Chapter 68: Sorry

Chapter 68: Sorry

"You want to talk about something?" Lin Qiao paused her pen and looked up at the man. "Is it the thing you've been keeping from me?"

Ji Duo nodded.

"And it's related to Xiao Ze as well?"

Ji Duo nodded again.

"Was that the same thing you were referring to when you told me it wasn't the right time to talk about it?"

This time, Ji Duo didn't respond. Lin Qiao leaned back in her chair. "That's quite a long time, half a year."

She still couldn't figure out what it was, especially since it involved Ji Ze around last year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

Ji Duo didn't engage with her speculation and glanced out the window again. "The weather's not good tomorrow, I'll buy food and bring it back instead of going to the cafeteria."

"That won't be necessary," Lin Qiao said unexpectedly.

Ji Duo's movement as he sat back by the desk paused slightly. Before he could check her expression, Lin Qiao added, "I have a community service class tomorrow."

She had been insisting on this class, once a month. The only month she stopped last semester was during the final exams. This semester, because of the college entrance exams, the class would likely be suspended for the next two months, leaving only this month and next available. It couldn't be canceled just because of bad weather.

Ji Duo understood. "Then in the evening, I'll buy food and bring it back."

Lin Qiao sensed that there was something more going on beneath his calm exterior, almost like he was preparing her for something serious.

Her suspicion was confirmed the next morning. He didn’t let her go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Instead, he bought breakfast back for her—noodles, baozi (steamed buns), pickled vegetables, and boiled eggs.

Some was for breakfast, and the rest was packed in an aluminum lunch box for lunch.

Lin Qiao gave the man a half-smiling look. "Very thoughtful, but it's a pity it's not made by your wife."

Ji Duo didn't respond and had Xiao Fang escort her to the school gate, watching as she opened her umbrella and went inside before leaving.

It had rained heavily in the morning, but by the time she returned in the afternoon, the sky had cleared, leaving only shiny puddles on the ground.

Lin Qiao, holding her long-handled umbrella in one hand and her bag in the other, walked around the puddles as she checked the answers to the chemistry competition with a few students from her class.

As she walked out of the school gate, she saw a familiar jeep waiting by the side of the road.

It seemed they had spotted her, and the rear door opened, revealing half of the man’s face.

Lin Qiao walked over. "It's not another issue this time, is it?"

"No issue, just passing by after buying food," Ji Duo took her long-handled umbrella, his gaze pausing slightly behind her.

Lin Qiao noticed it and, once seated in the car, turned to look back.

It was Song Jing, still interning at the junior high school, carrying a small bag and obviously just leaving the school. As she appeared, a young man approached her.

He was of medium height, dressed appropriately, and his manner was polite, though his appearance was rather ordinary. Standing next to the young and beautiful Song Jing, he immediately paled in comparison.

Lin Qiao watched as he handed a bag of fruits and a hot water bag to Song Jing. They spoke in low voices for a few moments before walking side by side in the other direction, appearing quite close.

Are they a couple?

Wasn't Ye Minshu trying to set Song Jing up with Xiao Ze? She kept talking about Song Jing as if she were already her daughter-in-law, and Song Jing used to seem pretty into it...

Lin Qiao couldn't help but glance at Ji Duo, only to find that the man had already averted his gaze. "That's Yu Jin from the Yu family," he said.

"Yu Jin?" Lin Qiao really hadn't expected that. "Xiao Ze's childhood friend?"

"Yes." Ji Duo's tone was emotionless, but that single word was enough to be shocking.

Regardless of whether Ji Ze had any interest, Ye Minshu had been quite obvious about it. Was this getting a little too soap opera?

She wondered if Ye Minshu knew about this and how she'd react.

Earlier, before dinner, Lin Qiao had been gossiping, and by the time she returned home and entered the kitchen, she found that tonight's dinner was exceptionally sumptuous.

There was steamed fish, stir-fried meat, and her favorite braised prawns. Judging by their size and color, they seemed different from the usual.

"This isn't from the cafeteria, is it?" she asked the man.

