The boy the Luo family sent over had already been in the hospital for three days.

It was said that he was pushed off the second-floor balcony by his own biological mother—a man like the head of the Luo family, who valued his pride so much, would of course never voluntarily let outsiders know about such a thing.

It was because the family was arguing so fiercely in the hospital room that the security guards and the doctor on duty had rushed over to stop them and mediate, and had overheard it from outside the door.

The cause was surprisingly that the child wanted to explain clearly that he had not been the one to lose his sister.

The matter of Mrs. Luo, however, had spread quite widely, and had even been reported in the news. A mother who had lost two children had suffered a severe shock, fallen seriously ill, and her mind had become unclear.

It was said that the Luo family had later taken her to many hospitals, but the treatment had made no progress. It was only after they had adopted another child that her condition had finally improved.

Many people sighed over this, saying that it was not easy for a mother who had lost her children. So every time they heard Mrs. Luo chattering on about how her son had been disobedient and had run off that day, and had been abducted along with his sister, they couldn’t say much more.

But no one could have imagined that the so-called “doting mother” didn’t have a single truthful word in her mouth.

The seemingly mad victim was actually the culprit who had shirked responsibility, and to this day, she dared not even admit it. Yet, she could go so crazy as to push her own biological son off the second floor just because the lost child said, “I didn’t lose my sister.”

At first, the family had even wanted to hide this matter.

It was said that the head of the Luo family had flown into a rage and investigated the truth, not because he was heartbroken for his son, but because he was in a hurry to take this child out to meet someone for a business deal.

“It was later cleared up. That child was the one who was lost. If it weren’t for the older brother, that little girl would never have come back.”

The attending doctor, after examining Luo Zhi, returned to his office and chatted with his colleague in a low voice. “That was what the argument was about—the head of the Luo family found out he had been deceived by his wife and had a huge tantrum.”

“Lying is wrong, but this kind of thing shouldn’t be hard to investigate, right?” The colleague typed on his keyboard and shrugged upon hearing this. “There are surveillance cameras everywhere. Unless they were deliberately avoiding it, a family like theirs could have found out with just one investigation.”

“Besides, even if a seven-year-old child led his sister astray, how big of a crime is that?”

The colleague turned around and handed him the report just sent from the lab. “Is it worth so many adults watching a child get hurt like this, ignoring it, and telling him to just endure it for his mother’s peace of mind?”

These were all their family matters, and of course, they couldn’t say much… but the boy who was sent over had more than just a head injury.

The old injuries from those experiences were one thing, but the new injuries on his body, anyone with eyes could see what had happened.

Now that family was putting on a show of having just learned the truth, full of regret and guilt. But if the head of the Luo family hadn’t been annoyed about that business deal and hadn’t investigated the truth, this matter might have been casually covered up just like all the other injuries on Luo Zhi’s body.

The colleague asked, “Is the child still not talking?”

“Not saying anything,” the doctor shook his head. “He’s been like this since he woke up, just looking out the window.”

Luo Zhi’s condition was very poor when he was first brought in. He had fallen from the second floor and hit his head. Although it was fortunate that he had remained in a coma and couldn’t wake up.

Because Luo Zhi had no consciousness, when he was taken for further examination with a scan, a lesion in his brain was also unexpectedly discovered.

The lesion was still very small and couldn’t have caused any substantial physical effects. A concussion also wouldn’t cause someone to be unconscious. In the end, they speculated that the child probably just didn’t want to wake up.

Because there were too many things he couldn’t understand and didn’t want to think about anymore, he would rather just keep sleeping.

Luo Zhi remained in a coma until the third day when he finally opened his eyes, but he had never spoken, only silently allowing his dressings to be changed. Whenever he had the chance to sit up, he would lean against the window and look outside.

“Is he waiting for someone?” the colleague guessed. “The way he grew up so safely, it doesn’t seem like he was cared for by that family.”

“I’m not sure. Anyway, that family is watching him very closely, afraid he’ll run away.”

The doctor wasn’t sure either, but he still sighed. “Look at the show those people are putting on. Having just learned the truth and repented, they must personally take care of him for a period of time.”

The doctor sighed. Just as he was about to change his clothes and get off work, his right hand suddenly paused. He took out a small folded piece of paper from the pocket of his white coat.

The piece of paper was quite inconspicuous. On it was a string of numbers neatly written in pencil, which looked like a phone number.

The doctor placed the piece of paper on the table. He and his colleague looked at it carefully for a long time before they could make out the last character, which was blurred and smeared, as “Ren.”

The doctor and his colleague exchanged a look. Neither of them spoke, and both their expressions were hesitant.

