"But Dad!" Ning Xiuyan stood up suddenly, with the IV tube still hanging on the back of his hand, shaking violently with his movements.
"No buts." Ning Yuanshan's voice suddenly became stern, like a knife cutting through ice. "The Ye family's connections cannot be underestimated."
He glanced at Ning Xiwan meaningfully, his gaze lingering on the watch on her wrist for a second, "Especially the relationship between Xiwan and the young master of the Ye family..."
The smile on Ning Xiwan's face remained unchanged, but her nails had dug deep into her palms.
She thought of Ye Qingliu's hand in plaster, his pale face, and the way he endured the pain to comfort her. Those images cut into her heart like a knife.
"Dad," she smiled sweetly, dimples blooming in her cheeks, "Qingliu is like my brother."
Her voice was so sweet that honey could drip out, but her eyes were as cold as the permafrost in Siberia.
Ning Xiuyuan suddenly interrupted, tapping his finger on the tablet to pull up another file: "Where's Duan Shuce? I heard he's in the hospital too."
Displayed on the screen were Duan Shuce's medical records, with the diagnosis being "sports injury."
Ning Xiwan picked up the teacup. The imported British bone china looked particularly small in her hands. Her expression was blurred in the steam. "Shu Ce got hurt playing basketball."
She took a sip, leaving a faint lip print on the rim of the cup. "Why, big brother is very interested in them?"
Her tone was as relaxed as if she was discussing the weather, but her eyes were as sharp as a knife.
Ning Xiuyuan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes behind the lenses unfathomable: "I'm just curious why my sister always likes to play with high school students."
His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the sofa, the rhythm as steady as a heart monitor.
"Because they are cute." Ning Xiwan tilted her head, the sunlight shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows, dancing on the ends of her hair.
She smiled innocently, like a naive college student. "Unlike some people who still engage in school bullying at their age."
She spoke the last four words very softly, but they hit Ning Xiuyan's heart like a heavy hammer.
Ning Xiuyan stood up suddenly, his cane hitting the carpet with a dull thud: "Ning Xiwan!"
His voice was hoarse like sandpaper and his face flushed red.
"Enough!" Ji Qinglan slammed the table, and the jade bracelet made a crisp sound on the table, like a judge's gavel dropping the final judgment. "Xiu Yan, go back to your room and rest. Xi Wan, you too."
Her eyes moved back and forth between the two children and finally stopped on her husband, silently conveying some message.
Late at night, Ning Xiwan, wearing a silk nightgown, knocked on her mother's door. Only a few wall lamps were lit in the corridor, and the dim light stretched her shadow.
Ji Qinglan was removing her makeup at the dressing table and looked at her daughter in the mirror: "Why aren't you sleeping so late?"
Ning Xiwan leaned against the door frame, the moonlight shining in from behind her, casting a long shadow on the floor: "Mom, about my second brother..."
Her voice was as light as a sigh, with a slight rise at the end.
"Did you make this?" Ji Qinglan took off her diamond earrings, each of which was worth an apartment. She casually threw them into the jewelry box, making a crisp clinking sound.
Ning Xiwan smiled, her eyes curved into crescents: "How could that be?"
Ji Qinglan also smiled. The mother and daughter's smiles were exactly the same, even the curve of the corners of their mouths was exactly the same: "Do it more cleanly next time."
She turned around and patted her daughter's face with her diamond-ringed hand. The sharp edges of the diamond scraped against her skin, causing a slight stinging sensation. "When Mom was your age, your father's two illegitimate children had already died in accidents."
Ning Xiwan blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings: "Mom, this is a society ruled by law."
"Yeah," Ji Qinglan sighed and began to apply the extremely expensive La Mer cream, "so I can only use laxatives. It's really boring."
There was clear regret in her voice, like a gourmet being forced to eat fast food.
The next morning at breakfast, sunlight streamed into the dining room through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Ning Yuanshan stopped Ning Xiwan as she was about to leave. He was wearing a suit, the family crest gleaming on his tie clip.
"Xiwan, there's a charity dinner next week, come with me." His tone was unquestionable, as if he was announcing a board resolution.
Ning Xiwan bit into the toast covered with caviar and asked vaguely, "Why me?" Bread crumbs stuck to the corners of her mouth, like a naive little girl.
"Because you are most like me when I was young." Ning Mingyuan sipped black coffee, and the bottom of the cup made a crisp sound when it hit the saucer.
His eyes are sharp, penetrating like X-rays, "smart, cautious, knowing what to do and what not to do."
Ning Xiwan put down the toast and wiped the corners of her mouth with a linen napkin, her movements as graceful as if she had received professional training: "For example?"
She tilted her head, and the sunlight danced on her earrings. They were a simple pair of pearl studs, but they were from Mikimoto's collection.
"For example, you shouldn't offend your own brother for the sake of two high school students." Ning Yuanshan's voice was soft, but it weighed a thousand pounds.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table, the rhythm as steady as a heartbeat.
Ning Xiwan smiled, the sunlight shining on her face, so bright that it was blinding: "Dad, you are wrong."
She stood up, picked up her Hermès Birkin bag, and gently swayed the charm on it. "First, they were the first to attack. Second..." She turned back, her eyes as cold as a Siberian winter. "I don't have a brother."
Ning Xiwan walked out of the Ning family's gate and took a deep breath of fresh air. The roses in the courtyard were in full bloom, and the fragrance was so rich that it was almost suffocating.
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