Henyee Translations Henyee Translations

Although the kiss marks were not too obvious, Ji Nuan refused to let Mo Jingshen near her neck again.

As it happened, the man did the very opposite of what she insisted. The more she refused, the harder he kissed. She was left begging for forgiveness on the bed, and only then, did he stop torturing her neck. However, his lower body did not slow his actions.

—-

In the middle of the night, Ji Nuan was half-conscious when she noticed that the man was absent. She woke up to find him in the living room. He appeared to have just answered a call, and when he saw her awake, he placed his phone down and tossed it onto the sofa.

“Why are you awake?”

“Do you still have a lot of work left in T City? You don’t have to keep staying in T City to accompany me. I’ll be returning to Hai City in a month. Is staying here with me delaying your work?”

“I haven’t been idle in T City. The work in the branch company is similar to the work in Hai City; only the working environment is different.” Mo Jingshen glanced at her: “It won’t be for very long. It’s rare for me to have time to accompany you. Aren’t you happy about it?”

Sufficient time to accompany her meant enough time to sleep with her, to tease her, and to watch her.

“I think you should prioritize work. I don’t have anywhere I have to leave for after returning to Hai City. We’ll have plenty of time to be with each other.” Ji Nuan felt that if he continued sleeping with her every day, she really wouldn’t have any energy for her studies. Although her grades were first in class, if this continued, she feared that her grades would only gradually decline.

After all, she couldn’t shift her focus onto something else whenever this man was by her side. Her heart was always teased back and forth by him.

“We’re husband and wife. We will never lack time to be with one another. If you’re worried that you’ll be affected by my presence, I won’t disturb you when you’re revising in the study room.” Mo Jingshen held in a smile, clearly seeing through her thoughts. “Promising to let you study here was my biggest allowance. I made time to visit you. Are you even going to force me to live apart from you?”

Ji Nuan glared at him with sleepy eyes, unable to refute him.

“If you must keep a distance from me to study well…” The man approached her, linking hands with her to return back to the bedroom. He carried her onto the bed and placed his hand against where her heart was located, saying meaningfully: “It means that you’ve lost control of your own heart, and you lose your composure whenever you see me. Can you blame me for that?”

Ji Nuan: “…”

Was it because she had abruptly woken up, and because her mind was still in a state of disorder? She was actually at a loss for words from his simple response.

She wanted to defend herself, but at the same time, she found his point valid. Watching her struggling expression, Mo Jingshen leaned down with a darkened expression to give her a passionate and intimate kiss. “You don’t want to sleep anymore? Earlier, you were still begging for me to let you off early. If you don’t wish to sleep, I don’t mind continuing our exercise from earlier. I’ll enjoy it to my heart’s content.” ”

From this kiss alone, Ji Nuan’s eyes quickly turned misty. She did her best to compose her breath, and subconsciously pressed her thighs together to prevent him from reaching his hand in.

From Mo Jingshen’s point of view, this one movement was akin to lighting another flame in his already darkened and heavy eyes.

“You’re doing this on purpose?” He hoarsely bit against her lip.

“…Earlier, I only startled awake because you weren’t by my side. I’m still really sleepy.” Ji Nuan moved her face away and pressed it against his chest. It was true that he had let her off after one round today. However, he was still really forceful and heavy. Even though she had already showered and slept some, her body still felt unreasonably sensitive in his arms.

Could it be that because he always did it for so long in the past, and had suddenly let her off today, she was actually unused to it?

A few words actually made her so sensitive…

Mo Jingshen’s gaze landed on her face. His ink-black eyes carried hints of suppressed laughter as he gently patted her back. Seeing that Ji Nuan was curled up in his arms unmoving, he did not insist for them to continue and only gently caressed her head, indicating for her to put her mind at ease and sleep.

—-

Two days later, Ji Nuan received Auntie Qin’s call. Auntie Qin was the Ji family’s helper and had watched Ji Nuan, and Ji Mengran grow up together.

