CH 18

Luo Qin turned around to leave but after a few steps he came back and said coldly to Lin Zhixia, “Are you going back to work? I’ll send you there.”

“I will take Zhixia back,” Qin Zhe stepped forward, “Mr. Luo shouldn’t have to go out of his way.”

“I drove here. It would be hard to get a taxi in this neighborhood. Or are you going to force him to squeeze into a bus seat with his hurt hand?”

It was just a little burn on his hand. Why were these two taking it so seriously? Lin Zhixia silently rolled his eyes. If they kept arguing like this, his hand would likely be already healed when they made it to their destination. 

Qin Zhe looked at Luo Qin and smiled tightly, “Alright, Mister Luo. We accept your good will.”

Luo Qin observed Qin Zhe and Lin Zhixia sitting in the back seat with the rearview mirror. 

They were sitting too close. 

As if he could feel Luo Qin’s eyes on them, Qin Zhe moved a little closer to Lin Zhixia. 

…Shameless!

Qin Zhe gently tapped Lin Zhixia to get his attention, “Zhixia, I remember you mentioned to me that you were interested in taking the adult college entrance exam. I asked my colleague for information about the process.”

Lin Zhixia was stunned. He had found after coming to this world that the distance between being a college graduate and a high school graduate was too difficult to bridge. He regretted that he crossed over before he could graduate from college in his original world.

He had planned to wait until the restaurant was doing well and then look into enrolling in a university as an adult student. 

Qin Zhe was a university professor so it made sense that he had access to knowledge about how to enroll. He had only brought up the topic casually. He never expected that Qin Zhe would take it to heart and go out of his way to help. 

Lin Zhixia was very moved, “Thank you, Brother Qin. I’m embarrassed to always trouble you like this.”

Qin Zhe smiled, “It wasn’t too much effort to inquire. You should know by now that looking after you is never troublesome.” 

His words were ambiguous and his tone was a bit provocative. It was obvious what his intention was in looking after him but Qin Zhe was such a gentle and kind person that Lin Zhixia didn’t feel uncomfortable. 

The two of them smiled at each other, as if they had forgotten Luo Qin who was sitting in the front. 

After giving a free ride and watching Qin Zhe, this big tailed wolf, put on an obvious act in front of Lin Zhixia, Luo Qin felt very depressed. 

He coldly looked at Lin Zhixia in the rearview mirror and let out a cold, “Hmph…”

Lin Zhixia didn’t realize that Luo Qin’s mood was off and he continued to chat obliviously to Qin Zhe. 

Qin Zhe turned his attention back to Lin Zhixia’s hand, “Zhixia, I know you keep saying that the burn is minor but the doctor still said you should take it easy at work. Be good. I’ll ask my mother to help you out the next few days.”

Before Lin Zhixia could speak, Luo Qin said, “If it’s inconvenient to rest with Xiao Ai around, I can take him to-”

“No!” Lin Zhixia interrupted loudly, “I can still take care of him. My hands are fine!”

He knew it! Luo Qin was still trying to take Lin Keai away from him!

No wonder Luo Qin rushed to see him at the hospital. Lin Zhixia had found it strange at first but now he had figured out why. Luo Qin just wanted to take advantage of the situation to take his baby away!

This Luo man was indeed evil!

Seeing Lin Zhixia had turned sharp and defensive in an instant, Luo Qin was speechless for a moment. After a long moment of awkward silence, Luo Qin whispered, “Okay.”

Lin Zhixia had not heard him clearly and he leaned towards Luo Qin and asked, “What did you say?”

He leaned very close and Luo Qin could smell the faint scent of lemon on his body. A red light appeared and Luo Qin stopped the car. He turned to face Lin Zhixia, looking into his wide eyes and watching him open and close his mouth anxiously. 

“I said, ‘Okay’.”

Even sitting down, Lin Zhixia was shorter than Luo Qin. He had to look down to meet Lin Zhixia’s eyes. Luo Qin’s eyes were half lidded and the look on his face was very gentle. 

Feeling Luo Qin’s breath on his face, Lin Zhixia realized how close they were to each other and sat back abruptly. 

Luo Qin’s expression was usually so cold and indifferent. It was truly shocking to see such a gentle look on his face. 

Luo Qin saw from the rearview mirror that Lin Zhixia’s face was slightly flushed. Suddenly, he was in a much better mood.

Then his eyes glanced at Qin Zhe. They both glared at each other, disgust shining in their eyes. 

*

It rained the next two days and Lin Zhixia’s roof leaked and a cold draft blew inside sometimes. On top of burning his hand, Lin Zhixia caught a cold. He had a deep cough and was very dizzy. That day, he slept until noon but still woke up feeling very lethargic. 

He managed to survive the lunch rush at the restaurant and then sat to rest, feeling beyond exhausted. His eyelids drooped as he rested, his energy completely spent. 

