Someone nearby softly called Ji Feng's name and handed him a bouquet of flowers. Ji Feng had no intention of accepting it, but the person practically forced the flowers into his hands without allowing refusal, then turned and ran away.
Ji Feng thought mockingly to himself that his mother was really going all out to set them up.
It was hard on her—having been utterly devastated by her own marriage, which was like quicksand—yet she remained undiscouraged and spared no effort in arranging her son’s marriage.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Jiang Zhichun stepped down from the stage and walked up to Ji Feng.
A sweet, shy smile graced her face as she looked at Ji Feng with fervent eyes.
Spotting the flowers in Ji Feng’s hands, her smile grew radiant, filled with gratitude and delight: "Are these for me?" She took the flowers from Ji Feng, buried her face in them for a deep inhale, as innocent and joyful as a little girl, then lifted her head, her eyes sparkling as she said, "I love them, thank you!"
Ji Feng replied succinctly, "My mother prepared them for you."
Jiang Zhichun’s eyes flickered briefly.
Reporters swarmed around, hoping for an interview, but Jiang Zhichun suddenly linked her arm through Ji Feng’s and pulled him into a run outside.
Her skirt fluttered as she ran, looking like a sweet princess in distress.
She recognized Ji Feng’s car and tugged him all the way to it, urging him with the impatience of a little girl, sweetly pleading, "Hurry, open the door! Let’s get out of here! I don’t want to waste time on those reporters during the New Year."
Ji Feng also disliked the idea of becoming the rumored boyfriend of Jiang Zhichun, the newly returned prodigy female musician, in the press.
So he unlocked the car, and they both got in.
He started the engine, leaving the crowd of reporters far behind.
Jiang Zhichun giggled, glancing back before turning to Ji Feng, slightly breathless with excitement, and said, "That was so thrilling, wasn’t it? Thank goodness you were here to help me today, or I’d never have escaped their barrage of questions!"
She was like a princess who had successfully fled her pursuers, eloping with her beloved toward a distant future.
Ji Feng watched the road ahead with unruffled calm. He found it difficult to immerse himself in the "drama" Jiang Zhichun was creating.
Perhaps a young, spirited teenager would find this runaway scenario exciting, passionate, risky, and sweet.
But for him, it just felt unnecessary and dull, even slightly awkward.
He thought maybe this was the root of the discomfort and unfamiliarity between them.
Seeing that she hadn’t managed to stir Ji Feng’s emotions as hoped, Jiang Zhichun didn’t mind and still asked with high spirits, "Where shall we go to celebrate the New Year?"
Ji Feng kept his eyes on the road, his tone almost cold as he replied, "I’m taking you home."
Jiang Zhichun was taken aback for a moment before finally quieting down.
The car pulled up in front of Jiang Zhichun’s home.
Before getting out, she unbuckled her seatbelt, turned to look at Ji Feng, and smiled, calling out sweetly, "Ji Feng."
Ji Feng turned to her in response, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her to continue.
Jiang Zhichun smiled with a blend of fragility and pride, a combination that could win over most men in the world.She lifted her chin slightly, like a little girl trying hard to maintain her dignity, and looked at Ji Feng as she said, "Since I was young, people have told me that I'm beautiful, smart, lovely, and outstanding. So I've always known that I deserve the best things to match myself." She paused, catching her breath, then continued, "I know you're the same way, right? We're essentially mirror images of each other, just of different genders. That's why I believe we're the most perfectly matched natural pair."
After another pause, she seemed to be gathering strength and courage.
Once she had mustered enough resolve, she went on: "Ji Feng, I could sense that you initially identified with me, but somewhere along the way—I don't know what I did wrong—you started politely rejecting me. But today I want to tell you that I truly am good and outstanding enough to deserve you. And once I've fallen for someone, I won't give up easily!" She smiled, speaking with the innocent charm of a little girl, "I'm very tenacious. Whatever I want, I never give up on easily. I'll definitely work hard to get it!"
Ji Feng raised an eyebrow slightly.
Tenacity—he had seen that quality in another woman. It was an indomitable spirit that couldn't be crushed no matter what. Clearly, it wasn't the same as this girl's declaration of "if I want it, I must have it."
