Speed and Love

After the incident, Jin Chao didn't speak a single word to Jiang Mu, remaining silent even as he led her away.

Never before had Jiang Mu felt Jin Chao so distant from her. Even when they were once separated by vast distances, she had always believed she still occupied an irreplaceable corner in his heart, just as he did in hers.

It wasn't until after Jin Xin's accident that she realized how laughably fragile her former illusions were, like bubbles. The superficial politeness Zhao Meijuan had maintained for over half a month could vanish in an instant—so what about Jin Chao? Would the childhood affection they once shared be completely torn apart after this incident?

The truth was, she had indeed argued with Jin Xin when leaving home, but she didn't know whether that had motivated Jin Xin to climb outside the balcony.

Self-blame? Fear? Distress? Resentment? She no longer knew what she was feeling; all these emotions gathered in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Jin Chao walked ahead, holding a dripping umbrella, while Jiang Mu trailed a few steps behind. The elevator doors opened to reveal a patient being rushed to the emergency room on a gurney, with nurses and family members cramming the small space.

Jin Chao didn't enter, instead heading for the stairwell. Jiang Mu turned and silently followed. When the stairwell door closed behind them, the night's silence descended like a beast in the darkness, devouring everything and making her nerves acutely sensitive.

Jiang Mu suddenly quickened her pace to catch up with Jin Chao. "She lied," she said. "I saw her solving many problems. When I asked her about it, she smashed her learning device and locked herself in her room."

Jin Chao remained silent. His back was straight but seemed shrouded in mist. Though Jiang Mu couldn't see his expression, she could feel his heavy mood.

She tried to explain: "I called for her to open the door, but she refused to come out. I had no idea she would climb out onto the balcony."

They reached the first floor when Jin Chao suddenly stopped. His voice echoed low and suppressed in the stairwell: "Do you think I don't know?"

In that moment, Jiang Mu was stunned. She hadn't expected Jin Chao to be aware of Jin Xin's condition—that she lied and deliberately avoided studying properly. Why would he indulge her like this?

But then Jin Chao turned around. His dark pupils in the pitch-black stairwell were like piercing blades, fixed on Jiang Mu's eyes: "And you? Did you have to run out in such heavy rain?"

Right. He hadn't bluntly blamed Jin Xin's accident on her like Zhao Meijuan did, but to Jiang Mu, his words felt like an invisible accusation.

She stared at the man before her, feeling an unfamiliar distance rising within. She even wondered: Jin Chao was already over two years old when he came to their family. A two-year-old boy would certainly know who his real parents were.

Since she could remember, she had entrusted all her trust and emotions to him. But she had never considered that Jin Chao's perspective toward her was different from hers. From the moment she was born, he knew they shared not a drop of blood relation.

She could still miss him and trust him after all these years apart, but he might not share the same bond.

The light in Jiang Mu's eyes gradually dimmed. She recalled Jiang Yinghan's warning before going abroad: "That person is not your brother. You'd better keep your distance from him."Jiang Mu's hands gradually clenched, the nail marks on her knuckles stinging from being soaked in the rain. Gritting her teeth, she turned and pulled open the door to walk out of the hospital. Jin Chao asked, "What are you doing?"

Without looking back, Jiang Mu said, "None of your business."

Half her body was already submerged in the heavy rain when Jin Chao yanked her back. His gaze bore down on her, locking her in place: "Haven't we had enough trouble already?"

"Do you think I deliberately left Jin Xin at home? That I didn't care if she lived or died?"

Jiang Mu's eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she stubbornly held them back. The automatic doors slid shut again. To the right was the hospital's empty lobby, to the left a curtain of pouring rain. Her voice was drowned out by wave after wave of rainfall, forcing Jin Chao to step closer to hear what she was saying. Yet when Jiang Mu instinctively retreated, his footsteps halted abruptly.

