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If Mu Ling had just been a bit annoyed earlier, thinking Wen Jiu was a stranger who suddenly squeezed into today’s gathering, now she was starting to like this unfamiliar girl.
She naturally hooked onto Wen Jiu’s arm and asked,
“So, do you have an older brother or a younger one at home?”
That suggestive tone?
Wen Jiu blinked, just about to respond, when a cold voice suddenly came from behind the two of them:
“What are you talking about?”
The voice was so icy it made Wen Jiu feel goosebumps rising all over.
Mu Ling, who had just been making faces at Wen Jiu, instantly froze as if someone had grabbed her by the throat, her breath stuck in her chest.
She turned around and forced a flattering smile at the newcomer.
“Nothing much. Though… do you really care that much about what I talk about?”
She asked, then naturally withdrew the arm she had been holding Wen Jiu by and turned to wrap it around the newcomer’s arm.
Wen Jiu lowered her eyes to glance at her now empty arm and let out a soft laugh.
“Let go,” Qi Su looked down at Mu Ling’s hand without much emotion. Seeing that she didn’t release him, he simply pulled his hand out directly.
He warned coldly, “Watch yourself.”
“Heh…” Mu Ling let out a cold laugh, then angrily stomped on his foot. “I won’t watch myself.”
Qi Su furrowed his brows, but there wasn’t much he could do about Mu Ling.
“Wen Jiu.”
Seeing Wen Jiu being left out in the cold, Jiang Yanci, not far away, called out to her.
Wen Jiu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Jiang Yanci leaning against the SUV, his index and middle fingers together, beckoning her:
“Come here.”
Wen Jiu: “……”
She had to admit, the scene was very easy on the eyes—but what was with this “calling a dog” feeling?
Muttering quietly to herself, Wen Jiu slowly walked over.
Jiang Yanci stared at her lips as they moved. When she got close, he asked, “What were you muttering just now?”
Wen Jiu’s expression froze. How sharp were this guy’s ears?
Did she even make a sound just now?
From her conflicted expression, Jiang Yanci easily guessed what she was thinking and couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly as he said,
“I saw it.” — Not heard it.
Wen Jiu suddenly understood.
She knew she hadn’t made a sound!
She turned and found a spot next to Jiang Yanci to lean against. Tilting her head up, Wen Jiu looked at the sun peeking out from behind the dark clouds — it was a bit blinding.
She lowered her eyes to adjust, then finally replied, “Didn’t say anything.”
If Jiang Yanci had really heard what she was thinking just now, and actually mistook her for a dog — how would she ever save face?
Jiang Yanci didn’t press her on the obviously perfunctory answer and simply asked, “Feel any better after getting out of the car for a bit?”
“Not bad, I don’t feel too uncomfortable anymore.”
Actually, after drinking the honey water and getting some sleep, Wen Jiu was already feeling much better.
Now, with the medicine kicking in and having stepped out for some fresh air, the carsickness had pretty much gone away.
Hearing her say that, the smile on Jiang Yanci’s lips deepened.
The two of them didn’t say much else, just looked up at the sky together in silence.
In the distance, Mu Ling seemed to have been upset by Qi Su and ran off to complain to Qi Qin with teary eyes.
When she passed by Jiang Yanci and Wen Jiu, she even deliberately sped up — as if being chased by a ghost.
Watching her little legs flutter by, Wen Jiu couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
Mu Ling wasn’t very tall, probably not even 160 cm.
Her bouncing legs were just too adorable.
Catching Wen Jiu’s smiling face from the corner of his eye, Jiang Yanci asked,
“Do you like Mu Ling?”
From Qi Qin to Mu Ling, it seemed Wen Jiu had no resistance to people who were outgoing and lively like them.
Wen Jiu raised an eyebrow. “How did you tell?”
“I used my eyes.”
Wen Jiu: “Your eyes are really something.”
Though her words sounded sarcastic, she said them with utter seriousness, which made Jiang Yanci laugh.
Wen Jiu didn’t look at him but instead kept her eyes on Qi Qin, who was trying to coax Mu Ling with a miserable expression. She replied, “Because… people like them have a very warm personality.”
When Wen Jiu had just returned to the country, she felt completely out of place with everything around her. Even though she could speak Chinese, her grasp of the language’s nuances, pacing, and cultural context was far behind that of kids her age.
Perhaps it was pride that made her so—during that period, Wen Jiu was very reluctant to speak in front of others, afraid they might see through her shortcomings.
But there were always a few kids around her, always pestering her to play together.
Maybe it was because she was pretty, so even when Wen Jiu rejected them again and again, they still patiently tried to coax her.
At first, when they noticed her slow speech, they didn’t mock her but patiently waited for her to finish, and later even practiced speaking speed with her.
Over time, once Wen Jiu became familiar with them, she fully blended into the environment.
Though after graduation they rarely kept in touch, ever since then, Wen Jiu naturally felt a closeness to people with that kind of personality.
Warmth? Jiang Yanci pondered, reflecting inwardly.
With his kind of personality, would Wen Jiu find him warm?
The answer was a clear no.
Aside from Qi Qin and a few others, almost no one in Gangcheng wasn’t afraid of him.
He definitely wasn’t the kind of person who gave off a warm feeling.
The wind kept blowing in gusts. Once the rest of the group had arrived, they prepared to set off.
While sorting out who would ride in which car, Jiang Yanci asked Wen Jiu, “Do you mind riding with me?”
Wen Jiu replied, “Of course not.”
With Jiang Yanci’s face right there, how could she possibly mind having such a handsome guy as her driver?
Hearing her response, Jiang Yanci felt reassured and explained,
“Mu Ling insists on sitting in the front passenger seat of Qi Qin’s car, and Qi Su has to go with him.
If the two of us squeeze into that car too, it’ll be too cramped.
So I’ll drive another car and take you with me.”
Since they had enough vehicles, there was no need to crowd into one.
Wen Jiu nodded, though she still felt something was off.
“Are Mu Ling and Qi Qin just ordinary friends?” she asked.
Jiang Yanci shook his head. “No.”
Standing behind Wen Jiu, he watched her calmly get in and sit down before shutting the front passenger door and returning to the driver’s seat.
Then he continued, “Qi Qin and Mu Ling are engaged.”
“Huh?” Wen Jiu was stunned. “Then Qi Su…?”
“Mu Ling likes Qi Su,” Jiang Yanci said quietly, dropping a bomb. Wen Jiu was shocked.
This situation was even more complicated than she had imagined.
As Jiang Yanci drove, he noticed Wen Jiu wanted to speak several times but held back out of politeness and curiosity, so he volunteered,
“Qi Qin only sees Mu Ling as a younger sister. He’s spoiled her since they were little.
And Qi Su is Qi Qin’s father’s illegitimate son — his half-brother from a different mother.”
“No wonder I thought they looked a bit alike just now.” Wen Jiu seemed thoughtful and asked, “Does Qi Qin know about Mu Ling liking Qi Su?”
“He knows,” Jiang Yanci nodded.
Without Qi Qin’s involvement, someone like Qi Su, with his illegitimate background, would never have had the chance to appear by Mu Ling’s side.
“Then I understand now.” Wen Jiu had sorted out the relationships between them.
She just hadn’t expected Qi Qin to be such a perceptive person, and even more, to allow his fiancée to pursue his half-brother.
If it were Wen Jiu, she definitely wouldn’t be that generous.
Even if she didn’t like him, she wouldn’t allow someone with the title of her fiancée to betray her.