As late afternoon welcomes Imperial, Yue Ling's white BMW x5m arrives at her and Lu Tian's house. She and Jianan met up with Liu Shan, Liu Ye, and Liu Jingyi as the three individuals were getting out of the car.
"Boss, you came just in time."
Liu Shan exclaims with a huge grin on his face, closes the driver's side door, and walks to the trunk of his car. He pops the hood and takes out a bunch of shopping bags.
He raises his arms and shows them to his boss.
"We did just as you wanted."
Yue Ling had just stepped out of the car when she heard her assistant. She looked over at him, and when she saw the bags in his hands, a wave of bewilderment washes over her.
She glanced at Liu Ye and Liu Jingyi, and upon seeing their awkward expressions, she could guess what had happened.
Liu Shan probably went overboard with shopping.
Her head slightly shakes, and she walks to the back of her car to help Jianan out.
"We're here."
She smiles at the little boy, and he jumps down from the car.
Jianan runs to his older siblings and hugs one of them at a time.
"Ye! Jie! You won't believe it. I wasn't afraid at all. I even met the most awesome doctor in the world!"
He turns back to look at Yue Ling, and he smiles from ear to ear.
"Miss Angel, tell them. Tell them how brave I was."
Seeing how ecstatic Jianan was at the moment, Yue Ling couldn't help but smile with the boy. She notices the slight worry on Liu Ye and Liu Jingyi's faces and smiles to assure them.
"It's true. He was courageous. The checkup went smoothly."
Liu Ye sighed in relief when he heard his younger brother did well at the hospital. However, Liu Jingyi grew anxious, like something was bothering her.
She looks down at her little brother, whom she loves more than anything in the world.
"Jianan… did you…."
She wanted to ask what she was thinking but ended up swallowing her words.
Jianan took notice of her expression, and his smile grew wider.
"Don't worry, Jie. I told Miss Angel and the doctor about my scar."
Liu Jingyi smiles a sorrowful smile at him and pats him on the head. She could see the trust in his eyes towards Yue Ling.
"That's good. I'm glad—"
"Scar?!"
"What scar?!"
Before she could finish her words, both Liu Shan and Liu Ye gasped in horror from the side together.
Liu Ye grabbed Jianan by the arms and knelt on one knee in front of him. His face flashes with worry as he scans his younger brother from head to toe.
"You have a scar? When? How did you get it? Who gave it to you?"
His frantic questions put Jianan in a distraught position. He (Jianan) opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say a word, Liu Shan suddenly kneeled next to him with the same expression as his older brother.
"Hey kid, tell me who hurt you? I'll beat the living crap out of them. I'll make sure they suffer a slow and painful death."
Liu Shan's expression turns grave, and he stares past the boy as if he could already guess who it was that hurt the boy.
"I'll get a very sweet revenge for you."
Yue Ling watched the scene unfold. She shook her head and walked over to the group. Her hands held the boy's shoulders, and she gently pulled him away from the two men.
"He just came back from his checkup. Let him get some rest before answering your many questions."
Watching his younger brother gets pulled away, Liu Ye grew angry that his questions weren't answered. However, considering Yue Ling's help for him and his siblings, he calms himself down.
"Alright."
He stood up and patted his brother on the head before heading for the trunk of Liu Shan's car.
"I'm here. So when you're ready to tell me, I'm all ears."
He takes out two shopping bags and a stuffed teddy bear. He looked at Jianan and held them out to the boy.
"These are for you."
Jianan was nervous by the frantic questions thrown at him, but his eyes lit up seeing the stuffed teddy bear. He runs to hug the teddy bear like it was the best gift in the entire world.
"Wow! My very first teddy bear!"
Seeing his smile, Liu Ye and Liu Jingyi smiled, but their eyes held a mixture of melancholy. It was only a stuffed teddy bear, but he never received one in the ten years Jianan lived.
The only time Jianan came close to one was when they walked past an arcade. They knew how much he wanted one, but he would always say he was too old for it and had no need for it.
However, they knew he had consistently lied about wanting one, judging from his reaction.
Liu Jingyi watched her two brothers smile at one another, but she knew that Liu Ye was angry deep down. He wasn't there when their father tried to kill her, and Jianan jumped in to protect her, and neither did they tell him.
She decides not to say anything since it was something Jianan should tell and helps them unload the car.
Unlike the three Liu siblings, Liu Shan was at a loss about what had just happened. He remained on one knee with eyes staring at Jianan.
He could vividly remember the boy's expression when Liu Ye threw all the questions at him. He (Jianan) looked so afraid, like he had been hiding a big secret he wanted to keep to his grave.
When he saw that Jianan was smiling again, he sighed inside. However, he still couldn't help but wonder about the scar on the boy.
Just how bad was it?
He remembers that there is one more person with them, and he turns his head to look at her.
Yue Ling locked eyes with the three young individuals smiling and helping one another. However, despite her attention elsewhere, she could see her assistant staring at her from the corner of her eyes.
She could also feel the intense aura emitting from him too.
Her eyes avert from Liu Ye, Liu Jingyi, and Jianan to her assistant.
"Whatever you want to say, just know that I'm not the person you should ask."
Her words fell in a matter-of-fact tone, and she took a step forward before another as she walked to the three people.
Liu Shan was left dumbfounded by her behavior. He scoffed a sarcastic chuckle and stood up from the ground. He walks forward to catch up to her and stops her.
"I won't ask how he got it, but at least answer this. How bad was it?"
Yue Ling paused in her steps at the question. She thought about what Doctor Dong told her and Jianan's heartbreaking story.
Her hands curl into tight fists, and she slowly closes her eyes to take a deep breath. She allows the raging anger inside her for the boy to run throughout her body before subduing it away.
She gradually opened her eyes again, and all the negative feelings inside her disappeared without a trace.
"Bad."
Uttering only one word, she walks away and joins the Liu siblings. She knew that even if she didn't go into detail over it, Liu Shan would have understood the meaning of her word.
However, if she had turned around to him, she would have seen the anger in his eyes.
It was as if all the negative feelings she had towards killing Liu Peng had been transferred to the assistant.
Liu Shan stares in silence at the back of his boss's head before slowly shifting his eyes to Jianan.
An unexplainable feeling surged inside him and made his blood boil.
Just from Yue Ling's one word, he can already make an assumption of what had happened and who caused the pain to the little boy.
His eyes grew dim, and he clenched his fists so tight that veins popped on the back of his hand.
"Liu Peng… you won't get away with this."
He muttered to himself and thought about all the pain he wanted to inflict on the man. Should he give Liu Peng an instant death or kill him slowly with torture?
"Mr. Liu!"
Just as his thought was about to take off, Jianan's childlike voice calls out to him. He was brought back to reality, and the negative energy around him dispersed into thin air.
He then realizes that he is the only person left with the car as the others were already near the house.
"Oh, wait for me!"
Jianan laughs and waves his left hand in the air while his other hand holds onto the stuffed teddy bear.
"Hurry, Mr. Liu!"
Liu Shan quickly caught up to the group, and his heart tightened at how happy Jianan looked. He kept a calm composure not to reveal his inner feelings and smiled at the boy.
"Thanks for calling out to me. Let's go inside and look at what we bought."
He pats the boy on the head and walks side by side with him towards the house.
With his attention elsewhere, he didn't notice how flustered the boy had become because of his gesture.
Jianan's head lowered, and he hugged the stuffed teddy bear with both arms. He didn't understand why everyone was patting him on the head so much in one day.
However, there was a feeling inside him he had never felt before due to the small gesture.
It was the feeling of pure happiness.