The rain fell slantwise, autumn showers misty and blurred. She stared at him, her eyes holding a light all too familiar to Jin Chao.

During the year after senior high, he had seen that expression on countless faces—that look of gradually drifting away from him.

The rain was too loud; he still couldn't hear her words. But watching her lips move, her voice seemed to echo in his ears.

"You're not my brother. We're not related at all. Where I go is none of your concern."

As the last word left her lips, her figure plunged entirely into the downpour, reckless and vanishing into the night. The shock in Jin Chao's eyes was like raindrops striking accumulated water, sending turbulent ripples surging. Something deep within him felt torn apart, denied, abandoned.

Jiang Mu ran breathlessly for a long distance. She didn't know the roads near Tonggang First Hospital at all, but even so, she refused to stay there. She didn't want to wait another night.

There were no taxis on the road, not even a single pedestrian. She had no idea how long she had been running when she dashed into a street corner ATM booth, huddling under its roof. The rain was too heavy; splashing droplets kept striking her relentlessly.

Pulling her phone from her pants pocket, she found the screen wet but still functional. She opened an app to search for the earliest return trip. There were no direct trains from Tonggang to Suzhou, so she scrolled for trains to Beijing. The earliest one wasn't until the next morning. Lifting her head, she gazed into the vast, rainy night. There was no light above, only sharp, needle-like raindrops plunging into the earth. For the first time, she tasted despair. She wanted to call her mother, to tell her everything that had happened, to say she never wanted to stay in this awful place again. But just as she was about to dial, she froze. Jiang Yinghan was in Melbourne. Even if she told her, Jiang Yinghan couldn't immediately appear to whisk her away. Instead, she would call Jin Qiang and start a huge argument. Not only would Jin Qiang and Zhao Meijuan think she was a troublemaker who tattled at every turn, but her mother, far away in Melbourne, would also be left worrying incessantly.

Jiang Mu suddenly realized that this phone call wouldn't solve anything tonight. She fiercely locked her phone, crouched down, and buried her face between her knees. Time passed silently. In those few minutes, more practical concerns flooded her mind.

The re-enrollment procedures had been handled unilaterally by Jiang Yinghan and Jin Qiang. Even if she took the earliest train tomorrow morning, what would she do after returning to Suzhou? How would she attend school? What paperwork was needed? Where should she go to obtain which documents? Did a guardian need to be present? She knew nothing about any of this.The initial impulse was scattered by the fierce wind, and Jiang Mu gradually calmed down, but the calmness only brought a more helpless despair.

Warm liquid dripped down her arm, mixing with the rain on the ground. She didn’t know how long it had been before the raindrops hitting her body suddenly stopped. Jiang Mu lifted her face from between her knees and saw a large black umbrella sheltering her from above. Jin Chao stood panting in front of her, his eyes no longer devoid of emotion but instead filled with unmistakable anxiety, like a flame illuminating the pitch-black night.

He had searched for who knows how long, nearly covering every road near the hospital. He hadn’t dared to imagine how dangerous such a stormy night could be for a girl unfamiliar with the area. Only when he spotted her curled up beside the ATM did his heart finally settle. He had stormed over, filled with pent-up anger, but the moment Jiang Mu looked up, her reddened eyes and pitiful expression—like a misunderstood outcast abandoned by the world—made every word of reproach vanish from his lips.

Slowly, he crouched down, the large umbrella enclosing them in a small, intimate space. Jiang Mu hugged her knees tightly, her eyes glistening. His breath was close, and when his gaze fell on the bloodstains on the back of her hand, his expression tightened abruptly.

Jin Chao raised his hand, the calloused pad of his thumb brushing against her cheek as he tried to wipe away her tears. But that simple, gentle gesture only made her tears flow more uncontrollably, like an unshuttable floodgate.

