...
Once she returned to the city where she stayed with Xiao Yunjie, Xiao Lei spent most of her time moping around.
Knowing that it would not take Murong Yu a long time before he realized he had been conned, Xiao Yunjie's boss ordered her to stay low until he could find a valid reason to call Xiao Yunjie back.
After spending the first 6 months at the city that his boss sent him to, Xiao Yunjie had reported back to let his boss know that in terms of the underground world, the city did not have any major power behind it.
Thus, after thinking for a while and since Xiao Lei had not returned from her mission yet, Xiao Yunjie's boss decided to take this opportunity to seriously expand the power of the group to the new city.
Because of the expansion, Xiao Yunjie had been busy handling the team and to weed out the small gang before they made it the new city into their headquarters.
However, after continually being pestered by Xiao Lei for two weeks, Xiao Yunjie's boss finally found a reason to call him back: Come back and get your annoying little sister off my back!
It was either that or kill her, and he would prefer not to hurt Xiao Yunjie's "sister" since he knew how much his man cared for the young woman. No matter what, Xiao Yunjie had helped him a lot during the past few years, and he could not deny that it was because of the man that the income for their group had been increased every year.
When Xiao Yunjie finally came back to pick her up from his friend's home, Xiao Lei was so happy that the moment she opened the door, she just jumped on him and hugged him tightly.
Startled by her suddenly jumping on him, he immediately dropped his old Adidas duffel bag on the floor to better support her weight. When Xiao Lei finally released him slightly so that they could look into each other's eyes, he gave her the usual gentle smile that she missed.
"Hey, Ah Qing…"
That simple sentence made Xiao Lei happier than anything. Even though they called each other frequently over the last two years, she still preferred seeing his face and hearing his voice in person.
With a soft sigh, Xiao Lei hugged him tightly and rested her chin on his shoulder as she murmured, "I miss you so, so much."
Xiao Yunjie chuckled and put her down on the floor. Then he tousled her hair before he said, "I miss you too."
When he saw her expression, he frowned and placing his hands on her cheeks, he looked into her big, watery eyes before asking softly, "What happened? Why are your eyes so sad?"
Xiao Lei shook her head and hugged him again. "I miss you… Don't leave me again…"
Rubbing her back with his hand, he asked softly, "Did anyone bully you?"
When she did not answer him, with a confused expression, he looked at his friend who was standing behind Xiao Lei.
However, the woman merely shrugged and mouthed, "I don't know."
She could not say much without giving out Xiao Lei's whereabouts for the past two years. The woman, Shanshan, had been equally confused when Xiao Lei returned home after around two years.
She felt that Xiao Lei had matured slightly in her absence but she wondered what was in the girl's mind. Unlike before, she was less energetic and she seemed constantly troubled by something.
Even though Xiao Lei was still enthusiastic about food, there was nothing else that could interest her. She even refused to go to the funfair, which was weird, because Xiao Lei used to beg Xiao Yunjie to take her to this kind of fairs.
With a sigh, Shanshan then walked away to give the two some space. Perplexed, Xiao Yunjie asked again, "Did anyone bully you when I was away? Tell me. I'll make him regret the day he's born…"
Xiao Lei shook her head again. She then looked up at him with a sad smile as she said meekly, "Let's leave this place, Yunjie… I don't want to be in a gang anymore."
To be honest, she could not stop thinking about Murong Yu's expression when he was searching for her amid the sea of people that night. Xiao Lei had never felt guilty for stealing or doing anything illegal, but after that night, she never stopped feeling guilty for deceiving him.
Murong Yu might be a cruel gang leader, but he was never cruel toward her. She was glad that they could finally leave the underground world, but she could not help but wonder if what she did was the right thing.
Xiao Yunjie chuckled when he heard Xiao Lei's request. "I can't believe boss would send me away for 2 years without even letting me see you once… Then he suddenly called me back to take you off his hands. Have you been giving him trouble?"
Xiao Lei nodded. Among other annoying things she did, she had cried loudly outside the boss' home in the middle of the night, demanding him to give her what she wanted. The man had fired warning shots at her but Xiao Lei retaliated with putting a loudspeaker there instead.
"He's a jerk. I wanted to see you but he kept telling me to wait."
Xiao Yunjie picked up his bag and entered the house. Once he closed the door behind him, he took Xiao Lei's hand.
"I tried to talk to him earlier to discuss the possibility of leaving the group in a few months... Then he said he had found a more capable man without any baggage," Xiao Yunjie said before he rapped Xiao Lei's forehead at the word "baggage".
When Xiao Lei pouted and rubbed her sore forehead, he then continued, "... Boss said that no longer needed me around and guess what… He finally agreed!"
Hearing that, Xiao Lei smiled and asked innocently, "Really?"
"Yeah! I've got some money saved up; it's not a lot but it will tide us for a while, and boss also gave me a few thousands as a parting gift as well… which is odd because he's not usually that generous."
Afraid that he might think too much into it, Xiao Lei immediately suggested, "Maybe he hit the jacket lately? That old man always buys those lottery tickets after all..."
"Maybe…"