Chapter 46 – I Pursued Her For Many Years Before I Caught Her

 

Ji Ran didn’t have any desire to attend.
He wanted nothing to do with the Ji Family’s matters.

However, Old Madam Ji had specially called him and informed him that he was required to go.
After a discussion with Ji Guo Zheng, she had something to announce at the banquet.

On this day, Ji Ran did not wear a suit and Qin Man followed him.
When they left, he noticed the other person holding two bags.

“What’s that?”

Qin Man replied, “Presents for Uncle.
One from each of us.”

“… When did you prepare this?” He had been dragging this matter out for the last few days and intended to casually pick something along the way there.

“Yours was bought yesterday.
Take a look and see if it’s alright.” Qin Man said, “As for mine… Uncle had invited me before but I hadn’t intended to go.
It was prepared a long time ago.”

“Why didn’t you intend to go? If you don’t want to, you can stay at home.
I’ll go on my own.”

In any case, he was only there to show his face.
Once he made sense of the situation, he would leave.

“I changed my mind.” Qin Man smiled and put the presents in the back of the car.
“I’ll drive?”

Ji Ran didn’t reply, but he sat shotgun.
He was still chatting on WeChat with Yue Wen Wen; if he didn’t reply quick enough, he’d be drowned by the rapid inflow of news.

Just as the car left the garage, the piercing sunrays came down on them.
Ji Ran squinted his eyes and opened the glove compartment to retrieve a pair of sunglasses.
“…Put them on.”

Qin Man paused for a second before taking it with a smile.
“Thanks.”

Ji Ran opened the bag and looked at it.

It was a delicate box.
Judging from the logo on it, it contained a rather valuable branded watch.

“Why did you buy something so expensive for him?” Ji Ran couldn’t help asking.

Qin Man’s grin grew wider.
“This is one of the cheaper models.”

“Really?”

“I can tell you the model if you don’t believe me.
Want to look it up?”

Naturally, Ji Ran wouldn’t go search.
He closed the bag.
“That’s more like it.
How much is it? I’ll pay you back.”

“No need.”

“How can that be? This is something I’m giving to others, you can’t pay for it.” He opened up the Alipay interface on his phone.
“Tell me.”

Qin Man gave a number and Ji Ran quickly transferred the amount over before returning to WeChat.

Ji Guo Zheng’s birthday banquet was held at the Ji Family’s residence.
The front gate was parked with luxury cars, but there weren’t many.

Ji Ran was last.
Once he entered, the originally lively atmosphere immediately died down as they all turned to look at him.

From the corner of his eyes, he swept a glance over the room.
For the banquet this time, Ji Guo Zheng seemed to have invited most of his relatives but that legitimate wife of his didn’t look to be present.

It appeared that the rumours on Weibo were true.
This couple indeed had some problems.

Many people knew of Ji Ran’s temper and thus hurriedly retracted their gaze before they continued to exchange looks amongst each other.

Ji Wei was chatting with his cousin by the entrance of the hall.
Upon seeing Ji Ran, the smile on his face disappeared.

At this time, Ji Guo Zheng came down the stairs with a middle-aged man, a happy smile on his face.
“You’re here? Welcome.”

“Happy birthday, Uncle.
May you be in good health.” Qin Man handed the present over.

“Your presence is enough, no need to be so courteous.” Ji Guo Zheng swept a glance over Ji Ran.

“Happy birthday.” Ji Ran merely raised his bag.

Ji Guo Zheng was finally satisfied.
He received the present and passed it to his assistant.
“Just in time, the food is ready.
Let’s go and take a seat.”

Ji Ran chose a seat furthest from the head of the table, and Qin Man sat beside him.

The food prepared was fine and exquisite; abalone, lobsters, and the seafood that were meant to be present were all there.

“Don’t stuff yourself.” Ji Ran said in a low voice.
“Go eat supper with me later.”

Qin Man answered, “Okay.”

“Come.” A middle-aged woman stood up with a smile on her face.
“Let me give a toast to First brother.”

Everyone else followed suit and Ji Ran raised his glass impatiently, downing it in one go.

The conversation at the table revolved around Ji Wei.

“Ji Wei, where’s Xiao Xu? Why didn’t she come with you today?” One of the elders mentioned Ji Wei’s fiancee.

Ji Wei smiled bitterly.
“She had something urgent and couldn’t make it.”

Ji Ran propped his chin on a hand and raised an eyebrow at Qin Man, signalling to him to pour more alcohol.

“Speaking of which, Ji Ran-”

Ji Ran looked away and met the elder’s gaze.

The woman froze for a second before she continued, “The incident a couple of days ago gave me a fright.
You’re already an adult, but why do you still get involved in such messy things?”

The table fell into silence.

Ji Ran’s expression didn’t change.
He merely smiled.
“What did I do?”

The woman gave a soft cough.
“What else could it be apart from the hot search a few days ago.
You and… your matter were put onto the web.
This sort of thing isn’t good.”

She feigned a helpless expression.
“We can understand even when you’re usually a little wild, since you were… but you shouldn’t go overboard.
Do you know that some things are illegal?”

Other people at the table began to eat slower.
They were all waiting for a good show.

“Who are you to tell me this?” Ji Ran suddenly asked.

The woman, “… I’m your aunt!”

“Oh…” Ji Ran nodded with astonishment.
“How did someone as smart as grandmother give birth to someone with your level of IQ?”

Qin Man couldn’t resist chuckling.

