CFRFGC Chapter 136

⌈I lost everyone and can’t find them…⌋

“So annoying, is he coming or not?”

The tall teenager leaned against the shabby plastic chair.

His posture was already poor. With his long figure, the chair appeared even smaller.

His legs had nowhere to go, so after a while of awkwardly folding them, he straightened them out without any care.

Not long after, the sharp brow of the teenager furrowed, and he raised his hand to slap his exposed ankle hard.

A loud “smack” echoed.

He lowered his gaze and glanced at his palm.

A large mosquito, now swollen from feeding, met its end.

Without changing his expression, he grabbed a tissue and wiped the blood off his hand. He crumpled the tissue and threw it into the nearby trash can.

The trash can already had several bloodied tissues in it.

“So, how much longer do I have to wait here?”

Fourteen-year-old Ji Min looked up.

Butler Chen, holding his phone, maintained a smile on his face.

In truth, he was inwardly lamenting how to tell the increasingly bad-tempered teenager about the contents of the phone call.

Before he could speak, Ji Min glanced at him, leaned back in his chair, and forced a smile.

“Go on, what’s the excuse? Is it that his wife is sick, or is it that his perfect son, who fell from the sky, is sick?”

Upon hearing this, Butler Chen sighed and replied: “They said that Young Master Jiang’s school is hosting an event. Mrs. Jiang couldn’t leave, so she asked Mr. Ji to go instead.”

Mrs. Jiang was Ji Min’s stepmother.

The so-called Young Master Jiang was the son of Mrs. Jiang and her ex-husband, Ji Min’s half-brother, with no blood relation to Ji Min.

Today wasn’t anything special.

It was just the anniversary of Ji Min’s mother’s passing.

Ji Min had long since lost any emotional attachment to this day.

The ones who leave, leave. The ones who stay must continue to live.

Originally, Ji Min had planned to do what he usually did—sweep the tomb and then go about his business.

However, his father, who was always absorbed in his first love, suddenly had a whim and invited him to visit the guesthouse where his mother had once lived.

So, Ji Min found himself squatting here, with mosquito bites all over his legs.

When he heard Butler Chen’s words, there was not even the slightest hint of surprise on his face.

Nor was there any frustration about being stood up by his father. He seemed unnervingly calm.

He simply stood up, shook his legs, and lazily said, “Oh, then I’ll go for a walk.”

With that, he lifted his leg and walked out.

Butler Chen hurriedly followed, advising, “The weather’s not great, there might be rain tonight. Please come back early.”

But the teenager, who was fearless at his age, just nodded carelessly and walked off without looking back.

Not far ahead, another teenager, about the same age, caught up with him.

He was holding a bouquet of lilies and called out to Ji Min, “Brother Min!”

Ji Min wasn’t in the best mood at the moment, so he glanced back and asked coldly, “What is it?”

Ji Chi scratched his head awkwardly and said, “Uh… I heard that Madam liked these flowers the most, but my status doesn’t really suit giving flowers to her, so… I’m asking you to do it for me, Brother Min.”

Ji Min glanced at Ji Chi.

For a moment, his gaze lingered on him and the flowers in his hands, likely due to the significance of the day.

But Ji Min didn’t take the flowers. He just said, “Her grave isn’t here. You can leave the flowers in the car.”

With that, he ignored Ji Chi and continued walking toward the guesthouse.

There wasn’t much to see around here.

Ji Min just wasn’t keen on staying in the guesthouse.

He walked alone on the street.

As he passed a flower shop, he paused for a moment, remembering the flowers Ji Chi had prepared.

He realized that for the past few years, it was always Butler Chen who arranged the flowers for the tomb-sweeping.

They were common, reliable types that wouldn’t go wrong.

Ji Chi had said his mother liked lilies when she was alive.

In fact, Ji Min didn’t have much of an impression.

He stared at the flowers in the shop, but he really couldn’t remember which one his mother liked.

After all, so much time had passed.

Moreover… in Ji Min’s memory, the woman who had married into the Ji family through a family alliance had always seemed somewhat indifferent, without any particularly special preferences.

