“Eh?”
“Brother, Dad, what are you doing?”
Just as she stepped through the door, instead of the expected welcome, Ji Yuenian’s left foot hadn’t even fully touched the ground before she was hoisted up by two pairs of hands and forcibly pressed into a chair, unable to move.
“Little brother.” Ji Haotong gazed deeply at the handsome youth in the seat and sighed softly, “Your secret is out.”
“Speak. Confession for leniency.”
“What business? Brother, what kind of riddle are you playing? And Dad, don’t just stand there. Today isn’t April Fools’ Day; this isn’t funny at all.”
Ji Yuenian looked toward Ji Hong, who had been silent since the beginning, trying to seek his help. However, when her gaze met the complex look in Ji Hong’s eyes, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
“Confess, little brother. The outside is surrounded by… cough, Dad and I already know everything about you. Either you confess voluntarily, or we’ll make you ‘voluntarily’ confess in a moment.”
Ji Haotong stared intently at Ji Yuenian, looking as if he were waiting for an answer. Ji Yuenian originally had a clear conscience, but being stared at by those eyes, her heart couldn’t help but skip another beat.
Something was wrong.
She had only gone out to play for seven days during the National Day holiday; why did it feel like an interrogation of a criminal upon her return?
Confess?
Confess what?
What did she have to confess?
“Alright, I’ll confess.” After a long while, she seemed to have thought of something. She lowered her head slightly and spoke in a small voice.
“I was the one who swiped that juicer a customer gave you six months ago. I also secretly took some of the women’s clothing that disappeared from the factory. And the limited edition collector’s toys in your room… I took those too.”
“I just wanted to take them to play with. I planned to put them back without you knowing, but I didn’t expect to… play with them until they were gone.”
Ji Yuenian lowered her head, wanting to look at the tips of her toes to hide her embarrassment, but her vision was blocked by the two mounds on her chest.
Hearing this, Ji Haotong’s mouth twitched, and several black lines appeared on his forehead.
“Not that.”
“I knew about all of those things.”
“You knew?”
“Do you think the surveillance cameras in the factory and office are just for show? If I hadn’t been cleaning up after you, do you think your little tricks could have fooled anyone?” Ji Haotong said crossly, while Ji Yuenian rubbed her nose guiltily.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Tell the truth. Confession for leniency, resistance for severity,” Ji Haotong said seriously.
“Fine, I’ll say it.” Ji Yuenian’s small hands poked at each other awkwardly. She looked conflicted but finally decided to come clean.
“That…” She looked at Ji Hong, who had remained silent since she entered, her face showing a hint of guilt: “Dad, that year in middle school when you took me and Brother to meet a client… Brother performed exceptionally well on his own that time. If the official seal hadn’t gone missing, that deal definitely would have gone through.”
“When you got back, you gave Brother a severe scolding, saying how could he lose something like that and how could he inherit the company in the future. Actually… it wasn’t Brother’s fault. At that time, I had secretly taken the official seal to provide internship certificates for some college students who were being scammed by black-hearted schools. *Cough, cough, cough*, just to earn some extra pocket money.”
After finishing, Ji Yuenian kept her head down, her small eyes peeking at Ji Haotong’s reaction, afraid he would give her a “big brother is like a father” belt education right then and there.
Ji Haotong’s expression indeed changed, turning green and red. But Ji Hong behind him cleared his throat, and he immediately forced his expression back to normal.
“Not that either.” Ji Haotong gritted his teeth.
Even though that incident had passed several years ago, every time he recalled it, he couldn’t help but feel irritated.
He had prepared everything so perfectly beforehand, even revising his pitch two or three times, only for the deal to fall through because of an official seal.
All this time, he thought he had made a careless mistake and lost the seal himself. In the end… Hiss!
He couldn’t get angry; he couldn’t explode.
The person in front of him was his beloved relative, his very own little sister!
“Little brother, I’ll just be blunt.” Ji Haotong didn’t want to continue playing these boring little games. Since Ji Yuenian wanted to talk in circles and play Tai Chi, he would make it clear, leave no room for excuses, and go straight for the throat!
“You know your body’s situation better than anyone.”
He stared straight at Ji Yuenian, his gaze deep and solemn, as if seeing through the disguise beneath her panicked concealment!
Hearing this, Ji Yuenian’s body trembled violently. Like someone whose spine had been removed, she slumped into the chair, her face pale.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m great.”
“My body is in peak condition!”
“Brother, what are you talking about? My body is very healthy!”
“If you don’t believe me, go look at my physical exam report. But if you keep teasing me like this, I’m going to get angry!!”
After a long pause, she muttered to herself and then stiffened her neck to argue back. Her pretty face was slightly pale, but her voice was forceful.
At this, Ji Haotong was stunned.
He had already spoken so clearly, yet Ji Yuenian was still playing Tai Chi with him. He turned to look at Ji Hong with eyes full of helplessness, as if saying: Dad, this little brother’s mouth is just too stubborn.
Ji Hong sighed softly, walked to Ji Yuenian’s side, and gently patted her shoulder.
“Speak, Yuenian.”
“We are family.”
“And…” He took out a recording pen and shook it in front of Ji Yuenian. While she was still confused, he held the recording pen close to her ear and played a short segment.
Ji Yuenian raised her dark eyebrows, and her face suddenly became extremely colorful.
Surprise, fear, confusion, panic, shock, anger… all tangled together on her face.
She looked at the recording pen in front of her, then looked up at the man before her, her face filled with disbelief.
It took a long time for her to snap out of it.
She looked up at Ji Hong, her eyes full of complex emotions, and asked with a trembling voice, “Dad, you and Brother both know.”
Ji Hong nodded and put the recording pen away. “Yuenian, just because you don’t say some things doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’ll give you five minutes. Think it over carefully.”
Saying this, he stepped back a few paces to give Ji Yuenian some private space and time to organize her thoughts.
At this moment, Ji Haotong witnessed Ji Hong’s series of moves and silently gave him a thumbs up.
His dad was truly his dad!
One move was all it took to make his little brother… little sister behave!
However, was this a bit too direct?
Ji Haotong looked worriedly at the person in the chair. She bit her lip and didn’t speak, but her ten fingers were silently intertwined, enough to show the turbulent waves in her heart.
Five minutes passed in a flash.
The ten intertwined fingers loosened. Ji Yuenian covered her face with both hands, only able to see the outside world through the gaps between her fingers, as if trying to hide her current incompetent and powerless self.
She took a deep breath, looked up through the gaps of her fingers at the men sitting opposite her. Her eyes were somewhat lost, but more than that, there was a sense of relief.
“Dad, Brother, the situation is like this…”
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