Ji Yushi gripped the bank card tightly, remaining silent for a long time.
In Ji Yushi's life, no one had ever given him a card on his own initiative. Ji Yan's expression and tone were serious, which made Ji Yushi feel that the other party was not lying.
Despite Ji Yan having lied more than once before.
Pay me back?
Restore to the previous state?
And his title... Mr. Ji?
Ji Yushi twitched his lips, almost laughing out loud. A year ago, when Ji Yan was recognized back into the Ji family, the constant address of "Second Brother" made him very uncomfortable. After all, for so many years, only Ji Ruan had called him "Second Brother." But the repeated "Mr. Ji" also sounded particularly grating to Ji Yushi.
He didn't like hearing it, nor did he want to hear Ji Yan address him that way.
Ji Yushi returned to the Ji family mansion with the card in his hand. When he parked the car, he found that the luxury cars that Ji Yan had bought under various pretexts were indeed parked there safely. The cars were indeed diligently cleaned, but they looked like they hadn't been driven for a long time.
Ji Xuekong had been in China for a while and was currently setting up a Go board in the living room. He waved to Ji Yushi and asked, "Where's Ji Yan? Out fooling around again?"
Ji Yushi didn't reply to him immediately. Instead, he called over the butler, Uncle Zhou: "Did Ji Yan say anything when he went out?"
The butler shook his head and said only, "Young Master Ji Yan drives his own car."
Ji Yushi went back upstairs. Just as Ji Yan had said, the door to his room was open, the car keys were neatly placed on the table, and the clothes, watch and everything else in the wardrobe were still there.
Ji Yushi went downstairs with a gloomy expression. Ji Xuekong sneered, "Is he still faking running away from home, or trying to get you to buy that limited edition RM watch? He subtly hinted at me to buy it last time, so don't fall for his tricks again..."
"Shut up! Don't say another word."
Ji Yushi's sudden shout surprised Ji Xuekong, and his smiling expression immediately disappeared. He looked at Ji Yushi with some confusion, not understanding where the other party's anger came from.
Ji Xuekong didn't find it strange that Ji Yan hadn't been home for over a month. When Ji Yushi said he was going to DW Entertainment to find Ji Yan, Ji Xuekong tried to stop him, but he couldn't. While his older brother Ji Wei was focused on the family business, Ji Yushi took on most of the responsibilities of an older brother. After Ji Yan returned to the Ji family, Ji Yushi was the one who angered him the most.
Ji Yushi placed the bank card on the coffee table: "This was given to me by Ji Yan."
"What?"
“A card with 200,000 yuan in it,” Ji Yushi said in a deep voice. “He said he owed us money before, and he will pay it back to us slowly in the future.”
"Are you kidding me?" Ji Xuekong remained nonchalant. "How can he pay it back? Where would he get the money? With his personality, what else would he do besides flaunting the Ji family name every day? Brother, you don't need to be fooled by him."
Ji Yushi shook his head, took out his phone, and showed Ji Xuekong a message that Ji Yan had just sent: "This is the bill."
"A C-plated sports car, market price 980,000, can be sold for 600,000 if it's 80% new, I owe you 380,000."
"Brand A watch, market price 240,000, can be sold for 180,000 in second-hand condition (80% new), I owe you 60,000."
"Brand X menswear, market price..."
Ji Yan used his memory to quote the market prices of the things the Ji family bought for him during the year he returned to the Ji family. He also reminded Ji Yushi, "These cars and watches are worth a good price on the second-hand market. You can't calculate the price based on the original price, or I'll lose money."
Ji Yan even included the T-shirts, which cost several hundred yuan, in the total price: "Although the price isn't high, several hundred yuan is still money. I don't want to take advantage of you. By the way, I paid for the car's gas myself, so I won't pay you back for that."
From participating in "Idol Century" to finally signing with DW Entertainment, Ji Yan calculated the biggest part: "Our company's breach of contract penalty is 5 million, so consider it as me owing you 5 million."
All things considered, including the 5 million yuan penalty for breach of contract, Ji Yan owed the Ji brothers a total of 17,826,600 yuan. He calculated every single amount meticulously, even rounding up to the nearest decimal.
"Mr. Ji, please double-check it and let me know if there's anything wrong."
Just as Ji Yushi and Ji Xuekong were reading the previous message, Ji Yan sent another one.
"What...does he mean by this?" Ji Xuekong frowned.
Ji Yushi looked at him: "He wants to sever ties with us. He said he wants to restore us to the state we were in before he came to the Ji family, and treat us as strangers."
"Impossible, he..."
Ji Yushi shoved the card into his arms: "You can keep this card."
"What are you going to do with me?"
"I don't want to be Mr. Ji. If you're willing, you can be him."
Ji Xuekong stared at the card for a long time, then muttered, "...I don't want to be one either."
His voice was a little soft, and Ji Yushi, who was walking outside, didn't hear it.
