Ji Zexian watched the whispering scene with particular irritation, somewhat baffled by his own inexplicable behavior today.
“Ahem!” He feigned a cough. “Mo Zong, care to explain what’s going on?”
“As the younger generation, Mr. Ji may simply call me Qingyan.” Mo Qingyan replied with polite humility.
Ji Zexian nodded, his gaze shifting to Zuo Yang.
The words “little shorty” were already on the tip of his tongue, but the image of the girl puffing up with indignant grievance suddenly flashed before his eyes. Somehow, he swallowed the words back down.
“Explain yourself, little girl. Why did you smash up my house?”
“I’m the new neighbor. I brought a housewarming gift to visit as a courtesy. But I rang the doorbell for ages, and you never answered.” Zuo Yang pouted, avoiding eye contact with Ji Zexian.
Simply put, she just didn’t want to look at him—he was truly too unpleasant to behold.
“So because of that, you smashed my house?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
Ji Zexian choked momentarily. “Do you think that’s acceptable?”
Mo Qingyan watched the father and daughter bicker, thinking to himself: Just wait until you realize she’s your daughter. Forget breaking windows—even if she set the entire Ji Family estate ablaze, you’d probably be the one handing her the torch.
“They’re just a few panes of glass. I’ll pay for them,” the girl muttered.
“Is this about compensation? You don’t seem to grasp the error of your actions. I truly wonder how your parents raised you, you—” Before Ji Zexian could finish, the girl who had refused to look at him suddenly bristled with rage.
She sprang right in front of him, scolding him in a completely non-intimidating, milky voice, “How dare you speak like that! You’re so detestable! Yes, it’s precisely because I had no father to teach me that I turned out so ill-mannered! If you have the guts, go silence him then!”
That left Ji Zexian utterly speechless.
He looked toward Mo Qingyan.
Mo Qingyan merely massaged his temples, not even sparing him a glance.
Ji Zexian pondered: Judging by the girl’s tone, could it be that her father was… either her parents were divorced and neglected her or treated her poorly, or perhaps her father had passed away.
If that were the case, then he had just struck a raw nerve and deserved her outburst.
Looking at the fiery little firecracker before him, Ji Zexian suddenly laughed.
Hey, not bad—this little shorty’s temperament was quite similar to his own. Couldn’t tolerate the slightest grievance, wouldn’t endure even a bit of injustice, spoke her mind on the spot, sought revenge immediately. He liked that.
With this thought, Ji Zexian’s gaze toward Zuo Yang shifted.
Previously, he hadn’t really looked properly at the little shorty’s face—at most, he’d given her a cursory glance.
After all, having your house suddenly smashed up—who could tolerate that?
Besides, this little shorty was genuinely short; he didn’t like having to deliberately lower his head to look at others.
Now he was sitting, and the little shorty was standing. He looked up at her.
Seeing her like this, the little shorty was actually quite exquisitely cute.
Her slightly chubby, baby-faced cheeks were flushed red with anger, still carrying a trace of lingering childishness—adorable beyond words.
Rosy lips and pearly teeth, plus those naturally smiling eyes—he liked it.
The more Ji Zexian looked, the more he liked her.
Not to mention, the little shorty looked quite a bit like him.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Ji Zexian’s expression began to shift strangely.
Looked like him?
Why would he suddenly think that?
But…
Ji Zexian stared at the little girl as if trying to see right through her, but instead of disproving his earlier conclusion, it only confirmed it further: this shorty really did look like him!
Though somewhat unsettled by Ji Zexian’s intense gaze, Zuo Yang didn’t back down. Instead, she met his stare without yielding an inch.
Mo Qingyan calmly sipped his coffee, seemingly already aware of what was about to unfold.
Feng Lin and Yu Ning remained silent, not uttering a word, yet their gazes remained fixed on the pair engaged in the staring contest – one large, one small.
A long time passed like this.
Suddenly, Ji Zexian stood up. His tall frame carried an imposing presence, yet his words held a barely perceptible tremor.
“What’s your name?” he asked the person before him.
“Zuo Yang.”
Just the surname “Zuo” made Ji Zexian’s body tremble, his straight posture visibly slumping.
“How old are you?” he continued asking.
Zuo Yang replied, “18 years old.”
“Eighteen…”
Upon hearing the girl’s age, the light that had sparked in Ji Zexian’s eyes seemed to extinguish instantly.
No, this age wasn’t right.
Although Zuo Yang was quite dissatisfied with their first meeting, watching the man before her completely deflate stirred a tiny bit of compassion in her heart.
Was this what her mother meant by “blood is thicker than water”?
When he heard her name earlier, that light in his eyes – did it make him think of her mother? The “Zuo” from Zuo Ying?
Zuo Yang sighed softly and added in a gentle voice, “To be precise, I’m 23 years old.”
These words alone made the extinguished light in Ji Zexian’s eyes reignite – this time, blazing astonishingly bright!
Then, everyone witnessed the previously imposing man suddenly become flustered, his hands raising and lowering repeatedly until he grabbed his own head. The man suddenly froze.
The next moment, he shot out like an arrow, nearly stumbling on the rainy ground in his haste.
Zuo Yang looked at Mo Qingyan in confusion.
Mo Qingyan smiled and said, “Perhaps Mr. Ji just realized how ‘unsightly’ he looks right now.”
Hence his rush to clean up.
“So he really recognized me?” Zuo Yang confirmed with Mo Qingyan.
Mo Qingyan nodded.
“Then why didn’t he ask for my mother’s name earlier? Wouldn’t that have been more accurate?”
“Because there’s no need to ask anymore. Mr. Ji already has the answer in his heart.”
Sure enough, when Ji Zexian returned, not a trace of his previous disheveled appearance remained – it was like a complete transformation.
Or rather, this was his original appearance.
His beard was meticulously shaved, his hair cut – though the haircut resembled something chewed by a dog, his exceptionally handsome face made any hairstyle irrelevant.
Time is kind to beauties and doesn’t treat handsome men cruelly either.
It only allows their handsomeness to mature, like aged wine growing more mellow with time.
Dressed in a dark suit, Ji Zexian’s figure appeared tall and straight, exuding extraordinary nobility.
The smell of smoke and alcohol was gone, replaced by a fresh, pleasant fragrance.
Aside from looking somewhat haggard and thinner, there were no other flaws!
Even so, Ji Zexian remained somewhat nervous, his hands frequently adjusting his collar.
After all, his previous appearance had been truly unbearable to look at.
Zuo Yang looked at Ji Zexian and pouted.
After cleaning up, he was much more handsome than in the newspapers.
In his dream, when he committed suicide at his mother’s grave, his condition could be described as extremely poor, his form withered and gaunt.
He looked much more pleasing to the eye like this now.
Could it be that Mom was captivated by this face back then?
Hmm, hard to say.
Both she and her own mother belonged to the looks-obsessed type.
Seeing the young girl remain silent, Ji Zexian grew as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unsure of what to say.
The main issue was that he couldn’t grasp the current situation.
He didn’t know how much the young girl had already understood.
What if he suddenly acted too intensely and scared her?
Ji Zexian simply watched Zuo Yang.
As he watched, tears began to fall from his eyes, completely unstoppable.
Aying, this is our daughter, isn’t it?
It must be…