Chapter 98 - 96: The Message Didn’t Arrive, but the Person Did

Chapter 98: Chapter 96: The Message Didn’t Arrive, but the Person Did

After failing to gain any ground with Su Miaoyi, Cai Qinglian’s composure was slipping. She wanted to just turn and walk away.

At that moment, the surrounding relatives hurried over to smooth things over, pulling Cai Qinglian into the inner room.

Su Miaoyi glanced at Ji Sheng again.

After a moment’s consideration, Ji Sheng decided not to approach her and followed the others into the inner room.

Cheng Jue looked at his parents, then at Su Miaoyi, and sat down beside her again.

Cheng Yong and Ge Yu didn’t go into the inner room either.

They were both still angry about how Ji Sheng and Cai Qinglian had deceived them last time.

"Sis," Cheng Jue called out to Su Miaoyi.

"Hm?"

"Why did they show up all of a sudden?" Cheng Jue had been away at a training camp and had no idea what was going on.

"Don’t worry about them," Su Miaoyi said.

Cheng Jue felt like they were all treating him like a kid, not telling him anything.

He frowned.

Su Miaoyi raised her hand and gave him a light smack on the back of his head.

Cheng Jue flinched. "You hit me again."

"So what if I hit you?" Su Miaoyi asked, as if she had every right.

Cheng Jue looked at her. "I’m going to hit you back."

"You wouldn’t dare," Su Miaoyi said.

"I’m gonna get you back," Cheng Jue insisted.

"Go on, I dare you to try."

The two of them started messing around again.

Cheng Yong watched them with a smile.

Ge Yu said, "Be careful of that heater."

Meanwhile, in the inner room, Ji Sheng and Cai Qinglian were surrounded by relatives.

"Have a seat, have a seat," an aunt urged, beckoning Cai Qinglian to sit.

Cai Qinglian smiled, glanced at the sofa, but didn’t sit down.

The aunt thought she was just being polite and went to take her hand, but Cai Qinglian quickly dodged away.

The aunt’s hand froze in midair, and she awkwardly lowered it.

"Here, have some tea, have some tea," a third aunt said, bringing over some cups.

There were simply too many people in the house, so instead of a proper tea set, they were using disposable cups.

Cai Qinglian glanced at the cup, then at the color of the tea inside.

’She couldn’t even tell what kind of tea it was.’

The third aunt offered a cup to Cai Qinglian, but she didn’t take it.

The aunt smiled and placed it beside her. "If your hands get cold, you can use it to warm them."

Cai Qinglian tried to force a smile, but failed. Her mouth just twitched.

’She didn’t want to stay here any longer. She wanted to leave.’

She looked toward Ji Sheng.

Ji Sheng was surrounded by a group of men asking him how things had been.

She watched Ji Sheng sit down on the sofa, an unconcealed look of disdain crossing her face.

The third aunt and the other aunt exchanged a look, then sat to one side without saying anything more.

Ji Sheng ended up chatting for nearly two hours.

Cai Qinglian stood there in her high heels for the entire two hours.

At first, people tried to talk to her, but when they saw she wasn’t very responsive, they gradually left her alone.

’Cai Qinglian hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, but Ji Sheng had insisted.’

’Now that the Cais had fallen from grace, Ji Sheng was growing more and more impatient with her. He was treating her worse and worse.’

’If she weren’t worried about her marriage falling apart, she would never have come to a place like this or spoken to people like them.’

「As the sun sank in the west, the sky gradually darkened.」

Ji Sheng finally got up, saying he wanted to have a word with Su Miaoyi. Everyone else tactfully stayed behind.

Su Miaoyi was standing outside, looking into the yard next door.

She had come out after hearing police sirens.

However, the wall on her side of the property was high, and standing in the yard, she couldn’t see what was happening next door.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to look.

Ji Sheng had come out and was now standing beside her.

Cheng Jue had only gone to pour a glass of water, but when he saw Ji Sheng go outside, he worried Su Miaoyi would be bullied. He immediately started to follow, but Cheng Yong grabbed his arm.

Cheng Yong frowned. "Don’t go and interrupt."

Then he added, "He wouldn’t dare."

Cheng Jue looked at his father.

The tone of those three words—"He wouldn’t dare"—implied that if Ji Sheng so much as tried to bully his sister, their father would kill him.

So he stood with his father, watching them from a distance.

"Are you here about Jiang Junrui again?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Ji Sheng looked at her and said, "I know what I’m doing is dishonorable. I didn’t raise you, so I have no right to ask you to do anything for the Ji Family."

Su Miaoyi stared at the snow in the yard.

"But putting all that aside, isn’t Jiang Junrui a good match? Forget being raised by the Cheng family; even if you had been raised in the Ji Family, it would be difficult to find a family like his," Ji Sheng said.

"Then why do you think he’s so set on marrying me?" Su Miaoyi asked. "Our families are not social equals, we don’t know each other, there’s no emotional foundation between us, and I can’t help his career in any way. So why does he want to marry me? What, is it because of my face?"

Ji Sheng was taken aback for a moment, then said, "You two do know each other."

"We met once. You can’t call that knowing each other. Are you trying to say it was love at first sight?" Su Miaoyi countered. "If he really liked me, he would have approached me first, not you."

"But how much is ’like’ really worth? Everyone ends up the same in the end. Who cares what his motives are? Just take advantage of them, marry him, and secure a good future for yourself. Wouldn’t that be great?" Ji Sheng said. "Feelings and love are all fake in the end. The only things that are real are money and power in your hands."

"What about my life?" Su Miaoyi finally looked at him.

Ji Sheng’s pupils constricted.

"What if I marry him and die a few days later?" Su Miaoyi asked him.

Ji Sheng frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Su Miaoyi glanced at him, then looked back at the snow in the yard. "I’m not getting married. This is not up for discussion. Don’t come here again. You’re not comfortable coming here, and I can’t be bothered to see you."

Ji Sheng took a deep breath. "Su Miaoyi, you’d better think this through. If you miss this chance with the Jiang family, you’ll never get another opportunity to marry into a family like this again."

Su Miaoyi gave a faint smile. "I didn’t come into this world just to get married."

"That’s ridiculous," Ji Sheng said. "A shortcut is right in front of you, but you don’t know how to take it. After passing up someone like Jiang Junrui, do you really think someone with your status will ever be able to reach someone of his level again in this lifetime? Will you ever even get to speak to someone like him again? Will you still..."

Before he could finish, there were two knocks on the main gate. "Anyone home?"

Someone from outside called out.

Su Miaoyi’s view of the gate was blocked by a wing of the house.

But that voice was so familiar.

’I hadn’t gotten a message back, but he’s here in person.’

She immediately walked toward the gate.

The people inside the house came out as well.

Zhuang Yanzheng took a few steps inside.

Su Miaoyi was at the very front, and the two of them met each other’s gaze.

Cheng Yong’s family of three had all met Zhuang Yanzheng before, and they all glanced toward Su Miaoyi.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at the large family, then took out his police ID. "I need to ask you all a few questions. Thank you for your cooperation."

"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all! You’re the ones working so hard during the New Year. Of course we’ll cooperate."

"That’s right, let’s talk inside. Have some hot tea, it’s freezing out here."

"Alright, thank you," Zhuang Yanzheng said, following everyone into the room with two other officers...