novelraw Chapter 474 - 473: The Knot Between Father and Son
Chapter 474 - 473: The Knot Between Father and Son
"Ah Ru..." Old Madam Ji’s body trembled, looking pitiful like a lamb ready for slaughter with a knife at its throat.But Ji Rui knew this woman was not as weak and pitiful as she appeared on the surface; in fact, calling her cold-hearted wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
It’s just that she always hid it well, so her dear husband, Mr. Ji, always thought she was a gentle and virtuous woman.
Ji Rui had always thoroughly ignored this woman. If she hadn’t repeatedly provoked him recently, he probably wouldn’t have even glanced at her until her death.
Two bodyguards went over, forcefully taking away the struggling Old Madam Ji, bringing her to the lounge at the end of the corridor. In the corridor, only Housekeeper Li and Mr. Ji’s two personal bodyguards remained, aware of the impending crisis, they all lowered their heads, not daring to move.
Ji Rui looked up at the surgery lamp that was still on, "Tell me, how did my father fall?"
His voice was not loud, yet it carried an irresistible authority and pressure.
The three of them exchanged glances, you look at me, I look at you, and finally Housekeeper Li hesitantly spoke again.
"Early this morning... Mr. Ji and Madam had a few words... Mr. Ji was a bit out of control, and then... just fell..."
Ji Rui looked at him coldly, clearly not believing his words.
Housekeeper Li didn’t dare to meet Ji Rui’s eyes, and as he spoke, he lowered his head.
Ji Rui’s icy gaze swept over the two bodyguards, and the two tall men immediately lowered their heads. It seemed the argument was real, but the story of Mr. Ji falling on his own probably wasn’t entirely true.
"Have they been arguing a lot recently?"
Ji Rui’s attention seemed to shift to another matter, which made Housekeeper Li and the two bodyguards simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yes, they’ve argued a few times." Housekeeper Li finally recovered his usual eloquence.
"Why do they argue?"
Ji Rui couldn’t imagine it; Mr. Ji loved his wife so much, how could he bear to argue with her?
"It seems... it seems to be about the second young master and the third young master’s affairs." Housekeeper Li hesitantly began to speak again.
The old couple’s previous arguments were indeed about Ji Wen and Ji Wu, but this morning Housekeeper Li clearly heard them upstairs mentioning Ji Rui and Baobao, yet he couldn’t hear what the specific matter was.
In front of Ji Rui, he didn’t dare speak on it, as he only heard them repeatedly mention Ji Rui’s name but didn’t catch any substantial details, so naturally, he didn’t dare make things up when Ji Rui asked.
Ji Rui looked at him deeply, realizing not much truth would come from his mouth either.
After all, Ji Rui, though the eldest son of the Ji Family, rarely lived in the mansion and seldom inquired about its affairs. In the eyes of Housekeeper Li and the other servants, Old Madam Ji was the true master of the mansion, so they inevitably withheld details in their words.
"What has my father been doing for entertainment recently?" Ji Rui turned to look at the two bodyguards.
As far as Ji Rui knew, the loving old couple almost went out every day for morning tea, leisurely strolled around outside, and then returned home for lunch. After an afternoon nap, the couple would mostly enjoy tea and chat in their garden, always pursuing a comfortable lifestyle.
"Mr. Ji has rarely gone out recently; except for picking up the young master to play on Saturdays, he basically hasn’t left the house."
Ji Rui asked no more, deducing from Housekeeper Li and the bodyguards’ words that perhaps there was no need for him to intervene in this matter.
Not long after, the surgery lamp went out, and several nurses pushed the post-operative Mr. Ji out.
Ji Rui stepped forward and saw Mr. Ji lying with his eyes closed, his face and forehead bearing several obvious scratches, and his right leg, encased in plaster, was half-suspended.
"Rest assured, Mr. Ji is not in any serious trouble." The doctor who operated on Mr. Ji was someone Ji Rui recognized.
"Hmm," Ji Rui replied.
He asked nothing more, silently accompanying the doctors and nurses as they entered the intensive care unit. He sat on the sofa, quietly watching as they set up Mr. Ji in the hospital bed before they all exited, yet he did not go over to check on Mr. Ji.
At this moment, his feelings were complex. When he received Housekeeper Li’s phone call, hearing that "Mr. Ji fell down the stairs," his mind went "boom" and exploded.
In his mind, the bloody and terrifying scene of his mother’s death flashed instantly.
For a fleeting moment, he thought Mr. Ji would meet the same fate as his mother. Until he snapped back to reality and heard Housekeeper Li say it was just a fracture and some surface wounds, he could relax just slightly.
When he was still a child, when neither he nor his mother knew of Ji Wen, Ji Wu, and that woman, he was actually a happy child. His mother was gentle and virtuous, and his father was steady and mature. Back then, like Baobao now, he loved fooling around and showing off, and at that time, Mr. Ji was definitely a good father.
However, with the arrival of Ji Wen, Ji Wu, and that woman, this good father no longer belonged to Ji Rui.
He vividly remembers, when his mother held his hand and saw that woman and her two sons at the door, her face turned ghastly pale, her nails dug into the back of his hand, almost making him cry out in pain.
It was from that moment on that Ji Rui’s love for Mr. Ji gradually turned into hatred.
But this hatred, Ji Rui never showed on his face.
Because, not long after that woman brought her two sons into the Ji Family, his mother died.
For a child just a few years old, losing a mother equaled losing all support.
Thus, although he hated Mr. Ji, he dared not express it, for he still needed this man’s shelter to grow up and reclaim everything that belonged to his mother. Content orıginally comes from novel•fire.net
So, as if overnight, he transformed from a playful, mischievous kid to a reserved and sullen little adult.
Perhaps out of guilt, after Ji Rui’s mother’s death, Mr. Ji treated Ji Rui even better, but Ji Rui never had the same trust and reliance on him again.
The relationship between father and son became precarious from then on, yet both carefully maintained it until Ji Rui took over the Ji Family business, unleashing all the previously suppressed conflicts.
When he took over the Ji Family business, Old Madam Ji made a huge fuss with Mr. Ji, but Ji Rui pretended not to see. After all, he had long moved out of the mansion, and whatever disputes these two had were none of his business.
He didn’t know how Mr. Ji explained his taking over the family business to his beloved wife, but he only knew that the Ji Family business was rightfully his and had nothing to do with that woman and Ji Wen and Ji Wu!