Pei Ge left the girl’s ward; Ji Ziming, who was waiting with the others outside, quickly pulled her in his arms when he saw her come out of the room. “What did she tell you?”
She laughed, appearing to be secretive. “Nothing much.”
Du Chunlan dashed right in. Feeling the man’s intimidating aura, the director followed the mother into the room. This left the couple by themselves in the corridor.
“Let’s go; I’ll tell you once we’re back at my ward.” She gripped the man’s hand and led him in the direction of the lift.
When they reached the VVIP ward, the man hugged her from behind. His cold gaze met her beautiful eyes as he asked aloofly, “Are you challenging me?”
“I don’t dare. That girl is so filial and intelligent. I hope that when she grows up, she can stay by our side and work under us.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all. Do you think that Niu Niu would be rude to me?” Her cunning eyes baffled the man.
“Ziming, I want to visit Hong Qiang over the next few days.” She put her head against his shoulder.
“Alright. We’ll wait for him to consider it for a few days first. We’ll visit him again once he grows impatient.”
“Mhm. My thoughts exactly.”
Madam Ji brought her grandson to visit Pei Ge the next morning. The moment Ji Chi entered the ward, he could not wait to get to his mother’s side and even lightly touched her bandaged calf.
His mother was having porridge, while his father, who was sitting at one side, saw his action. The man’s brows twitched, but he remained silent.
“Pei Ge, did the doctor tell you how long it’ll take for your leg to recover?”
“Mom, there’s a saying that goes: ‘It takes a hundred days to recover from a pulled muscle or bone fracture’; Pei Ge’s injury requires her to rest well. We’ll head back back once she recovers enough.” The man was settling company matters using his tablet PC when he spoke. His secretary forwarded all the contracts which required his signature to be printed and sent to their business partners thereafter.
“Hey, is the pork ribs soup tasty? I got a well-known chef from one of the best restaurants in the capital to prepare it for you.”
“Thank you, auntie.” Looking at the soup in the container, the grease floating at the top made her nauseous.
“Then, why aren’t you drinking?” Pei Ge finished the porridge but left the pork ribs soup untouched.
“I just had breakfast, and I’m not hungry anymore, so I’m keeping it for later.”
She found a reasonable excuse for her action.
“Really?” The older woman did not really believe her because the expression on the latter’s face was one of disdain and unwillingness.
“Really, mom. When I wanted to drink some of the soup you brought over before, she wouldn’t even let me have a sip.” The man lifted his head and shot his son, who was next to his mother, a glance. “You’ve been visiting your mommy lately, so why haven’t you thought of bringing something for her?”
“Hey, don’t scare Ping An,” reminded his woman softly.
“Why aren’t you speaking?” He merely kept his dark eyes on his son. The coldness in them seemed capable of freezing the boy over.
“I-I…” The lad stammered.
“You don’t have to bring me anything. It’s okay; I’m already very happy that you always visit me.” Pei Ge put down her utensils, unable to fathom why the man was treating their son like this.
“Ge Ge, I’m just teasing our son. Must you be so overprotective?” The corners of Ji Ziming’s lips curled up, and the openness of his face showed that he was not in a bad mood.
“Alright, alright. You’re always pulling Baby’s leg.”
Madam Ji defended her grandson and pouted at her son. “Mom doesn’t object to you accompanying Pei Ge here at the hospital, but you should still give Jingwan a call. I know that you’ll just say that that ‘daughter-in-law’ was chosen by me, but as my son, could you bear to see me and that young lady at odds with each other because of you?”
“Why don’t I give her older brother a call tonight, instead? Will that work for you?”
The man lowered his head and continued to work on the files he had in hand. He could not continue reading the sentences on the documents. He could not allow Qu Jingwan to continue staying in Ji family especially after knowing her ulterior motive. He did not even want to give her a second glance, let alone hearing her voice.
“Fine. I’ll go back and tell her that. You have no idea that these few days you’re not home, she’s been drinking outside. It’s always our driver picking her up when she’s too drunk to go home by herself. It’s our family who’s doing her wrong.”
“Our family isn’t doing her wrong.” The iciness in his voice could be felt.
“You’re the one who chose to keep her around. Though it’s for Baby’s sake, you still agreed to it. Plus, she’s our family’s publicly acknowledged, future daughter-in-law. No matter where she goes, her face represents ours. I just don’t wish for anything to happen to our family because of her.”
“Mom, if anything happens, I can settle it.”
“Since you can settle everything, what’s this situation with Jingwan? Why don’t I see you handling it properly?”
His mother’s retort caused the iciness in his eyes to intensify along with the darkening of his aura.
“Mom, you still don’t know what sort of person she is.”
“I still don’t know? I still don’t know?” asked the older woman repeatedly. She personally chose that lady for her daughter-in-law and he opted to keep the missy around. Now, he’s saying that I don’t understand; who’s the one who doesn’t understand in the end? Between us, Who left that lady at home and made me to be the one who doesn’t understand?
“You’ll know next time.” Ji Ziming decided not to argue with his mother over this. He walked to his woman’s side, flipped open the blanket, and carried her down the bed. He then placed her in the wheelchair. “You delivered what you wanted to deliver and saw the person you sought to visit. It’s time for you to head back home. I’ll take Pei Ge down for a breather. She hasn’t left her room for two days now.”
“Then, take good care of her; I’m bringing Baby back home.” Seeing how her son was acting, the older woman also did not wish to stay here longer. After all, it was not her style to fight with her son in front of this woman and her grandson.
“Mhm.”
The man hummed aloofly. He did not even turn to look at his mother during the one- or two-second wait for the glass door to open.
“Pei Ge, I’m heading back home. I won’t visit you over the next two days. I’ll be bringing my grandson out to play; is that okay?”
“Auntie, you don’t have to visit me every day. I’m already overwhelmed. If you want to bring him out, go ahead. Ping An needs to be in a good mood, so I support it.”
“It’s good that you support it; then, I’ll take my leave now.”
The older woman left her ward with the boy. The glass door opened and closed. The man did not push her out of the room. After making sure that the grandmother-grandson pair had reached the ground floor via the elevator, he pushed her back to the bed and put her on it.
“You should give Qu Jingwan a call.” Pei Ge looked at him with her beautiful eyes. The slight smile on her lips did not escape his eyes.