Chapter 18: Lost
It was the end of the school day.
Luo Jing stood at the school gate, exchanging glances with a little girl beside him.
The little girl was a second-grader from the elementary school next door, his deskmate’s younger sister.
Since her elementary school was close to Luo Jing’s junior high and finished earlier, she would usually come to the school gate to wait for her brother to go home together.
But today was different. His deskmate had something to do and needed to stay late at school, but he was worried about his sister going home alone, so he asked someone in his class to walk her home.
Luo Jing had a good relationship with his deskmate, and after learning his lesson yesterday, he had finished a good portion of his homework at school today, so he volunteered to help.
After picking her up at the school gate, his deskmate entrusted his sister to him with complete trust and hurried back inside.
After waiting for his driver at the school gate for ten minutes without seeing him, Luo Jing called him.
“Uncle Li, is there traffic?” he asked after the call connected.
“Xiao Jing, didn’t Ms. Lin tell you? Something came up at home today, so I can’t pick you up,” the driver explained, sounding surprised.
“Oh, okay, then I’ll take a taxi back myself,” Luo Jing said understandingly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll be back tomorrow… You know how to call a taxi, right? Do you need me to call one for you?”
“No, no, I can do it myself. You take care of your business, Uncle.”
“Alright, alright.”
After hanging up, Luo Jing looked down at the little girl beside him, who was carrying a schoolbag that seemed as big as herself.
The little girl looked back at him silently, her big eyes filled with confusion.
“Is it heavy? Do you want me to carry it for you?” Luo Jing looked at her, a strange sense of brotherly responsibility arising in his heart. He reached out, wanting to take her schoolbag.
The little girl shook her head, stared at his hand for two seconds, then looked up at him again.
The next moment, she placed her hand in his, holding it.
Luo Jing was a bit amused and helpless. He hefted the little girl’s schoolbag with his other hand and took it, carrying it on his shoulder. Then, holding her hand with one hand, he operated his phone with the other, intending to call a taxi.
But after looking at the destination his deskmate had sent him, Luo Jing realized it was actually quite close and they could walk.
So he put down his phone and asked the little girl, “Your brother said you’re going to your grandma’s house first. It’s not far. Can we walk, or do you want to take a taxi?”
“Let’s walk,” the little girl said obediently, her voice childish.
“Okay, let’s go then,” Luo Jing decided.
His deskmate’s grandmother lived in an area behind a shopping mall near the school. It was an old district, not yet developed, with winding alleys that were easy to get lost in.
Fortunately, the little girl had a good sense of direction, skillfully navigating the alleys with Luo Jing. She clearly had been there many times before and successfully led him to her grandmother’s house.
His deskmate’s grandmother was a kind and welcoming old lady. After seeing her granddaughter, and noticing an unfamiliar boy had brought her back, she learned he was her grandson’s classmate and insisted he stay for dinner.
Luo Jing wasn’t very good at refusing elderly people, so he ended up calling Lin Xue to say he wouldn’t be home for dinner.
Lin Xue readily agreed and told him to be careful and come home early.
Although it was spring, the weather was still chilly, and it got dark quickly.
After dinner, Luo Jing chatted with the old lady and the little girl for a while. When he left, the streetlights were already on, and it was completely dark.
This old district had an air of disrepair. Even the streetlights were old-fashioned and dim, and a few of them flickered, as if about to go out.
They weren’t very bright either, unable to illuminate much of the road ahead. The dim light, on the contrary, created a quiet and eerie atmosphere.
After trying to call a taxi on his phone for a while, Luo Jing found he couldn’t get one here, only being able to set the pickup location at the entrance of the alley.
So he took a deep breath and started walking.
He slightly regretted refusing his grandmother’s offer to walk him out.
The night was dark, and there didn’t seem to be many residents around. The few houses with lights on had their curtains tightly drawn, the light filtering through the gaps weak, casting faint, blurry shadows on the curtains, so faint that one couldn’t help but wonder if they were shadows at all, and if so, shadows of what.
The alley was deathly quiet, and Luo Jing vaguely felt like he could hear his own heartbeat.
The alley was deep, and his sense of direction, which wasn’t very good to begin with, was even worse in the dark. The navigation couldn’t pinpoint his location precisely, so he could only rely on the general direction.
The spring night was still bitingly cold, and the night wind made him uneasy.
When he turned a corner and entered another alley, Luo Jing stopped.
