Before long, Manager An returned, pulling a suitcase. All 1.5 million in cash was inside, not a cent missing. Lin Bin shamelessly counted it twice right in front of them.
"Will you take the child back and make the arrangements yourselves, or would you like me to handle it?" Sister Lan asked.
Lin Bin had already made up his mind. Bowing and scraping, he said, "There's no need to trouble you with the child, Sister Lan. I'll take her home and bury her."
"Xiao An, have them taken home," Sister Lan instructed.
Lin Bin hurriedly declined. "Sorry for the trouble, but there's no need. We can just take a taxi home ourselves."
Lin Bin knew Sister Lan wasn't offering them a ride out of kindness because they had no car. She probably wanted to find out where he lived so she could track him down if he went back on his word later.
"Let us give you a ride anyway." Sister Lan regarded Lin Bin with a faint, ambiguous smile.
Lin Bin's heart tightened. He knew he couldn't refuse. Besides, if someone like Sister Lan truly wanted to investigate his background, she could easily find out another way later. With that in mind, he could only nod reluctantly.
Manager An sent a trusted subordinate to drive Lin Bin and Hu Mei home. Once the subordinate left, Lin Bin had no time to spare for his daughter in the black bag in the living room. He immediately locked the doors and windows, drew the curtains tight, and excitedly set the suitcase of money on the bed and opened it.
Lin Bin and Hu Mei exchanged a glance, each seeing delight in the other's eyes.
Lin Bin scooped Hu Mei up and spun her around several times, saying happily, "Mei, we're rich! I can finally marry you!"
Hu Mei giggled too, looking down at her man with an adoring gaze.
Remembering the bag containing Lin Jiajia out in the living room, Hu Mei said, "Bin, now that we have money, why don't we leave White Cloud City? Otherwise, if those people come looking for us this afternoon, I'm afraid they'll find us out."
Lin Bin set Hu Mei down and said confidently, "I have another plan for that. Listen, that man yesterday who looked like a ghost is the boss of the casino. With their resources and methods, they might already have someone watching the place to keep us from running. Carrying this whole suitcase of money would draw too much attention. Listen to me. Here's what we'll do..."
After hearing Lin Bin's plan, Hu Mei felt uneasy, but she still nodded. "Then we'll do it your way."
At noon, Jiang Nan ate at Boss Li's noodle shop as usual. Li Xiaomei had brought a photo from home. Lin Jiajia looked very thin in it. Her eyes were large, but they lacked the liveliness a child her age should have had. Although she was smiling for the photo, a lingering worry was still visible between her brows.
Before they finished eating, Tang Fei showed up too. He was now determined to latch onto Jiang Nan, so how could he pass up a chance to run errands and make himself useful?
"I'm going too!" Li Xiaomei said firmly. It was the weekend, so she had no classes, and she wanted to find out how her best friend was doing as soon as possible.
Boss Li poked Xiao Mei's forehead with a finger. "This is grown-up business. What are you tagging along for? Stay here and watch the shop. I'll go with your Brother Nan!"
"No! Jiajia is my best friend. I have to go!" Xiao Mei said resolutely.
Unable to win against his daughter, Boss Li could only wave his hand. "Fine, fine. I'll watch the shop, and you can go. Honestly, you won't even let me tag along for a bit of excitement."
Jiang Nan smiled helplessly and had no choice but to bring Li Xiaomei along. Although he suspected something bad might have happened, she wouldn't be in danger with him there.
Tang Fei drove Jiang Nan and Li Xiaomei to Lin Jiajia's home. After they got out, the unease in Jiang Nan's heart grew stronger. Perhaps his increased battle power had brought an unexpected effect: he seemed able to sense misfortune like this.
The moment they entered the stairwell, Jiang Nan caught a faint scent of sandalwood incense. His heart lurched. This was the incense people burned when someone died in the southern part of East City.
Had something really happened?
Maybe it's another family, Jiang Nan reassured himself. But as they climbed the stairs, the sandalwood scent grew stronger. When they finally reached the third floor, he saw that Lin Jiajia's front door stood open, with white cloth hanging from the frame.
At the sight, Li Xiaomei instinctively tightened her grip on Jiang Nan's arm and hid behind him. Tang Fei, however, thought nothing of it. He strode inside and called out casually, "Lin the Third, have you brought your daughter home yet?"
The moment Tang Fei stepped through the doorway, he froze too. A simple memorial altar stood in the living room, with a closed coffin behind it. The coffin was small enough that it was obvious the person inside wasn't an adult.
Lin Bin sat slumped on the floor beside the altar, dressed in mourning clothes. As soon as he saw someone enter, he began sobbing in anguish.
"My Jiajia! My poor daughter! Daddy failed you! Heaven is so damned unfair! How could it bear to take you away from me?"
Hu Mei, also dressed in mourning clothes, knelt on the other side of the altar, placing a stack of spirit money into a brazier with reddened eyes.
Lin Bin wailed so desperately that even the usually oblivious Tang Fei was momentarily at a loss. He opened his mouth, hesitating over whether to offer a few words of comfort.
Jiang Nan told Li Xiaomei to wait at the doorway, then entered the apartment. After surveying the room, he asked, "What happened?"
Lin Bin was crying so hard he could barely breathe. He managed a few broken words before breaking into heart-wrenching sobs again.
Jiang Nan turned a questioning gaze toward Hu Mei. She raised a hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Poor Jiajia. She ate something bad out in the countryside last night, then suddenly fell terribly ill in the middle of the night. Just like that, she was gone!"
Sadness settled over Jiang Nan's heart as well. Even as he lamented how fragile life was, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Lin Bin was crying so hard he seemed on the verge of passing out. Yet the more grief he displayed, the stronger Jiang Nan's sense that something was wrong became.
Before transmigrating, Jiang Nan had seen someone who had lost a child in an accident. Attending that funeral had left a deep impression on him. That bereaved relative had shown him firsthand what it meant for grief to leave a heart utterly dead.
It had been a blank face, devoid of life-a face whose owner had been drained of every ounce of strength and could no longer even form an expression of sorrow.
Although Jiang Nan understood that, as a parent, Lin Bin would surely struggle to accept such a blow at first, something about his behavior still seemed strange.
It was like the grief Jiang Nan had seen award-winning actors portray in films!
Yes! He's acting!
Once that thought took root, Jiang Nan found Lin Bin's performance far too obvious whenever he looked at him.
Then he thought of what he already knew about Lin Bin: a hopeless gambler who had driven his wife away, neglected his daughter, and sometimes beaten and cursed at Lin Jiajia. He even had a new girlfriend now. Yet this scumbag was crying his heart out at his daughter's memorial altar. Jiang Nan realized something was wrong!
The truth might be hidden inside that little coffin!
Before you continue