Chapter 238: Chapter 238

Ji Rui looked down at his son, met his son’s pleading eyes, hesitated for a moment, but eventually turned the handle and opened the door.

The door slowly opened, and the three generations inside and outside the room exchanged a few glances. Finally, it was Ji Baby who broke the deadlock.

"Grandpa, come in quickly!"

Ji Baby reached out to pull Mr. Ji’s hand and tug him inside.

Ji Rui silently glanced at him, stepped aside, and allowed him to enter the house.

"Baobao, did you miss Grandpa?"

Once inside, Mr. Ji squatted down beside Ji Baby and hugged him.

Ji Baby reached out to hug Mr. Ji, but his eyes darted to Ji Rui, as if afraid that Ji Rui would blame him for this.

Ji Rui reached out and ruffled his hair, then turned back to the dining room and resumed eating his meal.

"Grandpa, have you eaten? Come and eat with us!"

Ji Baby had no resentment toward Mr. Ji; instead, he was very reliant on him, which was the source of Ji Rui’s conflict.

He hated Mr. Ji, but over the years, he never spoke a bad word about him in front of Ji Baby.

Subconsciously, he didn’t want to disrupt the illusion of harmony within the Ji Family, even if it was merely superficial.

Even though he disliked the old lady, who was Mr. Ji’s wife, and the two half-brothers who shared half his genes, he still went back once a week to maintain the pretense of harmony.

"Ah Ru, bring Baobao back home tomorrow for a visit."

Mr. Ji was pulled into the dining room by Ji Baby and stood before the dining table, asking Ji Rui, who was focused on eating.

"No, we’re not going back!"

Ji Rui refused outright. Today was New Year’s Eve, and he didn’t want to fight with Mr. Ji in front of his son, so as not to spoil his beloved son’s mood.

Ji Baby glanced at Ji Rui, knowing his daddy was angry, and dared not say anything, but he tugged on Mr. Ji’s hand to signal him to sit down.

"Grandpa, sit down. I’ll get you a bowl and chopsticks."

With that, he left Mr. Ji and Ji Rui in the dining room, ran to the kitchen, climbed onto a stool to get a set of bowls and chopsticks from the cabinet, and quickly returned to the dining room.

In the dining room, Mr. Ji was already seated, but Ji Rui acted as if he were invisible, eating his own meal.

When Ji Baby ran to the kitchen, Ji Rui coldly said to him.

"I’ll go along with whatever you want to play, but Baobao is just a child. If you still consider him your grandson, I hope you don’t harm or use him!"

Ji Baby didn’t say anything, but Ji Rui knew that Mr. Ji held a significant place in Ji Baby’s heart. After all, Ji Baby grew up from a crying and fussing little baby under Mr. Ji’s watchful eyes to the mischievous boy he was now.

Mr. Ji originally had something to say to Ji Rui, but his words became stuck after Ji Rui’s interruption. By the time he had mostly composed his thoughts, Ji Baby had returned with the bowl and chopsticks.

Panting, Ji Baby placed the bowl and chopsticks on the table, climbed onto his chair, leaned over, and carefully served half a bowl of soup for Mr. Ji, cautiously handing it over.

"Grandpa, have some soup."

Mr. Ji took the bowl and sipped a mouthful.

"Grandpa, does it taste good?" Ji Baby tilted his head, watching Mr. Ji.

Mr. Ji put down the bowl and reached over to ruffle Ji Baby’s hair.

"Grandpa brought the snacks you love. Do you want to eat them now, or later?"

Ji Baby looked at the spread on the table, "Grandpa, I want to eat them later; is that okay?"

There were rumors outside that Ji Baby was a Little Demon King, but in reality, his temper was quite good toward those he cared about, and he was very well-behaved.

Mr. Ji already cherished him, and after Ji Rui’s remarks, he certainly couldn’t bear to refuse him.

"Sure, Baobao can eat whenever he wants."

This New Year’s Eve dinner passed peacefully, thanks to Ji Rui’s remarks and Ji Baby’s clever navigation and laughter between his daddy and grandpa. While the atmosphere wasn’t particularly warm, it was at least harmonious, with no hint of hostility.

After dinner, Mr. Ji showed no intention of leaving. He just held Ji Baby on the sofa, engaged in some unknown conversation, with the elder speaking softly and the younger laughing loudly, while Ji Rui didn’t interrupt and turned to make tea in the kitchen. He took two boxes of snacks from the food Mr. Ji had brought and brought them out.

"Ah Ru, who is the Sister that Baobao mentioned?"

Seeing the atmosphere easing, Mr. Ji cautiously asked Ji Rui, who was sipping tea.

Ji Rui raised an eyebrow and glared at him from the corner of his eye, "None of your business!"

In the past, every time Mr. Ji showed concern about his lifelong affairs, Ji Rui would be impatient, but mostly would just tell Mr. Ji not to worry, as he knew what he was doing.

But now, his attitude was that this matter had nothing to do with Mr. Ji.

Mr. Ji ran into a stone wall but dared not say anything, holding Ji Baby in silence for a while before speaking again.

"Ah Ru, I know you hate me, but you are all my sons, and I..."

Ji Rui suddenly looked up and fiercely glared at him.

"Enough, don’t talk about these disgusting things in front of Baobao!"

Even though Ji Rui hated him, he didn’t want to destroy the kind grandfather image Mr. Ji held in Baobao’s heart. Because he knew that once something was broken, it could never be repaired.

"Grandpa... Daddy..."

Originally nestled in Mr. Ji’s arms playing a game, Ji Baby was finally scared by the tone and atmosphere of the conversation between father and son, raising his head timidly to look at Mr. Ji and then at Ji Rui.

Mr. Ji, once again interrupted by Ji Rui, had his words stuck in his throat.

"Baobao, go play in the bedroom or playroom for a while."

Ji Rui felt sorry for his son and walked over, extending his arms to pick up the little guy and walk away for a bit.

Originally, Ji Rui thought that at this point, there was nothing left to discuss with Mr. Ji. But having come all this way, if he didn’t give him a chance to speak, he would never feel at ease.

To Ji Rui’s surprise, despite looking at Ji Rui’s hand, Ji Baby remained nestled in Mr. Ji’s arms, not moving.

"Baobao?" Ji Rui extended his hand a little further.

"I won’t go; I want to stay here with Daddy and Grandpa!"

Ji Baby tossed the handheld console aside, tightly wrapping his arms around Mr. Ji’s neck.

Ji Rui furrowed his brows, staring at him, "Ji Yu!" His tone suddenly grew much more severe. Newest update provided by novelꞁire.net

Mr. Ji seemed to understand his precious grandson’s intent, patting his bottom gently and coaxing, "Baobao, be good. Grandpa and Daddy have things to discuss. Go play for a bit on your own, okay?"

Ji Baby only clung tighter, "No! If Baobao leaves, Daddy and Grandpa will fight! I won’t leave!"

[Update three times at midnight. Zhu Zi is not a writing guru, just a small unnoticed writer. The work surely has many shortcomings, not asking for frantic likes from the girl readers, but please don’t bash it too hard, Zhu Zi has a fragile heart, easily shattered...]