Chapter 32: Thirty-two Fires

When Yan Duo woke up, she found herself sleeping again on Ji Ran’s chest, with drool leaking out and soaking his pajamas. This situation had happened so frequently recently that Yan Duo had grown accustomed to it. Under Ji Ran’s teasing gaze, she calmly grabbed a tissue, wiped her mouth, then used the same tissue to wipe Ji Ran’s clothes. Finally, pretending nothing was wrong, she said, “No wonder I always feel my pillow is uncomfortable when I sleep—it’s too hard!”

Ji Ran didn’t say anything, just smiled and watched her. Finally, Yan Duo couldn’t pretend anymore, quickly jumped off the bed and left the room, saying, “I’m going downstairs to get some water.”

Closing the room door, Yan Duo patted her chest and felt that she was simply unacceptable for taking advantage of Ji Ran every day. This bad habit must be changed!

After finishing her thoughts, Yan Duo went downstairs to drink some juice to calm herself down. But as soon as she reached the ground floor, she found no one there. Instead, she heard noises coming from the sunroom, faint cries of a parrot. In Yan Duo’s memory, these two parrots were usually quite obedient. Hearing them suddenly making loud calls must mean something was wrong. Without even thinking about drinking juice, Yan Duo hurried toward the sunroom.

As soon as she arrived, she froze in place. Chu Tian had opened the door to the sunroom and stepped out. Inside, the two birds were screaming loudly and darting around frantically, clearly overexcited.

“What did you do to them?”

Yan Duo couldn’t hold back any longer; she stared at Chu Tian and demanded an explanation.

Chu Tian was still wearing it.
Wearing that nightgown, she crossed her arms and looked at Yan Duo upon hearing this, “Which of your eyes saw me do anything?”

After saying that, she walked away gracefully.

At this point, Yan Duo couldn’t pursue the matter further, so she entered the sunroom and began to calm the two frightened parrots. After coaxing them for a long time, the two parrots finally returned to their cage obediently.

During dinner, Chu Tian, who rarely complained about the food not tasting good, ate a few bites of vegetables before suddenly placing a booklet on the dining table.

“Mom, after Ji Lang and I have our wedding in October, I want to go to Bali for our honeymoon. What do you think?”

An Yixin said with a smile, “Go ahead, that sounds nice.”

Chu Tian then smiled and looked at Yan Duo, “Hey, sister-in-law, where did you go for your trip when you married Ji Ran?”

As soon as this question was asked, everyone at the table stopped eating, except for Yan Duo, who calmly replied after swallowing the potato in her mouth: “I didn’t go anywhere, just stayed at home.”

Hearing this, Chu Tian showed a look of pity, “That’s simply too unfair to you. For such an important life event, how could you not go anywhere? But speaking of which, why didn’t you announce your marriage? Last time I heard you say on a show that you were still single, I was so scared I thought you and Ji Ran had divorced!”

When dealing with people like this, if you take them seriously, you’ve already lost.

Yan Duo smiled without saying anything, just used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of beef for Ji Ran, using practical actions to tell those who wanted to see a joke—we’re doing just fine!

And Ji Ran was quite cooperative, opening his mouth to eat it, then patting Yan Duo’s head with a face full of doting affection.

Chu Tian watched the two being affectionate in front of her and was about to say something, but An Yixin spoke up at the right moment, “I specially made some appetizing soup today. Langlang, why don’t you serve a bowl for Tiantian and encourage her to eat more.”

Ji Lang smiled in agreement, served a bowl of soup for Chu Tian, and gave her a meaningful glance. Chu Tian pouted and drank the soup, saying nothing more.

For a female celebrity like Yan Duo who would stop at nothing to cling to powerful figures, Chu Tian had always disdained to associate with them. But Ji Lang’s parents talked about Yan Duo all day long, while treating her as if she were merely a guest. Chu Tian’s heart became unbalanced. Both were daughters-in-law, and her family was even wealthier, so why such unfairness! It was for this reason alone that she began to resent Yan Duo, developing a hatred toward her.

At this moment, Ji Lang warned her not to say anything more, and Chu Tian, who always listened to Ji Lang, had no choice but to shut her mouth.

After dinner, Yan Duo carried the birdcage and followed Ji Ran outside. When the birdcage approached Chu Tian, both birds let out frightened cries.

“What’s going on?”

An Yixin, who had been catching up on sleep in her room all afternoon and didn’t know what had happened, asked curiously.

Yan Duo switched hands holding the bird cage. The two birds, now further away from Chu Tian, quieted down considerably. She said with a smile, “It’s nothing. They’re probably just a bit sad about leaving you.”

An Yixin also smiled. She was really reluctant to send these two birds away, but she understood that it was better to let someone who loved them raise them than to hand them over to someone who hadn’t visited them for over a week.

On the way back, Ji Ran said to Yan Duo, “Don’t let irrelevant people affect your mood. They’re not worth wasting your emotions on.”

Yan Duo withdrew her gaze from the window and turned to look at Ji Ran, “You mean Chu Tian? Hah, she’s not worthy.”

