Chapter 91: But Don't Forget, You And I Are Each Other’s Last Family In This World 

Source: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5896087
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

Morning sunlight spreads bright light to the world. A few sparrows landed on a tree branch and shook off a snowflake.

The air outside had started to become lively. But the study on the second floor was too quiet.  

The young maid followed Aunt Wu and put tea and snacks in front of Ji Qingyun and Ji Xiao. Only after she walked out did she dare to let out one breath. “Why do I feel Master looks so serious today?”  

Aunt Wu had always known that beneath the seemingly harmonious and peaceful exterior of this family, undercurrents were constantly swirling.

She shook her head at the young maid. “Don’t look at what you shouldn’t see. Don't listen to what you shouldn't hear. If there are things you shouldn’t understand, then pretend to be confused.”  

The young maid didn't fully understand. Still, she nodded seriously. “I understand, Aunt Wu.”  

Aunt Wu nodded and took her downstairs.  

The quiet hallway showed their shadows. Aunt Wu still felt uneasy and looked back at the study door.  

The heavy red carved wooden door cut off the sound inside and outside. Ji Qingyun sat straight by the window. Like an elegant gentleman, he lifted the white porcelain teacup in his hand. He took a sip, then said, “Was Qingyu the one who went out just now?”  

Ji Xiao knew when Ji Qingyun came over, he must have run into the family car. So she didn't hide it. “Yes.”  

“Then do you know where she went?” Ji Qingyun asked again.  

Ji Xiao raised her eyes and stole a glance at him. For some reason, the bad feeling she had at the door became stronger.  

She acted calm and covered for Wei Qingyu. “The library. She goes there every week to study.”  

Ji Qingyun smiled. “Silly child. Wei Qingyu actually went to her home in Yanlu Lane.”  

Ji Xiao paused with the golden fork in her hand. The soft marshmallow was pierced by the sharp fork.  

She was surprised. Ji Qingyun actually knew.  

Ji Qingyun saw her movement clearly. He thought she was surprised that Wei Qingyu lied to her. He said again, “Child, do you remember Chen Linji we met at the Thanksgiving dinner?”  

Ji Xiao stiffly nodded. She pretended to be confused. “What about it?”  

“I already sent people to check. He was the one who bought Wei Qingyu’s family villa  back then. Wei Qingyu goes there every week to meet them.”  

Ji Qingyun spoke. No one knew if he was really sad or acting. His voice choked. Even his face looked low and depressed.  

He stirred his coffee with a long spoon. “Ji Xiao, after I knew this, I was really heartbroken. Our family helped her like this. We spent people and money. Yet she turns her elbow outward*. Now the inheritance your Uncle Wei left is being transferred by Chen Linji. I can’t imagine what their Wei family will make of our family in the future.”  

*胳膊肘往外拐 (Zhǒu bù xiàng wài piē) -  help/favor outsiders instead of your own family/team.

When Ji Xiao heard this, she finally understood why he came.  

Without her blocking, Wei Qingyu had already started to take back what belonged to her with Chen Linji’s help.  

It looked like the plot would happen earlier. And since that Thanksgiving dinner, it had caught Ji Qingyun off guard.  

If Ji Xiao didn't already know Ji Qingyun’s true face, she would have been fooled by his perfect acting. She would have become the stumbling stone on Wei Qingyu’s road to take back her inheritance.  

Ji Xiao put the marshmallow into her mouth. She said calmly, “But Dad, those things were Wei Qingyu’s in the first place. It’s her freedom to ask anyone to act as her agent.”  

Ji Qingyun was clearly caught off guard by Ji Xiao’s lack of an explosive reaction. Frowning, he looked as though he hated iron for not becoming steel*, and said: “My silly child. If she does this without a sound, and if Dad didn't react in time, later our family would fall a thousand feet in one drop.”  

*恨铁不成钢 (Hèn tiě bùchéng gāng) disappointment at someone’s failure to live up to expectations.

