Ji Syaoran didn't expect that Ru would be able to recognize him. After all, the last time when they shared a table at the auction, he was wearing a mask and a cap. How did Ru recognize him? it was the first auction that Ru attended after coming back to Imperial. She had specifically been there to buy a painting named, 'The Parting Soul'.
"Heh heh... I don't understand your meaning, Mr. Xie." Ji Syaoran tried to play dumb. If he denied it, how could Ru insist that she met him? But he truly underestimated her.
"Just because you were wearing a mask and a cap, do you think it was a perfect disguise?" Ru sneered before continuing, "I'm a master of disguise. You forget subtle details like the prominent birthmark right under your ear. Also, you're still wearing the same ring." Ji Syaoran looked at his black stone ring and pressed his lips together. He was speechless.
"Rong, do you know my brother?" Xiao Zhi Ren asked with a quirk of a brow.
"Didn't know he's your brother but yeah. I know him alright." Ru answered before relating the incident of the auction.
Xiao Zhi Ren wasn't surprised at all. He knew why Ji Syaoran was at that auction. But he couldn't tell Ru. But then again, she wasn't really interested in knowing either. He patted Ji Syaoran's shoulder and said, "Ran Zi, don't look so down. Rong is just too good with his keen senses."
Ji Syaoran smiled at his brother and nodded. "Can you keep it a secret that I was at the auction?" He requested to Ru in a small voice.
"My lips are sealed." Ru made a locking lips gesture before throwing the key making both brothers laugh. She didn't even ask for the reason.
"Hey, Ran Zi!" Ji Syaoran turned to look at Xiao Zhi Yuan and scowled a bit.
"You brat! I'm older than you. Treat me like that." Xiao Zhi Yuan didn't care and he got into an argument with Ji Syaoran. Xiao Zhi Ren could only shake his head at his brothers.
"So, you and your half-brother." Ru let her words hanging.
"What about us?" Xiao Zhi Ren retorted.
"You guys seem close," Ru said offhandedly.
Xiao Zhi Ren chuckled a bit before replying, "We are close. There is no difference between him and
Yuan for me."
"No difference? Don't they both have different mothers?" Ru couldn't stop herself from asking. She just had to open her mouth.
"That never bothered me. I can hate my father for that. But Ran Zi and Xiao Hong are innocent."
Ru nodded her head. "Little squirrel seems close to him, then why is he so distant to Xiao Hong?"
"That's because, by the time Yuan got to know that Ran Zi is our half-brother, he was already too close to Ran Zi to hate him."
Ru didn't ask further.
When Xiao Zhi Ren went back to his grandparents, Ru was left alone. That meant her mind was wandering off to far off places. Unnecessary places.
It was a good thing someone disturbed her. "Why are you standing all alone? Did you eat anything or not?" Ru looked Ji Yifeng's amiable smile and put on a polite and courteous look.
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Ji." Taking a moment to ponder she said, "Can I ask you something personal?"
Ji Yifeng looked into her green eyes and didn't know why but agreed. "Sure."
Ru pressed her lips together to choose the right words. "Where is Xiao Hong's mother?" But the words that came out seemed rude, even now.
"I heard she's dead. But honestly, I don't believe that at all." Ji Yifeng spoke in a whisper as if it was top secret information. Seeing Ru's face, he chuckled and changed his answer, "I was kidding."
Ru could believe the former answer but the latter one? No way! He was so not kidding!
"What about Xiao Zhi Ren's mother?" Ru saw Ji Yifeng visibly stiffening up as if it poked his sour spot. Perhaps it did since he clutched the glass in his hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white as a sheet.
"Sorry, I have to do something. Excuse me," the way he made excuses and walked away confirmed one thing for Ru. Ji Family wasn't as simple as her own family clan.
She sighed out. 'Why is this family so twisted? Mine is so simple.' Not wanting to stay longer, she bid goodbye to everyone politely and left the Ji Family Mansion. She had better things to do.