Chapter 20

Their social circle wasn't large. With father Ji holding a wedding, it was natural for people to grow curious about his partner's background. Following the clues, they discovered that the celebrity who had debuted and skyrocketed to fame last year was her son.
Having read the novel and possessing the reader's perspective, Zhu Xinyue naturally knew what had happened back then. However, the Ji family's official statement to the public was that Ji Qingyuan was father Ji's stepson. Whether there was a blood relationship wasn't disclosed, but judging by father Ji's attitude, it was clear he valued Ji Qingyuan greatly.
On the wedding day, Zhu Xinyue wore a light green off-the-shoulder gown with an asymmetrical hem that ended just below the knee, draping to her calves. She styled her long hair into a side braid, accessorized with a pearl hairband that complemented the pearl waist chain around her waist, understated yet elegant.
This could be considered Zhu Xinyue's first time entering the social scene of the wealthy elite. At the wedding, she even spotted politicians who should have been on the news' political pages and ambassadors from certain countries, among others. According to Zhu Shilang, the blonde foreigner conversing with Ji Linyu was a titled noble from another country.
Zhu Shilang had already briefed Zhu Xinyue earlier, telling her to stick close to him and their father. If she didn't understand something, just smile, say little to avoid mistakes, say nothing to avoid errors.
Zhu Xinyue hadn't expected that attending a wedding banquet would involve so many intricacies. She had thought she was just there for the feast and had deliberately skipped breakfast, only to end up socializing on an empty stomach.
"Brother, I'm going to touch up my makeup," Zhu Xinyue said, pointing toward the ladies' lounge.
"Mm, go ahead."
While touching up her makeup in a booth near the back, separated by a makeup mirror and a cabinet stocked with various high-end cosmetics, Zhu Xinyue overheard two women discussing the Ji family's wedding.
"The bride, they say, was working as a waitress abroad when they met. No notable background, her family sells vegetables in Nancheng."
"Really? She's quite lucky then. The first wife was from the Lu family."
Zhu Xinyue was wiping off her lipstick to avoid accidentally eating it during the meal later.
"More than just lucky? Look at today's grand setup and the guests invited, isn't it all to show everyone how much he values his new wife and her son? Throughout the entire wedding, I haven't seen him let that stepson of his leave his side for a moment."
"Hey, I heard Ji Qingyuan is his biological son. Is that true or not?"
"Isn't it obvious enough already?"
Zhu Xinyue leaned closer to the mirror, feeling that wiping off the lipstick made her look a bit pale, so she decided to apply a little more. Who knew when they'd actually get to eat this meal.
"No wonder they waited until Old Master Ji passed away to hold the wedding. Only with Old Master Ji and the Lu family around could Ji Linyu securely hold his position as the heir."
"He's not just the heir anymore, he's long since taken over Jin Huan Group Group."
"Only because Ji Linyu took control of Jin Huan Group did his father get the chance to hold this wedding and let that mother and son enter the family. Otherwise, do you think the Lu family would have agreed?"
Zhu Xinyue listened as their conversation faded away with their retreating footsteps. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she recalled the novel's details about the previous generation's conflicts in the Ji family.
Ji Linyu's mother was a prosecutor, with three generations of her family serving in military and political circles. Her two older brothers were one in the military and the other a diplomat overseas.
She married Father Ji and soon gave birth to Ji Linyu. When Ji Linyu was four years old, someone hired an assassin who stabbed her right in front of him, and she died on the spot.
Just one month after Ji Linyu's mother passed away, Father Ji met Ji Qingyuan's mother abroad and hastily registered their marriage overseas. Old Master Ji was so enraged by his son's actions that he broke two walking sticks in fury.
Not to mention how infuriated the Lu family was upon learning of Father Ji's behavior.
His sister had only been gone for a month, her son was just four years old, and the murderer had made the child witness his own mother's killing.
As a husband and a father, Father Ji seamlessly moved on to the next relationship.
If it weren't for considering that Ji Linyu was still young and shouldn't lose both parents, Old Master Ji would have directly exiled his son to Africa.
In the end, Old Master Ji compromised but set one condition: Want them to enter the Ji family? Fine, but only after he, the old man, was in his coffin could they step through the door.
Thinking about it now, Zhu Xinyue suspected that Old Master Ji's move was also out of consideration for the Lu family. By being this harsh, he was giving the Lu family an explanation.
