Chapter 7 Goodnight, Brother

The next morning,

Ji Chao felt an itching on his cheeks. He sniffed his nose and heard Lu Xining's tender voice by his ear.

"Nuonuo, don't disturb brother's sleep. Mommy will hold you and make milk, okay?"

Suddenly, he remembered that he had gone back home with his mother yesterday.

As soon as Ji Chao opened his eyes, he met Lu Nuonuo's bright and sparkling eyes.

The little guy, seeing him awake, immediately sweetly called out brother.

Lu Xining also noticed her eldest son's movement. She looked at him gently, "Xiao Chao, if you're still sleepy, you can sleep a little longer."

Ji Chao shook his head, staring at her dumbfounded.

Waking up beside his mother, there was a long-absent warmth.

Lu Xining touched his forehead and realized he no longer had a fever. After having breakfast with the two children, she took them out to play in the yard.

In the yard, there was a large swing. Ji Chao and Lu Nuonuo sat on it, while Lu Xining stood behind, gently pushing.

"Mommy, swing higher."

With Ji Chao playing with her, Lu Nuonuo danced happily with her hands and feet.

Amid the little one's repeated calls of brother, the worry that Ji Chao had carried in the hospital eventually vanished, revealing a smile that came from the heart.

During the three days at Lu Xining's, Ji Chao enjoyed every meal and would sleep with Lu Xining and Lu Nuonuo at night, waking up to the sound of Nuonuo's cries for brother in the morning.

When Ji Muye came looking for them, he saw his usually reserved and rarely laughing eldest son being chased and giggling joyously in the yard by Lu Nuonuo.

The bright sunshine showered both children, while Lu Xining sat on the swing on the other side, her gaze tenderly watching their playful antics.

In Ji Chao's hand was the string of a children's kite. Lu Nuonuo ran behind him, occasionally tumbling onto the lawn, then picking themselves up to continue the pursuit.

Suddenly, the kite string snapped.

Ji Chao took Lu Nuonuo to look for the distant kite, and immediately saw Ji Muye standing outside the courtyard gate.

He stared blankly, "Dad."

Lu Xining had actually noticed Ji Muye at the door much earlier. From the moment his car entered the neighborhood, she had been notified by the bodyguards.

It was only a matter of time before he found her.

During these days, she had made up her mind: she didn't want the man, but she wanted to take the children, to educate and raise them herself.

Wanting to see both her sons, a meeting with Ji Muye was inevitable.

The man, dressed in a well-tailored haute couture suit, had cold, handsome brows, and his dangerous and profound black eyes locked onto her face under lengthy lashes. His thin lips were pursed into a firm line, and his powerful presence was awe-inspiring.

Bodyguards followed him, standing a few steps behind him with respectful bowed heads.

The man's emotions were calmer than she had expected. Lu Xining asked the servants to take the children back to the living room and faced Ji Muye alone in the courtyard.

In the courtyard,

Lu Xining still sat on the swing.

Ji Muye strode up to her and, from a distance of one meter, towered over her, looking into her eyes.

In his mind, he recalled Yan Dong's words just before getting out of the car.

"The lady went to the hospital to visit Song Henian, the recently recovered son of the Song Family in the south city."

Ji Muye had seen that man. He stood outside the Ji Mansion all night before Ji Muye and Lu Xining's wedding.

Song Henian, Lu Xining's first love!

His gaze was cold and questioning, "Lu Xining, who gave you permission to take away my son?"

The corners of Lu Xining's mouth raised in a cold smile, "If I don't take him away, should I leave him sick in the hospital and unhappy?"

The man radiated anger, "What right do you have to take him away!"

Stung by the mockery in his eyes, Lu Xining held back tears and said, "I am his mother. What right do you think I have!"

Ji Muye's knuckles turned white from gripping tightly, "Now you remember you're his mother? Where were you the past two years when the child was sick and looking for his mother!"

Lu Xining's eyes reddened, a layer of mist appearing in them, "Do you think I didn't want to be with them? Ji Muye, it was you who didn't give me the chance to be with them!"