Ji Ran nodded, “That’s good. kanshuboy.com”

Yan Duo could see that not only she herself, but even An Yixin and Ji Changhai didn’t really like her. Yet Ji Lang clearly noticed his parents’ attitude towards her, yet still allowed Chu Tian to act so recklessly. Yan Duo couldn’t understand whether this was due to complete disregard or prioritizing love over everything else, making family ties meaningless. Thinking again about what Ji Lang’s relatives had said about him, Yan Duo hesitated, wanting to ask but feeling it inappropriate for her current position to do so.

Ji Ran noticed her hesitation and said, “Just ask whatever you want.”

Yan Duo glanced at him and said, “Well, I was just wondering—how are your relationship with your brother?”

Every time he returned to Ji’s home, Ji Lang always seemed very busy, only coming out of his room just before mealtime. Ji Ran didn’t have much time to communicate with him, so Yan Duo couldn’t tell how the two brothers got along.

Ji Ran: “It’s alright.”

Hearing this, Yan Duo looked at Ji Ran, seeming to understand but also confused.

Ji Ran explained further, “By ‘get by,’ I mean that next time if you want to retaliate against Chu Tian, you don’t have to worry about my brotherly bond with Ji Lang.”

Yan Duo’s lips twitched. Alright, she understood now—exactly as she had interpreted it: fake brotherly affection. This also made her realize that what the relatives from the Ji family had said might be 80% true.

Back home, Yan Duo received Fang Fang’s message asking about the date of the plane ticket. She glanced at the message briefly, then turned to look at Ji Ran sitting beside her, “When are you going to City M?”

Ji Ran remained in his reading posture, and upon hearing this, responded, “The morning of the 5th.”

Yan Duo replied with a message: [Buy tickets for the 6th.]

After all, the director asked us to arrive by the 7th; she arrives on the 6th—no problem.

Ji Ran casually glanced at the content on Yan Duo’s phone screen, feeling somewhat frustrated by Yan Duo’s refusal to accompany him.

Yan Duo turned her head and immediately met Ji Ran’s gaze, instantly looking like she’d been caught doing something mischievous. She chuckled softly twice, “It’s not that I’m worried about being spotted by the paparazzi or your fans, right? You’ll understand, won’t you?”

Ji Ran replied with two words: “Hehe.”

Two days later, Yan Duo brought Ji Ran back to her own home. At home, Yan Duo completely changed into another person—she acted like a five-year-old child, skillfully putting on cute and silly performances for her family.

Sitting on the sofa, Ji Ran watched Yan Duo hanging onto his mother-in-law like a human ornament, feeling slightly envious inside.

Yan Xuenian, sitting beside him, followed Ji Ran’s gaze toward their daughter who was being playful and affectionate, and couldn’t help but smile. “Duo Duo has always been spoiled by us since childhood. She’s still got a childlike nature; you’ll have to be patient with her.”

Although he said “be patient,” there was no hint of criticism in his tone about his daughter’s behavior.

Ji Ran slightly smiled and said, “No problem, I think it’s fine.”

Yan Xue Nian glanced at him without saying anything.

During dinner, Yan Yi heard that his younger sister was going to film a drama in another city and wouldn’t be able to return for several months. Immediately, he took his phone out of his pocket and asked Yan Duo, “I’ll transfer you 200,000 yuan. Filming overseas is hard work, so don’t forget to take good care of yourself with nutritious food.”

Yan Duo couldn’t help laughing, “Brother, you don’t have to transfer me money; I still have some left.”

After G’s advertising fees were paid, Qi Sixian transferred hundreds of thousands of yuan to her account, enough for her to spend for a long time.

Yan Yi gave his sister a sidelong glance, directly transferring the money into her bank account, and muttered under his breath, “Who was it asking me for money not long ago?”

Yan Duo glanced at Ji Ran, feeling quite embarrassed that her brother was saying these things in front of Ji Ran. “Brother, I was just joking with you. I haven’t even used the money you gave me last time!”

Yan Yi wouldn’t believe it; he thought Yan Duo was deliberately refusing his money.

“Don’t even think about returning it. If you do, I’ll directly transfer one million to you.”

Yan Duo, who had already planned to transfer it back, was speechless. Her brother was so stubborn—whenever she tried to return the money, he would insist on transferring one million to her, even if he didn’t have a million in cash right now and had to borrow it. Yan Duo was defeated by her own brother.

“Alright then, I’ll just accept it graciously.”

Yan Yi made a soft “hm” sound and went off to eat by himself.

After finishing the meal, Yan Duo was called into the room by Xu Yarou, who handed her a passbook and said, “This money was originally intended for you to buy a house when you got married. Now it probably won’t be needed anymore, so you can take it and spend it as you wish. The password is your birthday.”

Xu Yarou and Yan Xuenian had both prepared themselves for the possibility that Yan Duo would marry a poor boy and they’d need to buy a house as her dowry. Of course, they hadn’t expected their daughter to get married before she even graduated from university, so the money they had wasn’t enough to fully pay for a house—it would probably only cover the down payment.

When Yan Duo opened the passbook, she was stunned upon seeing the amount: 3 million yuan.

“Mom, this is too much. You and Dad should keep it for yourselves,” she said.

