ASHES CH3: Bell

“Xiao Cheng,” Luo Zhi answered before she could hang up, “I’ve caused trouble. Dad is going to break my legs.”

The other end of the line went quiet; no one responded.

“Since you are all at the company, I’ll head home first.”

Luo Zhi’s tone was light. He raised a hand and flicked the bell hanging in the front of his car: “Keep an eye out for me. I’ll just grab a few changes of clothes and leave…”

Luo Cheng interrupted him from across the phone: “…So, did you really cause Second Brother’s injuries?”

Luo Zhi paused mid-sentence.

Still holding the phone with one hand, he lowered his gaze and didn’t answer immediately.

“Second Brother is badly hurt, his head is wrapped in gauze, and he refuses to say anything no matter how much I press him.” Luo Cheng’s tone was even colder than before. “So it really was you.”

“Why do you always have to do this?”

Luo Cheng asked, “Are you short on money again, or did something at home displease you again?”

Luo Zhi tilted his head back, leaning against the seat.

He stayed quiet for a moment before smiling: “Neither, little sister. Jian Huaiyi and I had a conflict in private.”

“We couldn’t agree on a few things, and I acted on impulse.” Luo Zhi let go of the bell. “Help me plead with Dad. Didn’t you want that script that went up for bidding recently? I’ll buy it and give it to you.”

Luo Cheng was attending an arts school, and her group’s final project was missing a good script.

Just two days ago, Luo Cheng had been so worried she couldn’t sleep, posting on social media in the middle of the night looking for help everywhere.

Luo Zhi didn’t tell her that he had actually already secretly had someone buy the script.

Although the original work the script was based on wasn’t wildly popular, the quality was quite high, and it was adapted by a highly reputable, veteran screenwriter. It had almost emptied all his savings.

Luo Zhi bought the script, read it himself all night, and was so moved he used up two whole large packs of tissues.

Anyway, it was their own family’s film and television company; they were close to the action. He planned to directly assemble a relatively formal team, invite a few professional teachers for guidance, and shoot a web drama for Luo Cheng and her classmates.

Luo Zhi had been busy with this for the past few days.

He was preparing to give Luo Cheng a surprise, keeping it strictly under wraps; even now, hardly anyone in the entire company knew about it.

…Although this was completely not the right timing he had planned, it seemed he couldn’t care about that much anymore.

“Little sister,” Luo Zhi said, “actually—”

On the other end of the phone, Luo Cheng coincidentally spoke up in a low voice: “Dad should break your legs.”

…

The second half of this sentence was covered by the sound of tinnitus.

It was a sound Luo Zhi had never heard before, like the roar of a train or some massive vehicle howling and rumbling past, causing even the tracks and the stiflingly still, thick air to tremble with it.

Luo Zhi raised his hand, covered that ear, and switched the phone to the other side.

Luo Cheng was very well-bred, obedient, and docile. Everyone who saw her would praise her for being a sensible and caring girl; she had never blushed or raised her voice at anyone.

Even when she said this sentence, her voice was low and soft, light and gentle.

Yet it also seemed to seep with an ineradicable chill.

It was the kind of harsh words that a little girl who had never seen the sinister side of human nature and was raised with meticulous protection would throw at the person she hated the most, expressing disgust and resistance to the absolute limit.

“Xiao Cheng,” Luo Zhi heard his own voice, “do you know what that means?”

“I used to always think Dad was too strict with you, but I never thought you would do this… do such an excessive thing to Second Brother.”

Luo Cheng spoke in a low voice: “If this is the only way to make you reflect, settle down for a few days, stop causing trouble, and stop making Mom sad, then you should be given a proper punishment…”

Luo Zhi let out a soft “oh”.

He subconsciously raised his hand, his fingertips rubbing back and forth a couple of times over the wound at the corner of his mouth.

Because it hadn’t been treated at all, it was already distinctly red and swollen. A slight touch brought on a burning pain.

Luo Zhi smiled somewhat apologetically: “That won’t work.”

Luo Cheng was speaking on the other end. Her voice was lower than usual, her tone a bit rushed, as if even she hadn’t expected to blurt out such an impolite sentence.

And these reasons constantly being listed out perfectly served to prove Luo Zhi’s long record of misdeeds and accumulated crimes.

Luo Zhi was not a good person; he tormented the whole family to the point of sadness and sorrow. Therefore, simply facing the punishment of their father enforcing family law was actually considered very lenient.

Hearing Luo Zhi’s answer, Luo Cheng’s voice also stopped without warning.

“It won’t work,” Luo Zhi fastened his seatbelt. “That hurts a lot, and I’m most afraid of pain.”

Luo Cheng gritted her teeth: “Then you—”

Probably because her previous words were too impolite, this time she restrained herself and didn’t continue.

But it actually wasn’t hard to guess what she was going to say next.

“Then when you hurt Second Brother, why didn’t you think Second Brother would be in pain?”

“Then why do you always neglect your duties, always cause trouble, and why must you make everyone uncomfortable?”

