"Grandmother, what fiancee?" Xiao Zhiren"s voice didn"t even sound like his when he shouted that question. "What promise? I don"t have a fiancee!"
Old Madam Ji took the cup of her freshly brewed jasmine tea from the maid and took a sip with a content smile on her face. Her actions were languid and free as if there wasn"t any grandson standing at her head urging her to spill the beans. But how could she spill the beans without punis.h.i.+ng him a bit for lying?
"Grandmother, stop stalling for time!" Xiao Zhiren yelled again in exasperation. "You"re lying to me, right? You"re just trying to scare me, right? You said you"d never choose an arranged marriage for your grandchildren."
"My dearest grandson, grandmother is still holding on to her words. I will never force any of my grandchildren to get into an arranged marriage." Old Madam Ji spoke righteously.
"Then what"s the meaning of your words?"
"The meaning is simple; I didn"t choose that fiancee for you."
Xiao Zhiren"s furrowed his brow in confusion as he asked, "Then who did?"
Old Madam Ji again ignored him as she said, "Today, I find this tea rather refres.h.i.+ng. Ran Zi, why don"t you have a cup with grandmother?"
Ji Syaoran who was stuck to his place until now finally moved and immediately sat beside his grandmother. With a look of flattery and admiration for that old woman who just turned the tables in mere minutes. Aiyo! His grandmother is certainly worthy of her name.
"Grandmother!" Xiao Zhiren gnashed his teeth in anger as he enunciated each word for her to hear, "Tell. Me. Who. Chose. The. Invisible. FIANCEE. For. Me?"
Old Madam Ji lifted her eyes and smiled as she answered, "You did."
"What?" Xiao Zhiren"s felt like his whole world crumbling down. The fear of loss intensified in his heart. He was scared. Very scared. But he didn"t want to back off just yet. "You don"t have any proof. Besides, I don"t remember any such event."
At his last words, Old Madam Ji"s body stiffened a bit before a bitter smile appeared on her old face. "Indeed. You forgot." She muttered with a heavy heart. "But we all remember. For five years, the only name I heard from your mouth was hers. You kept saying that you"ll only marry her. No matter what. As for the proof... Haven"t you ever wondered why is there a red thread around your wrist?"
Xiao Zhiren immediately looked at the red string that had been with him for as long as he could remember. Even after years, it didn"t look worn-out for some reason. As for when he got it, where he got it? He couldn"t remember at all. But he just knew that he could never take it off. His heart didn"t allow him to. Just like now when he wanted to pull it off of him, his heart clenched in his chest with an unknown pain spreading through his body. In the end, he could only caress the red thread and drop his head in defeat.
"Is this proof enough?" He managed to voice out for everyone to hear.
"I have plenty of others. But do you really have the heart to face it?" Old Madam Ji"s question stumped Xiao Zhiren.
Well, did he? No, he did not! In all honesty, he wanted to run from there right this instant. He didn"t want to hear another word. Even if there was a slight chance that his grandmother was lying, his heart really didn"t have the courage to try his luck. Because if his grandmother wasn"t lying... That one "if" was enough to break his resolve. How could he watch his own dream falling apart?
"I don"t care who that fiancee is but grandmother, I won"t be going with that arrangement. I was young then but I am not now. I know what I want." Saying that he left the Ji Mansion.
It wasn"t that he couldn"t break that engagement even if there was one. But the thought that he actually chose that fiancee himself was making him disgusted with himself. He felt like he had cheated on his little chili even before he met her. How could his heart love someone else? That"s not possible! No way!
However, he didn"t even realize that his thoughts were really far-fetched.
"Gammy, you really know how to lie. That was great!" Ji Syaoran happily munched on peanuts as he complimented his grandmother.
"Who said I lied?" Old Madam Ji"s words made Ji Syaoran choke on peanuts.
"W-What? Bro really is engaged?" Ji Syaoran asked incredulously.
"He is." Old Madam Ji sighed out. "But it was a verbal commitment back then. Honestly speaking, except for that thread on his wrist, I really don"t have any other proof."
"Huh?" Ji Syaoran"s mouth opened wide. "Then why were you so confident?"
"Because I know my Zhiren very well. Even after being under the care of that witch, he still has his kind heart. His dilemma is not this engagement commitment. And I know it very well."
Ji Syaoran gave her two thumbs up as he said, "Gammy is still the best! You really played with bro this time."
"You"re again teaching him the wrong things," Old Master Ji Rusheng"s voice came from behind the both the of them as he entered the living room.
"Husband, I"m a very good grandmother. I wouldn"t dare teach my grandson anything wrong." Old Madam Ji countered back being all poised.
"Mother, why did you bring up the engagement?" Ji Yifeng also followed his father inside. They both had heard the conversation but didn"t dare to intrude since Xiao Zhiren wouldn"t have been much happy to see his father.
"Dad, grandmother just wanted to push bro into revealing his girlfriend." Ji Syaoran tried to defend his grandmother from his father"s temper which seemed to be flaring up for some reason.
"Ran Zi, go back to your courtyard." Ji Yifeng said without even looking at his son"s face.
"But dad-"
"Ji Syaoran! I said leave!" It was rare for Ji Syaoran to hear his full name coming out of his father"s mouth but if he did, it meant his father was really in not a good mood. He immediately left the elders.
"Stop being so harsh with Ran Zi. He isn"t that old yet. His playful nature is not harmful at all." Old Madam Ji reprimanded her son a bit but keeping her voice in check.
"Mother, stop defending him. And this is not the matter I want to discuss with you."
"Then what do you want to say?" She asked knowing very well what he was about to say.
"Why did you bring up the engagement?" He questioned.
"It"s his right to know." Old Madam Ji replied plainly much to Ji Yifeng"s annoyance.
"Mother! Don"t forget that he lost that right when he left you, me and his whole family behind." Somewhere in a hidden corner, Ji Syaoran pursed his lips when this topic was brought up. "He trusted someone he shouldn"t have. He still does."
Old Madam Ji stood up and placed her hand on her son"s arm as if consoling as she said, "The fact that he"s your eldest son won"t change. You had been keeping calm until now even when he ignored you. What"s this temper all about?"
"Let me answer that for you wife," Old Master Ji Rusheng cut in as he continued, "Your dearest grandson has finally started the battle head-on."
"What do you mean?" Old Madam Ji was confused.
"For the past years, he had been trying to exploit our business behind the scene but we have been ignoring it. This time, he has gone far. He had been trying to buy out our shares from different people in side-branches and he managed to do it as well."
"So what? Everything belongs to him as well."
"He can take it all. I don"t care. As you said, it all belongs to him anyway." Ji Yifeng started again but this time his eyes had turned red as if he was holding in his urge to cry. That look scared Old Madam Ji who rarely saw her son crying. "But why is he h.e.l.l-bent on destroying the one thing that I hold dear? One thing that I have of her." A lone tear trickled down his face betraying his resolve.
"Zhiren made the authorities shut the Art and Calligraphy Foundation."
Old Madam Ji was stumped to hear her husband"s reply. That explained her son"s odd temper. That place meant a lot to him. After all, he met the person he loved the most right in that building. She covered her mouth with her hand to m.u.f.fle her gasp. "Zhiren, oh, Zhiren. If you knew what you did, I wonder how much it"ll hurt you in the end."