Ji Duo was getting bowls and chopsticks from the chopstick holder and nodded in response. "A new private restaurant in Yandu."

That was quite far. Yandu was at least an hour's drive from here.

If he was going through all this trouble just to impress or get leniency, it felt a bit much, and Lin Qiao sensed something was off.

She thought over the man's recent actions again, and just as a thought crossed her mind, Ji Duo reached under the coffee table in the living room and handed her a box. "Happy birthday."

So, it really was for her birthday. No wonder he got her two eggs this morning instead of just one.

Was the reason he said it wasn't the time yesterday because of this?

After all, whenever there was a birthday in the family, they would go back to the old house to celebrate with Old Master and Xu Li. This time, because of Ji Jun, the elderly couple had to avoid going back.

Lin Qiao didn't really mind. When she was in boarding school, she would celebrate with her teachers and classmates, only receiving phone calls and gift packages from home.

She gently shook the box. "What's inside?"

"A camera." Ji Duo came over to help her open it. It was a very old-fashioned film camera, a brand from Japan.

Lin Qiao didn't really have the habit or interest in taking photos and couldn't help but examine it. "Why did you think of giving me this?"

"To take pictures of you on your birthday, New Year, and when you get into university," Ji Duo said as he took out a few batteries from his pocket.

When they got the wedding photos back and put them in an album, he noticed that compared to Ji Ze, Ji Ling, and even himself, there were hardly any photos of Lin Qiao. In eighteen years, only three remained.

At that time, he had merely thought this girl had it tough. He felt a bit of pity, but more than that, he admired her optimism and resilience.

During the pre-New Year house cleaning and organizing, he came across that album again and looked at those three photos. Suddenly, he felt a twinge of regret.

Perhaps when you care about someone, you want to know about their past, as if you were a part of their previous life.

Lin Qiao's past photos were too few, and he didn't want it to be the same in the future. When they grew old, sitting together reminiscing, there would be no memories to look back on. He wanted to capture her important moments and fill in the gaps from her past.

Ji Duo loaded the batteries and recalled what he had learned before. He picked up the camera and took a picture of Lin Qiao.

The flash went off, capturing Lin Qiao's face before she could even react.

No posing, no smiling, just a top-down "death angle" shot...

Lin Qiao almost jumped. She quickly took the camera from the man's hand. "Don't take random pictures! If you're going to leave behind some embarrassing photos, it's better not to take any."

She wasn’t fixated on taking perfect photos and didn’t spend all day snapping selfies, but she didn’t want to end up with bad ones, right?

Ji Duo obviously didn’t expect her to react this way and pondered what she meant by "black history." His gaze settled on her face, "Not ugly."

Even without deliberate dressing up, the young woman still looked stunning.

Her hair had been lightly permed by Xu Li during the New Year, making her already fair skin look even paler. The upward tilt of her eyes added a lively sparkle.

Ji Duo looked down, unable to resist reaching out, his thumb brushing over the small mole at the corner of her eye.

The touch was so light that Lin Qiao might not have felt it if the skin there wasn’t sensitive and his thumb wasn’t rough.

She involuntarily lifted her head, and his thumb slid from the corner of her eye to her cheek.

Ji Duo didn’t move his hand and simply half-cupped her face, meeting her gaze as he repeated in a low voice, "Not ugly."

His eyes were focused, and the places his hand had touched felt slightly itchy.

Lin Qiao fluttered her long lashes and somehow felt more intimacy in this physical contact than in their passionate moments at night.

But she still used the camera to tap the man’s chest, "Even so, you can’t just take random photos."

No matter how not-ugly or how intimate it was, it couldn’t change the fact that he was a straight man when it came to photography, and there was still something he hadn’t explained.

Feeling a bump on his chest, Ji Duo withdrew his hand and looked down at the camera pressed against him, frowning, "Why not call it random?"

Lin Qiao wasn’t very good at this either, "How about you ask Xiao Ze when he comes over?"

Ji Duo: "..."

Of course, this man wasn’t completely clueless. That night, when she received another birthday gift, Lin Qiao almost cried.

