When Lin Zhi heard the noise outside the door, she immediately took off her apron and ran out.
Su Lian turned her head when she heard the footsteps and saw a well-maintained woman with her hands clenched nervously and looking at her with red eyes.
As if she couldn't see enough, Lin Zhi's eyes were not on Su Lian for a moment, and after a while she said in a trembling voice:
"Jiaojiao, no, Xiaolian. You are still alive, that's great...that's great."
Something shiny appeared in her slightly sunken eye sockets. She stepped forward and took Su Lian's hand, tears falling involuntarily.
Lin Zhi was not a crybaby, but the night she learned about Su Lian's death, she was sitting on the rooftop with almost dry tears.
Looking at Su Lian's delicate features over and over again, Lin Zhi had tears in her eyes, but smiled softly:
"It's so similar. From the first moment I saw you, I knew you must be my Jiaojiao."
Su Lian was moved and held her hand back, gave her a big hug, and curved her lips into a warm smile:
"Mom, I'm back."
Lin Zhi's whole body froze as she was being hugged, and her thin back trembled slightly. It was not until Su Lian thought time had stopped that she finally said with a smile:
"Come back, come back, wash your hands and have a meal with Xiaoyi!"
"Yes, sister, otherwise I would eat them all."
Su Lian turned around, only to find that Ye Yi had already sat down at the dining table at some point, forking out a piece of ribs and holding it in his hand with a childishly provocative look on his face.
With the table full of delicious food, Su Lian bit down and ate the third bowl of rice under Lin Zhi's loving and caring eyes.
Su Lian, who has never had any relatives, struggled to swallow the pearl balls her mother put in the bowl. Her cheeks were bulging and she asked the little pom-pom:
"Little Pom Pom, is this your relative?"
Seeing his master showing such a bitter expression for the first time but not knowing what to do, the little pom-pom couldn't help but laugh out loud.
It was dark outside, and the drizzle of rain beat on the eaves rhythmically, like the dull sound of an old record.
Just as the three of them were eating happily at the dining table, a cell phone ringtone suddenly rang.
Ye Yi's heart skipped a beat and he took out his cell phone and pressed the answer button.
"Hey brother..."
The girl's muffled sobs could be heard, as if she was drunk, and her voice was a bit muffled.
Ye Yi stood up immediately:
"Wanwan? Where are you?"
"My sister asked me to wait for her at Jiujiu Bar, but it's already nine o'clock, why hasn't she come yet..."
Ye Yi was suddenly stunned and said hesitantly:
"No, how could Xiao Lian let you go to that kind of place?"
Ye Wanwan's sad and frightened voice came:
"She said if I didn't come, she would tell her mother that she was still sick..."
"Brother, I don't want to die, nor do I want to receive a kidney transplant..."
"Brother, I'm afraid...ah——!"
It seemed as if the phone was suddenly thrown to the ground. The noise from the bar came from the other end of the phone, and the men's teasing and sharp music in the background irritated his nerves.
Seeing his look like this, Su Lian knew that this dinner would definitely end on bad terms.
Ye Yi quickly grabbed his coat and walked out, saying as he walked:
"Wanwan, listen to what my brother said, just stand there and don't move. My brother will pick you up now."
Lin Zhi also stood up suddenly:
"Where is Wanwan? Didn't you say she went to the mountains to film?"
Ye Yi looked back, his eyes were cold:
"Is the kidney transplant Wanwan said true?"
Lin Zhi dropped the spoon with egg drop soup in her hand and froze on the spot.
Seeing his mother's eyes dodge, Ye Yi's heart dropped into the ice cave, and he lowered his eyes sarcastically.
Su Lian had roughly guessed what Ye Wanwan said on the other end of the phone, and there was a layer of frost in her eyes:
"Brother, listen to me, things are not what you think, and mom didn't mean it either."
Ye Yi's steps to leave hesitated, and then left without looking back.
Lin Zhi fell down on the chair as if she had lost all her strength:
"it's all my fault."
Su Lian supported Lin Zhi, her eyes moving slightly.
Inside the bar.
Ye Wanwan clenched her wine glass in a panic, her phone having been knocked to the ground in the dispute.
Although she was not as drunk as she was when she made the phone call just now, she was still in a hazy state after a few cocktails.
"Hey, isn't this Miss Ye?"
A familiar voice came, Ye Wanwan pursed her lips tightly and looked at Qin Li who was standing in front of her:
"Qin Li, what do you mean?"
Qin Li waved, and a row of young men with unkind expressions suddenly appeared behind him:
"Of course we are continuing the mission that Miss Ye entrusted to Mr. Qin last time."
Qin Li smiled evilly and threw a cell phone to her.
Ye Wanwan turned on her phone, and there was only an audio recording in it. It was the audio of her asking Qin Li to bring someone to the hotel to find Su Lian.
Seeing Ye Wanwan frozen on the spot, Qin Li looked at her fair neck and couldn't help but licked his lips:
"It's okay. I just want you to stay with me for one more night, or...give me this number again, and I will delete all the recordings."
The man's hand began to caress the girl opposite's shoulder restlessly. After she suddenly dodged away, he grabbed the mobile phone in her hand and counted.
After Ye Wanwan saw the price he wanted, her face was full of disbelief:
"are you crazy!"
So much money! Where can she get it?
She knew that Qin Li had a big appetite, but she didn't expect that it would be an astronomical sum that she couldn't afford.
When he first blackmailed her, she could barely pay it off by asking Lu Jingshen for money, but now Lu Jingshen doesn't care about her, and she can't directly mobilize such a large amount without being in Ye's company.
Driving all the way to the door of the bar, Ye Yi walked in quickly.
The confined space was filled with the smell of tobacco and alcohol, and the blurry electronic music was deafening. Ye Yi frowned and squeezed through the crowd, looking inside.
A pale-faced Ye Wanwan was blocked in a corner by several men, with her arms folded helplessly. The moment she saw him, her eyes suddenly lit up, but she quickly moved away in panic.
It seemed like she didn't want him to see her there.
Ye Yi hurried over and pushed aside the people surrounding her to protect her behind him.
"Who are you?"
Ye Yi's tone was cold, and he cautiously looked around and at the tall but greasy-looking man in front of him.
Qin Li, the leader, was stunned for a second and burst into violent laughter.
"Hahaha, he actually asked me who I was."
As he said that, he looked Ye Yi up and down again and said with disdain:
"Maybe you are also her little lover."
also?
Ye Yi frowned. Before he could think about the meaning of this word, Ye Wanwan grabbed him by the corner of his clothes:
"Brother, let's go quickly."
Ye Yi nodded and took Ye Wanwan's hand to leave, but someone blocked the way out.
Ye Yi's eyes instantly darkened:
"You have to think clearly, Ye Yi of the Ye family, you can't afford to offend me!"
The leading man was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud:
"Hey, it turns out he's this girl's brother. Let me tell you something interesting. Your sister can't afford the price, so you can consider paying for her."