Two full days passed after the messages were sent.
Mo Jingshen still didn’t give her any response; not even a call.
During the two days, Ji Nuan traveled to a neighboring city on business. When she was about to go back to the company from her business trip, she suddenly received a call from Xiao Luye.
——
An hour later, Ji Nuan stood outside the French restaurant near her company. She saw Xiao Zhenjun sitting by the window and spotted Xiao Luye standing by his car in the parking lot with a hand in his trouser pocket.
She walked to the parking lot. Seeing her, Xiao Luye raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t mean to pester you, but my father couldn’t eat or sleep well these days. He wanted to see you, but he was afraid that you didn’t want to see him, so he asked me to ask you out. He wants to talk to you.”
“When did you know I was your sister?” Ji Nuan didn’t respond to his words. After all, Xiao Luye was nice to her. She wasn’t hostile to him, so she just asked him directly.
Xiao Luye raised his eyebrows, his hand still in his trouser pocket, and chuckled. “When do you think?”
“Did you know when you kidnapped me to your villa?”
Xiao Luye looked her for a while before he said, “I just guessed it. My father didn’t know your existence back then. It wasn’t until a relative of an old servant hired by my family, who used to be the servant of the Ji family, accidentally mentioned you that my father became suspicious. He began to suspect that you were not Ji Hongwen’s daughter after he made a lot of investigations and got to know your birth date.”
“But even if you are not Ji Hongwen’s daughter, you’re only my half-sister. I didn’t really care about you, but you attracted my attention by taking my beloved little belle Shi Niange away from me. Tell me, if you were me, what would you do?” Xiao Luye said and put a cigarette into his mouth, although he didn’t light it up because Ji Nuan was standing close to him. He looked at her with a smile. “Although you really pissed me off, I couldn’t hurt you, so I just took you to my mid-hill villa and asked the servant to secretly collect your hair that fell on the bed. I did a paternity test with those strands and then it was confirmed that you were really my biological sister. If Mo Jingshen hadn’t taken you away, I might have taken you to the Xiao family. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. I thought I wouldn’t be troubled anymore as long as I gave you to my father.”
“So you helped me when we were in the capital just because I’m your sister?”
“Yes.” Xiao Luye held the cigarette in his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and smiled naughtily. “Why should I ask for trouble if you weren’t my sister? I’m not quite interested in women. If you weren’t my sister, I wouldn’t have bothered to take a look at you even if you were devoured alive by Rong Cheng.”
Ji Nuan. “…So I’m supposed to be grateful for you?”
Xiao Luye snorted. “You don’t have to be grateful, but we’re a family now. I’m your brother and you should treat me as your brother.”
“…How shall I treat you like my brother?”
“For example, as for Shi Niange, you should take sides with me instead of Qin Siting. I’m trying to get you a sister-in-law for you, understood?”
Ji Nuan: “…”
“Then I’m afraid I may disappoint you. It’s too early for you to call me sister. I don’t want to be a member of the Xiao family, but since you have helped me, I’ll take you as my friend. As for your father…” Ji Nuan paused and turned to look at Mr. Xiao who was sitting in the restaurant.
Xiao Luye didn’t seem unsatisfied with Ji Nuan’s cold words but smiled casually. “I understand you. He let my mother down, although he never forgot your mother all these years. Now he ends up being cold-shouldered by both his son and daughter, which he deserves. I wouldn’t have stayed in China if I weren’t his son, but I have to take up my responsibility for the Xiao family. I’ll take you as my sister, but I’ll respect your choice.”
Ji Nuan agreed to come here today because she wanted to know more about her mother. She felt sorry for her mother.
Some matters should be discussed face to face. After all, now it was the time to have a heart-to-heart talk.
Ji Nuan turned to enter the restaurant.
Xiao Zhenjun still remembered Ji Nuan wasn’t quite friendly to him last time he invited her out to dinner. She looked unusually calm after knowing he was her biological father and he wasn’t sure what she was thinking.
“Mr. Xiao.” Ji Nuan directly sat opposite to him, put her bag aside and said flatly, “I agreed to come to see you because you’re my biological father anyway, but our relationship is just that. I hope you can understand that I’m Ji Hongwen’s daughter and am a member of the Ji family. Besides, please don’t disturb my father again. Please remember your promise not to disturb each other.”
Hearing Ji Nuan’s statement about her thoughts and attitude, Xiao Zhenjun fell silent, so did Ji Nuan. She had made clear what she thought.
“I know you’re angry at me, and I know your mother died of major depressive disorder. Just as Ji Hongwen said, if she didn’t love me, she wouldn’t have tortured herself for so many years and ruined her own health.” Xiao Zhenjun sighed. “Your mother was as beautiful and excellent as you when she was young. She went to study in the United States on loan and scholarship and her school happened to be the business school where Ji Hongwen and I were staying. It was really a romantic process that your mother and I got to know each other, understood each other, and fell in love with each other. Although there were many twists and turns, they only made us more dedicated to each other, but a few decades ago, the Xiao family was controlled by my father and grandfather, who used every possible means to force me back to China. In order to ensure your mother’s safety and that she could safely complete her studies in the United States, which she had tried so hard for, I had to marry another woman arranged by my family.”
“But my heart had been in the US and with your mother. I couldn’t forget her, so when I saw her again and found she had an emotional breakdown at the sight of me, I was so worried about her that I took her to my home by force…,” Xiao Zhenjun said gently and patiently.”Nuan Nuan, I’m not a rapist as Ji Hongwen called. We did love each other.”
