Chapter 125 – Wait for me!
Ji Yunqi, as if possessed, extended her hand to touch the bright red wedding dress.
The moment she touched it, it felt incredibly smooth, and its exquisite appearance seemed as if it had just been produced.
It was clearly a wedding dress from decades ago, yet it looked so brand new, as if it had never been touched by the passage of time.
It was as if it had been sealed, waiting for the person who could awaken it.
“Mom, you must have been beautiful wearing it back then.”
“Hahaha, you silly child… you really are something.” Jiang Hua looked at Ji Yunqi with a doting expression. “Yes, I was beautiful then. I imagine you will be even more beautiful when you wear it.”
“Girl, for the next few days in Kyoto, you can entertain yourself. Just find Ye Xuan if you need anything. Your mom and I are going out for a bit,” Ye Lingyu said.
“Going out? Where are you going?”
Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua were already quite advanced in age. Apart from going to Rongcheng to find herself and Ye Mingkong, they rarely went out. Where were they going so suddenly?
Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.
“Naturally, we’re going to have our own little world~”
Ji Yunqi’s lips twitched. How could she forget? It was the anniversary of the old man and his wife’s wedding. It was an annual tradition.
It seemed like she’d be spending these few days alone.
“Okay, but you two be careful. Let me know if anything happens, understand?”
Ji Yunqi, like a little adult, cautioned Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua.
Ultimately, they were both getting old, and traveling had its risks. They had to tell her if anything happened.
“Heh, you little girl, you’re starting to boss me around. Take care of yourself first, you’re pregnant, after all.”
Ji Yunqi subconsciously touched her stomach, then looked up at Ye Lingyu. “The baby says so too.”
“Ah? You’re kidding me~ It’s just a tiny thing, not even fully formed yet, how can it talk to you?”
“Hmph, how do you know the baby can’t tell me? You’ve never been a woman~”
As soon as she said this, Ye Lingyu was rendered speechless and didn’t know how to refute her.
This…
Alright, he had never been a woman, so he didn’t know…
“Okay, okay, we’ll report anything that happens to you promptly, alright?”
Ji Yunqi suppressed the curve of her lips, putting on a pretense of profound wisdom. “Mmm~ That’s more like it.”
“Hahahaha.”
………………
In the following days, Ji Yunqi rarely went out, mainly because she didn’t know what to do if she did.
However, Ye Xuan recommended a good place for her to go.
Coincidentally, there was a comic convention in Kyoto today.
She had always heard young people talk about comic conventions before, but Ji Yunqi had never attended one. Today, since Ye Xuan mentioned it, she might as well go and take a look.
To see what this comic convention, so popular with young people, was like.
She heard it was full of handsome young men and beautiful young women, all dressed in anime-themed outfits.
Although Ji Yunqi was already middle-aged, she hadn’t completely fallen out of touch with the times. She knew what words like “anime” meant.
However, it was a shame that she didn’t have anyone to accompany her today. As for Xia Zijie, Ji Yunqi didn’t feel comfortable asking him out directly.
Once was fine, but if she did it too often, it would eventually have some negative implications, and the old man would be unhappy.
Grabbing her usual necessities for going out, Ji Yunqi left without any further thought.
She headed towards the comic convention according to the location Ye Xuan had given her.
However, Ye Xuan had said that this comic convention was different from the usual ones, and that it would help Ji Yunqi relax. She didn’t quite understand why.
Isn’t a comic convention just about young people who like anime dressing up as characters from anime or games and taking pictures with others? What was so special about it?
They couldn’t possibly be performing a live drama, could they?
With a mind full of questions, Ji Yunqi got into a taxi.
…………..
The location was a plaza, and by the time Ji Yunqi arrived, many people had already gathered there.
This was the first time Ji Yunqi was willing to describe a group of people as “colorful”… it was truly colorful, dazzling her eyes.
“This… is this what young people love?”
Ji Yunqi found it quite novel. The place looked quite fun.
However, she didn’t recognize most of the characters. It was indeed the domain of the youth. Although she was quite young herself now, she still didn’t quite understand this culture.
However, Ji Yunqi hadn’t seen anything “special” that Ye Xuan had mentioned. She couldn’t figure out what was special about it.
She only saw many visitors like herself looking for the beautifully dressed young girls and boys to take pictures with, and nothing else.
Isn’t this what a normal comic convention should be like?
However, as Ji Yunqi continued to browse, she saw some interesting scenes.
