Two full days passed after the messages were sent.
Mo Jingshen still didnât 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.
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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. âI didnât mean to pester you, but my father couldnât eat or sleep well these days. He wanted to see you, but he was afraid that you didnât want to see him, so he asked me to ask you out. He wants to talk to you.â
âWhen did you know I was your sister?â Ji Nuan didnât respond to his words. After all, Xiao Luye was nice to her. She wasnât hostile to him, so she just asked him directly.
Xiao Luye raised his eyebrows, his hand still in his trouser pocket, and chuckled. âWhen do you think?â
âDid you know when you kidnapped me to your villa?â
Xiao Luye looked her for a while before he said, âI just guessed it. My father didnât know your existence back then. It wasnât 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 Hongwenâs daughter after he made a lot of investigations and got to know your birth date.â
âBut even if you are not Ji Hongwenâs daughter, youâre only my half-sister. I didnât 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?â Xiao Luye said and put a cigarette into his mouth, although he didnât light it up because Ji Nuan was standing close to him. He looked at her with a smile. âAlthough you really pissed me off, I couldnât 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 hadnât taken you away, I might have taken you to the Xiao family. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. I thought I wouldnât be troubled anymore as long as I gave you to my father.â
âSo you helped me when we were in the capital just because Iâm your sister?â
âYes.â Xiao Luye held the cigarette in his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and smiled naughtily. âWhy should I ask for trouble if you werenât my sister? Iâm not quite interested in women. If you werenât my sister, I wouldnât have bothered to take a look at you even if you were devoured alive by Rong Cheng.â
Ji Nuan. â...So Iâm supposed to be grateful for you?â
Xiao Luye snorted. âYou donât have to be grateful, but weâre a family now. Iâm your brother and you should treat me as your brother.â
â...How shall I treat you like my brother?â
âFor example, as for Shi Niange, you should take sides with me instead of Qin Siting. Iâm trying to get you a sister-in-law for you, understood?â
Ji Nuan: â...â
âThen Iâm afraid I may disappoint you. Itâs too early for you to call me sister. I donât want to be a member of the Xiao family, but since you have helped me, Iâll take you as my friend. As for your father...â Ji Nuan paused and turned to look at Mr. Xiao who was sitting in the restaurant.
Xiao Luye didnât seem unsatisfied with Ji Nuanâs cold words but smiled casually. âI 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 wouldnât have stayed in China if I werenât his son, but I have to take up my responsibility for the Xiao family. Iâll take you as my sister, but Iâll respect your choice.â
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 wasnât 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 wasnât sure what she was thinking.
âMr. Xiao.â Ji Nuan directly sat opposite to him, put her bag aside and said flatly, âI agreed to come to see you because youâre my biological father anyway, but our relationship is just that. I hope you can understand that Iâm Ji Hongwenâs daughter and am a member of the Ji family. Besides, please donât disturb my father again. Please remember your promise not to disturb each other.â
Hearing Ji Nuanâs statement about her thoughts and attitude, Xiao Zhenjun fell silent, so did Ji Nuan. She had made clear what she thought.
âI know youâre angry at me, and I know your mother died of major depressive disorder. Just as Ji Hongwen said, if she didnât love me, she wouldnât have tortured herself for so many years and ruined her own health.â Xiao Zhenjun sighed. âYour 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 motherâs 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.â
âBut my heart had been in the US and with your mother. I couldnât 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...,â Xiao Zhenjun said gently and patiently.âNuan Nuan, Iâm not a rapist as Ji Hongwen called. We did love each other.â