That's why Ji Qingyuan and his mother had been stuck in Nancheng all these years.
Zhu Xinyue remembered from the original host's memories that they had planned a graduation trip to another province together, but Ji Qingyuan refused, saying his mother wouldn't allow him to leave Nancheng before he started university.
Looking at it now, it probably wasn't that his mother forbade it, but that they weren't permitted to leave.
Ji Qingyuan always thought the Ji family had found them, but in reality, it was more like the Ji family had indirectly imprisoned them in Nancheng.
These were things Ji Qingyuan didn't know, but Ji Linyu was aware of them.
Zhu Xinyue thought to herself, no wonder in the novel, Ji Linyu always doted on this younger brother unconditionally, it was probably to make up for the fact that Ji Qingyuan hadn’t been able to leave Nancheng or return to the Ji family for over a decade.
She walked out of the lounge and saw Zhu Shilang talking with Ji Linyu, so she headed over.
“She’s back,” Zhu Shilang said, his gaze shifting past Ji Linyu’s shoulder to look at Zhu Xinyue. “I was just talking about you with Linyu.”
Ji Linyu turned around and saw Zhu Xinyue walking toward him. His eyes flickered slightly as he set down the champagne glass in his hand.
The dress she wore today was the one they had bought together, a pale green skirt that swayed with her movements, revealing her slender, straight legs. She wore a pair of low-cut flats, and when she caught sight of him, a smile touched her lips. With light, quick steps, she walked over to Zhu Shilang’s side, facing Ji Linyu directly, and blinked at him.
“Were you talking about me behind my back?”
Zhu Shilang waved his hands repeatedly, joking, “How would I dare speak ill of you? I’m afraid you’ll run away from home again.”
Zhu Xinyue raised an eyebrow.
“We were talking about your real reason for coming to Tianze City,” Ji Linyu answered her question.
Zhu Xinyue clenched her palm and immediately turned to glare at Zhu Shilang.
She had already explained herself yesterday.
Zhu Shilang felt that if the person she liked was the younger son of the Ji family, it would be a suitable match. Even if the younger son wasn’t particularly accomplished, with his older brother Ji Linyu around, she wouldn’t be treated poorly.
So he was quite pleased with the idea and was even willing to help bring her and Ji Qingyuan together.
But Zhu Xinyue had firmly told him that her feelings had changed, she no longer liked Ji Qingyuan.
Zhu Shilang didn’t quite understand these “youngsters,” feeling that their “love” was like a game, one moment liking this person, the next moment liking that one. For now, he accepted her explanation.
“I didn’t say anything, you can ask Linyu if you don’t believe me,” Zhu Shilang said under Zhu Xinyue’s intense gaze, leisurely picking up his champagne glass and walking away.
Zhu Xinyue watched Zhu Shilang leave, her heart beginning to race. She wanted to ask but didn’t dare.
“Shilang mentioned you didn’t have breakfast,” Ji Linyu was the one who spoke first.
Zhu Xinyue turned back and saw him pull a chocolate ball from his pocket, wrapped in purple foil, the same brand as the overly sweet chocolate he had given her before.
At the wedding, all the male guests were dressed in formal wear, and Ji Linyu was no exception. With his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his figure was perfectly proportioned. His tailored suit was impeccably pressed, without a single wrinkle, yet he could pull a chocolate ball from his pocket. Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help but laugh.
Did he have some kind of alternate-dimension pocket, specifically for storing chocolates?
Seeing her laugh, Ji Linyu’s lips curved upward.
When he had asked his childhood friend about the chocolate brand, the friend had teased him.
But as long as she liked it, that was all that mattered.
Zhu Xinyue took the overly sweet chocolate ball from his palm but didn’t unwrap the foil. Smiling, she said, “Thank you, Brother Linyu.”
As they were talking, they heard a familiar voice.
"Brother, Zhu Xinyue." Ji Qingyuan approached them, standing on the same side as Zhu Xinyue, facing Ji Linyu. "What are you two talking about?"
Ji Qingyuan wore a bright smile on his face and placed his hand on Zhu Xinyue's shoulder.
Zhu Xinyue frowned and unceremoniously swatted his hand off her shoulder, her tone slightly warning. "Ji Qingyuan."
Ji Qingyuan immediately raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, smiling as he said, "Alright, alright, I get it. You don't like physical contact with the opposite sex. It's just a habit, I didn't change it right away. I'll start changing from today, okay?"
