Standing up for his wife

Ji Mingzhu chuckled and stepped closer. "If you want a look, I'll just come closer."

Ji Yonglin's brows shot up. He was about to lose his temper over Ji Mingzhu's disobedience, but the enormous diamond ring before him drew his attention away.

It was an exquisitely cut, cushion-shaped pink diamond weighing at least ten carats, not counting the halo of tiny diamonds surrounding it. And that clarity... Ji Yonglin could not tear his eyes away.

What a feather in his cap it would be to put a legendary colored diamond like this in his shop's display case.

Such a fine diamond ring was utterly wasted on Ji Mingzhu's hand. If a diamond this beautiful fell into his hands, a little marketing would have customers beating down his door. His shop would instantly join the ranks of high-end jewelers and gain a firm foothold in Capital City.

As a woman, Cao Wanhua understood the allure of a perfect piece of jewelry even better.

She snapped, "Do as your father says and take that ring off!"

"I know the Gu Family gave it to you, but they're our relatives too. There's no need to draw such a clear line between what's yours and what's mine!" Ji Yonglin said without so much as pausing for breath.

Ji Mingzhu quietly watched him finish, a faint smile on his face.

Ji Yonglin felt embarrassed and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

The young man shook his head, pointed at the sky, and asked, "See that?"

Ji Yonglin actually craned his neck to look. "See what?"

Ji Mingzhu wore a teasing smile. "That load of hot air you just blew up there."

Ji Yonglin: "..."

The members of the Ji Family fell silent for a moment, then erupted in fury.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm your father! Take that ring off right now!" Ji Yonglin roared.

Ji Mingzhu gave a mocking smile. "My husband put this on my finger himself. How could I take it off just because you tell me to?"

Ji Yonglin lost his patience and snapped, "Enough nonsense. Just take the ring off! This marriage was supposed to be your younger brother's! We haven't even complained, and you're already acting like you can stand up to us!"

"You only got lucky because your brother didn't want it. So that ring should have belonged to Xiao An in the first place! It's only right that you give it back now!" Ji Yonglin ordered.

Ji Zhian put on an aggrieved expression at just the right moment, waiting to watch Ji Mingzhu take off the ring in humiliation.

Ever since Ji Mingzhu had been acknowledged and brought back into the Ji Family, this trick of his had never worked.

After taking their eldest son back, their parents had been terrified that their younger son would feel they were distancing themselves from him, so they went out of their way to make it up to Ji Zhian. Every time Ji Zhian so much as frowned, Ji Mingzhu had to give in unconditionally.

Everyone else in the family had a room on the first floor. Only Ji Mingzhu had been assigned a room alone in the third-floor storeroom.

It was all because Ji Zhian had said, on the verge of tears, "Whenever I see my brother, I worry that Mom and Dad don't love me anymore."

So they had put Ji Mingzhu somewhere they would not normally see him.

Sure enough, the moment he saw his younger son frown, Ji Yonglin flared up and reached for his belt. "Ji Mingzhu, are you asking for a beating?"

The Ji Family had never been an elite family, and Ji Yonglin came from a poor background. His current air of refinement was entirely an act. The more people lacked something, the more they liked to flaunt it. The more Ji Yonglin emphasized his status, the more it proved that he was putting on a show to look more important than he was.

Deep down, he was not a gracious man at all.

"Since I brought you back into the Ji Family, how many times have you talked back to me? Count them yourself! Compared to your brother, you're not worth a damn. Now you think you've married up, and you've become even more arrogant, is that it? If I don't give you a beating, you'll forget your own surname!"

At that, the man waiting outside the door finally lost his patience. He pulled the door open and walked in.

"Who are you going to hit?"

The man asked the question word by word, his voice cold and vicious.