Chapter 923: A Chasm-Like Gap, Impossible to Reconcile

He hesitated for a moment, but did not pull away; instead, he held her hand in return. At this moment, both of them were very happy.

"Yu Cheng, if you are with me, I will never let you down."

Shi Yucheng:...

These words were a bit grating, but he didn't say anything.

The gap between the two was too great, but they could slowly adjust. As long as Ji Yingjie was willing to change, he was also willing to give her time!

However, the woman's subsequent words made him furious.

Ji Yingjie: "No matter how many men I have after you, your status will always be ranked first. No one can ever surpass you!"

Shi Yucheng:...

He violently shook off her hand, stood up, and kicked over the chair: "What did you just say? Do you dare to say it again!"

"What is wrong with you?"

She looked bewildered, but still repeated what she had just said: "I said no matter how many men I have in the future—yes, the past ones count too—you are first in my heart and in the status of the Ji Family. No man can ever get ahead of you."

Ji Yingjie did not feel there was any problem with speaking like this; on the contrary, this was the most direct way to show her sincerity.

"Go to hell. Go be with your other men; don't you dare have designs on me."

Shi Yucheng cursed and walked away.

Ji Yingjie slapped her head, suddenly realizing.

These past few days, she had only focused on pursuing Shi Yucheng and being gentle and attentive to him, but she had forgotten the most important thing.

Shi Yucheng was a man from Jiangzhou who followed a monogamous system in his bones. What she saw as commonplace was the bottom line for a Jiangzhou man, something that absolutely could not be touched.

Shi Yucheng did not return to his room after going out; he walked away, fuming and cursing.

He prepared to leave the Ji Family, and he didn't even want his granddaughter anymore.

He would have to ask for his own child himself; he could not "lose his integrity" just to get his granddaughter back.

He had originally thought that if that woman could change her temperament, spending the rest of their lives together wouldn't be bad. That way, the granddaughter would be their shared granddaughter, and the grandson would be their shared grandson. Why bother swapping them? Raising them together would also be quite good.

Unfortunately, his wishful thinking had just taken shape when it was smashed to pieces by reality!

Also smashed to pieces were his values and his self-esteem as a man!

A gentleman can be killed, but not humiliated.

That woman's words just now were the greatest humiliation to him; he had never been humiliated like this in his entire life.

Nianci reported: "Clan Leader, Old Master Shi seems to be leaving the Ji Family. He has been walking east and is about to enter the Forest."

"Stop him and bring him back."

"Yes."

Nianci agreed and went down, rubbing her temples—a headache!

"Let me go, you all let me go."

Shi Yucheng struggled and roared: "I won't go back, I won't go back even if I die!"

"You go back and tell that old witch, I am a dignified man; a man can be killed but not humiliated. I would rather die than be a male pet. If a man becomes a woman's plaything, he might as well be dead..."

Nianyin stood in front of the window, watching and listening quietly, tears streaming down.

She had heard such words before; her ex-husband Lao Qi had said them.

But when Lao Qi said them, he hadn't been this emotionally agitated. At that time, the two of them were deeply in love, frolicking in their room.

Lao Qi said: "If you don't love me anymore, just tell me directly. I will never pester you. Don't lie to me, and don't you dare find other men to make me angry."

"We men of Jiangzhou can be killed but not humiliated. I would rather die than be a pet for a woman. You are my lover, not my master..."

Before she knew it, her face was covered in tears.

She had never forgotten Lao Qi; her longing for him had never stopped for a single moment.

But she also knew that the two of them would not be happy if they were forced to be together.

Between them, it wasn't a generation gap; it was a chasm!

The child should have been a bridge built over the chasm, but in the end, it was swapped by Mother.

Instead of a bridge, it became a shovel digging the chasm, making the already difficult-to-cross chasm even deeper and wider!

Although the child was hers, she had no say in the matter of swapping the child; she could not oppose it and could only obey.

Meiyin was very cute and very pretty, and she was the hope of the Ji Family, but she didn't like her.

She couldn't feel close to flesh and blood that hadn't come from her own body. She would secretly miss her own son, miss the son she hadn't even been allowed to see once after he was born.

Shi Yucheng struggled desperately, but it was useless; he was still brought back before Ji Yingjie.

"Kneel down and apologize."

Nianci kicked him hard behind the knee. He knelt down but immediately stood back up, turning his head to glare at her fiercely.

"How bold! Without my order, who allowed you to be disrespectful to the gentleman?" Ji Yingjie reprimanded Nianci.

"Yes, this subordinate knows her crime."

"Withdraw."

The guards were all driven out; in the large room, there were only her and Shi Yucheng.

She walked down from her high seat and personally untied the Rope for him.

Shi Yucheng dodged, not letting her touch him: "No need to untie the Rope; just keep me tied up like this, it's quite good."

"Are you angry? The guards are ignorant; I will discipline them. But it was too much for you to curse me in front of all the people of the clan. I am the Clan Leader; you still need to give me some face."

"Let me go, I'll kneel and kowtow to you if you want," Shi Yucheng said.

Ji Yingjie was silent for a few seconds, her tone sounding a bit hurt: "Do you hate me that much? We have been getting along very happily these past few days, haven't we? Isn't it good to continue? Why must you leave?"

"Don't you want your granddaughter? If you stay, you can be with her. We can raise Meiyin together and watch with our own eyes as she is crowned Queen of the Ji Family."

"The outside world is too unfriendly to women. Not only do they suffer and toil, but the children they work so hard to give birth to must also take the man's surname. The Ji Family is different; women have absolute authority here. Your granddaughter will live very well if she stays, and for you to make a small sacrifice and stay for the sake of the child is the best of both worlds."

"You and I are already people with one foot in the grave; how many years do we have left to live? But the children are different. Their lives have only just begun, and there are infinite possibilities for their futures. You should consider it."

Shi Yucheng was silent.

It had to be said that Ji Yingjie had spoken directly to his heart.

Since she had already acknowledged that Meiyin was his granddaughter, the anger in Shi Yucheng's heart was not as intense.

Then, thinking about it carefully, the child staying by his side really did not have as much of a future as she would in the Ji Family!

The Ji Family is wealthy enough to rival a nation; staying here means a future of infinite glory. Following him, she would at most be a girl from a modest family. She wouldn't have to worry about food or clothing, but she wouldn't amount to much, and her mother is also like that...

In a short amount of time, he thought about a great many things.

The Ji Family does not value boys. Although Yulong is not his own biological grandson, he has developed feelings for him after raising him for over a year.

Such a cute child—if he were forced to be swapped back, in all likelihood he would end up like the boys here: neglected, unwanted, and growing up without any backbone, not like a real man.

If it were truly like that, he would not have the heart to let it happen.

"Fine, you keep the child, but let me go back."

Ji Yingjie: "No, you have misunderstood my meaning. Both you and the child are staying."

Shi Yucheng was dissatisfied: "Don't go too far. I am not even pursuing the matter of you swapping the children, which was such a vile act; what else do you want?"