Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 78 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure
Chapter 78.3 Shen Tiantian: My heart is filled with bitterness.
The car body shook slightly, coming into a halt from time to time. Lin Jingzhe recalled his discussion with Elder Fang in the museum a few days ago, and suddenly remembered the words mentioned a while back at the Shen Family's dinner table. He asked Xiao Chi who was driving, "Was Qi Kai's grandfather hospitalized recently?"
Xiao Chi quickly met Shen Tiantian's bright eyes in the rearview mirror, and he then calmly hummed back in response, "It seemed to be high blood pressure. It's an old problem and inevitable with age."
As he spoke, Xiao Chi turned the steering wheel in a circle when Shen Tiantian timely shouted, "Wow! A High elevated passageway!"
Lin Jingzhe followed her gaze and smiled immediately. He proudly explained to his and Xiao Chi’s sister in the back seat, "This is Xiao Chi's idea. This walkway connects our shopping mall and April Wind Square and directly circulates client flow. Isn't it ingenious?"
Shen Tiantian's mouth was as sweet as honey, "Brother Xiao is really amazing!"
The corners of Xiao Chi's mouth twitched faintly as he gave a low hum. Lin Jingzhe was happier than being personally praised. To be honest, Xiao Chi was indeed very outstanding for coming up with such a pioneering idea in this era.
The elevated passageway was made of glass, which looked particularly transparent under the sun. It had already been completely constructed, as the bridge stood in the two buildings like a grand ceremony ribbon. This was simply a stroke of genius. The original small-scale Mixed-Use Building and the stark April Wind Square building were elevated into a higher level because of it. The workers passing by always couldn't help looking up at the dazzling sight in mid-air.
There was an investment promotion recruitment written on the walls outside the construction site. All the storefront on the first floor had been rented out. Various other brands, after knowing the names of the shops on the first floor, have also reached out and extended their interest in renting the upper floors’ space. While the Mixed-Use Building was finishing the last bits of its construction work, at the same time, each store inside was undergoing their own renovations. If all goes to plan, their shopping mall section could be officially opened when the Mixed-Use Building was completed.
Yan City's first high-end commercial building was about to make its emergence. The international-style brand advertisements along the street were completely different from the current Yan City trend. Many young people would even come in groups to take pictures on 2nd Middle Road.
The car left the north of the city, passed through the ever-increasing traffic in Yan City, and finally arrived at their destination.
Lin Jingzhe let Xiao Chi untie his seatbelt as he turned his head to the two younger sisters, "We’re here."
The last time he finally had time to go shopping with Shen Tiantian ended in disaster. The clothes they bought had been piled up in the back seat, and were damaged during the incident and could no longer be worn.
Lin Jingzhe felt he owned her and needed to compensate his little sister, and he just so happened to be free today. Thinking back to when he heard about his poor little sister who couldn’t sleep due to this trauma, he wanted to take Shen Tiantian out to make up for it now.
In the end, Xiao Chi refused to let him drive by himself and insisted on being the chauffeur the whole way.
Without an option, Lin Jingzhe decided to bring Xiao Miao along as well. This way the girls could shop together.
Shopping was not his strong point. Last time, he just numbly followed the whole process to pay the bills. This time, seeing his two younger sisters having fun, Lin Jingzhe chose to walk side by side with Xiao Chi. Xiao Chi, the oldest child, was not happy, "They have enough clothes."
Lin Jingzhe was quite indulgent, "They’re girls."
"Girls are so troublesome." Xiao Chi closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes Xiao Chi saw the two girls joyfully entering another shop ahead. He pursed his lips, took off the buddhist beads coiled on his wrists, and started to turn them one by one; he was trying to conceal his impatience.
Lin Jingzhe comforted him, "Just treat it as a shopping date, and we don't usually have the time to do so."
That’s better.
Xiao Chi's movement of moving the beads paused, he then looped the buddhist beads back on his wrist, then stretched out his hand, slid down Lin Jingzhe's arm, and held his hand. His act wasn’t all that innocent; Xiao Chi's fingers continued to rub around until Lin Jingzhe interlocked their hands together.
They were surrounded by people who also took advantage of the weekend to go shopping. Since it was spring, it was a common activity of buying new clothes. There were also many couples who were out on a date; there were several couples in front of them. Xiao Chi’s palm was hot, this feeling was more ambiguous than hooking shoulders. Lin Jingzhe was a little embarrassed, but managed to keep their interlocking hands in the end.
He felt several gazes focused on their intertwined hands. However, they only paused for a while, and then looked away; their act hadn’t garnered much attention.
Lin Jingzhe relaxed after a while. Right, they were still in a big city where everyone was an independent individual. Since they didn't know one another, who would care to put their two cents about the lives of other strangers?
…
The warm spring sun shone down from the zenith, and in the shopping mall, the two found a drink shop to rest at.
They were always busy with work, it was rare for them to have such a leisurely opportunity to go out and play. The most time they spent together was when doing housework at home after getting off work, and then sleeping in each other's arms.
"It's not good." Xiao Chi frowned after taking a sip of the fruit tea he ordered, and tasted Lin Jingzhe's oolong tea, "Yours is a little better."