“Then why can’t you disappear far, far away, why can’t you bother us less, what exactly do you want…”

Luo Zhi had actually heard every single one of these sentences plenty of times.

He was already very familiar with them, so even though Luo Cheng only said two words this time, they still spontaneously and clearly jumped out from his memory, considerately filling in the rest of the content.

Luo Cheng didn’t continue speaking, and Luo Zhi wasn’t in a hurry to speak either.

The oppressive silence on the phone made the sound of static piercing and noisy, like fine, damp sand being stuffed into his ear handful by handful, pressing hard against his eardrum, rustling as it was pulled by his breathing.

Luo Zhi sighed softly and started the car: “Why are you looking for me?”

“…”

Luo Cheng paused before answering: “Dad wants you to come over and discuss the allocation of authority in the company with Second Brother…”

“Huaisheng Entertainment?” Luo Zhi said. “Little sister, that is my company.”

Although it was considered a property of the Luo family, this company was already on the verge of bankruptcy when it fell into his hands. It was he himself who went out, participated in a variety show, debuted, and figured out how to pull it up.

During the two years when his hearing had recovered best, Luo Zhi couldn’t resist the itch in his hands and picked up the guitar he hadn’t touched for years. He indeed served as a pop singer for a while.

This was also an important piece of evidence of “neglecting his duties” in the eyes of the Luo family.

Luo Zhi thought about it now, and it couldn’t really be considered a prejudice on the Luo family’s part—after all, his time as a pop idol only brought negative attention, not popularity. He was chased with threatening letters all the way and covered in internet hate. Although he forcibly dragged an obscure little entertainment company back to life, his reputation had never been good.

The titular chairman of this company was Luo Chengxiu, but in reality, it had always been Luo Zhi managing it. The name “Huaisheng Entertainment” was also decided by him.

He hadn’t used the Luo family to intervene and help, hadn’t touched the Luo family’s money, and there were no shares or positions for Jian Huaiyi.

…But looking at it now, it seemed there would be soon.

Luo Zhi raised his hand and gently flicked that bell which hadn’t made a sound in a long time.

“Let me guess.”

Luo Zhi said, “Little sister, you want to enter the entertainment industry. Mr. Luo’s condition is that he’ll only feel at ease if you join the family company, and it must be taken over by Jian Huaiyi?”

The other end of the phone suddenly went quiet.

It was as if the person on the other end had suddenly had their thoughts exposed, didn’t know how to answer, and subconsciously held their breath.

After a long while, Luo Cheng finally spoke up to question him: “How can you call him Mr. Luo? Luo Zhi, that is our dad…”

“Looks like I guessed right.” Luo Zhi smiled. “Fine, give it to him.”

Luo Cheng froze on the other end of the phone.

She simply didn’t believe Luo Zhi would say such a thing. After hesitating for a long time, she gritted her teeth and asked in a low voice, “What trick are you playing again?”

“Nothing,” Luo Zhi’s tone was very soft. “It’s not something very important. If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

He really had no interest in business. The only reason he wanted to run that company well was because Luo Cheng had dreamed of being an actress since she was little.

In that kind of place filled with all sorts of people, a clean and obedient girl without some backing would be far too eye-catching…

Luo Zhi leaned back, raising his eyes to look at that bell.

He put the phone back to his left ear.

Without a hearing aid, that ear’s hearing was weaker than a normal person’s. Right now, it was faintly ringing again, so he could only vaguely hear some movement.

He listened to the girl’s sweet, crisp voice.

While his mind wandered, that voice vaguely became even more childish and tender, like a little girl who had just learned to walk.

Refusing to let him go out no matter what, sobbing and tugging at the hem of his clothes, stumbling along, following his every step, hiding behind him like a little crybaby.

“Second Brother, you’re not allowed to leave, I’m scared!”

“Second Brother, the moment I shake the bell you have to come immediately, I’m going to count down from three.”

“Someone is bullying me, help me hit him, Second Brother…”

…

He didn’t know since when that voice had shed its childishness, and along with it, the trust and reliance on him.

Later on, even the title “Second Brother” became Jian Huaiyi’s.

The bell was thrown in the storage room, covered in a thick layer of rust, long unable to ring.

When Luo Cheng was preparing to go to college and packing her luggage, she dug it out.

She no longer remembered where this thing came from and was preparing to have someone take it away with other useless things to throw out.

Luo Zhi picked the bell back up, polished off the rust bit by bit, and had kept it hanging in his car ever since.

Luo Zhi bent his index finger and tapped the microphone twice.

The blurry voice by his ear suddenly stopped.

“You’ve grown up, anyone can protect you.”

Luo Zhi said gently, “Since you guys trust Jian Huaiyi more, then give it to him.”

“Forget about today,” Luo Zhi said. “I’ll go to the company tomorrow to hand things over to him.”

Luo Cheng was silent for a few seconds before calling him in a low voice: “Luo Zhi…”

Luo Zhi took down the bell and put it in the glove compartment.

He didn’t let this phone call last any longer. After saying this sentence, he hung up the phone.