Chapter 25 Twenty-Five Fires

At this moment, Ji Sizhe’s heart was utterly shattered Crumbling, even his freshly minted “aunt” wasn’t faring much better.

Yan Duo listened to that single syllable “Duo,” wondering if Ji Ran had washed too many dishes and gotten water in his brain. One minute he was calling her Yan Duo, and the next it was as if he’d become a completely different person.

Duo??? What the hell!

Her family liked to call her “Duo’er,” close friends called her “Duoduo,” but almost no one used the ambiguous and intimate single syllable “Duo.” At this moment, the look Yan Duo gave Ji Ran could only be described as “horrified.”

Ji Ran seemed oblivious to Yan Duo’s surprise as he walked to the door, draped his arm over her shoulder, and said to Ji Size, “Come in, it’s quite hot outside.”

Ji Size looked at his uncle’s unyielding expression and understood that today’s dose of PDA was unavoidable. In the end, he could only follow the two into the house with a bitter expression.

Yan Duo finally realized that Ji Ran was planning to teach his nephew a lesson, but she was caught in the middle, feeling awkward no matter what she did.

Of course, if Ji Ran wanted to put on a show of marital bliss, Yan Duo wouldn’t refuse. She played along perfectly, linking arms with him as they walked inside. After a few steps, she asked, “What are we having for lunch?”

“Beef curry.”

This is a dish Yan Duo has loved since she was little and has never grown tired of. The moment she heard its name, she could almost feel her stomach growling with hunger. Without even bothering to say hello to Ji Size behind her, she blurted out, “I’m going to wash my face!” and dashed upstairs.

Ji Size watched Yan Duo’s retreating figure and asked Ji Ran, “Uncle, why haven’t you publicly announced your marriage to Senior Yan?”

If it had been announced, he wouldn’t have made such a huge mistake. If his father found out about this, he’d definitely break his legs.

Ji Ran withdrew his gaze from the stairs and glanced at Ji Size. “Call her Aunt.”

Ji Size: ……

Making him call a girl younger than himself, whom he had been trying to flirt with for days without success, “Auntie,” Ji Sizhe could only feel a headache coming on. Thinking about it this way, it was no wonder his uncle didn’t dare to go public about marrying a girl five or six years younger than him who hadn’t even graduated yet.

Ji Ran didn’t care what his nephew was silently criticizing in his heart. He turned and headed to the kitchen. The groceries at home had been brought over by the housekeeper in the morning. After she had prepared most of the dishes, Ji Ran had given her the rest of the day off, deciding to cook the remaining few dishes himself.

Though Ji Sizhe didn’t approve of the “old cow eating young grass” behavior, he was extremely curious about how Ji Ran had managed to win Yan Duo’s heart and even get married to her. After all, Yan Duo was famously hard to pursue at school.

“Uncle, did you spend a lot of time and effort chasing Senior Yan?” Ji Sizhe followed Ji Ran into the kitchen and asked gossipily.

Ji Ran didn’t answer, turning around to correct him again, “Auntie.”

Ji Size had no choice. In order to hear the juicy gossip, he had to give in. “Alright, alright, auntie, auntie. You and auntie are a match made in heaven, okay?”

To say that Ji Size’s feelings for Yan Duo ran deep would be an overstatement. His decision to pursue her was made in a split second, partly because Yan Duo was strikingly beautiful—her quiet and charming presence outside the office was enough to captivate almost anyone—and partly because her classmates spoke of her as if she were some unattainable marvel, which ignited Ji Size’s desire to conquer. He wanted to pluck that high-altitude flower that no one had ever managed to reach. After just a few days of pursuit, however, he realized that they were not meant to be, and he didn’t feel particularly upset about it.

Ji Ran was finally satisfied, but he didn’t elaborate on Ji Sizhe’s question, vaguely saying, “Not bad.”

Such a curt answer clearly didn’t satisfy Ji Sizé, who pressed on, “What do you mean by ‘it’s okay’? Does ‘okay’ mean it’s very hard to pursue her or just moderately difficult?”

Ji Ran’s expression was indifferent. “You don’t have a chance. niyuedu.com”

You don’t have a chance to win her, so whether it’s hard or not has nothing to do with you.

Ji Sizé:……

They talked themselves to death that day. Ji Sizeze snorted, a little displeased, and didn’t waste any more time—he rolled into the living room to watch TV. Of all things, the station was re-running “Power Schemes.” Forced to eat someone else’s romance in real life, and now on TV too, Ji Sizeze thought his luck was rotten. He was about to change the channel, but Yan Duo, wearing a bright red cloak and standing in the snow, looked so beautiful he couldn’t bring himself to switch. He put down the remote and decided to keep watching.

Yan Duo finished washing her face and, since dinner hadn’t started yet, sat on the other side of the sofa to watch TV with Ji Sizeze.

Ji Sizeze blurted out, “Auntie, your character is way too noble. The man she likes has countless other women—don’t you get jealous? She’s such a powerless existence, and in the end she gets killed. It’s just not worth it.”

Yan Duo thought the word “Auntie” sounded pretty nice; at last she felt no aversion toward Ji Sizeze. She looked at the jade-green woman on the screen and said, “Loving someone, you just want them to be well. It doesn’t mean you have to possess them.”

Ji Size shrugged. “If you put it that way, I start to suspect that Biyu doesn’t truly love Ninth Prince.”

Yan Duo raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Ji Size stroked his chin and said, “From my ten years of experience in relationships, weak possessiveness usually means the love isn’t very strong.”

Just look at his past girlfriends—weren’t they all the type to start a fight the moment he glanced at another girl, each one like a jar of vinegar.

