Wei Yang found Ji Tingzhou in the dressing room.
After spending some time in the crowd, Ji Tingzhou felt that he had been tainted by the smell of alcohol, so he went upstairs to change his clothes.
When Wei Yang entered, Ji Tingzhou happened to be picking out new cufflinks.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing the blood on Wei Yang’s face, Ji Tingzhou wasn’t the least bit surprised.
Because of that note, he suspected there was an internal issue and had someone investigate thoroughly. Sure enough, they found a few suspicious individuals.
Once their identities were exposed, they immediately resisted, wanting to go down fighting.
Wei Yang, of course, didn’t let them off.
“They’ve been dealt with.”
“We found this in their possession.”
Wei Yang signaled his subordinate to step forward and show Ji Tingzhou the box.
Inside the small glass bottle, a blue liquid shimmered, emitting an eerie glow.
“The note was telling the truth.”
“Someone really did try to poison, but there’s clearly one bottle missing. Could it have been poured into the food meant for the guests?”
Thinking of the trouble that would arise if someone died, Wei Yang’s face turned fierce.
Ji Tingzhou, on the other hand, seemed thoughtful.
“Send it for analysis. We need to know what it is first.”
His calm demeanor helped Wei Yang regain his composure.
“Ji Nian was just looking for you. Go keep an eye on her.”
Ji Tingzhou wasn’t worried about much else, but he couldn’t help but be concerned about Ji Nian.
With her naive demeanor, a few sweet words from someone might easily win her over.
Now that Ji Nian’s identity had been revealed, it was inevitable that her safety would be at risk, and Wei Yang understood that.
But before leaving, he asked, “What about Shen Qingtang?”
Shen Qingtang was now Ji Tingzhou’s nominal daughter. Although she was only an adopted child, she was still part of the Ji Family.
“Keep an eye on her too.”
Wei Yang nodded.
Just as he stepped out, he ran into Ji Nian, who was accompanied by her cheerful dog, Big Egg.
The dog had also been dressed up for the occasion, its fur shiny and a green bow tie around its neck, matching Ji Nian’s outfit. It looked quite dashing.
Perhaps aware of how handsome it looked, the dog kept grinning.
“Wei Yang!”
Seeing the blood on Wei Yang’s face, Ji Nian froze.
【Did I arrive too late!?】
Had Wei Yang already been…
Noticing the child’s expression change, Wei Yang thought she was disgusted by the blood and quickly wiped his face with his sleeve.
“It’s someone else’s blood. I’ll go wash up in a bit.”
“The family head is looking for you. I’ll go find Shen Qingtang. Do you know where she is?”
Wei Yang stood up, planning to wash up first. Going to find someone in this state might cause panic, especially if it scared Shen Qingtang.
He didn’t think Ji Nian would be afraid, nor did he think it would scare her.
It couldn’t be helped; Ji Nian was just too much like Ji Tingzhou. At her age, Ji Tingzhou was already getting into fights every day, seeing more blood than water.
Just as he was about to stand up, Ji Nian suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“I’ll go with you.”
Huh?
Wei Yang was a bit puzzled by Ji Nian’s request.
Ji Nian wasn’t the clingy type. He was often busy, and they had only grown closer recently while he was recovering from an injury. But it wasn’t to the extent that she would constantly seek him out.
Remembering that Ji Tingzhou had mentioned Ji Nian was looking for him, Wei Yang felt a bit strange but didn’t say anything.
It felt nice to be relied on.
Though, why was it that when he was a kid and wanted his older brother to accompany him to the bathroom, he always got kicked in the butt?
Unaware of where Wei Yang’s thoughts had wandered, Ji Nian had someone inform Ji Tingzhou and then followed Wei Yang with her dog in tow.
Of course, there was a reason for this.
She had forced the System to tell her the complete plot of the original story. She knew that the incident happened when everyone was arriving. Wei Yang, returning from an errand outside, was ambushed. He killed the attackers but didn’t notice that one of them was pretending to be dead. In the chaos, that person managed to inject him with something.
Now, because of Ji Nian’s note, Ji Tingzhou had kept Wei Yang at the Ji Family instead of sending him out on an errand, allowing him to catch a few troublemakers.
【It seems this crisis has been averted…】
But how often had they let their guard down only to be taken advantage of?
Until the day was over, Ji Nian wouldn’t feel at ease. She decided to stick with Wei Yang.
If anything happened, she would just cling to him and make him carry her away. She didn’t believe anyone could still inject him then.
“So pretty! What is this?”
Meanwhile, Shen Qingtang had been taken by Gu Xiuyuan to see the fireflies.
He had initially caught them by hand, but after finding someone to help him, he had them bring a jar to keep the fireflies in.
“These are fireflies,” Gu Xiuyuan explained.
“Fireflies!”
Shen Qingtang had heard of fireflies but had never seen real ones before.
She picked up the jar and looked closely, then said seriously, “They’re not as cute as they are in storybooks.”
Without their glowing tails, they were just bugs.
She wrinkled her face in disgust and carefully put the jar back.
Gu Xiuyuan didn’t find this odd. It was normal for kids to dislike bugs.
At least it was better than someone who liked to stare at new things.
Realizing he was thinking about that cold girl again, Gu Xiuyuan pursed his lips.
“My father is calling me. I have to go.”
Seeing the message on his phone, Gu Xiuyuan stood up.
Shen Qingtang was reluctant to see him go. It was rare for her to have a friend her age to talk to.
“Are we friends?” she asked cautiously.
Gu Xiuyuan thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”
Shen Qingtang immediately smiled. “Will you come see me again?”
“I don’t know.”
Gu Xiuyuan didn’t want to lie. He really wasn’t sure.
He had to learn so many things every day, and there was little time for play.
“We’ll meet again.”
He had initially planned to give the jar of fireflies to Shen Qingtang, but then he remembered how he had been teased and scared to tears by that cold-hearted girl just to learn how to catch them.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to part with them. Instead, he patted her shoulder like a mature little adult and said goodbye.
Shen Qingtang watched his retreating figure with disappointment but quickly cheered up.
It’s okay, she had a friend now!
When Gu Xiuyuan returned to his father’s side, Gu Jing looked down at him, his expression unreadable.
“Shen Rushan’s daughter. Ji Tingzhou adopted her, probably out of gratitude for saving his life.”
“The inheritance will go to his biological daughter.”
No need to say more. Just by observing their positions, it was clear who Ji Tingzhou valued more. Not to mention, that child was practically a carbon copy of him.
The phrase Gu Xiuyuan heard most often was how much he resembled his father.
Naturally, Gu Jing also favored this son who took after him.
But without comparison, there was no harm. Look at Ji Tingzhou.
He practically cloned himself.
“You should know what’s important.”
Gu Xiuyuan nodded to show he understood.
But deep down, he felt very wronged.
That Ji Nian was so fierce; he didn’t want to get close to her.
Of course, the main point of his grievance was—
Ji Nian completely ignored him!
The beloved, top-tier young master of the Gu Family was being treated like air!
