Summer Green Apples

No matter how successful Ji Rong is in her career, her home in a remote mountain village has already determined that she and Chi Kai are not from the same world.

People are saying that Chi Kai has been bewitched by a woman and has been dating an ordinary woman for so long.

Actually, he really liked Ji Rong's personality.

Enthusiastic, fun-loving, and knows how to enjoy life.

Chi Kai's previous marriage was a complete failure. Although it lasted for nearly twenty years, the process and the outcome were both very undignified.

When he was with Zhuang Qingping, there were more arguments than sweet words, more boredom than fun, and more complaints than expressions of love.

Chi Kai is an introverted person, as is Zhuang Qingping.

When they were young, they could overcome their differences with their love for each other, but after getting married and having a child, Chi Sui, they had an additional responsibility on their shoulders.

Chinese people's views on marriage have always been interesting.

They married for love at first, but it later became a shackle that trapped the two of them.

Chi Kai and Zhuang Qingping supported each other for twenty years, but their love gradually faded until Zhuang Qingping started to have gray hair.

This woman, who had been beautiful for nearly forty years, could not accept that she had been tormented by her marriage to this extent, and decisively shattered the peace they had forcibly created.

Chi Kai had to admit that he also breathed a sigh of relief.

What he needed was someone as enthusiastic as Ji Rong, someone who seemed to make every day interesting.

Unfortunately, his son couldn't accept it and became increasingly distant from him.

He was once a model student praised by everyone, but he learned to fight, smoke, and drink, and made friends with a bunch of hooligans.

Chi Kai sighed and focused intently on blowing up the balloon.

……

At 7:30, everything was ready.

Chi Kai frequently looked down at his watch.

Ji Rong was sweating bullets because Chi Sui still hadn't returned.

The minute hand swept around and around, and it was exactly 8:30.

The atmosphere in the living room took a sharp turn for the worse. Ji Xiwen cautiously glanced at Chi Kai's expression, only to find his face ashen.

Ji Rong cleared her throat, breaking the silence, "He might have been delayed on the way. I'll give him a call."

Chi Kai remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Ji Rong dialed Chi Sui's number, and the dial tone clearly reached the ears of the three people at the dining table.

No one answered, and the call ended.

Ji Rong pursed her lips. "It's probably out of power. Chi Sui promised at noon. He's not the kind of person who goes back on his word."

Chi Kai only gave a cold laugh.

Ji Xiwen had spent the afternoon preparing for a birthday party and was quite happy, thinking that she could have a lively birthday celebration tonight. Although it wasn't her birthday, she liked to join in the fun.

Moreover, she felt a sense of participation after being busy all afternoon, which made her very happy.

Now all her joy has vanished, and she can only silently pray that Chi Sui will return soon.

She quietly took out her phone and sent a message to CS under the table, but received no reply.

Time passes little by little.

It's already 8:30.

The food on the table had gone cold.

Chi Kai picked up his chopsticks and said calmly, "Let's eat first, no need to wait for him."

"How about..." Ji Rong still tried to smooth things over as usual.

Her main concern was Chi Kai's health.

Chi Kai is 43 years old this year. He looks to be in a normal physique and exercises regularly, but his health check-up results are consistently poor, indicating that his cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health is not very good.

During the last check-up, the doctor said that I should try not to get angry or emotionally agitated.

"No need to wait, I doubt he'd even care."

Chi Kai picked up a shrimp and said, "Eat it."

The three of them finished their meal in complete silence, and for a moment the only sounds in the restaurant were the clinking of spoons, chopsticks, plates, and bowls.

-

City Hospital.

The lights in the corridor outside the emergency room were glaring.

Xu Jiyang rushed over and immediately saw Chi Sui sitting on a rest chair, with drops of blood still splattered on his chin.

In that instant, Xu Jiyang's legs went weak, and he immediately knelt down in front of Chi Sui.

Chi Sui was taken aback for a moment, "...No need for formalities."

"roll."

Xu Jiyang stared at his face and saw bruises on the corners of his mouth. He looked down and saw bruises on the outside of his forearms as well.

Do you have any other injuries?

"That's all," Chi Sui said in a low voice. "He Ran's injuries are more serious."