“You don't want your family broken and people dead, right? You don't want to lose your dad like Wei Qingyu did, right? You already have no mom. Do you also want Dad to leave you?”  

As he spoke, he grabbed Ji Xiao’s hand.  

His hand was wide and damp. Under the fine skin were calluses that couldn't disappear, even after living in comfort. They recorded the days he once lived not so smoothly.  

Maybe fathers and daughters are connected by heart. Or maybe Ji Qingyun showed it on purpose. Ji Xiao felt the fear and tension from him.  

She looked at him and patiently said, “Dad, why can’t our two families live in peace? Let Wei Qingyu take back her inheritance. Our Ji family can cooperate with the Wei family. We might rise again.”  

A snowflake fell outside the window. The sunlight scattered Ji Xiao’s voice into Ji Qingyun’s ears. He seemed to see Xiao Yu.  

Long ago, Xiao Yu also held his hand and softly said, “Qingyun, it’s okay. This business failure was not a complete failure. At least we learned lessons. I can ask my family for more money and cooperate with Lindong’s Manqing. You might rise again.”  

Maybe luck really exists. And Ji Qingyun had never been a lucky man.  

More than ten years ago, to marry Xiao Yu, he gave up the olive branch from a big company. After Wei Lindong, he chose to start his own business.  

Wei Lindong’s business, Manqing, was full of wind and water rising. His Xiaoyun was defeated in one battle and fell to the ground.  

Creditors pressed for debts. His father-in-law mocked him. In despair, Xiao Yu helped him push open Wei Lindong’s door.  

Wei Lindong was gentle and righteous.  

Before Ji Qingyun could speak, he gave money and effort. He helped build the company. Later, he even went with Ji Qingyun to Xiao Yu’s house to propose marriage.  

Ji Qingyun sat in his office and looked down at the busy city center. He still remembered what Xiao Yu said when she didn't abandon him.  

Back then, he was grateful to the Wei family. Even when he lowered his head in Wei Lindong’s office, he still treated him as the best brother of his life.  

Until that day.  

“What, the money is his wife’s. The company was built by President Wei. And he’s still an Alpha. So useless.”  

“I think President Ji has ability. How can you say that?”  

“You don’t know. Without his wife, where would the investment come from? Without President Wei, where would Xiaoyu be today? I heard from Vice President Liu. That project was no good. If President Wei didn't help revise it, there would be no Xiaoyun now.”  

“President Wei is really good. Look at President Ji’s background. His words and manners are like heaven and earth compared to President Wei. If I were President Wei, I wouldn't even know how to take him to a banquet and introduce him to other bosses.”  

“Maybe it’s to set him off. Who doesn’t do some charity.”  

As the talk outside the restroom faded, the dignity Ji Qingyun barely pieced together was smashed into four parts and five cracks again.  

Wei Lindong sitting in the boss chair, equal to him, kept enlarging in his mind and became high above.  

Ji Qingyun looked at Ji Xiao and shook his head. Hate floated in his eyes. “Xiaoxiao, you don’t understand. The Wei family has never been as kind as they look. You never know what they will use you for. From the start, they were not pure toward us. They almost got you killed. Did you forget?”  

Ji Xiao frowned. “Dad, I said it before. I pretended to be Wei Qingyu, so I was retaliated against. Why don’t you believe me?”  

Ji Qingyun immediately showed a heartbroken face. “Child, you are too naive. Wei Qingyu has deep schemes since childhood. How do you know she was not doing it on purpose? Dad is doing this for your own good!”  

Source: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5896087
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

That last sentence hit Ji Xiao’s heart hard.  

Only then did she realize how cruel and self righteous it was when she once told Wei Qingyu, I am doing this for your own good.  

She thought it was for her good. In fact, it was selfish arrogance.  

She thought she suffered and had unspeakable bitterness. In fact, her silent coldness hurt others even more.  

