⌈Are you sure it’s edible?⌋
Ji Yue nearly fumed in frustration.
She wanted to say more, but Ji Min had already walked toward the tea room.
All she could do was angrily follow with her bag in hand.
Covering her face, she was boiling with anger inside.
Before coming, she had heard that Ji Min had someone by his side. She had planned to teach them a lesson this time.
But she never expected that she would be the one slapped first.
Once seated in the tea room, she couldn’t hold back and began to scold, “Look at the kind of person you’ve found! No manners at all!”
“If you want, your aunt can find someone better for you. Get rid of this one…”
The rest of her words gradually faded under Ji Min’s gaze.
“Considering what you’ve done overseas, do you think it’s excessive for him to slap me for you?” Ji Min asked.
Ji Yue choked.
But she quickly replied, “He has no right to act on your behalf!”
Ji Min curled his lips slightly, “Whether he has the right or not, that’s for me to decide.”
Ji Yue’s expression soured. She wanted to say more, but Ji Min interrupted her.
“Also, from now on, the Ji family will no longer be involved in the Li family’s mess. If you keep trying to drag the Ji family into this, I will file a lawsuit.”
Ji Min took a sip of his tea.
Ji Yue was a little displeased, but she knew that this mess was of their own making.
She hesitated before replying, “These are small matters, easy to negotiate. But that person outside…”
She brought up Lu Ran again.
Ji Min lifted his gaze to look at her.
The man’s gaze was heavy, and he softly asked her, “Do you want me to pull out our investment in the Li family?”
This question caused Ji Yue’s face to change completely.
She grabbed her bag from the table, fanned herself, and suppressed the unease in her heart. “Is it really necessary?”
Ji Min didn’t respond.
After a long pause, he casually spoke as if it were just small talk, reaching down to pat his knee. “I’m planning to treat my leg.”
Ji Yue was startled.
“This… Didn’t they say your leg couldn’t be treated? They said the final surgery carries a great risk, and your leg seems fine now. What if you end up disabled or worse, lose your life?”
“Fine?” Ji Min asked with a slight smile.
Ji Yue quickly realized that her words were inappropriate.
She fanned herself again and explained, “Aunt was just worried about you. Why did you suddenly decide to treat it?”
“It’s nothing. I just heard that Ji Chi’s leg was broken in prison,” Ji Min said casually.
Ji Yue’s eyes suddenly widened.
She forced a smile and said, “That’s strange. How did something like that happen?”
Then, she added, “He brought it on himself.”
Ji Min nodded. “Yes.”
He turned his head to look out the window and said in a nonchalant tone, “Lately, I’ve started to feel that I should hate the person who broke my leg.”
Ji Yue didn’t know what to say, so she smiled and lowered her head to take a sip of tea.
Her fingers subtly tightened around the cup.
Her nephew had always been different from other children.
He was highly capable but indifferent to most things.
Ji Yue still remembered when he had gotten into trouble. She rushed back and saw Ji Min being discharged from the hospital.
She had thought Ji Min’s leg was broken and that his life was over.
But unexpectedly, Ji Min didn’t complain and didn’t harbor hatred. He didn’t even curse Ji Chi, who had stabbed him in the back, and immediately threw himself into work.
He quickly gathered evidence and swiftly brought Ji Chi down.
He had always been so calm as if breaking his leg was nothing.
So why was he suddenly…?
Lu Ran was outside playing with Da Huang.
Soon, the door opened, and Ji Yue walked out from inside.
But she only glanced at him, said nothing, and quickly left.
Not long after, Ji Min also walked out of the tea room.
His expression was indifferent, making it hard to tell whether the conversation inside had gone smoothly.
But Lu Ran could clearly sense that Ji Min wasn’t in a good mood.
He set Da Huang down and slowly walked up to Ji Min, opening his palms towards him.
Ji Min was taken aback and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Shouldn’t I have hit her today?” Lu Ran asked.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
Lu Ran scratched his cheek and said, “Dean Lu said that boys shouldn’t hit girls. She’s your aunt and still a girl. I shouldn’t have hit her.”
With that, he extended his palm toward Ji Min again and asked, “So, boss, are you going to punish me?”
Ji Min looked at his open palm and asked, “Then why did you hit her?”
Lu Ran paused for a moment before honestly replying.
“I overheard what they were saying. She’s your only family. Hearing them talk about you like that, it must have been really hard for you.”
Ji Min suddenly let out a laugh.
He thought to himself, how could he be upset?
He wasn’t a teenager anymore.
But the smile slowly faded from the corner of Ji Min’s lips.
Because he suddenly remembered that when he first learned about the things the Li family had done overseas, he had indeed felt anger.