“Eldest Miss, Mr. Ji plans to send the Second Miss abroad. He has even booked the flight tickets and made arrangements with the school. He has been keeping Second Miss locked at home, and even arranged for a security guard to watch her. It’s been days since she ate anything, yet Mr. Ji insists on sending her there. He won’t let her stay in Hai City anymore, no matter who tries to beg for her. Your relationship with the Second Miss is the best. Mr. Ji usually listens to your suggestions as well. Please, quickly come and beg for her…” Auntie Qin’s voice came from the phone. Her heartache and anxiety could be easily heard.

Perhaps, Auntie Qin was the only one in the Ji family who still did not realize how dire Ji Nuan and Ji Mengran’s relationship had become.

These were the children she had personally watch grow up. Right now, their relationship was no longer as close as it used to be. The conflicts in-between were not something that could easily be explained. Perhaps, allowing Auntie Qin to maintain her beautiful impression of them was not a bad thing.

Ji Nuan did not explain. She only said: “I’ll give Dad a call to understand the situation. By the way Auntie Qin, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it, Eldest Miss?”

“Twenty years ago, when my mom married into the Ji family, you were already working there, weren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, when my mom married in, was there anyone she interacted with frequently? For example, any men, or anyone whom she was especially close to?” If she weren’t speaking with Auntie Qin, who have watched her grow up, Ji Nuan would never be so direct with her questions.

“This…” Auntie Qin was quiet for a long moment. Ji Nuan sensitively felt that her question had startled her. Auntie Qin only answered after a long while: “Eldest Miss, I’m not sure about this, nor have I heard anything about it. When madam married into the Ji family, I had only just begun working here. There are a lot of things I’m not too clear on…”

“I understand. Thank you, Auntie Qin.” Ji Nuan caught the pause in her words and did not ask more. She hung up the phone.

Across from her, Mo Jingshen had heard the voice from her phone and spoke up: “Your father plans to send Ji Mengran abroad?”

“En, he doesn’t wish to see us sisters fighting. Sending her abroad can be considered killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, with her out of sight, he would worry less. One the other hand, it would also prevent me from doing anything to Ji Mengran. Considering his point of view as a father, I can understand where he is coming from. After all, Mengran is his true, blood-related daughter. He has already done more than enough for me to feel his care.”

“Who says you won’t be able to touch her if she’s abroad? If you wish to touch her, you can do it anytime,” Mo Jingshen calmly said.

Henyee Translations Henyee Translations

There was no need for Ji Nuan to carry out her revenge personally. Three days later, Hai City’s Civil Aeronautics Administration released the following news:

The flight BA168 headed toward London, England, crashed midair as it was flying across the Pacific Ocean due to an unknown malfunction. There were 57 Chinese and 108 English individuals aboard that flight. Several passengers had come from other countries and met with the misfortune. China and England had already sent their maritime rescue team to search for the victims. However, due to the circumstances of the crash and the poor weather during the occurrence, it was likely that few had survived.

When she received this news, Ji Nuan subconsciously called Ji Hongwen. However, her call was not picked up regardless of how many attempts she made. She stood before the ceiling-to-floor windows in her condo in T City, looking in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.

She had made another call to Auntie Qin the day before and found out that Ji Mengran was set to fly off this afternoon. She was headed to London, England, and was supposed to take the very flight that had crashed, flight BA168.

In both her first and previous life, this so-called sister had caused her so much worry. Ji Nuan, who had received this news abruptly, did not find it too shocking or difficult to accept. However, her first reaction was that Ji Hongwen wouldn’t take this news well!

Her call to Ji Hongwen could not go through, so Ji Nuan decided to call Auntie Qin instead. When Auntie Qin picked up the phone, she was crying and saying that Ji Hongwen’s reaction wasn’t good. After receiving the news, he had kept himself locked in the company’s office. It had been hours since he had appeared and no one in the company dared to enter.

Regardless of what had occurred, Ji Nuan would never find it in herself to forgive everything. However, from Ji Hongwen’s point of view, Ji Mengran was still his blood-related daughter.