He was incredibly patient, making her feel sometimes too slow, other times too fast, and in the morning, she discovered that two curtain clips had fallen off.

"You messed it up, so you fix it." Lin Qiao looked back at the man as she pulled the curtains.

Ji Duo was fastening his cufflinks, and thinking about the faint lingering pain on his chest, wisely didn’t say it wasn’t you who pulled it off, just responded with an "Um."

Maybe because of the great meal on her birthday, the next few days were filled with good news.

First, the results of the physics competition were announced, and Li Xiaoqiu qualified for the finals with a strong score.

Vice Principal Qi, who taught physics, privately told Lin Qiao that with her score, as long as she didn’t perform poorly in the finals, there was hope for an award.

Then there was chemistry. This time, two students from the school made it to the competition, one from Lin Qiao’s class, Qi Huaiwen, and a boy from Class 2, led by Mr. Gao.

"This year is really good. In previous years, none of our students made it, but this year, three did." Mr. Gao tapped on the desk, his leg crossed confidently.

"In previous years, we didn’t get the opportunity, did we?"

This year, the school’s results were indeed excellent, and having two students from her own class make it to the finals made Lin Qiao very happy, especially Qi Huaiwen, who gave her quite a surprise.

By the end of last semester, he was already ranking close to the top 20 in his grade, and in the first monthly exam this year, his grades improved again. He had been quite a troublemaker before, but now he was working hard.

That Sunday was especially sunny. Not having to go back to the old house, the couple washed the sheets and covers in the washing machine in the morning. They dried perfectly by the afternoon, so they starched and hung them out to dry again.

As they were hanging the laundry on the steel wire in the yard, Ji Ze arrived, carrying a bottle of Moutai in each hand and a bag on his back. However, he looked far from energetic.

Saying he didn’t look energetic would be an understatement. He had lost a lot of weight, his eye sockets sunken, his chin sharp, but his eyes were steady. The weight loss had stripped away the last of his youthful softness, revealing sharper features, and he looked more mature than when Lin Qiao had first seen him in the hospital.

"Uncle, Auntie." As soon as he entered the yard, he greeted the two of them. Seeing that Ji Duo was hanging things up, he quickly put down the wine bottles and said, "Let me help."

He took the items and placed them on the wire rope. Just as he was about to ask if there was anything else, he noticed his uncle giving him a thoughtful look.

Only then did he realize that Lin Qiao was standing next to him, holding the starched items. By rushing to help, he had inadvertently positioned himself between the couple, standing right next to Lin Qiao.

Feeling the awkwardness, Ji Ze quickly added, "Oh, right, I also brought some food."

He was about to run inside with his bag but turned back to grab the two bottles of Moutai from the ground.

Just when she thought he had matured a bit, he became flustered again. Lin Qiao found it somewhat amusing, "Your nephew is quite filial, huh."

Ji Duo didn’t say anything but continued to hang the items in the basin before taking the empty basin from Lin Qiao’s hand to go inside and wash his hands.

Ji Ze had already put the Moutai away and pulled a lunch box out of his bag. "I remember you like this, Auntie. See if it suits your taste."

This was another attempt to impress. Just as Lin Qiao was about to reach out, Ji Duo took it instead. Opening it, he saw it was a portion of braised prawns.

Ji Duo couldn’t help but glance at his nephew. It was Lin Qiao who felt that the braised prawns looked strangely familiar. "Where did you buy this?"

"Yuebin Restaurant," Ji Ze said, "The newly opened private restaurant in Chunhua Alley, the first privately-run restaurant in Yandu."

Probably wanting to make a good impression, he explained in detail, "There are only four tables there. Many foreigners go there to eat, and reporters even go to take photos and interview them. The reservation slots are booked two months in advance. I didn’t get a number, so I paid ten yuan to have someone who did get a number order this for me. I’m not sure how it will taste."

A portion of braised prawns cost two yuan, which was a very expensive dish at the time. He paid ten yuan, meaning the other person got a free meal and still had money left over.

