Chapter 1204: Ji Yingjie's Miraculous Train of Thought

Ji Yingjie and Nianyin were rescued, their wounds were treated, and they soon recovered their health.

But the scars in their hearts could neither be seen nor touched; Ji Yingjie was always preoccupied, and it was hard to see a smile on her face.

Shi Youxuan thought she was acting this way because she was worried about her husband and children being in danger in the hands of Zhu Qingrui, so she comforted her, "Aunt, please rest easy and recover; my father and the children will definitely return safely. We have been thinking of ways to save them these past few days."

Ji Yingjie shook her head: "I'm not worried about them; I'm worried about the Treasure."

Shi Youxuan:...

Her aunt sighed and lamented, blaming Shi Youxuan for bringing her to Jiangzhou.

She worried that doing so would make Zhu Qingrui suspicious and allow him to follow the trail to find the location of the third piece of the Treasure Map.

Or if he found the place where the treasure was hidden directly, it would be troublesome.

Shi Youxuan:...

She was speechless once again.

Risking one's life but not one's wealth—today she had truly grasped the real meaning of this saying.

But she could not understand it.

Shi Youxuan was a bit indignant: "Aunt, are you short on money? Why are you so obsessed with it? You don't worry about your own closest kin, but you keep talking about the Treasure. Those are just dead objects; no matter how valuable they are, they aren't more important than living people."

Ji Yingjie: "What do you know."

"Do you know what the most important thing is for a child of the Ji Family? It is the heritage; it is passing down the wealth and spirit of the Ji Family from generation to generation."

"If you only focus on your own small family and not the greater family, you are not worthy of being a descendant of the Ji Family."

Shi Youxuan retorted bluntly: "Without descendants, who are you passing it to? Go ahead and hug the treasure for the rest of your life and regret it."

"Cough, cough..."

Ji Yingjie's face turned red with anger, and she said unhappily: "Go away, I don't need you to wait on me, let Wan'er come."

Shi Youxuan: "Wan'er has a family and children, and she has many things to keep her busy. Wan'er isn't a nurse; she can't accompany you every single moment!"

Ever since she woke up, her aunt could not be away from Wan'er for even a moment; only when she saw her could she feel at ease.

Ji Yingjie: "She must accompany me every moment; this is her responsibility."

Shi Youxuan: "Pah! What kind of bullshit responsibility, it doesn't count. Even if it did, it's something you forced upon her, not something Wan'er volunteered for."

Ji Yingjie was furious; unable to win the argument and not wanting to listen to her talk, she turned away and ignored her completely.

Shi Youxuan leaned in, poked her waist, and said softly: "Angry? Don't be so narrow-minded. I only said a couple of things to you and you're angry? You treated Wan'er like that back then; shouldn't Wan'er ignore you for the rest of her life?"

Ji Yingjie turned around, sat up, and glared at her niece: "How did I treat her? I entrusted such an important Ji Family Treasure to you all for safekeeping; does that make me the one harming you? Look at that unwilling face of yours."

Shi Youxuan: "I don't care, but Wan'er is different from me. If Zhu Qingrui finds out the third Treasure Map is hidden on Wan'er's back, didn't you harm her?"

No one knew Zhu Qingrui's methods better than Ji Yingjie.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she still argued stubbornly: "That won't happen. Only Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, I know, and Wan'er knows. As long as the three of us don't let it slip, even if that brat racks his brains, he won't figure it out."

Shi Youxuan retorted again: "That's right, he couldn't figure it out before, but if you keep acting like this, having Wan'er accompany you every moment, that might not be the case."

Although Jiangzhou is safe, no one can guarantee that Zhu Qingrui won't send people over to secretly lurk nearby and observe them.

Things like this have happened before.

Ji Yingjie was silent this time.

And she never asked Wan'er to come and accompany her again.

In her heart, nothing was more important than the Ji Family's Treasure; the things passed down to her by the ancestors must absolutely not suffer any loss on her watch.

Sheng Family, Shi Ran's room.

Midnight.

Her phone QQ suddenly chimed.

Shi Ran had an intuition that it was a message from that person. She wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't help picking up the phone to take a look; sure enough, it was him.

Are you asleep?

The person on the other end asked.

She didn't respond.

Although she couldn't help but look, she managed to refrain from responding.

She just stared at these few words for a long time, until her eyes ached.

There was no message from the other side for a long while, and just when she thought he wouldn't send another message, he sent another: I'm sorry.

She still didn't respond, turned off her phone, and went to sleep.

Not every "I'm sorry" can be exchanged for "It's okay"!

Everyone is an adult; adults must know how to pay for their own mistakes.

Some people, some things, once missed, are gone forever.

Although she understood the logic, it didn't stop Shi Ran from going to work the next morning with two panda eyes.

"You didn't sleep well last night again?" Yun Qitian asked.

"Mm."

She nodded and told the truth: "That person sent me a message in the middle of the night yesterday. He didn't say much, just asked 'Are you asleep?' first. Later he said 'I'm sorry.' I didn't respond."

"Not responding is the right thing to do. He is too self-centered. If you continue to have entanglements with him, you will only be more miserable in the future..."

Yun Qitian closed his mouth automatically before he finished, because he realized these were all empty words.

Shi Ran didn't actually need others to persuade her; she understood all the logic. She was willing to talk to herself only because she needed someone to listen.

"Mm, I know."

Shi Ran indeed said no more.

All morning, she acted as if nothing had happened on the surface, doing what she was supposed to do, but Qi Heng's message still unsettled her, and she made mistakes on a few details due to being distracted.

However, the small errors in the details were invisible to others; only Yun Qitian saw them.

Noon.

He took the initiative and said, "Do you want to go out for a quick drink? I know a place that has barbecue even at noon."

Shi Ran, however, was uninterested: "I don't want to go; I'm tired of eating barbecue all the time."

"Then let's eat something else. Western food, French cuisine, or Northeast Chinese food?"

Shi Ran: "You still dare to go out with me? Do you remember how people gossiped about us last time? Aren't you afraid?"

Yun Qitian: "What a joke, what do I have to be afraid of? At worst, I'll just marry you; it's no big deal." He said what was in his heart in a joking tone.

Shi Ran walked over and put her arm around his shoulder: "Alright, if by the time we are thirty you are still unmarried and I am still unmarried, and it just so happens that our parents are forcing us to marry, we'll go get a marriage certificate."

"Is that a deal?"

"It's a deal."

In just a few words, the two of them had settled their "major life event" of marriage.

Yun Qitian put his arm around her shoulder with a cheeky grin: "Let's go, fiancée. Since we are already engaged, we don't have to fear what others say. Let them say whatever they want; let's go get a drink now."

"Let's go."

Yun Qitian was always able to make her feel happy; he never gave her any pressure, only allowing her to feel relaxed in his presence, needing only to be herself.

The two of them ate Northeast Chinese food for lunch and, just like last time, had a bit to drink.