Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 76 (Part 2)
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Translated by Pure
Chapter 76.2 Shen Tiantian stated, "I don't want to see him again."
Lin Jingzhe welcomed the two girls back with a smile, "Were the desserts in the hotel tasty?"
"Delicious! Here, try some, brother." Shen Tiantian stuffed a book-shaped butter cookie into his mouth, and began to recall while counting on her fingers innocently, "We had chocolate muffins, egg tarts, fruit tarts, leche frita, and latte. They all taste really good."
Lin Jingzhe was pleased to see that his younger sister did not seem to be affected by the traumatic accident. He touched her long hair longingly, took a box of cookies brought by her, and held it towards Xiao Chi, "Want to taste it? It’s quite nice, we can bring some to your grandma."
Xiao Chi glanced at Shen Tiantian who quickly also turned to look at him. Without moving his left hand, that was on Lin Jingzhe’s waist, he grabbed a cookie with his right and tasted it, nodded, and said, " Not bad, but just a little heavy on the butter."
"Really?" Shen Tiantian smiled until her eyes curved, "I think it's just right."
"Let's go home. Brother Jingzhe is probably very tired today and needs to rest early." Xiao Miao hurriedly interrupted their conversation and suggested it to the elders. Lin Jingzhe, who felt the current atmosphere was somewhat weird, also followed suit, " Indeed, it's getting late. Tiantian had already experienced a fright today, she needs to get a good night's sleep since she still needs to attend school tomorrow."
The elders, who had discussed various follow-up investigations at the dinner table, had no objection to this. Yu Shuyuan and Shen Juanying were talking and laughing all the way to the parking lot, while Lin Runsheng remained silent until they got to the car. After he opened the car door, Lin Runsheng stood there and looked at his son who was in Xiao Chi’s embrace. Seeing that his son seemed to be ready to depart with him to the Xiao Family’s house, he stammered to say, "Jing...Jingzhe..."
Lin Jingzhe stopped at his call and looked back. Lin Runsheng originally had a mind full of words, but immediately fell silent after meeting his son's gaze, he didn’t know what to say.
Shen Tiantian had been silently following behind her brother all this time. Seeing this was the perfect opportunity, she asked in a quiet voice, "Brother, you aren’t coming home with us?"
Lin Jingzhe felt that Xiao Chi's arm around his waist tightened, and the originally peaceful woody fragrance emitted from his body gradually stiffen. Xiao Shenxing and Yu Shuyuan had subconsciously positioned Lin Jingzhe's destination to their own home, but this moment, they suddenly awoke from their stupor. Xiao Shenxing stopped in his tracks and looked back. He was startled to see Lin Runsheng's eyes brimming with tears, the sight caused Xiao Shenxing to feel a pang of guilt.
Yu Shuyuan numbly loosened her hand from her husband’s, stepped forward, and discretely stabbed her son's ribs with her elbow. When she saw Xiao Chi’s unchanging long face and his unwillingness to relinquish Lin Jingzhe, she simply stretched out her hand to grab a part of his back forcefully twisted it.
"Jingzhe." Yu Shuyuan smiled and patted Lin Jingzhe's arm, to the latter who had finally regained his freedom, and suggested empathetically, "Your dad is probably scared as well, take their car and accompany him."
Lin Jingzhe looked at her and nodded with a smile. He then gently squeezed Xiao Chi's hand that was stubbornly holding the hem of his clothes as a comfort.
"By the way, Jingzhe." Yu Shuyuan quickly added before he left, "We decided not to tell grandma of this matter. Grandma is up in age, while she is concentrating on worshiping the Buddha, her body is not very healthy. We are worried that she will be frightened, and her body may poorly, so when you go home, remember not to say anything, okay?"
Lin Jingzhe recalled the elderly's high cholesterol and blood pressure, and nodded immediately, "I understand"
******
Lin Jingzhe thought that his father and Shen Juanying would ask about the matter between himself and Xiao Chi, but they surprisingly didn’t. Lin Runsheng just continued to drive with a sullen face all the way back. He maintained a speed under forty kilometers per hour, the ride was very stable and calm.
The hug in the police station during the day seemed to be a whole different person, forced in a moment of desperation. Lin Jingzhe still remembered his stiff limbs and the fragrance of detergent on the clothes.
Shen Juanying, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, noticed the sweat on her husband’s temples and couldn’t help but shake her head.
Shen Tiantian held her brother's wrist and refused to let go. She was obviously very sleepy, but she continued to insist on not letting Lin Jingzhe go after returning home.
She looked somewhat traumatized. Lin Jingzhe touched her sweaty hair, and sighed with guilt. "I'm sorry."
It was all because of him that this little girl now had to live with such a terrible memory.
Shen Tiantian opened her eyes in a half-awake state. She had heard his apology, and refused it by shaking her head slightly. She then asked again, "Brother, aren't you afraid?"
Lin Jingzhe sat on the edge of her bed, tucked her in, and replied in a relaxed tone, "I'm your older brother, how can I be afraid? Go to sleep."
Shen Tiantian closed her eyes slightly, as if she had fallen asleep, but after a moment of silence, she asked softly, "Brother."
Lin Jingzhe, "Hmm?"
"When we left the police office room." Shen Tiantian pouted in a daze, "I saw Brother Xiao kiss you."
Lin Jingzhe fell into an awkward silence. He recalled how he recklessly kissed Xiao Chi in bare feet in public after the calamity, and felt that the image he had maintained in front of his sister had collapsed a bit, so he responded with an embarrassed hum.
Shen Tiantian continued to ask, "Brother, you like him?"
