Chapter 70 The morgue lady is calling you home for dinner today.
The phone on the conference table kept vibrating. The person sitting behind the table paused, glanced at it, pressed the button, and turned the phone upside down, pressing the lit screen onto the dark wooden table.
The person who always gives up easily called persistently this time, with continuous vibrations mixed with message notification sounds.
The meeting, which was expected to last two hours, was abruptly shortened to one hour due to the cold expressions of the person sitting at the head of the table.
As soon as the meeting ended, the people sitting inside rushed out of the door, and the last person to leave thoughtfully closed the door behind them.
Jiang Xiliu let out a long sigh. The autographed photo she had prepared for Jin Zhao had already been thrown into the trash can. She looked at the countless missed calls on her phone, tried hard to control the emotions left over from last night, and dialed back expressionlessly.
Unexpected.
The voice on the other end was a mechanical female voice; Jin Zhao had turned off his phone.
Jiang Xiliu had no patience to read the long message and the meaningless "I want to go out." She frowned, dialed the number of the bodyguard guarding the door, and asked, "What is he doing now?"
The two bodyguards standing at the door looked at each other. Thanks to the specially thickened door with excellent soundproofing, they could only vaguely hear "open the door" and "get out." But now it was quiet.
One of them carefully considered the question before replying, "Miss, we're not quite sure, but it sounds like Mr. Jin wants to go out."
Jin Zhao was provoking her.
He never dared to make a fuss when he was locked up before; he would just lie quietly in bed or sit on the sofa wearing her coat.
Why has he become so bold? It's simply because Jiang Xiliu has been treating him well lately, and today is his birthday, so he's confident he can easily control her.
As for Jin Zhao's words last night, "I am not worthy of enjoying it," Jiang Xiliu was already being lenient with him out of consideration for his birthday.
Continue to back down?
Absolutely not.
Jiang Xiliu was annoyed and confused: why did Jin Zhao turn a perfectly good birthday into this?
Extremely disappointing.
Jiang Xiliu had already cleared her schedule for December 24th, but work is something that can never be finished.
She suppressed her frustration, casually dealt with two or three simple tasks that didn't require much thought, and checked the time every few minutes.
The assistant knocked and came in, asking, "Mr. Jiang, it's almost time for our restaurant reservation. Should we prepare the car and leave?"
Jiang Xiliu seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief, casually pushing the things in front of her forward, picking up her coat and slinging it over her arm, still with a stern face: "Prepare the car, let's go home first."
As the car drove through the side gate of the residential area, Jiang Xiliu habitually raised her gaze slightly upwards, but this time she did not see the figure that was usually in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
She herself had no idea how terrible her face looked.
As Jiang Xiliu took the elevator upstairs, her eyelids suddenly twitched.
She made several facial expressions, trying to relax her features.
She was magnanimous and decided to let bygones be bygones for the time being, and settle accounts with Jin Zhao slowly after his birthday.
As Jiang Xiliu opened the door, before she could even manage a faint smile, she saw Jin Zhao curled up on the floor, his face covered in tears, his watery eyes barely moving.
The door was opened? Jin Zhao didn't even see Jiang Xiliu step through the door.
He stumbled to his feet and walked toward the light outside.
"What’s wrong with you?"
"Hey! What do you mean by putting on this face?"
Jiang Xiliu's voice was also blocked out by Jin Zhao; all he could think about was getting out.
Jin Zhao was momentarily stunned when his arm was grabbed.
As if suddenly pulled back to reality, he saw Jiang Xiliu and was finally able to hear the voices of the outside world.
"Your pajamas are all unbuttoned, you can't go out like this." Jiang Xiliu lowered her eyes, looking unhappy at him. Her voice was displeased. "Do you even know how hot it is outside? Trying to freeze to death and play the victim? Let me tell you, I won't be fooled by your little tricks."
What's the temperature outside?
How could Jin Zhao possibly know? He had been trapped in this house for far too long, missing one spring, summer, autumn, and winter after another.
Jin Zhao felt incredibly stupid. He slowly reached out and pulled Jiang Xiliu's hand away from his arm, inch by inch.
Under Jiang Xiliu's displeased gaze, he blinked and a long tear easily fell from his eye. His voice was soft and hoarse: "Grandma, I want to go out and see Grandma."
Jiang Xiliu was taken aback, not expecting to hear that, but she quickly found a logical explanation: "What? Did Grandma ask you to come home for dinner today?"
Grandma Jin rarely bothers the young couple, but today she called Jin Zhao home, perhaps because she hasn't seen her grandson in a long time and misses him.
Upon hearing this, Jin Zhao could no longer hold back; he could no longer suppress his sobs.
He looked at Jiang Xiliu, tears streaming down his face, repeating meaninglessly, "Grandma is gone, gone. I, I, will never have anyone to call me home for dinner again."
"There's no one left."
There are no relatives in this world who are related to him by blood.
Jin Zhao's eyes were even dimmer than when he couldn't see anything before.
Jiang Xiliu hadn't expected this answer either. She forced a smile and said, "Don't joke about this. Fine, I shouldn't have yelled at you last night, but what you said was really harsh, I..."
After Jin Zhao finished speaking, he didn't care about Jiang Xiliu's response at all. All he knew was that he wanted to go out and see his grandmother with his own eyes.
He walked straight toward the door.
The bodyguard, glancing at the young lady's expression, hesitated whether to stop Mr. Jin from rushing out, when Jiang Xiliu waved his hand in a deep voice: "Let him go."
Jin Zhao stepped out of the door and glanced back slightly.