His hand moved to the back of her head, pressing her face against his collarbone. He felt her trembling shoulders and, just as he had when she was a child, rhythmically patted her back to soothe her. "She wasn’t like this before," he said softly. "When she first got sick, she was still quite positive. Maybe she was too young to understand back then. But during the progression stage, the affected areas kept spreading, and eventually, it reached her head. The treatment required shaving her hair. No one in kindergarten wanted to play with her, and things didn’t improve in elementary school. Even though we talked to the teachers, she still went through some... some unpleasant experiences at school. I had my suspicions before, but what happened today confirmed it—Xin Xin might be suffering from a serious psychological illness. That means from now on, aside from physical treatment, she may also need psychological therapy. I’m not blaming you. I just think it’s messed up that you got dragged into this."

Jin Chao’s eyelashes were damp from the rain, and he looked just as disheveled and soaked as she was. He was explaining everything to her—Jin Xin’s unusual behavior, everyone’s anxiety—and it felt as though the heavy weight lodged in Jiang Mu’s heart had loosened slightly.

His comforting hand gradually stilled, and his voice lowered. "Can we go back now?"

Outside the umbrella was another world—a cold, unfamiliar one. But under the umbrella, he had created a temporary shelter for her. Jiang Mu no longer resisted. She couldn’t keep wrestling with herself, crouching in this spot forever. She needed to get through this wretched night, at least for now.

She stood up, her eyes darting away uncomfortably, and muttered awkwardly, "There’s no car. How are we supposed to get back?"As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Chao's phone rang. He answered it, gave an address, and within minutes a white Honda with its hazard lights flashing appeared in their line of sight. Jin Chao raised his right hand, waving his lit phone screen toward the Honda. The car turned and sped toward them.

Jin Chao held the umbrella and glanced sideways at Jiang Mu, who was still huddled several steps away from him, clearly drawing a line between them. He simply grabbed her and pulled her under the umbrella, guiding her toward the Honda.

Opening the rear door, Jin Chao shoved Jiang Mu inside, then walked around to the passenger seat. As soon as Jiang Mu got in, she saw San Lai, who was driving, turn around with a look of astonishment, staring at her before turning to Jin Chao, who was also drenched. He exclaimed, "Did you two go grave-robbing in the middle of the night? How did you end up like this?"

He then turned back to look at Jiang Mu again. She pressed her lips together and stayed silent. Jin Chao reached out, twisted his head back, and uttered two words: "Drive."

The atmosphere in the car was strange. San Lai kept glancing at Jiang Mu in the rearview mirror and sneaking looks at Jin Chao out of the corner of his eye. He muttered to himself, "Did you two have a fight?"

Jin Chao rubbed his temples impatiently. "If you can't drive, I'll take over."

San Lai fell silent, pursed his lips, and continued driving.

Jiang Mu's house keys had been lost along with the plastic bag. Jin Chao told San Lai to drive to the auto shop to get the spare key.

Tongren Lane was especially desolate in the heavy rain at night, with all the shops closed and their doors shut tight. The car stopped in front of Feichi Auto Shop. Jin Chao rolled up the shutter door, passed through the dark repair area, and entered the break room. He lifted the curtain and found the spare key inside.

When he came out, he saw that Jiang Mu had followed him into the break room. She stood with her hands tightly clasped in front of her, head slightly bowed. He glanced at her and said, "We can go now."

Jiang Mu didn't move. Jin Chao urged again, "It's late."

He walked to the break room door and had just stepped into the repair area when Jiang Mu's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Does what you said last time still count?"

Jin Chao turned around, twirling the keys in his hand, and looked at her. "What did I say?"

"About... staying here."

Jin Chao's hand, which had been spinning the keys, stopped mid-air. His sharp jawline slowly curved into an arc as he gave a loose, casual smile. "I'm not your brother. Do you think that's appropriate?"

Jiang Mu bit the inside of her lip tightly, her expression one of enduring humiliation, which Jin Chao found amusing. He tossed the keys to her, turned back toward the inner room, and threw out, "Just for one night."