Zhang Xu's face flushed bright red with excitement in an instant, yet the feeling was unfamiliar to him.
This was the first time anyone had ever praised him for learning anything. So long as he took it seriously, there were things he could actually understand. A flood of thoughts rushed through his mind, and his gaze grew complicated as he looked at Ji Ting.
The others, having failed to answer the question, clamored for Ji Ting to give them a few more.
Like a kindergarten teacher handing out apples, Ji Ting assigned each of them a stock to look at. Everyone except the brown-haired man answered correctly.
The brown-haired man sprawled on the sofa and wailed, while Xu Tianhao urged excitedly, "Ji Ting, ignore him. Keep teaching us!"
But Ji Ting switched off the tablet and put down his pen. "This is as far as I can teach you. If you want to keep learning, find yourselves a proper professional teacher."
He had no habit of playing teacher. If Zhang Xu hadn't challenged him today, he wouldn't have explained so much in the first place. Besides, this was really all he had read up on. He had only wanted to find out how those four million had vanished, not to trade options himself.
At that, the others immediately voiced their disappointment, and much of their enthusiasm drained away.
"I have something to do tonight, so I'll be leaving first."
Because of the earlier unpleasantness, no one tried to stop Ji Ting this time. They only said they hoped to stay in touch.
Ji Ting gave no definite response. He said goodbye and opened the private room's door.
"Good evening, sir-"
The greeting rang out in perfect unison. Ji Ting paused briefly at the sight of the servers standing in a line.
They hadn't managed to enter the private room earlier, and the manager wouldn't let them leave, so they had remained there ever since.
When he looked over, a server at the back of the line visibly shrank away, trying to hide behind the person in front of him.
Ji Ting was already unfamiliar with places like this and had no idea how to handle such a situation, so he merely gave a polite nod.
"Ji Ting, wait!" Zhang Xu came chasing after him.
Ji Ting put a little more distance between them. "Did you need something else?"
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Zhang Xu's face, and he licked his lips. "Well, actually, there was a reason we invited you here today."
"What?"
Zhang Xu leaned a little closer. "Li Shao came here a few days ago and noticed a server who looks a lot like Ling Xi. So we thought-we thought we'd give you a surprise."
A surprise?
Ji Ting frowned at that. He had already cut off the root of all this trouble, yet these people actually wanted to parade a substitute in front of him?
Seeing his expression, Zhang Xu scratched his cheek. "We got the wrong idea about this. I know your feelings for Ling Xi aren't something a serv-"
"I don't have feelings for him anymore."
At those words, the server at the back of the line abruptly raised his head. He stared straight at Ji Ting, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
Zhang Xu was so startled that he stammered. "Y-you, how could you..."
"Anyway, what happened before is in the past. You should all forget about it too." Ji Ting finished without a ripple of emotion, then said to Zhang Xu, "You actually have talent. If you don't want your parents to give up on you again, stop wasting your life."
Zhang Xu stood rooted to the spot in a daze. By the time he came to his senses, Ji Ting was already gone.
By the time Ji Ting returned to the family residence, it was almost dark.
He came up from the garage to the first floor, intending to get some water in the dining room, but the butler hurried over as soon as he saw him.
"Second Young Master Ji Ting, your elder brother is back, and he knows you went out to have fun."
Ji Ting fell silent for two seconds. "Is he angry?"
"It's not quite that bad, but he doesn't seem to be in a very good mood. Perhaps you should go speak to him first?"
Considering Ji Yanzhi's usual mental state, Ji Ting decided it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. "Is he in his room?"
"He went straight to the garden when he came home."
Ji Ting followed the butler's directions. From a distance, he spotted Ji Yanzhi standing expressionlessly in front of the garden, a leaf caught on his head.
Ji Ting walked over, then stopped three meters away. Remembering the butler's words, he said, "I went out with Xu Tianhao and the others today."
Despite his unsolicited confession, Ji Yanzhi didn't even glance at him. "What for?"
Telling him I taught a class at a club will only make him more irritable.
Ji Yanzhi's brow twitched. A class? At a club?
Was he teaching them how to eat, drink, and make merry, or how to loaf around?
He turned to look at Ji Ting, but all the other man said was, "To have fun."
Ji Yanzhi studied him for a moment, said nothing, and turned his gaze away again.
Ji Ting should have left right then, but looking at Ji Yanzhi's stern profile, he instinctively began analyzing it again. The Tasmanian Devil's expression doesn't seem to correlate with anger.
"Ji Ting." Ji Yanzhi's voice suddenly took on a dangerous edge.
A flicker of confusion crossed Ji Ting's eyes. Brows lowered, pronounced rise and fall of the chest... Why is he getting angry again?
Ji Yanzhi abruptly froze. What the hell is wrong with this little bastard? Why is he analyzing my expressions?
Before he could figure it out, Ji Ting instinctively turned to head back.
"Stop!"
Ji Ting stopped, but didn't turn around, so Ji Yanzhi walked around to stand in front of him.
"Let me ask you." After those words, he took a deep breath before continuing, "Have you seen a disc-shaped robot vacuum these past two days?"
"No."
There's no robot vacuum, only Tasmanian Devil No. 1.
Tasmanian Devil No. 1?
Ji Yanzhi's dark eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. He put Tasmanian Devil in the name... This No. 1 definitely has something to do with me.
He betrayed nothing and continued coldly, "Think carefully about whether you've seen it. If you dare lie to me, you'd better consider the consequences."
Ji Ting replied evenly, "I'm not lying. I haven't seen it."
Ji Yanzhi watched him for two seconds, then his expression became indifferent again. "All right. Go back inside."
Not long after Ji Ting left, Ji Yanzhi had someone summon the butler.
"Has Ji Ting been doing anything besides taking lessons lately?" Ji Yanzhi offered examples. "Anything that seems strange, or something he never used to do."
The butler furrowed his brow and thought carefully. "Hmm... Nothing strange, I don't think. Young Master Ji Ting has been very well behaved lately. He and that Mr. Xu generally only come downstairs for lunch. They spend the rest of their time in his room."
That was already the strangest part.
With Ji Ting's temperament, could he really sit quietly in his room studying all day? Only if the Ji Family's ancestors were blessing them from beyond the grave.
Ji Yanzhi sneered inwardly. Just then, the butler suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Young Master Ji Yanzhi, I just remembered something, though I'm not sure whether it counts."
"Tell me."
"About a week ago, Second Young Master Ji Ting bought a large gaming machine. Then he told me he wanted to use that room on the west building's first basement level exclusively for gaming. He also said not to let the servants go in to clean."
Before you continue