Before he died, my grandfather forced me to marry the richest man in the capital.

In another room, Ji Jiale, who had just come out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his lower body and his upper body bare, saw the phone on the bed flashing incessantly.

He stepped forward, bent over, and water droplets slid down his abs and into the towel, leaving his waist slightly damp. After reading his sister's message, he replied without hesitation: "I have something to do later, you guys call."

Ji Xinyu assumed it was a company matter and said regretfully, "Okay, then come over when you're done."

After putting away her phone, Ji Xinyu said to Lu Qingchen, who was arranging the cards, "My brother has company business to attend to and won't be able to come for a while. What are the three of us going to play?"

Yan Feifei: "Let's play Dou Dizhu (a card game). Let's see who wins the most games all night. The loser treats everyone to late-night snacks."

The three people raised their hands and clapped, reaching an agreement: "Okay."

On the other side, Ji Jiale quickly tore off a bath towel and threw it on the sofa, took out pajamas from her suitcase and put them on. Without even drying her hair, she strode out of the room.

Four bodyguards stood at Lu Yiyue's door. When they saw Ji Jiale approaching with wet hair, they respectfully greeted him, "Good morning, Young Master Ji."

Ji Jiale stopped in his tracks, glanced at the closed door, and turned to the four people, instructing, "Go to the restaurant and get something to eat. I'll protect you."

The group looked at each other, none of them saying a word. "I'll explain to my uncle that you didn't desert your posts."

Bodyguard: "Yes, Mr. Ji, we'll be right back."

After the group entered the elevator, Ji Jiale opened the door in just a few seconds, went inside, and gently closed it. The dimly lit room was filled with silence, so quiet that one could hear their own heartbeat.

The blankets on the bed were ruffled and moving, indicating that she wasn't sleeping soundly. He quickly walked over, squatted down by the bed to check on her, and saw that her face was a little pale and she was visibly uncomfortable.

Seeing this, his face turned cold. She was curious as to why he was there. Wasn't he playing cards in Xiao Chen's room?

After a few seconds of eye contact, they both spoke at the same time. She sounded weak and listless, while he restrained his emotions, "I'm not feeling well."

She said, "Why are you here?"

Lu Yiyue smiled, her hand under the covers covering her stomach, and said casually, not wanting him to worry, "It's nothing, it's normal, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

He knew she was never a spoilsport; she wouldn't say she wanted to sleep unless there was a special reason. Thank goodness he came to check on her. He gently brushed the stray hairs from her cheek and softly asked, "Did you eat something bad?"

Lu Yiyue stared at him intently, her eyes revealing visible tension and worry. She shook her head.

Recalling his younger sister Ji Xinyu's previous situation, he asked again, "Is it... that?"

"Um."

"Have you used heat packs?"

Ji Jiale's words were warmer than the heat pack on her stomach; one worked on her skin, the other on her whole body. She nodded, "Okay, go ahead and have fun, I'm fine."

He didn't say a word, his lips were tightly pursed, and he got up with a cold face and walked out. Before she could turn her head, she heard the door slam shut. The sound of the door closing made her a little disappointed, and her stomach seemed to hurt even more. She felt a little wronged.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she decided to call out "Brother Ji Jiale" more often in the future, and mumbled the name several times in bed.

After half an hour.

The door to the room opened again, and the four bodyguards who had left stood guard at the door. Ji Jiale opened the door as if no one else was there and picked the lock in front of the bodyguards.

Bodyguard: "..........." Is this a good idea? They can pretend to be blind, but they're not really blind.

Ji Jiale walked in as if nothing had happened, holding a cup in his hand. The door closed again. He entered the room and saw the person on the bed still curled up under the covers, completely covered up except for the ends of his cold brown hair sticking out. He sighed and approached.

Hearing footsteps, Lu Yiyue poked her head out from under the covers again, thinking it was Xiaoyu. But when Ji Jiale returned, his features came into view once more, and a surge of joy filled her heart. "You didn't go to play cards?"

He didn't answer, but sat down on the edge of the bed, poured himself a cup of brown sugar water, placed it on the bedside table, got up, grabbed a cushion, gently helped Lu Yiyue sit up, placed the cushion under her lower back, and asked, "Do you need another one?"

Lu Yiyue shook her head, her gaze fixed on the cup on the bed.

He tidied her blankets, then handed her the cup, saying softly, "It's made with red dates, goji berries, red dates, and ginger. I've tried it, and it tastes alright. Xiaoyu eats it often too. If you don't like it, I'll get some rock sugar."

Holding the cup in her hand, she felt a warm glow inside, and smiled foolishly, making him a little embarrassed. "Did you make this? Did you make it in the kitchen?"

Ji Jiale awkwardly looked away, embarrassed to look at her; her gaze was too direct. "Yeah, drink it, then take a nap."

She smiled, took small sips of the water in her glass, and handed him the empty glass. Just as he took it, Lu Yiyue stared at him intently with a gentle gaze and suddenly asked, "How long is your preparation period?"

This was the first time she had asked that question.

Silence fell. His hand, holding the cup, froze in mid-air. For a long while, neither of them spoke. She stared at him, waiting for an answer. He stared blankly at the cup she had drunk from; it was still warm and hot.

Time ticked by, and she waited.

He looked up and met her expectant gaze, his heart pounding. He hadn't panicked even during his first high-level meeting, but at this moment he was certain he was. "I'll shorten the time."