—-

Mo Jingshen returned home to see Ji Nuan dressed and ready to leave.

“It’s already six in the evening, where are you going?”

“I’m taking a flight back to Hai City tonight. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to rush back by tomorrow morning, but I’ll have Feng Ling go to Professor Lin to take a leave for me,” Ji Nuan hurriedly replied and walked to leave.

Mo Jingshen glanced at her. With one stretch of his hand, he tugged against her elbow and brought her back. At the same time, he took her bag from her hands and placed it down. “Even if you go to the airport now, the earliest available flight to Hai City would only takeoff after midnight. There’s no use rushing there so early. Calm down first and tell me why you are going back?”

“Mengran was supposed to head to London today, but her flight crashed. I’m worried that my Dad won’t be able to take this well. I have to go back to see him!” Ji Nuan was sure that Mo Jingshen had heard about this news. News of plane crashes were usually immediately released across the country.

“It’s true that the flight headed from Hai City to London met with a crash. I sent someone to check with the flight company after receiving the news in the afternoon. Ji Mengran did not board that flight. She’s only been temporarily assigned to the missing peoples’ list,” Mo Jingshen watched Ji Nuan’s pale, worried face and calmly explained.

Ji Nuan stared at him as her mouth fell open. She was silent for a long while, as though processing his words, before she finally appeared more composed. She then picked up her phone to call Ji Hongwen again; it was still unanswered.

“But my Dad isn’t answering his phone right now. The people at his company won’t dare to enter his office to disturb him either. I’m worried that…”

“Director Ji has faced all sorts of trials and tribulations in the business world; his heart is strong. I’ll have Shen Mu drive over to Ji Group to take a look and inform Director Ji that Ji Mengran didn’t board the flight.” Mo Jingshen pressed her elbow. “Don’t panic. Leave this to me.”

That’s right, Shen Mu did not come to T City with Mo Jingshen. He was still in Hai City.

As Mo Jingshen’s most capable right-hand man, he definitely could enter Ji Group to meet her father.

Ji Nuan nodded; her gaze fixed on Mo Jingshen.

Mo Jingshen understood that she was anxious and did not say more. He patted her back comfortingly and picked up his phone to call Shen Mu.

After personally watching Mo Jingshen instruct Shen Mu, Ji Nuan took another glance toward her own phone. Her screen was lit up with another piece of news about the bodies found by a rescue boat.

Perhaps she had really lost all feelings a long time ago. The changes in her past life and the hatred from her current concealed more than ten years of feelings developed from growing up together. From the moment she heard about Ji Mengran’s accident, Ji Nuan’s heart was completely unaffected. She only found it difficult to accept that she did not manage to return all of her sufferings onto Ji Mengran and felt slightly dejected.

Even after knowing that Ji Mengran was not aboard that flight, she did not feel anything.

Things like feelings were truly gone after they faded. Things that had turned cold, like a frozen heart, could not be warmed up again.

Ji Nuan was carried back onto the sofa by Mo Jingshen. She stared at the phone in her hand, wondering when Ji Hongwen would return her call.

Mo Jingshen removed the coat she had put on and placed it by the side. He urged her to sit on the sofa and leaned down to watch her: “Are you upset that Director Ji hasn’t answered your call?”

Ji Nuan sat unmovingly, and Mo Jingshen did not ask more. He sat down by her side and pressed her head to lean on his shoulder.

Ji Nuan closed her eyes and was quiet for a long time before saying, “Regardless if Mengran really met with an accident, I feel that after this incident my Dad will instinctively begin to avoid me.”

Mo Jingshen placed his hand on her head, gently stroking her. He leaned down to kiss the corner of her lips: “Nuan Nuan.”

His voice was low and carried a few hints of heartache as he explained, “When it comes to the relationship between his daughters, it’s true that his way of managing things has been poor. He hasn’t been able to discipline Ji Mengran well due to his work. However, you cannot assume that he’ll gradually distant himself away from you now that you’ve discovered you may not be related to him by blood.”