The boy was still in the hospital room, motionlessly facing the window, waiting for someone.

…

Luo Zhi faced the window, waiting for someone.

The sunlight outside the window was a bit dazzling. He kept his eyes open, his forehead pressed against the glass. His field of vision was only a expanse of bright white sky and earth.

He was spoken to several times by the people beside him before he came back to his senses amidst the intense ringing in his ears and dizziness.

Luo Zhi slowly blinked his eyes, turned his gaze, and looked at the person by the bed.

He could recognize that the other person was his older brother—after he had woken up from this injury, the other person no longer, as in the past, indiscriminately determined that he had bullied Jian Huaiyi and annoyed his mother. He was being cared for very thoroughly and carefully.

He heard that his parents were looking for doctors for his illness everywhere. He heard that when he was in a coma, his older brother had brought his little sister to his bedside. The little sister had been terrified and had cried very sadly.

He heard that they were going to give him back his name, let him be called Luo Chi again, and that his father had already had someone handle the procedures.

“Xiao Chi,” his older brother said softly to him by the bed. “We were wrong these past two years, we misunderstood a lot of things… Don’t be angry anymore, eat something.”

Luo Zhi looked at the congee in the lunchbox and silently pursed his lips.

He shook his head gently, and the movement brought on another wave of headache and nausea. He grunted and had to close his eyes tightly.

He wasn’t angry, nor was he deliberately refusing to eat.

This wasn’t the first time he had experienced this. In the three years he was abducted, he had also been beaten and had concussions many times. Every time this happened, he couldn’t eat anything and would even vomit severely from drinking water.

Luo Zhi really couldn’t muster the strength to explain. He supported his body and retreated into the shadows of the corner of the bed.

His frame was thinner and weaker than that of an average twelve-year-old. Draped in the somewhat large hospital gown, he sat leaning against the corner of the wall in the shadows, his skin paler than usual, without a trace of blood.

In the two days he was in a coma, Luo Zhi had had a very long dream.

Many fragments of the dream were already completely blurry, but the feeling seemed to have spread out from the dream. The suffocating feeling of drowning in a dark, icy sea still lingered, clinging to his back with a cold sweat.

Luo Zhi still couldn’t quite distinguish between dream and reality. He sat in the corner with his eyes downcast, thought carefully for a while, and asked a question in a low voice.

Finally hearing him speak, the person by the bed showed some obvious joy, but after hearing Luo Zhi’s question clearly, he inexplicably frowned. “Auntie Ren isn’t married. How could she have a son?”

Luo Zhi leaned half of his body against the cold wall.

The coolness seeped through the bandage to his forehead, through the cold sweat, and made his mind a little clearer.

This was different from the dream.

Unlike in the dream, no one had deliberately guided him to trust and be close to his older brother and parents. No one had woven a mirage of “big brother really likes his gift, little sister also thinks of him every day, and the family can be reunited after mother gets well” to deceive him.

He had already found out about this a few years ago when he had secretly asked the people who worked for the Luo family.

He knew that his older brother was not interested in the gifts he sent. Even if he received them, he would casually toss them into some inconspicuous place, so he had stopped sending them.

…But none of this mattered at all.

Luo Zhi thought about what had happened in the dream. He clenched his fists tightly, and a cold, thin sweat seeped from his palms. “…Big brother.”

“I want to find Auntie Ren,” Luo Zhi asked in a low voice. “Big brother, can I trouble you to lend me your phone for five minutes?”

The person by the bed frowned slightly at this polite phrasing—even though it had been they who had repeatedly demanded that Luo Zhi be polite and speak courteously, not to bring those uneducated habits home.

“Auntie Ren is very busy. She might not be able to come anytime.”

The other person tried to persuade him in a gentle voice. “Isn’t it good for big brother to take care of you? If there’s anything you want, you can tell big brother.”

Luo Zhi blinked away the cold sweat.

He sat motionless in the corner, his chest rising and falling slowly a few times. He said thank you and proactively reached out to take the lunchbox.

Big brother was lying to him.

Auntie Ren knew he was injured. She would definitely come. The only possibility was that the news was being hidden from her.

Just like in the past. Every time he was injured because of his mother’s loss of control, he would be kept at home under the pretext of “staying at home for a while” until his injuries had healed before he could go out.

He didn’t want to worry his aunt, so he had never taken the initiative to say anything, but this time was different.

Luo Zhi ate the congee spoonful by spoonful, forcing himself to swallow.

He couldn’t eat anything at all, but if he didn’t eat, he wouldn’t have any strength, and his body wouldn’t be able to hold up for whatever came next.

