Chapter 333: Chapter 333

"The ridiculous thing is, I was just a few months old when my dad brought home his son from his first love, who was only two months younger than me, begging my mom for forgiveness..."

After Ji Rui finished saying this, there was a long silence.

Although this was just his past, something that had nothing to do with Le Tong, her heart felt heavy listening to it. Staring at his handsome face, which at some point had become expressionless, she felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Maybe, like Baobao, he also once had an unrestrained and innocent smile on his face, but life was too cruel for him. The pain and hatred inside him were too difficult to express to outsiders, or perhaps he disdained to express them to others. Gradually, he used a wooden, emotionless face to cover up all the pain and hatred inside.

Speaking of which, emotionally, she was indeed much happier than Ji Rui.

Although her family wasn’t wealthy, she had a mother who loved her very, very much, and before she was five, a father who, though seldom seen, seemed to love her very much too.

After her father disappeared, her mother never said a bad word about him in front of her. Because of this, until now, the image of her father in Le Tong’s mind remained tall, loving, warm, and beautiful.

She knew there must have been a lot of bitterness and pain behind her parents’ backs that they didn’t want her to know. But by not telling her, they wanted her to keep her beautiful dreams intact and not to spoil her innocent and happy childhood.

There are many kinds of lies. Sometimes, well-intentioned lies can protect a person’s happiness better than the truth.

Even though, to this day, she didn’t know her parents’ past, she had no desire to investigate, just wanting to preserve the beauty that had lasted in her heart for over twenty years.

"Actually, you would rather he never confessed to your mom, wouldn’t you?"

Reflecting on her own experience, Le Tong suddenly understood the root of his pain a little more.

Ji Rui turned his head, his eyes filled with disbelief and surprise; after a long pause, he nodded slowly in a barely audible response.

Yes, he had imagined more than once that if the old man had continued secretly living with his first love outside, it would have been so much better. Then his mom wouldn’t have been forced into such a situation, and even if it was just a false illusion of happiness, she could have lived happily in it.

But the old man is such a ruthless person!

He chose not to let his first love suffer any injustice; he had to bring her into the open, in front of everyone!

In doing so, it meant cruelly pushing his mother into a desperate situation.

Because, for someone as proud and high-minded as his mom, betrayal was something she couldn’t tolerate. Moreover, that son of his, only two months younger than Ji Rui, constantly reminded her that, to the old man, it wasn’t even considered betrayal. Perhaps he never loved her at all, and his love for her was just a lie for fame and fortune.

"My mom was truly foolish, if only..."

Ji Rui paused mid-sentence, his gaze returning from the void to land on Le Tong’s face.

Le Tong, bewildered by his deep and unreadable gaze, felt her heart skip a beat involuntarily.

"If only..." Ji Rui licked his lips, his gaze suddenly becoming burning, "she had been as smart as you, knowing to separate her happiness from her son’s, instead of binding her happiness to mine, she might have been able to live well until now?"

Le Tong was stunned for a moment, was he implying that she didn’t accept him because of Baobao?

"Mr. Ji, are you blaming me, or praising me?"

Le Tong had no intention of keeping her question hidden, meeting his burning gaze with a straightforward question.

Ji Rui’s previously expressionless face showed a slight smile, the corners of his lips quirking up as he looked at her with great interest, "Of course I’m praising you!"

His enigmatic smile made it hard for Le Tong to understand him, making it difficult to trust even his firm words.

She frowned slightly, looking at him with confusion, "But it was you who got rejected, aren’t you still praising me?"

Le Tong recalled the time when she threw the shredded pieces of a check in his face and his expression that seemed ready to devour her, and involuntarily shivered a little.

Ji Rui didn’t answer her immediately but blinked, the smile on his lips deepening.

Le Tong’s heartstrings seemed to be gently plucked by someone, producing clear and crisp tones.

She was quite annoyed with the strange emotions he inadvertently stirred in her.

This man, why did he keep smiling at her tonight? Didn’t he know how captivating his usually expressionless face became when he smiled, and how deadly that charm was to someone who was a sucker for good looks?!

She could guarantee that if he ever smiled like that at a Ji Family staff meeting someday, all the women at Ji Family would definitely fall at his feet.

"Stop flirting with me!"

Le Tong said a little angrily, taking a step forward, not daring to look at a man who could captivate others with just a slight smile.

Ji Rui coughed lightly and also took a step forward, this time standing right next to her, their arms briefly brushing against each other, making Le Tong jump back as if she’d been shocked.

"Didn’t I tell you not to flirt with me?" Le Tong glared at him angrily, scolding him softly.

Ji Rui blinked innocently, "I didn’t!"

Clearly, the man who had always been cold and emotionless before, why did he seem so naturally to have Baobao’s expressions? This content belongs to novel⟡fire.net

Le Tong had always thought she understood this man, thinking he was rigid and uninteresting.

But now it seemed, was this man rigid at all? He was clearly a cunning and sly fox, adept at hitting people where they were weak!

Her rationale actually found little appeal in him.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was some resistance or even dislike.

But her eyes were extremely fond of his looks; this fondness, from the moment she first saw him until now, remained the same.

Whether he was cold and ruthless, frowning in distress, or smiling lightly and cheerfully.

It often made her unable to look away.

Initially, she thought this dislike from her mentality and aesthetic admiration did not conflict.

It’s like everyone likes to look at beautiful roses. After all, who doesn’t love pleasing things? You just look and gawk; it doesn’t cost anything!

But many people, rationally aware of the thorns on roses, will avoid getting close to or owning them.

And Le Tong was someone who never bought roses for fear of being pricked by thorns.

[From today, I’ll start to slowly repay some of the debts, ha, if Zhu Zi counted correctly, I owe nine updates until yesterday... A scary figure! Let Zhu Zi hide and cry for a while...]