Chapter 87: Quarrel, Brother and Sister?

  The professor's timing was also punctual, without keeping everyone waiting. At exactly 8:30, a black sedan stopped on the tree-lined avenue inside the school gate. Wang Mingzhe, Wang Qiyin and several student representatives personally went to greet him and led the old professor to the school's grand auditorium.

  The auditorium of Donghai University is packed at this moment, all the students are gathered here, waiting for the arrival of the old professor.

  A huge banner with a red background and yellow characters hangs obliquely above the large platform in the auditorium, displaying a solemn and dignified line of large characters: Warmly welcome world-renowned physicist Emmon. Rolly to our school for lectures and exchanges.

  "Mo, how come you're so late? Do you know that the school said if we don't arrive on time for Professor Rolly's lecture, we'll all be severely punished and might even get expelled?" Min Jing looked at Su Mo, who remained calm as water from start to finish. This was a lecture by world-renowned physicist Professor Emmon Rolly, and yet Su Mo seemed completely unbothered, as if he didn't care about the occasion at all. It was as if he had just wandered in, not worth getting worked up over. Min Jing couldn't understand why someone so young could seem so lifeless.

  "Min Jing, are you stupid? They have a backing, can't you see that?" Someone next to her poked Min Jing with their hand, their tone somewhat mocking, their face clearly showing dissatisfaction with Su Mo Ruo.

  "Really? You knew too." Min Jing looked at the girl who was speaking and said a sentence.

  Su Mo finally looked up at this time, but he was looking at Min Jing, "Min Jing, people gather with similar kinds and separate with different groups."

  If it were someone else, they might not understand what Su Mo Ruo meant by this, but Min Jing had been with Su Mo Ruo for almost half a year and naturally understood her meaning. She smiled awkwardly at the female voice beside her, although the words that came out of her mouth made the other person furious. "She said, birds of a feather flock together, people of similar character gather in groups. You and I seem to be different kinds of people, so let's keep our distance." As she spoke, she winked at a male classmate beside the female student, "Handsome guy, beautiful girl, want to switch seats?"

  "Alright, no problem." Ji Yuxuan had already seen this scene earlier, but he hadn't spoken up until now. As for Su Moruo, his classmate, he had always known that she didn't speak much in class and didn't dress well, at least not like the rich kids' daughters who wore brand new designer clothes every day. But despite her simple attire, she exuded an air of nobility that was hard to describe, even with a hint of mystery. Su Moruo was someone he had always wanted to get to know better, and today they happened to sit together by chance. The sudden remark earlier had left him speechless for half a day, but he didn't really understand what this female classmate meant. However, he wasn't interested in her anyway, so he naturally agreed to Min Jing's request. He was overjoyed, and this way, he could also get closer to Su Moruo, who had always been the most interesting person in his class. It was a win-win situation, why not?

  The girl who was speaking was furious, her face red with rage. However, the handsome boy sitting next to her was someone she had been secretly in love with, and today she had finally managed to switch seats with a classmate to sit closer to him, hoping to get to know him better. But then Min Jing suddenly said something that made her realize that the boy who had been sitting next to Ji Yuxuan all along had actually liked her for a long time and was trying to pursue her. If she were to switch seats now, wouldn't she be asking for trouble?

  Just as the female classmate was still hesitating, Ji Yuxuan, who had already stood up, spoke before Min Jing could say a word. "This classmate, aren't you going to switch seats? Why haven't you gotten up yet?" His tone was gentle, making people unable to help but be drawn in, his eyes sparkling with amusement, looking just like the white prince from fairy tales.

  The female classmate suddenly became a little infatuated, looked up with a smile at Ji Yu Xuan, and finally, still gritting her teeth, revealed a naturally charming smile and stood up. "You sit," she said, and then brushed past Ji Yu Xuan's body closely, instantly stiffening because in front of them was another row of seats, with only a small aisle in between. Naturally, when the two people passed each other, they would be tightly pressed together, so the female classmate had gained something from this.

  "Ji Yuxuan, thank you." After sitting down in Ji Yuxuan's previous seat, the female classmate turned her head to look at Ji Yuxuan who had already sat down, and words with a spoiled tone slipped out of her mouth. She looked into Ji Yuxuan's eyes, almost reluctant to move away.