Aunty Qin came to help and when she saw him like that, she was surprised, “Xiao Lin, what’s wrong with you? You look so uncomfortable!”

“I think I caught a bad cold.”

“Have you taken medicine? I have some at home. Let me run back and get it for you!”

“Don’t worry, I just took some medicine,” Lin Zhixia shook his head, “But thank you, Aunty.”

“Well, you sit and take it easy. Even though a cold isn’t life threatening, it’s still miserable to have one!”

Aunty Qin looked at Lin Zhixia, feeling distressed. What bad luck this child had! First, he burned his hand and then he caught a cold. 

“After the kindergarten lets out, I’ll go pick up the baby. Don’t strain yourself, okay?”

Seeing Lin Zhixia hesitate, Aunty Qin rushed to say, “It’s not a problem, really! I’ve picked him up before and I’ll take him with me to square dance. Those old ladies there just love him!”

She waved the fan in her hand as if she were ready to start dancing there and then and Lin Zhixia smiled. 

*

It had been more than an hour since the kindergarten had let out and Lin Keai was still not home. Had Aunty Qin really taken him out to play when he had asked her not to?

He had felt on edge all afternoon, his heart beating in anxiety. He had a bad feeling, as if something was going to happen. 

The bell on the front door jangled loudly as it swung open. Lin Zhixia was cleaning the dining tables and he looked up, only for his heart to sink at the sight before him. 

Aunty Qin rushed into the restaurant, looking anxious with a guilty expression. Her eyes fell on Lin Zhixia and she waved her hand at him. 

“Xiao Lin! Did Xiao Ai come home?”

Lin Zhixia’s heart clenched, “No…”

Aunty Qin crossed the dining room to come up to him and she was panting hard. 

“Xiao Lin, I’m so sorry. I was distracted while playing mahjong and was late to pick up Xiao Ai. Ten minutes! I was only ten minutes late but I couldn’t find the little one anywhere. I waited for a while in front of the kindergarten and didn’t see him and the teacher standing out front was one I’d never met before and they said someone already picked him up!”

Aunty Qin paused to catch her breath, “I was hoping he was picked up by you…”

Lin Zhixia dropped the rag in his hand. 

“Aunty, don’t worry. Let me go to the kindergarten and double check.”

“Okay. I’ll call Qin Zhe to go with you!”

Lin Zhixia rushed and took a taxi to the kindergarten to see that it had already closed. The sky was gloomy and there was no one standing near the gate of the empty courtyard. Lin Zhixia stood looking in and suddenly felt very dizzy. 

With his cold, he was already feeling dizzy. Now that Lin Keai had disappeared, his mind felt blank and his chest felt completely hollowed out. He felt out of his own body as he walked past the gate. 

Lin Zhixia went to the guard’s office and told them about the situation. The guard on duty allowed him to look at the surveillance footage from that afternoon. Lin Zhixia watched the footage frame by frame and found that Lin Keai appeared like normal and then walked off the range of the camera by himself. He never came back. 

Lin Zhixia, growing increasingly anxious, watched the footage many times but still couldn’t see who took Lin Keai away. 

He picked up his phone with trembling hands and dialed Luo Qin’s number. 

*

In the conference room, Luo Qin put his chin on his hand and listened intently to the project evaluation report. 

There were many people sitting at the huge conference table but the room was completely silent except for the presenter and the sound of pens on paper as people took notes. 

Suddenly, someone’s phone vibrated. 

Luo Qin frowned. 

Everyone in the room took a deep breath and even the presenter stuttered to a stop. Luo Qin despised being interrupted like this during a meeting. Although Luo Qin himself wouldn’t punish anyone for this, other people would curry favor with the boss and target that person. 

While everyone hesitantly observed Luo Qin’s thunderous expression, people inwardly tried to guess who had messed up and put a target on their backs. 

The phone vibrated again, making the source of the noise very obvious. 

Luo Qin turned over his own phone and saw the name ‘Lin Zhixia’ flashing on the screen. 

The finger that was going to reject the call was instantly frozen. 

He thought for a moment then stood up, making his excuses as he left the room. The people left behind stared after him in shock. 

As soon as Lin Zhixia returned his opening greeting, Luo Qin knew that something was off in his voice. He immediately said in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

“Is Xiao Ai with you?” Lin Zhixia tried to control the tremor in his voice. “Did you take him away?”

“What?” Luo Qin was stunned but he quickly recovered, reading between the lines, “You mean Xiao Ai is missing?”

Lin Zhixia sounded on the edge of tears, his voice tight with anxiety, “If you didn’t take him then where is he? Luo Qin, please help me. I’m begging you! I don’t know where he is.”

Lin Zhixia’s tears made his voice sound thick and garbled and Luo Qin’s heart clenched. He turned to the elevator to leave the building. 

“Don’t panic. Where are you? I’ll come find you.”