Chapter 225: Taking Advantage of Vulnerability, Confession
Lian Li asked in surprise, “Brother, why are you here?”
Half of Jin Yan Ting’s face was cast in shadow, making his eyes appear even deeper. “Just passing by.”
His gaze swept past her, seeing only Xue Shufan. “Going back to Qing Teng Road?”
Lian Li’s mobile phone vibrated incessantly in her bag. She apologized to Jin Yan Ting and opened it to see a call from Li Shuangjie.
“Not going back. Brother, I’ll take this call first.”
Hearing this, Jin Yan Ting slowly nodded.
Li Shuangjie’s voice was devoid of emotion, her tone respectful. “Miss Lian, that’s not Mr. Jin’s car. Do you need a ride home?”
Lian Li glanced at Jin Yan Ting, thinking it was Mr. Jin’s car, but not *that* Mr. Jin, but another Mr. Jin.
“Jin Shi Yue will be here soon. I’ll just take his car back,” Lian Li told Li Shuangjie.
Since no ride was needed, there was nothing more to discuss, and they hung up.
Jin Yan Ting had naturally also heard the words ‘Jin Shi Yue will be here soon.’ His offer to take her home had withered and died before it could even sprout.
Lian Li moved the mobile phone away from her ear and, bending slightly, was about to speak to Jin Yan Ting in the car when a sudden honk sounded nearby.
It nearly startled her.
Lian Li turned her head to look and saw two blinding lights emanating from the front of a Bentley. Behind the lights, a tall and lean man leaned against the car door, arms crossed, looking over with an unreadable expression.
Recognizing the man’s face, Lian Li’s eyes lit up. She turned and politely bid farewell to Jin Yan Ting, “Brother, I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”
After speaking, she didn’t give him a chance to reply and immediately hurried towards the other man.
Jin Yan Ting watched through the rearview mirror as Lian Li jogged towards Jin Shi Yue, her hair flying up and then falling. Just as she was about to reach him, Jin Shi Yue took two large strides forward and opened his arms, catching her as she lunged into his embrace.
Lian Li tilted her head up, a smile on her lips, and complained, “You’re so slow.”
“Slow?” Jin Shi Yue lowered his eyelids slightly, examining her face, and said lazily, “Alright, next time I’ll take a rocket to find you.”
Lian Li laughed, her eyes curving, her dark pupils reflecting genuine joy.
Jin Shi Yue raised his eyelids and his gaze swept over the black car. “Did you mistake the car just now?”
Lian Li blinked her eyelashes.
Silence was more eloquent than words. Jin Shi Yue clicked his tongue. “You can mistake the car, will you mistake your boyfriend next time?”
“I didn’t look at the license plate,” Lian Li said. “At this time and place, with the same model of car, I thought it was you. Who knew you’d be so slow.”
“Fine. It’s all my fault that you mistook the car.” Jin Shi Yue put his arm around her shoulder, opened the car door, and fastened her seatbelt.
After fastening her seatbelt, he stood up straight, closed the car door, and looked back at the car not far away. A cold, sharp, and deep black gaze flickered with a hint of darkness.
Jin Yan Ting stared intently at the rearview mirror until the Bentley drove away and disappeared from sight. Only then did he close his eyes and pretend to sleep.
His heart felt hollow, as if a piece had been brutally carved out.
He had deliberately changed cars tonight; it would be a lie to say he had no intentions. The cars were similar, and so were the people. Had she mistaken people before when she went to them?
After a long silence.
Jin Yan Ting’s voice was hoarse as he asked, “Has the notification from that side come down?”
The driver in his early forties said from the driver’s seat, “It has. It’s already been given to the Second Young Master, and he’ll be returning to the Military Region tomorrow.”
Lian Li learned that Jin Shi Yue was returning to the Military Region and would be leaving for a while the next morning when they had breakfast together at a restaurant.
Holding a cup of warm milk, she looked at him several times.
Jin Shi Yue leaned back against the sofa, his eyes under his striking brow looking at her. He said calmly, “Speak.”
Lian Li worried it involved important military secrets, so she shook her head. Under his gaze, she put down the cup in her hand and slowly began, “It’s not dangerous, is it?”
Jin Shi Yue reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her onto his lap. “It’s not dangerous.”
Just as Lian Li breathed a sigh of relief, she heard him continue, “Just might lose an arm or a leg.”
Lian Li’s eyes widened abruptly. Jin Shi Yue watched her expression with amusement, a smile gradually deepening at the corners of his eyes.
