The glass shattered instantly upon impact with Chen Xiao's collision. Fortunately, the weather was gradually turning cooler, and Chen Xiao's coat was thick enough that he wasn't seriously injured. However, some shards of glass still cut his arm and several other areas, and two pieces of glass splattered onto his forehead, causing blood to flow freely.
The two construction workers were stunned. Seeing the young man who had suddenly barged in standing there covered in blood, they were so frightened that they forgot to even curse.
Zhang Xiaotao gasped in surprise and rushed over to hug Chen Xiao tightly. She frantically pulled out a pack of tissues and quickly wiped the blood from Chen Xiao's forehead. At the same time, she carefully removed the shards of glass from Chen Xiao's head one by one.
Chen Xiao seemed to be in a daze, his eyes fixed on the house. This sight suddenly caused Zhang Xiaotao a pang of pain in her heart. She grabbed Chen Xiao's hand and tears immediately streamed down her face.
"Chen Xiao. Chen Xiao! What's wrong? Chen Xiao?" Zhang Xiaotao's voice was full of panic as she shook Chen Xiao's hand forcefully. But Chen Xiao seemed oblivious; although the wound on his forehead wasn't large, the blood started flowing again after being wiped away.
Zhang Xiaotao bit her lip hard, then took out a tissue to continue wiping Chen Xiao's face.
At this moment, the two workers finally came to their senses, and they glared at each other, ready to start cursing.
At this moment, Mr. Zhu finally rushed in, and was shocked by the scene! Seeing his lucrative client covered in shards of glass, he assumed the workers had accidentally hit him. His face turned ashen, and he immediately flew into a rage, berating the two workers. The two workers felt wronged and were about to explain when Zhang Xiaotao spoke up, "It's not their fault. Chen Xiao was walking too fast and bumped into them… Don't blame them, masters, we're sorry."
Mr. Zhu looked anxious and sent the two workers away. Looking at the wound on Chen Xiao's forehead, he stamped his foot and said, "Sigh! Construction sites are very dangerous! Is Mr. Chen alright? Should we take him to the hospital to get it bandaged? He doesn't look too well."
Zhang Xiaotao still had tear stains in the corners of her eyes as she looked at Chen Xiao, who finally reacted this time.
He took a deep breath and glanced around again...
"This...this is not my home...no."
As Chen Xiao said this, tears were already welling up in the corners of her eyes.
The large living room was still a mess. Due to the renovation, the paint on the walls had been completely scraped off and repainted, but it wasn't finished yet. Even the flooring had been completely torn up and replaced. The current chaotic state was completely unrecognizable, bearing no resemblance to anything Chen Xiao remembered.
Chen Xiao silently turned around, looked at Zhang Xiaotao, and saw the tear stains at the corners of Zhang Xiaotao's eyes. Suddenly, he grinned and smiled gently. He reached out and wiped away the tear stains from the corners of Zhang Xiaotao's eyes, and said softly, "Why are you crying again?"
Zhang Xiaotao pouted, finally unable to hold back any longer, and burst into tears, throwing herself into Chen Xiao's arms: "I, I was worried about you! You scared me to death just now!!"
Chen Xiao quickly pulled Zhang Xiaotao away and said with a wry smile, "There's glass on me, don't hug me, it'll cut you."
Mr. Zhu, standing nearby, was completely bewildered and confused. He thought to himself that Mr. Chen was indeed strange—perhaps all wealthy people have some odd habits. A man and a woman were crying and laughing here…it was utterly incomprehensible.
However, his goal was to get money from Chen Xiao. As long as Chen Xiao could pay him, he didn't care whether he liked to cry or laugh!
Quickly, Mr. Zhu had someone bring over some band-aids. Fortunately, such things were prepared at the construction site. Two band-aids were quickly applied to Chen Xiao's forehead wound. Chen Xiao seemed to have calmed down, but there was still a strange look in his eyes.
Without saying much, he went straight up the stairs.
After looking around the second and third floors and seeing the mess inside the house, Chen Xiao finally stood in the former study on the third floor, lost in thought.
"Well, Mr. Chen, the things that were originally in the study have been temporarily moved to another place for safekeeping. Don't worry, nothing will be lost."
Mr. Zhu cautiously spoke up from the side.
"Okay, thank you." Chen Xiao's reply was fairly clear, but he still seemed somewhat absent-minded.
Finally, his gaze fell on Zhang Xiaotao. After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low voice, "I... want to ask you something."
"Um?"
"I'm an orphan, my parents are gone, aren't they?"
"..." It was clearly a very simple question, and Zhang Xiaotao had already explained it to Chen Xiao when she introduced him at Old Wu's house in Shanghai. But now that Chen Xiao had suddenly asked it again in such a strange tone, Zhang Xiaotao suddenly hesitated to answer directly.
Chen Xiao looked into Zhang Xiaotao's eyes and said softly, "I'm fine... I just suddenly remembered something." Then he sighed, "I... I'm an orphan, my parents are gone..."
A wry smile appeared on his face: "For a moment just now, I seemed to remember that this should be my home, and my parents should be here... Hmm, I think I remembered what they looked like."
He then drifted off into a daze for a moment, seemingly muttering to himself.
"I... am an orphan."
……
……
A black car slowly pulled up outside the house.
Two young men dressed in Tang suits jumped out of the car. One of them quickly opened the back door and stretched out a hand to cover the top edge of the door, his expression respectful and serious: "Sir, we've arrived. This is the place."
"Um."
Inside the car, a deep and authoritative old man's voice came from inside, and then an old man with a full head of white hair bent down and stepped out of the car.
He must have been very tall. Although he was old and his posture was inevitably a bit unsteady, the occasional glint in his eyes still faintly revealed the sharpness of his youth. The wrinkles on his face were like knife-cut lines, each one filled with a sense of determination—people with such appearances are generally strong-willed and stubborn.
This old man was none other than the patriarch of the Xiao family!
Old Master Xiao stood in front of the car, looked up at the house in front of him, and saw workers busy in the yard outside, a scene of construction. He couldn't help but frown, his eyes filled with doubt: "Have you checked and confirmed that this is the place?"
A young man next to her quickly bent down and said, "It's definitely not wrong. The address was provided by the private investigator that Miss Xiao Qing hired."
"Hmm..." Old Master Xiao sighed, put his hands behind his back, squinted at the house, and finally sighed softly, "Little Xiao, she did have a pretty good life back then. It's fortunate that... otherwise, wouldn't we feel even more guilty? Alas, she has always liked green since she was a child, no wonder even the exterior walls of this house are painted green."
At this point, Old Master Xiao coughed lightly twice, and a man next to him immediately handed him a teacup. The old man sighed, waved his hand to refuse, but squinted and continued to stare at the house in front of him in a daze.
After standing there for a full minute, a young man tentatively said, "Grandpa, this is the place. It looks like the house is under renovation now, a complete mess. There's nothing to see here. Let's go back... You haven't been feeling well these past few days, so don't catch a chill."
Upon hearing this, Old Master Xiao's face darkened: "Hmph! I'm not that old yet!"
The man who had been speaking next to him turned pale, shrank back, and dared not offer any more advice.
The old man looked around for a long time, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes. He stood there for three or four minutes before finally sighing and waving his hand. "Forget it, forget it. Coming here is just giving myself something to look at. I don't even know who owns this house anymore... What's the point of looking? The older you get, the softer your heart becomes. Let's go!"
Upon hearing this, the two young men beside him immediately breathed a sigh of relief and were about to help the old man into the car...