Ji Min thought for a while, feeling somewhat frustrated.

He stood up, intending to buy a little bit of each flower. It would still be on time if he took them back now and drove them to the cemetery.

But at that moment, a vague memory of his mother suddenly flashed across his mind.

She didn’t like flowers—what she loved most were the trees, full of life and vigor.

It was midsummer, and a breeze blew by.

In the distance, the lush trees rustled with a “whoosh” sound.

Ji Min raised his head and walked toward the thickest part of the trees.

The journey was a bit far.

He borrowed a bicycle and rode while looking at the lush trees around him.

When he snapped back to reality, he realized he had already ridden over twenty kilometers and reached the foot of a mountain.

The sky had darkened and light raindrops began to fall.

Ji Min got off the bike, his throat parched.

He looked around, cursing himself for coming to such a godforsaken place.

In summer, rain could come at any moment.

The raindrops quickly turned into a downpour.

Ji Min thought about buying a bottle of water, but there was hardly anyone at the foot of the mountain—only a fast food restaurant and an ice cream shop, both closed.

Further into the mountains, there was a vending machine that was flashing its lights.

The rain intensified.

Ji Min hesitated between finding a place to shelter from the rain and going to buy some water. In the end, he decided to pedal his bike up the mountain.

When Ji Min stopped in front of the vending machine…

He was already drenched, looking like a drowned rat.

The boy ran his hand through his hair, wrung out the water from his T-shirt, and, braving the rain, bought a bottle of water from the vending machine.

Holding the hard-earned bottle of water, he once again questioned whether he had lost his mind today.

He led his bike over to a big tree to shelter from the rain.

Just as he twisted open the cap of the bottle, he suddenly heard some rustling noises from behind the tree.

Ji Min frowned.

He looked around the thick tree trunk, expecting it to be some small animal.

But instead, he saw a wet, little yellow duck-shaped bag.

Ji Min paused, still holding the bottle cap, staring at the oddly out-of-place bag, deep in thought.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this seemed to be a bag that only a preschool child would carry.

Why would a child be out here at this time?

It seemed like the owner of the bag had realized it had been exposed.

The child’s small hand cautiously reached out, awkwardly pushing the yellow duck bag back behind the tree.

Ji Min stood still for a moment.

Then he suddenly sidestepped and peeked behind the tree.

The child hiding behind the tree didn’t expect to be discovered and was startled, tumbling straight into a puddle.

The child was holding a large box in his hands. When he fell, his little arms clutched the box tightly.

“Hey.”

Ji Min quickly grabbed the child by the arm and lifted him.

The child immediately struggled to run, his eyes full of wariness.

After a bit of a commotion, Ji Min crouched down, frowning as he looked at the child and asked, “What are you doing out here so late? Where are your parents?”

At this, the child’s eyes instantly welled up with tears.

But soon, he held them back.

He simply clutched the sticky box in his hands tighter and said: “I’m waiting for my parents here.”

He looked up, his face full of caution as he added, “I—I’ll be fine! My daddy will be here soon! He’s really close by and he can see me!”

At first, Ji Min didn’t understand.

Hearing the child’s words, Ji Min looked around, trying to spot that careless father.

But when he looked down and saw the child’s expression, which resembled that of someone who’d been sold to traffickers, he suddenly understood.

He sneered and said, “You’re pretty clever.”

Hearing his words, the child instinctively took a step back, still wary.

Ji Min had figured it out—this child must’ve gotten separated from an adult.

Ji Min wasn’t a particularly kind-hearted person.

He didn’t say anything further to the child and immediately took out his phone to call the police.

He also intended to call Butler Chen and have him pick him up.

But when he pulled out his phone, he realized it was turned off.

It had been low on battery when he left in the afternoon and he had used coins to buy water earlier without noticing the phone’s charge.

Ji Min looked down at the child, hesitating for a moment.

The shops at the foot of the mountain were already closed and there were no pedestrians on the street.

It would be too late to go down for help now.