She saw several young ladies in cosplay costumes gathered together. Driven by curiosity, Ji Yunqi walked over to take a look.
But it was one thing to look, and another to be shocked!
In the middle of these beauties with exquisite makeup and glamorous outfits, there was someone surrounded by them. The key was that this person… was also a girl, but…
Why was this person blindfolded with a black cloth and wearing a lewd expression?
The entire scene was like… a foolish ruler who caused the downfall of a nation due to a beauty’s favor.
The girl in the middle, who was initially crouching, suddenly lunged in one direction, and she happened to witness that figure hugging one of their legs.
And then…
She started touching everywhere!
Ji Yunqi was greatly startled by this scene. What was this child doing?
Why was a girl hugging another girl’s leg and touching all over the place?
Ji Yunqi couldn’t bear to watch any longer, for fear that the next second this person would come for her.
“Oh dear, I can’t afford to mess with this…”
Ji Yunqi didn’t dare to linger for a moment. The scene was simply too bizarre.
However, as soon as Ji Yunqi ran a short distance, she saw another area with a completely different style. This area seemed to be dedicated to shooting games.
Ji Yunqi was familiar with these types of games, such as “Eating Kun” and some others.
“This looks interesting, let’s check it out~”
With curiosity, Ji Yunqi entered this area. She expected to see many young men in military uniforms, and groups of young girls taking pictures with them.
But the result was a great disappointment.
As soon as she arrived, she saw a scene similar to the one just now. A group of people gathered together as if deliberately performing something.
She saw a young man in “full gear” lying quietly on the ground, covered in various military equipment.
On the other side, another young man, seeing that the audience had gathered sufficiently, was preparing to take action.
Ji Yunqi was very curious about what they were doing, so she stepped closer to take a look.
“OK, today I’ll perform a ‘possession’ for everyone!”
???
“Possession?” Hearing these words, Ji Yunqi suddenly thought of herself.
Was her situation… considered that?
Probably not, right?
Before Ji Yunqi could ponder further, the young man in front of her, now feeling light and unburdened, with nothing on him, quickly rushed towards the one lying on the ground.
Then, to Ji Yunqi’s stunned gaze, he took all the items from him.
And then put them on himself.
The key was that this young man completed the entire operation in less than 15 seconds!
Ji Yunqi was left dumbfounded. Such incredible hand speed… was it really necessary?
Ji Yunqi didn’t know what state of mind she was in when she walked out. In any case, when she walked out of this comic convention area, she was completely bewildered.
Today, she finally understood what Ye Xuan meant by a “special” comic convention.
This was not a normal comic convention at all!
It was all abstract nonsense, with all sorts of strange things, leaving Ji Yunqi utterly confused.
However, this also allowed Ji Yunqi to understand what contemporary young people liked, and perhaps in the future, she might have more common topics with her son.
………..
Ji Yunqi was walking on the street in the vegetable market…
During this period, the old man and mother-in-law were not around, so she could cook for herself. She hadn’t cooked for herself in a long time, and her culinary skills were almost becoming rusty.
It had to be said that places closest to the public’s daily life, like vegetable markets, were all the same.
Although the surrounding environment of the vegetable markets in Kyoto was relatively better, the atmosphere was largely the same, focusing on liveliness.
Just as Ji Yunqi was thinking about what to buy, she saw a very unexpected person there.
She saw Gu Ming, wearing a white shirt and frowning as he picked out vegetables.
Ji Yunqi could roughly guess why this guy was here.
After all, according to their original plan, she should have been sent for an arranged marriage with the Xia family, so that the Xia family could recover a significant portion of their assets with the Gu family’s help, and then they could unite and reach a higher level.
But because she disrupted this plan, they were unable to unite.
Coupled with Xia Zijie’s full-scale sanctions and the old man’s decree, businesses in Kyoto willing to cooperate with them were few and far between.
In other words, the Gu family was currently under sanctions. Although they were still a distance away from bankruptcy, they were close.
Gu Ming coming to buy groceries was probably because he had dismissed many of the domestic servants. Now he had to do it himself.
Since this guy had ulterior motives towards her, Ji Yunqi naturally wouldn’t miss this opportunity to mock him.
Ji Yunqi put her hands behind her back and swaggered in front of Gu Ming. However, due to her height, Gu Ming hadn’t noticed her at all.
Seeing that he hadn’t noticed her, Ji Yunqi poked Gu Ming.
