Su Wanyun’s tone was far too calm.
So calm that Ji Mingxuan didn’t know how to react for a moment.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Su Wanyun raised a hand and cut him off.
“Are you about to ask why, since I already knew, I didn’t make a scene or throw a fit?”
Ji Mingxuan said nothing, but his eyes had already answered for him.
Su Wanyun smiled. It was a faint smile, like someone turning past the pages of a book she had finished reading long ago.
“Although your father isn’t a good husband, he has been responsible toward both of you and toward me. Besides, even though he has women outside, he has never brought them to my door.”
She paused.
“Besides, if I made a scene, would it change anything? No. It would only make him more annoyed with me. So why shouldn’t I simply pretend I don’t know?”
She looked at her son, her gaze as calm as still water.
“I’m perfectly willing to pretend I don’t know.”
Ji Mingxuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. A thin sheen of moisture gathered in his eyes, and he felt aggrieved on behalf of his mother.
Su Wanyun reached out and ruffled his hair, smiling as she said, “All right. You’re grown up now. This world isn’t divided only into right and wrong, or black and white.”
She sighed inwardly. She had still raised these two children far too innocently. Her daughter was fine—she worked at a school—but her son would have to take over the Ji Group in the future.
Ji Mingxuan refused to give up. His voice was somewhat muffled. “Mom, what if he… has other children outside?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.
A smile appeared on Su Wanyun’s face.
Neither Ji Mingyu nor Ji Mingxuan could quite understand that smile.
It wasn’t bitter, nor was it mocking. It was more like… certainty.
“Don’t worry,” Su Wanyun said softly, her voice as light as if she were merely remarking that the weather was nice today. “Your father won’t have any other children.”
Ji Mingxuan froze, not quite understanding what she meant.
Ji Mingyu, however, looked deeply at Su Wanyun.
Her mother’s meaning was absolutely not that Ji Zhiyuan cherished them deeply and would never have children with another woman.
More likely, her mother, Su Wanyun, had done something.
Su Wanyun offered no further explanation. She patted Ji Mingxuan on the shoulder and stood up.
“All right, don’t think about these things anymore.” Her tone returned to its usual gentleness,
“Rest assured, the Ji Group will belong to you two in the end. No one can take it away.”
Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Ji Mingyu realized she had been through far too much that day. Her mind felt stuffed with cotton—heavy and swollen.
“Mom,” she said with a yawn, “I’m going back to my room. Don’t wake me for dinner.”
Su Wanyun glanced at her and said nothing more, merely nodding.
Ji Mingyu returned to her bedroom, tidied up haphazardly, and threw herself into the soft bedding.
She had originally thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep. After all, she had awakened, transmigrated into a novel, and discovered that she was the vicious female supporting character all in one day. Any normal person would have tossed and turned all night thinking about it.
Instead, the moment her head touched the pillow, she lost consciousness.
When she woke again, it was already noon the next day.
Sunlight leaked through the gap in the curtains. Ji Mingyu lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling for three seconds before her stomach let out a long protest.
When Ji Mingyu came downstairs in her slippers, her steps faltered.
In the living room, both her father, Ji Zhiyuan, and her mother, Su Wanyun, were there.
That was a rare sight.
When Su Wanyun saw her coming downstairs, she lifted her chin toward Nanny Wang. “Nanny Wang, have the kitchen bring up some bird’s nest porridge.”
“Dad.” Ji Mingyu called out, a smile spreading across her face.
She knew very well from the novel that Ji Zhiyuan was not her biological father.
But so what?
The affection they had built over the past twenty-odd years wasn’t fake.
And neither was the money.
She walked over with a beaming smile, dropped herself between them, hooked her left arm around Su Wanyun, and leaned against Ji Zhiyuan on her right.
“Dad, how is a big-shot chairman like you so free today?” she asked, tilting her head with a touch of coquettishness in her voice. “You’re not going to work at noon, and you’re actually staying home to keep Mom company.”
Ji Zhiyuan smiled so broadly that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened. “I was away on business for so long. Of course I missed you two.”
“You missed us?” Ji Mingyu drew out the words. “What good is missing us in word alone? Who knows whether it’s true or not.”
Still smiling, Ji Zhiyuan reached out and tapped her lightly on the forehead. “When you came down just now, you didn’t take a close look at the coffee table in your sitting room, did you? Go upstairs and have a look.”
Ji Mingyu’s eyes lit up. Without another word, she sprang off the sofa.
She didn’t even wait for the elevator. In her slippers, she scampered upstairs, taking two steps at a time and rushing all the way to the third floor.
When she pushed open the door, she saw several gift boxes neatly arranged on the coffee table in the sitting room.
She opened the largest one.
A set of green gemstone jewelry lay quietly against the velvet lining. There was a necklace, bracelet, ring, and pair of earrings, each stone a rich, dripping green. The carat weights were so large they were dazzling.
The corners of Ji Mingyu’s mouth nearly reached her ears.
She put on the entire set in a few quick movements, then scampered back downstairs. In front of Ji Zhiyuan and Su Wanyun, she spun around, her skirt flaring into a lovely arc.
“Mom, look! Isn’t it pretty?”
Without waiting for Su Wanyun to answer, she turned to Ji Zhiyuan, her voice so sweet it could have melted into syrup. “Thank you, Dad. Love you!”
Leaning back against the sofa, Ji Zhiyuan watched his daughter twirl in front of him wearing the complete set of jewelry, his eyes full of delight.
“It suits my daughter,” he said simply.
From the side, Su Wanyun added blandly, “That entire set cost over twenty million. Of course it’s pretty.”
Ji Mingyu’s ears caught the number, and the smile on her face grew even brighter.
She immediately turned attentively toward Ji Zhiyuan. “Dad, are you thirsty? You must be thirsty, right? I’ll get you some water.”
With that, she dashed off, poured a glass of warm water, and presented it to Ji Zhiyuan with both hands.
Ji Zhiyuan was delighted to watch his daughter put on a show, so he cooperated fully and took a sip.
The moment he set down the glass, the smile faded slightly from his face, and his tone turned serious.
“The Sheng family’s old master will be celebrating his birthday soon. You’ll wear this set then.”
He paused.
“They’ll also be announcing the marriage alliance between the Ji Group and Shengshi Group.”
The smile on Ji Mingyu’s face did not change, but her words made the living room fall silent for a moment.
“Dad, I don’t want to marry Sheng Tianqi.”
The smile faded from Ji Zhiyuan’s face.
He set down the glass in his hand. Its base touched the coffee table with a soft click.
“You don’t want to marry Sheng Tianqi?” His tone was not harsh, but every word carried weight. “Then who do you want to marry?”
He leaned back against the sofa, his gaze settling on his daughter’s face.
“You need to understand that you’re a young lady of the Ji family. Your marriage isn’t something just anyone will do. Having fun outside is one thing, but marriage is another.”
His words were blunt, even somewhat cold.
Su Wanyun said nothing beside them. She lifted her teacup and took a slow sip.
Ji Mingyu was not intimidated. Instead, she leaned forward slightly, her tone growing serious.
“Dad, what are you thinking?”
She blinked.
“I only said I don’t want to marry Sheng Tianqi. I never said I wouldn’t agree to a marriage alliance with Shengshi Group.”
Ji Zhiyuan looked at her scrutinizingly, as though trying to determine how much of what she had said was true and how much was false.