The child looked clean and well-groomed, dressed in trendy children’s clothes, including the little yellow duck bag, which seemed like a big brand’s current collection.

The family must care about him.

Ji Min figured that if he stayed with the child for a while, the family would probably come looking for him soon.

But the rain was coming down too hard and the tree canopy couldn’t offer enough shelter.

The child was soaked through.

It would be a bigger problem if it started thundering soon.

Ji Min remembered there was a pavilion not far off.

He initially thought he could go there in the rain to check, then come back to get the child once he was sure.

But when he glanced at the small child beside him, he still felt uneasy and reached out to pick the child up.

A teenager in his teens wasn’t exactly skilled at carrying children.

He just held the child in one arm under his armpit and started walking forward.

The child, surprised at being lifted, almost dropped the box he was holding.

He quickly hugged it tightly, struggling and shouting, “Help! Help! There’s a bad person!”

Ji Min: “…”

The child’s shouts were starting to get on his nerves.

He immediately looked down at the child and chuckled, “Shout all you want. It’s raining so hard right now, your parents won’t hear you anyway.”

His words immediately made the child’s eyes fill with tears.

Ji Min: “…”

“Seriously, I can’t tell whether you’re brave or scared,” the teenager mumbled, then, in a rare gentle tone, explained, “Let’s find a place to wait for your parents. Otherwise, when they get here, you’ll be soaked through like a drowned rat.”

Perhaps it was the phrase “when they get here” that gave the child a bit of hope. The child finally quieted down for a moment.

But the child still argued, “Grandpa said to stay in one place and wait for the adults, not to run around.”

“Your grandpa’s not here, so his words don’t count,” Ji Min replied.

After saying that, he pulled his T-shirt over the child’s head to shield him from the rain, at least a little bit.

Ji Min quickly carried the child and ran to the pavilion.

He put the child down and the child immediately checked the box he was holding.

It was then that Ji Min noticed the child was holding an ice cream take-out box, with four ice cream cones still standing inside, though most of the ice cream had melted away.

The child stared at the box for a while, pouted, and muttered, “The ice cream’s all melted.”

Ji Min couldn’t help but smile—typical of a child.

Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about the ice cream.

He took off his shirt, wrung it out, and put it back on.

Then he thought about it and wrung out the child’s wet clothes as well.

The child was wearing a jacket over his clothes.

He was willing to let Ji Min take off the jacket.

But when Ji Min tried to take off his T-shirt and shorts, the child immediately shrank back, looking at him with fear, unwilling to come out.

“I’m just trying to wring out the water,” Ji Min explained helplessly.

The child argued, “But the teacher said! We can’t let others take off our clothes!”

Ji Min stared up at the sky, speechless. “Forget it, then. You can stay wet.”

The pavilion wasn’t very big, about two meters square.

The large and small children each occupied one side, keeping their distance from each other.

Outside, the rain was pouring heavily, almost blending together into a solid sheet.

Inside the pavilion, everything was eerily quiet.

The child was leaning against the pavilion railing, peering out at the spot where he had been standing earlier, waiting for someone to come and find him.

The teenager looked impatiently at the rain, though his peripheral vision still kept an eye on that direction.

Suddenly, Ji Min’s stomach growled loudly.

The child, who had been resting against the railing, immediately turned his head to look at him.

Ji Min: “…”

He hadn’t had dinner.

He hadn’t eaten much at lunch either because he’d been angry with his father.

He had ridden another twenty kilometers.

By now, he was really hungry, with his stomach pressing against his back.

In the heavy rain, there was obviously nothing to eat.

Ji Min subconsciously glanced at the box the child was holding.

The moment he looked, the child immediately tried to hide the box against his chest.

But the box was too large. He couldn’t hide it completely.

So he placed it behind him and tried to cover it with his body.

Seeing this, Ji Min scoffed. “Who wants to eat that ice cream that’s turned into this mess?”

The teenager turned around, crossed his arms, and sat down in the pavilion.

The pavilion fell silent once again.

The downpour continued. The only lights around were from the dim street lamps.

The rain formed a natural barrier, separating the pavilion from the outside world.

