254 Shanghai Fest Arc (8) : The Shi family's secret
“Huh?” Ai stared at her with confusion written all over her face. “Half-sister?”
Yunru and Xing Bi also didn’t hide the disbelief in their expressions. “Zhan Yahui? Zhan Yahui? Your Half-sister?”
“Yes,” Shi Huan replied. “Though I am not supposed to tell this to anybody.”
“…”
“Then why did you tell me?” Ai asked.
She stared at her. “Honestly, I don’t know. But I felt like I could reveal it to you. I liked talking to you at the Summit. I also heard how you stood up for me to let me have the chance to be the finalist,” her gaze and smile was filled with gratitude, “You have my deepest thanks. I really appreciate it. I also loved your story. When you asked, I just felt like you are the type of person I can share this with. It might sound silly though.”
Ai solemnly replied. “It’s not silly. I understand that feeling very well.”
She was someone who vowed to take her rebirth secret to her grave and never fall in love again, yet she was here with Jun with whom she had shared her deepest pain and secret.
Jun knew what she was thinking about and slightly nodded his head in agreement.
Ai continued. “I apologize. I didn’t know you were supposed to hide it.”
“That’s okay. It was my choice to tell you.”
Xing Bi asked, “But her last name is Zhan.”
“I think that’s her mother’s last name. We have the same fathers. I don’t know much about her.”
Silence.
“I am sorry for asking something insensitive-“
“No, no. I wasn’t offended,” she politely smiled.
Jun tilted his head. “So you work in Shi Publishing whereas she works in Dream High.”
Two half-sisters working in different companies, Jun thought. Don’t siblings usually fight for power?
Shi Huan remained silent for a few moments. “Yes. It’s a complicated matter, but I find it really silly.”
“You don’t seem to hate Zhan Yahui,” Ai remarked. “Zhan Yahui seemed as if she didn’t even acknowledge you.”
“I don’t hate Zhan Yahui or her existence. If anybody is at fault, then it is my father. As for Zhan Yahui, I don’t think she likes me. But that is to be expected given the circumstances.”
Nian and Jun exchanged glances. They knew about the Shi family, and it was one of the fairly elite families. But little did they know that Shi Huan’s father had such a shameful secret of his mistress.
Ai held her hand and sincerely expressed. “Thank you for trusting and telling me this. You don’t have to worry. We won’t talk about it to anybody.”
Yunru and Xing Bi furiously bobbed their heads. “Yes. Rest assured.”
Shi Huan beamed. “Thank you.”
Yunru stared at her radiant smile for a second longer and quickly averted his gaze, coughing lightly. That earned him a whistle from Nian.
“W-what?” He accusingly asked.
“Nothing,” Nian chuckled.
—
After lunch, everybody went back to their own rooms for a short nap after getting tired from all thr running around.
Jun shut the door and pushed Ai against it, capturing her lips in a deep and fierce kiss. Clutching the back of her neck, he trapped her within his arms and slurped across her tongue. As they separated, their lips looking redder and moist, he bit on her cheek and jaw, making her tremble.
He lifted a lock of her hair and played with his fingertips as he stared. “So, how do you explain yourself, my dear girlfriend?”
“Explain what?” She feigned ignorance.
He tilted her chin up and narrowed his eyes. “Your memory needs refreshment. I am talking about the part where you were enjoying your time with that brother.”
“I wasn’t enjoying. I was just talking to him.”
“Knowing that that man clearly likes you?” His voice coldly growled.
“Ah?” Ai rapidly blinked her eyes. “Who likes me?”
Jun peered into her light brown eyes which looked completely clueless. “Ai.”
“Yes.”
“You do realize that Cai Lingyun likes you, right? And when I say like, I mean it as a woman, not a sister.”
She looked at him dumbfounded. “He doesn’t like me that way. What are you saying?”
“I want to ask what are you thinking? Isn’t it so obvious?” His gaze darkened. “One look and you can tell that he likes you. Ai, I thought you are perceptive about these things.”
It was still hard for her to believe. “I…But he is like a brother to me. He always was since I met him through Guiying.”
He gritted his teeth. “But you are not a sister to him. Plus, didn’t you say that he was always more affectionate to you than Cai Guiying in the past life? That’s because he is biased due to his feelings for you. I want to kill that man! How dare he harbor feelings for my woman? That’s also why he was talking shit about our relationship and giving excuses that my family won’t accept you! He is jealous.”
This was like a serious bomb dropped upon Ai. To her, Cai Lingyun was just a dependable big brother. She never saw him in a different light other than just a sibling, and she assumed that he treated her as a sister too.
Was that really why he favored me all that time?
“But he never told me in my past life at all.”
“That’s because you were dating Gu Yating,” he clenched his fist, “and then you left the city when you broke up. He never got the timing right or simply, he was a coward. Whatever it was, it doesn’t change the fact that he likes you! That’s why stay away from him. Also, I have another reason to say this.”
“What?” She blinked.
“I was quite shocked to see him and even more shocked to hear that he is Cai Guiying’s brother.”
Ai furrowed her brows. “What is shocking in that?”
Jun squinted his eyes. “That’s because I have met him in my past life.”