They Regretted it After Their Hearts Turned to Ashes

Luo Jun sat for a long time before realizing that there was only a busy tone on the phone.

It's no surprise,

After all, all that needs to be said has been said.

The attitude of the other party was gentle, most of them treated him as a family member of the victim, and naturally they would not exchange polite greetings like in the business field.

That Ming family... originally there was no need to greet him politely.

The domain of the Ming family is at sea, not only doing cruise ships and maritime trade business.Few people know the depth of this family that occupies the sea, but anyone who has a boat in the business knows the rules.

Conflicts and disputes on the hottest routes on the high seas have to go to the Ming family for adjudication; if you encounter any trouble during the sea transportation, as long as you ask the Ming family for protection in time, most of them can turn the crisis into safety.

The accident this time was only a relatively inconspicuous medium-tonnage cruise ship under the Ming family.The rescue was very professional and timely. Most of the people were just frightened, and only a few were injured. The amount of compensation for each passenger was still astonishingly high.

Luo Jun thought about it endlessly, and suddenly felt belatedly, and was sharply stabbed by a certain word in his first thought.

But that thought became more and more acute, until it pierced his flesh and blood stained him so tightly that he could not move.

……Victims.

Obviously, the rescue was professional and timely, and even the injuries were few, so why did people die?

Why was Luo Zhi the one who died?

He thought this way, and he knew better than anyone that these ideas were ridiculous.He seems to be making a poor testimonial in court, denying every word desperately, and acknowledging every word.

Because he didn't think of Luo Zhi until the end, no matter how professional the rescue was, he still couldn't save an immobile shell in time.

Because he watched his brother turn into an empty shell.

He finally could not deny his crime, which was not limited to the shipwreck of the cruise ship, but stretched forward 13 years, going back to the afternoon when the lost child was brought home.

He never had any qualifications to teach Luo Zhi a lesson.He was cowardly and self-righteous, and watched with ridiculous indifference, but now, he still can only rely on doing a more cowardly and ridiculous thing to offset the thorns that grow in his memories.

Luo Jun raised his gaze, he saw the car waiting outside the door

That car is the car commonly used by Patriarch Luo, and it will take him home. Luo Jun didn't know what he would face when he returned home, so he thought of Luo Zhi again.

Every time Luo Zhi returns to the Luo family, does he always have this kind of experience?

It's not accurate, it should be more difficult than him.

I don't know what will be waiting at home, and I don't know what attitude everyone will treat him.

It's like floating on a dark sea of ​​ice, which may be dragged by any wave into a boundless sinking with nothing but cold.

……

Look, he is no better than Jian Huaiyi, and he is also shamelessly comparing with Luo Zhi.

How does it compare with Luo Zhi?

He deserved it.

Luo Jun stood up. Instead of going out to get in the car immediately, he picked up his cell phone and made another call.

It didn't take long for the other person to pick it up this time: "What do you need from me?"

"Ren Chenbai." Luo Jun said, "You should have a lot of clues about Jian Huaiyi in your hands. Leave it to me."

The other end of the phone didn't answer right away, and was quiet for a few seconds before letting out a light laugh.

The laughter was as gentle as that person's usual image, but the meaning was not clear.Luo Jun didn't have the patience to play with him, so he continued: "I know you're working with him, and you've been helping him recently."

He knew that Ren Chenbai was secretly cooperating with Jian Huaiyi.In fact, Jian Huaiyi's methods in the business field are not as sophisticated and ruthless as studying people's hearts. There are many places that are not meticulous and thorough due to lack of experience, and those small actions can almost be regarded as pretentious.

Luo Jun didn't know what deal Jian Huaiyi and Ren Chenbai had made, or even why these two people got together.

He didn't investigate carefully, because in his opinion, this was not a big deal.

There was no business conflict between the Ren family and the Luo family. Mrs. Luo and the late Ren mother were old friends. The two children have been in constant contact since they were young. Ren Chenbai has always been kind to Luo Zhi.

If you want to get some commercial secrets of the Luo family, and go around a circle to start with Jian Huaiyi, the adopted son, you might as well go directly to Luo Cheng...

Luo Jun's thoughts were running, and suddenly he was tripped by a thought that popped up, and he paused for a moment without warning.

……

It seems that after removing the blinding leaf of self-deception, many inconspicuous details that seemed unnecessary to think carefully, let alone pay attention, suddenly became noticeable.

Ren Chenbai has always been kind to Luo Zhi, why did he go to Jian Huaiyi to cooperate?