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but look at Ji Duo. "Did you buy it from this restaurant that day?"

"Did Uncle also buy it from this restaurant?" Ji Ze was equally surprised. "Did you also pay someone to buy it?"

"No, I reserved it in advance." Ji Duo didn’t deny it and had already placed the opened lunch box on the dining table.

This was even more unexpected. Booking two months in advance meant he had reserved it well before the New Year.

Both Lin Qiao and Ji Ze were wide-eyed, exchanging incredulous glances at each other.

Ji Duo remained calm. "You two chat; I’ll go grab a couple more dishes from the canteen."

"No need, no need." Ji Ze quickly came to his senses and took out a few more lunch boxes from his bag. "I’ve already bought everything. Let’s just sit down and eat."

Lin Qiao then rinsed a cup for each of them. Ji Ze opened a bottle and poured drinks for himself and Ji Duo, then asked Lin Qiao.

"I’m not into this." Lin Qiao got a soda for herself, and the three of them sat together at the dining table again.

Unlike last time, Ji Ze seemed much more relaxed. However, as he thought about what he was going to say, he still raised his glass. "This cup is to apologize to Auntie."

Before Lin Qiao could ask what he was apologizing for, he had already downed the entire glass and took out a notebook for her.

Lin Qiao accepted it with confusion. "What is this?"

"The full financial records for the liquid soap business from start to present."

Ji Ze had come today to give an account. He then took out several stacks of money from his bag. "This is this month’s share."

There were three full stacks of ten-yuan notes, all tied with brown paper, and another stack that was only partially filled, with the rest being small change.

He wouldn’t have brought this up out of the blue or handed over more than three thousand yuan without a reason. Thinking about the purpose of his visit today, Lin Qiao looked at Ji Duo beside her.

Under her intense gaze, Ji Duo tightened his grip on the wine glass and took a sip, almost instinctively. "The friend I mentioned to you before..."

"That was me," Ji Ze interjected, "At first, I didn't plan to make it a long-term thing, and I felt embarrassed to tell you, so I asked my uncle to help keep it from you."

He had already shirked responsibility once. If he had taken responsibility and either accepted the arranged marriage or explained things to Lin Qiao, the proposal wouldn’t have ended up with his uncle.

Looking back, what was he even thinking?

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had indeed planned to drag it out, using passive resistance to make the elders understand and push the marriage proposal away for him.

Exactly as his uncle had said—selfish, arrogant, and self-righteous. He was the one who didn't want it, yet he let the elders handle it for him.

Ji Ze picked up the wine bottle and poured himself another cup. "I don’t mind if you laugh, but at first, I planned to take out a loan to import a production line from overseas for manufacturing appliances, borrowing tens of millions." He glanced at Lin Qiao and downed another big gulp of wine. "My uncle and Grandpa disagreed, telling me to earn my first pot of gold by myself first. That's when I thought of your liquid soap factory."

Back then, I didn’t realize it, but now that the business has grown and I’ve gained more experience, I see how unrealistic my ideas were.

"I wanted everything but didn't dare to face my mother, so I kept hiding things, involving both you and my uncle."

Even when his mother found out, he thought that if he refused to back down and stood his ground, she’d eventually give up.

But what happened? His uncle told his mother that someone had reported to the school that the liquid soap factory belonged to his aunt.

That's when he made up his mind, first stabilizing his mother while submitting a transfer application to leave the army, so that by the time she found out, it would be a done deal.

Ji Ze gave a self-deprecating smile. "If I had any sense of responsibility, things wouldn't have turned out like this. I asked my uncle to help keep it secret. Don't blame him."

"It was also my lack of consideration," Ji Duo didn't intend to let his nephew take all the blame, "Sorry for keeping it from you for so long."

He raised his glass toward Lin Qiao, but she didn't move, looking from one to the other, feeling as if pieces of information were crashing into each other in her mind.

"So, Xiao Ze was the one who wanted to partner with me to sell liquid soap from the start?"

Both the uncle and nephew nodded.

"And Xiao Ze was the one who wanted to go into business all along?"