It was only then that he noticed Ji Yunqi was actually beside him.
“Why are you here?”
Gu Ming’s eyes were full of surprise. At the same time, he looked around, afraid that Ye Lingyu was also nearby.
But he didn’t see anyone else.
“Hey, Mr. Gu, how did you end up buying groceries yourself? I remember you had Aunt Wang specifically in charge of these things.”
Ji Yunqi’s intention to mock was unconcealed.
Gu Ming instinctively clenched his fist. This was a disgrace!
“The Gu family has fallen into decline, are you happy?”
“Oh, I’m so happy. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”
“You!”
Gu Ming thought Ji Yunqi would be a little restrained considering their blood relation. Who knew that this girl would stab him in the back at this moment!
As his daughter, not only did she not help him, but she also plotted against him. How unfilial!
“Hmph, don’t think you’re safe just because you’ve attached yourself to the Ye family. I’m telling you, a woman like you with no status or background, after you give birth, they’ll surely treat you as a discarded piece!”
Facing Gu Ming’s threatening words, Ji Yunqi was unfazed, as this guy didn’t know the specifics of her family situation.
“Gu Ming, you have no idea what true family affection is. Your eyes are only on profit, aren’t they?”
“Nonsense! How can I disregard family affection? If I disregarded family affection, I wouldn’t be wholeheartedly focused on developing the Gu family better, so that my family could live a good life.”
“Heh…” Ji Yunqi sneered, as if hearing a great joke.
“You?”
“If you truly cared for family, if you were a good man who cherished his family, you wouldn’t have tried to push me into an arranged marriage for the sake of profit and company development as soon as I returned. I’ve never seen a trace of concern in your eyes.”
“What do you know?!! Isn’t some sacrifice necessary to make the family better?”
Ji Yunqi finally understood. The family affection in this guy’s eyes was merely for family members he could control, not truly family members who could accompany him, help him, and give him hope.
“You truly never understand…”
“Family is not a tool for you to exploit, but your faith, the people you should protect. Your actions have gone against true family affection!”
“You…”
After being severely reprimanded by Ji Yunqi, Gu Ming seemed to lose all his strength and leaned against the wall behind him.
Ji Yunqi had lived no shorter a life than Gu Ming. Even though her past achievements couldn’t compare to Gu Ming’s, and she couldn’t build a company to reach the heights he had,
Ji Yunqi had never been proud of these. What she was proud of was having a complete and happy family!
Relatives, family – isn’t the meaning of their existence to give oneself a hope?
To let oneself know that no matter how things were outside, there would always be a group of people waiting for you at home, they are your safe haven, and your spiritual support.
They are the motivation for a man to strive outside.
Everything he did should be to make his family live better and have a better life.
Ji Yunqi genuinely looked down upon actions like Gu Ming’s, where he was willing to sacrifice his family for his own goals. This was not the responsibility a man should bear!
“I really don’t care what happens to your Gu family. As for what you said… they’ll abandon me after I give birth?”
“Heh…”
“You don’t need to worry about me. They are my family, they were before, they are now, and they will be in the future!”
“Don’t assume all wealthy families are like you, only caring about immediate interests and disregarding their families.”
Finally, Ji Yunqi turned, glancing at the middle-aged man who, despite his tall stature, was now hunched over, devoid of spirit. “I will live very happily. As for you, think about it yourself. What is ‘family’?”……..”
With Ji Yunqi’s final words, Gu Ming’s eyes completely lost their sparkle.
Yes, what had he done?
The Gu family was already facing considerable crisis. He had intended to leverage his beautiful daughter for an alliance with the Xia family, who were also in a precarious situation, but it had led to so many complications.
Ultimately, it led to the current predicament…
Truly, one wrong move led to a complete loss of the game!
…………
Ji Yunqi didn’t care about Gu Ming’s thoughts. This old scoundrel, at his age, still wanted her to get married! She deserved to be scolded!
However, despite this, Ji Yunqi still felt a little disappointed.
If only…
She really had blood relatives who cared about her…
Perhaps this would be her lifelong regret.
………..
Ji Yunqi was sitting on the sofa in the living room, with her legs crossed, watching television and eating snacks, when Ye Xuan suddenly burst in.
“Yunqi, haven’t Grandpa and Grandma returned yet?”
Ji Yunqi checked the time. It was almost noon, and the old man and his wife still hadn’t returned.