  Ji Yuxuan's back suddenly stiffened as he sat down, but he still tried to make his smile look natural. He turned his head and gave his female classmate a charming smile, "You're welcome." However, in his heart, he was gritting his teeth, "Damn it, you took advantage of me and yet you're thanking me."

  The next sentence completely exposed the originally elegant prince, who was actually a rough and shocking person. The elegant prince in the eyes of outsiders was just a mask he used to deceive people. Only by removing this mask can we see the real Ji Yu Xuan.

  "Haha, I said Ji Daxi grass you really have nothing to say, too good to talk to, not a bit of pretension. If I didn't already have someone I liked, I would definitely pursue you." Min Jing gave the person sitting next to her, Ji Yuxuan, a hearty slap on the shoulder, with a bold and uninhibited attitude. Usually not having much contact with this Ji Yuxuan, she hadn't expected that this handsome Ji Daxi would also be a good person, although he's very handsome, but he doesn't have any pretension at all, too easy to talk to."

  Ji Yuxuan hooked his lips, "Min Jing classmate, are you using a bit too much force?"

  "Hmm... sorry, I won't go easy on you. Thinking that you're a big man, you should be able to withstand my punch." Min Jing smiled slyly, looking quite mischievous. In fact, she had always wanted to see if this man, who looked as elegant as a prince, was actually effeminate. She described him as elegant, but in reality, it was just a more beautiful way of saying that Ji Yu-xuan leaned towards being feminine, appearing somewhat lacking in masculinity and overly yin.

  Su Mo looked at Ji Yu Xuan, and always felt that this male classmate had too much of the shadow of Ji Lan on him. However, Ji Lan was only in his thirties now, while Ji Yu Xuan shared the same surname as Ji Lan. If they really were related, wouldn't that mean that Ji Lan, who was only a teenager back then, already had a son who was almost twenty years old now?

  Knitting her brows and lowering her head in contemplation, although Ji Lan had never told her about her family background, she also knew that she didn't have any relatives, alone with no one by her side. Now, looking at this classmate surnamed Ji, who bore too many similarities to Ji Lan, it was all too eerie.

  "What are you thinking about? I feel like you're even busier than my dad, and during this time, you're still racking your brains thinking about things." Min Jing spoke from start to finish, but Su Mo Ruo had just been quiet for a moment before being directly interrupted by her. Her voice was slightly louder.

  "Looking up at Min Jing, 'Thinking about something.'"

  "What's on your mind? There's a handsome guy in front of you and you don't even know to look." Glancing at Su Mo Ruo with obvious disdain.

  "Hmm." She murmured softly and fixed her gaze on Ji Yu Xuan's body.

  Looking at Su Mo Ruo being so decisive, although this time it was just a single "en" that sent her off, but Su Mo Ruo's actions made her extremely satisfied. She directly turned her gaze to Ji Yu Xuan, and in her heart, she gave Su Mo Ruo a big round of applause, exclaiming: This girl is really powerful! Let her see, she really looked, and did it so directly, without showing any signs of intimidation at all.

  Ji Yuxuan obviously didn't expect that Su Moruo, who was usually very calm in class, would look at him like this. Her gaze didn't have any loving or flirtatious emotions, it just looked at him with a sizing-up attitude, up and down on his face, making him feel somewhat embarrassed. He coughed awkwardly and said, "Su Moruo, although I'm a guy, there are still times when I feel embarrassed, right? You looking at me like this really makes me uncomfortable."

  "Is that so?" She didn't seem to care, but the doubt in her heart wasn't resolved, and she would feel uncomfortable, at least this time was like that. So, after thinking for a moment, she directly asked Ji Yuxuan: "Is your mother by your side?"

  "Huh?" Min Jing, who was next to her, was immediately stunned by this sentence, with countless question marks popping up in her head, because she really didn't understand what Su Mo Ruo meant. Whether someone's mother is by their side or not, how does that concern her?