Surrounding them were lush trees and the sound of rain hitting the leaves and eaves could be heard, “pat-pat.”

Ji Min sat there for a while. Surprisingly, his previously irritated mood started to calm down.

He leaned against the damp pillar of the pavilion, gazing up at the wooden eaves.

“Hey.”

Ji Min spoke, asking the child beside him, “What’s your name?”

The child turned his head to look at him. The wariness in his eyes hadn’t disappeared.

He softly replied, “Grandpa said I can’t tell strangers that.”

Ji Min almost rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright. Then what’s your dad’s name?”

“Why do you want to know that?” the child asked.

Ji Min was momentarily stunned.

This little one was actually asking him back.

Soon, the child repeated, “My dad will come soon!”

As if to emphasize his statement, the child tried to describe him.

“My dad is taller than you and he’s really strong!”

Ji Min couldn’t help but laugh.

He deliberately asked, “Oh? How strong?”

The child seemed stumped by the question.

He froze for a while, hesitated, and then nervously pinched his fingers before finally stretching them out and making a “howl” motion.

Then he said, “He’s… he’s that strong!”

Ji Min couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

The child seemed a little annoyed by his laughter and turned his head to look outside the pavilion, not saying anything.

The pavilion fell silent once again.

Ji Min quietly listened to the rain.

It was very dark outside and the rain was heavy.

The fourteen-year-old Ji Min found it rare to have peace and quiet, wishing he could stay hidden for a little longer.

But the three or four-year-old child, after all, still felt afraid.

So, Ji Min noticed the little one, who had originally been sitting far away, inching closer little by little.

Eventually, the child stopped at a distance where he was very close but still not touching Ji Min.

Ji Min didn’t tease him.

He looked at the box the child was holding in his arms, a bit curious, and asked, “Your ice cream has melted, why don’t you eat it?”

The child looked down at the transparent box that was now covered in cream. He pointed at each compartment inside and said: “This one’s for dad, this one’s for mom, these two are for big brother and second brother.”

Then, he suddenly remembered something, exclaiming, “Ah! I forgot to buy one for myself.”

The child’s voice was sweet and soft. Ji Min didn’t quite catch it, so he looked down and asked, “Hmm? What’s your name?”

At that moment, a gust of wind blew in.

The raindrops, with the wind, poured into the pavilion.

The child instinctively curled up.

But he didn’t feel the rain hitting him.

He cautiously opened his eyes and saw that the boy beside him had turned sideways, shielding him from the rain.

“The wind is blowing this way. Let’s move to the other side,” Ji Min said.

He moved to a new spot with the child.

As soon as they sat down, Ji Min’s stomach let out a loud “growl.”

Ji Min: “…”

He looked down at the child beside him.

Compared to his initial wariness, the child hadn’t fully let his guard down, but there was now a hint of curiosity in those dark, bright eyes.

At this moment, those eyes were fixed on Ji Min’s stomach.

Suddenly, Ji Min decided to have some fun. He covered his stomach and groaned, “Ah, I’m starving to death! If I don’t eat something soon, I’ll die!”

The child was startled.

He instinctively stepped back, then hesitated before walking toward Ji Min with some concern.

After a moment of hesitation, he stretched out his small, dirty hand and patted Ji Min’s arm.

Seeing that Ji Min was still clutching his stomach, the child became a little scared. He trembled and said, “Don’t die…”

Ji Min couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking.

Suddenly, he heard a soft “crack” sound.

Ji Min looked up.

He saw the child place his precious box on the bench.

Then, the child awkwardly reached out and opened the box.

Inside the box was a mess.

Different flavors of ice cream had already mixed together and flowed to the bottom of the box.

Only a few waffle cones were still standing, barely recognizable.

Tears once again swam in the child’s eyes.

But the child didn’t cry.

He glanced at the melted ice cream in the box, then pushed the box toward Ji Min.

For the first time, he spoke to Ji Min, “Big brother, do you want to eat?”

Ji Min was stunned upon hearing this.

