Si Ren gave a light cough, waking Li Wenjing from her daze.
"Ahem."
Li Wenjing turned her head to look at Si Ren and broke into a bright smile.
"Mr. Si, I remember you. Thank you so much for saving me."
Si Ren scratched his head and asked in confusion.
"Weren't you passed out at the time?"
Li Wenjing explained.
"My feeling at the time was very strange. I could clearly sense everything happening around me, but I couldn't move or speak."
As if remembering something, her pretty face flushed red.
Li Wenjing's appearance and demeanor gave off a pure, innocent, and youthful vibe, much like a first love.
Si Ren could not help taking a few extra glances.
"Can you tell me what on earth is going on?"
Hearing this, Li Wenjing's expression turned gloomy, as if she didn't want to bring up the subject.
"Mr. Si, let's add each other on WeChat, and I'll transfer the hospital fees to you later."
Seeing that she intentionally avoided the topic, Si Ren didn't push further.
"Forget about the money. I was entrusted by your grandfather, who asked me to protect you before he left. I also know that a lot has happened in your family recently, dealing you a heavy blow. But I still have to remind you, your current situation is very dangerous."
Afterward, Si Ren gave his phone number to Li Wenjing.
"This is my number. If you encounter any danger, call me anytime. Get some good rest, I'm leaving now."
Li Wenjing opened her mouth as if to speak, stretching out a hand to make him stay, but halfway through, she pulled it back.
She could only watch as Si Ren left the ward.
Si Ren left the ward, walked to the nurses' station, and found the nurse on duty.
"Nurse, let me ask, when can Li Wenjing be discharged?"
The nurse opened the medical chart and said.
"It's best if she rests for another day and we observe her condition. Her body is still very weak, and even when she returns home, she will need to recuperate properly for a while."
"Are there any dietary restrictions she needs to pay attention to right now?" Si Ren didn't want to give up just like that and prepared to use an indirect approach.
"Her diet should be light, nothing too greasy."
Si Ren thanked her and left.
Before long, he returned to the ward carrying four dishes and a soup.
The moment Li Wenjing saw Si Ren, the grievance in her heart welled up, and she covered her mouth and sobbed softly.
Seeing this, Si Ren felt his scalp tingle. In his entire life, the thing he could least handle was a woman crying; whenever a woman cried, he completely lost his composure.
"Don't cry. Did someone bully you?"
"I don't have any family left. My grandfather was my last relative, and now he has left me too."
Si Ren sat down by the bed, handed over a tissue, and comforted her.
"I know how you feel, I understand. Your family in the netherworld wouldn't want to see you like this, right? So you have to pull yourself together and cheer up."
Li Wenjing shook her head.
"No, you don't know how I feel at all. You don't understand anything."
Si Ren stood up, walked to the window, looked at the scenery outside, and said in a low voice.
"I'm an orphan. I've lived in an orphanage since I was little. I have no concept of familial affection. But every Spring Festival and holiday, seeing other families reunited, I get this indescribable feeling in my heart. Being bullied in the orphanage, bitten by stray dogs when playing outside, being looked down upon by others. In primary school, in middle school, every day my classmates were picked up and dropped off by their parents, and had their parents' company on weekends and holidays. Whenever I had something bothering me at work or ran into trouble, I could talk to my parents about it. But I couldn't, because I'm an orphan, with no father and no mother, and I have to shoulder everything on my own. I had a girlfriend in college, dated for four years, and we broke up not long ago. The reason for the breakup was that I didn't have parents. Haha, that's really ironic. Actually, I really envy you. At the very least, your childhood was wonderful, and you still hold onto those beautiful memories in your mind."
Li Wenjing never expected that the optimistic and cheerful boy in front of her would have such a tragic background. If she were in Si Ren's shoes, she didn't know if she could be as open-minded as him.
The topic they discussed was too heavy; neither of them knew how to speak up to comfort the other.
Si Ren walked over to the bed and opened the packaged food.
"Eat something first. I just asked the nurse, your body is too weak right now, you need to eat more nutritious food."
Li Wenjing took the chopsticks and ate a few bites casually.
"You said earlier that my grandfather instructed you to protect me before he died, right?"
Si Ren nodded.
"To be exact, your grandfather told me on the seventh day after his death. I don't want to keep anything from you. Although it's hard to make people believe this, it's the truth."
He had expected her to doubt his story, or even treat him like a fraud and kick him out.
On the contrary, after hearing this, Li Wenjing believed him even more.
"I believe you! Long after my father died, my grandfather sensed that something was wrong. My father was in the construction business. Although he didn't have any obvious enemies on the surface, the scheming and treachery among businessmen behind the scenes were countless. For the sake of a project, taking someone's life was not uncommon. But my father didn't have any projects in his hands recently that would make someone want him dead. The matter could only be dropped like that; after all, the official determination was sudden cardiac death, and the autopsy didn't find any problems. But not long after, my grandmother also passed away. The cause of illness was a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, and the official reason given was that grief had caused the Qi and blood in her brain to block.
After my grandmother died, my grandfather acted paranoid all day long, always muttering things I couldn't understand. And he often went out alone in the middle of the night. On the night before my grandfather passed away, he told me many things, sounding just like a man making final arrangements. Early the next morning, I got up to call my grandfather for breakfast, only to find he was already dead."
Si Ren pondered for a moment. It seemed Li Jiacheng must have known something and even calculated the date of his own death.
Since he had anticipated the date of his death, why didn't he tell Li Wenjing the truth of the matter?
"When I went to your house, I saw four memorial tablets placed in the living room, one of which belongs to your mother, right? Did she pass away too?"
Li Wenjing's eyes flickered away slightly, but she still answered honestly.
"My mother picked me up from school and then disappeared, as if she had vanished into thin air."
"How was your parents' relationship?" He always felt that this matter was caused by her mother. It was possible that her father, Li Shengli, had done something to wrong her mother, or even that Li Shengli had murdered her mother, so her mother had come back for revenge.
"My parents' relationship was very good. They were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. My grandparents treated my mother like their own daughter."
Since their relationship was so good, how could something like this happen? Could the killer not be her mother?
Wait! That's not right! Just now Li Wenjing said that her mother only disappeared after picking her up from school.
Why go pick her up at school? And why was it precisely her mother who went missing first?
Could it have something to do with the school? Or does this matter have a direct connection to Li Wenjing herself!