Nian Ueno

The ringing of the phone broke the enchanting atmosphere.

Jiang Weixi's phone rang.

The screen displays the words "Du Wei".

Ji Dongxun also subconsciously looked at her phone screen and saw her name.

Seeing her hesitation, he casually asked, "Who is it?"

She gripped her phone tightly: "My mom."

Why aren't you answering?

"I don't want to answer."

The phone rang for a while and then stopped.

Just when Jiang Weixi thought she had given up, the phone rang again.

Ji Dongxun, unaware of the delicate relationship between her and her mother, said, "Answer it, just in case she has something urgent."

Jiang Weixi answered the call.

Du Wei's voice came through the phone: "Hey, Xi Xi, how was your date with Wu Le today?"

The sound was quite loud, but the room was quiet, and Du Wei's words reached Ji Dongxun's ears clearly.

He sat there leaning against the sofa, his gaze fixed on her.

Jiang Weixi realized he might misunderstand, so she quickly said, "When did I go on a date with Wu Le? Don't talk nonsense."

"Oh? Wu Le said you two had a great date this afternoon, and he's quite satisfied with you and willing to get married as soon as possible. Xi Xi, what do you think?"

"I didn't go on a date with him. He just drove me to the city center and I went home," Jiang Weixi explained loudly, while glancing at Ji Dongxun out of the corner of her eye, feeling inexplicably guilty.

Ji Dongxun stared at her expressionlessly, his legs crossed, his fingers tapping lightly on his knees.

Jiang Weixi felt irritated: "That Wu Le has character issues. I'm not interested in him. Don't ask me anymore. I have no plans to get married. Don't introduce me to anyone else."

"Wu Le is great. People say they'll buy you a house and a car after you get married, and you won't have to do anything. You can just stay home and take care of the kids. You'll be living a life of luxury after you marry him."

Du Wei was very satisfied with Wu Le's terms and tried her best to persuade Jiang Weixi.

Of course, there's one more thing she didn't mention.

Wu Le promised to give Du Wei a dowry of 200,000 yuan.

Du Wei was so tempted by the 200,000 yuan that she persuaded Jiang Weixi to marry him.

Jiang Weixi said impatiently, "I told you I wouldn't marry him. That's it, I'm hanging up."

She hung up, silenced her phone, put it aside, and ignored it, then looked up to meet Ji Dongxun's meaningful gaze...

"Mr. Ji, please let me explain. I didn't know she would introduce me to a blind date, otherwise I wouldn't have gone today."

"Hmm." Ji Dongxun's expression remained unchanged as he asked calmly, "Was that person from the Sun family also introduced to you by your mother?"

Jiang Weixi was stunned for a few seconds before she realized who he was talking about.

"Are you talking about Sun Yongshu?"

"Um."

How did you know about that?

"That's what Xiao Zhou said."

Jiang Weixi was slightly surprised, then realized something.

She was surprised that Xiao Zhou had so much influence, since that matter was resolved so quickly last time. Now, thinking about it carefully, it must be because...

"So, you helped resolve that matter last time?"

"Um."

"Thanks."

It really was him.

He doesn't seem so cold after all.

Jiang Weixi: "The last one was introduced by my dad, but this one was introduced by my mom."

"You don't have a good relationship with your parents?"

"Hmm, not very good."

Jiang Weixi stared down at her toes, looking very downcast.

"My parents divorced when I was young. I grew up with my grandmother. They had a very bad relationship. My mother resented my father, so she didn't like me either. She treated me very badly when I was young."

Jiang Weixi opened up and poured out all her grievances to him.

When I was little, I didn't understand why my mom didn't love me, but now I can understand her a little better...

Jiang Weixi only pieced together the story of her parents' feud from other people's accounts after she grew up.

Du Wei became pregnant after being raped by Jiang Shanbao and had no choice but to marry him, so she hated Jiang Shanbao and the child in her womb.

After marrying Du Wei, Jiang Shanbao treated her poorly. He often beat her when he was drunk. Du Wei, who was already full of resentment, went crazy and started fighting with him.

There were hardly any intact items in the house; the two of them had smashed almost everything.

Jiang Weixi hid under the bed, trembling with fear.

Sometimes her parents' fights would affect her.

She had a miserable childhood, constantly being beaten and scolded by either her father or her mother.

When she was three years old, Jiang Shanbao and Du Wei couldn't stand the chaotic life anymore and went out to work. From then on, Jiang Weixi lived with her grandmother, and life got a little better.