Why did Ren Chenbai cooperate with Jian Huaiyi?

What did they do?

Before he could sort out his thoughts, the person on the other side of the phone smiled again, half jokingly interfacing: "What's the matter, your brother stole your seal?"

Luo Jun fell silent and did not answer immediately.

He knew very well who the "your brother" the other party was talking about.

It was he who personally gave Jian Huaiyi this identity, so people in the circle secretly disdain this adopted son who occupies the magpie's nest, and they must show more respect and courtesy to Jian Huaiyi on the surface.

——Of course, how much respect and politeness this identity brought to Jian Huaiyi, the original "magpie" who was occupied in the nest naturally also received a corresponding amount of cold treatment and disdain.

After being sent out to do things as an adult, with more experience, he naturally knows how to advance and retreat, but it is difficult for teenagers to fully grasp these.

Luo Zhi had many fights because of these things.

Because of what happened in those three years, Luo Zhi was severely deficient in nourishment when it was most necessary to replenish his nutrition. In fact, his health has not been very good, and he has been sick frequently since he was a child.

But in fights, Luo Zhi never suffered a disadvantage.

The pampered and pampered young masters have never fought like that—of course they are no match for fighting alone, but even if they find a group of people to surround Luo Zhi alone, it will not be of any advantage.

They were almost being walked and played by Luo Zhi, furious and ashamed, they were dizzy and couldn't find anyone, but when they looked up, they saw Luo Zhi sitting on a tree basking in the sun.

Luo Zhi has never suffered even a single loss, he knows how to use strength to attack, knows how to set up traps, no one can beat him.

……

So Luo Jun never figured out what Luo Zhi was afraid of.

What exactly is Luo Zhi afraid of? Why every time he wakes up in a strange place, he will reflexively roll under the bed and find something to use as a weapon.Like a cub driven to death, its eyes were so dark that no light could get in, and there was only a desperate growl and whimper in its throat.

He didn't speak, Ren Chenbai on the opposite side didn't understand, just thought he acquiesced to the joke, and casually comforted: "Check it out, maybe it's a misunderstanding?"

"I know you have something against Jian Huaiyi." Luo Jun repeated in a deep voice, "Give it to me, or I will deal with you together."

Ren Chenbai seemed to have finally noticed his strangeness.

The other side of the phone fell silent, and there was a faint sound of fingers tapping on the table.

"Luo Zhi."

Ren Chenbai finally asked: "What happened to Luo Zhi?"

Luo Jun's breath was blocked in his chest.

He thought that this question would be asked first by Patriarch Luo or Luo Cheng after returning home, and he was probably ready for it by then, but it was Ren Chenbai who asked this question first.

He couldn't give an answer, and after a long silence, he opened his mouth slowly: "What?"

"It can only be like this." The voice on the other side came from the phone, still without any disturbance, as if explaining an obvious fact, "He only deals with Luo Zhi alone, unless he is crazy, it will be so early Plotting your stuff."

Ren Chenbai said: "As for you, even if Jian Huaiyi dismantles Luo Zhi alive and sells the meat piece by piece in the street, as long as you don't see it with your own eyes, you won't believe it."

"So Luo Jun." Ren Chenbai said, "Why don't you just tell me what you saw Jian Huaiyi do to Luo Zhi?"

Ren Chenbai seldom speaks like this, most of the time he wears his gentle mask in front of people.But at this moment, he didn't know why, when he spoke, he suddenly left no room for it, and there was some coldness and sharpness that he hadn't even noticed from the cracks in the words.

Luo Jun's throat seemed to be filled with red hot molten iron that had just been poured.

He still couldn't answer the question.

Those hypocritical self-blame, introspection and guilt confessions barely put up the shell that lasted less than 10 minutes, and was melted by the molten iron poured by Ren Chenbai's words, exposing the unbearable and ugly inside. In harsh light.

Of course he wouldn't believe it.

Not only would he not believe it, but when he saw Luo Zhi's wound, he would feel disgusted and feel that Luo Zhi was lying.

Luo Zhi was wearing that windbreaker. At that time, Luo Zhi was not so thin and pale that he could melt into the waves. Luo Zhi was playing his game with his mobile phone in his arms, as if he was casually strolling to his side.

Luo Zhi only knows this trick.It was the same with Luo Zhi when he was a child, he pretended to be reading while walking, and before turning a page in the book after half a day, the person quietly moved to his desk.

