Fang Qin knew Mother Su well — gentle by nature and someone who would take good care of her son. “Remember not to trouble Auntie Su or the Su family.”

She continued, “You’ve met Tong Xin’s children too, right? Get along with them and don’t get into conflicts. If something does happen, you must give way.”

Fang Qin knew her son had always been sensible, but she still reminded him, as if it was a habit carved into her bones.

Ji Chi lowered his head, his eyes falling to the floor. He responded quietly.

Fang Qin reminded him, “If you don’t have enough money, make sure to tell Mom. I’ll transfer some to you.”

Ji Chi’s low, magnetic voice sounded especially clear in the quiet room. “I’ll go out and look for a part-time job tomorrow. Mom, you don’t have to worry about my living expenses.”

A wave of heartache washed over Fang Qin.

Before the bankruptcy, their family had been well-off. Ji Chi grew up in a privileged environment.

But later, the company collapsed, her husband died in a car accident, and one incident after another forced her son to grow up quickly.

Ji Chi’s expression didn’t change. After chatting a bit more with his mother, he hung up.

At that moment, his door was knocked on.

Standing outside was a Su family servant. “Young Master Ji Chi, these are your daily necessities. If you need anything else, please let us know.”

Ji Chi took the tray from the servant. On top were toothpaste, a toothbrush, a cup, a towel, and so on. “Thank you.”

After the servant left, Ji Chi noticed a bank card on the tray, with a sticky note attached to it that had the password written on it.

Ji Chi looked at the card silently for a few seconds. Then he picked it up and walked out.

He returned the card to Mother Su. The several tens of thousands inside might be insignificant to the Su family, but to him, it was a huge amount of money.

He couldn’t accept it.

Inside the room, Su Ci was on a video call with Lu Zhe.

It was basically her lying on the bed, propping her cheeks with both hands, quietly watching Lu Zhe working on the screen.

He was so busy lately.

Su Ci didn’t disturb him. She simply watched him quietly like that. Under the light, the focused expression of the young man was truly handsome.

At that moment, her door was knocked on.

Su Ci didn’t get up. She directly said, “Come in.”

Right after that, the door was turned open from the outside.

Little Su Ning walked in first. In his soft, milky voice, he said, “Jiejie, Ning Ning brought you fruit.”

Su Ci had a habit of eating fruit after dinner, and Little Su Ning always took the initiative to deliver it to her.

“Thank you, Ning Ning.” Only then did Su Ci lift her head to look at her little brother and unexpectedly saw a tall figure standing behind him.

Su Ci was startled. “How did you get in?”

Still holding her phone, she immediately sat up from the bed.

“The grapes fell. Ji Chi-gege helped Ning Ning.” Little Su Ning reported to his sister on his own.

Ji Chi was holding a small plate of washed grapes. His cold face carried no expression as he asked Su Ci, “Where should I put the fruit?”

A man’s low, magnetic voice suddenly sounded. On the video screen, Lu Zhe, who had been reading documents, lifted his gaze — only to see the ceiling lamp of the girl’s room.

Su Ci quickly got off the bed, her skirt hem falling around her legs as she stepped into her slippers and hurried over.

Ji Chi shifted his gaze away, avoiding the sight of the girl’s overly pale and slender legs.

Su Ci took the fruit plate. “Thanks for the trouble. Just give it to me.” Since she was holding her phone, she could only take the plate with one hand.

“You’re welcome.” Ji Chi said it seriously and properly. “I won’t disturb you.”

With his back straight, Ji Chi quickly walked out of the room filled with a faint girlish fragrance.

On the video screen, Lu Zhe saw Ji Chi’s side profile flash by.

His dark eyes deepened slightly, and he closed the documents in front of him.

After Ji Chi left, Su Ci popped a grape into Little Su Ning’s mouth. “Come on, greet your brother-in-law.”

“Jie…fu…” With fruit in his mouth, Little Su Ning mumbled indistinctly, making Su Ci laugh.

She patted his head. “Alright, go. Jiejie doesn’t have time to play with you right now.”

Su Ci was the typical sister-who-puts-romance-over-her-brother.

Closing the door behind him, Su Ci carried the fruit plate to her vanity. She turned on the desk lamp to light her face. Her already fair complexion looked even softer and more beautiful under the gentle glow.

Only after she was satisfied did she place her phone on the stand and resume video calling Lu Zhe.

“You finished reading the documents?” Su Ci noticed all the papers in front of Lu Zhe were closed.

Lu Zhe looked at the girl leaning closer to the camera, her magnified face filling the screen. “Mm.”

Hearing that Lu Zhe was done working, Su Ci perked up happily. “Then talk with me for a bit.”

“Who was the person who brought you fruit just now?” Even with only a side profile, he knew it wasn’t her older brother, Su Zhiyuan. And he heard Little Su Ning call the other man Ji Chi-gege?

“I told you in my message this afternoon, the guest Mom and I picked up is him. His name is Ji Chi. He’s the son of my mom’s friend and will be staying at our house for a while.” Su Ci lowered her gaze and began peeling a grape. So troublesome. She hated fruits that required peeling.

Lu Zhe subconsciously frowned.

Su Ci popped the peeled grape into her mouth. She clearly didn’t care much about anything related to Ji Chi and instead said, “Next week my brother is going to City C for a business trip. I’ll be going with him.”

Lu Zhe asked her, “Is something going on?”

Su Ci nodded. Her eyes curved at the corners, and she smiled sweetly at him. “I’m going to save something good for you.”

Lu Zhe’s expression was puzzled. He didn’t understand what she meant.

