Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Bro-in-law! Open the door!!”

Half an hour later, Li Yili’s shouts echoed from outside the gate. Ji Yunzhuo’s villa had a courtyard, and one had to pass through an iron gate to reach the front door—the voice came from beyond it.

“Bro! Why can’t I open the main door?! Why isn’t my facial recognition working?!”

Li Yili yelled frantically. Xia Yinxi hurried out to let him in, thinking to himself it was fortunate there were no other neighbors—otherwise, complaints would surely follow.

Ji Yunzhuo followed slowly behind Xia Yinxi, and Little Orange, the cat, padded along too—stumbling, bumping into Ji Yunzhuo’s calf, then being scooped up into his arms.

“The house has another owner now. It’s not convenient for you to drop by.”

Li Yili couldn’t believe it: “We’re all men…”

Ji Yunzhuo held down the squirming cat and glanced over coolly.

“…Yeah, you’re absolutely right—it really *is* inconvenient, bro.”

He switched gears instantly, knowing exactly when to back down.

Xia Yinxi reached for the large bag of ingredients Li Yili carried—but before he could hold it for more than a few seconds, a hand reached over and took it. He turned to see Ji Yunzhuo standing expressionlessly, cradling the cat in one arm and holding the bag in the other, while the hand supporting the cat idly teased it.

“Give it to me.” Xia Yinxi took Little Orange, and the well-behaved little cat immediately snuggled obediently into his arms. Ji Yunzhuo snorted—earning another indignant scolding from the cat.

Li Yili was already waiting by the villa door with another large bag. Seeing their interaction, he shook his head, visibly relieved: “I thought my bro would end up alone forever.”

Xia Yinxi unlocked the door with his fingerprint and muttered under his breath, “Your bro won’t end up alone—isn’t there still that old flame from Daming Lake?”

“What light?”

“Nothing.” Xia Yinxi asked, “Is it really okay if I don’t stream?”

Li Yili headed straight to the kitchen to wash vegetables: “It’s fine. I’m just missing out on a chance to strike it rich.”

“…”

“Oh, by the way—Brother Heng and A-Hao are coming over later too.” Li Yili poked his head out cautiously. “They also brought you…”

Ji Yunzhuo was pouring lemon tea for Xia Yinxi, testing the cup with his finger to ensure it wasn’t too hot before sliding it across. He looked up at Li Yili: “Brought what?”

Xia Yinxi perked up. *Brought what?* He was *dying* for some junk food!

Eating Ji Yunzhuo’s healthy, home-cooked meals every day was *way* too bland!

Li Yili whispered: “Some bad news.”

“?”

“…”

Li Yili silently retreated to resume chopping vegetables.

Bai Yiheng and Cheng Hao arrived shortly after. When Xia Yinxi went to open the door, Little Orange followed him out—utterly unshy—and pounced on them. At the sight of the fluffy ball, Bai Yiheng paled, and Cheng Hao, lightning-fast, grabbed Little Orange by the scruff.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Yinxi took the items they’d brought and noticed Bai Yiheng’s grim expression.

Cheng Hao placed the cat atop his own head: “Brother Heng and my bro were attacked by a cat as kids. They’ve got a phobia.”

Xia Yinxi blinked: “?”

What kind of cat could leave such a deep scar that they’d still be terrified of it nearing thirty?

Hearing the commotion from inside, Li Yili deliberately let out a loud “Ha”: “This story teaches us that brats always get what’s coming to them.”

Xia Yinxi grew curious: “What story?”

Bai Yiheng still looked grim: “Why dredge up old stories? Is your cooking done yet?”

Li Yili shrank back again, and Cheng Hao quietly slipped into the kitchen to help.

Before meeting Xia Yinxi, they’d been the youngest in the group and rarely dared offend the older brothers—lest they be shipped off to Africa.

Seeing the two of them too intimidated to speak, Xia Yinxi had no choice but to sit beside Ji Yunzhuo and poke his thigh with one finger.

Ji Yunzhuo, replying to work messages, used his free hand to grab Xia Yinxi’s: “Stop it.”

Xia Yinxi: “…”

Even while working, he still had to play the devoted partner. If Ji Yunzhuo hadn’t gone into business, he might’ve even won an award in the entertainment industry.

“What was Lili talking about just now?”

Ji Yunzhuo typed with one hand and replied casually: “When they were kids, they went to a zoo and got chased by a tiger.”

Xia Yinxi: “O口O?”

With Ji Yunzhuo starting the story, Li Yili immediately chimed in: “Chased for a full kilometer! Luckily, there was raw meat in the car for a barbecue. My bro threw it out to lure the tiger away—and lost a treasured photo he’d kept for ages!”

Cheng Hao: “From then on, Brother Zhuo wasn’t just the big brother—he also became my bro and Brother Heng’s honorary dad.”

