Chapter 484 - Chapter 484: 190 Lian and Mu Family's true prodigy _3 suppress each other.

Chapter 484: 190 Lian and Mu Family’s true prodigy _3 suppress each other.

Would he come if Bai Lian persuaded him?

Ji Shaojun also wasn’t sure, but Ji Heng had too many things in Purest Street that he couldn’t bear to part with.

“Niece?” the butler recalled Bai Lian, but the impression wasn’t deep, “I remember, isn’t she a high school student?”

“Yes,” Ji Shaojun nodded, “She’s about to take the college entrance exam. When she comes to Jiangjing, my dad may not be able to let go of his worries.”

The butler nodded, discussed today’s tasks with Ji Shaojun, and then left.

After going out, the middle-aged man with glasses beside him couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Ji’s niece?”

“She’s now in Xiangcheng,” the butler replied. After Ji Shaojun came back, they only checked on Ji Shaojun and Ji Shaorong’s information. As for Shen Qing, Bai Lian, and the others, they hardly did any research, “The college entrance exam is starting again this year, huh.”

They didn’t talk much about Bai Lian, and the topic quickly shifted elsewhere.

“This year, only one person from the collateral branches is taking the college entrance exam,” the middle-aged man said softly.

“I am not expecting him to achieve the top position like Mr. Mu Qiong, but it would be a blessing from Mr. Mu Qiong in heaven if he makes it into the top ten,” the butler said, trembling as he leaned on his cane and stepped down the stairs.

**

The next day.

Six o’clock.

Bai Lian woke up and as soon as she opened her bedroom door, she heard the faint sound of a TV from the living room.

Ji Heng woke up very early today. He cooked porridge and bought fried dough sticks and egg pancakes, now sitting in the living room watching the local TV station’s news.

Today, Chi Yundai would personally check on Zhang Shize, leaving Bai Lian and Jiang Fulai some time to themselves.

Bai Lian leisurely finished brushing her teeth and went to the small room next door, where a carving machine was placed, surrounded by a pile of other tools she had taken apart.

Ji Heng would always come here when he couldn’t find something.

She sat on a small stool, with two almost identical pieces of clear-bottomed jade on the machine table. The jade had plenty of water, and at nearly one centimeter thickness, it was transparent even against the hand, but due to cracks and a small piece of yellow jade, both had flaws, so they were priced low.

For twenty thousand yuan, the seller probably didn’t dare to ask for a high price from Mao Kun, and gave them to Mao Kun at the raw stone’s original price.

The two pieces of jade had been roughed out; the main outlines of the God of Longevity and the Kylin were fully sketched, with the approximate shapes pushed out, and the high and low points were clear.

Bai Lian picked up a piece of jade and started to outline the God of Longevity’s finer details on the roughened surface.

She skillfully incorporated the peach onto the spot of yellow jade.

Her drawing skills were always good, but her carving skills hadn’t caught up. She had been studying the jade carving machine for over half a month and after she finished drawing, she used a triangular awl to outline the edges.

Bai Lian’s drawing looked pretty, but the carving turned out to be passable at best, not particularly attractive.

She lowered her head, slowly finished the rough outline, made a few more adjustments, then put down the Jade Pendant, feeling that she should stop for the day or risk ruining it. That she hadn’t wrecked the piece until today was entirely because it was expensive, and she didn’t dare apply too much force.

When she stepped out of the room, she immediately saw Jiang Fulai standing under the banyan tree.

It wasn’t quite eight o’clock, and the sunlight wasn’t too intense. Specks of light scattered through the leaves and landed on his face, which was mostly cast in shadow. He wore a casual white outfit, a printed paper curled in his left hand as he lightly tapped it against his palm.

“I didn’t see you come out,” he said with his back to the sunlight, standing under the shade of the tree, speaking at a leisurely pace, “I thought you might have forgotten while watching TV.”

He looked at Bai Lian, his light-colored eyes concentrating, but since he didn’t see her, he had come to find her.

Bai Lian was rarely late.

After saying a word to Ji Heng, she left with Jiang Fulai.

After they left, the aunt by Ji Heng’s side smiled and spoke with a bit of emotion, “Uncle Ji, look how great Xiaojiang is, and Alian too. When little Shen was sick, you saw how she was even steadier than you… if my own child could be one percent as worry-free as they are.”

Ji Heng put down his needle, heard the words, and just smiled without responding.

Bai Lian and Jiang Fulai were both young, merely naïve youths stepping into society in Ji Heng’s eyes.

Having been through so much, Ji Heng knew well that no one is born invincible or phoenix-reborn; it takes immense ups and downs in life to reach such a state.

After all his experiences, he felt he was not as stable as the two of them.

**

Meanwhile.

In Jiangjing.

Shen Qing and Ji Shaojun both got up early. Ji Shaojun had finished his training and then asked his teacher for leave.

During his time in Jiangjing with Shen Qing, when they had neither training nor classes, they rarely went out. This was the first time he asked the training manager for leave, who was momentarily stunned and quickly reported to the butler.

The call from the butler came swiftly. Ji Shaojun had just left, and Shen Qing was checking the unfamiliar bus schedules.

“Are you going out?” Every day Ji Shaojun was personally taught something, and it was only on weekends that the company’s manager would take a break from teaching him hands-on skills. The butler was surprised by Ji Shaojun’s request for leave, “Is there an emergency?”

“Yes,” Ji Shaojun had only found out the night before during rest time from Shen Qing that Bai Lian needed them to pick up something for her, “Alian needs us to pick up something, it’s at…”