บท 41: Story Of A Storm

Memories are one of the precious things for human beings but not when those memories of the past become the punishment of the present. We keep good memories to relive those happy moments all over again and we keep the bad ones because we can't possibly get rid of them no matter how hard we try to.

Standing in the same corridor, Ru stubbed the cigarette and properly disposed of it. When she pulled the pack again to take another stick, she realized that unknowingly, she had smoked the whole pack already. She scratched her head awkwardly before throwing the empty pack of cigarette in the bin.

After taking another look at the night sky, she turned to leave when she heard Xiao Zhi-Yuan's voice. She took another step to see a young lady in a white lace dress trying to hold his hand. From her position, she could only see the side profile of the girl but it was enough to tell her who that girl was; Ji Caihong. Ru frowned as she thought, 'I haven't even started looking for her and the young miss served herself to me? Interesting!'

She didn't try to interrupt them and stayed in the corner, discreetly.

Earlier when Xiao Zhi-Yuan came out of the private room, he'd planned to look for Ru. But who knew he will bump into one of the people, he never wished to see again. "Zhi-Yuan!" Ji Caihong called out his name softly with a sweet smile on her pinkish lips. Xiao Zhi-Yuan had no interest in talking to her and that's why he tried to walk away but Ji Caihong held his wrist not letting him leave. She lifted her hand to palm his face but Xiao Zhi-Yuan turned his face away. Her bright eyes dimmed a bit but she immediately concealed the disappointment.

"Did you come alone? Or Zhi-Ren Ge-Ge is with you?" Hearing Ji Caihong's voice, Ru's brows knitted together. Her voice was too sweet as if listening to the whistle of birds; beautiful, soothing, and yet distinctive. The voice in her memories reminded her of catfights.

'She's definitely not giving me the vibes of the person I'm looking for. Then how come the van which is assigned for her security was at the event the other night? Did she give her van to someone else? Or my mind is playing tricks with me? What if I'm mistaken?' With all these thoughts, Ru felt exasperated but she knew she couldn't give up this easily.

Xiao Zhi-Yuan jerked Ji Caihong's hand away saying, "I told you before to stay away from my brother. He's my brother, not yours!" The sharp edge to his voice was surprising to Ru as she forgot all about her thoughts and listened closely.

Ji Caihong looked dejected. "But he's my brother as well. No matter what, we share the same father." She spoke ruefully in a low voice making Xiao Zhi-Yuan grit his teeth. He hated this reminder. His brother was his alone! His brother was his whole family, how could he bring himself to share him with someone else?

On the side, even Ru looked at them wide-eyed. 'Same father? Then doesn't that means Xiao Zhi-Ren and Xiao Zhi-Yuan are actually a part of Ji family?' There were millions of questions running in her mind but she didn't have the answers.

"I didn't have a father in the past 18 years of my life and I certainly don't need one now." Xiao Zhi-Yuan answered gravely and walked right past her. Why would he wish for a father who abandoned him even before he was born? He didn't need a father as long as he had his brother by his side.

After walking a fair distance, he called Ru. "Oniisan, where are you?"

"Little squirrel, I have someone to meet. You have fun. I'll see you later!" Ru replied to him looking intently at Ji Caihong frozen at the same spot. Ru could see the way tears were trickling down her cute little face. But she was bravely trying to stifle her sobs.

Now, whether it was Ji Caihong's stubborn nature or bravery, Ru couldn't possibly tell.

"Fine!" Xiao Zhi-Yuan grumbled disappointedly and hung up the call.

"The brother doesn't want to acknowledge the father or anyone associated with him. And the half-sister is crying over the harsh words of the same brother? Now, this is getting interesting..." Ru smiled to herself. Whether Ji Caihong had any connection to her lost memories or not, she didn't know. But Ji Caihong had certainly caught her attention. And if Ru got interested in someone, there was no way she'd let it go unless the mystery is solved.

Ru watched Ji Caihong falling down on her knees right in the middle of the hallway but she didn't stick around to watch her vulnerable state. First, it didn't feel right and second, she hated tears. She took the other route to sort out her thoughts. Someone once said that she liked to play god in someone's life and she didn't want to play that role again. She had no right to be nosy for no reason. Therefore, she tried her best to bury those bursting desires of curiosity inside her.

She took the lift to the top floor and came to a rooftop garden and sat down on the ground with her back leaning against the railings. While Ru was silently trying to avoid Ji Caihong, the fate had something else planned. After a while, the elevator's 'ding' made Ru turn to see Xiao Zhi-Ren coming out of the elevator with a petite figure in a white dress. Ji Caihong was still sniffling and Xiao Zhi-Ren helped her to an empty bench.

She hugged his waist and cried unceasingly with her shoulders trembling. Xiao Zhi-Ren didn't push her away or said anything. He simply kept stroking her hair like an older brother.

The scene before Ru was heartwarming even when there was nothing to say.

After silently sobbing for a while, Ji Caihong pulled herself away from Xiao Zhi-Ren and crouched down before her to come to the same level as her. He passed his handkerchief and she took it silently wiping her tears.

On a side, Ru wasn't comfortable with those big teardrops in her almond-shaped eyes and right before Ji Caihong, even Xiao Zhi-Ren wasn't comfortable with those tears. While Ru had always had something against tears, she didn't know that for Xiao Zhi-Ren, tears held a different meaning.

Ru couldn't cry herself and that left her with an inkling to stop others' tear. Xiao Zhi-Ren's meaning of tears came from the peculiar person he had met who didn't cry even facing death and said to him, 'Tears are like a story of the storm brewing inside a person. But some people don't like sharing that story hidden by a smile which even tears can't wash away. Because some storms have no end.'

Ru couldn't understand the situation playing before her. Earlier, the younger brother made the same half-sister cry with his words and now, the elder brother was wiping the tears lovingly. 'Why is this situation getting more and more interesting than before?' Ru thought to herself and leaned back languidly against the metal railings.