How much did Luo Zhi expect from him at that time?Perhaps not many more, Luo Zhi is no longer like every time, insisting on explaining what happened even if no one listens, such movements seem to be just the result of the body's remnants.

Luo Zhi just said to Luo Jun jokingly, give all his family property to Jian Huaiyi, and throw Jian Huaiyi out.

At that time, why didn't I think to ask Luo Zhi, why did he suddenly say such a thing?

"Aren't you working with Jian Huaiyi?" Luo Jun couldn't mobilize any more thoughts, so he could only ask back with no strength, "Why don't you know?"

He thought that Ren Chenbai would sneer and deny this sentence in the next moment—maybe Ren Chenbai cooperated with Jian Huaiyi for this reason.He thought, maybe Ren Chenbai was secretly protecting Luo Zhi, to help Luo Zhi collect Jian Huaiyi's evidence for them to see.

Thinking of this, Luo Jun even unconsciously had some ridiculous expectations.

He actually expected this denial and ridicule to be more ruthless.

Ren Chenbai could scold him for three hours and three days.

You can take him to Ren's house, throw him a box of materials, let him take a good look at how Jian Huaiyi framed and made things difficult for Luo Zhi, and let him see clearly what he indulged like he was blind.

The longer Ren Chenbai scolded him, the more it showed that Luo Zhi was at least protected during that time.

Even if this protection does not come from family members who are connected by blood, or from those who are supposed to protect Luo Zhi, it is still a rare comfort after all.

He will repay Ren Chenbai, and he will give a reward that far exceeds what Ren Chenbai paid for it...

Luo Jun stopped thinking.

He heard nothing on the phone.

He thought that somewhere on the phone was broken, looked at the page that was in the middle of a call, and checked the earphone again: "Ren Chenbai?"

There was no answer on the other side, but there was the sound of breathing.

For some reason, that breathing frequency made him familiar and uneasy, and Luo Jun suddenly remembered that he seemed to have breathed like this on that lifeboat as well.

It's not stuffy or tense, neither fast nor urgent, but it must be deep and slow enough, because every breath seems to be unable to fill the bottom of the lungs.

It was as if a hand had grabbed his chest.

Luo Jun's voice was hoarse: "Ren Chenbai."

"I'll talk to you later." Ren Chenbai finally said, "Which hospital is Luo Zhi in?"

Luo Jun froze in place, the molten iron solidified on his throat and chest, slowly becoming heavy and hard.

"He doesn't want to see me? Then don't see me, don't force him."

Ren Chenbai said: "When he was hospitalized in my hospital before, the doctor said that he seemed to have other problems with his body. You should remember to check him."

Ren Chenbai thought for a while: "By the way, he seems to be deaf."

Probably because the tone on the phone was too flat and indifferent, it took Luo Jun several times the usual time to finally fully understand the meaning of these words.

His chest heaved, and the thorns that he had escaped with self-crime and self-punishment quietly extended along the blood flow, piercing through the blood vessels coldly and poisonously, strangling his heart, lungs and internal organs.

Luo Jun remembered the family dinner that night.

Luo Cheng once asked his father that question, and Luo Cheng said it was Brother Chenbai who said that Luo Zhi killed Aunt Ren.

The astonishment, shock and astonishment when hearing this secret suddenly flowed out along the cracks cut by the thorns, turning into a thick and cold sense of foreboding.

How did the father answer?

The father said that the Ren family should have told Ren Chenbai so.

Father said, let it be like this.

The father said that Ren Chenbai might not be able to bear the truth.

"Ren Chenbai." Luo Jun heard himself asking, "Do you really think that Aunt Ren's death was caused by Luo Zhi?"

The silence on the other side of the phone was too long, so long that his heart sank inch by inch, sinking into an invisible abyss.

"Don't mention it? I just decided last night to stop thinking about it and be nice to him."

Ren Chenbai smiled helplessly: "Now that you think about it, it's a bit too much to trick him into Ren's house during your family reunion."

Luo Jun repeated in a low voice: "It was decided last night?"

He wasted too much time to understand this sentence, so much so that he spent more time than before before realizing that Ren Chenbai had lied to Luo Zhi when they had a family reunion.

Was it because of this that Luo Zhi appeared in Wanghai Villa?

What exactly did Luo Zhi do that night in the villa?

On the cruise ship, Luo Zhi turned into what Jian Huaiyi said, did it have anything to do with it?

"Why last night." Luo Jun said, "What happened last night?"

"I heard that Jian Huaiyi invited your family to take a cruise, so I went around to Huaisheng Entertainment and got some things."