The question sounded strange, but Ji Duo and Ji Ze nodded again.

Then who was the one engaged in an arranged marriage with the original body?

Lin Qiao almost blurted it out, but she hadn't drunk any alcohol and still had her rationality.

Asking that question might lead to an answer she wasn't prepared for, and she would have to explain why she connected doing business with an arranged marriage.

But Ji Ze's words still felt like a bomb dropped in her mind, shattering her understanding into pieces.

Lin Qiao subconsciously reached for a cup by her hand and was about to drink when someone pinched the rim of the cup.

Only then did she realize it was Ji Duo's glass. The man's large, bony hand hovered above the cup, and under the light, it seemed like it could completely cover her small hand.

Lin Qiao's gaze moved from the man's hand to his handsome, sharp profile. "What about you? Have you ever considered going into business?"

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" Ji Duo glanced at her and pulled the cup away from her.

Lin Qiao didn't reach for it again but kept her eyes on his face. "Just curious. You seem to know a lot about this stuff."

It was because he had always seemed knowledgeable that she had never suspected anything.

"I just know a little," seeing that she was genuinely curious, Ji Duo picked up a shrimp and helped peel it for her. "I never thought about doing business."

Since he had never considered going into business, had she been mistaken all along?

In an instant, the hostility from Ye Minshu at their first meeting, Ji Ze's evasion, and Ji Jun's awkwardness all seemed to have an explanation.

But if it was Ji Ze who was originally betrothed to me, why was it changed to Ji Duo, and why did Ji Duo agree?

His direct superior's lover had introduced him to a potential match, but he didn’t even consider it. This man was not one to compromise easily, and he couldn't be threatened or blackmailed.

The only thing that could make him back down would be his closest family, and maybe there were other factors at play.

And Old Master Ji and Xu Li wouldn’t have switched the betrothal from grandson to son just because the grandson didn’t want to. So for a long time, I never even considered this possibility.

The more intense the moment became, the calmer Lin Qiao remained. She got up, rinsed her cup again, and poured herself another half glass of wine.

"I can understand why this happened." She first clinked her glass against Ji Duo’s. "After all, we had just gotten married at that time, and of course, a nephew was more important than a wife."

Even as she said it was understandable, she cut straight to the heart of the matter, pointing out the fundamental reason why Ji Duo had agreed to Ji Ze's request.

Their marriage wasn’t built on love; they had no emotional connection. Ji Duo took care of her out of a strong sense of responsibility. But he and Ji Ze had known each other for over twenty years. Even if he was frustrated with his nephew’s lack of drive, when Ji Ze came to him for help and wasn’t planning to drag things out, he still agreed.

He just didn’t expect that Ji Ze would change his mind later, and his feelings toward Lin Qiao also shifted. Some things were easy to agree to at first, but much harder to untangle later.

This remark left Ji Duo speechless, and Ji Ze, sitting across from them, showed signs of anxiety. “It’s not… my uncle he…”

“This doesn’t concern you.” Lin Qiao interrupted him with a smile and refilled his glass with some more wine. “The one originally betrothed to me was him, and the one who married me was also him. If he didn’t want to, he could have just said so. Why get married and then help the family hide things from me, treating me like an outsider?”

The smile hid a sharpness, something she rarely revealed.

Ji Duo couldn’t help but look at her, calling out softly, “Qiao Qiao…”

Before he could finish, Ji Ze lost it first. “None of this is my uncle’s fault, it’s all mine!”

He had already punished himself with a drink when he entered, and the alcohol had started to cloud his judgment. Apologizing to Lin Qiao, the pressure, guilt, and regret he had been enduring all surged up, overwhelming his rationality. “It’s me who pushed the betrothal onto my uncle, and now I’m dragging him down…”

Ji Duo stopped peeling the shrimp and gave him a cold look.

Ji Ze, realizing what he had just revealed, quickly glanced at Lin Qiao, hoping she hadn’t heard clearly because of his drunken slur.

But Lin Qiao had already set her glass down, her voice as cold as ice. “Let him speak! Why shouldn’t he speak?”