The footsteps behind them suddenly stopped, and Li Junyu's teasing voice rang out, "It's still a long way from the New Year, why are you asking for lucky money at this hour?"

Xu Jiyang raised his head. "Get lost."

He braced himself against the floor, then shifted his position and plopped down on the ground. "What happened?"

Li Junyu took out a bottle of mineral water and a pack of wet wipes from the bag and handed them to Chi Sui. "When we left the billiard hall, we were blocked by those idiots from the school next door. They brought a lot of people with them."

The leader happened to have a grudge against He Ran.

He Ran's current girlfriend is that person's ex-girlfriend.

It was impossible for Li Junyu and Chi Sui to abandon He Ran on the spot and leave.

"That coward Liu Pengyu only dares to fight when there are fewer people," Xu Jiyang cursed. "If only I hadn't gone to tutoring, I would have knocked all his teeth out."

"Forget it." Li Junyu couldn't bear to look at him.

Of the three of them, he and Chi Sui had practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) since childhood, while Xu Jiyang was a lazybones who quit after one lesson and instead picked up a guitar and started pretending to be a melancholy prince.

Many girls used to pursue him, thinking he was clean-cut and sunny-looking, had a sweet tongue, could play musical instruments, and was a good student.

Whenever I try to understand something more deeply, I decisively give up.

He's so nice to everyone, he can chat with any girl and is incredibly caring.

It's something most people can't handle.

Chi wiped the bloodstains off his body, opened a bottle of mineral water and drank half of it in one gulp before picking up his phone to take a look.

Xi Wu Bu Wen Zhong: 【Why aren't you back yet? (smiling face)】

Chi Sui was taken aback for a moment.

I just remembered what time it was tonight.

But it's almost nine o'clock now.

CS: [Something came up and I was held up.]

When Ji Xi didn't reply, Chi turned off his phone again.

Xu Jiyang suddenly leaned closer with a sly grin, "Tell me honestly, which beautiful girl were you chatting with just now?"

Li Junyu glanced over instinctively.

Both of them had incredibly gossipy looks on their faces.

"Nobody," he denied outright.

"Come on," Xu Jiyang snorted. "My five-point-zero eyes saw it clearly just now: the person you were chatting with was a woman."

Chi Sui: "...What if it's a man?"

Xu Jiyang wagged his finger. "The way you put it, the more girly you seem."

Li Junyu: "Wow!"

Chi Sui had no choice but to say, "My... stepsister."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiyang gasped in surprise, "You two are so close now?"

Chi Sui frowned and retorted, "Just because we added each other on WeChat, does that mean we're on good terms?"

"If Xu Jiyang did something like this, it certainly wouldn't be considered a good relationship," Li Junyu said. "It would be different if it were you. You usually dislike Aunt Ji so much, you would definitely avoid this adopted sister she brought along, let alone add her on WeChat."

"Exactly, you've known Meng Leran for years, and you still won't add her on WeChat." Xu Jiyang shook his head. "Sui Sui, you might fool others with that, but you can't fool me and Junjun."

"Exactly," Li Junyu echoed.

Faced with their questioning, Chi remained silent for a long time.

He did treat Ji Xiwen a little differently.

He is currently unsure which aspect is different.

"I just think she's a really interesting person."

"What's interesting about it?"

"Everywhere is quite interesting," Chi Sui said. "I've never met anyone like her before."

Xu Jiyang has a pitifully small dating history, but he considers himself a love expert. "So, do you think she's cute?"

Chi Sui: "..."

He looked up, paused for a moment, and said, "Sometimes it's quite cute."

"You're finished," Xu Jiyang said, heartbroken. "You're trapped."

"Get lost," Chi Sui said. "I only ever thought of her as a younger sister."

Chi Sui is an only child, Li Junyu has an older brother, and Xu Jiyang has a younger sister.

He admired those two people when he was a child.

Now a cheap younger sister has appeared, and she's quite cute sometimes.

"Then let us meet sometime," Xu Jiyang chuckled. "If I happen to hit it off with my sister, we can become even closer, and you'll be my brother-in-law. Just give the word, and I'll go through fire and water for you."