Ji Syaoran stood at the side silently as he watched Ru examining his mother carefully with caution. She was so concentrated that even Ji Syaoran was surprised. He left her alone with his mother and went to clean up the broken shards from the ground.
After he cleaned the room to make it look like it's previous state, only then did he came back to stand beside Ru. He saw her taking out silver needles from his mother's body and asked, "Is she okay?"
Ru nodded in affirmation and said, "She's out of her state of shock. But her mind needs rest that's why I made her sleep. When she'll wake up, hopefully, she'll have a clear mind."
Ji Syaoran heaved a sigh of relief to hear that. He was really worried about his mother. "Thank you so much for your help!" Ji Syaoran thanked Ru with a sincere expression.
Ru waved him off saying, "Sit over there." Ji Syaoran didn't know why she said it but he did as she asked him to do and sat down on the sofa. Ru brought the first-aid kit and said, "Didn't you say your hands are precious? How can you be this careless?" It seemed like she was reprimanding him but Ji Syaoran didn't mind. Earlier when he tried to hold his mother before she could fall on the broken shards, he did indeed got a deep cut on his hand but until now, he wasn't paying attention to it.
"You have a lot of questions, right?" asked Ji Syaoran with his eyes trying to make out any kind of change in Ru's expression. "My family is very complicated. Leaves a lot of questions in one's mind."
"Are you going to answer those questions?" was Ru's response which took Ji Syaoran by surprise. "I can't force you for answers but if I tried to find the answers my way..."
Ji Syaoran didn't need to hear her reply. "I can answer you since your bro's girlfriend. You deserve to know all this. Besides, you should know what dangerous waters you're entering. You should know that a seemingly very calm and perfect Ji Family isn't anything like its perfect image." Ru looked at his face before packing the first aid kit. "Our family wasn't always like this. So complicated. At least, my childhood wasn't. I remember having a very happy family with dad, mom, bro and me. Everything was perfect."
"Stop right there." Ru raised her hand to stop him and asked, "Do I look like I want to hear about your happy childhood? Just start from where everything went downhill."
"Tsk. Tsk. You're really impatient just like Xie Rong." Ru coughed at his words as he added, "I was feeling so good reminiscing about the good part. Sigh! Fine, I'll start with my bad memories then."
Ru leaned back in her seat while he stood up to walk towards the windows looking out at the sea. He seemed lost as he started, "Everything started changing when Yuan was born." Ru looked at his back and could feel his gloominess. "There was a secret mom kept from dad back then. She told no one that if she gave birth to Yuan, her own life will be in danger."
Ru didn't need to hear this since she was aware of this fact very well. She was one of those people who warned Xiao Zhi'er about her pregnancy.
"I don't know the details since I was too young but I do know that after Yuan's birth, mom's health deteriorated and she was bedridden for two years. She had aged within days as if breathing her last breath. Dad was on the verge of breaking down with her." Ru silently let him continue. "Dad took mom anywhere he could to find someone who could cure her. Leaving me, bro and Yuan with grandmother, he did everything just to find anything that could bring him hope."
"Wait!" Ji Syaoran looked back at Ru inquisitively and as went on, "You didn't mention Ji Caihong. Isn't she your twin?"
Ji Syaoran smiled mockingly as he said, "Just because she was born on the same day and the same date as me, doesn't mean she's my twin. Technically, she isn't even our sister at all. Yes, dad adopted her later on but that's different."
"That means you, Zhiren and Yuan are the only real brothers. Also, the sons of Ji Family?" Ru asked to reconfirm this thing. Ji Syaoran nodded his head in affirmation. "Then how did Ji Caihong come into this picture?"
"I was just about to get to that part if you hadn't interrupted me," said Ji Syaoran and Ru sealed her lips and urged him to continue with his story and he did. "Do you know that my dad has no siblings?"
Ru did know that, "Yes. But on your grandmother's insistence, your grandfather adopted two kids from the side branch of the family."
"Not many people know that... How do you know that?" Ji Syaoran looked at her with a complex gaze.
Ru shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she replied, "I have my ways."
Ji Syaoran didn't press this matter as he said, "Alright. So one was a girl named Ji Liu and the other was a boy named Ji Lie. Both were siblings who lost their parents when they were young and grandmother adopted them. However, later on, because our uncle Ji Lie tried to exploit his power and status, he was sent out of the family."
He took a long and heavy breath, "Sometimes, I wonder if our family would have been any different if Uncle Lie wasn't sent out of the family. Could anything have been different?" Taking a brief pause, he added, "Because when dad was running around with mom to save her life, someone stole my mother's status and life. Worst was that... That person dared to rob a mother of her kids as well. In just a year, our family was left in shambles."