At 8:50, Ji Baby was already curled up on the bedroom sofa, waiting for Le Tong to log in from the other side.
Le Tong had mentioned that today would be the last time she’d see Baby this year; their next meeting would probably be on the fourth or fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
At nine o’clock sharp, Baby received a video invitation from Le Tong right on time.
The first thing Baby said to Le Tong on the screen wasn’t something sentimental like "Sister, Baby misses you a lot," but instead, with a pitiful look, she said to Le Tong.
"Sister, Daddy is injured, Baby is really worried."
Le Tong looked surprised, and Ji Rui, sitting beside her as usual, couldn’t help but perk up his ears to stare at Le Tong on the screen.
"Baby, don’t make jokes about something ." Le Tong scolded Baby with a stern face.
"Baby is not joking, Daddy is really injured," Baby said, feeling very wronged.
Le Tong’s expression stiffened for a moment, then she asked worriedly, "How did he get injured, did he accidentally bump into something? Or what happened?"
Baby said, "Daddy said he was hit by a brick!"
"Hit by a brick? How could he just get hit by a brick? Was your Daddy fighting with someone?"
A series of questions came out of Le Tong’s mouth before she had time to think.
Ji Baby didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so he turned to look at Ji Rui, who was sitting beside him and focused on watching the screen, then waved him over, "Daddy, come and tell Sister how you got injured..."
Le Tong’s face showed a trace of embarrassment, quickly followed by an awkward smile. Apparently, she didn’t realize Ji Rui was right next to Baby, or else she wouldn’t have made such an embarrassing guess that President Ji was fighting with someone.
"Mr. Ji, are you alright?"
Ji Rui saw his dear son revealing him, and since Le Tong had asked him directly, he couldn’t avoid it. He stretched out his long legs, stood up, walked in front of Baby, lifted him up, and then sat himself on Baby’s sofa.
Ji Rui raised his head, looked at Le Tong, whom he hadn’t seen in person for quite some time, and replied, "I’m fine, thank you for your concern."
Le Tong’s gaze seemed to land on the wound on his forehead, after a moment she parted her lips slightly and asked in a soft voice, "Is the wound serious?"
Ji Rui felt as though the wound on his forehead started to burn under her gaze.
How long has it been since Le Tong showed such calm concern for him?
While he pondered this, he didn’t think about how his skeptical nature had caused Le Tong to suffer once or twice, making her wary of a third time.
"Nearly ten stitches, some minor bone fractures, but really, it’s not a big deal."
Usually, Ji Rui wouldn’t bother mentioning such a minor injury, Baby had asked a few times, but Ji Rui hadn’t elaborated. Yet Le Tong only needed to glance at him for him to open up completely without hiding anything.
"Was it really a brick?" Le Tong seemed to doubt what Baby had said.
Baby, who had been quietly nestled in Ji Rui’s arms, muttered in a slightly aggrieved tone, "Sister, Daddy himself said it was a brick, Daddy, quickly tell Sister, Baby didn’t lie."
Ji Rui’s large hand fell on Baby’s head, rubbing it twice, then looked up and nodded to Le Tong. Read full story at n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
"Yes, it really was a brick!"
Le Tong quickly asked, "What happened? Are you as reckless as a youngster getting into fights with bricks?"
As she spoke, Le Tong realized she had misspoken. Her tone was clearly the one she used with familiar friends like Yang Sheng, not the cautious way she treated Ji Rui, always careful not to say the wrong thing and offend the man.
However, once said, there was no taking it back.
Le Tong realized her words were too familiar and casual, quickly coughed twice, glanced at Ji Rui, and explained, "No... I meant... It’s hard to believe someone as steady and cautious as Mr. Ji would get hit by a brick."
But the more she tried to explain, the more it seemed like she was covering up. Le Tong’s spontaneous words with a hint of teasing brought a smile to Ji Rui’s face.
Indeed, he was past the age of reckless fighting with bricks!
"I wasn’t fighting, just accidentally got hit by someone’s brick!"
Ji Rui’s eyes glimmered with laughter as he patiently explained to Le Tong on the screen.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the face on the big screen seemed to blush faintly.
Le Tong blinked, her gaze shifted unnaturally to Baby nestled in his arms, but her words were still directed at Ji Rui.
"What’s the matter, have your bodyguards gone on strike?"
Ji Rui felt increasingly happy; indeed, he always had bodyguards with him, but he’s a legitimate businessman. Constantly being surrounded by bodyguards could lead to misunderstandings about his identity, so his bodyguards were always discreet and he never talked about them with Le Tong; her noticing them meant she had once observed everything about him closely, including his preferences and various anomalies around him.
"Not the bodyguards on strike, it’s the workers at the theme park who went on strike."
When Le Tong resigned, Phase 1 of the theme park project was more than halfway done, so she was familiar with the project.
Maybe because Ji Rui was injured due to it, Le Tong seemed very interested in the truth behind this incident.
Regarding the matter with the old man and Ji Wen Ji Wu, Ji Rui rarely talked to anyone, but Le Tong, like Yang Sheng, was a person who followed the entire process, so Ji Rui never intended to hide it from her.
"Not sure, but probably due to a series of events triggered by embezzlement."
In front of Baby, Ji Rui didn’t explicitly point out the old man’s fault.
Le Tong also glanced at Baby, nodding to indicate she understood the connections involved, "Then take care of yourself, and also replace some bodyguards with your own people."
Ji Rui gave Le Tong a puzzled look, quickly understanding why she would say this.
"Those bodyguards are my trusted aides, unrelated to him."
Ji Rui referring to him naturally meant the old man.
"Hmm, is the company on holiday now? Take a good break during the Spring Festival, your senior brother is coming back tomorrow, many things can be left for him to handle."
If Yang Sheng were to hear these words, he’d surely point at Le Tong’s nose and scold her as an ungrateful person.
As the beneficiary of Le Tong’s words, Ji Rui naturally enjoyed hearing it, and the laughter in his eyes became even deeper.
Both of them silently exchanged a glance through the screen, each with a fleeting moment of awkwardness in their eyes.
Le Tong’s long lashes fluttered a few times, she lifted her eyelids, her clear and beautiful eyes meeting Ji Rui’s; Ji Rui’s heart began to beat chaotically.