Tenderly Embraced

Chapter 3

The girls were eager to eat at this hotpot restaurant, and Xie Sui's invitation was a big deal, as not everyone in school was qualified to invite him to speak.

The girls sat down at the table, chatting and laughing.

Cong Yuzhou introduced himself first, "I'm Cong Yuzhou from Class 19. You all know Xie Sui. This is Jiang Zhongning, and... there are too many people, you won't remember them all anyway."

The boys behind immediately clamored, "Why don't we deserve to have names!"

Cong Yuzhou smiled faintly, "Anyway, you can call us 'brother' or 'little brother,' whatever you like."

"Okay, Cong Yuzhou, taking advantage of the girls as soon as you arrive."

"Get lost, fool!"

These boys had a wildness about them, very different from the gentle boys they usually encountered in class.

The girls introduced themselves, sticking out their tongues, feeling like they had met before.

Because Xie Sui was sitting on the outermost seat, the girls pushed Ji Bai to sit next to him.

He exuded a kind of fatal s****l attraction, even the reborn Ji Bai couldn't help but be influenced by him, feeling her heart beating faster.

The waiter brought the menu, and the boys instinctively handed it to Xie Sui.

On weekdays, Xie Sui hardly ever interacted with girls. He picked up a pen to order, but Cong Yuzhou kicked his chair.

Xie Sui looked up at him, "What's up?"

Cong Yuzhou gestured with his eyes, "Boss, show some gentlemanly manners!"

Xie Sui wasn't particularly gentlemanly, but when he looked at the quiet Ji Bai beside him, he still handed the menu to her.

Ji Bai took the menu, thoughtlessly marked a few dishes according to her past habits, and asked the girls, "What do you want to eat?"

"Hey, we're dieting."

"We're not eating, you order."

Ji Bai:...

Just now someone said that when they're hungry, they'd almost drink all the red oil base. Now they're pretending to be reserved.

Ji Bai handed the menu back to Xie Sui, who took the pen and was about to order—

Pork belly, she ordered; tender beef, she also ordered... even Xie Sui's favorite "Palms of Treasure," she ordered.

Xie Sui looked down the list and found that she had checked all his favorite dishes, both meat and vegetarian.

He frowned and looked at Ji Bai, his dark eyes filled with confusion.

Ji Bai, with a few strands of hair tucked behind her ear, revealed her rosy face. She looked gentle as she stirred the dipping sauce in her bowl, unaware of everything.

He always felt that this girl was a bit strange.

Xie Sui didn't have much else to order, so he handed the menu to Cong Yuzhou.

"Rare, today Sui ge actually didn't order anything."

Cong Yuzhou took the menu and laughed, "Wow, is this sister-in-law from Sui ge's last life? How do you know what he likes to eat!"

Hearing this, Ji Bai's chopsticks stirring the garlic sauce paused slightly, and she looked up to find Xie Sui also looking at her in confusion.

She panicked and whispered, "I... just randomly picked them, aren't these the usual dishes for hotpot?"

"Even so precise, Sui ge is very picky about food, some he absolutely won't eat, some he must eat, the dishes you ordered, are his must-orders, isn't this too coincidental?"

"Uh..."

Well, precisely because Xie Sui is picky about food, Ji Bai, who never picks her food, subconsciously ordered the dishes he loves.

She knows all his habits.

In the previous life, during the time he took her home to recuperate, their intimate relationship even surpassed that of a couple in love.

But they were not lovers because—

Xie Sui had an accident while racing, and in that accident, he lost his ability as a man.

Ji Bai didn't know when Xie Sui had the accident, after all, in their previous high school life, she and Xie Sui were not familiar.

When she met Xie Sui again, he had stopped racing, stopped boxing, and his dream had died with the demise of his body, with no sharpness in his eyes.

He became the kind of ordinary person that he would never become, with a stable nine-to-five job.

On a snowy night, Ji Bai, wearing thin patient clothing, escaped from the hospital and passed out on the side of the road. Xie Sui picked her up and went crazy with love, kissing her... but was helpless, enduring to the extreme.

Thinking back on everything she had experienced during that time, Ji Bai's heart trembled.

Originally, she thought she would spend her life with this dark man, until she accidentally died...

Ji Bai won't let these things happen again.

After the meal, Xie Sui took out his black wallet and handed it to Cong Yuzhou to settle the bill.

Ji Bai said, "Let's go Dutch."

The girls immediately said, "Yes, Aa is a bit better."

Cong Youzhou smiled faintly and said, "With Brother Sui's game, I've never heard of asking girls for money."

Ji Bai knew that Xie Sui's family situation was not very good, but he was particularly good at making money because he was particularly good at fighting, the kind of fearless. After a night at the underground boxing club, sometimes he could earn a five-figure sum if he was lucky, of course, it was far more than that. He also acted as a racing driver for those rich young masters. If they bet and he won, he could earn a lot in one race.