And before meeting Ji Yue and her family today, there seemed to still be a small hope buried deep in his heart.
It was because of these emotions that, after the conversation with Ji Yue today, his mood had inexplicably dropped.
These feelings, which he had overlooked, were noticed by the boy in front of him.
Ji Min looked at the boy’s palm, which was covered in calluses and small scars.
He reached out and gently enclosed the boy’s hand.
Then, he patted the boy’s palm lightly.
“I really should punish you,” Ji Min said.
He reached out and pinched Lu Ran’s small arm, asking, “How much strength did you use to push Li Shan into the plate today? Did your hand tremble?”
Li Shan was Ji Yue’s husband.
At that time, Lu Ran had slapped the Li family three times, even pushing Li Shan into a plate.
It looked clean and decisive.
But Li Shan was a big man and his weight was considerable.
While others hadn’t noticed, Ji Min had observed that Lu Ran’s hand had shown signs of excessive muscle strain at that moment.
Later, when he picked up his chopsticks to eat, his hand had been trembling slightly.
Lu Ran’s arm was being pinched and it felt a bit itchy. He used a bit of force to pull his hand away.
He moved his palm, wanting to say that he was fine.
But the soreness in his muscles lingered. No matter how he tried to speak, it felt like a lie.
Then, as if a thought struck him, his eyes brightened.
He moved behind Ji Min, pushing the wheelchair toward the living room.
His voice was filled with excitement: “Boss, I have something to show you.”
He quickly pushed Ji Min to the center of the living room.
Then, he ran upstairs.
As Lu Ran ran up the stairs, he didn’t forget to turn off the living room lights.
Ji Min: “…”
By this time, the sky outside had already darkened.
When the lights in the living room were turned off, Ji Min was left alone in the pitch-black room.
Soon, when Butler Chen entered, he was startled and asked, “What’s this special hobby of yours?”
Ji Min rubbed his forehead.
He didn’t forget to remind Butler Chen, “Don’t turn on the lights, he said to keep it off.”
A while later, the elevator went up to the second floor and then came back down.
The elevator doors opened.
Da Huang led a few… floating red dots out?
As the red dots came closer, Ji Min realized that they were actually four mechanical dogs.
But only their eyes were lit.
In the pitch-black living room, they looked especially eerie.
Lu Ran came out and paused, seeing the scene.
He crouched down beside Ji Min’s wheelchair. “So this is the effect?”
“What are you trying to do? Commit murder?” Ji Min asked, speechless.
The boy scratched his head and finally gave up. “Ah, forget it, let’s just leave it like this for now!”
With that, he took a remote control out from behind him and pressed a button.
A burst of singing came from the four electronic dogs’ bodies: “Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~”
Probably trying to simulate a realistic singing effect, the ugly electronic dogs, which were truly horrifying, moved their mouths in sync with the song.
Accompanied by the flashing red eyes and the trembling electronic voice, it was just bizarre.
Ji Min & Butler Chen: “…”
Lu Ran, for once, seemed a bit embarrassed.
He scratched his face again and muttered, “Wait, this wasn’t how I set it up.”
He then pressed another button.
Instantly, the electronic dogs lit up with colorful strips of light.
They started shaking their limbs and dancing.
The originally somewhat normal “Happy Birthday” song was further enhanced with a “thumping” sound effect.
Lu Ran clapped his hands. “Yes! This is it!”
And so, the three of them remained in the dark living room, watching the four electronic dogs in the room, their bright red eyes glowing as they danced wildly like a pack of demons.
The eerie music echoed through the quiet Ji residence.
At times, it was energetic: “Boom boom!”
At other times, it was melodious: “Happy birthday to you~”
Accompanied by flashing colorful ribbons on their bodies and their four blood-red eyes…
The effect was absolutely explosive.
The three of them just silently watched for quite a while.
Lu Ran, still squatting, couldn’t help but scratch his head again. “Uh… seems like something’s still off?”
To be exact, the program he had set up had all played out.
But somehow, the effect was so… off.
When the music slowed down, Lu Ran finally went to turn on the lights.
When the lights came on, the four mechanical dogs finally revealed their true forms.
Ugly beyond words.
“…So, you’ve been busy with this when you’ve been coming home so late lately?”
Ji Min paused mid-sentence.
He had hesitated for a long time between “ugly thing” and “monster”, eventually settling on a more neutral: “Been busy with this?”
Lu Ran nodded, belatedly realizing his ears were turning a little red.
At that moment, the man in the wheelchair pressed his fingers to his lips, stifling the laughter that rose in his throat.
He murmured, “Not bad, a very… surprising experience.”
Lu Ran looked up and stole a glance at him, whispering, “If you want to laugh, just go ahead.”
