Both of the calls were hung up at the same time. Now that they could no longer hear the elders’ quarrel over the phone, the room returned to silence. The buttons on Pei Ge’s pink pajamas had unknowingly come undone by themselves.
Beneath was a huge and beautiful scenery that Ji Ziming coincidentally saw.
His Adam’s apple slid up and down a little as his gaze remained on her front, unwilling to leave at all.
“Ziming, you…”
“What’s wrong with me?”
The woman looked up, finally spotting the awkwardness of a certain position. Blushing, she lowered her head again and set her clothes properly before looking up at the man again. “Over these few days, we—”
“I know; I won’t touch you.”
He lowered his head, forcing himself not to think of what he had just seen. If this had been before, he would have likely already not controlled himself, for this was Pei Ge. Precisely because it was her this time that he could only control his urges. He could just not bear to hurt her.
“Okay.”
She lowered her head, and both of them fell into a long and tense silence.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Madam Ji and Qu Xiujie were at the city center of R City. The two were standing before a skincare products counter. The atmosphere around them was charged with so much electricity and tension that the salesperson was afraid to even breathe near them.
“My in-law, you still have time to back out now.”
Smugness flashed across the man’s eyes. He could already predict how she would end up.
“Back out? Old thing, you should be the one thinking clearly; I am the expert here.”
“So what if you are an expert? A newbie like me has luck, too.”
He was betting on his luck, but alas, he still lost in the end.
The consequences of losing were to agree and follow all the orders of the winning party, on the basis that they did not threaten the other’s safety.
She only had one condition—for him not to speak at all.
Hence, he trailed after her and the three children, holding numerous shopping backs. His use as a man was portrayed as thus, while she and her friend were happily chatting in front of him.
He was clearly now a bodyguard, a driver, and a male nanny.
The three children stopped repeatedly while walking. Seeing that he was holding too much stuff, they all waited for him to catch up. “Granduncle, how about we help you carry some? It looks so heavy…”
Ran Ran was so sensible that she walked up to him and reached out her small hand, wanting to help him carry one.
Qu Xiujie looked up and realized that Madam Ji did not notice what was happening behind her. Hence, he spoke. “Granduncle doesn’t need you to carry these. You guys just need to walk in front and lead me.”
“But you seem very tired. Mommy already said that if we come out with granduncle, we can’t make you tired. I have already grown up, so I can help granduncle carry some.”
Ran Ran insisted. Her beautiful eyes were gleaning with kindness.
He bent down and rubbed the top of the lassie’s head, saying in a gentle voice, “I will thank you here, but this granduncle of yours is a man. It’s easy for me to carry this stuff, so I won’t be needing your help.”
“Really?”
She looked up into his eyes. Upon receiving his nod of confirmation, she turned around to say to her brothers, “Let’s go. Granduncle doesn’t need our help.”
“Okay. Then, granduncle, just follow us so that you won’t get lost.”
An An nodded. After getting the reply of the older man, whose hands were full with all the shopping bags, he turned around and ran to his grandmother. Similarly, the other two children smiled at Qu Xiujie, then chased after their brother.
Standing on the same spot, Qu Xiujie felt as though he had been despised. He regarded the three children with an aggrieved face. He was merely being more humble and polite, but the trio had decisively abandoned him.
“Little sister, what if granduncle tires himself out?”
Ji Chi tugged at his sister’s hand questioningly.
“He won’t. Mommy said that granduncle is very healthy.”
Ran Ran shook her head, not believing that Qu Xiujie would even get tired because of what he was carrying.
In fact, the reality was that tiredness did not have a peak.
Qu Xiujie swore that he would never come shopping with women ever again, especially with Madam Ji.
The latter turned and saw how he was standing on the same spot, mentally scolding himself while picking up the purchases on the floor again, then asked, “Old thing, you’re the one who wanted to bet with me. You don’t blame me, do you?”
“Of course not; of course not. I was the one lacking in skills.”
He shook his head.
“Did I agree to letting you speak?”
Her gaze immediately turned sharp as she spoke in a tone that rejected any defiance. “Concede to your defeat. I still have not agreed to letting you speak. You are going against the rules, and I have the right to continue punishing you.”
The woman’s gaze was filled with smugness.
He could only use his gaze to express his anger. He had no choice—who told him to lose? Moreover, it was a challenge on who had more knowledge about skincare products.
“Hmph.”
Madam Ji lightly harrumphed, then turned to continue walking forward.
Old woman, I refuse to believe that I won’t be able to subdue you. Wait for it. One day, you will surely experience defeat in my hands. I will wait for that day to come. Only that man from the Ji family is willing to marry you. If you were my woman, I’d let you understand what it meant not to be able to offend a man! he muttered to himself. He did not want to be mocked by her and lose face, but he also did not want to go back on his words. He was so frustrated.
The other person following Madam Ji was a plump madam, whose skin was not as well-taken care of as her. Madam Ji had only casually mentioned this friend of hers on the way but did not specifically introduce this ‘Gongsun’ to him. Hence, Qu Xiujie was still clueless on who this madam was.
Following behind the two women and the three children, he could clearly see everything happening in front of him.
A man had been following a sexily-clad, beautiful lady with long legs for quite some time. However, the lady did not notice that someone had been following her even after a long time passed. She was carrying the newest Armani orange handbag, and the glasses she wore were something Qu Xiujie had seen before.
He had seen similar glasses on Qu Jingwan’s vanity table before.
He quickly walked ahead and stopped beside Madam Ji. He nudged his lips in the direction of that lady, prompting the older woman to look where he was pointing. However, as she was still engrossed in the excitement of winning against him, she did not pay him much heed. Instead, she just gave him a look of disdain.
