Chapter 25 Things You Can't Afford to Live
Ji Tanyuan sat on his lap with her legs apart. The man's slender hand pressed on her tailbone, forcing Ji Tanyuan to lean closer to him.
The kiss didn't end; he pressed his advantage, not letting a single detail slip by.
Ji Tanyuan was forced to endure it until she couldn't breathe anymore, at which point the man released her. She was panting heavily, her red lips even redder, looking alluring and sexy.
The two leaned close together. Ji Tanyuan was not used to doing this in public. To be precise, she was not used to doing such intimate things anywhere outside the bed. The occasion was inappropriate.
They had no emotional foundation for flirting, and there was nothing to flirt with.
Zhong Yan was now somewhat forceful, brooking no resistance, "What, can't I touch you?"
Ji Tanyuan: "What's wrong with you?"
Zhong Yan looked at the pendant on her ear, recalling the message sent to him by the Zhong family's public opinion monitoring and management team. He then touched it and spoke in a low, elegant voice to Ji Tanyuan, "This is just a few million worth of stuff, how is it high-profile?"
Things we can't afford to live on.
Ji Tanyuan let out a cry, looking at Zhong Yan's indifferent face.
She touched the other one too. "Is this what you mean?"
Then she smiled and said, "They're beautiful, aren't they? And the meanings are nice too. One is 6.6 carats and the other is 8.8 carats. I like them."
Zhong Yan leaned back slightly, his fingers gently stroking her ear, his hand slowly and tenderly moving downwards.
Ji Tanyuan wanted to leave; the man's aura was too strong.
Ji Tanyuan turned her head away, avoiding his intimacy.
Those hands hung idly by her ears.
He paused for a moment, then followed as if nothing had happened, moving down from the chin, his cold knuckles brushing against the soft flesh.
An ambiguous atmosphere gradually grew between the two. The man's dark pupils showed no emotion, and Ji Tanyuan looked directly into his eyes, unable to see through them.
The so-called carefree and unrestrained attitude is just a superficial decoration. Ji Tanyuan couldn't figure out what the real nature was, and it was definitely not the kind of casualness that cohabitation life had.
To understand a person's true nature, observe how they behave when they are angry. Intuitively, Zhong Yan doesn't seem very happy right now.
Ji Tanyuan raised her hand and grasped his wrist, stopping him from going any further. "Zhong Yan."
Zhong Yan touched her face and hummed in agreement. "Let me ask you a question: which is more likely, emotional infidelity or physical infidelity?"
Ji Tanyuan's face darkened. "I will not cheat on you."
Zhong Yan smiled. "Is that so? That's for the best."
"What's going on with Miss Zhang? It's hard for me not to overthink things when you're with her."
Ji Tanyuan knew this would happen. Was it because she looked down on her friend, or because she was disobedient and she was being disciplined in every way?
"Then what can we do? You have a lot of friends like this, so why doesn't it work for me?"
Zhong Yan lowered his hand. "At least not in the open, the Zhong family won't be happy about it."
Ji Tanyuan sneered, got off his lap and sat down to the side, "Do they dislike me or you?"
Zhong Yan: "What you said is also possible."
His family never liked him. When he was a child, they left him to be taught by professional educators. There was no care or concern, only a cold, scientific teaching method. The only affection he received came from the family's nanny.
Ji Tanyuan remained silent, looking out the window. Only after the car had driven for a while did she say, "Someone said some very offensive things to my friend before, perhaps indirectly or directly. Zhong Yan, that's not good. My family does not have much of a foundation, and I have both good and bad friends, but they are taking it too seriously. Our two families are united by marriage for mutual benefit, yet they still nitpick at me personally. Don't they understand the point?"
Wanting both, greed upon greed.
Zhong Yan sat quietly on the other side. He had been silent ever since Ji Tanyuan said she couldn't stand him. His face was indifferent, and he was also looking out the window.
The two sat on opposite sides, each looking out the window.
The previous pleasant atmosphere vanished, leaving only a clear and logical critique of dissatisfaction.