“You’re lying to me.” Lian Li put her hands on his neck, not with force, but playfully, leaving no marks.
“Trying to murder your husband.”
“…” Lian Li let go and remained silent.
“It’s just a trip, I’ll be back soon.” Jin Shi Yue’s smile faded slightly, his voice lazy. “If you get bored at home, let Zhong Yang take you out.”
In the past, Lian Li was always alone. She could stay home for a month without getting bored.
She just felt that she was going abroad in a few days and wanted to use the remaining time to spend with him, but now he had to go back to the Military Region.
Lian Li slumped onto Jin Shi Yue’s shoulder as if boneless and gave a soft hum.
“You don’t want me to go?” Jin Shi Yue asked.
Lian Li didn’t answer directly. “You go ahead. Professor Lu gave me a lot of theoretical materials, and I need to focus on my research.”
Later, in the few days before Jin Shi Yue left, Lian Li returned to Qing Teng Road. Li Shuangjie drove her, meticulously arranging meals and entertainment. Lian Li only accepted the meals and did not participate in any entertainment activities.
She was having lunch at a Cantonese restaurant. After finishing her meal, as she was looking at her phone while waiting for the elevator, a pair of gray high heels stopped beside her.
“Congratulations.” A slightly familiar female voice sounded in her ear.
Lian Li looked up and saw Duan Shiqing, replying politely, “Thank you.”
“I thought you would end up with Yan Ting, but I didn’t expect it to be his brother.”
“Jin Shi Yue has a name; he’s not called ‘his brother’.” Lian Li’s expression remained unchanged, her words gentle yet firm.
Duan Shiqing silently curled her red lips.
The young girl who appeared docile and harmless was indeed formidable. She had initially thought Lian Li’s target was Jin Yan Ting, but then one day she suddenly dropped a bombshell and went public with Jin Shi Yue.
“Your aunt and uncle won’t agree to you entering the Jin family. They already disliked you for your past involvement with Yan Ting, let alone marrying the Second Young Master,” Duan Shiqing said slowly, with the condescending air of someone accustomed to high-stakes negotiations.
“I’m dating Jin Shi Yue, and I’m only a few steps away from the Jin family’s doorstep.” Lian Li’s lips curved into a faint smile, her demeanor still calm. “You’ve been back in the country for so long, haven’t you worn out the Jin family’s doorstep by now?”
Duan Shiqing’s face paled slightly.
It was self-evident what the Jin family of Sijiucheng represented. As for the doorstep… she hadn’t even seen it, so how could she have worn it out?
Now Lian Li could openly call Jin Yan Ting “Brother” alongside Jin Shi Yue, but the title “Sister-in-law” was something Duan Shiqing knew she would never have the chance to hear.
“When I was with Yan Ting, you were still in elementary school. You must have heard about our youthful romance over the years you were by Yan Ting’s side,” Duan Shiqing said after composing herself. “The people who loved each other passionately back then are now indifferent upon meeting again. Those people are inherently cold-hearted; Jin Yan Ting is, and so is Jin Shi Yue. It’s just a temporary infatuation driven by hormones. Do you think you and Jin Shi Yue can last?”
Lian Li showed little reaction. “Then you don’t need to worry about it.”
Jin Yan Ting and Duan Shiqing’s relationship was the first love of young boys and girls, where they wished to give each other the best things in the world.
People in high society had heard about it to varying degrees. They said that Jin Yan Ting hadn’t given the canary a title for ten years because of Duan Shiqing; he kept a young and beautiful girl by his side to satisfy certain needs.
Lian Li believed in Jin Yan Ting’s character and usually ignored these rumors, not caring about others’ opinions.
She spent the afternoon at Professor Lu Huier’s home studying theories. In the evening, she packed her materials, leaving with a book and a stack of documents.
Suddenly, she saw Jin Yan Ting’s car drive out from the villa opposite and stop smoothly in front of her.
Lian Li: “Brother.”
Jin Yan Ting didn’t ask why she was there. He simply said she hadn’t eaten at his place in a long time and invited her to have dinner together.
At that moment, Lian Li was unaware of Jin Yan Ting’s intentions or plans. She thought it was simply her brother inviting his sister home for dinner and got into the car.
In the past, she ate with him at least once a month. Now that she was dating, she shouldn’t ignore the adoptive brother who cared for her.
It was just a normal meal.
However, the car did not end up driving into Wan Yi Hua Fu, but rather a Chinese Garden Villa.
Lian Li’s eyelids twitched inexplicably. She turned her head, looking at Jin Yan Ting with a puzzled expression.