He had only been playfully teasing the child, never expecting the child to actually open the box.

It made Ji Min feel a little awkward.

He cleared his throat and teased the child: “Wasn’t this bought for your dad, mom, and brothers? If I eat it, what will they do?”

Unexpectedly, these words nearly made the child cry.

Ji Min was startled and quickly said, “It’s okay, I won’t die if I don’t eat it. You should save it for them.”

The child again managed to hold back his tears.

He choked up and said, “It’s fine, I’ll go buy a new one.”

Then, as if thinking of something, he repeated, “Mom and Dad will be here soon.”

After repeating this, the child wiped his face with the back of his hand, then pushed the ice cream toward Ji Min again and said, “Big brother, you eat it. Your stomach is growling again.”

Ji Min: “…”

To be honest, the way the box looked inside was no different from a trash can.

It completely killed any appetite.

But when Ji Min looked into the child’s eyes, he paused for a moment and still reached out to grab one of the cones.

Earlier, he was acting all dramatic about being starving, making the child open his precious box.

Not eating it would have been a little too over-the-top.

Ji Min, at the age where he could eat a lot, usually never felt hungry.

But now, feeling famished, he thought the soggy waffle cone soaked in melted ice cream was probably the worst thing he’d ever eaten, yet he still went ahead and crunched down on two of them.

The remaining two cones, Ji Min looked at the child and asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”

The child shook his head and said, “I don’t want to eat.”

Saying that, he closed the box again and continued to hold it in his arms.

But then, he seemed to think of something, and he raised his head, looking at Ji Min with hopeful eyes as he asked: “Big brother, is the ice cream good?”

Ji Min: “…”

Although Ji Min’s father didn’t love him and his mother didn’t care much either, he had been pampered since childhood and had never lacked material things.

He also never subjected himself to discomfort when it came to his temper.

At this moment, it was probably because the pavilion was so quiet, or maybe it was the bright eyes of the child in front of him.

Ji Min, for once, went against his own thoughts and managed to force out one word: “It’s good.”

The child’s eyes immediately brightened even more.

He hugged the box and moved a little closer.

The wet box almost brushed against Ji Min’s knee.

The child asked again, “Then, big brother, are you happy now?”

This time, Ji Min’s answer came easily.

He smiled and said, “Happy.”

Upon hearing this, the child smiled for the first time.

He even jumped up and down while holding the box, showing two little tiger teeth as he said, “That’s great!”

Ji Min didn’t understand the child’s happiness.

He still remembered that he was waiting with the child for someone to come.

He glanced at the spot where the child had been earlier.

After looking, Ji Min’s smile slowly faded away.

If he wasn’t mistaken…

When he had first seen the child from behind the tree, the ice cream in the child’s arms had already melted.

Just now, he had seen the ice pack still in the box.

Although the weather was warm, the fact that the ice pack had melted so thoroughly meant that the child had been waiting for quite some time.

His parents, no matter how carefree they were, should have noticed their child was missing by now, right?

Ji Min was about to ask something else.

But when he turned around, he saw that the child had become listless.

He thought the child was just tired, so he didn’t pay much attention.

Although it was summer, the heavy rain had soaked him and he still felt cold.

Ji Min was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt and couldn’t help but hug his arms.

Noticing his movement, the child looked up at him and asked, “Big brother, are you cold?”

Ji Min was about to say he wasn’t cold when he saw the child take off his small jacket and say, “Here, you can wear this.”

Ji Min couldn’t help but laugh.

He asked, “How am I supposed to wear this?”

The child looked at his small jacket, then at the tall, broad-shouldered boy in front of him, and froze.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly draped the jacket over the hole in Ji Min’s jeans.

Ji Min was stunned for a moment, then laughed so hard he couldn’t catch his breath.

“Alright, alright, you wear it yourself,” he said.

While laughing, Ji Min started putting the jacket on the child.

But when his fingers brushed against the child’s arm, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.

He frowned. “Why are your hands so cold?”

“Aren’t you cold? Why are you taking off your jacket?” Ji Min asked.

The only answer he got was the child’s confused gaze.

