Since Ji Syaoran was quite scared of Ru's tyrannical self, he leaned close to his brother and said, "Grandmother is looking for you." Xiao Zhiren arched his brows inquisitively and Ji Syaoran added, "She has something important to discuss with you."
Xiao Zhiren nodded and turned to Ru, "Love, I'll see you later."
"Alright," was Ru's indifferent reply since at this moment, her attention was grabbed by two little ones in her arms.
Ji Syaoran also stayed there for a moment longer to look at Ru curiously before turning to leave. Following that, Xu Mey took her twins from Ru and went to grab some breakfast for them. However, Jie was left behind who sat on a chair and beckoned Ru to sit.
"I heard Ji Family is... Complicated," said Jie as Ru sat down on the chair beside him. "Are you okay with that?"
Ru's hand on instinct went to touch the watch that Xiao Zhiren gave her as she spoke, "I already know that Ji Family is complicated. Or perhaps, because of just one secret, it has become complicated. No matter which one it is... They certainly have caught my attention."
Jie rubbed her head and said, "Try not to open the doors that aren't meant for you to open. You might not be able to escape unscathed otherwise."
Ru gave him a sincere smile and replied, "I was born with a stroke of strange luck. I was always meant to open the doors which were never meant for me."
Jie's eyes flashed with anxiousness which he tried to hide but failed. His worry was entirely different at this point. He had seen Ru close to death two times in his life. The first one was when she was only 8; she had eaten a poisonous berry without knowing it. Her father wanted to remove all the poisonous things from around her but she insisted on learning everything that could hurt her.
According to her, it was better to know your enemy than to avoid him. And that's how she mastered the arts of poisons and medicine.
Her second encounter with death was when she was 18, Jie didn't know the details since Ru didn't remember clearly herself. But from her reports, he had gathered that she was a lost cause and yet miraculously survived.
Now she was 28 and Jie's fear had come back. From 8 to 18 and 18 to 28, it had a decade each and yet the danger on her was the same. He remembered clearly the words of Ru's father. Xia Longwei had once said, "If Young Master Jie wants to be my Ru's friend, I only expect one thing in return. Don't leave her alone."
Jie was only 14 at that time, but he could clearly feel a father's worry and anxiousness along with his fear. That's why Jie had asked, "Ru is my brother. My best friend. My everything except for a sister. I can never see her as one."
Even Xia Longwei had couldn't help his lips from curling up as he said, "Young Master Jie, I don't want my Ru to know this but... She has shadows of death following her all the time. At her birth, she was called harbor of evil because... It's in her fate, if she won't kill, she will be killed. Either way, death won't leave her alone."
Till this day, Jie was shocked because of those words but no matter how much he wanted to deny those words, he couldn't. And that's why Ru's happiness was really scaring him inside.
He held her hand and looked into her eyes as he stressed his words, "Ru'er, promise me that if anything seems too tough, you'll go back home. Please?"
Ru frowned at him in surprise and didn't know what to say. "Bro, what do you mean? Has anything ever been tough for Young Master Ru?"
Jie slapped her head making her gape as he went on, "You don't always have to act like you can carry the burden of the whole world. Sometimes, let someone else help you carry that burden as well. So, please if you ever feel like its hurting. Please, go back home."
Ru found the look in his eyes and his tone a bit weird but she didn't delve into this matter as she replied, "I promise. It's not like I don't wanna go back home. I'd still say it, my home is still in Shadowwick state. I'm doing everything just to go back anyway."
Jie's relaxed a bit to hear that and went ahead leaving Ru alone to think. Jie wasn't the only person who said this to her. From Abbott Wang Xiuying to her own brother, Xia Haoran, everyone told her the same thing... "If it gets tough please go back home."
But why was everyone asking her to do the same thing? What fear did they all have in common?
Ru didn't stay at the deck for long and walked around aimlessly. And on her aimless walk around, she ended up in a private zone. Obviously, she was gonna leave seeing the heavy security but when a silhouette caught her attention, her curiosity got the best of her.
Although she could use her tricks to get past the security, she didn't do so. Instead, she went to one level higher and chose to jump down to the level below. It was a good thing that she was wearing a jumpsuit and not a gown like last night.
She dusted her hands and leaned against the walls of the balcony. At this time, she was very thankful to her cunning mind for always having tricks up her sleeves.
Inside the room, Ji Syaoran was sitting on the sofa with a knife and an apple in his hand. After he cut the apple in rabbit shapes, he walked towards the woman who was sitting listlessly on the edge of the bed.
"Mum, look I even cut the apples in rabbits shapes. Don't you like it?"
Ru wasn't much surprised when she heard Ji Syaoran's voice. She had already guessed that Ji Syaoran was Xiao Zhi'er and Ji Yifeng's son. And from her memory, she was certain that Xiao Zhi'er was Xiao Zhiren's mother as well. The question was why were two brothers living with the title of half-brothers?
Xiao Zhi'er slowly lifted her eyes to look at the apple and said, "Are you sure I like apples in rabbit shapes? I thought my Syaoran was the one who loved apples cut like this."
Ru didn't move, it was the only way to know what Ji Family was trying to hide. Since no one wanted to talk about it, she had her own ways as always. Staying oblivious to something wasn't in her nature. As a matter of fact, the more she didn't know, the more her curiosity was piqued and her passion would grow.