Shi Jin buttoned up the last button: "Something happened."

He didn't want to go into details because it would remind him of the book that had been knocked into the puddle.

It was a collector's edition that he had found after going to several bookstores.

Shi Jin pursed his lips, his expression a little sad: "It will be fine soon, nothing serious."

Yu Ci saw that he didn't want to say more: "Let's eat."

He put the things on the table into the drawer, and took out the packed boxes from the side: "I bought some food when I came up, take a look and see what you want to eat."

Shi Jin's gaze fell on the table.

Light millet porridge, fragrant century egg and lean meat porridge, clear chicken soup with light yellow oil spots, and a few fresh and tender stir-fried dishes.

His gaze lingered on the millet porridge for two more seconds.

The next second, a hand pushed the bowl of porridge in front of him: "Want millet porridge?"

Shi Jin raised her eyes and looked into the man's smiling eyes.

Yu Ci was in a particularly good mood.

He attributed this to the fact that he had thoroughly confirmed Shi Jin's gender, thus indirectly proving that he was not someone sent by Zhong Ling. After all, Zhong Ling had always introduced girls to him before.

He curled his lips, his sparkling peach blossom eyes were smiling, he looked lazy and flamboyant, and his tone was also teasing: "Brother Shi, do you want me to feed you?"

He started using this messed up name again.

Shi Jin lowered her eyelids to avoid his overly direct gaze.

He opened the millet porridge in front of him, took out a spoon, and expressed his silent refusal with practical actions.

Yu Ci raised the tip of his left eyebrow, raised the corner of his eyelids, and said meaningfully: "What a pity——"

Xiao Hei, who was watching from the side, swung his tail and turned his back in disgust.

Shi Jin reached out and touched Xiao Hei's head, a faint smile appeared in his eyes: "Well done."

Xiao Hei raised his head proudly.

Yu Ci propped up his chin and lazily looked at the big and small ones: "You two, is it fun to team up and bully me?"

Shi Jin lowered his eyelids, and the corners of his lips curved slightly: "Not bad."

"Oh, right." Yu Ci suddenly remembered something: "What's your relationship with Xie Shizhang at the Qin family banquet today?"

At first he thought Shi Jin was the granddaughter of the Qin family, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with Xie Shizhang.

But now he knew that Shi Jin was not a girl, which meant that Shi Jin should be the grandson of the Qin family. Then who was Xie Shizhang who suddenly appeared...

"He is the grandson of the Qin family." Shi Jin scooped the porridge in the bowl, and the golden porridge slid down the edge of the spoon: "He is the son of Qin Zheng and Xie Yi."

Yu Ci's eyebrows moved slightly: "Then you are not...?"

"If we look at it from the perspective of blood relationship." Shi Jin lowered his eyelids with a calm expression: "Me too."

"As for Xie Shizhang."

"He should be considered my younger brother, a biological brother who is five years younger than me."

When saying this, Shi Jin kept his eyes down, for he was afraid that if he raised his eyes, the sarcasm in his eyes would overflow uncontrollably.

Five years old, haha.

He was exactly five years old when Qin Zheng and Xie Yi went abroad.

In other words, Xie Shizhang was born in the first year they settled abroad.

How ridiculous.

The couple who left their two young children behind to go abroad in search of freedom conceived a new life in the first year after arriving in the country they longed for.

Is he sad?

It doesn't seem so.

Disappointment bursts your pocket, so naturally you can’t store any more emotions.

As for the Qin family?

I believe Xie Shizhang will be happy to take on this important task.

——

Time flies by fast as an adult.

Amid the slightly curled green leaves scorched by the summer sun, time has quickly come to August.

A lot happened in this month.

For example, the marriage between the eldest son of the Cheng family and the second daughter of the Zhong family attracted the attention of the whole city.

For example, the grandson who was found by the Qin family joined the Qin Corporation, but he seemed to be not well-liked by the board of directors. He was also photographed hanging out in bars all day long, having fun and indulging in women.

For example, the third and fourth young masters of the Cheng family did something to anger the head of the Cheng family, and both of them were put in solitary confinement, and they could not even attend the birthday party that old lady Cheng had invited a few days ago.

But not much happened during this month.

At least the book signing event, which the publishing house had started planning a long time ago, was finally being prepared in a hurry.

It was a sunny day when the book signing event was held.

The scorching sun hangs in the sky, pouring out its passion without reservation.

The lazy wind was perhaps afraid of the heat and simply stayed at home and refused to go out, so there was not even a trace of wind on the street. Only the factors in the air that seemed to be deformed by being steamed were distortedly proclaiming their existence.

Liao Zhi stood at the door of the China World Century Building, barely maintaining her patience with the help of the air-conditioned cool air coming through the glass door.

She glanced at the time on her phone, then stood on tiptoe to look around the crowd, her delicate eyebrows furrowed into a ball. "What's wrong with Tuanzi? It's already so late and he hasn't come yet."

"Hey." A cute voice came from behind: "Zhizhi, are you looking for me?"

Liao Zhi turned her head and saw Ruan Tuan's fair and tender face. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "I thought you overslept again."

Ruan Tuan puffed up his round cheeks and pretended to be dissatisfied: "You are looking down on me. Today is the book signing event of my favorite teacher Shi Qian. How could I possibly oversleep?"