Suddenly, a piece of knowledge Ji Min had heard somewhere flashed through his mind.

Children themselves don’t know the difference between hot and cold.

So adults need to pay attention to adding or removing clothes.

Ji Min quickly put the jacket on the child.

But the jacket was wet from the rain, too.

As a pampered young master, Ji Min had no idea how to take care of a child.

All he knew was that if the child kept feeling this cold, something bad might happen.

Without thinking, Ji Min simply pulled the child into his arms.

The child had been so wary of him earlier. Ji Min thought he might struggle.

But now, as he held the child, he realized the child’s body was soft and limp like he didn’t have the strength to struggle.

Holding the child in his arms, Ji Min glanced outside the pavilion.

After waiting for a while, he noticed the child hadn’t moved at all.

Looking down, he saw the child’s head drooping, as if about to fall asleep.

But his hands and feet were still extremely cold.

No matter how inexperienced Ji Min was, he knew this wasn’t normal fatigue.

He immediately patted the child’s cheek and softly called, “Hey, don’t sleep. What if your parents come and you don’t see them?”

Hearing his words, the child struggled to open his eyes, but they were still clouded and unfocused.

The sense of ease and relaxation Ji Min had earlier slowly dissipated.

Frowning, he looked outside the pavilion.

The place the child had been avoiding earlier was still empty, with no one in sight.

The rain continued to pour, showing no signs of stopping and actually getting heavier.

Ji Min’s expression grew serious.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

Something bad would happen if he did.

The pavilion had a high vantage point.

Ji Min could see, not far off, his bicycle still parked in front of the vending machine where he had arrived.

If he remembered correctly, he hadn’t locked the bike.

But the bike didn’t have a back seat.

Even if it did, with the child in this state, he wouldn’t be able to sit steady.

Ji Min pressed his lips together.

He looked at his own clothes: just a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

His phone had already run out of battery.

He gently laid the child on the bench.

Then, he took off his T-shirt and ripped it into long strips.

Using the strips of cloth, he tied the child to himself.

Though it wasn’t tied very securely, he used one hand to hold the child, hoping it would be enough.

After making up his mind, Ji Min lowered his head and dashed into the rain.

He ran to the bicycle and got on, holding the child with one arm and gripping the handlebars with the other, desperately pedaling downhill.

The rain poured heavily and the road ahead was completely unclear.

Ji Min rode the bike shirtless, feeling more disheveled than he ever had in his life.

Fortunately, there was no one on the road and there were no obstacles.

Ji Min knew that the most difficult part would be the road at the foot of the mountain.

Once he got to the city, it would be easier to find pedestrians, open stores, or even just a phone booth.

The rain hit him head-on, cold and harsh.

The rain was so cold that the child’s body temperature in his arms became almost unnoticeable.

Ji Min, who usually didn’t care about anything, suddenly started to feel anxious.

He felt a bit of regret.

Since they had entered the pavilion, the child had hardly spoken.

Maybe he had already been feeling unwell at that time.

He hadn’t noticed it.

It would have been better if they had descended the mountain earlier.

Amid the “whoosh” of the rain, Ji Min suddenly heard a few soft sobs.

He froze for a moment, then realized that it was the child in his arms who was crying.

The child who had been muttering, saying “Mom and Dad will be here soon,” was finally speaking the truth.

He sobbed, his voice barely above a whisper, “Big brother, I lost everyone… I can’t find them…”

Ji Min felt a pang of sadness in that instant.

But at the same time, hearing the child’s voice brought a sense of reassurance.

The rain was so loud.

Worried the child wouldn’t hear him, Ji Min shouted while still riding the bike, “Don’t cry! I’ll help you find them, okay?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them for sure!”

Ji Min didn’t know how long he had been riding.

Suddenly, a car appeared on the empty road, stopped, honked its horn, and flashed its lights toward him.

The car door opened.

Butler Chen, holding an umbrella, rushed out and shouted in a panic, “Young Master! Ji Min!”

Ji Min slammed on the brakes.

His heart finally settled.

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