Ji Xiao shook her head. “Dad, this is not for my good. This only satisfies your own heart.”  

She remembered the chaotic ten years old, written in the original owner’s diary.  

A good child was pushed into dark mud because of adults’ self righteous guidance.  

Selfish, violent, eccentric, arrogant.  

Ji Qingyun used this ‘for my own good’ to grow flowers with fangs in that bad soil. Bite by bite, they swallowed the girl’s pure and kind soul.  

Ji Xiao slowly pulled her hand out under the winter sun. “I’m not your puppet on strings. I’m a person who can think independently. Just because you say it is for my good, does not mean I will truly become good.”  

After her words fell, Ji Qingyun didn't speak for a long time.  

After a while, the quiet study heard his unclear sigh. “So Xiaoxiao, your opinion now differs from Dad’s?”  

“Yes.”  

Her voice was light, but it carried resistance.  

The girl's voice was soft, yet it held a rebellious spirit against certain beliefs.

Ji Qingyun stared intently at the single drop of white milk slowly fading from the center of the glass before him, his gaze heavy.

"“Xiaoxiao, don't forget. Everything you enjoy now, like Dad, came from the Wei family. Without Dad’s protection, do you think your Wei Qingyu can save you from Chen Linji and those people? Do you think your wish to be a stable teacher can come true?”  

Ji Qingyun bluntly and cruelly revealed the bloody truth of this family to Ji Xiao, his deep eyes fixed on the girl before him.  

He was smiling, but she felt chills down her spine.

He could dote on this only bloodline Xiao Yu left. He could have no principle, indulge everything, or even give up his property.  

But if this child didn't learn to be obedient, he would force her to face what he wanted her to face, just like how he forced her to attend Xiao Yu’s memorial.  

Ji Qingyun adjusted his glasses. “Xiaoxiao, I just realized. Dad was too good to you before.”  

“Child, when you have no chips to bargain, no one will listen to you. Dad’s love extending to the crow also has limits, especially to a teacher. If you cannot prove you can balance the Wei family in the future, I will use my methods. From the root, I will make Wei Qingyu no longer a threat to our family.”  

The study temperature dropped to the freezing point. Ji Xiao pressed her tongue hard against her upper teeth. The melted marshmallow grains spread in her mouth.  

Seeing she didn't respond, Ji Qingyun changed tone and became the loving father again. “Of course, if you listen to Dad and stop caring about this. If you want to be a teacher, Dad can get you a teaching position at the best school in the country.”  

Before he finished this sweet temptation, Ji Xiao interrupted him.  

“No need. Don't worry. I will give up all my past comfortable and decadent plans. I will start learning to take over company matters.”  

Her eyes were firm. Her tone was firm.  

But this was all she had.  

Only today did she feel the powerlessness of having nothing.

Sometimes fate’s torrent pushes a person with no great ambition to carry responsibility she didn't want. It pushes her to a fork in the road.  

But people will always give up easy comfort for what they value.  

If going against the current is the only option, then go against the current.

Ji Qingyun heard her answer and curved his lips.  

His slender fingers tapped the cup again and again. Compared to the green girl opposite him, he looked like a deep scheming hypocrite.  

His purpose wasn’t only to push her onto the road of inheriting the company.  

He wanted to see when she stood high and faced Wei Qingyu, whether she would agree with him again. Whether she would become like him.  

She is his daughter.  

She should be the best artwork he built in his life.  

But his proud imagination of the future didn't last long.  

Ji Xiao’s voice sounded again in the study.  

“But don't forget. You and I are each other’s last family in this world.”  

“Dad.”  

Sunlight fell on Ji Qingyun’s gentle profile. The smiling calm eyes suddenly trembled.  

Just now, in the girl’s raised eyes, he saw a wolf that decided to leave the wolf pack.  

Lonely and fierce.  

Stubbornly guarding her own territory.  

Author's Note:

Pigeon: Our timid one stood up today.  

Coward Ji:  Super A.