  She realized that she was getting more and more confused about Su Mo Ruo, this weirdo. Thinking that she was still sitting between the two of them, she suddenly felt very embarrassed, covered her face, poked Su Mo Ruo, "Get up, let's switch positions, okay? This way it'll be easier for you two to chat."

  Su Moer didn't say a word and directly stood up, exchanging seats with Min Jing.

  Such an action also attracted the attention of Que Mengu and Ning Shi Yang.

  "What's the point of asking this?" Ji Yuxuan was also full of questions, and this sentence made him somewhat at a loss.

  "Just don't bother, just answer me." Hearing this rhetorical question, Su Mo's temper was a bit off. She didn't have the patience to explain things to people, and her personality had always been somewhat overbearing.

  He was left speechless for a moment, and after a while, he originally wanted to say no directly, but unexpectedly, when the words reached his lips, they automatically changed to an answer, "My mom has been by my side since I was a child."

  "That's his stepmother." As she said this to Ji Yuxuan, Su Moruo became even more certain of the relationship between Ji Yuxuan and Ji Lan. She was convinced that not even Ji Yuxuan himself knew that his real mother was not by his side. The resemblance was too striking, and she couldn't believe that Ji Lan and Ji Yuxuan were unrelated. Moreover, Ji Lan was single and their ages differed greatly, so it was even more impossible for them to be siblings.

  The corners of his mouth twitched, and Ji Yuxuan felt that talking to Su Moruo was a real effort. He was too overbearing, directly imposing his own thoughts on him, speaking with such certainty, yet couldn't help but retort, "Stepmother? Is there anyone who can be so good as a stepmother?"

  "That's his real mother." Ji Yuxuan refuted with certainty.

  "Stepmother." Su Mo Ruo also replied affirmatively.

  "Is there a mother who would sacrifice her own life to comfort me and rescue me from the kidnappers?" He was almost gritting his teeth as he spoke, Ji Yuxuan felt that his originally fake elegant mask was about to be torn apart.

  "It's possible that she was just putting on an act for you and your dad, all to capture the hearts of father and son." Su Mo said, pausing for a moment.

  Just when Ji Yu Xuan thought she wouldn't say anything else, she came up with an even more explosive sentence: "And another possibility is that she might have a problem and can't give birth herself, so your family will only have you as the only son."

  "There's also a younger sister in our family." Ji Yuxuan looked at Su Moruo, suppressing the urge to throttle this person who was spouting nonsense beside him, his hands clenched into fists and his eyes wide with anger.

  "Sister? That's someone who can give birth. Of course, a girl, no son, definitely won't work, so being good to you is only natural."

  "...I feel like you're not cold at all, but your temper is too weird." He thought to himself, this curiosity of humans is really terrifying. Look at him, he's just too curious, now that he understands Su Mo Ruo, he has an urge to vomit blood.

  "No matter how you speak, I'm only telling you that I know where your biological mother is." Su Mo continued with this sentence, disregarding Ji Yu Xuan's gaze which was almost piercing a hole through her.

  Ji Yuxuan felt as if a lump had formed in his chest, making him feel extremely uncomfortable and unable to breathe.

  "Don't you believe it." He added another sentence.

  "I have a real mom." Four words, almost gritted out through clenched teeth.

  "That's not it." Sumo continued.

  "That is." As he spoke, a pair of hands had already begun to stretch out towards Sumo.

  "I advise you to withdraw your hand... unless you don't want it anymore." As he gazed at the pair of hands reaching out towards him, Su Mo's eyes instantly turned icy.

  "...you..." He muttered to himself, this girl had changed too quickly. Just a moment ago, she was still acting like a lunatic, spouting nonsense and making him suspect that she wasn't quite right in the head. But now, he felt that she was surprisingly normal, yet somehow too cold-blooded. The way she spoke, even her gaze, made people feel like they were on guard.

  "Alright, if you're free one day, I'll help arrange a meeting with her. After all, she's your biological mother, otherwise, you two wouldn't look so alike." Su Mo said this slowly while looking at Ji Yu Xuan's intense gaze, thinking that Ji Lan would be too lonely by herself and would definitely be happy to know she had another son.