Lin Jingzhe good-temperedly exchanged their drinks, looked at the big grown child holding the oolong tea contentedly, and suddenly felt a little rueful about his current life, "After the Mixed-Use Building project is completed, we take some time off to go for a vacation.”
"I wanna go too!" Shen Tiantian popped out of nowhere, sat down next to him, ordered herself a cup of iced americano, and then reached out to her brother, "Money."
Lin Jingzhe smiled and took out his wallet from his pocket and handed it to her.
Shen Tiantian leaned forward and offered her suggestion, "Big brother, why don't we go out together during the summer break. At that time, Yan City just started to heat up. We can plan a trip to Northern Europe, the weather there would be just right."
Xiao Miao was also a little excited after her shopping spree just now, she blushed and agreed, "Northern Europe is good, I second Northern Europe."
Lin Jingzhe was content being surrounded by his younger sisters while Xiao Chi, who was imagining the possibilities of Lin Jingzhe's suggestion, clicked his tongue and drove the girls away, "What europe, what’s it have to do with you guys? Go go go! Go shopping, you got ninety more minutes, after that, we’re going home."
"What–!" Shen Tiantian immediately protested, clinging to her elder brother and coyly protested. Xiao Miao gave her inhuman elder brother a look, and simply moved a chair and sat between the two.
"Okay, okay, okay." Lin Jingzhe obediently agreed to his sister's request to extend their shopping trip, "Go continue on shopping, buy as much as you want. Is the coffee bitter? Do you want to add more sugar?"
Xiao Chi pinched the back of his younger sister’s neck who deliberately sat between him and Lin Jingzhe, approached and asked expressionlessly, "Do you want to die?"
Xiao Miao: "..."
Under the table, Xiao Miao and her brother's feet engaged in a silent but fierce battle. Listening to the other pair of siblings next to them having a sweet and naive conversation, she inwardly cussed– F*ck, why is my life so unfair.
The two younger sisters went to pay the bill together. Seeing Xiao Chi was ready to chase and ‘settle’ his younger sister, Lin Jingzhe hurriedly grabbed him.
He pointed downstairs, "Look what I found."
Xiao Chi looked over, and only to find that there was a sunken plaza built next to the drink shop where they were sitting, and there were many men's clothing stores on display in the plaza.
Shen Tiantian insisted on finishing the cup of deadly sweet Americano with four packs of sugar that Lin Jingzhe personally added in. When she came back after paying with Xiao Miao, she immediately realized something was wrong, "Where did my brother go?"
Xiao Miao looked around in a panic, "Did they leave without us?"
"There’s no way, right?" Shen Tiantian had faith in her brother's moral character, "The two of them may have gone shopping too."
"Impossible!" Xiao Miao shook her head and said with confidence, "My brother hates shopping the most."
The two talked around and found Lin Jingzhe in the sunken plaza. Lin Jingzhe was standing near the entrance of a store. When he saw Xiao Miao and Shen Tiantian, his eyes lit up immediately, "You two are here? Wallet! Wallet!”
Shen Tiantian just returned the wallet to her brother when she saw Xiao Chi coming out from the back of a shelf. Holding a hanger with a dark blue coat, he asked Lin Jingzhe, "Does this look good?"
"Good! Looks great!" Without even looking, Lin Jingzhe replied enthusiastically.
Xiao Chi calmly nodded to the salesperson, handed the clothes to them, and picked up a pair of trousers nearby, "What about this one?"
Lin Jingzhe immediately followed the salesperson to pay, "Buy it, buy it, buy it all!"
Shen Tiantian: "..."
Xiao Miao: "..."
Shen Tiantian narrowed her eyes and stared at Xiao Chi, who was wandering from one store to another, and suddenly said to her brother, "Brother! I'm tired, when can we go back!"
Lin Jingzhe was a little puzzled, "Didn't you just say that you wanted to continue to shop for two more hours?"
"..." Shen Tiantian touched her own crow mouth and resorted to acting coquettishly, "But I'm tired now!"
It was hard to tell if Lin Jingzhe even heard her or not, but he nodded cheerfully.
On the other side of the store, Xiao Chi picked up a thin scarf and just glanced at it when Lin Jingzhe immediately exclaimed, "What a nice scarf! That pattern is beautiful!"
Xiao Chi glanced over, his eyes only momentarily collided with Shen Tiantian's.
Xiao Chi, "Go to that store too."
Shen Tiantian: "..."
Lin Jingzhe, with his wallet in hand, "Okay, okay!"
K.O.——
The sky was getting darker, and after making their way from one commercial building to another, Shen Tiantian, who was wearing high heels, dragged her worn legs, and raised her hand to look at the watch on her wrist. She wanted to cry but didn’t have tears to do so, "Big brother, we’ve been shopping for four hours, can we go back now?”
Lin Jingzhe looked at Xiao Chi’s concentrated face ahead, and comforted his sister with a smile, "Just a little longer, just a little."
Shen Tiantian finally understood Xiao Miao's grievances——
My heart is so bitter.
