Chapter 741: Each Serving Their Own Master

Before Shi Ran could speak, Lao Qi pulled her behind him; the two were very close, their eyes meeting.

Nianyin's heart skipped a beat.

But she did not show it on her face: "Move aside, this is our family's business, stop meddling."

Seeing the face he had seen in his dreams countless times again, Lao Qi felt a hundred different emotions in his heart, unable to describe exactly what kind of feeling it was.

Still in love.

He could be certain that he still loved Nianyin; although her family's demands were too bizarre, he firmly believed that it was the elders who were bizarre, not Nianyin's fault.

"Nianyin, do you like me even a little bit?"

Nianyin:...

"No."

Lao Qi: "Since you don't like me, why did you bring your elder to see me?"

Nianyin: "My mother wanted to see you, it wasn't that I wanted to bring her to see you..."

Halfway through her sentence, she realized she had gone off-topic.

So she pulled the topic back: "We aren't talking about this now, move aside, I need to take Ranran back."

Lao Qi: "Impossible, you have no right to take away our young miss, and your mother has even less right."

That old woman is too much; who does she think she is?

It was one thing to make excessive demands of him—after all, he was pursuing Nianyin, and she was Nianyin's mother—but what right did she have to want to take Shi Ran?

Her reach was simply too long.

"This is our Ji Family's business, don't you interfere." Nianyin grew anxious; if Lao Qi did not move aside, she was prepared to make a move.

When she came out, she had come with a death order!

She had to take Ranran back.

The more strictly Sheng Hanyu and Shi Youxuan guarded her, the more Ji Yingjie believed that Shi Ran was a treasure.

What she had to do, she must accomplish.

Lao Qi did not budge an inch: "What you're saying makes no sense; the young miss is a child of the Sheng Family, and she carries the surname Shi, so no matter how you calculate it, it has nothing to do with your family."

"Enough nonsense, move aside."

Nianyin's eyes turned red, and she took the initiative to strike.

Before she could even execute a single move, a gun barrel was pressed against her forehead.

Nianyin was astonished: "How could you possibly bring a gun inside?"

When she came in, she had passed through layers of security checks; let alone weapons, even the Dagger used as a decoration on her keychain had been confiscated.

That he could actually bring a gun into the airport left Nianyin incredibly astonished.

"Leave this place."

Lao Qi's voice was very cold, his tone strictly professional, but the sound of his heart breaking could only be heard by himself.

If she tried to force it, it would be impossible for her to take Ranran away.

Nianyin had sparred with Lao Qi before; the two of them were empty-handed, and she was no match for him, let alone now that she had a gun pressed to her head.

"Qige, can you let go just this once? Let me take Ranran away, and I can agree to any demand of yours." Nianyin softened her tone and said gently.

She even gave Lao Qi a charming smile.

This was the first time Lao Qi had seen Nianyin smile at him; she looked so beautiful, and he stared at Nianyin in a daze.

Nianyin did not feel comfortable; Lao Qi's gaze made her feel guilty.

If it weren't for the Clan Leader giving a death order, she would not want to use Lao Qi.

Just when she thought Lao Qi would agree, she was rejected: "No, you go."

Nianyin:...

She would not give up; she still wanted to try one more time.

"Qige, are your feelings for me all fake? If they were real, why wouldn't you even agree to this small request?"

Lao Qi: "Except for this matter, I will agree to anything else you ask; even if you asked me to die, I wouldn't even frown, but this matter is not up for discussion."

She lowered her head slightly, and a flash of gold appeared at her neck; Lao Qi recognized it—it was that gold necklace he had given her.

She hadn't thrown it away; she had kept it.

Back then, Lao Qi had left the gift and walked away; Ji Yingjie opened the jewelry box, saw a thin gold necklace lying inside, and felt disdain.

"Using such cheap things to try and pursue a woman of our Ji Family? A toad lusting after a swan's flesh."

