It would be hard to find a wife once his brain got stupid!
Ji Xiangchen turned his head and saw Fang Ning chattering away, her eyes bright. She seemed to genuinely want to reassure him and keep him from sinking into self-doubt.
"Stop moping around here. Come on, let's eat. I just asked Uncle Li to make dinner. Skip the diet today, too. Don't eat that rabbit food. Have a proper meal. You're heading to the set tomorrow, so get yourself ready."
Fang Ning stretched, only then realizing that she had sat for so long that her stomach was flat with hunger. She turned and headed toward the villa.
Watching that tall, slender figure walk away, Ji Xiangchen felt, for an instant, as though something had filled his heart.
As Fang Ning walked, Ji Xiangyi suddenly darted out in front of her without warning.
She felt as though her poor little heart had nearly leaped out of her chest.
Ji Xiangyi and Ji Xiangchen really were twins. Not only did they look alike, even the way they scared people was identical.
Another scare or two like that, and she would be close to dying of fright.
Looking at that face with its cool, aloof features, Fang Ning steadied her poor little heart and was just about to speak to the beautiful female lead.
But Ji Xiangchen's gloomy, emotionless voice came from behind her.
"Why are you back?"
Ji Xiangyi looked at Ji Xiangchen behind Fang Ning, and he looked back at her. When their eyes met, both looked irritated, their gazes saying: Why are you here, too?
Ji Xiangyi couldn't stand Ji Xiangchen's frivolous manner, while Ji Xiangchen looked down on Ji Xiangyi's superior air, as though everyone owed her millions.
So practically every time they met, they felt like getting into a fight.
Ji Xiangyi raised her head, her attitude cold. "Obviously, I had something to do."
As though that wasn't enough, Ji Xiangyi added, "And obviously, what I came for has nothing to do with you."
"I'm here for her."
With that, Ji Xiangyi shifted her gaze to Fang Ning.
Fang Ning was a little baffled.
She hadn't done anything these past few days. Why were they coming to see her one after another?
"Me?"
Ji Xiangyi said casually, "I'm just hungry. Yesterday's barbecue was delicious, so I came to eat with you."
With that, Ji Xiangyi turned her gaze back to Ji Xiangchen and demanded, "And what are you doing back here?"
Of everyone in this family, Ji Xiangyi found Ji Xiangchen the most intolerable. In her eyes, he was an irresponsible man. He had gotten into fights at school as a student, and after graduating from college, instead of properly taking over the Ji Family's business, he had insisted on going into the entertainment industry to become an actor.
He was half the reason she had worked overtime every day for the past year or two.
Ji Xiangchen scuffed the grass beneath his feet and gave the same answer in a distinctly unfriendly tone. "I'm here to eat with her, too."
Once they had finished speaking, both of them unconsciously fixed their four eyes on Fang Ning, waiting for her answer.
Fang Ning: "????" Wasn't this a little too strange?
The system, which had watched their every move, sensed that something was very wrong, especially at the instant all four eyes stared straight at Fang Ning.
Something was very wrong! Really wrong!!
The system said, [Aaaaah, host, don't you think something's a little wrong here? The female lead isn't going to the male lead; she's coming to eat with you. And instead of working on his career, why is her younger brother coming to eat with you, too?!]
Fang Ning thought for a moment and said slowly, [No. Maybe they think I'm pretty and want to eat with me!]
[You absolute menace!! Wake up already! Open your eyes and look! The female lead isn't looking for the male lead, and her younger brother isn't doing anything useful. They're coming to eat with you! Do you think that's normal?!]
[Is that normal?!]
[I think it's perfectly normal.]
[...]
Fang Ning didn't want to bother with the system and its fussing. In the novel's plot, the female lead and her twin brother hadn't gotten along early on.
But later in the story, the female lead and her younger brother had become indispensable parts of each other's lives. Thinking of this, Fang Ning couldn't help marveling.
[Could this be the twins' unique way of showing affection? How special.]
Ji Xiangyi and Ji Xiangchen both faltered in their steps.
Who the fuck was showing her (him) affection?!
Fang Ning, however, knew nothing of what was going through their minds. She rubbed her flattened stomach and automatically attributed their sudden desire to eat with her to her overwhelming charm:
"If we're eating, let's go. I'm starving. The cook and the others should have dinner ready by now."
The cook and the others had already prepared dinner.
Fang Ning had always been warm and friendly, and she didn't subscribe to the idea of keeping silent while eating or going to bed. On the contrary, she felt that talking at the dinner table brought people closer.
So even faced with these two icy people, Fang Ning remained just as enthusiastic.
She also kept using the serving chopsticks to put food on their plates:
"Here, here! This is delicious, and so is this!"
"Ji Xiangchen, aren't you trying to lose weight? Hurry up and eat more. How will you have the energy to lose weight if you don't eat enough?"
Ji Xiangchen: "..."
Did she have some sort of misunderstanding about losing weight?
Looking at the meat in his bowl, he felt that all those days spent dieting this month had gone straight to waste.
Ji Xiangyi also looked at the pile of meat in her bowl and thought,
I let my guard down. It might not just be a few extra pounds. If this kept up every day, gaining a dozen or more pounds would be no problem at all.
But-
Ji Xiangyi's gaze happened to land on Fang Ning. Fang Ning held her chopsticks in long, pale fingers, her eyes lowered as she concentrated on the food in her bowl. The smile in her eyes was almost impossible to hide, as though nothing in the whole world could compare to that bowl of food.
Ji Xiangyi didn't understand. She clearly looked younger than her, so how could she eat so much?
The sight of this harmonious atmosphere moved the butler deeply.
He had never seen the twin brother and sister getting along so peacefully. Quietly, the butler took off the reading glasses he had worn for years and secretly wiped away a tear.
He had finally lived to see the young master and young lady eating together.