Chapter 187: Chapter 185: The Child Picked Up
She hurriedly ran back to Norman Bennett’s office, only to find that he hadn’t returned yet. Elliana Lyle had no choice but to sit on the sofa and wait.
She was in a panic at the moment, Brian White must have found out, otherwise he wouldn’t have said that.
But he didn’t explicitly say it, perhaps she was overthinking it.
Just two minutes after she sat down, there was a click, and the office door opened. She looked towards the door and saw it was Raymond Wood.
At the same time, Raymond also looked at her.
"Miss Lyle."
After greeting her politely, Raymond placed the files he was holding onto the desk.
Seeing this, she quickly asked, "When will Norman Bennett be done?"
Raymond hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "Well... It should be soon. Should I go check for you?"
The statement was very courteous, obviously indicating that she should just wait patiently.
Of course, Elliana also realized this, shook her head, and said, "No need, you go ahead with your work."
After Raymond left, he suddenly turned back and asked her, "Miss Lyle, I’m ordering some food. Have you eaten?"
She replied honestly, "Yes, I just ate next door. I’m not hungry now."
Her response took Raymond by surprise. He carefully observed Elliana’s expression; it was natural and not guilty at all, making him question his own assumptions.
He then smiled and said, "So it was you, Miss Lyle, that I saw downstairs. I thought I was seeing things."
At this point, Elliana suddenly understood what Raymond was suspicious of; otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen her and then asked if she had eaten.
This kind of misunderstanding was understandable, so she explained, "I told Norman Bennett that I had a meal with Mr. White."
The statement was made casually and with a fitting tone, causing Raymond to feel ashamed upon hearing it; he had misunderstood. After all, Miss Lyle was married to the CEO now; how could she still be as willful as before?
"Alright, Miss Lyle, I’ll head down first then."
After Raymond left, a few minutes later, Norman Bennett returned.
She threw herself into his arms and began recounting the events with Brian White.
"Am I going to be arrested?"
"Not while I’m here, you won’t."
...
―――Miaoren Pharmacy.
Brian White had just entered the pharmacy and called out to the elderly man playing with his phone at the counter: "Grandpa."
"Hmm?" The old man was a bit surprised to see Brian White, lifting his glasses, frowning as if to see more clearly.
Then, the old man shook his head, sighed, and said, "Back so soon? The girl is already taken; you have no chance. Now you decide to treat someone to a meal? What were you doing all this time?"
Faced with the old man’s teasing, Brian White did not respond directly, simply saying, "You’re right, Grandpa. I’m heading upstairs now. You should close up early."
"Alright, go to bed early, I’ll close the shop in a while." The old man finished speaking, and Brian White was already out of sight.
He shook his head helplessly; this child, as he grew up, talked less and less with him, handling everything superficially.
Brian White was a child he had picked up when he was middle-aged, found in a dumpster, probably about five or six years old.
The old man examined a picture of a high school student on his phone, finally smiling, as if reminiscing...
In 1998, winter.
Today was the Winter Solstice, a day to eat dumplings. Early on, Zhicai Yin closed the pharmacy’s doors, planning to go out for some dumplings, as he didn’t know how to make them himself.
On his way back, full and content, he saw a child sitting by the dumpster, gnawing on vegetable leaves thrown away by others.
It was already dark, and if not for the moonlight, Zhicai Yin might not have seen him.
Even though it was cold, the child, about five or six years old, was scantily clad, wearing only a small white shirt, black pants, his hair slightly long, hanging over his forehead, unable to hide those "green" eerie eyes, like a wolf, fierce and haunting.
"Little one, are you lost?" Zhicai Yin finally spoke, thinking it must have been an illusion. How could a little child seem like a wolf?
However, the delicately-featured boy said nothing, quietly chewing on the leaf in his hand.
Having no other options, Zhicai Yin stepped forward, took off his large cotton jacket, draped it over the boy’s back, and said, "Come with me, staying here is no way to be."
Saying this, he didn’t care whether the boy was willing or not, and directly took the boy’s hand.
The two smoothly returned to the pharmacy, and thus, this encounter turned two strangers into family.
Originally, Zhicai Yin intended to send the child back home, but he refused no matter what, saying it was his family that threw him out.
His memories returned, and the phone screen went black.
In his life, he had neither children nor a partner, just this one adopted grandson, but as the grandson grew, he became more peculiar.
Already twenty-seven or twenty-eight, he still had not found a partner.
Thinking of this, he let out a long sigh, shaking his head, "I’m old now, can’t control, won’t control."
At this moment, Brian White hurriedly ran down from upstairs, covering his nose with one hand, eyebrows tightened slightly: "Grandpa, did you eat stinky tofu again?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then said, "I had a pack at noon. I even opened the window specially, still smells?"
Brian White didn’t reply, simply covered his nose and stared at the old man for a long while, finally saying, "I’m going back to the company to sleep, you rest early."
"Huh? Is it that bad? Are you coming back tomorrow? I’ll stew some pig’s feet for you."
"I’ll be back."
With that, Brian White disappeared entirely from the old man’s sight.
...
―――Moonlake Villas.
"No way!"
Elliana firmly refused the man, then said, "I need to take care of my health, you’d better behave yourself recently!"
"Fine, come over here, I just want a hug."
...
A night of unrest, like someone who promised not to eat stinky tofu but drank all the soup.
Whether eating or not didn’t make much of a difference anymore.
In the morning, as soon as Norman Bennett left, Hannah Collins came in.
"Little Sprout, time to get up, let’s run."
Upon hearing the word ’run’, she pulled the quilt over her head and exclaimed impatiently, "No, I want to sleep, you run yourself."
...
The morning sun had yet to rise, and the cool breeze that brushed her face left Elliana with goosebumps. To be honest, it was a bit chilly.
"Run!" Hannah’s voice echoed in her ears, and she was also unwilling to hear it.
She thought hiding under the covers would stop Hannah from bothering her, but Hannah picked her up, helping her change into workout clothes and sneakers.
Leaving her no choice but to run.
After barely two minutes on the track, she was already panting, feebly saying, "Hannah, slow down, I’m tired."
"Chant with me, one-two-one, one-two-one, one-two-three-four."
She didn’t feel like chanting at all, but couldn’t resist Hannah’s stern urging, so in the end, she had to chant along.
It felt like she was Hannah’s little soldier undergoing training, but compared to real soldiers, this was mere child’s play.
Running along the deserted forest road for a full five kilometers, Hannah finally let her stop, and now they started walking back.
Slowing down the pace, she noticed the birds singing and flowers blooming along the roadside, the ditches full of leaves, and after several more steps, she even spotted wild raspberries!