“Then wouldn’t Xia Xiaoxi be your god… I’d better keep chopping vegetables.” Feeling three simultaneous death glares, Li Yili quietly closed the kitchen door.

Xia Yinxi frowned: “How did you get chased by a tiger?”

In his experience, tiger enclosures at zoos were always far from visitors—separated by high walls and fences. Unless someone climbed in, getting close to a tiger was nearly impossible.

Bai Yiheng didn’t seem like *that* much of a brat, right?

Ji Yunzhuo switched to his laptop and explained: “It was a drive-through zoo overseas. The guide kept warning them not to get out—but they ignored him.”

Xia Yinxi let out an “Oh.” So they really *were* little brats after all.

Bai Yiheng, unwilling to revisit his embarrassing childhood, cut in: “I brought you a bit of bad news.”

Xia Yinxi: “?”

“A bit”?

“Grandpa wants you to return to the family estate tomorrow. Your uncles’ families will be there too. I heard they’ve even arranged a blind date for you. Oh—and bring your father’s ashes back with you. Grandpa said you definitely won’t pay respects if they’re left in your care, so it’s better to keep them at the family estate.”

“…”

The room fell silent for a long moment. Ji Yunzhuo closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead: “Li Yili.”

“…Present.”

"Didn't you say there was only one piece of bad news?"

Li Yili was speechless and started busing plates back and forth, pretending not to hear.

Cheng Hao laughed, trying to lighten the mood: "One piece of bad news and two aren't that different, hahaha."

Xia Yinxi muttered: "But this sounds like four pieces of bad news."

He'd lived here forever and never seen a spirit tablet or urn in any room. He'd long suspected some filial son had swept his dad's ashes out and tossed them.

Cheng Hao: "Which one'd I miss?"

Xia Yinxi: "All of them."

"...?"

Xia Yinxi turned to ask Ji Yunzhuo: "Does the old man know you're married? I'm not still some unregistered nobody, am I?"

Ji Yunzhuo chuckled: "Then come home with me tomorrow and get registered?"

Cheng Hao was blindsided by the sour stench of romance and clicked his tongue: "You two..."

Then a single look from Ji Yunzhuo shut him up, and he pivoted hard: "...are so in love, hahaha."

Xia Yinxi: "???"

What's weird about that.

Dinner took an hour. Ji Yunzhuo and Bai Yiheng talked shop, Li Yili and Cheng Hao chatted about games, and Xia Yinxi was getting bombarded by Song Baichuan on WeChat, everyone doing their own thing.

Bai Yiheng suddenly asked: "The old man still doesn't know you and Xiaoxi tied the knot?"

Ji Yunzhuo picked up a piece of lamb for Xia Yinxi: "Nope."

"You two just went and got hitched on your own?" Bai Yiheng couldn't believe it. "Neither set of parents met?"

Xia Yinxi took a small bite of the lamb, and beef instantly appeared in his bowl. He looked up in protest: "I want veggies."

"Eat both." Ji Yunzhuo grabbed him some greens, plus more lamb.

Too skinny, needs more meat.

Bai Yiheng: "..."

They're this close, but no engagement? And when'd they even get married? No wedding, or just not invited?

Xia Yinxi explained: "My parents respect my choices. I think marriage is just between two people..."

Bai Yiheng: "???"

'Respectful' is an understatement—they spoil him. He'd never heard of a married couple whose folks hadn't met.

"Anyway, my parents already met Ah Zhuo, and tomorrow the old man can meet me." Xia Yinxi said, pushing the meat aside. "That's good enough, right?"

Ji Yunzhuo tapped his plate with his chopsticks.

Xia Yinxi froze, then silently put the meat back.

This guy was enforcing Ms. Meng's decree to monitor his eating—he had no choice but to obey.

After dinner, Li Yili and Cheng Hao did the dishes and scrubbed the pots before leaving. When Xia Yinxi went back to his room, he made a point to glance at the guest room at the end of the hall.

"What's wrong?" Ji Yunzhuo asked, noticing him looking around.

"Your dad's ashes... where'd you put them?"

Ji Yunzhuo went quiet.

Xia Yinxi cocked his head.

"..."

"............"

The little space at the stairwell was quiet for ages before Xia Yinxi said in disbelief: "You really tossed them?"

Aren't you scared of getting struck by lightning, bro?!

"Have someone buy a new one tomorrow. Go to bed."

"?"

Buy a new what? A new urn?

Is that something you can just fix by buying a new one?!

-

The next morning, Xia Yinxi was woken by noise downstairs. When he went down, he saw a huge bag of cat food, Ji Yunzhuo standing at the door with a dark face, his expression screaming "tired."