It seems like that woman wasn’t familiar with her nephew at all, judging from how she had chosen to go head-to-head with him.

Her face changed.
“What did you say?!”

Ji Ran sneered.
“Auntie, don’t get angry.
My words mean no harm.”

“If those people were right, from how this matter blew up, I should have already been taken to the police station for investigation.
How could I possibly be sitting here to celebrate my father’s birthday? Tell me, are you not that smart?” He pointed towards his head.

The others also couldn’t resist a laugh.
Having lost face, the woman gnashed her teeth.
“Who said they weren’t speaking the truth? Aren’t those things about your mother—”

“The beef was almost overcooked.” Ji Guo Zheng’s deep voice interrupted her.
He gave her a look of warning.

Ji Ran’s face had immediately turned dark.
Before he could erupt, he felt something warm on his thigh.

Under the dining table, Qin Man’s hand gently patted him comfortingly.

They all suddenly heard the sound of the door being opened, effectively ending this conversation.
A woman rushed in, her voice sounding delicate.
“I’m very sorry, the hairdresser was too slow and there was a traffic jam, so I came late…”

It was Ji Tang who came.
Wearing a white suspender skirt, she ran over to Ji Guo Zheng and handed him a present.
“Uncle! Happy birthday! Wishing you great success and happiness!”

Ji Guo Zheng took it with a mild smile.
“Good, quickly sit down.”

Ji Tang finally looked over at the table.
She knew her father must have saved her a seat, but with a glance, she immediately noticed the empty seat beside Qin Man.

Without hesitation, she contained her bashfulness and took a seat by Qin Man’s side.

Afraid of being discovered, Ji Ran hurriedly moved his leg, hinting at Qin Man to let go of his leg.

Ji Tang didn’t seem to have noticed.
She sat down and shyly greeted, “Brother Qin Man, I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

“Hahaha.” That woman suddenly seemed to have found a way out of this embarrassing situation.
She looked toward the middle-aged man.
“Brother, girls who have grown up will be married off.
You should watch out.”

“In fact, I do hope she’ll quickly get married and save me from worrying about her all day.” The middle-aged man was amused.
“She must choose someone good.
Marrying early isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

The woman followed along.
“Look at Tang Tang’s blushing face.
As I was saying, why would she suddenly go do her hair? It turns out she already knew Qin Man would come—”

“Aunt!” Ji Tang hurriedly cut her off.

“Shy?” The woman’s gaze slid over to Qin Man.
Ji Tang couldn’t be blamed for liking him.
If she was five or even ten years younger, she might even fall into Qin Man’s pit.

She spoke in a half-joking tone, “Qin Man, what do you think about our family’s Ji Tang? Her heart is set on you, ne.”

Ji Ran laughed coldly in his heart.

It somehow felt like he was the outsider at this table.
His family’s attitude towards Qin Man was a hundred times better than when they were facing him.

“Qin Man?” He suddenly drawled.
“He already has a girlfriend.”

He turned to ask Qin Man, “Aren’t you getting married at the end of the year?”

Qin Man raised an eyebrow.
“No.”

Ji Ran: “…”

His expression sank before Qin Man laughed.
“I do have a girlfriend, but we have no intentions of getting married yet.”

On the other side, Ji Wei looked up in suspicion.
“When did you get a girlfriend?”

“Recently.” Qin Man smiled, “I chased her for many years before I caught her.”

Noticing that Ji Tang’s expression had stiffened, the woman hurriedly attempted to sound him out.
“Many years? Is she your first love? Someone from school?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s so great about that? Let Big Sister tell you, you shouldn’t rush to get married.
Things like first love are impulses you have before growing up.
Wait for a day and you’d find that there’s actually nothing good or suitable about her.”

“It’s not an impulse.” Qin Man’s smile was radiant and his tone was calm.
“I couldn’t possibly be impulsive for so many years.
Back in school, I was too shy and dared not make a move.
Later on, I regretted it, but I didn’t expect to… meet her again.
I found that I’d fallen even harder and it was impossible to forget her.”

Words that were originally meant to sow seeds of discord had unexpectedly become a weapon used to slap her face.
The woman replied hoarsely, “She must definitely have some faults…”

Qin Man only smiled.
“She doesn’t have a good temper and easily offends people, but she is adorable and has a soft heart.”

“If I could… I would like to get married, but I’m afraid she won’t agree.”

As he said this, his expression appeared rather pitiful.

Everyone who heard this was in a daze, especially Ji Wei.

Qin Man could actually make such a face?

Was this still the cold and aloof classmate he knew?

Moreover— a person he liked from school? Dare he ask, apart from the menopausal mathematics teacher, what other girls had he spoken to in six years of high school?

Swoosh—

Ji Ran abruptly stood up and took a step back, causing the chair to scrape the floor with a piercing screech.

His face was expressionless, yet his ears carried a faint trace of red.
He spoke in a low voice.
“I’m going out for a smoke.”

The instant he turned around, the expression he was forced to maintain crumbled—

What the hell was going on with Qin Man?

It was just making up a story.
He could just casually talk about it, why did he have to make up so many weird details?

More importantly…

Ji Ran walked out into the corridor and urgently lit a cigarette before taking a drag.
He couldn’t resist raising a hand to bury his face in as he tried to control his erratic heartbeat.

What was this strange feeling…

T/n: Not JR rejecting his proposal, otherwise y’all could be married by the end of the year u dumbass

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