"Why are you calling so early in the morning? What time is it?" Jiang's mother's displeased voice came from the other end of the phone, as she was being woken up from her sweet dreams.
"Mom, there's something I want to confirm with you." Jiang Cheng hesitated.
"Speak your mind!"
"Xiao Li... isn't my aunt's biological daughter? She's adopted."
"Oh, this is about adoption, so what?"
Jiang Cheng held the phone and fell silent for a while before finally uttering a dissatisfied complaint.
"Why didn't you ever tell me this before?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Jiang's mother seemed a little confused. She felt that this was not a secret. Even Xiao Li herself knew it, and besides, she was no different from her own daughter.
Her younger sister's family never cared about these things. Xiao Li's biological parents had passed away a long time ago, and she had been living with a new family since she could remember.
Jiang's mother then asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this? What happened?"
"No...it's nothing."
"I'll hang up if there's nothing else."
"Beep beep beep".
There was a busy tone on the other end of the phone; his call was abruptly ended. It's no wonder Jiang's mother was in a bad mood; it was five in the morning, and anyone would be in a bad mood if disturbed at this hour.
The rain was still drizzling outside. Jiang Cheng put down his phone, looked out the window in the dimly lit room, and then lowered his head again.
On the same bed, a young girl clung to his arm, refusing to let go. She rubbed against him, sniffing him with her small nose from time to time, looking completely satisfied.
"Now you should believe me, right? I didn't lie to you. Xiao Li and her brother are indeed not related by blood, so they can be together openly and honestly."
When Luo Xiaoli saw Jiang Cheng's gaze fall on her, she immediately gave him a sweet smile, her eyes crinkling up, making her look extremely cute.
He opened his mouth but couldn't speak, unsure how to refute.
Two hours ago, Luo Xiaoli confessed her feelings to Jiang Cheng. Naturally, he couldn't agree immediately, otherwise he wouldn't have waited until five o'clock to call his mother to confirm the fact.
But afterwards, she clung to Jiang Cheng tightly, holding his arm and refusing to let go. The two of them wrestled and pulled each other in the living room until they were exhausted.
Even after he returned to his room, he was still being dragged by the arm.
Unfortunately, they had no choice but to lie in the same bed.
The girl looked at her brother with a smug expression, seemingly pleased that her little trick had worked.
"Can you answer me now? Jiang Cheng, will you be my girlfriend?"
Jiang Cheng felt something was off when Xiao Li called him by his given name.
"Just call me brother." He shrugged and turned away.
"Brother, don't you have feelings for me?"
Luo Xiaoli spoke these words in an extremely soft and sweet tone, her warm breath hitting his ear and sending a tingling, bone-chilling itch through him.
Jiang Cheng didn't know what to say. His mind was in complete turmoil. He was afraid of hurting his sister's feelings by refusing her, because according to her, she had been in love for more than ten years. If she didn't get a good result, he would be in trouble.
It's hard to say what irrational thing she might do...
But agreeing was something I hadn't even considered.
In short, everything happened so suddenly that it gave no one a chance to react.
If Ke Bing hadn't suddenly confessed and Xiao Li hadn't overheard it, they would have continued to get along in a subtle atmosphere instead of laying everything bare like they have now.
"You...you have to let me think about it." He had been holding back for a long time before finally managing to utter these words.
Upon hearing his answer, Luo Xiaoli was overjoyed.
The fact that there was no direct refusal implies a tacit agreement!
A bright smile suddenly bloomed on her face, and she reached out and grabbed Jiang Cheng by the neck, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Startled, Jiang Cheng awkwardly avoided looking at her, who was so close to him, and suddenly felt his heart racing.
"Alright, now you can go back to your room and sleep. It's already early morning."
No! I want to sleep in your bed!
A sly glint flashed in Luo Xiaoli's eyes as she pulled the blanket over herself.
All he saw was the folds of the space blanket shaking incessantly, and the girl trapped inside laughing so hard she trembled...
······
Nothing was said that night.
Jiang Cheng was asleep when the phone rang.
He opened his sleepy eyes, reached for his vibrating phone on the bedside table, and pressed the answer button.
It was already noon.
Luo Xiaoli was still asleep.
A familiar voice came through the phone; it was Professor Zhong's voice.
"Xiaocheng, there's something I want to tell you."
"Yes, what's wrong, Elder Zhong?"
Do you know about the G10 summit?
"I've heard of it. Is it that top academic research conference? The one where big names from all fields around the world participate to judge outstanding research from the past four years?"
"Yes, it makes things easier now that you know. Since your gene reagent is one of the most groundbreaking research projects, it will definitely be selected. As the chief research team leader, you will be representing China in the speech. Please make time for this and come with me."
Jiang Cheng frowned, suddenly becoming much more alert.
"Should I also get involved?"
"Of course! If you don't go, who else is qualified to go?"
"Approximately how long afterward?"
“In less than three months, I will send someone to pick you up in Kyoto a few days in advance, and we will travel together from Kyoto on a private jet.”
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
