The air fell silent for a brief moment, but Lu Yanchu showed not a trace of panic in the face of a question that struck straight at the heart.
"Ji Ting is intelligent and levelheaded, and there's a very genuine kindness to him." His gaze drifted briefly toward Ji Ting before returning to Jiang Mingde. "I don't think anyone could dislike someone like that. Wouldn't you agree?"
Although Lu Yanchu had answered, he had cleverly shifted the question from a particular person to that person's virtues. Even admitting he liked him left nothing anyone could fault.
Jiang Mingde inwardly called him a slick talker, but he didn't keep pressing and make things awkward. He simply turned to Ji Ting. "Little Ji, what were you two doing in there just now?"
"Working."
"Really?" Jiang Mingde looked surprised. "When I passed the door earlier, Little Lu seemed to be smiling pretty happily. I thought you were chatting."
Ji Ting denied it. "No. Lu Yanchu just smiles a lot."
As his words fell, Lu Yanchu gently curved his lips, the amusement in his eyes seeming to back him up.
Jiang Mingde felt privately disgruntled. Just then, Ji Ting asked, "Did you come to see Ji Yanzhi today?"
"Huh? I, I..." Jiang Mingde faltered, his mind racing. "An old friend of mine lives nearby. We were going to go fishing, but something came up for him at the last minute, so I thought I'd drop by."
Ji Ting nodded in understanding. "Would you like to keep looking around the garden, then?"
"I've seen enough. I'll go inside with you." Jiang Mingde certainly wasn't going to let the two of them be alone. He turned to Lu Yanchu with a smile. "Little Lu, you won't mind me getting in the way of your work, will