Ji Li barely managed to hold back a laugh: "Why don't you think their first impression of you is that you're like a brother to me and that they know how to appreciate me?"
Ying Yunsheng looked at him with an accusing expression.
“We’ve already seen it,” Ji Li said. “Let’s eat now.”
Ying Yunsheng grabbed his hand as he peeled the shrimp: "Don't peel them, I'll do it myself."
"What's wrong?" Wasn't he the one who peeled them perfectly before?
Ying Yunsheng: "What if another person comes up later?"
If this happened twice more, he felt he might be scared into having a heart attack.
Ji Li couldn't guarantee him anything about this; he could only see the other person holding a rice bowl and forcibly creating distance, determined not to give the people downstairs a chance to watch the commotion.
Unfortunately, no one came up to disturb them during the rest of the meal.
After dinner, Ji Li helped clear the dishes and went to the kitchen. Ying Yunsheng sat on the sofa for a while, then declined Ji Yao's suggestion that she excitedly came over to ask if he wanted to play cards together, and knocked on the door of the old lady's room.
The old lady didn't stay downstairs to chat with the guests. Instead, she sat on a recliner wearing reading glasses, a miscellaneous book in front of her, and asked in a kind voice, "Is there anything I can help you with, Grandma?"
Ying Yunsheng stopped in front of her, his fingers unconsciously scratching the hem of his clothes, carefully choosing his words: "I..."
The word had barely left his lips when there was another knock on the door.
Ji Li's aunt came in carrying a bowl of fruit. She first called out "Mom" to the old lady, then turned to her and said, "Yun Sheng, what are you doing here? Xiao Li was just looking for you."
"What do you want with me?"
"Aren't you two a couple? What reason does he need to contact you?"
Ying Yunsheng's question was originally just a conditioned reflex under tension. Logically speaking, the other party should have just replied with "Go ask him yourself" and that would have been enough. However, he did not expect to receive such a somewhat sarcastic answer.
He was completely stunned: "A couple?"
Auntie smiled and said, "He's already admitted it, why are you still trying to hide it?"
Ying Yunsheng suspected there was something wrong with his ears, otherwise how could he not understand what the other person meant?
“He’s already been honest with us. He likes a boy, but he’s been hiding it and won’t let us see him. When we ask, he says he hasn’t won her over yet,” his aunt said softly. “Actually, I can tell that he’s more afraid that we won’t accept you, which is why he’s not bringing you here. He knows we can see what he’s thinking, but he just doesn’t hide it. He’s openly challenging us. He’ll only let you meet when we’re no longer opposed to it.”
Ying Yunsheng listened blankly.
"To be honest, I was a little shocked when I first heard about what happened between you two, but it's alright. After all, Xiaoli isn't my son, so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the right to interfere. His grandmother reacted a bit more strongly." The aunt said, glancing at the old lady next to her. "But she's accepted it now, especially after meeting you. She really likes you."
Ying Yunsheng opened his hand and then clenched it again, hearing himself ask, "What did he tell you yesterday?"
That's why he was heartbroken after receiving the old lady's invitation yesterday, and that's why Ji Li assured him that "nothing will happen."
"Yesterday?" Auntie shook her head. "No, he told us about it a year ago."
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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One year ago.
Ying Yunsheng had never considered this answer before, and he froze on the spot.
At that time, they had only recently started dating, and the process from unrequited love to receiving a response was as smooth as a dream come true. As a result, Ying Yunsheng couldn't help but wonder, why did Ji Li agree to be with him? What did he have that made her interested in him?
Did he agree to be with him because he really liked him? Or was it because he couldn't bear to? Was it because he had a soft spot for him, his childhood friend, and couldn't reject him like he rejected other suitors?
Ying Yunsheng had long known that Ji Li was a person who was used to considering everything carefully, but he did not expect that while he was still worrying about his dream, the other party had already gone through all the possible obstacles on his road ahead, leaving only a clear and open path.
"He really likes you." His aunt patted him on the shoulder. "You two should live a good life together."
Ying Yunsheng saw Ji Li as soon as he stepped out of the room.
The other person was standing by the door, and didn't seem surprised to see him: "You went to see my grandma?"
"Hmm." Ying Yunsheng followed him upstairs, silently making their way to the other's bedroom.
Ji Li closed the door and waved her hand in front of him: "What's wrong? What did you say to them?"
Ying Yunsheng's expression was complicated: "It seems like I should be asking you that question."
What's wrong with me?
Ying Yunsheng stared at him: "Your family already knew about us?"
Now that the tension is gone, his mind is clear, and his intelligence has returned. All the details he had previously overlooked suddenly come to light.