He turned around so fast he was out of sight that he stood in front of the elevator, wearing his loose pajamas, and pressed the down button with his finger.
This elevator is not for outsiders to use; it can only lead to this place.
After Jiang Xiliu took the elevator up, it remained on this floor.
In just a second, or maybe less, the elevator doors slowly opened.
Jin Zhao's body tensed, and after a moment of disorientation, he stepped inside.
The elevator doors opened quickly, but then lingered and didn't close.
Jin Zhao's eyes darted around as he saw A Biao repeatedly pressing the down arrow key.
He didn't say anything and was about to go out and climb the stairs when he saw Jiang Xiliu walk in with a very long coat.
Ah Biao followed him in, and the elevator doors finally closed.
Jin Zhao didn't look around. He couldn't feel anything. His hands and feet were numb, his face was numb, and even his brain wouldn't turn over.
He has only one thought in mind right now—to go to the hospital and see his grandmother.
Perhaps, as Jiang Xiliu said, it was just a joke.
Grandma was angry with him for not visiting her for so long, and deliberately had someone scare him...
A long coat wrapped around the trembling man.
He was completely unaware of it.
The elevator doors opened, and he was about to step forward when someone grabbed him. Jin Zhao turned around, his tone calm, his voice so soft it seemed it might disappear at any moment: "Let go."
Jiang Xiliu's gaze remained fixed on him. Suppressing all her emotions, she said, "I'll take you there."
She pulled up his long coat, casually buttoned up two buttons, and patted it: "It will take you time to catch a taxi, I'll take you so you can see Grandma sooner."
Jin Zhao only heard the last six words. His long eyelashes drooped, still clinging to them in small clumps from the endless stream of tears.
He said, "Don't lie to me."
Jiang Xiliu's expression changed slightly. She was upright and honest, and would never stoop to lying.
She was about to tell Jin Zhao the truth when she looked up and saw his eyes were red and he looked miserable. She swallowed her words and said nothing more: "I'm not lying. Let's go."
The driver was already waiting by the car, and when he saw the young lady and Mr. Jin get out, he quickly opened the car door.
The destination had already been entered into the navigation system, and the driver was about to start the car when Jiang Xiliu said, "Let's not go... let's go to the hospital instead."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jin Zhao gave the name of the hospital.
The driver glanced at the young lady and silently changed the destination.
Jin Zhao huddled in his seat, banging his head against the car window repeatedly as if he wasn't afraid of the pain.
The car's air conditioning was on, and he was wearing a thick coat, but he didn't take it off, his back to Jiang Xiliu and his face facing outwards.
She's probably crying.
Jiang Xiliu didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but hearing the "thump," "thump," "thump"... she became even more annoyed.
She reached out and forcefully turned Jin Zhao's head back: "You're not smart to begin with, do you want to make yourself even dumber?"
What she said was completely false. If the male protagonist wasn't smart, then there weren't many smart people in this little world.
Jin Zhao didn't react when he heard this. He leaned back and remained silent, refusing to let her touch him.
Jiang Xiliu's hand reached for nothing. She lifted her eyelids, snorted coldly, and neither scolded him nor tried to grab it again.
She'll settle the score with him when she sees Grandma Jin later.
Even now, Jiang Xiliu still doesn't believe what Jin Zhao is saying.
She subconsciously denied the possibility of Grandma Jin's death; she didn't think about how Jin Zhao found out; and she dared not think deeper about what kind of impact the phone call she ignored that morning would have on Grandma Jin's death if it were true.
The car was driving very fast.
The closer Jin Zhao got to the hospital, the more tense he became.
Even though he had already heard the news of Grandma Jin's death over the phone, he selectively ignored that unbearable memory, thinking that he couldn't let Grandma see him in such a disheveled state, and raised his hand to wipe away the tears on his face haphazardly.
Jiang Xiliu threw a pack of tissues at him, which hit him but didn't hurt him. The tissues rolled down his body and finally landed on the ground.
Jin Zhao didn't pick it up, nor did he use it. He buttoned up the remaining buttons on his coat and straightened his collar.
The moment the car stopped, he practically rushed into the hospital.
Ah Biao, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced back at the young lady who was angrily kicking the seat: "Young lady, are we going to get out?"
"Go, of course I'll go." Jiang Xiliu gritted her teeth. "Let's go see what tricks he's up to."
Jin Zhao ran to the hospital's information desk, his voice finally sounding grounded: "Nurse, I'm looking for Meng Yelan, who was admitted today. Could you please help me find out which ward she's in?"
"Which 'ye'? Which 'lan'?" The nurse searched for it herself but couldn't find it, suspecting that the word was wrong.
Jin Zhao clutched his chest: "The 'ye' in 'leaf' and the 'lan' in 'orchid'."
"There's no such person in the ward area right now." The nurse still couldn't find them. "Was they discharged? Can you contact their family?"
Family members? Jin Zhao's fingers trembled involuntarily.
He was his grandmother's only family member, but he couldn't get there in time when she fainted.
He pleaded in a dry voice, "Could you please take another look? He was admitted this morning, so there should be an admission record."
There was no one else at the triage desk at the moment. The nurse glanced at him, said nothing, and began checking the patient history.
As she moved the mouse, the nurse looked at the pop-up message and suddenly didn't know how to start speaking.
At that moment, Jiang Xiliu spotted Jin Zhao.
She walked in his direction, and just as she reached the back of him, she saw the nurse at the triage desk stand up.
"The patient, Meng Yelan, is currently in... the morgue."
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The author notes: Under normal circumstances, the body should be removed from the ward and transported to the morgue within two hours of the patient's death.
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