Truly, Madly, Deeply

Chapter 2

Jiang Yan Li stood with her brother Jiang Cheng on the pier, eagerly waiting for Wei Ying's boat to dock. It had been two weeks since her brother left to Yi City and it was safe to say that she missed him.

When Wei Ying stepped out of the boat, nothing could have prepared the siblings for the mess they received. They had been expecting their brother to look sad but this was different. There stood Wei Ying completely pale, with red rimmed eyes indicating that he had been crying accompanied by dark circles, looking completely broken.

Yan Li held Jiang Cheng's arm in a death grip as she stared at her brother.

One look at his brother's face and Jiang Cheng knew that something was very very wrong. And he was definite that it had something to do with Lan Wang Ji.

"A-Jie," he whispered. "How the hell are we going to handle this?"

"I don't know A-Cheng. We just gotta be there for him. And hopefully, when he's ready he'll tell us what happened," she replied sadly.

Wei Ying walked up to his siblings and forced his lips up in a smile. Even a blind man would be able to see that it was fake.

Yan Li immediately gave him a warm smile and said, "I have prepared your favourite Lotus Rib Soup, A-Xian. Come. Let's eat."

Wei Ying knew that if he opened his mouth he would cry. So he nodded at her and Yan Li took his sweaty palms in her hand and together they walked home.

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It had been almost a month and a half since Wei Ying had returned to the Lotus Pier. One and a half month of sleepless nights and crying. One and a half month of his siblings trying to console him and ask him what was wrong. One and a half month since he had last seen or heard from Lan Wang Ji.

Jiang Cheng was in his sister's room trying to figure out a way to cheer their brother up.

"Nothing seems to be working A-Jie. He's been the same from the time he returned. And Lan Wang Ji hasn't sent a letter this month. Something definitely happened between them," he said with a frown.

"I don't know A-Cheng. It hurts me to see him like this. He's barely eating. He hasn't been sleeping either. If this continues, he's going to fall sick. He's already lost so much of weight. The thing that worries me the most is that, he hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since he returned and we all know that A-Xian loves his alcohol," she said with a hand pressed to her forehead.

"That's it, A-Jie! We have to intervene now. This has been going on for a long time. We have to make him listen to us before he hurts himself. I don't want to go through his death again!" he said with finality.

Yan Li nodded and together they made their way towards Wei Ying's room.

Jiang Cheng was all fired up to knock sense into his brother's head. He pushed the door open with a bang and what he saw was not something that he was prepared for. Wei Ying was bent over a bucket and hurling his insides into it. Jiang Cheng froze and all he could think was that he could not let his brother die again! Not when his relationship with his brother had just settled.

Yan Li immediately rushed into the room to rub her A-Xian's back and protect his hair from his stomach contents.

"There there, A-Xian. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay," she soothingly whispered.

Jiang Cheng passed a cup of water for Wei Ying to gargle and a kerchief for him to wipe his mouth.

They helped him settle onto the bed and covered him with a thick blanket.