Chapter 8: Cell Phone Friends Mix-Up

He caught a glimpse of the joy in his eldest son's conversation with Lu Xining. Ultimately, he decided not to enter and interrupt, turning instead toward the study.

Ji Chao received the photos and began to save them once again.

A happy smile emerged on his face once he confirmed they were successfully saved in the album.

By the time Ji Muye finished his work and returned to the master bedroom, the phone that Ji Chao had stealthily taken was already back on the nightstand.

Just as he was preparing to lie down and rest, Ji Muye's personal phone vibrated momentarily, and upon unlocking it, he saw a foreign avatar.

The person had sent over a voice message.

Ji Muye opened the chat box, scrolled up, and found it full of photos.

Most of them were photos of Ji Chao and Lu Nuonuo together, and a few were of Lu Xining with them. The woman in the photos had a gentle look in her eyes; Lu Nuonuo's smile was radiant, and Ji Chao looked...somewhat goofy.

Compelled, he played the voice message. It was Lu Xining's voice.

"Xiao Chao, take good care of yourself. If you miss your sister, send a message to mom, and I'll arrange a video call with your sister."

During the brief listen, another message popped up.

This time it was the soft voice of Lu Nuonuo, "Brother, good night."

The man's gaze turned vague for an instant, then suddenly turned bone-chillingly cold.

The next day was a weekend.

Ji Chao, thinking of the photos in the album, woke up early.

During the weekend, he and Ji Ze were allowed to use the mobile phone for one hour.

Ji Muye handed over his phone to him.

These photos, he had already transferred to his son's phone the previous night.

Ji Chao couldn't wait to search for Lu Xining's WeChat account, wanting to video call Lu Nuonuo, but he couldn't find it anywhere.

Feeling lost yet not daring to tell Ji Muye directly, he asked indirectly, "Dad, can a friend suddenly disappear?"

Ji Muye didn't tell him about mistakenly taking his own phone the night before, only mentioned that sometimes the phone system might glitch, possibly making someone disappear.

As for the account silently lying in his personal phone, he chose to utterly ignore it.

After just finishing work in the Shi'an Group office, Ji Muye's phone on the desk vibrated.

Ji Muye glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye.

It was that account again.

The video connected immediately, and he saw Lu Nuonuo's cute little face close to the screen, the childish voice cheerfully calling him "brother" in front of Ji Muye.

The little one's bright smile dropped as soon as she saw Ji Muye's face, and with a snap, she threw the phone away.

The phone landed in a corner of the couch, barely showing a woman slowly approaching.

Lu Xining looked puzzled at her daughter, "Sweetie, what happened, didn't brother answer the video call?"

The little one hugged her mom's leg tightly, shaking her head.

Lu Nuonuo said, "Scared."

Disregarding the phone, Lu Xining picked up her daughter.

It took a long while to coax her back into a smile, and after playing toys with the child for a while, she finally had time to look at her own phone.

The video call lasted for ten minutes.

It had just been disconnected seconds before she came to take her phone.

After pondering, she sent a message over anyway.

There was no response for a long time.

By the time for Lu Nuonuo's nap, she was focusing on putting her daughter to sleep.

After Ji Muye hung up the video, without leaving the chat interface, he immediately saw the message Lu Xining had sent.

It was a photo of Lu Nuonuo playing with toys.

The little one had her hair in two pigtails, and because she had been ill, her cheeks were much thinner than they were back in Yunqiao Village. She was intently playing with a doll, and in a mirror next to her, a woman's slender fingers holding a phone were reflected.

He coldly exited the chat interface.

The next day, Lu Nuonuo decided to send a video call to her brother in the morning.

She had learned this from Ji Chao before he left.

Who knew that upon starting the video, she'd be met again with Ji Muye's cold face. She pouted, unhappily staring at the man on the other side.

Lu Nuonuo, frustrated, said, "I'm looking for Brother."

As soon as she finished speaking, Nuonuo ended the video call.

The third day was in the evening.

Dressed in light blue pajamas and freshly bathed, Lu Nuonuo lay on her bed with her phone on the pillow and dialed her brother's video call again.

Ji Muye's face still appeared on the screen.

With her chubby fingers, she tapped heavily on the screen, not understanding why it was always the bad uncle's face showing up.

"Change, change to Brother."

Ji Muye, sitting in his home office, had gotten used to the little girl's occasional video calls. Fresh out of the bath with her fluffy hair, the porcelain-like Lu Nuonuo looked extraordinarily cute.

"Brother is doing homework."

Lu Nuonuo took the phone to find her mom.

She believed her mom could do anything, turn the bad uncle away and bring back her brother.

The little one knocked on the bathroom door, "Mom, Brother."

Lu Xining was washing her hair and couldn't open her eyes. "Nuonuo, be good, Mom is bathing, you talk to Brother."

The little one was clingy even when she was bathing.

Lu Xining placed a children's chair by the bathroom door to easily respond to her daughter's occasional calls.

Lu Nuonuo was now sitting in the little deer chair, blinking her sparkling big eyes, feeling conflicted as she stared at Ji Muye on the phone.

"I want Brother."

"Brother, Brother, I want Brother."

Listening to the little one repeatedly expressing her desire to see her brother, an indescribable emotion spread in Ji Muye's heart, and he finally agreed to let her see him tomorrow.

Smart as she was for her age, Lu Nuonuo waved her hand and immediately ended the call upon receiving his promise.

Ji Muye: "..."

The next day, Ji Chao returned from kindergarten and was surprised to see Ji Muye at home.

Upon learning that Lu Xining's account had been reactivated, he eagerly took the phone to video call Lu Nuonuo.

Lu Xining answered the call.

As she saw Ji Chao, she also noticed the man standing behind him.

"Mom, I miss you so much, and I miss Nuonuo too."

"Mom and sister miss you too."

Lu Xining first placed the phone on a stand before going to pick up Lu Nuonuo.

The little one finally saw Ji Chao on the phone instead of the bad uncle and immediately smiled brightly like a sunflower.

"Brother."

Lu Xining kissed her daughter's tender little face, "Nuonuo, talk to Brother while Mom prepares dinner, okay?"

The open kitchen was directly connected to the living room, allowing Lu Xining to keep an eye on her daughter at all times.

The little one nodded her head and began excitedly introducing her new toy in her arms to her brother.

Lu Nuonuo: "Brother, look."

Ji Chao, remembering the gift he had bought, quickly said, "Sister, Brother also bought you a new toy."

He handed the phone to Ji Muye, "Dad, hold this for me."

With that, he dashed upstairs to his room to fetch the stuffed doll he had bought for Lu Nuonuo.

Soon, Ji Chao returned from upstairs.

Ji Ze had just gone to the restroom and, upon returning, saw his brother in the video and also squeezed in, not expecting it to be Lu Nuonuo.

Ji Ze, surprised, said, "Nuonuo?"

Though they were twins, Lu Nuonuo never mistook anyone.

Seeing Ji Ze and remembering how he had supported the bad aunt before, she remained silent as a form of protest until Ji Chao appeared in the frame, making her smile again.

Lu Xining felt it was about time to finish, calling out to Nuonuo to end the video call, "It's time to eat, Nuonuo. Say goodbye to Brother."

Lu Nuonuo obediently waved her hand, "Brother, bye-bye."