Chapter 1226: Still Not Giving Up On Him?

With Ji Yingjie stabilized, Shi Youxuan and Sheng Hanyu breathed a sigh of relief.

But they were happy too soon; another situation arose with Shi Ran.

Early morning.

Breakfast time at the Sheng Family.

Shi Ran came out of her room carrying her bag and greeted her parents.

"Morning, Dad."

"Morning, Mom."

It was just like any other day, nothing different.

"Morning."

Shi Youxuan also greeted her daughter as usual.

But Sheng Hanyu didn't make a sound; he stared at his daughter, his gaze sharp and meaningful.

"You, why are you looking at me like that?"

Shi Ran felt a bit guilty, but she forced herself to stay calm.

Sheng Hanyu: "It's nothing, aren't you going to the company?"

"I am, I am..."

"Oh, then let's go together after breakfast. My car is in for maintenance, I'll ride in your car to the company."

Although the father and daughter both worked at the same company and even on the same office floor, they didn't go to work together.

Usually, either Sheng Hanyu left first or Shi Ran went to the company first; they had their own cars and were busy with their own things.

It wasn't impossible for her father to suddenly suggest going to the company with her, but Shi Ran's expression became even more unnatural.

Unable to brush it off, she told the truth: "I'm sorry, I am going to the company, but in a little while I need to go see... someone first. You take my car, I'll take a taxi."

Sheng Hanyu didn't continue to press, but said: "Oh, I see. I'll take a taxi to the company, you go do your business."

"Okay, thank you, Dad." Shi Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Her daughter was acting strange this morning; even the thick-nerved Shi Youxuan noticed it.

She quietly asked her husband: "Ranran is acting strange, could she be going to see Qi Heng? And how did you discover she wasn't going to the company this morning?"

They knew Qi Heng was about to leave Jiangzhou.

Her husband nodded: "I'm one hundred percent sure she's going to see that guy. Ranran is wearing makeup today, didn't you notice?"

Shi Youxuan:...

Only then did she realize that Shi Ran was indeed wearing makeup.

Her daughter was naturally beautiful, a trait she inherited from her.

Her skin was fair, her eyebrows were naturally dark and curved like crescent moons without needing to be drawn, and her lips were naturally pink and plump.

Therefore, Shi Ran didn't usually wear makeup, only applying it for important occasions or when she needed to be under stage lights.

Shi Youxuan quietly gave her husband a thumbs up, admiring his keen observation.

"That brat still has the nerve to look for Ranran?"

The couple was talking when someone suddenly chimed in from behind, giving them both a fright.

They didn't need to turn around to know that the person who chimed in was the aunt.

When Shi Youxuan turned around, her face was already full of smiles: "Aunt, why are you up so early today?"

Ji Yingjie usually stayed up late and slept in; she was never seen at breakfast time.

She didn't answer the question, her expression quickly shifting from full of anger to full of curiosity: "I'm going out with Ranran to see what that brat actually wants to do!"

Shi Youxuan wanted to object, but after a second thought, she agreed: "Fine, but don't alert the enemy."

"Got it!"

Ji Yingjie tiptoed out, but with incredible speed.

Her husband asked: "How does she plan to follow?"

He was purely curious; following by car was too conspicuous, and with their daughter's intelligence, it was impossible for her not to notice.

Shi Youxuan said mysteriously: "Guess? There's a prize if you guess right."

"Not guessing, I can't guess it." Sheng Hanyu gave up directly.

With Ji Yingjie's train of thought, who could guess what she was thinking?

No, his own wife could guess it.

"Boring, I'll tell you."

Shi Youxuan leaned into her husband's ear and whispered a few words; Sheng Hanyu's smile gradually became wicked... no, wait, gradually became knowing.

"Mom and Dad, I'm done eating."

Shi Ran put down her bowl and chopsticks and stood up, ready to leave.

"Be careful on the road."

Her mother: "What do you want to eat for dinner tonight? I'll have Fang Jie prepare it in advance."

Shi Ran: "Anything is fine, whatever."

Everything was no different from usual; Shi Ran left the house, got in her car, and drove away from the residential complex.

Ji Yingjie was hiding in the trunk, feeling a bit stifled.

But it didn't matter; compared to her intense curiosity, what was a little stuffiness?

The journey was still long; it had been an hour and they still hadn't arrived.

Ji Yingjie was curled up in the trunk, extremely uncomfortable, but she didn't dare move at all.

If she accidentally made a sound, the suffering of this past hour would have been for nothing.

The car finally stopped.

Shi Ran got out of the car, closed the door, and left.

One minute later.

Ji Yingjie crawled out from the trunk.

The car's locks were perfectly fine, and the alarm hadn't made a sound, but the trunk lock had been opened.

This sort of thing was no challenge at all for Ji Yingjie; it was a piece of cake.

Sneaking in without anyone knowing, and sneaking out without anyone knowing.

Ji Yingjie followed behind Shi Ran, watching her walk into a high-end coffee shop!

She did not follow her inside, but instead turned and went to a clothing store.

Ten minutes later.

Ji Yingjie came out of the clothing store in an alternative, non-mainstream outfit.

A fluffy green wig sat on top of her head, she wore a tight leopard-print crop top on her upper body, a black mini-skirt on her lower body, and a pair of fifteen-centimeter-high Spring Shoes on her feet.

The makeup on her face was even more exaggerated; her face was snow-white, with concealer so thick one could poke a hole in it.

There was no helping it; no matter how much she liked to stir up trouble or how much she refused to admit she was getting old, her age was right there.

This "hot girl" outfit was seriously mismatched with her age.

Since her natural conditions weren't enough, she could only make up for it with artificial means.

But concealer alone was far from enough, so she perched a pair of oversized sunglasses on the bridge of her nose; besides looking cool, they also served to hide her eye bags and wrinkles.

That wasn't all; she also put on quite a few exaggerated but cheap pieces of jewelry on her neck, ears, and fingers.

With this getup, one look and she didn't seem like a good person.

The more exaggerated her outfit, the less she feared that Shi Ran would recognize her.

Shi Ran had a cold and detached personality; she wouldn't even glance at people she didn't care for, not even out of the corner of her eye.

As for Qi Heng... it didn't matter; they weren't familiar at all, and he wouldn't recognize her even if she weren't dressed up.

Ji Yingjie swaggered into the coffee shop, looking around as if no one else were there.

She saw them.

Two people were sitting in the very back.

The man was facing the door, but his gaze had been fixed on the girl's face from start to finish, never once moving away.

Qi Heng, it was him.

Although the girl had her back to her, she could tell at a glance that it was Shi Ran; she was wearing the same clothes as before, and the ponytail she had tied up casually was now pulled up high into a bun, secured with a diamond headband, looking both elegant and playful.

She wanted to find a seat close to the two of them to make eavesdropping easier.

But at this moment, a waiter came over: "Excuse me, miss, have you come to the wrong place?"

Ji Yingjie:...

"What do you mean?"

The waiter said: "Our shop has a minimum spend; entry is not permitted if the per-person average is below one thousand yuan."

Ji Yingjie almost started an argument with the waiter, wanting to curse him for having eyes that looked down on people and for looking down on her; never mind a thousand yuan per person, even if a cup of coffee cost eighty or a hundred thousand, it wouldn't be a difficult matter for her, Ji Yingjie.

But she had more important things to do today and couldn't let a small matter ruin the big picture.