Their definitions of tenacity were evidently completely different.
"Right now," Jiang Zhichun breathed in, with adorable nervousness, looking at Ji Feng as she continued, "What I want most is you. I'll do my best!" She blinked, her face flushed, after saying these words.
This beautiful girl—both pure and slightly aggressive—was declaring her boldest ambitions with the most innocent tone and expression.
Few men could resist her, right? Yet Ji Feng remained as calm as still water.
He had wondered about it before: clearly this girl met all his criteria for a partner in every way, so why did he feel not the slightest stir of attraction?
Even now, watching her expression and listening to her speak, his mind kept contrasting her with the image and voice of another woman.
He stopped this inexplicable train of thought, curling his lips into a faint smile that concealed a touch of mockery.
When it came to matters of pursuit and being pursued, he didn't appreciate having decisions unilaterally announced to him. So he clearly told Jiang Zhichun: "We're actually not suitable for each other, and I'm not someone you can obtain. I wish you a bright future ahead. Goodbye."
As his rejection left his lips, he saw on Jiang Zhichun's face more surprise than sorrow.
After seeing Jiang Zhichun off the car, Ji Feng immediately started the engine and drove toward his mother's place.
Along the way, he saw various messages wishing "Happy New Year" everywhere. On red banners, in shop windows, on electronic screens along the streets—the words "Happy New Year" flashed all around. People seemed to be treating these four words as the most beautiful blessing to fervently send off the end of one year and welcome the beginning of the next, with enthusiastic repetition.
Happy New Year. Ji Feng pondered these four words throughout the journey, and indeed began to feel a hint of New Year atmosphere.
But the moment he stepped through the door, any sense of New Year cheer vanished from those words, hitting Ji Feng in the face like a slap.
The house was in complete disarray.
In the dining room, the table had been overturned again, with dishes and bowls scattered across the floor like casualties.The vase that had been newly replaced in the living room less than two months ago met the same fate as its predecessors—smashed violently onto the floor, shattered into pitiful fragments.
On the wall, stains from spilled coffee were visible, and beneath them lay the broken coffee cup on the floor.
Not far away, in front of the sofa, discarded expensive custom-made men's clothing lay scattered. Both the jacket and trousers bore scissor marks, as if slashed in a fit of rage.
This fine set of clothes, which Feng Xuelan had meticulously commissioned months ago, had been treated with such care that it seemed she wasn't just overseeing the creation of a garment but nurturing another beloved child.
Yet, this thoughtfully prepared New Year's gift was still torn into shreds on New Year's Eve.
Ji Feng sighed wearily in his heart. His mother had indeed erupted at his father again. She was always like this—when his father wasn't home, she would miss him, eagerly await his return, and exhaust endless effort preparing gifts for him. But when his father came back, she would inevitably flare up after just a few words, and those carefully prepared gifts would be ruthlessly destroyed in front of him, as if she were tearing apart her own unyielding heart.
But what was the use? Once his father left, that unyielding heart would pathetically mend itself, rekindle hope, and the whole cycle would begin again.
Ji Feng walked further inside, stopping at the entrance to his parents' bedroom. The scene inside was equally chaotic.
Amid the mess—pillows and bedding strewn across the floor, torn sheets and clothes—stood his quarreling parents.
Seeing Ji Feng at the door, Ji Shengming pushed aside Feng Xuelan, who was hysterically cursing and blaming him.
He strode out quickly, as if fleeing for his life. As he passed Ji Feng, he paused and said, "Control your mother. I came back out of goodwill to spend the New Year with you, but look at the state she's in now. Aren't you afraid of outsiders laughing at us?"
Ji Feng glanced coldly at Ji Shengming. "Goodwill" to spend the New Year with them? Hah, what a magnificent favor.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. "You should control yourself too. Be careful about outsiders laughing at you for raising someone else's child."
Ji Shengming's face flushed crimson with anger. He pointed a trembling finger at Ji Feng but couldn't utter a word.
After a long moment, he finally spat out furiously, "No matter what, I am still your father! Is that any way to speak to your father?"
