Chapter 348
Four years later.
At the Global eSports Finals.
The score froze on the big screen, lights exploded across the venue, and golden confetti poured down like a storm.
“Let’s congratulate the China Suosuo Team on winning the world championship—give them a round of applause!”
The two commentators on stage were practically screaming with excitement, their voices cracking. On the viewing platform, five people stood in a row.
Ji Zhouye, dressed in a custom suit, sat with his legs crossed, wearing a look of calm composure, as if to say, “Just routine stuff, nothing too surprising.” But the corners of his lips, which he couldn’t quite suppress, betrayed his inner elation.
Si Lin leaped up from his chair. “We won! We actually won! Hahaha, world champions—our company’s world champions!”
Zhou Shiyu shoved Si Lin aside, holding up her selfie stick and shouting, “Family! This is the Suosuo Team our company trained! In just four years, we’ve won the world championship! Quick, send the gifts!”
Tang Mi, towering in ten-centimeter heels, clapped gracefully before whipping out her phone. “Get this on the trending topics right now. We need to make sure everyone knows the Suosuo Team has conquered the world—”
Hai Chang’an quickly steadied her, gripping her waist. “Pregnant and still wearing heels, seriously? Sit down, just sit down!”
“I’m only four months along, what’s the big deal?” Tang Mi shook him off. “Call PR right now—push all the trending topics up. This has to dominate the feeds—”
A crowd of reporters swarmed in, their microphones practically jabbing Ji Zhouye in the face. “As the founder of the Suosuo Team, what do you think was the key to victory?”
Ji Zhouye struck a pose, pausing strategically as if ready to speak.
Before he could, Si Lin snatched the microphone. “The key to victory is obviously my full oversight. These talented players were all personally recruited by me—”
Zhou Shiyu shoved him aside. “Clearly, it was my persistence—I visited them three times—”
Tang Mi refused to back down. “I handled all the logistics. Without me, the Suosuo Team wouldn’t be where it is today.”
Hai Chang’an pressed a hand to his forehead. “Alright, alright, it’s all your doing. Just stop pushing, will you? Think of the baby…”
The reporter hesitated. “Uh… And the name ‘Suosuo Team’—does it have any special meaning?”
“Everyone shut up. I’ll answer this one.” Ji Zhouye raised the microphone, his voice suddenly deepening. “Many of you here might not know this, but the saxaul tree can survive in temperatures as low as -40°C, its roots burrowing ten meters into the earth… All of us were once the most hopeless members of our families. Someone taught us to transform like the saxaul, shrinking our leaves into branches, grinding our pride into roots, and growing with all our might—only then could we be seen by the world.”
As his words faded, something seemed to strike him. He quickly glanced at his watch, exclaimed, “Sorry, the interview will have to end here. We have something urgent to deal with—let’s go!”
Tang Mi’s eyes widened. “Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have come to the eSports finals. If I miss this big event, I’ll regret it for life!”
Hai Chang’an wrapped an arm around her. “If we fly now, we’ll make it in time. Don’t panic.”
Si Lin cleared the way ahead. “Move aside, everyone!”
Zhou Shiyu turned off her live stream. “Family, I’m about to attend a grand wedding. See you tomorrow!”
The five of them boarded a private jet. The plane sliced through the clouds and soon landed at Haicheng Airport. They rushed without pause to Lotus Manor.
Outside the manor’s vermilion gates, gilded hydrangeas gleamed under the sun. Twelve large red lanterns hung from the lintel all the way to the hallway, their tassels swaying gently in the crosswind, casting shadows on the bluestone path that blended into a dazzling sea of red. Even the potted peonies by the wall seemed to drink in the festive spirit, blooming brighter than usual.
This celebration was a spectacle unseen at Lotus Manor in a hundred years, a corner of the world where even time seemed dyed in honey, moving with unusual tenderness.
But—
The old man’s strong, spirited voice shattered the gentle mood.
“What’s going on? Why haven’t the bride and groom arrived yet?” Ji Shunying paced back and forth at the main gate like an ant on a hot pan. “Zhiyuan, check on them, will you? Make sure nothing’s happened!”
Ji Zhiyuan spoke up. “Old Master, don’t worry. Just a moment ago, when Great-Grandfather went to pick up Great-Grandmother from the research institute, there was a hiccup with the data, so they got delayed.”
Ji Shunying scolded, “The auspicious hour is almost upon us—how can I not worry? Duoduo, call and ask how far along they are.”
“Hmph!” Duoduo crossed her arms and snorted. “Great-Grandfather is too much! I’m never talking to him again!”
“You little girl, why such a temper!” Ji Shunying was both exasperated and amused. “A child who gets angry will turn ugly. No more pouting, okay!”
“Great-Grandfather stole my spot as the flower girl, and I’m going to be mad!” Duoduo puffed out her cheeks. “An old man playing flower girl—aren’t you embarrassed?!”
Ji Shunying wasn’t afraid of embarrassment at all.
A child being a flower girl for their parents—that was only right and proper. This flower girl position was his. He was determined to keep it!
He pinched the little girl’s cheek. “On the day your parents get married, you can be whatever kind of child attendant you want. Nobody will compete with you for that!”
Duoduo’s little face fell.
Her father had already proposed three times, but her mother wouldn’t agree. She spent Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with her father, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with her mother, and Sundays with both parents at activities, competitions, or the amusement park.
But there was no progress between her parents at all.
Marriage seemed like a lost cause.
As the little girl stewed in her gloom,
A tiny ball of a child waddled over to her, holding out his chubby arms like lotus roots. “Sister, carry me.”
“Tuantuan!” Ji Yanting strode over and scooped his son into his arms. “You’re too heavy. Duoduo can’t lift you.”
He turned to look at the woman beside him. “Honey, could you cut out one feeding? He’s getting too chubby!”
The woman standing next to him was stunningly beautiful, her figure untouched even after childbirth. She was Chi Fangfei, a film queen who had won countless awards on the silver screen.
The two of them—one a queen of cinema, the other a king—had collaborated six times and had always been good friends.
If not for that night at the celebration banquet, when he accidentally overheard Chi Fangfei talking to her best friend on the phone, he would never have known that she had entered the entertainment industry for his sake.
She had secretly loved him.
Maybe because he now knew Chi Fangfei’s secret, he found it harder to stay at ease when they worked together afterward, unconsciously drawn to her more and more.
Some fans started stirring up trouble, claiming that the way he looked at Chi Fangfei was far from innocent.
Their fan bases clashed ferociously, sparking a storm on the internet that raged on for three full days without any resolution.
Then, on the fourth day, a piece of news left Ji Yanting dumbfounded.
To quell the rumors, Chi Fangfei had casually found someone to pose as her boyfriend and introduced him publicly at a press conference.
Later…
“When you pulled me away in front of the media that day,” Chi Fangfei said, holding Ji Yanting’s arm with a smile, “I knew there must be a place for me in your heart.”
And so, she had been brave, direct, and fearless in pursuing her first love, whom she had quietly adored for over a decade.
All he had to do was take that one step.
As for her, she would walk the remaining ninety-nine herself.
Everything unfolded with an almost unbelievable smoothness.
Their son was now nearly two years old.