Ji Yushi was feeling depressed. Even though he had been home for a while, Ji Yan's tone and expression were still imprinted in his mind. He had never really observed Ji Yan before, but in that instant, he suddenly realized that Ji Yan's face, his expression, and his tone really resembled his mother. Ji Yushi was already 7 years old when his mother passed away, and he still remembered her. Ji Xuekong was still young when his mother was pregnant, but he remembered that his mother was always gently stroking her belly. At that time, he was being willful and said that he wanted a little sister. His mother hugged him and said that she would try her best to have a little sister.
From the eldest brother Ji Wei to Ji Xuekong, everyone in the Ji family resembles their father. Ji Ruan, of course, doesn't resemble anyone. But Ji Yan looks exactly like his mother, a fact he only just discovered now.
Furthermore... In his memory, Ji Yan had been spending money ever since he returned to the Ji family, buying luxury cars, expensive watches, and clothes with big logos... This was completely inconsistent with the Ji family's consistently low-key style, which made Ji Yushi think that Ji Yan was spending money recklessly. In contrast, Ruan Ruan had never pursued luxury goods. Although she was developing her career in the entertainment industry, which was full of controversies, Ruan Ruan still maintained a simple style.
17,826,600, which, based on its original value, is only a little over 20 million.
The jewelry Ji Ruan wore at the concert was worth more than 80 million yuan. Every year, luxury brands would send product catalogs to the Ji family. Each of them spends no less than 20 million yuan in this regard, not including cars.
17,826,600, no, to be precise, it should be 17,626,600, because Ji Yan emphasized that this 200,000 was part of the money he was repaying and had to be included in the accounts.
Ji Yu wanted to say something to Ji Yan, but as soon as he sent the first message, WeChat automatically displayed "You are not yet friends with this person"—Ji Yan had already deleted him from WeChat.
A short while later, Ji Xuekong also sent a message to Ji Yushi, saying that Ji Yan had also deleted him.
Ji Ruan's message was the last one; Ji Yushi received it several hours after returning from DW Entertainment.
"Second brother, there's something I want to tell you."
Ji Yushi and Ji Ruan had always gotten along very casually, and even Ji Yan's return did not create any distance between them. But now, for some reason, Ji Yushi's gaze kept falling on the words "Second Brother".
"I went to participate in a show today. There's a really popular music variety show called 'Echo' with a great lineup. I happened to meet the show's director, and he agreed to let the 'Wings' group participate because they haven't had much work lately. I wanted to tell Ji Yan this news, but it seems he's blocked me. Could you please pass on this message for me?"
"Maybe I did something to upset him recently. Second brother, please be gentler and don't ask him about blocking me. I'm fine with it; it's understandable that he doesn't like me."
Ji Yushi narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps it was Ji Yan's attitude today that gave him the patience to recall everything that had happened since Ji Yan returned. He didn't tell Ji Ruan that he had also been blocked by Ji Yan, and only replied, "I will tell him."
Then, as if by some strange twist of fate, Ji Yushi didn't know why he searched for information about the variety show "Echo".
"The worst music variety show ever!"
This headline made Ji Yushi's expression turn serious.
Upon closer examination, many bloggers and netizens believe that the lineup of "Echo" is quite strong, which aligns with what Ji Ruan said. However, the veteran musicians in this variety show are rumored to frequently bully newcomers. The newcomers participating in this variety show face various forms of suppression and bullying, especially the idol groups, who have suffered greatly on the show.
What would happen if Ji Yan went?
Ji Yushi envisioned two possibilities: one, the members of "Wings" would be bullied to death by the seniors on the show; two, Ji Yan would use the power of the Ji family to resist. The second outcome would inevitably trigger a new round of arguments within the Ji family.
From Ji Yushi's perspective, the second scenario is very likely to occur.
Overall, Ji Yushi considers himself a brother who cares about his younger brother. If Ji Yan's behavior after returning hadn't been so excessive, he certainly wouldn't have criticized him. Therefore, he naturally wouldn't want to view his younger brother negatively.
But Ji Ruan's message made his mind very sharp at that moment.
In his memory, he and Ji Ruan seemed to have had conversations more than once today, but the last time it wasn't through WeChat. It was when they were chatting together in the living room and the TV happened to be on—the Ji brothers didn't have the habit of watching TV in the living room. They were both very busy, and the news and dramas on TV always took up a lot of their time.
After the TV was turned on, the program that was broadcasting happened to be about the bad things Ji Yan had done. Before the program was over, Ji Yushi went over to scold Ji Yan with a stern face.
The time before last was...
Ji Yushi rubbed his forehead, sat up straight, took out his phone and pen, and wrote down the information he saw and remembered like a detective.
As I was writing, another message popped up on my phone. It was from the bank: "Your bank card with card number... has received 6600 yuan."
It was clearly sent by Ji Yan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