Yan Duo propped her head up. “How could I not feel possessive? It’s just that I know being jealous won’t help, so I stop myself from having that emotion.”

Just like on TV: even if she knew Prince Nine had feelings for her, every time he slept in another courtyard, Biyu would be sleepless. After all, ancient times aren’t the same as modern ones — you couldn’t divorce or walk away; if you wanted to see the person you loved every day, you had to swallow your pride and stay by his side.

So you could only force yourself to tuck away personal desires, to look up at him instead of claiming him for yourself.

This feeling was something Yan Duo had only realized recently. It was like her own situation: when she treated herself as Ji Ran’s wife, she would be tired and hurt, but when she stepped back into the role of a fan, she didn’t need Ji Ran to say anything — she could quickly find excuses to justify him, excuse her idol, and then go on loving him.

Once she thought it through like that, she rarely suffered from insomnia.

Ji Sizhe looked at Yan Duo, who bore a faint melancholy, and felt there was more to her words. He wanted to ask, but before he could speak, Ji Ran’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen.

“Duo, dinner’s ready. Come help bring the dishes.”

When Yan Duo heard Ji Ran’s voice, she immediately sprang up from the sofa and hurried to the kitchen, happily saying, “I can smell curry—ah, my mouth is watering!”

Watching Yan Duo brighten up in an instant, as if the person who had been sad a moment ago wasn’t her, Ji Size’s mouth twitched repeatedly. Her change of expression was just too fast—he couldn’t tell whether that was her true nature or simply superb acting.

After the dishes were all set on the table, the three of them sat down to eat.

Ji Size felt a bit annoyed; it wasn’t even eleven yet, and he had already eaten breakfast before he came, so he couldn’t possibly eat now. His uncle didn’t care whether he was hungry or wanted to eat.

Watching the two of them happily feeding each other, and remembering his uncle’s refusal to share any gossip with him, Ji Size felt even more annoyed and deliberately brought up an unpleasant topic.

“Uncle, I heard someone say a while ago that Xiao Yao bragged to her friends that when you two were filming, you often ‘discussed the script at night.’ Is that true?”

The phrase “discussing the script at night” is actually a euphemism hinting that the relationship between the two is not purely professional.

Ji Sizé finished speaking and then deliberately asked Yan Duo, “Auntie, these all happened before you two got married, you won’t mind, right?”

Such an obvious attempt to sow discord—Yan Duo wasn’t fooled. She glanced at him and completely ignored him.

Ji Ran glanced at the “troublemaker.” “If you don’t want to eat, go play somewhere else.”

Ji Sizé wouldn’t listen. He took a piece of Yan Duo’s favorite—curry beef—took a bite, and asked again, “Uncle, this dish is pretty good. You must’ve practiced it many times, right?”

Those words were almost, “How many women have you cooked this dish for?” pointed straight at Ji Ran’s nose.

Ji Ran was too lazy to argue. He took out his phone, set it on the table, swiped it open and tapped the contacts.

Ji Size was quick-eyed and, seeing “Third Brother” appear on the screen, hurriedly stood up, snatched Ji Ran’s phone and locked it.

“So, uh, Uncle, let’s talk this out calmly. It’s not good to always go tattling to the parents, is it?”

Ji Ran’s expression was calm. “Your father asked me to look after you, and I felt it necessary to report your situation to him.”

Ji Size knew full well that Ji Ran was threatening him. remembered he hadn’t finished the homework the teacher assigned. “I have to go back to school now. I won’t interrupt you and Auntie from eating. And you and Auntie will definitely be very happy! I’m off.”

Without waiting for Ji Ran to say anything, Ji Sizhe put down his chopsticks and headed for the door. When he reached Ji Ran’s back, he secretly made a face at him. He was caught halfway through the face, and Ji Sizhe’s frozen expression made Yan Duo laugh outright.

“That’s funny?”

When the door clicked shut, Ji Ran looked at Yan Duo and asked her coolly.

Yan Duo shook her head, holding back a laugh, and continued eating.

Seeing her behave, Ji Ran said again, “I’ll take you to the airport after dinner.”

“No need, I’ll go by myself.”

Yan Duo refused without a second thought; she could just hail a cab later and didn’t need Ji Ran to waste his time.

But this time Ji Ran didn’t go along with her. “Anyway I’m fine, I have time to see you off.”

Yan Duo felt a bit awkward and stammered, “There are so many paparazzi tailing people at the airport…”

Ji Ran turned to look at her. “So what if we’re photographed?”

Yan Duo bowed her head into silence, not mentioning that on the first day of their marriage, to avoid affecting Ji Ran’s career, she had suggested they stay secretly married for a while. She only said that recently they’d both been discussing divorce, and at this critical moment there was no need to create extra complications.

Ji Ran looked at her aggrieved expression and felt a bit soft-hearted. He added, “Don’t worry, I won’t let the reporters take any pictures.”

Yan Duo looked up at him. Now that he had said it like this, what choice did she have but to agree?

Seeing that Yan Duo didn’t refuse further, Ji Ran picked up his chopsticks and gave her a piece of green vegetable. “Eating too much meat isn’t good for your health. Even when you’re on a business trip, eat more vegetables and drink more water. If you run into something you can’t solve, call me. I’ve been in the business for years and have contacts everywhere; I’ll always find a way to help you.”

Yan Duo glanced at the vegetable in the bowl, then looked up at Ji Ran with a silly expression. If she didn’t know he didn’t like her touching his forehead, she’d want to try his temperature to see if he had a fever. Otherwise, how could he have said such distressing (no, scratch that) heartwarming words? Ji Ran has been acting so strangely these past two days—could he be sick?

Ji Ran looked at Yan Duo’s face full of indecision and didn’t care; anyway, she had plenty of time to adjust slowly.