When his father and older brother were not paying attention, he found a way to secretly write a note, but he couldn’t rely on just that—he had always known what to do.

He was very good at running away.

He had to escape as soon as possible. There was something he had to do immediately, without any delay.

Luo Zhi ate more than half of the congee in the lunchbox. The other person looked very satisfied, gently patted his shoulder, and told him that there was no need to be so polite in a family, and that he could just say whatever he wanted in the future.

Luo Zhi behaved very obediently, smiled, and thanked him again.

He then took the warm water the other person handed him, took his medicine himself, and cooperatively closed his eyes to lie down and rest, waiting for the pills to suppress the churning dizziness.

After an unknown amount of time, the door to the hospital room creaked softly.

A hushed conversation came from the doorway. It was his father, who had come to find his older brother to talk about business.

For the time being, no one was guarding his bed. Luo Zhi quietly got out of bed, stuffed a pillow under the covers to make it look like someone was sleeping, and waited by the door, holding his breath.

…

Luo Jun finished his conversation with his father and pushed open the door to the hospital room.

He actually felt a little soft-hearted and wanted to lend his phone to Luo Zhi. But once the news of Luo Zhi’s injury got out, Madam Ren would definitely not let it go. When the time came, it would cause a huge scene, and even this business deal would very likely be lost.

Besides… the truth that was accidentally uncovered this time had also caught each of them completely off guard.

In order for this business deal to succeed, and also to mend the rifts created by past misunderstandings, they could only let Luo Zhi recuperate here for a little longer.

His father had gone to contact a hospital for Luo Zhi and would provide him with the best treatment. Luo Jun stayed here to take care of his younger brother. Although it was not convenient to let Luo Zhi have contact with the outside world, this might also be the only remaining opportunity for Luo Zhi to accept them again.

Luo Jun glanced at the hospital bed. Just as he was about to walk over with a sense of relief, he was suddenly hit hard by the teenager.

Luo Jun was caught off guard and took two steps back. The door, which he hadn’t had time to close, swung out of his control and slammed loudly against the wall.

By the time he came to his senses, Luo Zhi had already rushed out of the hospital room.

Luo Jun’s face changed. “Xiao Chi!”

The bodyguards the Luo family had left outside immediately came to intercept him, but Luo Chi’s reaction was faster. Using the advantage of his size, he dodged them with a few twists and turns and rushed down the stairs nimbly.

Such strenuous activity immediately brought on an exceptionally sharp headache and ringing in his ears.

Luo Zhi bit his tongue hard, zigzagged a few times in the corridor, shook off those people, and flew down the stairs without looking back.

His heart pounded violently against his eardrums. His vision began to darken, and his consciousness became more and more blurry. He didn’t know from which step he had missed and tumbled down, but he skillfully protected his head, neck, and vital chest area with his arms and fell in a heap.

Luo Zhi rolled on the ground, propped himself up to run again, but when he looked up, he suddenly saw a very familiar figure in front of him.

A familiar embrace caught him.

His aunt held him tightly, anxiously checking his injuries, constantly asking him what had happened.

Luo Zhi suddenly couldn’t stand anymore.

The injury on his head finally started to hurt at this moment. Dizziness instantly swept through every corner of his consciousness. His body began to disobey him. Luo Zhi tried hard to open his eyes, but the black fog in front of him grew thicker and thicker.

He raised his hand, fumbled for something with difficulty, and slowly pulled it into his palm, clenching it.

Ren Shuangmei was almost frantic with worry.

She had come to the hospital as soon as she received the text message and still didn’t know what had happened—Luo Chengxiu had told her that he would let the child stay for a while. Was this how he let him stay?!

Ren Shuangmei harshly rebuked the bodyguards who had chased after them. She held the child in her arms tightly. Just as she was about to shout for someone, her sleeve was suddenly grabbed by Huo Miao.

The boy’s eyes were open, his face so pale there was no trace of blood. His unfocused gaze turned to her, and large beads of cold sweat fell on his eyelashes.

“Auntie is here,” Ren Shuangmei’s voice became very light and soft. She carefully wiped away the cold sweat for Huo Miao, constantly touching his forehead. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s okay. Auntie was late. It doesn’t hurt anymore…”

Luo Zhi felt her hand on his forehead. He slowly blinked his eyes, and they suddenly curved into an exceptionally clear smile.

“Auntie,” he called out softly, “Auntie.”

Luo Zhi heard his aunt answering him. His eyes curved even more, and his throat moved. “I’m fine.”

He fumbled to hold that hand, holding it gently, and said the most important and urgent words, “Go get a check-up quickly.”

“Go now,” he said softly. “Don’t get sick. You have to live to be a hundred.”