Chapter 28 Twenty-eight Fires

After the two kisses ended, Ji Ran started the car and they set off again, while Yan Duo turned to look out the window, feeling a flutter in her heart.

In the past half year with Ji Ran, the two rarely spent time on kissing, but there was no doubt that Yan Duo loved being kissed by Ji Ran until she was delightfully disoriented, which gave her the illusion of being in a passionate new love.

Although she knew it had just been a husband’s duty, she couldn’t help but shamefully dwell on it—if they could have more of such duties before the divorce, so much the better. That way, even if she left him later, she’d have many sweet moments to look back on.

Ten minutes later, Yan Duo returned to normal, took out a small mirror to retouch her lipstick, and when she was done, she pulled out a wet wipe and asked Ji Ran, “Want me to wipe you off?”

If Ji Ran’s family saw the lipstick mark on his lips, they’d definitely make fun of him.

Ji Ran shook his head indifferently, “Strawberry flavor isn’t bad.”

Yan Duo’s face flushed again.

When they arrived at the Ji residence, Yan Duo only realized why An Yixin had called them back for dinner as she followed Ji Ran into the first-floor hall: Ji Ran’s older brother Ji Lang had a new girlfriend, and since it was her first visit to the family, An Yixin wanted everyone to meet her.

Yan Duo looked at the girl sitting on the sofa playing a mobile game. She seemed a few years older than her and walked

Gu past introduced herself with a smile: “Hello, I’m Yan Duo.”

The girl didn’t get up either; she glanced up at Yan Duo casually, gave a lukewarm “hmm,” then went back to playing on her phone.

Yan Duo’s original intention had been for everyone to introduce themselves so they could address each other properly later, but the girl’s response warped that intention, instantly making Yan Duo feel like an applicant at a CEO interview.

Pulling Yan Duo, An Yixin felt a little embarrassed and said to her, “Your brother’s girlfriend is called Chu Tian; she’s the only daughter of Chu Corporation. Just call her Sister Chu.”

“Mm-hmm, okay,” Yan Duo smiled at An Yixin, then asked, “Mom, I heard from Ji Ran that you raised a pair of peach-faced lovebirds. Can I go see them?”

Speaking of her newly kept favorites, the smile on An Yixin’s face grew even brighter. She took Yan Duo to the sunroom on the first floor.

Standing to one side, Ji Lang smiled and said to Ji Ran, “Tian Tian’s personality is a bit withdrawn. Tell your sister-in-law so she won’t take it personally.”

Ji Ran glanced at the woman on the sofa, said nothing, and followed behind Yan Duo and An Yixin.

In the sunroom, An Yixin watched Yan Duo happily teasing the bird and said to her, “Chu Tian is just the typical eldest-daughter temperament. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Although the Ji family is socially on par with the Chu family, An Yixin was actually not satisfied with Chu Tian. But with the matter of the youngest son still unresolved, she didn’t dare interfere casually in her sons’ marriages. Besides, her eldest son was thirty before bringing home his first approved girlfriend, so An Yixin couldn’t say anything.

Yan Duo smiled at An Yixin and comforted her, “Mom, don’t worry. From now on we’ll all be one family. I won’t mind.”

Of course she could see Chu Tian’s disdain for her, but she truly didn’t care—after all, the one who would spend a lifetime with Chu Tian wasn’t her. As long as Ji Lang didn’t mind, that was enough.

An Yixin saw no hint of reluctance on Yan Duo’s face and breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Ji Ran heading toward the sunroom, she tactfully slipped out.

Ji Ran didn’t go in either; he leaned against the door where Yan Duo couldn’t see and watched her tease the parrot into saying “Duo.” Budgerigars are usually kept in pairs, and the two An Yixin kept had completely opposite personalities—one was aloof and wouldn’t speak, the other chirpy but quite clever. After five pieces of bird feed, the smart parrot began to chirp, “Duo! Duo! Duo!”

Though its pronunciation wasn’t accurate, easily pleased Yan Duo happily praised the parrot. Then she glanced once toward the doorway, took three more pieces of bird feed and placed them in her palm, and quietly said to the parrot, “From now on, whoever of you learns to say ‘Ran’ first gets this piece of feed. Repeat after me, understood?”

“Ran!”

“Squawk!”

“Light it!”

“Gah!”

“Ran!”

“Gah!”

“Lit!”

“Gah!”

