Ji Huan entered the courthouse under the escort of bodyguards and quickly followed the two people in front of him.
"Shadow! Brother Yan!"
The three of them didn't bother with small talk; after all, they had only met the day before yesterday when the restaurant opened.
"Does Xiaoyu know that you came to sit in on this?" Zhu Qianying didn't want her younger sister to get too involved in this troublesome matter.
After all, my sister's current physical condition is special, so it's better for her to avoid any stress.
"She doesn't know, so it's best to keep her from knowing about these things."
Ji Huan's idea coincided with Zhu Qianying's.
Yan Shao, who was standing to the side, suddenly reached out and gently put his arm around Zhu Qianying.
In his view, compared to Zhu Qianying, Zhu Qianyu, as the younger sister, lived like a little princess. Both the former Zhu Qianying and the current Ji Huan carefully protected her from harm.
Zhu Qianying and Ji Huan both seemed to take this for granted, but Yan Shao felt sorry for Zhu Qianying.
She was only two years older than Zhu Qianyu, yet she had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of being the older sister.
His hug was a bit sudden. Although it was only a light touch, Zhu Qianying still turned her head and gave him a strange look.
The concern and pity in his eyes made her heart flutter slightly.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Qianying noticed that Yan Shao had been looking at her with that kind of gaze lately.
Young Master Yan shook his head without saying a word, only patting her back with his large hand.
He was relieved that she only looked puzzled, without any other sign of disgust or avoidance.
"Since Xiaoyu caught a cold last time, she hasn't been sleeping well these past few nights and has been having nightmares. Sometimes she'll be yelling things like 'Don't hit me.' I was wondering if she was bullied by those bastards from the Zhu family when she was little, and that's why she's traumatized by it."
Ji Huan said through gritted teeth, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
Zhu Qianying then understood why Ji Huan had suddenly asked to sit in on the conversation.
Ji Huan's words reminded Yan Shao of the night Zhu Qianying was injured in the car accident.
She kept crying out in pain in her sleep. Looking back now, perhaps it wasn't just her wounds that were hurting; part of the reason was what Ji Huan had mentioned.
Yan Shao frowned slightly and looked at Zhu Qianying intently. "Did they beat you and Xiaoyu when they were little?"
Zhu Qianying smiled and said, "Go ahead and hit me. That's how I learned to climb trees and swim."
When they were bullied, their way to the kitchen was often blocked, so they would desperately run outside and climb a tree. The young masters of the Zhu family could only stand under the tree and sigh.
Or, they could run into the pool, jump in, and swim to the middle, while the young ladies of the Bamboo family, dressed in beautiful princess dresses, could only stand anxiously by the pool...
Such things basically filled her childhood and adolescence.
Xiaoyu, relatively speaking, had fewer of these experiences because Zhu Qianying distracted the Zhu family children and bore their hatred.
Looking at Zhu Qianying's nonchalant smile, Yan Shao felt inexplicably sad.
Yan Shao has a significant age gap with his cousins, and given his temperament and personality, he's destined not to be the one who gets bullied.
But he also knew that some bullying among children was not malicious and was just playful fighting, while others, like the older brothers and sisters of Zhu Qianying, were probably driven by strong hatred and ulterior motives.
Yan Shao wanted to ask something more, but then he heard a flurry of footsteps coming from the doorway. He looked up and saw the Zhu family of three walking in.
To be honest, this was the first time Yan Shao had met Zhu Junwei since that clever scheme at Yi Ran Pavilion that night.
He and Zhu Junwei had been on good terms for a while, so he didn't feel uncomfortable seeing them again.
He merely glanced at the family of three with a slight, teasing smile, while Zhu Junwei's face visibly stiffened.
This comparison reveals the difference in the depth of their understanding of morality.
Yan Shao merely glanced at the three people casually, without even greeting the Zhu family. Zhu Junwei, however, paused for a moment before walking over.
"Young Master Yan, Second Young Master Ji..."
Like Yan Shao, Ji Huan only looked at him with an interested smile, not even bothering to give a cold snort.
After being rebuffed, Zhu Junwei turned his gaze to Zhu Qianying and said, "Ying'er, I saw a report online that Aunt Jing's restaurant is doing very well. Congratulations!"
Zhu Qianying didn't have the same airs as Yan Shao and Ji Huan. She looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you!"
Throughout the entire ordeal, Zhu Junwei never openly confronted Zhu Qianying, so he probably assumed that Zhu Qianying was unaware of the despicable things he had done.
Speaking of which, apart from living under the same roof during their childhood, Zhu Junwei had not had many opportunities to see Zhu Qianying after they became adults. Seeing her so close up made him pause for a moment in shock.
He never knew that his half-sister was so beautiful and captivating when she smiled. Perhaps, what Yi Wei lost was not just a child.
At this moment, Zhu Junwei had some new ideas brewing in his mind, but he said them aloud.
"I'll go with my dad to take a look and learn something another day."
Whether these words were sincere or not, Zhu Qianying took them as a provocation.
"What's there to learn? My mom is a housewife, and all she can cook are a few simple home-style dishes. How could she possibly be served at a high-class place like Demingxuan?"
Those who don't know the truth might think that Zhu Qianying is genuinely feeling inferior.
But those in the know understand that Zhu Qianying is blatantly mocking Mingxuan Group's years of failed attempts to imitate others.
For so many years, the entire Zhu family has disliked Chen Jing.
Ironically, the trophy representing the highest honor for chefs in China, which is still displayed at the Mingxuan Group headquarters, is engraved with Chen Jing's name!
For a period of time, Mingxuan Group used gimmicks such as "So-and-so is the closed-door disciple of super chef Chen Jing" or "So-and-so is Chen Jing's nth disciple" to attract diners.
This was actually the first time Zhu Junwei had experienced Zhu Qianying's sharp tongue. Some vague memories from his childhood became clear because of Zhu Qianying's words.
In the past, he was extremely disdainful of his older brother and other sisters' bullying of Zhu Qianying and her sister. It wasn't that he sympathized with the Zhu Qianying sisters, but rather that he could tell at a glance that, compared to those older brothers and sisters, the always calm and collected Zhu Qianying was clearly better at using her brain to win.
Moreover, the bullying from her older siblings will only indirectly make Zhu Qianying more resilient and stronger.
But those opinions probably just passed by quickly, leaving no deep impression on him. After all, Zhu Qianying was just an insignificant person to him, not even a stumbling block.
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