Yan Duo refused to take it and pushed the passbook back into her mother’s hand.

Xu Yarou disagreed and firmly placed the passbook back into Yan Duo’s hand, saying, “Don’t worry. Your dad and I still have money; don’t worry about us.”

After coming out of her parents’ room, Yan Duo caught sight of her father peeking out from the kitchen and waving at her. Curious, she walked over. Seeing this, her father pulled her into the kitchen, closed the door, and then took something from his pocket.

She handed her a large red ziplock bag.

“Dad only has this much for now; take it first, and ask me again if it’s not enough.”

That evening, when she returned to Ji Ran’s home, Yan Duo closed the bathroom door, turned on the shower, sat on the toilet, and buried her face in her hands, crying.

She had never dared to tell her family about her impending divorce from Ji Ran. She had always known that her family didn’t trust Ji Ran, but she never imagined their concern would reach such a degree. She couldn’t bear to think about whether they stayed awake at night, unable to eat or sleep, constantly worrying about her whenever she was out of their sight. Thinking of this, Yan Duo cried harder, feeling deeply guilty for still being such a burden to her family despite being grown up.

Yan Duo had never regretted marrying Ji Ran. Now, at this point, she could only feel that she hadn’t done enough.

After coming out of the bathroom, Yan Duo had already regained her normal appearance, with not a single trace of tears visible on her face. She sat at the edge of the bed and casually picked up her phone to browse. Suddenly, she noticed a transfer notification from Alipay—Ji Ran had transferred 5 million yuan to her. Yan Duo stared blankly at Ji Ran.

“Are you really going to believe what my brother said? I’m genuinely wealthy; you don’t need to send me money.”

When they got married initially, she hadn’t taken a single cent from him. Now, as their divorce was approaching, she certainly wouldn’t accept it either.

“As long as our marriage certificate hasn’t been exchanged for a divorce certificate, I still have the responsibility to support the family and take care of you. This is all rightfully yours.”

When they first got married, Ji Ran had given Yan Duo a bank card with some money inside, and he would deposit money into it every month. But just recently, Ji Ran discovered that Yan Duo had never actually used that card—it had remained untouched in a drawer all along.

Yan Duo felt conflicted. After the two got married, she had never done anything for him—never cooked a proper meal, never washed his clothes, and not even brushed his dirty shoes once. How could this be what she “deserved”?

“Yet I haven’t done anything,” she said.

Ji Ran sensed Yan Duo’s thoughts and didn’t elaborate further. He took out a small package from the drawer and said, “Who says you’ve done nothing? Just because you’ve handled this little thing called ‘marital duty’ so well, you’re already quite impressive.”

Yan Duo pulled at her lips as Ji Ran removed the sleep dress she’d just worn for a short while. Her mood was mixed; between them, the most they did together was probably precisely “marital duty.” “So, is this all ‘girlfriend money’?” she asked.

Ji Ran threw the messy clothes onto the carpet and joked, “If thinking this way makes you feel better, I don’t mind playing the role of a ‘girlfriend guest’ for your sake, as long as it makes you happy.”

Ji Ran silently despised himself inwardly. He admitted that when he heard her whimpering cries just now, he felt extremely distressed. And to ensure Yan Duo would only spend his money in the future, he was willing to lower his standards infinitely, doing things he never would have imagined before and saying things he thought he’d never say.

Suddenly, Yan Duo’s suppressed feelings were released by this sentence. Her heart told her that Ji Ran was actually quite good to her as well.

Thus, with a blush on her face, she lightly kicked him in the stomach with her foot. Before she could withdraw it, Qiran had already grabbed her ankle and kissed the back of her foot.

The next morning, when Ji Ran woke up, Yan Duo was already nowhere to be found in the bed. After searching the carpet for a while, Ji Ran couldn’t find the white T-shirt he had taken off the day before. He casually picked out a black one from the wardrobe and went downstairs, where he heard Yan Duo’s voice, seemingly on the phone.

“Mom, I poured the oil and added the eggs as you instructed, but why did the eggs stick to the pan? And why is the oil splashing everywhere… Oh, like this? Let me try again.”

Ji Ran followed the sound and walked toward the kitchen. Before he even entered, he saw the white T-shirt he had been looking for was already on Yan Duo. The hem barely covered her curvy buttocks, exposing her long, pale legs. At that moment, her two legs seemed eager to approach the stove but dared not do so. One hand covered her face, while the other held a spatula, moving it back and forth cautiously, as if afraid to get too close, as though the eggs in the pan were some terrifying monster.

After standing outside for a while, Ji Ran walked into the kitchen, pressed himself against Yan Duo’s back, turned down the heat with his left hand, and gently guided her right hand holding the spatula, carefully flipping the slightly burnt eggs.

“The eggs stick to the pan because you didn’t use enough oil and the heat was too high. Besides, such small things don’t need your learning—just leave it to me.”

Yan Duo pressed herself against Ji Ran’s chest, her entire hand wrapped in his large palm. She felt her blood boiling, her cheeks flushed red, her heart pounding like a drum, and her limbs growing weak. After a long moment, she thought to herself, “I’m probably no longer myself.”