Chapter 353: First Volume Chapter 353: Strange Expanse (23)

First Volume Chapter 353: Strange Expanse (23)

(I am a police officer from South Peace Lane Jingju; may I ask if Jiang Bin and Yang Fangfang are your parents?)

Jiang Zhi saw the text message, her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly replied.

(They are my parents.)

(136***: Please come to the First People's Hospital of Pingde Province now.)

Jiang Zhi immediately got up, hastily put on a cotton jacket, and rushed to the destination.

At this hour there were no more buses; she took a taxi and arrived at the hospital entrance.

She saw a police car parked by the roadside and two police officers waiting for her in front of the hospital gate.

The lead Officer Wang, knowing she was deaf-mute, simply wrote in a notebook to inform her of the news.

【Your parents were involved in a serious car accident on the Yunying Expressway.】

Jiang Zhi staggered a step, her body swayed, and she anxiously wrote in the notebook: "How are they now? Police uncle."

【Still being rescued.】

Jiang Zhi's face turned ashen, as if she might faint any moment; she clenched her teeth, suppressing the urge to cry, and thanked the two officers.

The officers asked her some questions.

It was Jiang's father who was driving; he wore a hearing aid and could hear some sounds. He and Jiang Mu worked at the same place, and years ago they bought a van. Besides work, they would help with moving to earn some money.

Tonight after helping someone move, they were on the highway when, just before exiting, an accident occurred.

The van was destroyed; investigators are currently looking for clues, and the police want to ask her whether Jiang's father and Jiang Mu had ever offended anyone before.

Jiang Zhi shook her head.

The elderly couple were conscientious, kind and honest; they got along well with their neighbors, and colleagues often brought gifts to eat at their home; they had never offended anyone.

After the police left, Jiang Zhi came to the front of the operating room.

She took out her phone and sent a text message to a phone number.

Wen Chijin had told her before leaving that if she had anything to discuss, she should send a text to his work phone.

She composed a message; tears rolled from her eye sockets and splashed onto the phone screen, blurring it. She reached out to wipe it away, her trembling fingers pressing the keys.

Not long after sending it, the phone vibrated.

A text message came back.

【Sis, I'm heading back now; wait for me.】

…

The surgery lasted ten hours.

Jiang Zhi leaned against the wall with her head lowered, her fingers constantly intertwining from anxiety; inside she wore pajamas, over which she had casually thrown a cotton jacket, its long hem covering her knees. Her feet were in a pair of house slippers she hadn't had time to change, no socks, and her ankles were frozen red.

When Wen Chijin arrived, dust-covered and hurried, this was the scene he saw.

He walked over and grasped her icy fingers.

The girl lifted her eyes; large tears rolled from her moist, reddened eyes, her raven-black lashes clumping together, she wept silently, her lips bitten by her teeth, drawing blood.

She looked pitiful and desperate.

Wen Chijin's heart softened inexplicably; he instinctively reached out, pulling her into his embrace, gently patting her back to soothe her.

The doctor came out at that moment.

"Both have passed away; please accept my condolences."

Jiang Zhi's vision went black and she fainted.

…

The next afternoon.

Jiang Zhi opened her eyes to see Wen Chijin's exhausted, worried face.

She sat up unsteadily, anxiously gesturing with her fingers: "Ah Chi, I had a nightmare—I dreamed Mom and Dad were in a car accident, it was so scary!"

Wen Chijin said nothing, handing her a cup of hot water.

Jiang Zhi gritted her teeth, the fingers she had stretched out slightly curling; tears slid from her reddened eye corners and fell onto the white sheets, blooming into a dark stain.

Wen Chijin set down the cup, held her in his arms to give her some comfort.

Jiang Zhi trembled violently, her shoulders shaking, her throat letting out a desperate wail.

Her tears soaked the boy's chest.

…

The Jiang family had few relatives; Wen Chijin arranged the funeral, and only a few coworkers of Jiang's father and Jiang Mu came to pay their respects before leaving.

It was not until evening that the funeral concluded.

Wen Chijin tidied up the house, then boiled a bowl of noodles and placed it on the dining table.

From the sofa, Jiang Zhi saw Wen Chijin's face appear in her view, signing: "What's wrong?"

Wen Chijin brushed the hair stuck to her forehead aside and said gently, "Come eat noodles."

Jiang Zhi nodded in response; just as she stood up, she swayed and nearly fell to the ground.

Wen Chijin supported her arm, steadying her body as it began to tip downward.

Jiang Zhi shook her head to indicate she was fine, signing: "I'm okay, Ah Chi; you don't need to worry about me."

Wen Chijin's heavy brow shadow concealed the emotions in his eyes, his thin lips pressed tight; the girl in his arms had grown much thinner over these days, her cheeks increasingly gaunt, like a delicate doll bereft of a soul.

"Mom and Dad have gone to heaven; we will see them again someday."

Jiang Zhi's eyes reddened from crying, her fingers trembling: "Really?"

Wen Chijin nodded: "Really."

…

The grief brought by the passing of their parents lasted for a while.

Jiang Zhi went from washing her face with tears at first to often staring blankly into space later.

The three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment now had only the two of them left.

Spring Festival arrived.

Wen Chijin decorated the house full of festive spirit, pasting paper cutouts on the windows, hanging red tassels on the walls, and even cooked a full table of dishes in the evening.

Jiang Zhi seemed to have moved past her grief, as usual following behind him, watching him wrap dumplings and cook.

Outside the window, fireworks kept bursting, lights were bright, and the streets bustled nonstop.

After finishing the meal, Wen Chijin proposed, "Want to go out for a walk?"

Jiang Zhi thought for a moment and agreed.

They walked onto the street, the cold wind biting, the air filled with the aroma of fried red-braised meat, while several kids lit firecrackers, playing mischievously.

Wen Chijin asked her, "Do you want to eat roasted sweet potato?"

Jiang Zhi smelled the fragrance drifting from the roadside roasted sweet potato stall and nodded with a smile.

Wen Chijin ran to the roasted sweet potato stall, where a long line had formed, with many people wanting to buy.

By the time he returned with the sweet potato, Jiang Zhi was gone.

Wen Chijin searched everywhere but could not find her trace.

Only when he arrived at a secluded, dim alley did he hear a voice coming from inside.

"Your parents' deaths are bad enough, but you're still dragging Wen Chijin down—I've inquired, and Wen Chijin was merely adopted by your parents, not your real brother, so stop clinging to him."

That voice grew sharper and more vicious: "Look at yourself—you can't even speak, a disabled person who can't talk! You'll only be a burden to Wen Chijin!"

Wen Chijin's ink-black eyes were dangerously deep, merging with the night, unable to conceal the scarlet killing intent within.

He strode over, the thin, dark curve of his lips icy cold.

"Song Yuwei!"

Song Yuwei, who had been standing in front of Jiang Zhi, hearing the voice, abruptly stopped speaking and looked toward the darkness.

A figure gradually appeared before her eyes, a black-haired youth like a soul‑hook­ing Asura, making hearts tremble.

Song Yuwei had never seen him like this before; a chill spread from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.