Ji Ting felt a slight jolt of surprise and stared at him. "How did you know Lu Yanchu was a traitor?"
Lu Yanchu's reputation had only been ruined after Edge of the Wind was released, which was still at least a year away. How could Ji Yanzhi already know?
"Why shouldn't I know?" Ji Yanzhi turned his face slightly away, seemingly disdainful. "I have my ways."
Ji Ting's brow creased slightly. If Ji Yanzhi could uncover it now, that meant Lu Yanchu had already let something slip. Which, indirectly, meant the whole thing had been planned all along.
Hearing his thoughts, Ji Yanzhi's eyes sharpened. Ji Ting hadn't denied it; he was merely speculating about how Ji Yanzhi knew. Didn't that mean Lu Yanchu really had betrayed his country, and his exposure was only a matter of time?
His expression darkened, and his voice turned icy. "Ji Ting, if you dare have anything to do with Lu Yanchu again, don't blame me for dealing with you."
"I won't." Ji Ting looked even more serious than he did. "I won't have anything to do with someone like that again."
When it came to matters of this nature, Ji Ting's hatred would only run deeper than Ji Yanzhi's.
Only after hearing no secret defiance in his thoughts did Ji Yanzhi nod. "All right. Go back to bed."
Ji Ting turned around, but just as he was about to close the door, he called out to Ji Yanzhi again. "Oh, could you tell Chef Liu to stop making stir-fried pork liver with celery and red date and lily bulb soup?"
The real problem wasn't just that he kept making them. Uncle Yang watched him eat them every day, too.
Ji Yanzhi snapped, "You need me to tell him something that trivial? Don't you have a mouth?"
"I did tell him. He said you were the one who ordered it."
"When did I..."
Ji Yanzhi suddenly stopped, remembering that he had indeed told the chef to make some dishes that would replenish his blood. Frustration lodged in his chest. With so many ingredients to choose from, couldn't Liu vary the menu a little?
"Eat if you want to. If not, go hungry." After tossing those impatient words at Ji Ting, he turned and walked away.
Ji Ting watched his retreating figure, long used to this. Sure enough, trying to communicate with Ji Yanzhi was always pointless.
The next day, at the breakfast table.
The red date and lily bulb soup he'd been drinking for days had been replaced with angelica and crucian carp soup. There was no stir-fried pork liver on the table, either, and the selection of dishes had grown considerably.
Looking thoughtful, Ji Ting raised his eyes to the butler. "Uncle Yang, did my eldest brother ask for this?"
"No, no." The butler gave an awkward smile. "I spoke to the kitchen. I thought you must be tired of eating the same things for so many days, so it was time for a change."
The eldest young master had forbidden him from saying anything, so he could only take the credit himself.
Ji Ting fell silent for a moment before saying, "Uncle Yang, sorry for the trouble."
"You're too kind, Second Young Master."
After breakfast, Ji Ting went into the gaming room and didn't even come out for lunch.
That afternoon, Ji Yanzhi's secretary suddenly arrived at the family residence.
The butler fetched Ji Ting from the West Building. Fang Jie, who was waiting in the living room, immediately rose to his feet. "Good afternoon, Second Young Master."
"Hello."
Fang Jie smiled. "President Ji asked me to pick out a formal outfit for you. You'll be attending the Zhang Family's banquet with him tonight."
Attend a banquet with Ji Yanzhi? Ji Ting shook his head, his expression cool. "I'm not going."
He didn't like those occasions to begin with, and he had been busy testing data these past two days. He had no time for social engagements like this.
Looking troubled, Fang Jie coaxed him. "Please bear with it just this once. You'll be back in two hours at most."
Ji Ting remained unmoved. "Sorry. I'm going back to my room."
Seeing him about to head upstairs, Fang Jie grew anxious and called out, "President Ji is going to the banquet to see Director Wu. He's been making excuses to avoid President Ji lately. If we miss this opportunity, there's no telling when the next one will come."
Ji Yanzhi had originally told him to decline the invitation, but as luck would have it, Director Wu's wife was related to the Zhang Family, so they were certain to attend Old Mr. Zhang's birthday banquet that evening.
Ji Ting suddenly stopped on the stairs. Those words reminded him of what Ji Zhenting had said that day.
"I told him to hand you over to take the blame, but he refused no matter what. Even with the Board of Directors blocking him at every turn, he wouldn't bow his head and compromise with me."
After a long moment, his fingers curled slightly at his side. "Only two hours?"
Fang Jie's eyes lit up. "Yes! Just two hours. We'll make sure you're brought home when the time is up."
At four thirty, Ji Yanzhi returned from the research and development department, and Fang Jie hurried over to meet him.
"Is Ji Ting here?"
Fang Jie smiled. "The Second Young Master is already waiting for you in the president's office."
So obedient today?
Ji Yanzhi raised an eyebrow, handed him the documents he was carrying, and went inside.
The moment he pushed open the door, he spotted the person sitting on the sofa.
Since Ji Ting was young, Fang Jie had chosen a formal outfit with a less mature design, preserving traditional elements while incorporating a modern Chinese style.
All the hair over his forehead had been swept back, highlighting his features and lending his already striking looks an even gentler elegance, with a purity born of utter simplicity.
For an instant, Ji Yanzhi's dark eyes lost focus, but a trace of cold, mocking revulsion quickly appeared in them.
Back then, Lin Qing had entered the Ji Family with just such an innocent-looking face. On her very first day, Ji Shize had forced him to call her Mom. When he gritted his teeth and refused, Ji Shize had him dragged to the stables and locked up for half a month.
In the sweltering heat of July, the stench of horse manure had left him struggling to breathe every moment. Had he not nearly died from vomiting and dehydration in the end, Ji Shize might well have forgotten he still had a son locked up there.
At a loud bang, Ji Ting looked up from the laptop on his knees and stared blankly in the direction of the slamming door.
A full fifteen minutes passed before Ji Yanzhi emerged from the lounge.
"Put the computer away."
Ji Ting closed his laptop. "Are we leaving?"
Ji Yanzhi ignored him and walked out, pulling the door open without expression.
Once they were both in the car, Ji Ting asked, "Why do I have to come to this banquet? Can't you go on your own?"
"You think I want to bring you?" Ji Yanzhi turned toward him coldly. "Zhang Xu asked his family to invite you."
Ji Ting paused, only then realizing that this wasn't the other Zhang family he'd had in mind. It was actually Zhang Xu's family.
"Then just this once. I won't go next time."
Ji Yanzhi gave a cold laugh and sneered, "Who do you think you are, someone important? Why would they keep inviting you?"
Ji Ting watched him quietly for a long moment. "Ji Yanzhi, I'm under no obligation to put up with your bad temper."
Ji Yanzhi's eyes darkened, and he abruptly turned to look at him.
The instant their eyes met, he looked at Ji Ting and felt as though something had squeezed his chest hard.
Ji Yanzhi knew it wasn't the face before him that he hated. What repulsed him was the lingering trace of Lin Qing in Ji Ting's brows and eyes.
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