She tossed it into the trash can and walked out.

Nianyin had inexplicably picked it back up; she couldn't even say what she had been thinking at the time.

"You didn't throw it away?"

"No, I like it very much, thank you." That was true; Nianyin liked the necklace very much, she liked the style.

"I thought you would throw it away, I didn't expect you to actually keep it; Nianyin, can you tell me the truth?"

"Ask."

"Do you like me? Even a little bit."

"I want to hear the truth."

Nianyin was silent.

She didn't know how to answer; if she said not even a little, she would still dream of him these past few nights.

If she did, she would feel she was letting down Feiying.

Feiying died for her, and death is forever.

As the two interacted, Shi Ran stood to the side, watching impatiently.

The young girl looked at the two of them as if they were fools; with a gun pressed to her forehead, they were busy with romantic sentiments—was there something wrong with their brains?

"Little Aunt, Uncle Lao Qi, you two chat slowly, I'm getting on the plane."

At Shi Ran's words, Nianyin finally snapped out of her daze.

"You cannot leave."

She ignored everything, not even caring that a gun was pressed against her forehead.

Of course, Lao Qi was only trying to scare her and would not actually fire.

Nianyin easily brushed past him and grabbed Shi Ran: "Come back with Little Aunt."

"No, I'm not leaving."

Shi Ran began to struggle.

She had already made plans with Qi Heng about what to do first upon arriving in L Country, what to do second...

It was hard enough to get a chance to go out and play openly without having to go to school; she did not want to miss such an opportunity.

"Uncle Lao Qi, save me!"

Lao Qi wanted to "save" the young lady, but he was worried that if the two of them fought, they might hurt her.

But he could not watch Nianyin take the young lady away, so he steeled his heart, blocked their path, and said to Nianyin: "You can take the young lady, but you must step over my dead body."

He handed the gun to Nianyin, and Nianyin took it without hesitation.

After engaging the safety, Lao Qi took a few bullets out of his pocket and handed them over, reminding her: "The bullets are here."

Nianyin:...

There were indeed no bullets in the gun.

In other words, just now, Lao Qi was not only trying to scare her, but he was also scaring her with an empty gun.

But now, he was holding a resolve to die.

She did not take them.

Nianyin pushed Shi Ran away: "Go quickly, if you don't leave now, I will change my mind."

Lao Qi escorted Shi Ran onto the plane.

Knife

Nianyin's residence.

She knelt on the ground with both hands raised above her head, and resting on top of her head was a ruler made of peach wood.

It was one finger thick, two inches wide, and three feet long.

When a woman of the Ji Family commits a mistake, the most severe punishment is to be struck on the palms with the ruler.

She had returned from the airport and immediately requested the ruler to kneel before the Clan Leader to accept her punishment.

Ji Yingjie's face was gloomy, her gaze as sharp as a knife; she did not take the ruler and said faintly: "Why didn't you kill him, hmm?"

Jiangzhou is not L Country; you cannot just kill people as you please!

Ji Yingjie understood this principle, but she just wanted to hear what Nianyin had to say.

She was very angry now, extremely angry.

She believed that Nianyin had intentionally let Shi Ran go, fearing that if Shi Ran spent too much time with her, the position of future Clan Leader might not necessarily be hers.

"Please punish me, Clan Leader."

Nianyin did not answer; she did not want to defend herself.

Consequently, Ji Yingjie became even angrier.

She ordered sternly: "Hit yourself! Do not stop until your tendons are snapped and your bones are broken."

Wan'er's home.

The house was in total chaos.

Wan'er was pacing anxiously and instructed the nanny: "Quick, no need to pack things, hurry and take the child away."

"Honestly, what time is it, and you're still thinking about packing? Hurry, hurry up."

The child was carried into the car, and she watched as the car drove away and disappeared from sight.

As her nerves relaxed, Wan'er's legs went weak and she could not stand—her husband supported her: "Are you alright?"