For example, Ji Li ate lunch on the second floor, but there were two empty bowls and chopsticks on the second floor.
For example, when he first entered the room, the little girl's eyes were filled with curiosity and excitement, but not surprise.
For example, yesterday when the old lady made a surprise visit to the rented house, the invitation she gave to a stranger before leaving was actually quite abrupt.
"You already told them?"
Ji Li did not deny it: "Yes."
A flood of questions rushed through Ying Yunsheng's mind, but recalling what he had just heard, the first thing he wanted to know was: "Did they make things difficult for you?"
"No," Ji Li chuckled. "They are, after all, my family. How could they possibly make things difficult for me?"
lie.
If there were truly no difficulties, why wait a year to bring him back to meet people?
To say that they were ostracized was not entirely true. But of all the pressure Ying Yunsheng could imagine, the most daunting and heavy one undoubtedly came from his family.
Why didn't you tell me?
Ji Li: "Why involve another person when one person can solve the problem?"
Ying Yunsheng: "What I'm asking is why you didn't tell me sooner that you had already confessed."
Ji Li subconsciously took a step back.
Ying Yunsheng stepped forward and blocked his retreat: "Is it interesting to watch me act so nervous and neurotic?"
"Well……"
Is it interesting to watch me being absent-minded all day?
"Well……"
Is it fun to watch me act silly?
Ji Li, realizing he was in the wrong, lost his momentum: "I didn't mean to..."
Ying Yunsheng looked at him expressionlessly.
"Okay, I did it on purpose."
He stood up, and as soon as he took a step, his hand was grabbed.
"Yun Sheng." Ji Li's voice was pleasant; whenever he called someone without their surname, it sounded like he was coaxing them. "Don't be angry."
Ying Yunsheng wasn't angry with him to begin with, and now he was even less angry: "I wasn't."
He sighed in defeat and covered his eyes: "I just want to go stand in the corner and reflect on what I've done all day."
Ji Li was taken aback, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The expression on his face wasn't mocking, but simply one of pure joy.
Ying Yunsheng realized this, which is why he couldn't get angry. He stood by the bed and looked at him with a "what's the use" attitude, laughing: "You're so happy to see me make a fool of myself?"
Ji Li laughed as he played with his fingers and said, "I think you're cute like this."
Ying Yunsheng couldn't understand how the adjective "cute" had been applied to him.
Ji Li lightly kissed his fingertips: "I love you like this."
Ying Yunsheng's entire hand went numb instantly, and his skin gradually became burning hot.
.
As the guests outside gradually dispersed, Ji Li's aunt, carrying her daughter upstairs for a nap, happened to run into Ying Yunsheng at the bottom of the stairs.
"Where's Xiaoli?"
Ying Yunsheng: "He just went downstairs to get some water."
His aunt looked at him and asked, "Can we talk?"
Ying Yunsheng stopped.
Aunt put the baby in her arms into the cradle, turned around and saw him standing beside her like he was standing at attention, and chuckled, "Don't be so nervous, I'm just saying a few words."
Ying Yunsheng had seen Ji Li's parents' wedding photos and felt that the other person's temperament was exactly like that of her father.
However, now he thinks it might be a family trait, because Aunt Ji Li's smile gives people a similar feeling, gentle and polite.
She asked, "Has he told you about his family?"
Ying Yunsheng nodded: "Yes."
"Did you know that he was only eleven years old when we recognized him?"
"Know."
Ji Li once told him.
His mother was an outstanding antique appraiser, talented and ambitious. When the two met, his father had not yet entered society, but his mother had already achieved great success.
The two were ten years apart in age, yet the father fell for her extremely quickly. His family, seeing his infatuation with the girl, didn't approve but didn't try to stop him either. After all, no one thought she would actually be interested in a boy ten years younger than her; they just assumed he would eventually give up after hitting a wall.
Little did I know that this infatuation would last for five or six years.
When he transformed from a naive student into a rising star in the business world, she had just attended her parents' funeral. She couldn't say whether it was because she had developed feelings for him over time and suddenly realized her true feelings, or because he happened to be by her side when she was emotionally vulnerable after losing her parents. She was tempted by the family he described and accepted his ring on the spot, agreeing to get married.
But no one expected that just a year after they got together, her newlywed husband would die because her enemies came to their door.
At that time, Mr. Ji had just passed away, and Mrs. Ji had not yet recovered from her grief. Upon hearing the news of her son's death, she was overwhelmed with sorrow and could not bring herself to treat her daughter-in-law well. After all, if it weren't for the people she had brought along, her son would not have died.