie arrived, they were just in time to see the ambulance drive out from the alleyway. An Jie hailed a taxi and chased after them.

Thanks to the fast reaction of that old auntie, the resuscitation was finished in a timely manner. The doctor said that if he had been sent here any later, he could as well go find Grandpa Buddha and learn Indian.

Mrs Yang was beyond help. The only thing she was capable of summoning were tears, bawling her eyes out, and several times she almost fainted from crying, almost accompanying her husband to the ICU.

Yang Jinling was even less helpful. While they were waiting outside the surgery room, she held up a somewhat resilient front, not only able to keep her mind clear but also be able to take care of her mom, but when the doctor went to talk to her, An Jie discovered that the girl’s two legs were as wobbly as noodles…

And so, An Jie ended up running up and down the corridor, asking about the patient’s condition and paying to receive a variety of information in advance. He even thought wryly that he was being more dutiful than a real son-in-law. When Uncle Yang woke, he might as well marry his daughter off to him instead of paying him back.

Of course, despite what he might think, as a man, and the first man the young girl had thought to find and rely on, even if he had complaints in his heart, he could not speak them aloud.

Mrs Yang looked like she was ready to kneel in front of him… An Jie sighed and continued his tasks.

But those guys in white cloaks really were the safest kind of thieves… An Jie’s lips twitched as he looked at the receipts. He more or less knew about Yang Jinling’s financial situation after getting closer to this rather shy girl. No matter how little An Jie cared for the concept of a family, he knew that this incident would be a great burden to the already struggling Yang household.

He took out enough money from the bank opposite the hospital and decided to keep those high-blood-pressure-inducing receipts to himself. He wouldn’t let this poor family’s frayed nerves take another hit.

Just as he was thinking, An Jie felt a strange eye follow him, honing in on him from the moment he entered the hospital doors.

He paused, looked up, and faced those eyes which made An Jie somewhat cautious. 

A middle-aged man smiled at him and strode over. An Jie unconsciously tucked his hands into his pockets – he had met this man once at New Year’s, next to the Sleeping Lion Zhai Haidong. 

“Young Master An.” The middle-aged man reached out in a friendly manner.

An Jie hesitated, then shook hands with him half-heartedly. He frowned and made a confused expression. “You are…”

The man smiled unconcernedly. “The Young Master might not remember me anymore. This lowly one is called Bai Zhihe and I work for Zhai-ge. I met the Young Master last time at the hotel.”

“Oh.” An Jie made an expression of sudden realization and gave a slightly shy, innocent teenage smile. “Hello Mr Bai, I’m terribly sorry that I didn’t recognize you. Something happened with my friend’s family, I was a bit stressed…” He pointed at the hospital as he wondered what this paper box2 was doing here and how he could get himself out. 

There was a virus called trouble that spread to those near Zhai Haidong. It was best to not mess with them.

“It’s the incident with Mr Yang, right?” Bai Zhihe had a smile as gentle and patient as an angel in white. For some reason, An Jie felt it was rather comical as he remembered that this guy was actually part of the mafia. This mafioso angel didn’t wait for An Jie to respond and continued, “There’s no need for the young master to worry about Mr Yang. I know a friend at this hospital who has helped out with all the things that need to be done.”

Yang Jinling didn’t live far from the neighborhood, which meant that she didn’t live far from Mo Cong. When had Bai Zhihe set his eyes on them? What was the point of this? And how much did Zhai Haidong know about him and Mo Cong?

An Jie’s expression was smooth and calm, but upon hearing that, he felt an alarm go off in his head. He ‘froze’ for a moment before widening those innocent and naive eyes as he stuttered, “Ah… this, how could I possibly, Mr Bai, I mean…”

Bai Zhihe waved his hands. “There is no need to be so courteous, Da-ge3 said that your problems are his problems. This is just a small issue that I offered a helping hand for.”