Lin Jingzhe put one hand on her younger sister's bed, and patted her head gently with the other, as comfortingly as Xiao Chi had previously done to himself. Shen Tiantian's room was very warm, filled with various kinds of pink and red doll trinkets he bought for her. Shen Tiantian bed was also updated by him, to a princess canopy bed, and under the comfortable lights, after a momentary hesitation, Lin Jingzhe replied dreamily, "Yes, I like him."
Shen Tiantian finally fell asleep, and the little hand that was holding Lin Jingzhe's sleeve loosened after a while.
Lin Jingzhe continued to sit there for a while, recalling the thrilling situation when his sister jumped into the truck and fought with the driver during the day. Although he knew that she should not be able to hear it, Lin Jingzhe still smiled and pinched Shen Tiantian's little nose and sternly warned, "Stinky brat, if you dare to fight like today again in the future, you best believe I will beat you up."
After he finished speaking, he leaned over and kissed Shen Tiantian's forehead, turned off the light and quietly departed.
In the dark, Shen Tiantian, who should have fallen asleep, gently opened her eyes.
Her hand that was under the quilt stretched out to touch her own forehead. Shen Tiantian looked at the door, her brother, thinking that she had already fallen asleep, was carefully walking outside, without a clue of the endless thoughts in her mind. After a while, she turned over and sighed helplessly.
When Lin Jingzhe passed the corridor, he heard the sound of Lin Runsheng's crying, from what seemed to be resonating from the master bedroom. He looked downstairs to make sure; his father and Shen Juanying were indeed not in the living room.
He knew it wasn’t a good idea for him to try and comfort his father. Lin Runsheng had endured the whole day, it was obvious he didn't want to cry in front of the children. Such a feat was quite commendable; several times Lin Jingzhe had thought that he would have caved in, but who knew that he was able to hold back until now. After standing at the door and listening for a while, Lin Jingzhe turned and walked into the room the Shen Family had previously prepared for. He took a bath and laid in bed, but could not fall asleep no matter what. Realizing this matter was helpless, Lin Jingzhe wrote a note and left the house.
On his way, he called Xiao Chi about his arrival, and the latter waited in the yard in his pajamas and slippers.
The Xiao Family hadn’t fallen asleep either. Seeing the two children still sticking together at the end of the day, Yu Shuyuan and her husband both shook their heads and laughed.
Grandma Xiao was left in the dark, she wasn’t made away from the experiences the younger generation had gone through today. Hence, after seeing Lin Jingzhe, she dragged him to the Buddhist hall to help her desiper inscribed bamboo slips.
The elderly smiled and praised Lin Jingzhe who patiently read the divination book for her page by page, "You are still the best, much better than your uncle and auntie."
After the amulet incident, Lin Jingzhe felt inexplicably in awe of this gentle and kind elderly. If it wasn't for picking up his amulet, it was hard to say if he could still safely be here reading for her. Grandma Xiao’s smile looked rather superficial on her usually stern face, but after getting along for a long time, Lin Jingzhe realized how innocent and lovely she was. Thus, his attitude when conversing with her was very gentle and soft, like coaxing a child. He took out the box of cookies that Shen Tiantian brought him from his pocket and handed it over. "Don’t eat too much okay? A maximum of five pieces a day."
"It smells so good." The old lady’s nose twitched, and bursted into a hearty laugh while holding the cookie. She took a peek outside the Buddhist Hall, and rapidly put the cookie onto the altar table. She made a /shh/ gesture to the confused-looking Lin Jingzhe, and explained in a low voice, "I’m giving Bodhisattva a whiff too."
Lin Jingzhe tilted his head and smiled as Grandma Xiao chanted scriptures with her hands clasped together, and looked at the smiling and compassionate eyes of the Bodhisattva behind the incense sticks. After thinking about it, he knelt on the futon and thanked the deity wholeheartedly.
However, no matter how brave he tried to act, a person’s unconscious reaction could never be faked. In the middle of the night, Xiao Chi was woken up by the sound of Lin Jingzhe’s sleep talking. He quietly sat up. With the help of the moonlight pouring in from the window, he looked at Lin Jingzhe sweating and struggling profusely, as if he was bound by some invisible chain. Xiao Chi was heartbroken and wanted to gently wake him up when—
Suddenly there was a soft ‘shhh’ in the darkness, and Xiao Chi’s whole body jolted, and his muddled mind completely awoke. It was only then did he realize his elderly grandma was actually in the room, standing by the bed closer to Lin Jingzhe's side.
"Grandma—" Xiao Chi looked at her rarely seen solemn and tense expression, and just wanted to speak out.
Grandma Xiao raised her hand to interrupt him, shook her head slightly, and silently looked at Xiao Chi.
The eyes from the two very different generations twinkled with strange shimmering lights in the night. Xiao Chi soon interpreted her look, and asked softly, "You’re aware?"
The old lady sighed, raised her hand and compassionately wiped the sweat from Lin Jingzhe's temples. She then tremblingly reached into his pocket, and took out the crookedly embroidery amulet.
After she gently tied a new red thread around Lin Jingzhe's neck, Grandma Xiao caressed Lin Jingzhe's short hair repeatedly, muttering a certain scripture. Lin Jingzhe's frown was loosened little by little under her comfort, and his restless sleeping position gradually eased.
"Amitabha." She withdrew her hand, sighed at her concerned grandson, and said with a smile, "You still want to hide it from me? You are just like your parents, a bunch of worrisome children."
Xiao Chi rhythmically patted the blanket over Lin Jingzhe softly. He put his hands together, bowed, and asked for forgiveness, "There will be no next time. I will go to the Buddhist Hall tomorrow to copy scriptures."