He didn't give a specific time, for fear of breaking his promise.

After drinking the brown sugar water, her stomach began to feel slightly warm. She wasn't angry. Her gaze shifted to his still slightly damp hair. She clenched and unclenched her hands under the covers, paused for a few seconds, and then smiled reassuringly, saying gently, "Go dry your hair. I'm fine now."

Seeing that he didn't move and there was tension in his eyes, she smiled again and couldn't help but reach out and touch his hair, her fingertips carrying a trace of coolness. "Brother, I'm not angry. I'm going to sleep for a while."

Also called "brother"?

Despite saying he wasn't angry, Ji Jiale felt an urge to burst out, which he was struggling to suppress.

He moved after a moment, stood up, picked up the cup from the bedside table, gripped it tightly, looked at me for a few seconds, and said, "Message me if you're not feeling well."

Lu Yiyue had already lay down, a complex emotion lingering in her eyes, and replied, "Okay."

As Ji Jiale reached the door, he suddenly remembered something, turned around, and said to the person on the bed, "Don't eat cold food anymore."

He left the room with mixed emotions, having received no response from the person in bed.

When the bodyguards saw Ji Jiale emerge from the room with a dark expression and a chilling aura, the four bodyguards were somewhat bewildered, guessing that the two must have had a fight.

Back in his room, Ji Jiale didn't listen to Lu Yiyue's advice to go to the bathroom to dry his hair. Instead, he stood by the window, holding a pack of cigarettes. He tapped the cigarette case with his index finger, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and with a snap, a crimson light illuminated the dark room.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, making his deep, somber face appear even colder and more profound, revealing a palpable restlessness and suppressed emotions.

He flicked the cigarette butt between his long fingers in the ashtray on the windowsill, then put the cigarette between his lips and took several deep drags. A large cloud of smoke billowed out, completely blurring his sharply defined features, leaving only a sense of oppression.

My mind is filled with fragments of memories.

He and Lu Yiyue were not only in the same school for kindergarten, but also in the same school for elementary school, middle school, high school and university. Except for university, where they were in the same school but not in the same class, they were classmates and deskmates in all other grades.

And because of this, he heard a lot of things he didn't want to hear, such as, "Isn't he Ji Hancheng's son?"

"If he weren't the grandson of the Ji family, he would be nothing. Would he always be seated at the same table as Lu Yiyue, the school beauty?"

"It's all because of the teacher's rules. Look how long they've been sitting together, just hogging the spot without doing anything."

...and many more, but these people fawn over him, calling him Brother Le this and Brother Le that.

Those words were harsh, but how could they not be? Wasn't he just riding on his father's coattails?

Aside from the Ji family and the fact that he's Ji Hancheng's son, what can he give her? How long can she wait for him?

My chest felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making it hard to breathe. I raised my hand and took a deep drag of my cigarette.

One cigarette after another.

He didn't know how much time had passed or how long he had smoked. It seemed that he couldn't calm down his irritability without smoking, but after he finished smoking, it seemed that it had no effect at all. When he reached for the cigarette pack again, he found that it was empty.

This feeling isn't good, especially with that line, "What's your deadline?"

It kept circling in my ears, repeating on and on.

He was lost in his own thoughts, reminiscing about how Ji Xinyu had been knocking on the door for a long time, but there had been no response from inside.

He didn't answer the phone or reply to the messages, which made Ji Xinyu, who was standing at the door, a little worried. Using her lock-picking skills, she easily opened the door to her brother's room.

As soon as she opened it, a pungent smell of smoke hit her, almost killing her; it was so suffocating.

Ji Xinyu covered her nose with one hand and waved her other hand repeatedly, trying to disperse the smoke drifting towards her. She quickly walked to her brother's side, thinking there were still cigarettes in the cigarette box on the windowsill.

She grabbed it, only to find it was empty. She threw it directly into the trash can in the room, and threw away the lighter as well, staring at her brother who was still standing on the windowsill.

Seeing her younger sister arrive, Ji Jiale opened the window slightly, without turning around, her gaze fixed on a certain point outside the window. "Go to sleep."

Ji Xinyu ignored her brother's words, frowned, her brows furrowed, and tugged at his hand with worried eyes, "Brother, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

He was fine when they came back from the night market. Ji Xinyu had never seen her brother smoke so much before, no, she had never seen him smoke at all. "Brother, when did you learn to smoke?"

He didn't answer any of the questions, but simply urged his sister to go to sleep.

Her brother looked like some heartbroken people she had seen before, drinking heavily in the middle of the night and wallowing in self-pity, but her brother didn't have a girlfriend either.

Ji Xinyu couldn't understand what was going on. Her brother, who never smoked in front of others, was hiding in his room creating a fairyland. Judging from the amount of smoke, Ji Xinyu felt that if she had arrived a few minutes later, she might have been collecting his corpse.

Seeing that her brother still didn't intend to tell her, Ji Xinyu didn't force him. If her brother didn't want to talk about something, even if their father came, it wouldn't make a difference.

Her brother's mouth is like a lock; you can't pry it open at all.

She even suspected that her brother was a secret agent in his past life.

Finally, filled with worry and questions, she was pushed out the door by her brother. Before leaving, Ji Xinyu reminded her brother that he could no longer smoke, and Ji Jiale agreed.

His breath reeked of smoke, and he felt uncomfortable, so he didn't plan to smoke anymore.