Yang Feiguang has become quite bold now. He patted Ye Qingyan and said, "Stop being childish and tell me quickly."
"You deserve a beating." Ye Qingyan waved her fist and quickly recounted, "There's not much of a story. My grandfather's generation was involved in organized crime, and my dad, influenced by his upbringing, became the horrible person he just looked at. Later, because he disliked my grandfather's ways, he ran away to join the army. When he came back, he took over my grandfather's business and turned it into a security company. But he still can't shake that threatening attitude."
She explained casually, "What happened just now probably meant they were hired to steal company secrets and were forced to reveal their employer."
"How are you? Are you scared?" Ye Qingyan was still a little uneasy. She had seen too many friends leave her after seeing what their fathers looked like since she was a child.
"What's there to be afraid of? I'm a grown man." Yang Feiguang raised his hand and patted his chest, almost choking on his own saliva.
"There's nothing to be afraid of." Shao Junli pushed up his glasses. "I'll be relying on you to take care of me from now on."
"You're not going to chicken out first, are you?" Yuan Yuan looked at Ye Qingyan suspiciously.
"Who's a coward?" Ye Qingyan glared.
Zhen Tian silently squeezed Ye Qingyan's hand.
"Waaaaah, Sweetie." Ye Qingyan turned around and saw Zhen Tian's silent comforting expression, and her heart warmed. "Very good, as expected of my friends, it was worth all the hard work I put into preparing delicious food for you all night."
Ye Qingyan finally relaxed; they were nervous, but she was even more nervous.
"Before we're done, let me show you around my room."
***
When Ye Qingyan saw Zhen Tian and the others off that evening, she was still a little reluctant to part with them.
She had never liked her family's big house before, but seeing how they both liked and envied it today, she suddenly felt a little smug.
"Come visit again next time!" Ye Qingyan waved to everyone who got into the car.
"Next time I come, I'm going to play all the games!" Yang Feiguang shouted out the window.
"I won't lend it to you."
The group left, laughing and joking, and the Ye family returned to its usual tranquility.
Ye Qingyan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before walking back.
"That game screen is absolutely amazing." Yang Feiguang kept talking to everyone about Ye Qingyan's game screen on the way. Zhen Tian sat on the right side of the back seat, leaning on the window frame and staring blankly at the traffic outside the window.
"I've arrived. Be careful on your way home." According to the route, Zhen Tian was the second person to be dropped off at home.
Unexpectedly, she met Ji Yuzhi waiting at the entrance of the residential area.
The wind was a bit strong tonight, and Ji Yuzhi's white shirt fluttered in the wind. His tall, slender figure stood there motionless, the cold wind seemingly posing no threat to him.
But Zhen Tian shivered as soon as she got out of the car, even though she was wearing a short skirt.
"Zhizhi," she called out.
"Come here quickly." As she walked closer, Zhen Tian noticed that Ji Yuzhi was holding a black cardigan in his hand.
Ji Yuzhi draped a coat over Zhen Tian's shoulders, put his arm around her, and walked inside.
"Why did you come out in such cold weather?" Zhen Tian was wrapped in a cardigan, which was covered in his scent. She took a couple of breaths before speaking.
Aunt Lu said you weren't wearing enough clothes this morning.
"profound."
Ji Yuzhi held Zhen Tian's fingers and stroked them for a moment, then asked after thinking for a moment, "Did you have fun?"
"Hmm, Qingyan's house is so big, and she's prepared so much delicious food." Zhen Tian nodded.
"That's good."
The atmosphere between the two was a little awkward, something that had never happened before; normally, even if they didn't speak, this wouldn't be the case.
Zhen Tian sensed it keenly.
When they arrived at the door, the little boy, who usually fussed and needed to be coaxed to sleep, unusually handed the clothes back to Ji Yuzhi and said, "I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep. Zhizhi, you should go to sleep early too. Goodnight."
Ji Yuzhi stared at her for two seconds, then slowly nodded: "Good night."
After Zhen Tian returned home, he turned around, pushed open his own front door, took out his phone from his pocket, searched through his contacts, and dialed the number labeled Ye Qingyan.
"Hello?" Ye Qingyan answered with some confusion when she saw that it was an unfamiliar number.
"Hello, Ye, I am Ji Yuzhi."
"Ah, Senior Ji." Ye Qingyan jumped up from the bed, feeling inexplicably nervous, like a student being checked by a teacher.
"I want to ask you something lately..." Ji Yuzhi looked through his own door as if he could see across the street. He stared at the door with a strange expression: "Has Tian Tian done anything strange?"
"Sweetie?" Ye Qingyan thought for a moment, "No."
"Think back carefully."
Ye Qingyan tried to recall again, then shook her head and said, "Still no."
"Okay, thank you. Sorry to bother you."
Ji Yuzhi hung up the phone and leaned weakly against the door. The usually easy-going kid had suddenly changed, and a sense of fear flashed through his mind.
Ye Qingyan sat on her oversized bed, completely baffled.
"Is there anything wrong with Tian Tian?" She racked her brains for a moment, then suddenly a brilliant idea struck her, and she dialed the number.
Zhen Tian had just finished showering when her phone rang. She sat down at her vanity with a dry towel wrapped around her hair and turned on speakerphone: "Qingyan, I'm home. I just finished showering and forgot to tell you."
The little girl's voice was still soft, but Ye Qingyan understood why Ji Yuzhi had asked the question: recently, Tian Tian's voice had been so listless.
"Sweetie, I'm asking you a question, so answer me honestly." Ye Qingyan suddenly became serious.
"Okay, sure."
"Are you having a fight with Senior Ji?"
Zhen Tian paused silently as she wiped her face.
"Hey." Ye Qingyan didn't hear a reply, so this was her answer: "I knew it, sweetie, are you still worried about Senior Ji going to university?"
Zhen Tian gave a muffled hum.
"I didn't tell you so much that day to make you feel down or to make you ignore Senior Ji." Ye Qingyan said helplessly, "Aren't you just pushing him further away? Once he realizes that you don't need him, he'll really be free to fly away."
"I don't know," Zhen Tian mumbled.
"Baby, have you forgotten what I taught you before?"
"Um?"
"What did I tell you when Miler bullied you? You can say whatever you want, right?" Ye Qingyan patiently instructed, her careful wording and gentle voice making her feel like a mother to her child. "Why can't you and your closest friend Zhizhi say whatever you want? Tell him your thoughts."
"But if I tell him I don't want him to leave, won't he hate me and stop liking me?" Zhen Tian finally said what she feared most.
"How could that be? You've been causing trouble for Ji Yuzhi for so many years, how could he possibly stop liking you just because you can't bear to part with him?"
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