“Slowpoke!”

“Clumsy fool!”

Yan Duo:……

Called “stupid” by a parrot, Yan Duo was so angry she gave the bird feed in her hand to the other parrot that hadn’t spoken much, then lost interest in teasing them and walked straight out of the sunroom.

Once Ji Ran and the others were out of Yan Duo’s sight, they stepped into the sunroom and walked toward the two parrots.

At dinner, Chu Tian set her phone down and sat at the table, but after picking up her chopsticks and looking at the dishes, she lost interest and put them down again.

An Yixin saw her movement and asked, “Tian Tian, is the food not to your taste? What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

Chu Tian didn’t answer An Yixin, but pouted and looked at Ji Lang, acting coquettish: “I want to eat that Guangdong rice rolls from the east side of town, with prawns and beef.”

The smile on An Yixin’s face faded slightly.

But Ji Lang showed no impatience at all; he smiled and took Chu Tian’s hand, saying to An Yixin and Ji Changhai, “Parents, you eat—I’ll take Tian Tian out to eat.”

Ji Changhai’s expression was unpleasant; just as he was about to say something, An Yixin grabbed his hand. gougouks.com

“Go on, be careful on the road.”

Ji Lang nodded and left with Chu Tian.

By the time the main gate closed, the atmosphere at the dining table had grown cold. Yan Duo glanced cautiously at Ji Ran. At a moment like this, outsiders would hesitate to speak, but as his son, Ji Ran had no such reservations.

Ji Ran caught Yan Duo’s look, patted the back of her hand to soothe her, and said to Ji Changhai and An Yixin, “Let’s eat. Duo Duo just got off the plane; she must be hungry.”

Those words were also a reminder to his parents not to play favorites or treat people differently—just because someone else was rude, they shouldn’t make a respectable daughter-in-law afraid to even eat.

The smile on Yan Duo’s face stiffened a bit. She hoped Ji Ran would comfort his parents, but she couldn’t use herself as an excuse, either—sigh.

After hearing Ji Ran, An Yixin immediately came to her senses. She picked up her chopsticks and served Yan Duo her favorite sweet-and-sour spare ribs, asking warmly, “Duo Duo, you’re hungry, right? Eat up.”

Because she had eaten early at noon, Yanduo was indeed hungry now. She didn’t hesitate when spoken to, picked up a small pork rib and took a bite, then exclaimed extravagantly, “Wow, Mom, did you make these ribs? They taste amazing—rich but not greasy, melting in my mouth with a hint of sweetness. So delicious.”

From the first time she met Ji Lang, Yanduo’s impression of him had not been good. Later, after eavesdropping on the Ji family’s relatives, she specifically inquired and learned that Ji Lang was mediocre in ability; his greatest advantage in becoming the next head of the Ji family was that he was the eldest son and eldest grandson. That made Yanduo like him even less—she had long considered him the chief culprit who forced Ji Ran to debut as a child. So she didn’t care at all about his suddenly leaving with his girlfriend; it wouldn’t spoil her appetite one bit.

Some of the dishes on the table had been made by An Yixin, but most were cooked by the household maid. Yanduo immediately recognized her handiwork, and An Yixin was pleased. She served her garlic scallops to taste, and Yanduo naturally praised An Yixin again. In a good mood, An Yixin soon forgot the earlier unpleasantness.

Ji Changhai glanced at his wife, then at his youngest son, who wore a faint smile, and sighed. His youngest son’s wife was a good one.

On the way back, Yan Duo stared out the window, deep in thought. She had just taken a moment to look into the Chu family’s situation, and came away with only two impressions: first, Chu Tian truly has the innate ability to do as he pleases; second, with such a powerful backing, Ji Lang’s position in the company is probably so secure that no one would dare say anything. She also wondered whether there would still be a place for Ji Ran when he returned to the Ji Corporation.

Yan Duo knew she was overthinking, but she couldn’t help worrying about Ji Ran—afraid he might be bullied.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ji Ran looked at Yan Duo’s conflicted face and asked her.

Yan Duo turned her head to look at him. “It’s nothing.”

Ji Ran saw she didn’t want to speak and didn’t press her.

That night when she got home, Yan Duo had barely stepped into the bathroom when Ji Ran followed right behind. In the end, Yan Duo was pinned against the bathroom wall, cold tiles at her back and a burning body before her, torn between two extremes of ice and fire, “tormented” until she felt she might die.

