Chà Chà Novel

Ji Shiyun’s hand paused on her bag. Frowning, she guessed, “Did that man surnamed Shang invest in Imperial University?”

His name was engraved in so many places?

Other than the donor plaques outside campus buildings, she could not imagine where else it could appear so often.

“He funded a few teaching buildings”

Ji Shileng changed into the clothes that had been delivered on short notice, then added after a moment’s thought, “And he’s on the outstanding graduates display by the entrance. Actually, I suppose there aren’t that many places”

Ji Shiyun: “…”

With an air of casual curiosity, she asked, “Are you on that outstanding graduates display?”

Stubborn though Ji Shileng had always been, his grades had ranked near the top throughout his childhood.

Ji Shileng put on his knitted cardigan and slipped his communicator into his pocket.

At Ji Shiyun’s question, he froze briefly.

The smile at the corner of his mouth stiffened, then slowly faded.

Sensing something was wrong, Su Ke hurried to smooth things over.

“Come on, it’s not that easy to be named an outstanding graduate. When Shileng came here, he had no power or connections…”

Ji Shiyun shot him a glance. Su Ke immediately straightened up and fell silent.

“I heard you were originally included, but your name was removed after something happened”

Ji Shileng tucked both hands into his pockets and tilted his head, smiling at his sister with overflowing gentleness in his eyes.

Ji Shiyun refused to be swayed.

“No acting cute. That won’t work on me”

“Xiaoshi, I know bringing up the past will upset you. But I’m even more afraid you’ll make the same mistake again”

She stepped closer, unmistakable sorrow in her eyes.

Her low heels brought her almost level with him.

Stroking her brother’s hair, she said, “Don’t do anything like that again. He isn’t worth it”

She understood how her brother felt.

After all those years together, even if Shang Jianli died, it had to be a death that meant something. He had to experience the suffering he deserved first.

But this was not a worthwhile trade.

Ji Shileng lowered his head, letting his sister stroke his hair.

He heard himself say, “I know. He has his fate, and I have mine”

Love was often futile, just as his had been.

Everyone had a fate of their own, one that others could neither fully understand nor interfere with.

He should not—and need not—intervene in Shang Jianli’s fate.

Simply put, whether Shang Jianli lived or died was his own affair.

“I was going to say that, for our sake at least, you should treat yourself well and live a good life”

Ji Shiyun lowered her hand and smiled helplessly.

“But living for someone else is terribly difficult”

Ultimately, everyone valued their own independent self. It took an extraordinarily powerful conviction to live for another person.

“I understand,” Ji Shileng said softly.

He would not risk himself to save Shang Jianli like that again.

“As long as you understand”

Ji Shiyun blinked her reddened eyes and wiped away her tears with a finger.

“If only you could be as carefree as Su Ke”

The Ji family seemed to produce devoted lovers.

Either they did not fall in love at all, or they loved with everything they had.

Suddenly hearing his name, Su Ke became alert. He put away his communicator and defended himself.

“I’m not that heartless! I just haven’t met anyone I like yet!”

“Then we’re doomed. You’re all hopeless romantics”

Regaining her composure, Ji Shiyun ushered them out.

“Let’s make time for a look around. I’ve never been to Imperial University”

“All right”

Ji Shileng took his sister’s handbag and walked beside Su Ke.

“Shileng, what happened with that outstanding graduate award?” Su Ke could not resist asking quietly.

He had spent ages searching online, but even Imperial University’s official website yielded no trace of Ji Shileng’s name.

Only after a while had he remembered that the Ji family’s cybersecurity team had intervened after Shileng returned home.

They had hacked directly into the Empire’s databases and deleted every news report about him.

Not only that, they had also erased reports about Ji Shileng, the general’s spouse, from sites outside the Empire.

“Didn’t my sister already explain?”

“She barely explained anything. You were selected, then your name was removed”

Su Ke protested indignantly.

“That tells me nothing about what happened”

“Then ask her”

“I don’t dare,” Su Ke admitted.

Then he added in a whisper, “We finally got her feeling a little better. What if I go poking the tiger and upset her again?”

He really would not know how to comfort her.

To be honest, he could count the times Ji Shiyun had cried on one hand.

Ji Shileng watched his sister’s straight, resilient back ahead of them.

“Fair point”

He remembered that afternoon.

The villa had been quiet and peaceful. He was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, watching a film.

The doorbell rang in repeated short bursts. He paused the film and went to answer it.

A courier stood there holding two gold-colored parcels.

“These are important deliveries. An identity card is required to sign for them”

Guessing what was inside, Ji Shileng ran upstairs to the study and found both their identity cards.

The excitement swept away his boredom.

Holding the weighty boxes, he eagerly messaged Shang Jianli to tell him their outstanding graduate certificates from Imperial University had arrived.

When no reply came, he assumed Shang Jianli was busy with work and thought nothing of it.

He placed the two parcels side by side on the coffee table, intending to wait until Shang Jianli came home so they could open them together and share each other’s happiness.

The film suddenly seemed dull. Leaving it playing, Ji Shileng contacted the restaurant on his communicator.

Their cook had resigned for personal reasons. Shang Jianli disliked having strangers in the house, and finding someone he approved of was difficult, so they had yet to find a replacement.

With Shang Jianli away and Ji Shileng unable to cook, their meals lately had depended entirely on delivery from an upscale restaurant.

Shang Jianli would come home for dinner after work.

Opening his conversation with the manager, Ji Shileng decided a happy occasion deserved something special.

[Winter Is Cold When It Snows]: Have you started cooking dinner yet?

[Laienster Restaurant Manager]: At this hour, the kitchen has probably started preparing the ingredients.

[Winter Is Cold When It Snows]: Would it be convenient to add a few dishes? Just deduct it from my prepaid balance. Let me know if there isn’t enough.

[Laienster Restaurant Manager]: Not a problem. Just send us the dishes you’d like. You still have plenty in your account—enough to dine with us for decades.

[Winter Is Cold When It Snows]: All right.

[Winter Is Cold When It Snows]: Signature Kuiyuan chicken, crystal shrimp and scallop dumplings with cilantro, Zhongshan crab with glass noodles, and peach shaved ice to finish.

[Laienster Restaurant Manager]: Understood. Delivery may be about half an hour later than originally arranged.

[Winter Is Cold When It Snows]: That’s fine. Thanks for the trouble.