The two of them had reached a campus path paved with concrete and lined on both sides with orchid trees. It was the season when the trees were in bloom.
Pink petals lay scattered along both sides of the path. A gentle breeze blew, and the sunshine was bright.
Fang Ning stopped and turned to look at the boy's youthful face.
Seeing this, Ji Xiangzhou stopped along with Fang Ning. One side of his face was hidden in the shade of a tree, making his emotions hard to read.
So she was going to stick her nose in and meddle?
But the next second, Fang Ning's lovely eyes shifted, curiosity in her gaze, and she said something Ji Xiangzhou couldn't process in time: "What game do you play?"
Ji Xiangzhou: See? Now she was starting to chew him out. He'd known this woman was no pushover...
Hmm, wait. What game?
Ji Xiangzhou fell completely silent. He had already worked out how he would fight back if this person started berating him on campus.
But he'd already primed his verbal cannon, and she was asking him this?
Why had this turned into sunshine-and-smooth-sailing mode? He'd been ready to enter verbal-abuse hell mode.
It took Ji Xiangzhou a long while to snap out of it and look up at Fang Ning.
No, no. What was going on? Something was off about this opening.
The boy's gaze lingered on Fang Ning.
Fang Ning's small face was delicate, and when she smiled, she looked like a little sun.
Fang Ning, who radiated warmth from head to toe,
made Ji Xiangzhou freeze, suddenly at something of a loss. He could face an attack by several thugs without his expression changing, and he could remain unmoved by other people's vicious insults.
But when someone showed him kindness, he alone had no idea how to react.
Only after a long silence did Ji Xiangzhou speak, his tone cool. "I play Honor of Kings."
Fang Ning nodded in realization, then offered a suggestion about climbing over the wall to go out and play games. "You climb over the wall to play Honor of Kings? I wouldn't recommend climbing over the wall to go play games."
Ji Xiangzhou's mood sank almost imperceptibly. So she was still someone who wanted to meddle.
"You could fall and hurt your hands or feet climbing over the wall. I suggest you just move off campus. That way, you can play games without climbing over the wall. Mm, much safer." Fang Ning caught Ji Xiangzhou completely off guard.
Ji Xiangzhou: "????"
Why wasn't this following the plot he'd imagined?
Fang Ning suddenly remembered something and clapped her hands, her face full of apology. "Sorry, I forgot for a second that you're a high school student. In high school, the school rules don't let you live off campus. My bad."
"..."
Ji Xiangzhou observed Fang Ning without showing it. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Was she really Ji Xiangnian's wife? One look at her personality told him she wasn't the type Ji Xiangnian liked. Ji Xiangnian had once told them that he wanted a gentle, elegant wife.
This person clearly wasn't that sort.
Unaware of what the boy was thinking, Fang Ning walked to the school gates.
The car was in a parking space outside the school gates. Seeing how cold and silent this younger brother was, Fang Ning merely smiled and asked, "I'm going home. Want to come with me?"
Her task of acting as a parent at school was now complete. It was time for everyone to go home and back to their own mothers.
Whatever Ji Xiangzhou did next, whether he went home or somewhere else, was no longer any of her business.
Ji Xiangzhou stood straight, his expression indifferent. After a moment's hesitation, he finally said, "Not going."
After saying that, he looked at Fang Ning's somewhat warm and friendly face. Seeming to feel that being so cold was inappropriate, he added, "I still have something to do. You go back first."
He had made plans with Ye Yang and Zhao Fei the night before to go play games after school. Last time, some asshole from the class next door had killed him over and over. Today, he was bringing Ye Yang and Zhao Fei along, and no matter what, he had to get those kills back.
There was another thing: he didn't like going back to the Ji Family. Facing Ji Xiangyi and Ji Xiangchen's icy faces and eating at the same table as them gave him a stomachache.
Fang Ning had expected Ji Xiangzhou's answer, but as his nominal parent, she still said, "Okay, stay safe. You can climb over walls and play games, but don't get into fights."
Ji Xiangzhou was visibly surprised at that. He had thought this person would insist on taking him home with her.
Instead, she had only told him to stay safe. Apart from the butler, who was about the same age as his grandfather, she was the only person he had heard those words from.
Ji Xiangzhou pressed his lips together, his feelings somewhat complicated.
Fang Ning caught this very obvious change in the boy's emotions. What was going on? Why had his expression changed so quickly?
She didn't understand. Were teenage boys' emotions all this changeable? Her own emotions hadn't changed so much when she was a teenager.
Forget it. Better not try to guess what a boy in his edgy teenage phase was thinking.
At that moment, the driver pulled the car up in front of them.
Fang Ning opened the rear door, then turned to Ji Xiangzhou. "Since you're not going back, I'll head home first. I still have something to do, so I'm leaving. Bye."
The boy was sparing with words and said nothing, merely nodding faintly as he watched that ridiculously, ridiculously expensive luxury car slowly disappear from his sight.
After he had waited for about an hour at the milk tea shop outside the school, Ye Yang and Zhao Fei came sprinting out with their schoolbags on their backs.
This milk tea shop was where they often met up. The night before, they had agreed to meet here after school today and go play games.
Although Ji Xiangzhou had left early, as his gaming buddies of several years, Ye Yang and Zhao Fei believed their Brother Zhou would still be waiting for them, come rain or shine!