Chapter 30：A Surprise Party

Ji Chen was dumbfounded. "Hey, what's with that attitude? Haven't you already accepted her? So why don't you want to celebrate her birthday?"

Such a moody person. He was fine this morning but changed his behavior only eight hours later.

His changing of attitude was not the biggest problem, but the fact that he was taking it out on Xiaonian was not going to end well with Ji Chen.

Ji Chen's darling little sister was to be cherished and treasured. That man could not toy with her feelings like that.

He would not be kind to that man if the latter dared to hurt his darling sister's feelings.

"What do you mean that I've already accepted her? Ji Chen, before you get hold of the situation, don't come shouting at me like you're all fair-minded and know-it-all. Get out if you don't have anything else to discuss!"

Bai Yan's uncompromising stand was supported by his cold and indifferent tone. 

Ji Chen was completely pissed off.

He threw himself down in the chair and glared at Bai Yan. "Are you saying that you didn't tell her to wait for two years? And that you'll get together with her after you complete your teaching?"

His eyes stared right into the soul of the man in front of him. 

Ji Chen knew for sure that the man could not deny it.

Although he had not heard those exact words coming out from Bai Yan's mouth, he knew Xiaonian would not lie to him.

Bai Yan appeared rather shocked. He raised his head a few moments later and met his eyes with Ji Chen's. However, the vivid images of that little girl kissing some other man in the university's canteen came flooding into his mind.

Enraged, he gave a cold-hearted snort. "When did I say that? I don't have her in my heart, not now nor in two years, hence I'd never ask her to spend two years waiting on me. Ji Chen, don't always demand an explanation before you figure out the truth."

He rose to his feet and walked around his desk to go to Ji Chen's side. "I want a feasible proposal for the DNP project on my desk within three days or I'll withdraw the funds."

With that as his last words, he took great strides to leave the office.

Ji Chen who was left alone in the room lost the courage to argue with him.

There was nothing left for him to say because Bai Yan had made it really clear!

If he went up to debate with him again, Bai Yan would think that Ji Chen's younger sister could never give up on him and would continue to lust after him for life. 

He gave a snort of contempt. 'Bai Yan, you better not come and beg Xiaonian for forgiveness in the future.'

Ji Chen was also infuriated. He turned around and retreated to his office to make a phone call.

...

The next morning came in the twinkling of an eye.

Ji Xiaonian was not aware that her birthday had arrived.

To be fair, she never remembered her birthday, and her elder brother and Bai Yan always surprised her out of the blue anyway.

That being the case, she simply would not know when her birthday was if no one else mentioned it. Besides, she never counted down to her birthday or had high expectations for gifts. 

It was a Thursday.

She returned to the dorm right away after her afternoon class.

At eight o'clock in the evening, her phone rang suddenly during the self-study class. Ji Xiaonian quickly retrieved her phone because she did not want to disturb her classmates. Seeing that it was her elder brother, she clicked the answer button and asked in a low whisper, "Hey, brother, what's up?"

Ji Chen felt helpless at his little sister's question. It seemed like she had forgotten that today, May 20, was her birthday.

He did not remind her either. Instead, he replied in a hoarse voice, "Xiaonian, I don't feel well and I think it's getting quite serious. The housemaid went home on leave today so can you come over tonight and help me to a glass of water? I'm feeling thirsty."

Hearing her elder brother's hoarse and powerless voice through the phone, Ji Xiaonian became vigilant and asked worriedly, "Have you been to the hospital? What happened?"

"I have, but the doctor only ordered me to rest more. Xiaonian, please come back!"

"Alright, alright, I'll be back soon. Elder brother, stay in bed for now and don't move about."

"Well, it'll be faster if you get Yifei to send you back."

"Alright."

Ji Xiaonian hung up the phone and began putting the textbooks away hastily.

Han Le who noticed her friend's anxiety asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"My elder brother is not feeling well and I have to hurry home to take care of him, um… Lele, would you please do me a favor and return these books that I borrowed from the library?"

Looking at Ji Xiaonian's face that was washed over with worry, Han Le quickly waved her hand in the air. "Go ahead, I will return the books on your behalf."

Ji Xiaonian ran out of the university at once while calling for Lu Yifei on the phone. In less than two minutes, Lu Yifei's car appeared in front of her.

Noticing the anxiety on the little girl's face, Lu Yifei asked while driving, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Ji Xiaonian nodded. "Well, my elder brother is ill and it might get worse. He can't even get out of his bed."

She thought that it must be quite serious if he could not even get up to pour himself a glass of water.

"What?" Lu Yifei's expression changed as he was startled. Then, he asked again, "What happened? How did he get ill?"

"I don't know, anyway, he asked me to hurry home."

Ji Xiaonian was so worried that she was on the verge of tearing up. She looked at Lu Yifei who was driving, then blinked her eyes and asked anxiously, "Yifei, do you think my brother has cancer? Why would a healthy person like him just fall ill all of a sudden?"

"Nonsense."

Lu Yifei seemed to be more on edge than her. He slammed on the accelerator and the vehicle drove away quickly.

...

The moment the car pulled to a halt in front of Ji Residence, Lu Yifei left Ji Xiaonian behind and dashed into the courtyard. He quickly took out the key to open the door.

Ji Xiaonian who was trailing behind wondered why her bodyguard would have the keys to their house?

Why had her elder brother equipped the bodyguard he hired with keys?

While she was lost in her thoughts, Lu Yifei had already opened the door and rushed into the house without turning the lights on.

Ji Xiaonian did not dare to overthink. She kept up with the man's pace and entered the pitch darkness.

She stood at the entrance and tried turning on the lights. However, she did not know why the lights could not be turned on no matter what.

Since the lights could not be turned on, she had to use the flash on her mobile phone. As soon as it was turned up, Ji Xiaonian discovered the balloons next to her.

Balloons?

There were no children in their household so why were there balloons?

She walked along the entrance into the living room to realize the whole area was decorated colorfully. It was as beautiful as a fairyland.

Next, she utilized the flashlight on her mobile phone and the light shone on the words written on the balloons which spelled out "Happy birthday."

Birthday?

Ji Xiaonian came to a sudden realization. Oh goodness, it was May 20, her birthday!

Did it mean that her elder brother only pretended to be ill? Did he deliberately plan for her to return home to this beautiful surprise?

A source of light appeared from the kitchen as she was thinking about that possibility.

Then, someone walked towards her while holding a six-layer cake illuminated with nineteen candles. The sweet melody of the birthday song entered Ji Xiaonian's ears.

Ji Xiaonian realized her elder brother had pretended to be ill because he wanted to surprise her.

However, Lu Yifei did not agree. When Ji Chen appeared from the kitchen, he hurried to his side and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"