Chapter 1462: I am here to bring you home.
Pei Ge sat on the balcony with her eyes closed, enjoying her peace and freedom. No matter why Madam Ji brought Ji Ziming away, they were mother and son, so the older woman would never hurt him. An An and Ran Ran checked in on her this morning. They should be napping in their rooms under the care of the nannies right now; this made both kids a lot easier to handle compared to the usual.
She thought for a bit and told Superintendent Zhao to release Hong Qiang after she left the police station. Reckoning that the guy had reunited with his family at this hospital at this point, she decided to give them some time alone.
She got someone to get her a large fruit basket and changed into her cashmere Gucci jacket and black pants, which partially covered parts of her stilettos. Her getup was complemented by the makeup on her face.
Before she could enter Niu Niu’s room, the girl’s mother, who was about to get some water, called to her.
“Ma’am, you’re here!” Du Chunlan walked over to her. “This is…” The woman was surprised when she saw the fruit basket in her hand.
“This is for your daughter. I’ve been here several times already, yet I haven’t brought her anything even once.” She apologetically told the woman this. It was a little awkward for her to be cornered by the girl’s mother in such a cramped corridor.
“You’re too kind, ma’am. If it’s not for you, my daughter would be…” The girl’s mother trailed off with tears in her eyes. “I know everything. Not only did you help our daughter, you even saved my husband.”
“Did your husband tell you that?” Pei Ge frowned. Did that guy tell his wife everything?
“Of course. He was held at the police station, but I only found out about it today. He told us that you’re our family’s benefactor the moment he came back. Ma’am, I don’t know how to repay your kindness and generosity to my family.”
“I don’t need you to repay me, but you can help me if I ever need your a.s.sistance.”
“I doubt you’ll ever need the help of n.o.bodies like us,” Du Chunlan said with a small smile, “but if a day like that truly comes, we’ll do everything in our power, even selling all we have, to help you.”
“Erm… You don’t have to sell anything.” Pei Ge was speechless. This honest woman’s sincerity was simply adorable.
“Look at me; I was so focused on talking to you that I forgot to invite you in. Please come in.”
With that said, the girl’s mother pulled her into the ward.
Inside, she quickly spotted Hong Qiang sitting by the bed, peeling an apple for his daughter with a peaceful look. It was as if his disappearance had pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. Niu Niu was lying on her bed, raptly listening to her father tell her stories of his adventure outside.
Even though the stories sounded unrealistic, the girl was still willing to listen to her beloved father.
The girl saw her when she happened to glance up and cried in joy, “Auntie, you’re here!”
“En.” She walked into the room, with the girl’s mother chiming in as she walked behind her. “Ma’am has been her since earlier. We talked for a bit outside. It’s my bad. She’s so busy, yet I still took much of her time.”
“It’s no problem.” Pei Ge placed the fruit basket on the table and sat next to the sick girl’s bed, asking kindly, “How are you feeling today?”
“Thank you, auntie. I feel much better now. The doctors all said that I will soon be discharged if this continues.”
“That’s good to hear.” She smiled at the girl. “When you’re discharged, can auntie visit you to play?”
“Of course! Thank you, auntie. Thank you for saving my daddy.”
The grat.i.tude in the child’s eyes stunned her. She was not simple-minded, it seemed.
Perhaps because she had gone through life and death, she appreciated the people around her more.
“Ma’am.” Hong Qiang stood up. The wariness in his eyes earlier was replaced by gratefulness. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. The best way you can express grat.i.tude is by keeping your daughter company.” She got up and looked at the family of three. Tears welled up in her eyes. She now had a home that she could not return to, yet Ji Ziming was not by her side.
By the time the man appeared before her, three days had pa.s.sed.
She was playing hide-and-seek with her two kids in the room. She had a blindfold on, so she could only tell where the two were by sound.
“Mommy, I’m here!” Ran Ran was standing next to the cabinet.
“Okay! I’m coming for you now.” She laughed. Even though she might not succeed in catching her daughter, the latter’s laughter was infectious. It was as if she had instantly returned to the times when it was just the three of them.
“Mommy, I’m here; I’m here!” An An was on the couch.
His choice of footwear made it easy for him to remove it.
“Okay! I’m coming for you, too. You guys be careful, okay?”
“Mommy, mommy, I’m here!” announced the girl coyly as she stealthily climbed on the bed. Her mother was heading toward the cabinet at this point.
Pei Ge changed direction, but before she could say anything, she b.u.mped into a hard chest. From the smell, she could tell who the person was.
“You got me.” Ji Ziming looked at the woman gently. It had only been three days, but she seemed to have lost some weight. Her face looked smaller.
“Ah? Oh!” The two kids immediately put on their shoes and ran back to the adjacent room when they caught their father’s gaze.
“Big brother, is our daddy angry?” asked the girl softly as they entered the room.
“It seems so.”
“Then, what do we do?”
Her nervousness rivaled her reaction the first time she saw her father.
“It’s fine; our daddy’s here for our mommy.”
“Really?”
“Really. So don’t worry.”
She heaved a sigh of relief as she patted herself on the chest. “Whew! Thank goodness we left fast.”
The boy nodded in agreement.
As Pei Ge removed her blindfold and looked at the man she had been missing for days, she thought she was imagining things.
“You…” She started.
The man wrapped his arms around her waist. He pushed his tongue inside her mouth until her taste filled his mouth. “I’m here to bring you home.”
“Home?” asked the woman in surprise.
“Yes. We’re going back to my family’s house.”
His eyes moved as his gaze on this woman became more tender and loving. “You’re my woman; who am I gonna bring home if not you?”
“I just didn’t expect it.”
“Don’t think about it; just follow me home.”