Ren Chenbai said: "By the way, you want Jian Huaiyi's handle, right? I'll send it to you later."

Luo Jun is not thinking about anything now.

He slowly clenched his fists, the coldness in his palm was spreading, and his fingers had already started to become stiff.

Because Ren Chenbai on the other side of the phone didn't know that Luo Zhi was also on the cruise ship, and continued to chat casually along this topic, talking to him more.

Ren Chenbai probably didn't even know that the cruise ship sank, the Ren family's business didn't go by sea, and Ren Chenbai didn't have the habit of watching the news.

If it is not relevant, not everyone can know all the major events happening in this world anytime and anywhere.

... Even if it is directly related, it may not be well understood.

Listening to the voice on the phone, Luo Jun was not even sure if he was having a dream.

Because he was too mean to Luo Zhi, he was taught by Aunt Ren, who protected Luo Zhi the most, and had an absurd and outrageous dream.

"You don't bother Luo Zhi now? Then let you know something more, and treat that younger brother you don't recognize better."

Ren Chenbai teased him half-jokingly, and continued to say: "Your tie clip was actually obtained by Luo Zhi, and my mother helped him pull the thread. It took a lot of effort, and Luo Zhi sent it to you. Your birthday present..."

Luo Jun asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Probably because his voice was too cold and disrespectful, Ren Chenbai paused for a moment, and then replied dumbly: "Master Luo, I told you earlier, you won't take off this tie clip and throw it into the sea, won't you disappear in this lifetime?"

Ren Chenbai just counterattacked casually, without pointing out anything in particular, they often joked like this, but Luo Jun seemed to be killed by this sentence.

Luo Jun suddenly began to gasp for breath.

His eyes were a little white, his body was bent and leaned down, and one hand was firmly gripping the microphone on the headphone cable.

When Jian Huaiyi saw that, when he decided to completely break up with Luo Jun, he once told him that one day he might go crazy and find someone to go fishing in that sea for a month.

Luo Jun was indeed being punished for his crimes.

He thought that was the limit, and he didn't think there could be any punishment worse than admitting his guilt.Then he found out that everything hadn't started at all, and it wasn't until the Ling Chi that the first knife was actually cut.

How many more are waiting for him?

He suddenly no longer dared to search for his own memory.

He finally realized that this was the real punishment, the past had turned into a bloody black thorn, and he couldn't even muster up enough courage to look for traces of Luo Zhi inside.

Will he throw it?Of course he would.

He has always been like this.

The gifts that Luo Zhi gave him were all discarded by him with disdain, and he could no longer find where he threw them away.

Even if that tie clip meant a lot to him, even if it helped him win his first eight-figure deal... If he thought that it was Luo Zhi who helped him, it would probably only make him feel ashamed and embarrassed at that time. Be irritable.

He will probably never wear that tie clip again, and he will probably be annoyed at Luo Zhi's needless actions, he won't think about how much anger and embarrassment there is in it.

He thought of the sodden, cold tie.

He didn't even know when the tie clip fell off.

The tie clip was so inconspicuous that he didn't notice it.

What about Luo Zhi?

Does Luo Zhi look up?

Where exactly did Luo Zhi fall, did Luo Zhi call for help, did Luo Zhi see him?

Luo Jun was trapped in every possibility, and he found that none of these possibilities was not cruel, and none of them made him feel as if he was being drowned by the sea water to drown all the air in his lungs just standing there. Chen Bai was still talking.

"I can't contact him again, has he changed his phone again?"

"I didn't find him... I didn't know why my heart softened, and I wanted him to run away for a few days, but I didn't expect him to run away."

Ren Chenbai seemed to be flipping through the documents, and his voice was still a little casual: "Is he in good health, is he still feeling uncomfortable?"

"...Okay." Luo Jun slowly loosened his stiff fingers, "It shouldn't be uncomfortable anymore."

Ren Chenbai should have nodded. He still has a meeting to hold, and it's almost time.

Ren Chenbai confirmed with the assistant again, promised that he would send Jian Huaiyi's details to Luo Jun later, and was about to hang up the phone.

Luo Jun stopped him: "Ren Chenbai."

Ren Chenbai walked towards the meeting room, he reached out to support the Bluetooth headset, the background sound became empty: "Is there anything else?"

"You... find him."

Luo Jun said: "Look for Luo Zhi and help me, I lost my brother."

Luo Jun whispered, "I can't find him anywhere."