Su Ci didn’t expect him to understand anyway.

Her beautiful fingers peeled another grape. After tossing it into her mouth, her voice sounded as if it had been dipped in sweetness. “When I come back, I’ll give that good thing to you.”

Lu Zhe knew that whenever Su Ci said she had something good for him, it meant she wanted to kiss him.

A smile hid in his eyes. He looked at the girl. “Alright.”

Su Ci’s fingertips were sticky with grape juice. She licked her pale fingertip and said to Lu Zhe on the screen with a mischievous tone, “Then you have to cooperate with me.”

Cooperate with what?

Lu Zhe thought of her naughty, teasing ways and pretended not to understand.

– – – ˗ˋˏ♡ˎˊ˗ – – –

The next morning, when Su Ci stepped out of her room, she happened to see Ji Chi heading out at the same time.

“Morning.” Ji Chi passed by her and greeted politely.

Su Ci nodded.

She found that Ji Chi, who was staying in her home, was like an invisible person — extremely quiet. These past few days, he left early and returned late, as if he didn’t exist at all.

Last night, she heard from Mother Su that Ji Chi had found two part-time jobs outside to earn living expenses.

Su Ci could tell from the very first day — from his clothes and appearance — that his family situation wasn’t good. But she didn’t care.

Today was Sunday, and Ji Chi didn’t need to go to his part-time jobs.

After breakfast, Mother Su had to go out for something. Ji Chi was pulled by Little Su Ning and Little Tiancai to play board games with them.

The two little ones had learned how to observe people’s moods. Although Ji Chi looked cold, they knew this big gege wasn’t scary or fierce.

“Jiejie.” Little Su Ning spotted his sister walking by with a cup of yogurt. He ran over happily and tugged her. “Jiejie, play chess with us.”

These past two days, Little Su Ning had learned how to play flight chess. He was obsessed, he didn’t even care about eating pudding now. Whenever an adult was home, he would pull someone to play with him.

Su Ci sipped her yogurt and looked down at her brother. “Too boring. I don’t want to play.”

Children were the ones who liked to play such boring things.

Little Su Ning’s small mouth puckered sadly. In his soft, milky voice, he protested, “Not boring. Very fun.”

Seeing him look so wounded, like she had poked his tiny childish heart, Su Ci couldn’t resist pinching his chubby cheek. “Fine, not boring. I’ll play one round with you.”

Hearing his sister agree, Little Su Ning’s big eyes lit up. He nodded obediently. “Okay.”

His little chubby hand grabbed his sister’s, pulling her toward the coffee table.

The board was already set up. Ji Chi and Little Tiancai each occupied a spot.

Little Su Ning ran to his place, smiling as he said, “I want the green pieces!”

Su Ci sat down opposite Ji Chi. “Let’s begin.”

The morning sunlight filtered through the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling into the living room and filling it with a soft, gentle glow.

Children’s cheerful laughter echoed beside him. Ji Chi lowered his gaze, avoiding the overly beautiful face of the girl sitting across from him.

“My turn.” The girl’s voice was pleasant to the ear.

Ji Chi looked at the game board just as Su Ci’s fair, slender fingers reached over to pick up a piece.

It was the first time Ji Chi realized that a girl’s fingers could be this beautiful — even her nails carried a faint pink hue, more delicate than white jade.

“It’s your turn, Ji Chi.” Su Ci said.

Ji Chi’s lowered lashes hid the color in his eyes. He picked up a piece.

When Mother Su returned home, she saw Su Ci and Ji Chi accompanying the two children, all gathered around the coffee table playing chess. Their cheerful scene surprised her a little.

Especially her daughter — she seemed to be saying something to Ji Chi across from her, and though Ji Chi still wore a cold expression, he replied.

The two of them looked like they were getting along quite well.

Mother Su’s heart gave a sudden jolt. For some reason, something came to mind.

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but only now did she notice that Ji Chi’s tall, lean figure and his somewhat cold temperament seemed a little similar to Lu Zhe.

Mother Su’s gaze landed on her daughter’s smiling face, and she relaxed. She felt her daughter was still young, not yet able to distinguish what true liking was.

Her daughter liked Lu Zhe, so now that a Ji Chi who resembled Lu Zhe a little appeared…?

– – – ˗ˋˏ♡ˎˊ˗ – – –

Su Ci was busy packing her luggage to go to City C with her brother.

He said they would be staying there for several days. Her skincare products, pretty clothes, matching shoes, even her handbags — she had to bring them all.

For this business trip to City C, aside from bringing his little-tail sister, Su Zhiyuan was also bringing a secretary, two assistants, and three bodyguards.

The hotel room had already been arranged ahead of time. Su Ci just needed to follow her brother, take her luggage, and check in.

Her room was right beside her brother’s. Lying on the bed, she looked out at the suddenly darkened sky. Thick clouds covered the sky, it was clearly going to rain heavily.

She checked the weather forecast. It would rain in City C for the next few days.

Su Ci hated rainy days. Just thinking about her shoes possibly getting wet, or her skirt getting dirtied, made her annoyed.

At that moment, her door was knocked on.

Su Ci got up lazily to open it.

Su Zhiyuan had changed into a sapphire-blue casual suit, giving him a more refined, noble air. “Xiao Ci, I have a dinner meeting with a client tonight to discuss the contract. I asked someone to bring you dinner. Eat in your room and don’t wander around. It’s about to rain outside.”

Su Ci nodded obediently. She knew her brother only had four days of HP left. Tomorrow, she would finally learn the cause of his death.