Jiang City, the Jing Family.
It has been ten days since Jing Jihan went missing in a car accident.
Three days ago, Mr. Jing got up from his sickbed, took a car to the winding road where Jing Jihan had the accident, and stood there all afternoon, leaning on his cane, even enduring a rain shower that afternoon. No matter who tried to persuade him, he wouldn't listen, just stood there, staring at the lush woods below the cliff, without saying a word, and was only convinced to come back late by the butler.
No one in the Jing Family dared to say to his face that Jing Jihan was really dead, but seeing the old man go to the accident site on the seventh day and stand there the whole day, it seems clear in his heart that his most hopeful grandson is no longer in this world.
Yet, he was stubborn, unwilling to admit it, lying on his sickbed, he yelled at the nurse comforting him, "Who said my grandson is gone? If that brat Jing Jihan doesn't come back alive to see me off to the end, I'll chase him to the underworld and whip him myself!"
Most of the management rights under Yu Jing Group and the Jing Family's name had long been handed over to Jing Jihan, but Mr. Jing commanded great respect, and all branches of the family followed his lineage.
His illness made half the business world tremble, fearing that he might choose the end, and now with such a big event, naturally no one dared to defy him, various speculations swirled within the household, but many thoughts weren't openly discussed.
The nurse was chased away by Mr. Jing, the door to the room opened and closed again, no one knew who dared to come in undeterred.
In a fit of impatience, Mr. Jing picked up a medicine bottle and hurled it toward the door: "Get out!"
Jing Luozhou deftly caught the hurled bottle, quickly scanning the doorway, and then closed it after entering, murmuring continuously as he approached the sickbed, "Grandpa, if you keep getting upset like this, maybe you won't wait for my brother to come back, I'll be the only grandson to see you off, and you wouldn't be satisfied being seen off by such an unworthy grandson as me, right?"
Mr. Jing twitched with anger at his words but vaguely caught the hidden meaning within, his tired yet spirited eyes glared at him viciously.
The grandfather and grandson exchanged looks for a moment without speaking. To avoid eavesdroppers, Jing Luozhou raised two fingers towards Mr. Jing and gently hooked with them, then mouthed, "My, brother, is, alive."
Mr. Jing continued to scrutinize Jing Luozhou's expression, gazing for quite a while, his eyes gradually brightening.
With the Jing Family's standing in the Chinese business community, it seemed they were only admired, yet within this household, despite flawless security measures, it was hard to assure those close by weren't harboring other intentions, even this repeatedly checked sickroom couldn't guarantee the absence of bugs.
Seeing that Mr. Jing understood, Jing Luozhou smiled, placed the medicine bottle he had just caught back beside the sickbed, then adopted a casual demeanor as if he was merely there to bicker with Mr. Jing, and strolled out.
Two hours ago, Jing Luozhou received a phone call from an unfamiliar number, thinking it was another resourceful girl chasing him. He hung up several times without answering; the person persistently called back multiple times. Just as he considered blocking the number, a text message came through.
188XXXXXXXX:[Dare you try blocking me?]
At the instant he saw the text, Jing Luozhou inexplicably felt a chill down his spine, simultaneously noticing the number light up on the screen again, he swiftly answered the call: "Who are you?"
There was a moment of silence from the other end of the phone, yet during this silence, Jing Luozhou paused suddenly, glanced sharply up at the sky, it was still broad daylight, ghosts were impossible.