Ji Feng replied indifferently, "I speak to my father in the way he deserves, based on how he has acted as a father."
Ji Shengming clutched his chest in rage, shouting, "You unfilial son!"
Feng Xuelan rushed over, pounding and hitting him. "How dare you scold my son? What did he say that was wrong? Have you fulfilled your responsibilities as a father before trying to flaunt your authority? Is there any dignity in the things you've done as a parent?"
Ji Shengming shoved Feng Xuelan away and roared, "You're utterly unreasonable!"
Feng Xuelan screamed hysterically, "I'm unreasonable? Ha! And who made me this way? Wasn't it you? Ji Shengming, you have no heart! How dare you treat me like this? Ji Shengming, come back here!"
But Ji Shengming had already stormed out without a backward glance, his departure from the house resolute and unwavering.
Feng Xuelan's meticulously styled hair, which had taken two hours to prepare for the concert earlier, was now completely disheveled. The grace and elegance she had exuded when leaving home seemed like a fleeting illusion, utterly vanished. Now, she appeared desolate and wretched.
She tried to chase after him, screaming Ji Shengming's name in agony and despair.
Ji Feng stopped her.His mother's demeanor, which he had initially pitied, now only filled him with weariness.
He held back Feng Xuelan, who was trying to rush outside to chase after and curse Ji Shengming, and asked with unconcealed disgust, "Why can't you leave a man like this?"
Feng Xuelan finally stopped trying to charge outside. She immediately turned her hostility toward Ji Feng.
"Why should I leave? Why should I make way? Have you lost your mind, telling your mother to clear the path for some shameless woman outside? Don't worry, I will absolutely not divorce him. I'm going to keep them both hanging—neither of them will have it easy!"
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Ji Feng wanted to make Feng Xuelan understand one thing: "Mom, don't you see? In this relationship, the only one suffering is you. The only one being strung along is you!"
These words instantly lit Feng Xuelan's fuse. She exploded, directing all her fury at Ji Feng: "What do you mean I'm the only one being strung along? Why do you always urge me to divorce your father? Are you so eager to let your father and that bitch outside have their way? How did I give birth to a son who sides with outsiders?"
As she spoke, Feng Xuelan grew increasingly heartbroken: "You only criticize me, but what about you? If you knew how to be a good son, if you knew how to win your father's favor, he wouldn't be so enthusiastic about raising that bitch's child instead of his own flesh and blood!"
Ji Feng replied coldly, "I have no interest in being raised by him."
Feng Xuelan paid no attention to his words or his attitude. Lost in her own world of anger, she made her own bitter plans: "We can't go on like this. It's all that bitch's fault—she's making your father grow more and more impatient with me. I have to start planning, or else we'll end up with nothing!"
Ji Feng thought mockingly to himself, why blame only that woman? Wasn't the root of the problem her husband's infidelity? If it weren't that woman, it would be someone else. His mother's tragedy was her inability to see who was truly the most wicked at heart.
"Alright, starting tomorrow," Feng Xuelan continued planning on her own, "you find a way—whether through insincerity or with a bit of genuine effort—to coax your father. Then figure out how to transfer all his assets into your name. Only under your name can I feel secure. We absolutely cannot let your father benefit that bitch and her bastard child! Do you hear me?"
Ji Feng listened with utter disgust. He had no interest in Ji Shengming's possessions, nor did he want to become his mother's tool.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of sweeping outside. Turning to look, he saw the live-in housekeeper cleaning. For a moment, he felt grateful that the housekeeper hadn't taken time off to return to her hometown for the New Year.
He raised his voice and said, "Auntie, could you please pour me a glass of water?"—using this to interrupt Feng Xuelan's incessant chatter.
He guided Feng Xuelan to the sofa and helped her sit down. The housekeeper soon brought a glass of warm water.
As she drank, Feng Xuelan finally calmed down a little.
After putting down the glass, she seemed to remember something and asked Ji Feng, "Why are you home so early? Didn't I tell you to spend New Year's Eve with Jiang Zhichun?"
