Chapter 357 – The Wooden Plate
Her voice was very weak, a whisper.
Wei Yi looked at her with distress. “How are you fine? It must hurt a lot. I don’t like it when you’re like that – always saying that everything is fine. If it hurts, then say that it hurts. If you are sad, then just say that you’re sad. Why do you keep it in? Mother said, if you have something on your heart, you must say it. Keeping it inside will lead to illness. When you get sick, you won’t be happy. If you are not happy, you will be sad. If Shu’er is sad, I will be sad with you.”
He titled his head. His eyes shone brightly under the moonlight, flickering with a dear foolish innocence.
His words tore her apart, making her feel as if her heart burnt from acid. It was painful yet she couldn’t vent it out. Only her red-rimmed eyes betrayed her emotions, but Wei Yi didn’t notice it because her face was being obscured by the shadows.
He waited for a while, but she didn’t reply, so he continued, “Shu’er, I know you took me to Big Brother Mo Ruo’s place to treat my illness in the hopes that I will get better. I know all of these. You treat me so well and you also treat Big Brother Jing Rong very well. But you never said a word about it. Mother said that a quiet girl is a girl with many things on her heart. Can’t you talk to me about it?”
If it was like usual, Wei Yi’s non-stop chatter would have given Ji Yunshu a headache by now. However, at that moment, his words only brought her endless warmth which spread from inside out, wrapping her tightly like a cocoon. She shook her head weakly.
“You can’t understand, Wei Yi.”
“Why?”
“If you can live happily, I don’t mind giving you everything, aside from this. Knowing too much would not be good for you.”
“Why?”
She raised her hand and stroked his hair tenderly. She leaned on the side to face his bright eyes. “Wei Yi, I somewhat regret this. I wish ardently for you to forever be like this, simple and oblivious. Always living happily every day, free of worries. No need to burden yourself with unhappy things. This is how I want you to live.”
Isn’t it good like that? A worry-free person is one who lives the happiest.
He blinked at her, then pouted. A frown appeared as he contemplated her words. After a moment, he appeared to understand her meaning yet couldn’t catch the many subtleties in it. He straightened his body and patted his chest with conviction. “Don’t worry, Shu’er. I can take care of myself. It’s true!”
He spoke with great self-confidence.
After that, he took out a cloth with bloody letters on it and a bell necklace. Then, he held it in front of her. “Shu’er, didn’t you say you will let me hold onto these things and deliver it? I promise you, I will find a way to do it.”
Ji Yunshu became alert. She glanced to the outside and grabbed Wei Yi’s hands. She warned him, “Be quiet. Don’t let the people outside know.”
“I understand.”
“Wei Yi, listen to me carefully. Let play a game – a hidden object game. Pretend you have a stomach ache and tell those people you want to go out. After that, say that you are hungry and you want to go to the kitchen to eat something. They don’t want you to be too noisy and can’t let you create a scene. Since meal time has passed, there won’t be many people in the kitchen. However, you still have to be careful and make sure no one sees you take out the things in your hands before you hide them somewhere.”
“Hiding these things?”
“Mm. In fact, you have to look for a delivery man. You can hide the objects on that person or put it in his cart. In fact, as long as these objects could be transported out, it doesn’t matter how.”
“Okay! I understand.”
“However, if you can’t do it, hurry and come back here. You absolutely must not be caught, understand?”
“Mm!” He nodded heavily then got up. “Shu’er, I know what to do. When I was at home, Big Brother Shan and Second Brother Gou often played that game with me and I always won.”
“You can’t let yourself be caught.”
“I won’t let anything happen to me. Shu’er, be good and wait for my return.”
He beamed at her before turning around to knock on the locked door.
The two bandits who were guarding outside heard his shout. The tanned one walked to the window and peeked in. He asked in a loud voice, “What are you being noisy for?”
Wei Yi popped up in front of the shabby window and pouted. “Big Brother, my tummy hurts.”
Ah! The man got scared by the sudden appearance of Wei Yi. Can you not scare me like that?
“Your stomach is not feeling well? What does that have to do with me?”
“I want to go to the toilet.”
“What toilet? There’s lots of space, can you just settle it here?” The man berated Wei Yi. We’re all men here. Just settle your needs on the spot, what need are there for a toilet?! How precious can he be?
“Don’t wanna!” Wei Yi refused and threw a tantrum. “I don’t want to do it here. It will stink! I want to go to the toilet. Hurry and open the door. Bring me to the toilet…”
Noisy!
The man’s impatience was palpable. He turned to his companion and discussed a bit.
“What should we do?”
The other replied, “Hurry and bring him to the toilet.”
“That won’t be good. The First Master told us to keep watch on them. What if they escape? We will be responsible for this.”
“He’s an idiot. Where can an idiot escape to? Besides, didn’t the First Master told us we can’t let something happens to him. His mood is quite bad at this time. If we disturb him over this small matter, we will have to bear the consequences. Anyway, bring him to the toilet quickly. What kind of trick a retard can play? This is our stronghold. If he created a disturbance, he will just get beaten to death.”
The tanned man had a twisted expression as he pondered the other’s arguments. He finally sighed and agreed. “Fine, I’ll bring him to the toilet. I don’t want to be in the same place as this idiot. His stupidity might rub off on me.”
The other man bluntly replied, “Alright!”
As a result, the tanned man opened the door and dragged Wei Yi away. He didn’t forget to warn the latter, “This brat drank so much wine but sobered so quickly. What about you, little scholar? Can you hold your liquor? Let find out on another day.”
Bam! The door shut once again.
Ji Yunshu could still hear Wei Yi arguing with the other man.
“Don’t pull me. I don’t like you! You forced me to drink the most. I hate you.”
“I hate you too. Retard!”
“You are the retard. Your whole family is retarded.” Their voices became more and more distant.
Ji Yunshu felt the anxiety gnawing at her stomach. Apart from the worry, her heart ached. Her beautiful eyebrows knitted together. She reached for the thing on her neck and pinched it between her fingers a small wooden plate – her mother’s memento. What does the pattern on it signify?