“En, perhaps I’m really overthinking…”

Mo Jingshen’s warm voice landed by her ear. “You’ve been his pride and joy since you were young. He has always been focused on nurturing you, so he has never considered blood relation as a problem. It’s sufficient that he has recognized you as his daughter. He simply needs a quiet environment to recover from today’s incident. He isn’t trying to avoid you. All sorts of accidents may happen in this world, but the sincere love that has existed for a long time won’t suddenly disappear. That’s the way it is for me toward you, and the same applies for Director Ji.”

Ji Nuan buried her face in his embrace: “I hope I’ll always be his daughter. Even if the Ji family becomes less prosperous, I would still wish to be his daughter.”

The man was silent for several seconds before he softly replied, “If Director Ji knew you were feeling this way, he would definitely feel comforted. The past twenty years of nurturing you haven’t gone to waste. This is the best repayment he could have asked for, and it’s much more real than calling back to talk about your concern.”

She hugged him and buried her face deeper in his neck.

The little woman did not force herself to be brave like the way she had done in the past few months. At the very least, she had learned to hide in his arms when she felt vulnerable. She did not run away, nor did she avoid him.

Mo Jingshen felt comforted by her trust.

He gently rubbed her shoulders, whispering: “After Shen Mu sees Director Ji, he’ll ask him to call you. Set your mind at ease and wait for the call. Don’t rush.”

Henyee Translations Henyee Translations

Ji Nuan held onto Mo Jingshen’s neck tightly and softly whispered, “Life is truly too unpredictable. There are too many things that, if we don’t hold onto it today, we’ll find it can no longer be seized tomorrow.”

The man pinched her cheek: “At the very least, you won’t lose me.”

Ji Nuan did not reply.

In this world, there were too many unexpected forces at work. What she feared the most were the laws that always went against people’s expectations; the laws that went against what they hoped for.

Mo Jingshen could tell that, ever since Ji Nuan discovered the truth behind her birth, although she appeared unaffected, her heart was actually slightly troubled.

“Trust me. Regardless of how unpredictable life is, I’ll always be here.”

Ji Nuan nodded and buried her head deeper into his neck.

Mo Jingshen lowered his head and kissed her deeply.

—-

T University.

During class, Ji Nuan went to the bathroom.

Mo Jingshen had been in T City for more than half a month, and most of his work was over. In several days, he would be returning to Hai City. Although Ji Nuan was unwilling to part with him, she would be returning soon to Hai City as well. It wasn’t right for her to keep delaying his work. After all, for her sake, Mo Jingshen had already maximized the volume of work he could undertake in T City and expanded the time he could spend here as much as possible.

Precisely because they were about to face separation once more, for the past two nights, Ji Nuan was almost squeezed dry by Mo Jingshen. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was being embraced to death.

Ling Feifei headed to the bathroom as well. When she saw Ji Nuan inside, she approached and made a token gesture of washing her hands. She pressed a little soap onto her hands and turned to look at the light blue turtleneck Ji Nuan was wearing. With a harmless smile, she said: “Ji Nuan, could it be that you’re really friends with Feng Ling? Previously, the two of you have always been secretive in the dormitory. Recently, I haven’t seen Feng Ling around, and you haven’t been coming back to stay for more than half a month. Bai Wei and I have been missing both of you a lot.”

Ji Nuan glanced at her and unhurriedly raised her hands to the hand dryer. She said indifferently, “It’s not surprising that you are suspicious about my relationship with Feng Ling, but don’t make up lies about missing us. Now that we’re not around, isn’t there more space for you to place your luggage?”

“How would I dare? Don’t mention luggage; even when I’ve only casually tossed a shirt onto your beds, Bai Wei will nag at me. She insists that both of you haven’t been staying recently, but the beds still belong to you. Although you and Feng Ling aren’t at the dormitory, Bai Wei’s eyes are still watching me.” Ling Feifei rubbed her hands together and intentionally glanced at Ji Nuan’s shirt. “T City isn’t as cold as Hai City. Why are you wearing a turtleneck shirt here, aren’t you cold?”