Ji Feng replied indifferently, "She had to go home to be with her family."Feng Xuelan raised her voice, "Don't try to fool me. Zhichun told me today that she's already prepared to spend New Year's Eve with you outside, and her family knows and supports it." After a pause, she began advising earnestly, "Son, I urge you to know when to stop. It's fine to have high standards, but don't aim impossibly high. Zhichun is already excellent—good family background, beautiful, and capable. In what way is she not good enough for you? Besides," her expression suddenly shifted as if she had thought of something, and she said fiercely for a moment, "her parents are influential and have many business dealings with your father. If you're with Zhichun, even for the sake of his in-laws' reputation, your father would never divorce me. So, my son, you must get along well with Zhichun. She truly is a first-rate girl with outstanding qualities!"
Ji Feng had always treated his mother's nagging, complaints, or scheming like passing wind—listening but letting it go afterward.
But hearing her words now, he felt disheartened.
Her efforts to match him with Jiang Zhichun weren't for his lifelong happiness after all. In the end, she was struggling to salvage her ruined marriage.
Trapped in this miserable marriage, she had sunk so deep that she wouldn't even spare her son's marital life.
With a heavy heart, Ji Feng thought he probably couldn't stay with Feng Xuelan to see in the New Year this time.
His mother continued her relentless nagging, listing all the benefits of marrying Jiang Zhichun.
He stood up from the sofa, cutting off her incessant chatter, and said, "Mom, I have things to do. I need to go now. Happy New Year."
After speaking, he turned and walked out, leaving Feng Xuelan's increasingly loud pleas and complaints behind him.
Sitting in the car after leaving home, he felt agitated and irritable.
He stepped on the accelerator, and the engine roared angrily. At that moment, he felt only the engine understood him.
Happy New Year. Hah.
He thought, "Happy New Year, my foot."
Ji Feng parked his car outside the Sway Hotel. Checking his watch, it was almost midnight.
He never expected to spend New Year's Eve alone back at the hotel.
As he crossed the hotel lobby, everyone who saw him was startled.
Lu Xiaoyan at the front desk was the most shocked. As a long-time employee, she had never seen the hotel owner return to the hotel on New Year's Eve, especially so late, and it seemed he intended to stay and celebrate here?
While she was still reeling from the surprise, thinking she must share this gossip with her colleague Ke Wenxue from the guest services department upstairs, her wandering mind was abruptly pulled back when she looked up and saw the boss, Ji Feng, approaching with a cold expression.
Lu Xiaoyan quickly straightened her posture, trying to greet him, but his icy glare made her nervous, and her tongue stumbled over the words: "J-J-J-Ji, President Ji! Happy New Year! Wh-wh-why are you back?"
Ji Feng's face turned even colder, and he frowned. "It's my hotel. Can't I come back?"
Lu Xiaoyan wanted to slap herself. What kind of question was that? Just asking for a rebuke.
But what should she say next? The boss seemed particularly unhappy—his face colder than usual, the mockery and impatience in his eyes more intense than ever.
"Who's on duty today?" Ji Feng suddenly asked.Lu Xiaoyan hastily recited a string of job titles and names like a primary school student reciting a textbook.
Ji Feng listened intently. After hearing the list of names, he felt that the young attendant’s words had missed the point he was hoping to hear.
After finishing, the young attendant stared at him with wide eyes, looking utterly at a loss, as if she were facing a tyrant.
“Is that all?” Ji Feng sneered slightly, then frowned and asked again.
The young attendant grew even more flustered. Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, she widened her eyes, clapped her hands, and exclaimed, “Ah, I remember now! There’s also Mi Yu… I mean, Supervisor Xu, she’s here too! Originally, she wasn’t on duty today, but she was worried that there wouldn’t be enough staff during the New Year, so she volunteered to work overtime. But she’s not in the lobby right now—ah, but it’s not because she’s slacking off. She’s been busy the whole time and hasn’t stopped…”
The young attendant continued to ramble incoherently, but Ji Feng was no longer listening.
When he heard that Xu Miyu was also there, he suddenly felt as if an empty space inside him had been filled.
The corners of his eyes lifted slightly as he cut off the young attendant’s chatter and asked directly, “Where is your Supervisor Xu right now?”
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