"When Ji Chao sat on the hospital terrace looking sad, where were you, their father? You were taking Liu Xixi to the film set!"

Ji Muye saw the gleam of tears in the corner of her eyes, his gaze flickered momentarily, then once more became tinged with scorn.

"Lu Xining, this is an issue between you and me, why do you always have to drag innocent people into it?"

Innocent?

Liu Xixi innocent?

Lu Xining felt as if her heart was being viciously seized by an iron grip, a dense array of long needles piercing it, leaving it riddled with a thousand holes.

The repression, torment, and sourness of those five years lay between her and Ji Muye, ruthlessly tearing at every inch of her skin.

"If you think she's innocent, then let her be innocent."

Lu Xining didn't want to argue with this man anymore. After all, no matter what she said, his heart would always side with Liu Xixi.

Wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes, she said, "Ji Muye, if you decide to marry Liu Xixi, please give back the custody of the two children to me."

The air around them seemed to freeze.

Ji Muye's profound eyes were as sharp as a sword: "In your dreams!"

"Lu Xining, let me remind you, even if you are the mother of the children, without my permission, you cannot take Ji Chao away."

"And if there is a next time, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Inside the house.

Ji Chao frequently looked out towards the yard, where it seemed like he saw his father making his mother cry. He'd never seen his mother look so distressed.

No, perhaps he had...

Before she left the Ji Family, before she left his father, before she left them, he had seen his mother wiping away tears secretly in her room.

Just as Ji Muye was about to make another cutting remark, Ji Chao, holding Lu Nuonuo's hand, returned to the yard.

He raised his voice, crying out, "Daddy, I will go back with you."

Lu Xining, with tears in her eyes, turned around to meet Ji Chao's sensible and well-behaved gaze, only to feel a wave of powerlessness surge through her heart.

Ji Chao handed Lu Nuonuo to Lu Xining, with a smile more miserable than crying, "Thank you, thank you, Mommy, I really had a great time these past few days."

The feeling of having Mommy and little sister around was really nice.

Lu Xining squatted down and embraced Ji Chao, "Xiao Chao, if you don't want to leave, Mommy can protect you."

Ji Chao, imitating her, patted her back and continued, "Mommy, don't worry. Daddy loves me a lot. It's just that little brother will be scared alone at home. I'm the big brother, I have to go back to stay with him."

"I'll come visit you and little sister when I have the chance, and I'll buy new toys for little sister too. Whatever my kindergarten friends have, Nuonuo little sister should have as well."

Ji Chao was really too well-behaved, too heart-rending.

Lu Xining didn't want to force the child because of her own wishes.

She had prepared a lot of snacks for Ji Chao, and Nuonuo had stuffed all her favorite candies into Ji Chao's little backpack.

Ji Muye sat in the living room sofa, his eyes cold and authoritative with a commanding presence.

Watching this scene unfold before him, he felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.

Taking advantage of his inattention, Ji Chao got Lu Xining's WeChat ID from a little piece of paper and planned to add her as soon as he got back.

Back at the Ji Mansion, Ji Muye habitually went to his room to shower.

Ji Chao sneaked into his room nervously.

His hands trembling with anxiety, he grabbed one of the matching smartphones that belonged to the three family members from the nightstand and hurried back to his own room.

Once in his room, Ji Chao hastily took out the small note and quickly added Lu Xining as a friend.

The request was quickly accepted.

Ji Chao lay on his bed, excitedly sending a video call to Lu Xining.

The moment it connected, he saw Lu Nuonuo crowding in front of the phone, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, repeatedly calling him big brother.

Ji Chao was enchanted by her cuteness.

"Mommy, can you also send me the photos of us together? When Daddy agrees to let me use the phone, I can look at them."

Lu Xining, heart aching for her son, sent over the photos she had taken of him and his sister over the past few days, along with their family portrait.

At the doorway to the room.

Ji Muye paused in the middle of drying his hair.