Kyoto Hospital.
Liu Wan wept as she said, “Yueyue was only trying to help A-Yuan. How could she be so cruel? She made Yueyue faint.”
Lin Lanlan stood to one side, glancing at Si Nanyuan, who was wearing headphones and bobbing her head to the music. Jealousy was written all over Lin Lanlan’s face, but she didn’t dare provoke her.
Si Nanyuan was crazy. Lin Lanlan wasn’t shameless enough to go looking for a beating.
“A-Kai, she’s the only bloodline your eldest brother left in this world. If anything happens to her, how am I supposed to face your brother?”
As she spoke, Liu Wan edged closer to Su Zekai, folding against him like a boneless shrimp.
Su Zekai shifted slightly to the side. With nothing to lean on, Liu Wan nearly fell, but Lin Lanlan caught her just in time.
“A-Yuan, what happened?”
Si Nanyuan took off her headphones and shrugged. “I’d just arrived at Kyoto University when everyone started saying I’d gotten in through connections, that I was shameless, and that I should get in on my own merits.”
She spread her hands. “So I took the exam. When my results came out, she fainted. Apparently, that means Si Nanyuan is so cruel.”
Si Nanyuan stuck out her tongue. “You’re my elder, so I’ll listen to you. I won’t let you say the wrong thing or turn into a cruel girl.”
She put particular emphasis on the word “cruel,” leaving Liu Wan at a loss.
Whenever Liu Wan crossed swords with Si Nanyuan, she never knew what move the girl would make next.
A-Kai was right there! And Si Nanyuan said all that in front of him. If Yueyue got hurt next time, would she claim Si Nanyuan had done it?
Lin Lanlan felt uneasy. There was something frightening about Si Nanyuan’s smile.
“Your grades must be so bad that Yueyue got upset enough to faint.”
“What do my bad grades have to do with her?”
“She cares about you.”
“She certainly does. All she can think about is how to kill me.”
“You—”
Su Zekai felt a headache coming on. “That’s enough.”
Just then, Liu Wei came over and told them everything that had happened to Si Nanyuan at Kyoto University.
“What did you say? Her? The top scorer with a perfect score on the college entrance exam?”
Liu Wan’s face went deathly pale. Had she gone deaf?
“These are Miss Nanyuan’s assessment results at Kyoto University. She broke the world record in the sprint. If she competed in the Olympics, the gold medal would be hers. And she got a perfect score in advanced mathematics after only half an hour, according to what I heard.”
Su Zekai looked over the test paper in his hand, then glanced at Si Nanyuan in surprise.
“And her piano and violin skills are unprecedented.”
Liu Wan couldn’t believe it. “Impossible. How could she? How could this be?”
Su Zekai looked at Si Nanyuan, pride shining in his eyes.
This girl clearly wasn’t short of money. She’d come back to stir things up, and she was absolutely sure he wouldn’t kick her out or ignore her.
“You said she cares about me. I’m a terrible student, and I still outclassed her. She must have fainted from happiness.”
Liu Wan tried to hide how she felt, but Si Nanyuan’s sarcastic remarks got under her skin. She wanted to stab the girl with her eyes.
How had this happened?
Wasn’t Si Nanyuan supposed to be the one embarrassed? It was her Yueyue instead.
Had the information she’d gathered been wrong?
“I’m done here. I’m leaving.”
Si Nanyuan waved and walked off. Su Zekai gave the doctor a few instructions, then followed her.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t like school?”
Si Nanyuan glanced at him and stopped. “I don’t.”
“You can still be a super-genius without liking school.”
He was genuinely curious about how Rou’er had raised her.
He regretted that he would never see Rou’er again, and that he hadn’t been part of his child’s life as she grew up.
“If I liked school, I wouldn’t have finished elementary school in three years, middle school in one, and high school in one.”
Su Zekai smiled. “So you skipped grades to spend fewer years in school?”
“You could say that.”
Su Zekai couldn’t help ruffling her hair. Si Nanyuan frowned slightly and took a step back. “What are you doing? Trying to claim the credit? Dream on.”
“You’re not short of money, and you don’t accept me as your father. Why did you come back to the Su family?”
“Guess.”
Su Zekai smiled but said nothing.
“You can do whatever you want, but no breaking the law.”
“Anything?”
“Mm.”
Si Nanyuan was baffled.
She’d been with the Su family for less than three days, but this man wasn’t at all like the person she’d expected.
“Come on. Dad’s taking you out for a big meal.”
Su Zekai put an arm around her shoulders, so excited he looked as if he’d gained the whole world.
“Hey, let go. We’re not close.”
“I’m your dad.”
“Other than the fact that I inherited a little of your good looks, I haven’t seen what use you are.”
There was no denying Su Zekai was handsome. Even in middle age, he had plenty of charm.
He was nearly fifty, but with his build and bearing, people could easily believe he was in his thirties.
“You inherited my brains, too.”
Si Nanyuan couldn’t be bothered to answer. The more he loved her now, the worse things would be for him later.
Ye Jingxiao stood in the hospital corridor, watching them play around, his gaze fixed on their retreating figures.
That figure looked so familiar. Her long, beautiful hair really did look like hers. It was a pity he hadn’t gotten a clear look that night.
“Jingxiao, what are you looking at?”
Mo Yichen patted his shoulder and followed his gaze, though he couldn’t tell what Jingxiao was looking at.
“Nothing.”
Mo Yichen didn’t press him.
“I heard Master Physician Nan is in Kyoto. He should be able to treat your condition.”
As he spoke, Mo Yichen lowered his head and covered his mouth, wanting to laugh but not daring to.
“I’m not getting treated.”
“True. It doesn’t make much difference to you whether you get treated or not. You can’t use it anyway.”
At that, Ye Jingxiao fixed him with a cold stare.
Mo Yichen immediately backed down. “Jingxiao, I’m just telling the truth. That’s not a crime, is it?”
“Find someone else to invest in the hospital in the second half of the year.”
“No, don’t! I was wrong, okay? I said I was wrong!”
Mo Yichen was practically in tears.
Ye Jingxiao gave him a disdainful look and strode away.
“Jingxiao, how about I try harder to find the man who did that to you that night and beat him up? Just don’t pull your investment!”
He knew Ye Jingxiao had been searching for the person who’d violated him that night. It was strange—how could someone like Ye Jingxiao fail to find a person in Kyoto?
“You should worry about failing your exams and get your ears checked.”
“My ears are fine!”
“Then it’s your brain.”
Mo Yichen looked hurt. “You don’t have to attack me like that.”
“The person with me that night was a girl. A beautiful girl with long, flowing hair and fair skin. How many times do I have to tell you? You’re not just deaf and stupid—your medical skills are useless, too.”
He’d thought he’d become desensitized, but apparently not. Today he’d nearly died and Zhou Yi had brought him to the hospital.
So he was desensitized to that girl.
“A girl? But you were fine that night!”
Ye Jingxiao couldn’t be bothered to explain.
“Y-you’re not allergic to that girl?”
Mo Yichen blinked. “But your future wife sure is fierce.”
“Wife?”
“Yeah. She’s the only person who could possibly become your wife. Forget anyone else, unless you’re looking to die. She may be fierce, but at least she’s a woman.”
Ye Jingxiao opened the car door. It slammed shut, and he sped away.
Mo Yichen patted his chest. “What a temper.”
Recalling what had happened at the hospital, Ye Jingxiao called Zhou Yi.
“Third Young Master.”
“Find out who the girl was with Su Zekai in the lobby of Kyoto Hospital at one o’clock today.”
If something puzzled Ye Jingxiao, he found out what it was. That was just how he was.