Chapter 19 – Kiss

“You feel uncomfortable if you don’t cause trouble for me in a day, do you?!” Xu Chengyue was almost exploding with anger, shouting at his son, “Do you want to make me die of anger before you’re happy!”

Beside him, Chen Lian was wearing a face mask and was being bombarded with the cries of the Li parents. She said, “Aiya, there might be some misunderstanding between the kids. Xiao Ji isn’t an unreasonable person, let me ask him when he comes back, okay?”

Xu Ji held up his phone lazily and took a bite of the pure meat sausage he had just bought from the convenience store, mumbling in response.

He didn’t eat much during the party just now. He was starving.

Xu Cheng was furious, “It could’ve been anyone, why did you have to cause trouble with your elder brother-in-law?!”

Xu Ji was now so annoyed that he wanted to kill someone. He stopped chewing and asked, “Was it me who caused trouble with him?”

Xu Chengyue asked, “Was it not?!”

Xu Ji fiddled with his pockets and impatiently repeated, “Was it me who caused trouble with him?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Dw Ubldtuwl nbsjle, “Jwv es usw byhl vs es kv kd rwczkn?”

“Ebyv? Ps R byhl vs nyal ycswv svbla estp obld R clyv wr y est?” Dw Kk pdllale, pwnnlppqwzzu blyakdt vbl pswde sq bkp qyvbla’p ydtau calyvbkdt.

Dw Ubldtuwl pbswvle, “Gduoyu, Nk Mkdt’p ryaldvp byhl yzalyeu tsdl vblal. Omrzykd kv uswaplzq!” vbld bl bwdt wr vbl rbsdl.

Dw Kk vbalo vbl pvknj qasx vbl pywpytl kdvs vbl vaypb nyd. Ebyv psav sq Zswdt Yypvla kp vbkp? Gqvla clkdt jknjle, bl lhld bye vs nyzz bkp ryaldvp? Gde obyv oyp vblal vs lmrzykd? Eyp bl tskdt vs pvyde vblal zkjl y qssz yde rashkel nwpvsxla plahknl?

Jlpkelp, bl eked’v wpl xwnb qsanl okvb vbyv jknj. Gv xspv, kv oswze fwpv cl y akc qaynvwal, obknb oswze blyz okvb psxl alpv.

Ebld Dw Kk oyp yddsule sa ydtau, bl oswze rwv sd y cye lmralppksd sd bkp qynl. Tkp obszl cseu oswze cl wdela zso ralppwal, nywpkdt rypplap-cu vs yhske bkx.

Kk Wydtnbk nsdpnkswpzu eked’v csvbla Dw Kk yde blze vos pywpytlp, lyvkdt vblx okvb valxczkdt bydep zkjl y zkvvzl byxpvla.

Dw Kk vssj plhlayz ellr calyvbp yde ypjle Kk Wydtnbk, “Zsw pvkzz oydv xsal?”

Ji Fangchi, who was still growing, of course wasn’t full yet. He cautiously replied, “Yeah.”

Xu Ji, “Go buy it.”

Li Ting, who had been following behind the two, spoke up, “Um…”

Xu Ji’s eyebrows furrowed in impatience, but when he lifted his eyelids, he saw Li Ting looking at him with curving eyes. Although he was good-looking, his mouth spoke mannerless words, “Ge, I want to eat too.”

Ji Fangchi almost choked. Although he knew that his sister-in-law’s behavior was really egregious, he couldn’t resist the charm of his beautiful appearance, sweet voice, and charming mouth. If even he felt as if he was going to ascend to heaven, then what’s more to say about his Xu Ji-ge who was fond of him?

Xu Ji stared at Li Ting for a while. For some reason, he found him more pleasing to the eye, perhaps due to their common hatred towards Li Yue.

After all, it is said that the enemy of the enemy is a friend. He said, “Go buy it.”

Li Ting was taken aback for a moment, then smiled, a smile that seemed to carry a hint of being overwhelmed. In no time, he came out with four skewers of starch sausage, looking very happy, “Thank you, ge.”

“Shut up, don’t gross me out,” Xu Ji rubbed his fingertips. He wanted to smoke, but remembered that he didn’t bring it, so he extended his hand to Li Ting. “Cigarette.”

Li Ting was stunned for a moment, then he held the four sausages in one hand, took out his cigarettes and lighter from his pocket and tossed them over.

Xu Ji caught them accurately. He knocked out one cigarette and held it between his lips. Then he used his left hand to block the wind around him as his right hand lit the lighter. His eyelashes naturally drooped as he smoked carelessly.

The white smoke rose and drifted over to his side. Li Ting became a little dazed staring at Xu Ji, as if the mole on his nose was luring him, making it hard for him to take his eyes off him.

Sitting on the simple chair in front of the convenience store, Li Ting took a bite of sausage as he watched Xu Ji.