Ji Min: “…”
He cleared his throat and, in a serious tone, said, “It really is quite good.”
Butler Chen, who was thoroughly shocked by the show’s effects: “…”
You two are truly deeply in love.
Lu Ran lowered his head and fiddled with the remote control for a moment.
“It’s not over yet!” he said.
Da Huang, after following the mechanical dogs for a while, lay down beside them and gave up.
Lu Ran then controlled the four mechanical dogs to return.
Then, the lead mechanical dog walked over, holding a greeting card in its mouth.
As it approached Ji Min, it slipped a little and nearly fell flat on its face.
Though the process was a bit bumpy, it still successfully delivered the envelope to Ji Min’s hand.
The mechanical dog’s height was just right, level with Ji Min’s wheelchair.
Ji Min didn’t need to tilt his head or bend down—he casually extended his hand to take the greeting card.
The card featured a little person and a small dog, drawn with a kneeling expression, vivid and lifelike.
When he opened the card, inside was the boy’s still somewhat immature, neat handwriting.
It read:
“Happy birthday to my handsome, charming, generous, super kind-hearted, never delaying wages… boss!”
There were dozens of adjectives stacked in the middle.
At first glance, it all seemed positive.
But on closer inspection, a few hidden jabs were mixed in.
For example, there were secret insults like “dog temper”, “won’t give leave”,” no salary increase”, and so on.
Ji Min closed the card, raised an eyebrow, and glanced at the boy beside him.
“There’s more, there’s more!” Lu Ran quickly said.
He then used the remote to guide the four mechanical dogs to the shadowed corner by the elevator.
After a short while, the four mechanical dogs returned, carrying a cake.
This time, two of them used their front paws to lift the cake, standing upright and walking only on their hind legs.
At first glance, it was shockingly bizarre.
The boy next to the wheelchair was controlling them with great caution, afraid that the cake might fall if something went wrong.
He remained calm and steady. Finally, the cake arrived safely in front of Ji Min.
Lu Ran set down the remote control and couldn’t help but clap his hands.
It wasn’t clear whether he was congratulating Ji Min on his birthday or praising his own impressive remote control skills.
He tilted his chin up, looking at Ji Min, and pointed at the large cake. “I made this myself!”
He looked extremely proud.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at it.
He couldn’t help but think silently: Are you sure what you made is edible?
But still, Ji Min played along and leaned in to take a look.
The cake was quite exquisite.
The frosting was carefully done, clearly the result of some serious practice.
Lu Ran cut a slice and handed it to him.
Though Ji Min wasn’t fond of sweets, he still accepted it and took a bite with a fork.
To his surprise, the cake wasn’t as sweet as he had expected.
A subtle hint of sea salt, mingled with the fragrance of caramel, spread across his tongue.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t unpleasant at all.
Lu Ran leaned in to watch Ji Min’s expression, grinning mischievously. “I know you don’t like sweets, so I specially made it with salted cream!”
Ji Min lightly bit down on the spoon in his mouth.
Ji Min was momentarily lost in thought.
As the heir to the Ji family, his birthdays had never been overlooked.
There were always many people coming to celebrate.
The preparations were always grand.
And there was always cake.
But no one had ever bothered to ask the pastry chef to make the cake’s frosting salty instead of sweet.
Every year, Ji Min would be overwhelmed by the sweetness. Over time, he had lost interest in desserts altogether.
He slowly finished the entire slice of cake in his hand.
The boy crouching next to him, however, said, “There’s more, there’s more!”
Ji Min was a bit surprised and looked over at him.
Then he saw Lu Ran press the remote again.
He wasn’t sure how Lu Ran had designed it, but the four mechanical dogs immediately gathered head to head.
After a brief commotion, one of them lifted its head and walked over to Ji Min.
It then made a motion as if to open its mouth.
But halfway through, it froze, unable to move.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong?”
Lu Ran leaned forward, patting the dog’s head several times, but its mouth still wouldn’t open.
In the end, Lu Ran reached in, felt around for a bit, and took something out, handing it to Ji Min.
Ji Min reached out to take it, only to find that it was a tiny mechanical dog.
It was exquisitely crafted, with movable legs and head.
“I saw how much you like Da Huang, so I thought you might like a little dog,” Lu Ran said, looking up at him.
He then took the tiny mechanical dog and placed it on Ji Min’s wheelchair’s remote control.
The little dog contained a magnet and it immediately stuck to the remote control.
Lu Ran tugged at Ji Min’s arm, placing his large hand on the remote control.
He said, “This way, Boss, you can pet the dog anytime, anywhere!”
Ji Min raised his gaze.
His dark eyes, especially deep under the light, turned to the boy beside him.
His palm gently closed.
His fingers completely enveloped the tiny mechanical dog.
