Ji Shisu got up early in the morning.
When he opened his eyes, there was no one in the room.
He knew that Zhao Luoning had asked Caixue to light the soothing incense again last night, but he didn't expose her.
On Chinese New Year's Eve, she wanted to stay up late with Caixue. He could understand her.
Zhao Luoning walked in with Caixue. Seeing Ji Shisu awake, she put down the window decorations in her hand and asked.
"Why did Second Master wake up so early?"
Zhao Luoning was pasting window decorations with Caixue. After all, it was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Coupled with staying up late with Caixue and Feixing, the gloom that had been lingering in Zhao Luoning since she came to the Ji Mansion was swept away.
"Are you pasting window decorations?"
"Yes, Caixue cut them."
Ji Shisu commented, "It's a bit crooked."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Luoning had something else to say, "I also cut a few."
Ji Shisu's words had already been spoken and he couldn't take them back now. He quickly tried to make up for it, "But the crookedness has a unique charm."
Rendong saw Ji Shisu's embarrassed expression and laughed, "Master, Second Young Mistress, you should hurry up. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Grand Matriarch is waiting for you to have a reunion dinner."
Reminded by Rendong, Zhao Luoning and Ji Shisu quickly put down what they were doing, washed up and went to Cihua Courtyard.
According to the old custom, after the meal, everyone didn't leave. Instead, they gathered around the Grand Matriarch, chatting about daily trifles.
Somehow, as they were chatting and laughing, the topic turned to Ji Shijun's marriage.
No one knew who brought up this topic. All they knew was that when it was mentioned, the faces of the Grand Matriarch and Ji Shijun darkened.
Ji Shihuan was just a child and didn't have as many scheming thoughts as others. When he heard people mention his eldest brother's fiancée, Wu Jiarong, he got excited.
"Grandma, I don't like that future sister-in-law."
No one expected Ji Shihuan to suddenly blurt out such a sentence. They all looked at him in surprise. The Grand Matriarch was also very curious. She called Ji Shihuan to her and asked.
"Dear, why don't you like her?"
Ji Shihuan tilted his head and thought for a while, then pointed at Zhao Luoning and said.
"The future sister-in-law is not as good as Second Sister-in-law, so I don't like her."
At that moment, everyone's hanging hearts fell to the ground. The Grand Matriarch also turned from gloomy to smiling.
"Silly child, although your future sister-in-law is not as good as Second Sister-in-law, she is not a bad person. You'll understand after getting along with her for a while."
Ji Shihuan pouted, extremely reluctant, and pulled at the Grand Matriarch's sleeve to make a fuss.
Ji Shihuan's childish temper made the Grand Matriarch lose face. If it weren't for the fact that Ji Shihuan was still young and was the apple of her eye, she would never have let him behave so recklessly.
The Grand Matriarch and everyone else tried to persuade Ji Shihuan, but only Ji Shijun remained unmoved. Seeing his younger brother dislike his unmarried fiancée so much, he actually felt quite pleased.
"Grandma, look, even your favorite Huan'er doesn't like Wu Jiarong."
Ji Shijun stood up and asked Ji Shihuan.
"Shihuan, do you really like Second Sister-in-law so much?"
Ji Shihuan nodded without thinking and said.
"Of course."
"Then I'll find someone who looks and has the same temper as Second Sister-in-law to be your sister-in-law. How about that?"
Before everyone could figure out what Ji Shijun meant, they only knew that Ji Shijun wanted to find someone else to replace the marriage he had been engaged to since childhood.
Ji Shihuan nodded repeatedly. Ji Shijun smiled and was about to walk out. The Grand Matriarch was furious. She stood up and called out to Ji Shijun tremblingly.
"Ungrateful son, how could you take Shihuan's words seriously? Come back quickly."
Ji Shijun was brought up by the Grand Matriarch. She knew his temper very well.
When he came back, seeing his repulsive attitude towards Wu Jiarong, the Grand Matriarch knew that something was wrong.
So, she had been keeping a tight rein on him, not giving him any chance to bring up that absurd idea. Unexpectedly, Ji Shihuan, a child, ruined all her efforts.
Ji Shijun pretended not to hear and strode out of Cihua Courtyard. The Grand Matriarch was so angry that she gasped for breath. Seeing that something was wrong, everyone quickly stepped forward to support her.
The nice reunion dinner ended with everyone gaping in astonishment.
Zhao Luoning and Ji Shisu didn't want to disturb the people in Cihua Courtyard any longer. There were a lot of things to do in the shop on the first day of the Lunar New Year. After saying goodbye to Zhao Luoning at the door of Cihua Courtyard, Ji Shisu left.
After walking out of Cihua Courtyard, Zhao Luoning walked with Caixue, thinking about Ji Shijun's words as she walked.
"Find someone with the same appearance and temper as me. What does Big Brother mean by that?"
Caixue came closer and rarely chatted about gossips with Zhao Luoning.
"Miss, do you want to see some gossips?"
"See gossips?" Zhao Luoning was puzzled. "Whose?"
Caixue took Zhao Luoning's hand and dragged her forward without giving her a chance to resist.
"Come with me."
The two walked all the way to Huifeng Residence.
Wasn't this Lu Yu's residence?
There was no one guarding the door of Huifeng Residence. Caixue pulled Zhao Luoning in.
For some reason, Zhao Luoning was very afraid of coming to Huifeng Residence.
She was now the Second Young Mistress. She was a bit afraid of facing Lu Yu, always feeling that she had snatched Lu Yu's position.
Only Ning Ruonian and her son Ji Jianhui lived in Huifeng Residence. Ning Ruonian didn't like socializing, so there were not many visitors. The courtyard was full of flowers and plants.
From under the flower bushes came the voices of a man and a woman talking.
Caixue pulled Zhao Luoning to squat behind the flower bushes and made a shushing gesture at her.
Zhao Luoning despised this kind of behavior of eavesdropping, especially when it was her own sister's conversation.
It was Caixue who desperately held her back and told her to listen first that she didn't leave.
"Ruo'er, stop being so unreasonable, okay?"
The man lowered his voice. The pleading tone was very obvious. The woman was obviously not so easy to talk to. Only the strong blame in her tone could be heard.
The woman must be Ning Ruonian. The man's voice sounded a bit familiar.
"I'm not being unreasonable. You said you would give me and Huier a proper status."
"But it was also you who wanted to come back to the Ji Mansion back then!"
"I didn't expect that after all these years, your family still wants you to marry her!"
"Ruo'er, don't you understand my feelings yet? If I wanted to marry her, why would I have left home back then!"
What did this mean? Zhao Luoning, who was eavesdropping on the gossip, was confused.
It meant that Ji Jianhui was the son of Ning Ruonian and someone else, not Ji Shisu's.
She looked at Caixue doubtfully.
What on earth was going on?
Caixue shrugged. She had only heard that there seemed to be some ambiguous relationship between Ji Shijun and Ning Ruonian. Seeing Ji Shijun rush straight to Huifeng Residence after coming out of the Grand Matriarch's room, she had brought the young mistress here to see the gossip.
Zhao Luoning looked through the gap in the bushes and saw the man reaching out to hug Ning Ruonian, but she dodged.
"Before I came back, I understood, but after I came back, I dare not believe it anymore."
"Ruo'er, you should be fair. You know best how I've treated you over the years. It was you who proposed to return to the clan because you were worried about your relatives. Now it's also you who regrets. What on earth do you want me to do to satisfy you?"
The man's words made Ning Ruonian stunned. She stood there motionless for a long time.
How dare he bully Lu Yu!
Zhao Luoning clenched her fists and was about to rush out without saying a word.