An Jie ran his hands through his hair as if embarrassed. “Then the money… Can Mr Bai bring me to see your friend? Or, I’ll give you the money and you can pass it along…”

The wad of red cash in An Jie’s hands had yet to be given to him when Bai Zhihe pushed it back. The mafioso angel said honestly and generously, “I can’t take your money, I wouldn’t be able to explain it to Zhai-ge.”

It was what it was. An Jie didn’t push it. If someone was willing to pay for him, he wasn’t bothered to play the fool. He said a hurried farewell to Bai Zhihe and left to see the Yang family.

The moment he turned around, the foolishly innocent expression on his face vanished. His eyes were dark and his gaze blank – people that he thought he would never have to cross paths with again might very well end up entangled with him again because of that brat Mo Cong.

It had been a long day. It was midnight when An Jie finally returned home. He hailed a taxi, crossed the alleyway, and walked through the side entrance; the entire way he didn’t sense anyone following him, but that didn’t mean he could relax – it had been a while since he last experienced such stress.

He dragged his footsteps up the stairs – he had to prepare for the worst. He didn’t fear He Jingming ten years ago and he couldn’t care less about Zhai Haidong ten years later, but that wasn’t to say… in all fairness, he should have been the bitter and vengeful creditor; who were they to initiate a conversation with him first?

But if Mo Cong’s tracks were controlled by Zhai Haidong, what about Mo Jin and Mo Yu?

He opened the door but didn’t turn on the lights. The faint light from the moon and his knowledge of his territory meant that he didn’t need to; and Mo Cong was probably asleep by now. The window above the bedroom door would probably let in enough light to wake that troublesome fart.

He didn’t want to feed milk to the brat nor did he want to read him a bedtime story. An Jie was in a rather nasty mood as he poured himself a cup of water and sat down on the sofa without even taking off his jacket.

He slowly sipped at it and wondered just how he had alerted Zhai Haidong. Even if An Jie wasn’t as sensitive as Mo Cong, there was no way for him to have been watched from New Year’s until now without him knowing.

Could it have been coincidence? Karma? A descended fairy?

An Jie pinched the bridge of his nose and realized that his thought process had gone completely off the rails.

He took in a deep breath and tried to make himself think about something else – such as what Yang Jinling looked like when she was hanging onto him, sobbing quietly as she asked him what to do with that voice which was even more timid than a mosquito, her nose red from crying, her tears falling on him nonstop. 

It dawned on An Jie that another face from what felt like a long, long time ago had miraculously merged with that girl.

Innocent and pure eyes that were slightly uplifted, a slight bite on her lips, an overwhelmed expression – it was the catalyst to ignite heroism and protectiveness in young men. An Jie finally understood why he had held such a familiar closeness to this girl for such a long time. She was so similar to Mu Lian.

Even though they had different facial features, those similar temperaments seemed to merge through time and space – An Jie recalled the words he had said almost jokingly when he was with Mu Lian. He said that he wanted to have a daughter as gentle and wonderful as her.

For him to protect and spoil her, before reluctantly giving her to another man, and to watch her be happy for a lifetime.

Probably… just like Xiao Jinling?

Mo Cong hadn’t actually fallen asleep. He had a strange feeling in his heart; it wasn’t anger or discomfort, it was just weird. He couldn’t help but think about that girl, from her appearance to her background to speculations about her personality. There was no end to his speculations; if he didn’t know his sexuality so clearly, he would have suspected he had fallen in love at first sight with that girl. 

But this strange and uncontrollable emotion started to become not so friendly when An Jie walked quietly into the unit, his fatigue obvious.

Mo Cong slowly moved to the bedroom door, yet that man who could sense his approach with radar-like accuracy even in his sleep was sitting distracted on the sofa right under his eyes, not noticing him at all. It made some absurd anger rise up in Mo Cong’s heart.

Author’s Notes: I just noticed, turns out I’m writing an ethical drama…

1Pretty on the outside, but soft, squishable, and useless on the inside, like a pillow.

2Zhihe is pronounced the same as ‘paper box’.

3Big brother. A respectful term for Zhai Haidong that denotes him as the superior in their relationship.