"Boss, are you alright?" Xiao Ba, who had just come from smashing up the Xue family's place, asked Huo Jing with concern when he saw his condition.

Huo Jing forced a smile. "Back to the city."

On the way back, he closed his eyes and didn't say another word.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Xiao Ba and the others didn't dare to say anything and remained silent the whole time.

In a quiet environment, people's thoughts are more likely to wander.

No matter how much Huo Jing tried to convince himself, he couldn't control his inner suspicions.

If Mom really went to find him, there's a 90% chance something bad happened to her.

He couldn't fool himself about this.

The somewhat blurry face from his memory surfaced in his mind, and with his eyes closed, Huo Jing felt the moisture welling up in his eyes.

Back in the courtyard he rented, Huo Jing pushed open the door, and heard footsteps behind him.

It was a voice he knew all too well.

Almost instantly, he knew who was behind him.

He didn't turn his head, his voice sounding tired, "Not back in Beijing yet?"

Just as Luo Qingming was about to get angry, she noticed the unusual tone in his voice. She walked up to him with slightly flustered steps, staring intently at him, but her voice was very soft, "What happened?"

Huo Jing shook his head, walked past him, and entered the courtyard.

Luo Qingming followed, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

"Tell me what happened, and I'll help you figure something out."

Luo Qingming had never seen Huo Jing look so confused and sad.

In his eyes, Huo Jing was always invincible, and no difficulty could defeat him.

This situation must mean something incredibly serious has happened.

Huo Jing didn't want to say much, but seeing the deep worry in Luo Qingming's eyes, he gave a wry smile and briefly explained the situation.

Perhaps because he had someone he could confide in, he said a lot.

After hearing this, Luo Qingming clenched her hands. "You...are you planning to go look for it?"

In such a vast world, how easy is it to find someone among billions of people whose fate is unknown?

If Huo Jing has to go around looking for people, the market he has worked so hard to capture in J City will be encroached upon.

All his efforts were in vain.

Huo Jing remained expressionless, but his eyes were resolute. "She is my mother. She has disappeared, and I must go find her."

I want to see him alive or dead.

Luo Qingming opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Huo Jing rubbed his head and said, "Didn't Song Shaohua want the market in J City? I'll give it to him."

"Brother, can I not...?"

Luo Qingming couldn't utter the remaining two words.

Huo Jing seemed to know what he wanted to say and smiled, "No."

Those three seemingly casual words brought tears to Luo Qingming's eyes.

Huo Jing sighed, "Ah Ming, there are only two most important people in my life, one is you, and the other is my mother."

Do you understand what I mean?

Luo Qingming nodded with difficulty. He understood. How could he not understand?

It's precisely because I understand him that I feel so bad.

He really wanted to ask him what would happen if he could never find one in his entire life.

Huo Jing patted him on the back, "If you understand, go back to Beijing and take good care of yourself, okay?"

Luo Qingming lowered her head and spoke in a hoarse voice, "What if I'm not good enough, brother?"

Huo Jing paused for a moment, then rubbed his head, his voice soft yet steady and firm, "If you're not well, no matter when, I'll come to Beijing to find you, rain or shine."

Luo Qingming nodded, her eyes red but she didn't shed a tear, and stood up to go out the door.

When he reached the threshold, he stared blankly at it.

He knew perfectly well that once he stepped over that threshold, it would extend infinitely, becoming an insurmountable chasm between him and Huo Jing, making even seeing each other again a distant dream.

Many images suddenly flashed through my mind.

The only main characters in the picture are him and his brother.

Luo Qingming turned around abruptly, ran towards Huo Jing, and hugged him tightly. "Huo Jing, I'll go with you."

Huo Jing stumbled from the impact, but after regaining his balance, his eyes widened in surprise upon hearing what he said. "What did you say?"

Luo Qingming looked up at him, her expression stubborn. "I'm not going back to Beijing. I'm going with you to find your mother."

To everyone's surprise, Huo Jing didn't take it seriously. Instead, he showed a hint of helplessness and said, "You're just talking like a child. Your sister is in Beijing. Why are you running around with me instead of going back?"

"If you don't want to go back alone, I can take you."

"After I take you back, I'll go to Tongcheng first. That's the route from J City..."

Huo Jing kept talking about his plans, his arm still around Luo Qingming.

Nestled in his arms, inhaling his familiar scent, the two felt as if they had returned to their childhood days, sheltering from the rain in a cave.

Back then, in order to avoid being discovered secretly eating meat, they would always prepare the pheasants they caught and go to the mountains to roast them.

After eating, sometimes the weather turned bad and it rained heavily, so we would go to the cave in the secret base to take shelter from the rain.

Shivering from the cold, they huddled together for warmth. Huo Jing, who was five years older than him, always took care of him like an older brother.

At that time, Luo Qingming was most attached to Huo Jing's kindness towards him.

When he felt warmth in his desperate situation, it became like a leech, something he could never break free from.

Luo Qingming stared blankly at Huo Jing, as if he knew what his barely suppressed emotions were.

“Huo Jing,” he called out.

"Hmm?" Huo Jing asked, puzzled.

"Huo Jing," he called again.

"No manners, call me brother." Huo Jing ruffled his hair and said irritably.

Luo Qingming's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't want to call you brother anymore."

Huo Jing nudged him. "Just because I let you go back to Beijing, you're already jealous of your brother?"

Luo Qingming held him tightly and wouldn't let go, no matter how he pushed her away.

"What's wrong?" Huo Jing stopped exerting force, his eyes changing for a moment.

Luo Qingming loosened his grip, and taking this opportunity, Huo Jing directly pulled him away.

Luo Qingming looked at him intently, "I'm serious, I'm not going back to Beijing, I'm going to go with you."

Huo Jing's expression darkened. He took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

But his menacing demeanor still made Luo Qingming's heart skip a beat.

Neither of them spoke, and they remained in this stalemate for five minutes.

Five minutes later, Huo Jing uttered two words, "No."

Luo Qingming knew long ago that he wouldn't agree, but once he made up his mind, even Huo Jing couldn't change it.

Huo Jing wouldn't let him follow, but he naturally had his own ways.

Huo Jing knew his temper and was a little annoyed. "Didn't you say your sister is pregnant? Your brother-in-law is in the military, he's probably not home often, are you sure you don't care?"

Luo Qingming paused for a moment.

It's impossible to feel at ease.

But he knew his sister was very capable, and compared to his sister, he was more worried about Huo Jing.

"I will talk to my sister."

Anyway, he's going to stick with him no matter what.