Li Ting couldn’t help but laugh when recalling the miserable state of Li Yue just now. When Xu Ji left, he even stepped over Li Yue’s hand.

He called out, “Xu Ji.”

Xu Ji looked up.

“Although I thought you looked cool since I first saw you,” Li Ting stretched his long legs casually, “but I’ve realized that your personality is even cooler.”

The smoke blurred Xu Ji’s face, and he let out an “Mn,” in a low voice.

After finishing a cigarette, Ji Fangchi also finished his oden, Xu Ji stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

The car was parked on the side of the road. Li Ting stood up and suddenly said, “Thanks.”

So far, he had thanked Xu Ji twice.

Xu Ji turned around, and his coat rustled in the wind. He said, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I wasn’t sticking up for you earlier, but rather he caused me trouble, and I just happened to be able to beat him up.”

Li Ting smiled and said, “I know.”

Xu Ji withdrew his sight, fastened his seat belt, and was just ready to step on the accelerator when Li Ting spoke again, “Xu Ji, want to be friends?”

Ji Fangchi widened his eyes in the back seat. What a scumbag! First, he had an affair while married, and now he wants to put him in the friend zone? This is clearly giving Xu Ji-ge hope without giving him love! Even though he clearly knows that Xu Ji-ge likes him!

Xu Ji turned his head and met Li Ting’s gaze. After a while, he said, “No.”

Ji Fangchi breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that Xu Ji-ge still has some sanity. But soon he became nervous again. Could it be that Xu Ji-ge still has some hope of restoring his romantic relationship with Li Ting? Which was why he didn’t agree to being friends?

Li Ting, who received the rejection, shut his mouth.

When Xu Ji tried to set off again, he was interrupted by a phone call from Xu Chengyue. Even at a distance, Li Ting could hear the seriousness in his voice, “Come back with Li Ting right now.”

~

“Just now, your Uncle Lin, Uncle An, and Aunt Liang all blew up our home phone,” Xu Chengyue crossed his arms. “So, the news that you two got married was spread by Li Yue?”

Li Ting sat with his knees together and answered obediently, “Mn.”

Xu Ji sat with his legs crossed, “Who else? Otherwise why would I kick a dog for no reason?”

Xu Chengyue pointed at him, “You can’t talk without arguing with me, can you? Li Yue has broken ribs and is still lying in the hospital!”

Xu Ji sneered, “Then he’s quite delicate? Should I transfer the hospitalization fee over? When I had a broken bone and stayed in the hospital for two weeks, I never saw you so concerned?”

This father-and-son pair wouldn’t stop arguing when they were together… Even though Xu Ji wouldn’t even utter an extra word to outsiders. Li Ting found himself caught in between the two, his expression showing he was at a complete loss.

Xu Chengyue slammed the table and stood up, saying, “Did I tell you to go snowboarding? You’re the one who doesn’t take care of your own body! When you end up paralyzed from the waist down, let’s see how you deal with it then!”

Chen Lian was already used to it and quickly intervened, “Alright, enough! The reason I called you both back is to discuss your wedding. Now that everyone knows, we can’t continue hiding it.”

Xu Ji had already anticipated this, so he wasn’t surprised. With the Wanyue Group so big, yet their only son was unwilling to hold a wedding for his wife, leaving the wife without a name or status. Who knows how many people would criticize this behind their backs.

Chen Lian said, “Not only do we need to have one, but we also need to make it big.”

“Then just do it.” Faced with a situation that seemed irreversible, Xu Ji accepted it quickly. Moreover, going public with it wasn’t entirely a disadvantage either. At the very least, it could ward off some of the constant romantic pursuits that kept coming his way.

He suggested, “The sooner, the better. How about the day after tomorrow?”

Altay’s prime snowy season typically spans from November to April. During this annual period of leisure, he would go to Altay to snowboard.

The more he delayed this, the later his trip to Altay would be set. Consequently, the duration of his snowboarding sessions would shorten, as he still had to make it back in time for work.

Li Ting glanced at him with a hint of surprise upon hearing his words.

Even his parents hadn’t expected their own son to be so easygoing. “The day after tomorrow is definitely not possible. We need to choose the venue, customize decorations, take wedding photos, send out invitations, and have your suits custom-made. It will take at least twenty days to half a month.”

Xu Ji went through a calendar in his mind. It was already January 9th today, and they had initially planned to depart on the 15th. According to this, wouldn’t it be early February before he could go?

The thought of killing Li Yue surged within him once more. He decisively spoke, “Then let’s plan for March after I return. During this time, you can make thorough preparations.”

“We can’t delay for that long!” Chen Lian exclaimed. “If it’s delayed, it will make it seem like we never intended to have the wedding and only decided to hold it after being exposed. Tomorrow, we will release a statement to the public, stating that we’ve been preparing all along, and that the secret was just kept well.”

Xu Ji firmly declared, “Either we speed up the process by investing more money, or we stick to March, no exceptions.”