He was very determined, and Ji Bai believed that there was nothing Xie Sui couldn't do in this world.

He was like a burning flame, arrogant and unrestrained.

Unfortunately, that accident ended Xie Sui's youthful arrogance...

Ji Bai didn't take a car, but walked home, considering it as a stroll after a meal.

She looked at the flower shop, grocery store, dessert shop outside the neighborhood... watching the uncles and aunties in the shops shouting and bustling about, everything was so familiar and friendly.

She felt as if she had just woken up from a long dream and had lived a lifetime in that dream.

Ji Bai's home was in the most high-end garden villa community in the city center, living in an exquisite row villa.

The environment around the villa was quiet and peaceful, with small bridges and flowing water, as well as green ivy vines. Ji Bai planted all kinds of flowers in front of her house, which bloomed in turn throughout the year, very gorgeous.

She enjoyed nature and loved life, once having infinite yearning for her own beautiful life—finding a job she liked, marrying the man she loved, having two babies, raising a cat, and living a warm and peaceful life.

However, even this most ordinary dream eventually became an unattainable luxury, not to mention getting married and having children. Her parents didn't even allow her to date, because her born mission was to be her sister's "blood bank," to give and provide as requested.

Why.

Ji Bai returned home to find it empty, with only the auntie who helped out busy in the kitchen.

She lay on the bed, took out her phone, and saw a Weibo post her sister had posted two minutes ago, with a selfie of the whole family dining together—

"With the love of my parents, I feel like the happiest daughter in the world. I will continue to persevere! Love you all!"

Ji Bai scrolled down, the comments were all the same, all encouragement from fans.

However, she found one comment that was different from the others—

"Weird, the whole family is dining together, why isn't the younger sister there?"

This comment was like a drop of water into the sea, quickly submerged.

Ji Bai was somewhat comforted, at least she appeared on TV and people noticed her existence.

This was just the beginning, she was not in a hurry.

Ji Bai rested for a while, then went to the practice room. This room was usually used by her sister for dancing, and her cello was also placed there.

The two sisters had enrolled in special interest classes when they were very young. Her sister liked dancing, and Ji Bai didn't understand anything at that time. Her sister said she should learn to play the cello so she could accompany herself in the future, so Ji Bai stupidly learned to play the cello.

Learning the cello was difficult, but Ji Bai persisted. She went to the interest class every weekend carrying the heavy cello, rain or shine.

Compared to the glamorous dance of her sister, learning the cello was much more boring. Since she had chosen it, whether she liked it or not, she felt she should persevere.

She played Elgar's "Cello Concerto in E minor," counting the time, and her grandmother should be coming soon.

On this day in the previous life, after the program interview, her grandmother came to the mansion, and the whole family collectively criticized Ji Bai, thinking that what she said in the studio was blasphemous.

Her mother even tearfully accused her of being heartless and ignoring sisterly affection.

Ji Bai was moved to tears by her mother's words, sincerely repenting for her "sins".

...

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Auntie Zhou Meng said to Ji Bai, "Miss, the old lady is here."

"Oh, okay!" Ji Bai put down the cello and hurried out of the room.

On the sofa in the downstairs living room, the old lady was sitting upright, her hair not completely white yet, wearing fashionable glasses, and dressing much more stylishly than the average old lady.

The Ji family had been running a conglomerate for three generations and could be considered an upper-class family. There were many branches in the family, and although the grandparents were old, they were still in control of the lifeline of the conglomerate. Ji Bai's father was not very competitive among his brothers and now only had the right to operate one company.

Therefore, in the Ji family, the parents had to cater to the old lady's preferences, being attentive and considerate.

In the past, Ji Bai was very afraid of her grandmother, thinking she was very stern and serious.

But at the end of Ji Bai's previous life, the only person who accompanied her was her grandmother.

The old lady had come all the way from the shadows of the last century, her character rational and calm, but her heart kind.

At present, it seemed that the old lady was the only one in this family who could shelter her.

"I heard the sound of the cello from afar and guessed it was you, but I wasn't sure. How did your cello skills improve so much?" Ji Bai's cello skills were now at the level of a twenty-five-year-old. She had taken all the exams and won all the awards. It was definitely a world of difference from her skills at seventeen.

"Maybe I've been practicing more diligently recently."

"Diligence is good, I like diligent children. Come, sit next to Grandma."

Ji Bai obediently sat down, took Grandma's hand, and if it had been before, she would definitely not have been willing to get close to Grandma, but now she was no longer afraid.

"I watched the live interview today, and what you said on the show was profound, so I came to see you and hear your thoughts."

In the previous life, when Grandma came, it was to question and punish Ji Bai, which led to Ji Bai losing favor with her grandmother.

The current situation was completely different.

"What did you mean when you said that when you fight with the devil, you must also beware of becoming a devil yourself? Explain it to Grandma."