"What's wrong?"
After supervising the child to wash her hands (twice), Ji Tingzhou's gaze remained fixed on her.
Thus, he keenly noticed the shift in her mood.
She seemed a bit down.
Ji Nian, of course, couldn't tell him the real reason.
"I'm thinking about what gifts to bring for Sister Zhile and the others."
"Them?"
Ji Nian took a clean towel and wiped the water droplets off her hands. "Yes, and also Tangtang."
Ji Tingzhou, who had completely forgotten about the others, pretended not to care. "You're quite thoughtful."
She hadn't even given him anything.
Ji Nian had no idea what he was thinking; she hadn't even sorted out her own emotions yet.
She was even starting to resent Bruce for his untimely and annoying sniffles.
He still wanted to try to get Ji Tingzhou to connect him with that mysterious pharmacist.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he smiled, Ji Tingzhou pretended not to notice and briskly carried Ji Nian onto the plane.
Wei Yang had already been wheeled onto the plane in a wheelchair ahead of them. He had only been unconscious for a short while before waking up and was now devouring a bowl of porridge.
When Ji Nian arrived, Wei Yang, who had been eating with his head down, immediately put down his bowl.
"Ji Nian’s here! Come sit! There’s a lot to drink. Do you want avocado coconut juice, guava pear juice, or sparkling water? Oh, you can’t have red wine..."
Ji Nian opted for the sparkling drink.
In just a few days, Wei Yang had lost a lot of weight. His once sun-kissed skin now had a sickly pallor, though his complexion had improved somewhat after vomiting blood. His lips had regained some color too.
He seemed much more spirited.
"Wei Yang, are you feeling any discomfort anywhere else?"
Wei Yang sighed. "Yes."
Ji Nian: Huh??
[There’s something my strong antidote can’t fix?]
"My butt hurts. I feel like if I keep lying down like this, I’m going to get hemorrhoids."
Ji Nian: Oh, that’s a minor issue.
If you do get them, I’ll just rub them into a rabbit tail, hehe.
For some reason, Wei Yang suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
"Oh, by the way, where’s the family head?"
Ji Nian said he was taking a shower.
Yes, you could take a shower on the plane. When Ji Nian first found out, she was completely dumbfounded.
Wei Yang nodded in understanding.
He reached under his pillow and pulled out a small packet of shrimp chips that Ji Nian had given him earlier.
"I heard they were from you."
Ji Nian nodded. "Yeah."
Wei Yang carefully held the packet of snacks close to his chest. Though it was just a small, cold packet, it felt like warmth was spreading through his chest.
"I’ll cherish it."
He said with a moved expression.
Wei Yang decided that from now on, this packet of shrimp chips would be his lucky charm.
Ji Nian: ?
That’s for you to eat...
Oh well, as long as the silly kid is happy.
Ji Nian stayed with him for a while before leaving.
Just as Ji Tingzhou, freshly changed, was walking over, Ji Nian, lost in thought, almost bumped into his leg.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Ji Tingzhou tapped the child’s forehead with a finger.
By the time Ji Nian reacted, he was already holding her and looking her over, his dark green eyes scanning her inch by inch. His gaze was inscrutable, sending a chill down her spine.
She froze for a moment, then forced herself to relax.
"What’s wrong?"
Ji Tingzhou frowned slightly, as if troubled by something difficult.
"Nothing."
With that, he walked past her.
Ji Nian, who usually went to the bathroom twice a day, hadn’t gone at all today. He’d have the doctor check her out after they landed.
Ji Nian watched him walk into Wei Yang’s room, her childlike innocence fading from her face.
Was he worried about how to deal with her?
Even with his cold heart, he must have developed some feelings for her, which was why he was so troubled.
But that was fine. It meant Ji Tingzhou wasn’t planning to kill her. The worst-case scenario would be abandoning her or sending her to an orphanage.
It sounded bad, but for Ji Nian, who had been preparing to leave the Ji family, it wasn’t terrible news.
"It’s just a pity... I won’t get to see Zhile and Zize again."
The system, observing Ji Nian’s seemingly indifferent expression, could sense a hint of sadness in her emotions, though not deep sorrow.
[I thought you’d be reluctant to leave Ji Tingzhou.]
Even though she was acting, Ji Nian’s unconscious dependence on Ji Tingzhou while sleeping wasn’t fake. The system had seen it all.
Ji Nian sat on the sofa and thanked the flight attendant who handed her a fruit platter.
She wondered: [Why would you think that?]
The system shared its thoughts.
Ji Nian understood: [It’s probably because of our deep blood ties. The instinctive closeness to Ji Tingzhou might be this body’s natural reaction, beyond my control.]
She spoke with such certainty that even the AI system was almost convinced.
[But have you considered that even if Ji Tingzhou might know about that night, he wouldn’t do anything to you? After all, he didn’t pursue the matter of the antidote, and you saved Wei Yang’s life.]
[Plus, I think he really likes you.]
He was practically replacing the original female lead, the system thought somewhat resentfully, but didn’t say it out loud.
Ji Nian cut it off.
[No.]
Her voice was almost cruel, even cold.
Her gaze, fixed on the children’s cartoon playing on the screen, held no warmth.
[Humans are self-serving.]
[No matter how much they seem to care for you or dote on you at first, if the relationship shows even the slightest crack or change, and their own interests are threatened, they’ll be the first to abandon you.]
She had long since stopped expecting anything from blood ties.
Ji Nian’s words were pointed.
The system fell silent for a moment.
Finally, it added weakly: [But you’re not 100% sure Ji Tingzhou actually knows.]
The eavesdropping device was just speculation, after all.
Ji Nian’s gaze gradually focused on the screen in front of her.
[You know, the cartoons Ji Tingzhou used to show me didn’t have subtitles.]
The system’s electronic eyes landed on the bilingual Chinese-English subtitles, coincidentally catching a scene where the mysterious doctor handed a bottle of invisibility potion to the protagonist in need.
The system had nothing to say.
Meanwhile, in Wei Yang’s room—
"So the antidote wasn’t made by Bruce?"
Wei Yang, having learned this from Ji Tingzhou, sounded somewhat reflective, though his expression showed no surprise.
Ji Tingzhou keenly captured this.
"You don’t seem surprised."
Wei Yang scratched his head. "How should I put it? A sixth sense?"
His gaze fell on the packet of shrimp chips placed beside his pillow.
His eyes were slightly dazed. "After the poison took effect, I was in a daze. I didn’t know who I was or what I was doing, and it hurt a lot."
"After using the first antidote, I felt a bit better, but my mind was still foggy. It felt like there was a layer of something covering my brain, and I was slow to understand what people were saying."
"After being in that haze for a while, I suddenly felt a cool sensation spreading through my body. That must have been the effect of the mysterious antidote."
Wei Yang reached for the glass of water on the bedside table and took a sip to ease the dryness in his throat.
"I feel like if I tell you this, you might not believe me."
"But..."
"For a moment, it felt like I saw a little yellow chick with Ji Nian’s face, charging at me with its butt sticking out, pecking furiously at my rear."
"And then my mind cleared up."