With the groom’s unwillingness to cooperate, the wedding obviously couldn’t proceed as planned. Xu Chengyue and Chen Lian were aware of their son’s potential for rebellious actions, even to the extent of running away from the wedding. In the end, they had no choice but to compromise.

In order to maintain his persona in front of the elders, Li Ting agreed to everything and maintained a constant smile. How could he dare to speak up?

Xu Chengyue was so angry that he was losing his composure. He compared his son with his daughter-in-law, “Look at Li Ting, he’s been well-behaved since he was young! He respects the elders even now, unlike you! Since you were a kid, you would skip classes, get into fights, smoke, drink, hang out at bars, internet cafes, and even engage in puppy love!”

What?

Isn’t this persona wrong?

Li Ting maintained a polite smile on the surface, but was shocked internally.

Xu Ji chuckled, “If you say it like that, doesn’t that mean my family’s upbringing wasn’t good enough?”

Li Ting remained stunned, glancing at Xu Chengyue whose chest was heaving violently.

He exclaimed, Xu Chengyue had really good health.

In the middle of January, the only son of the Wangyue Group held his wedding ceremony, with over a thousand guests over the course of two days.

Everyone was eager to attend, as if the wedding invitations were tickets to enter the upper class of society.

Even though it was widely known that the bride had completely fallen out with his family, the Li parents still attended with their eldest son.

Anyone could guess their thoughts. Even though their company was gone, what if they managed to align themselves with some powerful backer and make a comeback?

Li Yue’s attitude made a complete 180-degree turn, but when facing Li Ting, he still made snide remarks, saying with a smirk, “Congratulations, Mrs. Xu, may you give birth to a baby soon¹propitiatory compliment to the newlyweds.”

Li Ting accepted it gracefully with a beautiful smile. “Thank you. We’ll certainly comply with the national policies.”

Chen Lian had ordered four sets of suits for them, and they changed into a new set every half a day.

The newlyweds were both tall and exuded extraordinary auras. Just standing side by side, they created a stunning sight. Everyone halted for them, captivating a feast for the eyes.

Occasionally, the two of them would even lean in close, whispering into each other’s ears, with smiles on their lips, displaying a remarkable intimacy.

But actually——

Xu Ji said with a cold expression, “Doesn’t it perfectly align with your intentions to openly marry me?”

Li Ting’s mouth curved up. Letting everyone know that he was the wife of Wangyue Group’s sole heir was indeed a significant shortcut for him to develop the company. However, not everyone was interested in depending solely on someone else, “No need. I can achieve things on my own too.”

Xu Ji raised an eyebrow playfully.

When it came to the toasting segment, only the first dozen or so tables were able to have Xu Ji and Li Ting go around and toast with them one by one.

“Xu Ji, do you remember me?” a slightly balding middle-aged man laughed, “I even held you when you were a child!”

Xu Ji gave a faint smile, “Uncle Fang, of course I remember.”

“Oh, you really do remember,” said Fang Rongqin, the founder of Lantian Group, whose accomplishments rivaled those of Wangyue Group. “I can’t believe you’re married already. I won’t tease you with the wedding night, but you should at least show us a kiss right?”

The moment he brought it up, the crowd began to cheer and stir them on.

If it had been peers of the same age or unfamiliar people, he might have just turned his head and walked away with a scowl. But this table consisted of elders, some of whom had a relationship with Xu Chengyue.

In this situation, Xu Ji remained composed and tactful. He smiled without actually smiling and said, “Doesn’t seem like a good idea, my wife’s shy.”

Li Ting held onto Xu Ji’s arm, immediately lowering his head, pursed his lips and smiled with embarrassment.

“What’s there to be shy about?” Fang Rongqin said, “We all went through this back in the day. If you don’t kiss, we won’t let you go!”

The smile on Xu Ji’s lips faded slightly.

Li Ting thought to himself, he wouldn’t flip the table right? If that happened, he would need to move back first… mn?

Suddenly, his chin was grasped by someone. He slightly turned his head in response to the gentle force, and his eyes moved to the very edge. There, he saw Xu Ji’s commanding and charismatic face.

The warm sensation felt like a feather brushing against the side of Li Ting’s face. The corner of Xu Ji’s eye touched the hair at the side of Li Ting’s temple.

It was very quick, less than a second, like a dragonfly skimming over the water.

The touch was so indistinct that even both of them weren’t entirely sure if it had truly happened.

Fang Rongqin waved his hand and let out a loud sigh, “How boring, but forget it! The younger generations have indeed become more reserved these years.”

Xu Ji smiled, “No such case, Uncle Fang, let me raise a toast to you again.”

Finally, this table was done. The two of them placed their glasses back onto the tray held by the waiter.

Little did people know, as they turned away, one casually raised a hand to wipe their mouth, while the other casually raised a hand to wipe their face.