Zhu Xinyue glared at his overly handsome face, feeling that he was doing it on purpose, but she had no proof.
Ji Qingyuan rarely wore formal attire in front of Zhu Xinyue. Today, he was dressed like a little prince, with his bangs swept back to reveal a full, smooth forehead. He closely resembled his mother, especially in the eyes, they were a glass-like light brown. His smile was bold and unrestrained, his eyes sparkling like stars, his nose high and straight, his lips red and teeth white. In the prime of his youth, he possessed peak good looks, and anyone who saw him would praise him as a beauty.
No wonder when he first debuted, some people thought he was just a mediocre actor relying on his looks.
"Chocolate? I thought you didn't like chocolate? You said it makes you gain weight." Ji Qingyuan noticed the chocolate in her hand.
The smile on Ji Linyu's lips vanished, and he pursed his lips, slipping his hands back into his pockets.
Zhu Xinyue immediately tore open the foil wrapper and took a bite of the chocolate ball in front of both of them.
"Who said I don't like chocolate?"
Seeing her eat the chocolate, Ji Qingyuan couldn't help but squint, as if he were choking, and said with a frown, "You don't have to force yourself to eat something you don't like just to oppose me."
That wasn't it! Zhu Xinyue was just overwhelmed by the sweetness.
Ji Linyu watched their uninhibited interaction, his hands in his pockets slightly curling, unable to describe the complex emotions he felt, it was just somewhat subtle.
"What do you like to eat?" Ji Linyu turned to Zhu Xinyue and asked her.
Before Zhu Xinyue could speak, Ji Qingyuan confidently cut in, "She likes fruit, but she doesn't like peeling or skinning them herself. Lychees, peaches, apples, she loves strawberries and cherries the most."
Zhu Xinyue parted her lips and stared at Ji Qingyuan for a long moment.
He actually knew what the original host liked to eat; she thought he didn't care.
Noticing her surprised expression, Ji Qingyuan raised an eyebrow proudly and said to his brother, "Zhu Xinyue and I grew up together. She's such a delicate thing, she even needs someone to peel lychees and feed them to her."
His tone was intimate and familiar, and with just a few words, one could imagine how close they used to be. It was quite possible that he was the one who peeled lychees for her.
Moreover, when they addressed each other, they used full names.
This use of full names, rather than nicknames, sounded even more intimate and close.
Ji Linyu frowned slightly.
"Ji Qingyuan, as people grow up, their preferences change." Zhu Xinyue didn't say Ji Qingyuan was wrong. Instead, she looked seriously at Ji Linyu, gazing into his dark eyes as she spoke to him.
"I like sweet things now, but not overly sweet ones."
When life felt too bitter, she would eat something sweet to comfort herself.
Ji Linyu looked at the half piece of chocolate ball still in her hand. "Is this too sweet?"
Following his words, Zhu Xinyue raised the half piece of chocolate. "This? It is a bit too sweet."
What neither she nor Ji Qingyuan expected was that Ji Linyu stepped closer, encircled her wrist, and in that position, bent down to bite the remaining half of the chocolate ball.
As if in slow motion, when Ji Linyu slightly leaned forward and lowered his head, Zhu Xinyue hadn't reacted yet, just staring at him blankly.
From this angle, she could see his long, slightly curled eyelashes, his straight and tall nose bridge, the sharp lines of his facial contours, and his mature, handsome features.
His warm breath touched the skin of her palm, tickling her. It might have been an illusion, but his movement seemed like he was kissing her fingertips, sacred and devout.
Zhu Xinyue felt like her breath had stopped.
Ji Linyu's action was so natural, as if he simply wanted to test how much sweetness she could tolerate, with no other intentions.
Even Ji Qingyuan couldn't quite figure out what his brother meant. He felt something was off but also thought he shouldn't use ordinary men's mindsets to guess his brother's intentions.
Ji Linyu straightened up, released Zhu Xinyue's wrist, slowly savored the chocolate, yet his gaze remained fixed on her.
Zhu Xinyue's ears grew warm under his stare, her eyes shimmering, and she blinked more frequently. Stammering, she asked, "H-how is it?"
Ji Linyu swallowed the half piece of chocolate, looked at her slightly reddened earlobes, curled his lips, and said:
"Too sweet."
For a moment, it was unclear whether he was referring to the chocolate or to her standing in front of him.