The blind boss's nanny

Lin Xiaoman froze, unsure of what to say, only able to hear her heart pounding loudly in the quiet breakfast room.

"Xiaoman" (Grain Buds).

The voice coming from the receiver was deep and clear, like a gentle breeze brushing across the strings of a harp on a summer night, or like the tides lapping gently against the shore under the moonlight, carrying Lu Tingzhao's unique languor and magnetism.

"I almost thought... my phone was broken."

Lin Xiaoman didn't react for a moment, and subconsciously hummed a questioning syllable:

"Um?"

"otherwise,"

His voice seemed closer, his pace slower, and the last syllable deliberately drawn out, making it sound particularly ambiguous and lingering.

"Why haven't I received any calls or messages from you?"

Lin Xiaoman's heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks flushed even more uncontrollably. This man, even from halfway around the world, still had that same tone!

She pursed her lips, deliberately making her voice sound stiff and distant:

"Of course it's because I didn't call you."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. In that brief moment of silence, the two could hear each other's breathing, a sound that seemed to transcend continents.

"Xiaoman, are you alright?"

"Lu Tingzhao, are you alright?"

Almost simultaneously, they spoke in unison.

After a brief moment of surprise, Lu Tingzhao chuckled softly. The laughter, transmitted through the receiver, carried a slight vibration in his chest, inexplicably tugging at one's heartstrings.

Lin Xiaoman's lips involuntarily curved upwards, but she quickly suppressed it again.

"I'm fine."

She spoke first, her tone deliberately indifferent.

"Jason, you're doing very well here."

"Um,"

Lu Tingzhao responded, then asked, his voice tinged with inquiry.

"Is your situation...going well? Are you settling in well over there? Have you...run into any trouble? You..."

He paused, then finally uttered those three words, his voice as soft as a feather:

"...Do you miss me?"

Lin Xiaoman's fingers tightened around her phone. She began to recount her experiences and feelings of the past few days in a methodical manner, as if giving a work report:

Who she found, who she didn't find, what scenery she saw, what feelings she experienced... every little detail.

However, she chose to remain silent when it came to the question of longing.

Then, she took a deep breath, steered the conversation in another direction, and her tone became serious, even questioning:

"Lu Tingzhao, tell me, why did you give up on going abroad for treatment?"

Lu Tingzhao on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before answering in a somewhat formulaic tone:

"Something urgent has come up back home, so I can't get away."

"What is it?"

Lin Xiaoman persisted, her voice filled with urgency and worry.

"What could be more important than your eyes?"

Her questions came like a machine gun; you could feel her anxiety and confusion even through the receiver.

On the other end of the phone, Lu Tingzhao's gaze swept over Qin Xiu's pale face, who was still unconscious in the room, and then looked at Lu Tingxi's tightly closed door at the end of the corridor.

His throat felt like it was choked with a thousand words, but in the end, it could only turn into a heavy silence.

Family secrets, ethical scandals, the sister's impulsive crimes, and unresolved mysteries...

Which one could he explain to her over the phone? And which one did he want her to get involved in right now?

This unspoken silence, however, came to Lin Xiaoman's ears as escapism, shirking responsibility, and utter "irresponsibility" towards his own body.

Disappointment, anger, and a hint of hidden grievance instantly shattered her carefully maintained composure. She raised her voice, her tone trembling clearly:

"Lu Tingzhao! You...you have truly disappointed me!"

Hearing the tremor in her voice and the heavy "disappointment," Lu Tingzhao felt a pang in his heart. He helplessly raised his hand, gently rubbing his throbbing temples, his voice weary:

"Xiaoman, this matter is complicated... I will definitely give you an explanation later, but for now..."

"Later? Again, later!"

Lin Xiaoman interrupted him, her pent-up emotions finally bursting forth.

"You're always like this! Lu Tingzhao! You never say anything, you bear everything on your own, and you always say 'we'll talk about it later'! What about your eyes? What if your 'later' never gets healed?!"

"Xiaoman, listen to me..."

"I don't want to hear it!"

The breakfast room was cozy, the sun was still shining brightly, and the roses in the garden were in full bloom. But Lin Xiaoman, holding her phone, had her back to the door, her shoulders trembling slightly, her voice rising and falling, filled with suppressed excitement.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, a man far to the east stood on the edge of a ruin that had just been ravaged, a place of bloodshed and chaos, where the truth remained unclear.

Faced with the safety of his loved ones and an unspeakable predicament, and listening to the accusations erupting from his beloved, Lu Tingzhao's emotions were also turbulent, but he could only swallow all his explanations and burdens.

A dispute spanning Eurasia suddenly erupted.

The sweet probing came to an abrupt end, replaced by sharp contradictions and a sense of powerlessness.

He took a deep breath, trying to steer the conversation in a safer direction, his voice becoming lower and softer:

"Xiaoman, listen to me. You don't need to rush back, and you don't need to worry about me. There are many beautiful places in Europe..."

Venice, Provence, the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, or do you want to see the Northern Lights in Northern Europe? I can arrange it all.

Jason knows many interesting people and can take you on unique travel experiences. Try to let go of everything, forget your worries for a while, and simply enjoy this time that's just for you, okay?

He paused, his tone carrying a promise, though that promise seemed so elusive in the current chaos:

"Wait for me... wait until I've sorted things out here, and everything's settled, then I'll definitely come find you. No matter where you are then, I'll be there for you."

However, at this moment, what kept echoing in Lin Xiaoman's mind was Dang Shen's words, "He gave up treatment," and what appeared before her eyes was his lonely silhouette as he groped in the dark.

She couldn't hear any of his wonderful descriptions of "travel" and "the future," and felt that they were just excuses he made to appease her and continue to bury himself in his "important work."

Worry, disappointment, and a sense of injustice at being excluded from his "important affairs" intertwined, causing her to speak without thinking.