Little Orange pounced on the sack, flattening it a bit and revealing Cheng Hao's head behind it.

"...What's going on here."

"Helping you feed the cat." Cheng Hao took a deep breath. "A Li said we should go back to the old house together to back up Brother Zhuo, so he gave me this task."

Ji Yunzhuo: "Not needed."

Xia Yinxi stumbled downstairs, half-asleep: "Don't you dare overfeed my kid."

Cheng Hao wagged his finger: "I know cats, don't worry."

Last night, after grilling Li Yili about Ji Yunzhuo's family, the story was so wild that Xia Yinxi had a night of crazy dreams. Now, every time he saw Ji Yunzhuo, all he could picture was him taking the throne.

Feudal leftovers, man. Feudal leftovers.

To deal with the feudal family's relatives, Xia Yinxi spent an hour picking out clothes before heading out. He finally picked a slightly fitted bamboo-green Chinese-style jacket from a closet full of loose suits.

The stand-up collar and frog buttons gave it an old-school charm, and the light color made him look clean and fresh, with a coolness like early spring bamboo shoots.

Xia Yinxi rummaged through the closet and packed a brighter outfit for the birthday banquet the next day.

Ji Yunzhuo had been waiting downstairs for a bit. When he saw him, his eyes darkened, and he looked him up and down a few times, making Xia Yinxi wonder if he had his clothes on backward, before finally saying: "You look good."

"Is this the first day you've known me? Staring so long." Xia Yinxi sighed in relief. "I thought I had dressed wrong."

Ji Yunzhuo reached out to straighten his collar, then looked at the embroidery on his shoulder that resembled bamboo leaves but not quite, and asked: "Bamboo leaves?"

Xia Yinxi shook his head: "It's oleander. Poisonous, so don't touch."

"..."

Ji Yunzhuo smiled and withdrew his hand. "Let's go."

The nearly two-hour drive left Xia Yinxi exhausted, so he had the driver raise the partition and lie down in the back seat.

Fortunately, the Rolls-Royce had enough space for him to curl up his legs and lie down. Seeing him curl up, Ji Yunzhuo patted his own thigh, signaling him to rest his head there.

"This doesn't feel right," Xia Yinxi said as he leaned over, politely adding, "I'll just lie here for a bit; tell me if your leg goes numb."

"I knew you couldn't sit still; should've taken the business car."

"I didn't realize your place was this far. Are we almost to the next province?"

"Pretty much."

As the car drove onto the winding mountain road, Xia Yinxi felt something was off. He rolled over, propping himself up on Ji Yunzhuo's leg to look out the window. The trees halfway up the mountain were thick and lush, with a faint mist swirling around. The winding road looped on and on, leading straight to an estate at the top.

The Ji family's old house was a fully traditional Chinese building. Its grand gates looked like something out of an ancient noble's mansion—maybe even more over-the-top. The car slowly drove through the gates, and it took over ten minutes before they reached the main entrance.

A few cats were running around the gate, so the car slowed down, waiting for them to clear out before picking up speed again.

Past the main entrance were layers of courtyards, with low buildings laid out like palaces, neatly lined up north to south. A wutong tree in the courtyard would take at least three people to wrap their arms around, probably centuries old.

Xia Yinxi instinctively grabbed Ji Yunzhuo's shirt. "The layout of your place..."

"Like a royal tomb."

"So you knew." Xia Yinxi sat up straight, smoothing his clothes. "Is that good luck?"

Ji Yunzhuo laughed. "I don't know feng shui, but I've never liked it here since I was a kid."

Xia Yinxi nodded in agreement. "This place should be a tourist attraction. How can anyone live here?"

"Tomorrow is Grandpa's birthday, so we have to stay tonight. Is that okay?" Ji Yunzhuo saw him wide-eyed, looking around with reluctance to set foot inside, and continued, "If you don't want to stay, we can head home after seeing Grandpa."

Xia Yinxi thought that even though it was a fake marriage, Ms. Meng had had a long private talk with Ji Yunzhuo that day, and Ji Yunzhuo had meticulously fulfilled his duties in taking care of Xia Yinxi. So, he should reciprocate by saving face for Ji Yunzhuo in front of the Ji family elders.

Thus, he shook his head. "Since we're here, we might as well stay until the birthday banquet ends."

"Then stick close to me."

Xia Yinxi could get lost even in the office, let alone in the Ji family's old mansion with its countless branching paths. Ji Yunzhuo repeatedly told him not to wander off alone before they got out of the car.

Li Yili had already arrived and was waiting for them at the door. The people inside were chatting noisily about something, but the moment Ji Yunzhuo appeared, the room fell silent, leaving only the rustling of wutong leaves in the courtyard.

Xia Yinxi stopped mid-step. "?"

Was there a ghost?