The white and tender chubby face was so adorable that Liao Zhi couldn't help but pinch it gently.

Ruan Tuan was really angry this time. She stretched out her hand to scratch Liao Zhi's waist, but Liao Zhi laughed and ran away: "Hahaha, I won't make trouble with you anymore. Let's go line up."

"The book signing starts at ten o'clock. If we don't go now, we'll have to wait in line for a long time."

Ruan Tuan blinked and hurriedly trotted to catch up: "Hey, let's walk faster, which floor are we on?"

Liao Zhi slowed down his pace and waited for her. He was about to speak when he was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello, little girl, is there a book signing here today?"

Liao Zhi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman wearing a light blue cheongsam.

The woman had a gentle smile, fair skin and a cheerful smile. If it weren't for the fine lines at the corners of her eyes, Liao Zhi would have thought she was a woman of the same age as them.

Ruan Tuan also caught up at the right time. She looked at the woman in front of Liao Zhi curiously and asked, "What's wrong?"

Liao Zhi didn't reply to her, but nodded to the woman: "Yes, there is a book signing event for Shi Qian here today."

"That's great." Zhong Ling breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the two girls in front of her and said, "I thought I was in the wrong place."

Liao Zhi shook her head: "You're not in the wrong place, the book signing will be on the fifth floor."

Zhong Ling frowned and asked, "Why isn't there a sign?"

Ruan Tuan finally understood after listening for a while, so she blinked twice and explained, "It seems to be because of the publisher's reasons. They said they were afraid that too many people would gather. This signing is only for fans, so they didn't put up a sign downstairs. The signing was also held in the reception room upstairs."

Otherwise, if it follows the convention of other previous autograph sessions, it will usually be held in the center of the first floor, and corresponding signs will be placed at the door. This will make it convenient for other people passing by the first floor to know that a autograph session is being held here, which can also indirectly attract popularity.

Liao Zhi also nodded: "I guess it was Teacher Shi Qian's request. After all, he never showed up before, so it's surprising that he would hold a book signing event this time."

Zhong Ling's brows relaxed after hearing this. She looked at the two girls in front of her with a smile: "Do you mind taking me with you?"

She smiled a little embarrassedly: "I don't know the way very well. It would be great if I could go up with you guys."

Ruan Tuan simply agreed: "Sure, you can come with us."

Liao Zhi also nodded gracefully: "It's okay, just follow us."

The elevator, carrying a full load of people, went up and stopped on the fifth floor.

People in the elevator car walked out one after another. Liao Zhi pulled Ruan Tuan out of the elevator, and Zhong Ling followed behind with a small bag.

Almost everyone on the fifth floor walked in unison towards the same place.

Ruan Tuan poked his head out to look around: "It should be in front, let's walk faster, there are so many people."

Liao Zhi's eyes hesitantly swept over the high heels on Zhong Ling's feet.

Zhong Ling saw the little girl's dilemma, so she squinted her eyes and smiled: "You go first, I will walk this way."

Liao Zhi was still hesitating.

Ruan Tuan pulled her hand and shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up, I see people are lining up in front."

Zhong Ling also smiled and said, "You guys go quickly, I'll go to the bathroom and then I'll be there soon."

Liao Zhi pursed her lips and was then pulled away by Ruan Tuan.

Zhong Ling looked around while holding her small bag, and finally walked in one direction.

The toilet seems to be here?

Never mind, let’s go and take a look first.

——

"Hey? Where's Shi Jin?"

Shi Yi walked into the backstage preparation room and saw no one inside, so he grabbed a staff member and asked, "Brother, is Shi Jin here?"

The staff member was carrying a stack of books in his hands. He nodded and shook his head when he heard this: "Teacher Shi Jin is here, but she just went out again."

"Out?" Shi Yi frowned, scratching his hair randomly, a little puzzled: "Where can he go? The book signing event is about to start."

A makeup artist passing by apologized and said, "I accidentally rubbed my lipstick on Teacher Shi Jin's hand. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands."

Shi Yi's brows relaxed and he waved his hand casually: "I'll go find him."

He had only walked two steps when he saw two people standing in the corridor. One of them was wearing a light blue cheongsam and had a fair complexion.

The person opposite her was wearing a black shirt and black pants, and had a tall figure. It was Shi Jin.

Shi Yi touched his head and took a few steps forward: "Shi Jin."

Shi Jin didn't turn around, but the woman in cheongsam opposite him turned her head curiously and asked, "Is he calling you?"

Shi Yi walked a few steps to Shi Jin's side and stopped, looking at Zhong Ling for a few seconds: "Excuse me, ma'am, who are you?"

The fifth floor is temporarily rented by the publishing house today. Except for the reception room for book signing events, all other places are work areas and can only be entered with a work badge.

Zhong Ling blinked: "I'm here to find the bathroom."

Shi Yi stared at her suspiciously.

It's no wonder he thought too much. After all, there have been precedents of other authors having fans sneak into the backstage during book signing events, which led to a series of troubles afterwards.

He frowned and was about to ask the person to leave when he heard Shi Jin beside him say, "Is your foot okay?"