"Jia'er!"
Ren Ye called out softly as he slightly tilted his head to get a good look at her, he struggled to curl his lips as he glanced at the little girl whose ears perked from the sound of her name.
"What is it, Papa?"
Ren Jia has been swinging her legs, casually looking back and forth between Grandpa Yi and Papa Ye. Her eyes immediately lit up with a contagious smile in them.
She nudged herself closer to her Papa and looked at him with an overjoyed expression.
Ren Ye inwardly sighed as he thought to himself, "It is rather nice to have a ball of sunshine next to you whenever you feel down. Ren Jia is as contagious as a virus except she brings more joy to me than anything will."
My daughter truly feels like a gift given to him by God.
"I have something for you," Ren Ye spoke calmly as he pulled something out of the void, five shiny balls appeared in his palm. Ren Ye looked toward Old Yi yearningly.
Old Yi chuckled and snapped his finger. The five tiny balls in his palm quickly altered their appearance as they attach themselves to one another on a single thread.
The balls varied in colors ranging from red to green. Those were the energy charms he had picked up from the stream he encountered yesterday. He felt it was appropriate to turn it into a bracelet for her.
The little girl's eyes swelled with happiness as she lifted her head to grin joyfully at her Papa, "Papa, where did you get these? They are so colorful and shiny."
Ren Ye heaved a sigh of relief inwardly, "I couldn't get you anything before so I feel a bit saddened by it. I somehow stumbled upon a small river that had been inlaid with so many of these."
"They were extremely eye-catching. I thought you would like them," Ren Ye admitted in a flustered tone.
He had to admit he sounded too overly emotional and cheesy but his heart didn't cause him to be as embarrassed as last time. Perhaps, this bracelet will be able to coax the little girl because of his forgetting to bring her out for ice cream yesterday.
He wanted to add that the energy charms he found resembled her very much—a ball of sunlight in the chaotic current that was his life.
The little girl's smile widened even more as she replied in a childish tone, "Papa, were you worried I will get mad at you?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"…"
Ren Ye hummed silently as Ren Jia laughed in her crisp and candy voice.
"You can say it is part of the reason," Ren Ye admitted in a somewhat embarrassing manner, "I feel worthless for never having bought you anything."
"It is okay, Papa. It is a blessing for Papa to be with us so I don't want anything else as long as Papa is here with me and Mama."
"You have quite the glib tongue," Ren Ye remarked.
"Mama said your heart is always softened by words of assurance," Ren Jia made a thoughtful sound, "I thought Papa would like it if I offer him some assurance."
"What else did your mother tell you?" Ren Ye was curious as he is beginning to believe all of her words and behaviors had been inherited from her.
"She said you like to pretend to look emotionless and aloof but you have a big heart," Ren Jia's smile attracted Ren Ye's cold eyes, "You love your friends and family the most."
Ren Ye was quiet as he neither confirm nor denied what she said.
"I guess Jing Xue knows me more than everyone else," Ren Ye's heart throbbed intensely as he thought with a burning sensation, "I will reward her once I am no longer sick and able to move my body."
Old Yi didn't stay to listen to their conversation as he went to reside in Ren Ye's subconsciousness. He remembered to inform Ren Ye of what he is supposed to do later.
"Don't forget once you are healed, you should go and find the Kang Family. From the information I got from your wife, Kang Fan is in critical condition and is living on a thread right now."
"The other information I received is that the current Patriarch of the Kang Family is his son from his second marriage who is a half-brother of the Kang Lei you discovered."
"She also said if you want to know more about their history, it is better to ask her directly because it concerns their privacy and secrets."
"I believe something or someone in that family is harboring responsibility for what happened to Kang Lei," Old Yi informed him in a solemn tone.
"So you are saying he could have been murdered? But the secret had been snubbed from everyone?" Ren Ye raised his eyebrows with interest, "If that is so, it is no wonder Jing Xue didn't dare say anything more other than that."
"It is either her suspicion or merely what she knows, which I sincerely doubt."
Knowing Jing Xue from the past and her presence, she knows a lot more than what she leads. It is just that you need to be on the same intellectual level as her before you could ask her some of the questions.
"Mm, it is better to find out through Jing Xue and her connections," Old Yi said in a lowered voice, "It will be dangerous to ask them directly."
Ren Ye agreed, "Is his second wife still alive?"
"Yes, she is."
Ren Ye's eyes darkened before calming down as Ren Jia tugged his sleeves and looked at him with pure concern, "Papa, are you hungry?"
As he was about to say no, his stomach growled loudly; causing him to be stunned. He raised his head to look at her before saying sarcastically,
"I think it already answered your question for me…"
Ren Jia broke out in a fit of laughter as she told her Papa, "Don't worry, Papa. You won't have to wait long. Mama is downstairs, cooking chicken soup for you."
"…"
"I thought she had work today," Ren Ye thought inwardly, "Didn't she accept the offer from that one director?"
"She did but she asked for a leave," Old Yi informed him, "After finding out you had been seriously injured."
"For your information, it had been her who has been feeding you and cleaning your body with a wet towel for the past five days you were in a coma."
Ren Ye felt, even more, guiltier as each word came out from Old Yi's mouth, "I wonder if she will kill me for this."
"She won't. I told her you had been beaten up by a couple of debt collectors who came from Jindao to capture you back there."
Ren Ye's expression turned grave, "She knows I have paid back their debts."
After receiving the money from Ma Zheng for completing his commission, he took about one-third of the money and paid off the debt his father left behind.
His mother was somewhat surprised to see he had been alive and thought he had been taking up illegal jobs to pay the debt. Ren Ye had to assure her many times that he wasn't doing anything illegal and instead, he was working for someone in a high position.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Ye'Er, are you doing illegal things? It is okay, you can tell me," Fa Qing said worriedly on the phone, "I know it has been rough on you but you don't need to go through the length to do this, I…"
"I am not doing anything illegal. I am working for someone with a lot of money," Ren Ye coughed awkwardly as Ren Jia slept next to him, snoring softly.
"You are being bribed? It is a dangerous game to be playing, Ye'Er."
"…"
Ren Ye felt his mother was being a pessimist as he coughed even harder, "No. No. They are paying me by letting me take over some of their work. I merely clean their office."
"Oh."
His mother was shocked, to say the least and continued to probe him even more, especially continuously asking him about Ren Jia and his life there.
As he was recalling the conversation they had, Ren Ye immediately heard his phone ringing. His back shivered as Ren Jia adorably landed on her feet and went over to get his phone.
He turned to look at the caller's ID,
'Mother'
He didn't expect his mother to call him as he was thinking of her. He quickly picked up the call and said softly, "Hello?"
"Ye'Er, you are alive! I was worried sick about you!"
His mother's feminine and mature voice echoed into his ears as he felt the warmth inside his heart. To discover that people was caring about whether he lived or not was extremely heart-warming as he felt his eyes well up.
"Yes, mom. I am alive," Ren Ye replied in relief as he now feels he had gone back to the past and become a little boy in his mother's embrace.
"Oh! I am so glad!" Fa Qing cried out in relief as she patted her chest, trying to soothe her anxiety.
"How did you find out that I was injured?" Ren Ye was slightly confused as to how she knew he had been injured.
"I got a call from a doctor that you were admitted there for serious injuries," Fa Qing said in a motherly voice laced with anxiety, "I am heading to Beikang now."
"!!!"
Ren Ye felt his eyebrows jump up in shock.