Ru was stuck in a predicament. If she said she was lying, she would lose face before Yuan but if she stayed thick-skinned- which she already was- she might lose her right of being proudful before Old Master Ji.
"Shuck it, Ru! Pride is the only thing that matters anyway." She willed herself while Old Master Ji was looking at her with interest.
"I think I made a mistake that day, little squirrely." She gave a dry laugh as she continued, "The four pleasures of life are playing the lyre, calligraphy, painting, and chess. These are the true values of an aristocratic descendant like yourself." She turned to look at Old Master Ji and asked gingerly, "Am I right, Mr. Ji?"
Old Master Ji nodded his head and said, "Certainly I"ve heard this version of our true values. But it"s a shame that the new generation doesn"t cherish these values."
Yuan was frowning by her side. "I do know how to play chess." He said trying to show that he wasn"t completely clueless.
"I"m talking about Chinese Chess. Like this..." She pointed at the table where a chessboard was a.s.sembled and seemed like someone had left a game in the middle. "Oh look, the black one is losing." She picked a black piece and made the next move saying, "Ha! Checkmate!"
Old Master Ji"s brow quirked up in surprise as he saw how she made him lose the game. Earlier, he was playing the chess with an old friend but that old man left when he saw he was losing as always. But Ru easily changed the whole game. Interesting...
"It"s no wonder, my wife has been praising you for weeks. Young master Rong is indeed an interesting person. Quite skilled in chess, if I say it humbly." Old Master Ji didn"t bother hiding his appreciative look. As he said earlier, the younger generation was truly forgetting their roots and values. People with Ru"s skills were already scarce.
"Now, you"re flattering me..." Ru said offhandedly. "I"m quite rough around the edges. It"s been a long time since I played chess." She could remember the time she played it last. It was the night before she sneaked out of her clan. She had won a game against her grandfather.
"Oniisan, does learning these four things is very important?" Yuan joined in the conversation from the side after being quiet for a while.
"Not everyone can be good at everything. So, learning one or two is already considered good enough." Ru replied patiently while Yuan listened attentively.
Tracing the seam of his cup, Old Master Ji had a complicated gaze. The more he looked at Ru"s behavior, the more he found her familiar. Yuan had stepped out to take a call when he said, "Young Master Rong, do you know you remind me of someone."
Ru sipped on her tea and asked, "Really? Might I be bold to ask who that person is?"
"Was." Old Master Ji replied with a bit of heaviness in his voice. "He"s no more."
"I apologize."
Old Master Ji shook his head saying, "It"s okay. It"s been a long time anyway." With a distant look, he added, "To be honest, you don"t even look like him. It"s your green eyes and your aura that seems similar to his." To divert the conversation away from those painful memories, he said, "You seem very close to both Yuan and Zhiren."
"One is my sworn brother and the other is just like my own little brother," Ru answered without even pausing to think.
"I heard you saw my antique collection. Did you find anything to your liking?"
Recalling her visit to Ji Mansion, her mind eventually wandered off to that stolen kiss and she smacked herself inwardly. It was not the time to think of such lewd memories. Clearing her throat, she said, "I liked a particular white jade flute. The gold crescent moon dangling from it was certainly very eye-catching."
"With Young Master Rong"s intelligence, I believe he already knows what it represents." Old Master Ji"s words took her by surprise.
"I certainly do. What I can"t figure out is why would Xiao family give their prized possession to Ji Family even when there are rumors of both clans being arch-enemies." Ru didn"t bother filtering her words anymore either.
"Would you like to know?"
"You think I won"t ask?" She asked with a frown.
"I told you. You"re similar to an old friend. He loved the thrill. And since you are similar, if I told you the story, your thrill and interest both will be lost." Ru was surprised yet again at how right he was. Was his friend truly that similar to her?