When the courier rang the villa’s doorbell, Ji Shileng had just finished opening the last box marked LILALI.
The glass dolls from the collaboration with the renowned artist Snow stood in a row on the pristine white rug, glittering brilliantly.
Ji Shileng pushed himself up, picked up the repacked parcel, and headed for the door.
The courier was someone he knew. Surprised to see him, the man glanced up at the house number and immediately understood.
The Ji family had bought another villa for Ji Shileng to enjoy.
He greeted him. “After all the talk, I finally get to see our Young Master Shi”
Ji Shileng remembered him. Most people who worked in Qingshui Creek held permanent, officially appointed positions.
“What talk?”
He took his identity card from his pocket and handed it over for verification.
Since returning, he had traveled almost exclusively between home and the office. If Su Ke did not mention something, he generally knew nothing about it.
“The news that you’re back. I kept thinking, I drive around Qingshui Creek every day, so how have I still not run into you?”
Before reaching adulthood, Ji Shileng had loved racing his Bugatti through Qingshui Creek.
The residents were senior officials or leading scientific and technological experts, all impossibly busy.
That left the broad roads for Ji Shileng to speed along to his heart’s content.
Every so often, he would block the courier’s little delivery vehicle.
“Not used to life without me racing around?”
“A little. It does get lonely”
In years of making deliveries, he rarely found anyone to chat with.
“Give me some time to settle back in. I’ll probably be blocking your way again soon”
During his years in the Empire, Ji Shileng had been far too well behaved. Forget racing—he had not even touched a steering wheel.
As a result, he still had not obtained a driver’s license.
The courier fell silent.
He looked between the photograph on the card and the young man before him.
“Why are you so thin in this picture?”
Ji Shileng made a small sound of surprise and took the card back.
Several months after receiving it, he finally examined the photograph properly.
A few days after bringing him home from the Empire, Ji Shiyun had used her connections to arrange for someone to visit and collect all the necessary information. His identity card and other documents had all been renewed.
In the photograph, his face was pale and fragile, his eyes empty and gloomy. He looked exactly like the gaunt murderer described in a novel.
“I’d only just come back when they took it”
Ji Shileng smiled.
“I look different now, don’t I?”
“That’s true”
The courier gave him a thumbs-up and continued chatting.
“Why’s this parcel going to the Empire? You’re not planning to go back, are you?”
A light breeze lifted Ji Shileng’s fringe. His expression softened with a smile.
“Go back?”
“I’m not going back”
The courier nodded repeatedly and said only, “That’s good”
Those words seemed to say everything and nothing.
“You’re just sending it openly under your own name?”
Glancing at the label, the courier thought it might be unwise and suggested using an alias.
Ji Shileng yawned and shook his head.
“Use my name. Otherwise, the parcel won’t be allowed into that place”
Understanding, the courier accepted the parcel and climbed onto his little delivery vehicle.
Before leaving, he remembered to warn him.
“No more driving without a license. I let it slide before because you were underage and couldn’t take the test”
“But you’re in your twenties now. You should get one”
Ji Shileng fell silent.
That was a useful reminder. He needed to ask his sister to find someone who could arrange a license for him.
He already knew how to drive. He certainly was not going to spend time going through the whole process.
There was no chance of finishing all the parcels right away. He returned to the villa, chose two pretty glass dolls, slipped them into his pockets, and headed home.
The butler waited at the door with a smile.
“You’re back, Young Master. Is there anything you’d like to eat today?”
Ji Shileng thought for a moment.
“I’d like the housekeeper’s spicy Sichuan shrimp”
The butler’s smile remained bright.
“No. Madam says your health hasn’t stabilized, so your diet still needs to be controlled”
Ji Shileng was speechless. He had known that would be the answer.
The dishes on the table were the same as ever: either nourishing or intended to be nourishing.
Wen Qin ladled a bowl of fragrant fish soup for her youngest son and made a few opening remarks.
The atmosphere abruptly turned serious. Ji Shileng’s scalp prickled as he took several sips, then heard his mother ask, “What’s going on with that Shang fellow? What exactly happened between you during those years in the Empire?”
Cold sweat broke out on his back. He set down his spoon and sat properly.
“My dear mother, you know running into Shang Jianli at the conference was just a tiny accident”
Inwardly, he cursed his second brother thoroughly, from head to toe.
“An accident?”
Ji Shiyun’s tone dripped sarcasm.
“His eyes were practically glued to you. That was an accident?”
Under interrogation from the family elders, Ji Shileng appeared perfectly obedient. In truth, he did not dare tell them everything.
“The way he behaves doesn’t look like someone who has no feelings for you”
Wen Qin had spent too long in their social circles to mistake the look of someone in love.
Ji Shileng lowered his head.
“But I don’t like him anymore”
“Xiaoshi, I’m not scolding you”
Wen Qin sighed. Remembering how he had looked when he came home, her eyes reddened again.
“I just want you to understand how frightening someone like Shang Jianli can be”
To hold such a high position at so young an age, he could hardly be without considerable cunning.
How could her foolish boy possibly outmaneuver him?
Ji Shiyun understood what their mother meant.
“If we can’t beat someone like that at his own game, we keep a polite distance”
Ji Shileng took another sip of soup.
“I know. I won’t make the same mistake again”
Wen Qin looked at the soft hair on her son’s bowed head, her heart aching.
Ji Jie patted her shoulder and said, “Now that you’re home, spend more time with your mother. We know this meeting with Shang Jianli was accidental, but she hasn’t been sleeping well since seeing the reports”
“Even if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for us. You can’t repeat that mistake”
Ji Jie and Wen Qin had had him late in life. His older siblings adored him too. Their child, born with every privilege, had nevertheless been so thoroughly hurt in the Empire.
Ji Shileng clenched his hand, his eyes reddening.
“I understand, Dad”
The interstellar military competition was in full swing. Although Ji Shileng paid it little attention, Su Ke’s nonstop chatter kept him fully informed about the current state of the contest.
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