Chapter 24: The Young Master’s Illness

Jiang Mingzhi lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting a faint shadow. When she blinked, it was like a butterfly fluttering its wings.

Guan Jingxu smiled at her. “It’s Keli, cute Keli, beautiful Li.”

After saying that, he didn’t seem to have any intention of picking up a pen to write. Jiang Mingzhi casually asked, “Should I write it?”

Guan Jingxu replied, “You write. Your handwriting is nice.”

Jiang Mingzhi, feeling it was better to obey, picked up the pen and wrote “Keli” on the bone.

After finishing, she suddenly realized his handwriting wasn’t bad either.

“How’s this? The color will turn green after firing.”

The characters weren’t large, and Guan Jingxu leaned over to take a closer look.

The two heads came together, their hair lightly brushing, and due to static electricity, a few strands of hair secretly tangled.

“Come quickly, look at my masterpiece!”

Zhuang Heyang yelled out from the side, and the two quickly pulled apart, turning in unison to look at him.

Guan Jingxu gave a sharp critique: “It’s ugly.”

Jiang Mingzhi said, “You applied such heavy colors, it’ll probably turn out even darker after firing.”

“You guys don’t understand, it has to be bright red,” Zhuang Heyang waved his hand, his hands covered in mud and paint nearly touching Lin Wan, who quickly sidestepped, showing her displeasure.

After all five had finished their work, it was almost 10 PM. The staff told them to come back in a week to pick up their pieces.

Jiang Mingzhi had already informed her mother about the situation, and the driver had been waiting for her on the street.

Lin Wan and Meng Yuanyuan’s parents had called half an hour ago to check in, and Jiang Mingzhi was worried about them being out too late, so she pulled them into the car and asked the driver to take them home first.

As for the two boys, they could take the subway.

When Jiang Mingzhi arrived home around 11 PM, her mother and Uncle Pei had already gone upstairs to rest. She didn’t disturb them and went straight to her room.

As she passed Pei Jinyang’s room, the door opened from the inside.

Pei Jinyang had large headphones hanging around his neck, his face dark with frustration, clearly having lost a game.

Seeing Jiang Mingzhi return from outside, holding an umbrella, he recognized it as the same one she had lent to Guan Jingxu yesterday. It seemed that they had met earlier today.

Frustrated from losing the game, Pei Jinyang spoke with a hint of sarcasm: “A date this late, quite romantic.”

Jiang Mingzhi retorted, “None of your business.”

The hallway lights were dim, only the yellow wall lamps illuminated the space, casting his face in shadows so his expression was unclear.

“You skipped grades just to date a senior?”

Jiang Mingzhi shot back, “Pei Jinyang, do you have nothing better to do? Lost a game and now you come bother me?”

Pei Jinyang leaned against the doorframe. “How did you know I lost?”

“I’m not blind,” Jiang Mingzhi’s gaze bypassed him, landing on the computer screen in his room.

Not sure what was going on, Pei Jinyang actually had the time and energy to chat with her today.

Pei Jinyang continued, “Didn’t you say you’d still score better than me even after skipping a grade? So why have your scores been lower than mine in the last two monthly exams?”

“…”

Jiang Mingzhi suddenly felt like punching someone.

This person really needed to be taught a lesson.

Seeing her struggle, Pei Jinyang’s mood lifted a little. He lazily remarked, “Well, you’ve been busy making friends.”

Jiang Mingzhi shot back, “None of your business.”

Pei Jinyang stood up straight, staring at her for two seconds before asking, “Jiang Mingzhi, why do you have so much hostility toward me?”

The two of them had been living under the same roof for four months. Most of the time, Jiang Mingzhi completely ignored him. Occasionally, she would say a word or two, but always with a dismissive attitude.

To be honest, he was a bit annoyed.

He had never been treated this way before. Even her mother, Qiu Tang, never dared to treat him like this.

Jiang Mingzhi thought he was being unreasonable. Who was the one who first called her a person living under someone else’s roof with no manners?

Pei Jinyang had a bit of a young master’s temper. He had been spoiled and pampered since childhood, always welcomed with smiles wherever he went.

In the past, after they had fallen out with their family, Pei Zhaohua had made it clear that no one was allowed to help him on his behalf, and Pei Jinyang had faced many closed doors and cold glares. He had often relied on Jiang Mingzhi to comfort him during those times.

Jiang Mingzhi grew a little impatient and spoke more sharply, “Maybe you should ask yourself that question.”

Her words reminded Pei Jinyang of the first time they had met.

The girl had stood at the door, backlit, looking at him with a complicated expression.

Even now, he still couldn’t quite figure out what kind of feeling that had been.

At that time, he had lost the golden bookmark his mother had given him before they left, and mistakenly thought that Jiang Mingzhi had taken it.

In fact, he still hadn’t found the bookmark, but Pei Jinyang thought that maybe it wasn’t that she had taken it on purpose; perhaps she had simply dropped it somewhere by accident.

But now, he didn’t really care about it anymore.

Jiang Mingzhi lifted her foot, about to leave, but Pei Jinyang extended a leg to block her way.

She didn’t manage to pull back in time and nearly tripped. Luckily, she adjusted her balance just in time, but her foot ended up stepping on the back of Pei Jinyang’s foot.

He gasped from the pain, “Are you deliberately getting back at me? Fine, we’re even now.”

Jiang Mingzhi replied, “No, you can continue holding a grudge against me.”

Pei Jinyang watched her with a ‘don’t care about you’ look, and his rebellious side was triggered. He smiled and said, “How could I hold a grudge against you? You’re my sister.”

He stared at her without blinking, not wanting to miss any subtle change in her expression. “We’ll have to appear together at many occasions in the future. Do you know how to play the role of a good little sister?”

Jiang Mingzhi met his gaze, her eyes showing clear exasperation.

She reached out and pushed him away, her words cold: “Don’t bother me.”

Behind her, Pei Jinyang clicked his tongue. Jiang Mingzhi didn’t look back, walking through the dim hallway and heading to her room.

---

The Qingming holiday happened to coincide with Monday. The school announced a holiday from Saturday to Monday, with classes resuming on Tuesday.

Qiu Tang had booked a flight to South City in advance, planning to take Jiang Mingzhi there to pay respects to her father during the Qingming Festival.

For Jiang Mingzhi, her father felt like a distant figure.

Although her father had passed away just under a year ago in this world, she had already spent nearly ten years without him.

At 2:24 PM on Sunday, Jiang Mingzhi and Qiu Tang boarded their flight to South City.

The two-hour flight wasn’t too long. There was no first-class cabin, so Jiang Mingzhi sat in business class and read a book.

It wasn’t a textbook, but rather a foreign literary work.

Qiu Tang kept her eyes closed and rested, and Jiang Mingzhi couldn’t tell if her mother was really asleep or just pretending.

Usually, Qiu Tang wouldn’t fake sleep to avoid communicating with her daughter, but the closer they got to South City, the more awkward they seemed around each other.

They had different feelings and perspectives about the man who had passed away.

To Jiang Mingzhi, he was a competent father who had provided a good economic foundation for her. He also showed care, attending parent-teacher meetings himself, unlike some of her classmates whose grandparents had to attend. She thought her father was pretty great.

At this moment, Jiang Mingzhi had already put away her book and was looking out of the small window, gazing at the clouds. The plane was slowly descending, and the small southern city where she had lived for 16 years was gradually coming into view.