In the second year after Jiang Shanbao and Du Wei went out to work, they both had affairs.

When Jiang Weixi saw her parents again, they had returned to process their divorce agreement.

The Jiang family was destitute, and Jiang Shanbao was penniless. In fact, there was not much property to divide. The only dispute was the custody of the children.

"I still vaguely remember that in court, my parents had a heated argument, each trying to push me to the other, neither of them wanting to raise me."

Jiang Weixi hugged her knees, and her eyes welled up with tears as she spoke.

She longed to hug her helpless younger self.

"Later, my grandma said she would raise me and told them to stop arguing and go out to live their own lives."

Jiang Shanbao and Du Wei finally divorced, and both started new families and lives.

Only Jiang Weixi was left in the village, where she lived with her grandmother.

Although she has parents, it's not much different from not having them.

"Later, my grandmother passed away, and I became all alone again, with no one to rely on. My parents didn't want me and pushed me to live with my aunt in the village."

Her great-aunt, on the other hand, wanted her to become her grandson's wife and prevented her from taking the high school entrance exam; she didn't want her to study at all.

"With Mr. Wei's help, I continued my high school studies, and during holidays I would go back to my parents' homes to stay for a while, even though no one welcomed me..."

After recounting her childhood experiences, Jiang Weixi couldn't help but feel a little sad, as if a gloomy cloud had descended upon her.

After listening to her story, Ji Dongxun felt a pang of pity.

I never imagined her childhood would be so complicated.

At that moment, he accepted her flaws.

Jiang Weixi's eyes reddened, her heart ached, and a single, glistening tear clung to the corner of her eye.

Ji Dongxun moved his fingers, feeling an urge to wipe away her tears.

Of course, he didn't do that; he just pulled out a tissue and tossed it to her: "Wipe it off."

Ji Dongxun didn't know how to comfort the girl, so he talked about some of his childhood experiences.

"My father passed away when I was very young, and my mother didn't care much about me either, so I didn't experience much parental love growing up."

"However, I don't think these things are important. Not everyone can receive complete parental love. If you do, enjoy it; if you don't, just live your own life well."

Jiang Weixi was surprised that he would say these things to her.

Ji Dongxun stood up: "The past cannot be chased. People should look forward. Dwelling on past pain will only consume you. Don't dwell on what has already happened. Go to sleep. Sleep can regulate your emotions and help you forget unhappy things."

Jiang Weixi followed silently behind him.

The two walked to the top of the stairs, preparing to return to their respective rooms.

Jiang Weixi's heart stirred slightly. Looking at his tall and straight back, she suddenly spoke, "Mr. Ji, thank you."

He turned to the side: "Hmm?"

"Thank you for comforting me. I suddenly realized that you are a very gentle person." After saying that, Jiang Weixi quickly ran upstairs.

Ji Dongxun was stunned for a moment.

gentle?

This is the first time I've heard someone describe him like this.

Where is he gentle?

Ji Dongxun turned around and went back to his room to rest.

I was probably affected by her emotions tonight, and I accidentally said a little too much.

Ji Dongxun never said those words to anyone. He never showed any vulnerability to anyone, nor did he reveal his scars to others.

This is why he fails no matter which psychologist he sees.

Too defensive.

There's simply no way to express my true feelings.

Without knowing his complete past, a psychologist cannot offer a targeted treatment plan.

That night, Jiang Weixi's thoughts were racing, and it took her a long time to fall asleep.

Ji Dongxun was the same; he hadn't been able to fall asleep for a long time.

Memories kept flashing through my mind, like a movie playing in my head.

Her childhood was full of hardships, and so was his.

Perhaps because of their shared experience of never having enjoyed parental love as children, he felt a sense of sympathy for her.

No wonder she said she used to hate close contact with people.

If a child has a poor relationship with their parents and has little contact with them, they will likely develop a resistance to close relationships as an adult.

He himself didn't realize one thing—he felt sorry for her.

Feeling sorry for someone is the beginning of falling in love.

But Ji Dongxun was completely unaware.

He tossed and turned in bed, thinking about many things, and didn't know when he finally fell asleep.

The next morning.

Jiang Weixi slept until 10 a.m., then her stomach growled with hunger, so she went downstairs to find something to eat.

Just as I was about to step onto the last step, a deep male voice sounded in my ear: "Awake?"

Jiang Weixi rubbed her sleepy eyes and was startled by the sudden sound.

She slipped and fell down the stairs.