One hour later, Yan Duo was carried onto the bed by Ji Ran, her strength completely exhausted.

“Do you want some water?” Ji Ran asked her.

“Yes.” Yan Duo pulled the thin blanket up to just below her eyes, a little afraid to look at Ji Ran.

Ji Ran went downstairs to get water and returned in just a few minutes. Severely dehydrated, Yan Duo drank a large glass of water in one gulp.

“Do you want more?” Ji Ran asked again.

Yan Duo nodded. It had been so hot in the bathroom just now that she felt as if all the water in her body had evaporated; a single glass of water was far from enough.

Ji Ran took the cup and went downstairs again, but when he came back up with another glass of water, Yan Duo was already asleep. Ji Ran pulled the thin quilt up to just below her neck to cover her, closed the bedroom door, and went to the study to make a phone call.

“Hey, tell me exactly, from start to finish, everything that happened over the past two days.”

……

The next day, Yan Duo woke up after a long sleep feeling completely back to normal—no sore back or aching legs, and full of energy.

While having breakfast face-to-face with Ji Ran, Ji Ran suddenly mentioned his friend.

“When are you free? I want to take you to meet my friend.”

“Ah?” Yan Duo paused with her chopsticks, feeling her train of thought couldn’t quite keep up with Ji Ran’s pace.

季燃 continued: “You probably don’t know my three friends, but Mifei, Lu Ling, and Bian Youxia — you’ve heard of them, right?”

Yan Duo didn’t understand what kind of game Ji Ran was playing, but she still nodded along with his meaning. The three people Ji Ran mentioned were forces not to be underestimated in the entertainment industry: one was a female tycoon who had been famous for many years, another was a seemingly lucky charm—an actress who could win awards for anything she starred in and the strongest rising star, and the third was an industry heiress rumored to have to return home to inherit a hundred-billion fortune if she didn’t become popular. Their names were all illustrious, so Yan Duo had naturally heard of them.

“They three are all my friend’s wives.”

Yan Duo: ???

“Teacher Ji, your Moments posts are just too awesome!”

Ji Ran shook his head. “That’s not the point.”

“The key point is, although the three actresses I just mentioned are all from the industry, they were lucky enough not to have gone through any messy incidents, and they’re all very loving with their partners.”

Yan Duo was completely bewildered. She put down her chopsticks and asked seriously, “Teacher Ji, what do you mean?”

Ji Ran lowered his head to eat breakfast. “I think I’m a lucky man too.”

Yan Duo looked at Ji Ran suspiciously, feeling that after he had said so much there had to be some special meaning. After thinking for a long time, she finally understood: Ji Ran was trying to tell her that he had never encountered messy situations while making his way through the entertainment industry. If that was the case, then all the better.

“Teacher Ji, you’ll surely meet someone who loves you dearly in the future,” Yan Duo said sincerely.

Yan Duo had long prepared herself for the idea that after the divorce, Ji Ran would be with someone he loved; she would sincerely wish him well, and she would forever cherish the stolen moments they had.

Ji Ran froze mid-bite when he heard Yan Duo’s words, suddenly wondering if he hadn’t tried hard enough last night. In the end, he clenched his teeth slightly and said, “Mm, then thank you for your blessing.”
“The key point is, although the three actresses I just mentioned are all from the industry, they were lucky enough not to have gone through any messy incidents, and they’re all very loving with their partners.”

Yan Duo was completely bewildered. She put down her chopsticks and asked seriously, “Teacher Ji, what do you mean?”

Ji Ran lowered his head to eat breakfast. “I think I’m a lucky man too.”

Yan Duo looked at Ji Ran suspiciously, feeling that after he had said so much there had to be some special meaning. After thinking for a long time, she finally understood: Ji Ran was trying to tell her that he had never encountered messy situations while making his way through the entertainment industry. If that was the case, then all the better.

“Teacher Ji, you’ll surely meet someone who loves you dearly in the future,” Yan Duo said sincerely.

Yan Duo had long prepared herself for the idea that after the divorce, Ji Ran would be with someone he loved; she would sincerely wish him well, and she would forever cherish the stolen moments they had.

Ji Ran froze mid-bite when he heard Yan Duo’s words, suddenly wondering if he hadn’t tried hard enough last night. In the end, he clenched his teeth slightly and said, “Mm, then thank you for your blessing.”