  "...What did you say? You look very much like us?" Upon hearing Su Mo Ruo's words, Ji Yu Xuan suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

  Just now, Ji Yu Xuan was still gnashing his teeth, but now he's suddenly surprised and excited, staring at her with eager eyes. This made Su Mo Ruo feel very uncomfortable. Could it be that this guy knew all along that his mother wasn't his biological one? All these years of hiding and enduring, was it just to find his real birth mother?

  "Why didn't you just admit it earlier?" Looking at Ji Yuxuan, Su Moruo showed her disdain for this man who dared to do but not acknowledge.

  "Under Su Mo's gaze, I felt uneasy all over, and my face was filled with embarrassment. 'What are you thinking about? What's with the talk of biological mothers and stepmothers, and what do you mean by acknowledging it early on?' My dad had told me since I was young that I have an aunt, his only sister, and that I look a lot like her. However, over the years, we hadn't heard from her at all. Back then, our family, the Ji family, was quite wealthy in the area, and when my aunt was just over 10 years old, she already had a fiancé from a family friend's household. The two of them were very close, but unexpectedly, one year, that family pushed our Ji family to the brink of collapse. My grandparents died in a sudden fire at their villa, and my brother and aunt went missing. But my dad believed that my aunt was still alive; he said that they had always been close and had a deep connection, so he felt it in his heart that she was still out there. He relied on this conviction to keep searching for her... In the years after my aunt's disappearance, my dad would often sneak out for a few days at a time to search for her, but he never found any leads. However, he did receive some news that said my aunt was working in nightclubs and even doing those shameful flesh trades. My dad didn't believe it, though - after all, my aunt was only around 12 years old back then. He snuck into those places several times but got beaten up badly..."

  The more I listen, the more shocking it is. Su Mo couldn't have imagined that Ji Lan, who was beautiful, dazzling and exceptionally talented, had such a past. Regardless of whether Ji Lan later worked in nightclubs or not, just talking about the pain she experienced when she was over ten years old, it's probably an unhealable wound for her this lifetime.

  At such a young age, she has already encountered such ruthless revenge from the Ji family. How did Ji Lan manage to survive all these years?

  "What are you thinking, do you know about my aunt's situation? If you do, please tell me, okay?" Ji Yu Xuan had seen his father crying several times while holding his aunt's childhood photos in the study. The black and white photos still clearly showed his aunt's elegant demeanor from her young age, which couldn't be hidden even back then. He had also seen his aunt's photos since he was a child, so he was very certain that his father wasn't lying to him - he really did look like his aunt.

  Many times, Father would sigh and say that Heaven has been kind to him, sending a son who looks like his sister to his side. With the son's appearance, it will be easier to find his sister in the future.

  It seems now that Father's understanding was indeed correct.

  And he, too, had been living under his aunt's mask for nearly nineteen years. Nineteen years had passed, and his father had gone from disappointment to despair. By now, he had basically given up all hope on this matter. Yet, it was at a time when they had lost all hope that he gave them hope, and his heart skipped a beat.

  "Why should I tell you." At this time, Su Mo Ruo also came back to her senses, looking at Ji Yu Xuan's expectant face, Su Mo Ruo suddenly said this sentence.

  "You——" Ji Yu Xuan's eyes widened in incredulity as he stared at Su Mo Ruo, who had clearly initiated the conversation, yet now seemed to be refusing to continue it, despite having already piqued his interest.

  "Do you know that when doing many things, one needs to keep their emotions in check? You're like this, and it's likely that you'll have a hard time achieving great things in the future." Su Mo Ruo gazed at Ji Yu Xuan, whose face was full of anger, and suddenly said these words.

  "I——" At this time, Ji Yuxuan was also surprised to discover that because of the topics he had discussed with Su Moruo, his usual calm and composed demeanor, which everyone praised him for, had suddenly failed him. This really made him puzzled, and he furrowed his brow as he looked at Su Moruo. For him, this wasn't a good thing. He looked at Su Moruo, wanting to see if she had intentionally pointed out his mistake earlier, but saw that she was staring straight ahead at the lecture, unaware of what was going on around her. To anyone who didn't know better, it would seem like she was deeply engrossed in the lecture by Professor Luo Li, but only Ji Yuxuan knew that Su Moruo actually looked down on him with disdain.

