Chapter 1745: Diary

"Bill!"

Li Shangfeng put down his chopsticks on the intact tabletop and said to the waiter at the side.

The waiter was holding a dining plate in his hand, currently freezing in place in a daze. Hearing Li Shangfeng's call, only then did he walk forward as if waking up from a big dream and began to settle the bill.

"Made you spend money." Chen Ling sat by the clean and bright window, smiling slightly at Li Shangfeng.

"Boss Chen has taken great care of our siblings, it's what I should do... what I should do."

Li Shangfeng squeezed out a smile while trembling as he handed over the money.

Neither Li Shangfeng nor Li Wanhua noticed that there was one less person beside Chen Ling, as if it should have been like this originally.

They naturally stood up, laughing and joking as they passed through the orderly restaurant lobby. Just as they were about to go straight home, Chen Ling proactively opened his mouth:

"You guys go back first, I have some things to do outside."

Li Shangfeng nodded repeatedly.

Li Shangfeng naturally wouldn't ask more, taking Li Wanhua and walking toward home.

"What kind of crappy high-end restaurant is this, so expensive... this meal, my heart is dripping blood eating it!!" Only when they walked far away did Li Shangfeng grab his chest with one hand, opening his mouth incomparably distressed.

"Look at you acting so stingy!" Li Wanhua pouted, "Treating Boss Chen to a meal, of course we have to eat the best... Besides, that abalone and lobster, didn't we also get to try something new? Isn't it all thanks to Boss Chen."

"True..."

Li Shangfeng licked his lips, as if reminiscing about something.

A moment later, a trace of confusion surfaced in his eyes, and he opened his mouth somewhat uncertainly:

"Abalone and lobster... mm... what did it taste like again? Why don't I have any impression?"

"Now that you mention it, I also seem to not remember clearly... I keep feeling like I forgot some important matter?"

"Oh no, I suffered a big loss this time! Spent so much money, and didn't remember what abalone and lobster tasted like!"

"..."

...

On the empty street.

A figure wearing a waistcoat shuttled rapidly.

At this time, Li Laide was already four or five blocks away from the Comet Restaurant. He was confident that at this distance, even Chen Ling couldn't forcefully rewind him back.

Li Laide had never been a person willing to admit defeat and accept his fate. Knowing he couldn't escape from Chen Ling relying on his own strength, he planned to use external force to help himself break the deadlock...

From the moment Li Shangfeng asked Chen Ling if he wanted to go out and eat together, he had already thought out his escape strategy in his heart.

Therefore, he deliberately made his stomach emit sounds, silently pushing Chen Ling to agree.

In the Comet Restaurant, he claimed he was going to the restroom, and he indeed went, moreover there were no out-of-line actions along the way... The only thing he did was deliberately slow his footsteps and take a bit of a detour, letting the surrounding diners clearly see his face. He also had a bad attitude when asking multiple waiters for the direction of the restroom, deepening their impression.

And ultimately, he also successfully attracted the people of the Chengtian Prefecture as he wished. This move of driving the tiger to devour the wolf allowed him to successfully escape alive.

"It can't be considered entirely without harvest..."

Li Laide glanced at the Gold Bar in his embrace, murmuring to himself.

Although he had already escaped, Li Laide didn't relax his vigilance. He continuously detoured and shuttled through the blocks, occasionally using face stealing to conceal and disguise himself. He just played games with the void like this for a few hours. Only when the sun was about to set, and Li Laide confirmed that even if someone was tailing him, it was impossible for them to keep up, did he walk in a certain direction.

When Li Laide stood still in front of an inconspicuous civilian house, the pitch-black night had already shrouded the earth.

Sparse and faint lights shone out from the windows of the house, dispersing a corner of the surrounding night... That wasn't the radiance of bright electric lights, but even lower-cost Kerosene Lamps.

The swaying light shone on the bedroom curtains. Faintly, a shadow sitting in a wheelchair could be seen, seemingly in a daze.

Seeing that shadow, a trace of complexity rippled in Li Laide's deep blue eyes. He walked silently to the window, skillfully parted a corner, and looked inside through the narrow slit of the curtains...

That was a woman with slightly curly hair just like Li Laide's, except her hair wasn't pitch-black, but an unhealthy pale white, hanging down from her back like a waterfall.

Under the illumination of the light, a three-dimensional and exquisite Western face was almost flawless. The skin was exceptionally fair. Although there were some shallow indentations left by time, it still looked like an artwork carved by a craftsman of heavenly skill.

She gently hooked the strands of hair at her temples behind her ear. Her other hand stroked an old and yellowed diary. Indescribable sorrow and longing rippled in her lake-like deep blue eyes.

"Mother..." Li Laide looked at that figure, murmuring to himself.

As the mother slowly closed the diary, a line of fluent and elegant English name on the cover reflected under the Kerosene Lamp:

——[Rider·Li]

That was Li Laide's former diary.

For a considerably long period of time in the past, Li Laide had spent his days amidst school bullying and violence. He didn't pour these out to his mother, but hid everything in the diary late at night. He had clearly hidden this diary in the secret compartment under the bed, but he didn't expect it to still be dug out by his mother.

Li Laide knew what was recorded inside, and also knew how distressed and guilty his mother would be after seeing it. He silently looked at the diary for a long time, then turned and walked toward the main door of the house.

Ding dong——

The instant the crisp doorbell rang, the mother abruptly raised her head.

Her entire person slightly trembled. Both hands fiercely grabbed the two sides of the wheelchair, flying rapidly toward the main door. Those deep blue eyes were full of nervousness and anxiety.

When she hurriedly opened the main door, it was empty outside... there were only the stars filling the sky, twinkling silently.

The mother frowned slightly. She slowly lowered her head. A Gold Bar was lying quietly at the door.

She froze.

Pale hair brushed gently in the breeze. After a long time, she tremblingly picked up that heavy Gold Bar... Underneath the Gold Bar, there was also a note pressed down, with a line of neat and elegant text identical to the diary cover on it:

"Live well, treat your illness well, Mother."

The instant she saw this line of words, the mother's pupils began to tremble, tears uncontrollably welling out from her eye sockets.

She raised her head, looking at the empty night surroundings, and shouted loudly:

"Rider! I know you must still be here!"

"Mom knows everything... Mom knows why you killed those people. It's Mom's fault, Mom should have taken good care of you and not let you be bullied by them..."

"Mom doesn't blame you for killing people, Mom is just worried about you... there are so many people chasing after you to kill you. These days, you've been on the run, trembling with fear, you must have lived very hard..."

"But even so, every month you still secretly stuff money at the door of our home. Although I never see anyone every time I look at the door, I know it must be you... You don't see me, also because you're afraid those people will come looking for me and use me to deal with you."

"But Rider..."

"Mom really misses you."