Although he knew logically it wasn’t true, he felt like he had been walking the same path.
Looking back, the scene behind him was completely unfamiliar, as was the scene ahead. In this situation, it was easy to feel lost and helpless, even feeling like he would never get out.
Luo Jing lowered his eyelashes and continued to look at the navigation on his phone, turning up the brightness.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
A loud bark suddenly came from beside him, startling Luo Jing. He instinctively took a step back, almost dropping his phone.
Looking towards the source of the sound, he saw a fierce-looking dog locked in a cage, staring at him.
Its eyes shone brightly in the darkness, and it growled menacingly, as if about to charge out of the cage.
Luo Jing took a deep breath, clutched his phone tightly, and, keeping a close eye on the dog, carefully edged away from this dangerous area.
He seemed to see a figure flash past at the corner ahead. It was too dark to see clearly. He didn’t know if it was a passerby, or if he had imagined it, or if it was something else.
He felt like he was going to have a nervous breakdown before getting out of here.
After nervously leaving that alley, Luo Jing looked at his phone again.
He saw that Huai Dan had replied to the message he had sent after school two minutes ago.
Brother: [Was busy before, have you eaten?]
Seeing his message, Luo Jing suddenly felt a sense of relief.
He quickly replied: [Yes, but I’m still outside.]
Brother: [It’s so late, and you’re not home yet? Are you hanging out with your classmates?]
AAA.Homework Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [No, I’m alone.]
AAA.Homework Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [I’m in a very dark alley and seem to be lost.]
The other end was silent for a few seconds, and then a video call came in.
Luo Jing froze for a moment, then instinctively answered.
“Hello,” Huai Dan’s voice was deep but strangely reassuring.
Hearing his voice, Luo Jing instantly felt much more relaxed.
An inexplicable emotion welled up, and Luo Jing felt a lump in his throat. He suppressed it and replied softly, “Brother.”
“Mm,” Huai Dan replied, hanging his coat on a nearby hanger. “Where are you?”
“Behind a shopping mall, it’s very dark here…” Luo Jing described his afternoon experience, a hint of grievance in his voice. “The roads here are so complicated, and just now a dog barked at me, and I keep feeling like someone’s walking past.”
Huai Dan listened to the child’s voice and sensed his unease: “Are you scared?”
“A little,” Luo Jing admitted. “But I feel better now. I’ll just…”
“Don’t hang up,” Huai Dan seemed to see through his intention.
“Oh…” Luo Jing obediently stopped.
He continued to follow the navigation, and neither of them spoke for a while, listening to the faint sounds from the other end. Even just like this, Luo Jing felt much more at ease.
As if Huai Dan was right beside him.
Even the wind didn’t feel as cold anymore.
“How was school today?” Huai Dan suddenly asked in the silence, the question seeming a bit abrupt.
“It was good,” Luo Jing replied truthfully. “Same as usual.”
“Mm.” Huai Dan then asked, “What did you have for lunch?”
“I ate at the school cafeteria.” Talking about this, Luo Jing became annoyed. “Oh, brother, you have no idea, the food in the cafeteria was terrible today, especially the stir-fried lettuce with pork. When I took the first bite, I wondered if the chef had just gone through a breakup.”
“Hmm?”
“I suspect he was crying while cooking,” Luo Jing said. “And his tears all fell into the dish, otherwise why would it be so salty?”
Hearing Luo Jing’s childish description, Huai Dan couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Maybe. I hope he’s recovered by tomorrow,” he cleared his throat and said.
“If it’s still like that tomorrow, I’ll have to go and counsel him personally,” Luo Jing threatened half-heartedly.
“Okay, then I look forward to seeing if the taste returns to normal tomorrow,” Huai Dan said.
After a moment of silence, Huai Dan spoke again: “How much of the birthday gift have you assembled?”
“I’ve finished a bit of the first floor. It’s a big project… I haven’t had much time to work on it recently.” Busy doing homework and deceiving you.
Was it his imagination, or was his brother unusually talkative today?
“Mm, no rush. You’ll have plenty of time to work on it during the holidays.”
“Mm.” Luo Jing replied softly, then suddenly remembering something, his voice tinged with concealed nervousness, “Brother, what do you think of my second sister?”
He stuttered slightly due to his guilt.
But fortunately, the person on the other end didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.
Huai Dan paused, a faint hint of amusement in his voice that Luo Jing couldn’t quite understand: “She’s quite nice.”