  "Su Mo Ruo, I'm begging you, okay? My father is getting old and he has never forgotten about this sister all these years. Now that we finally have news of her whereabouts, please tell me, let's go see if she's really my aunt, okay?" His eyes were a little red, as for so many years, his father's pain was something he had witnessed with his own eyes. So many times, he saw his mother hiding in the corner, tears streaming down her face, unable to speak, and sometimes, his heart would ache.

  For such a familial attack, Sumo was somewhat unable to defend himself, his heart felt a bit sour, but his face remained expressionless. "What's your aunt's name?"

  "Ji Rou Er."

  Knit brow, Ji Rou'er, this name doesn't seem right. Did Ji Lan ever have a name called Ji Rou'er?

  "I don't know this Ji Rou'er, I only know a woman named Ji Lan."

  "Ji Lan?" Ji Yu Xuan was also puzzled. Ji Lan, Ji Lan, the more he listened, the more familiar it sounded, but the more he listened, the farther away it seemed.

  "Uh-huh."

  "Can you give me her contact information, so I can confirm with her?" Called Ji Lan, and looked very similar to herself. Could it be that the direction of the search for all these years was wrong? Auntie Ji Rou'er had actually changed her name long ago, how could she still be called Ji Rou'er? And Father had been searching for Ji Rou'er all these years, which is why he couldn't find her.

  Ji Lan's identity was different, so Su Mo couldn't possibly reveal his identity to Ji Yu Xuan, and said: "I'll make a phone call."

  "Go ahead and hit me." As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Su Mo Ruo, without even blinking once.

  Sumo didn't say a word either, just kept staring at Ji Yuxuan like that.

  Being stared at by Su Mo Ruo with this gaze, he felt uneasy all over, his face somewhat embarrassed, "I just...just got a bit excited, wanting you to make the call quickly."

  Getting up and leaving the auditorium now is a bit eye-catching, no way, all the freshmen in the first year are arranged in front, and the senior brothers and sisters naturally have to give way to these younger brothers and sisters. But for Su Mo Ruo, this may not be a good thing.

  Helpless, the intelligent lowered his head and took out his mobile phone to dial Ji Lan's number. Since it was still a while before boarding the plane, Ji Lan probably hadn't left yet, so calling now was just about right in terms of timing.

  Ji Lan is a person who absolutely emphasizes speed, and as soon as the phone rang, it was answered in an instant. On the other end of the line came Ji Lan's elegant and pleasant voice, "Dear boss, has it only been a short while since we parted ways that you're already missing me?"

  Ji Lan's sudden good mood made her speech seem somewhat playful, but Su Mo Ruo only faintly curved his lips and said, "You haven't set off yet, have you?"

  "Uh, it's still a while before we start going through security checks."

  "Do you have an older brother?" Su Mo suddenly asked.

  On the other end of the phone, Su Mo could hear heavy and stagnant breathing sounds, one after another, which seemed to be delayed but also carried a sense of tension. After a while, he heard Ji Lan's voice again.

  On the other side, Ji Lan seemed to have found her voice after a long time, sounding a bit tense, with her voice coming out in fits and starts. "Mo Ru... you... what did you just say?" Brother? This was something she didn't dare think about for this lifetime. If back then, she hadn't been so impulsive, would the tragedy that occurred at home have happened? Now, after nearly twenty years of separation from her brother, she had never gone to look for him, simply because it was impossible for anyone to survive the fire that year, and she was just a jinx, with everything in her life going awry except for those few years on Wall Street. But now, having found a boss like Su Mo Ru who let her start anew, should she be happy or try to escape?

  Is it time to uncover the scars that have been hidden for nearly twenty years?

  "Are you listening?" Su Mo's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Ji Lan's reaction had already made her certain in her heart.

  "Uh-huh, I'm listening." Ji Lan snapped back to reality, trying to make her voice sound natural. "Brother, is that really you?"

  "If you really have a brother and are willing to meet him, I can help you reply."

  “……”

  "Alright, 6 o'clock tonight, at the Mingzhu Hotel." Ji Lan's voice, with a hint of relief, came through the phone into Su Mo Ruo's ears.