Zhong Yan repeated, "I remember you knew back then that it was a real marriage, not just a simple arranged marriage. Otherwise, why would I have gone to so much trouble to take you on dates before the wedding?"
"Change your lifestyle to conform to the Zhong family rules, do I need to remind you?" Zhong Yan blurted out due to an inexplicable anger.
Ji Tanyuan didn't argue further, "Okay."
Zhong Yan smiled with satisfaction, then spoke casually, but with a strong warning: "This is the last time I'm telling you, stay away from those people, whether they're men or women. I really don't want to see Mrs. Zhong at a chaotic party. If you want to play, you'll have to wait until you get a divorce."
He was certain that he had the wedding in his hands. Having just seen all the eccentric relatives of the Ji family, he was also sure that Ji Tanyuan would not easily refuse him.
Ji Tanyuan lowered her eyes. It was raining again, and the rain was washing against the glass. The neon lights on the Bund gradually blurred into luminous circles.
Ji Tanyuan felt a bit depressed and damp inside. She now had to take care of both the Ji family and the Zhong family.
There are priorities. First, stabilize the marriage and the other senior members of the group, get those people out of the group, and then solve the problems in the marriage.
But then she remembered her father's silence at the dinner table, and she closed her eyes. After returning from her wedding, she was all alone.
"I'm not going to your friend's party, I'm going to my mom's instead."
Zhong Yan hummed in response, without trying to persuade him to stay; he wasn't in the mood for it anyway.
Ji Tanyuan got out of the car and went into the villa without looking back.
Zhong Yan watched until the person disappeared before letting the driver drive away.
They had originally planned to be together, but because of two phone calls, their relationship was back to square one.
No one can escape the emotional disturbances brought about by their family; Ji Tanyuan is no exception, nor is Zhong Yan.
When Ji Tanyuan entered the room, there was only a Persian cat performing acrobatic cat walks on the stair railing. When it saw its little master return, it meowed.
Ji Tanyuan's mother is named Sheng Wan. She and Ji Qing fell in love in college and got married in their early years. She accompanied him as he built his business from scratch, and the hardships they endured were beyond the comprehension of others.
After marriage, they had twins, a boy and a girl. At that time, Mr. Ji's group was also at its peak, with real estate and overseas freight forwarding businesses thriving.
The family of four had been happy for more than ten years, but it came to an abrupt end due to the unexpected death of the older brother. Since then, Ji Tanyuan's mother has suffered from mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder. She separated from her husband, but did not divorce him, and the two occasionally lived together.
Conspiracy theories certainly exist for Ji Tanyuan, but the police concluded it was an accident back then, and her parents seemed to have accepted the truth and didn't pursue it further. As for her brother, her parents never mentioned him again.
At that time, her mother hugged her while crying and said that she would be the only daughter of the Ji family from now on.
Ji Tanyuan looked at the light coming from her mother's room, and gently knocked. There was a response from inside. She opened the door and saw her mother sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book.
Ji Tanyuan's brow bone is a direct inheritance from her mother, deep yet not sharp, gentle and charming.
She walked over and said, "Mom."
Sheng Wan put down her book. "You're back? You came back by yourself?"
Ji Tanyuan squatted down beside Sheng An, sat on the carpet, and rested her head on her mother's knees. "I missed you so much."
Sheng Wan had just taken her medication and was initially in a stable mood, but looking at her daughter's head, the bond between mother and daughter suddenly stirred within her, and she spoke in a trembling voice:
"Huanghuang, are you unhappy after getting married? Let's get a divorce. If you're unhappy, let's get a divorce."
Ji Tanyuan raised her hand and grasped her hand. "No, I just missed you. How could you tell that I was unhappy about my wedding?"
Sheng Wan then knelt down and hugged her daughter, saying, "Remember this: if he sides with his family and doesn't stand by your side, you must get a divorce. Don't have any expectations of him."
Ji Tanyuan hummed in agreement and patted her shoulder, "I know, don't worry."
"I heard from your aunt that you're planning a trip? Where are you going?"
Sheng Wan's attention was diverted, and she then started talking about other things.
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