This made Ji Yunqi feel strange.
During this period, although Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua had gone on vacation, they still kept in touch with Ji Yunqi.
Although they didn’t constantly share the scenery they encountered along the way, they at least told Ji Yunqi where they were every day.
This time, the old couple went for some excitement and tried climbing a mountain with some old friends.
Last night, they were camping on the mountain and even video-called her. They said they were near Kyoto and would return this morning.
But now, it was almost noon, and there was still no news.
After all, given Ye Lingyu’s personality, he would contact Ji Yunqi ahead of time, not delay it. The fact that there was still no news was clearly not right.
“Don’t panic, I’ll call them.”
When Ji Yunqi dialed, no one answered.
Ji Yunqi tried calling Jiang Hua again, but still received no answer, which successfully made Ji Yunqi sense something was wrong.
“No one’s answering…”
“Then what should we do?”
Seeing Ye Xuan pacing nervously in the living room, Ji Yunqi had to comfort the boy first, otherwise, her thoughts would be disrupted before she could even come up with a solution.
“Don’t worry, let me think, where should they be right now?”
According to Ji Yunqi’s memory, Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua had gone to climb a mountain near Kyoto. The mountain was called – Gaolan Mountain!
The altitude wasn’t very high, otherwise, the elderly wouldn’t dare to climb it.
However, although the altitude wasn’t high, strictly speaking, it was a desolate mountain because it hadn’t been extensively developed.
There were only villages at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain paths were muddy, without specially built roads.
Ji Yunqi strongly suspected that they might be trapped on the mountain.
As soon as she thought of this, Ji Yunqi quickly took out her phone and searched carefully, only to discover.
It had snowed heavily for the past two days!
The mountains around Kyoto were already covered in white snow. This news sent a shiver down Ji Yunqi’s spine.
The snowfall a couple of days ago wasn’t that heavy, and she hadn’t paid much attention to it, only reminding Ye Lingyu casually. But she never expected that in just two days, it would have covered the surrounding area.
Ji Yunqi looked out the window. At this moment, she no longer cared that she was wearing relatively thin clothes. She rushed out directly.
“Hey! What are you doing? It’s snowing outside, why are you, a pregnant woman, rushing out?!” Ye Xuan saw Ji Yunqi rushing out and quickly followed.
Looking at the snow in the courtyard, which was already enough to bury her small feet, Ji Yunqi was truly panicked!
In this city, the accumulated snow could already bury her feet, so what about on the desolate mountain?
Even if it didn’t cover the entire area, it would be enough to make the path down the mountain extremely dangerous, and they were a group of elderly people!
Ye Xuan, taking advantage of Ji Yunqi’s moment of daze, took off his coat and draped it over her.
Ji Yunqi couldn’t imagine how the temperature in Kyoto had been normal just a few days ago, but why had it suddenly started snowing so heavily these past few days?
“There’s no time, let’s go see for ourselves!” Ji Yunqi didn’t care if Ye Xuan understood what she meant and quickly ran back to her room.
She left Ye Xuan standing dumbfounded at the door of Ji Yunqi’s room.
Looking at the open door, Ye Xuan didn’t know whether to go in or not.
He really wanted to ask Ji Yunqi what she intended to do, but considering that Ji Yunqi seemed to be changing clothes, he didn’t dare to enter.
In helplessness, Ye Xuan had no choice but to help Ji Yunqi close the door and then waited by the door in silence.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Ji Yunqi…
She had no time to think about what would look good to wear today.
She simply put on the warmest clothes she could find in her closet, put on her shoes, and went out!
“So fast?” Looking at Ji Yunqi, who had already changed, Ye Xuan was shocked. The speed of changing clothes was too fast…
“Stop talking nonsense, come with me. We can talk as we walk.”
“Oh, alright, alright.”
Along the way, Ji Yunqi didn’t say much. Instead, she pulled Ye Xuan towards the mall. Now, she didn’t have much time to find suitable tools.
As they walked, Ji Yunqi kept trying to contact Ye Lingyu and Jiang Hua, but to no avail. By this point, she could be certain.
The father-in-law and mother-in-law were likely indeed trapped on the mountain.
She had to go and see as soon as possible.
Ye Xuan also understood the gravity of the situation in this short period, so he didn’t hesitate. After buying some essential mountain climbing tools at the mall, he left with Ji Yunqi again.
There was no need to bring other things; he would arrange for people to deliver them. What they needed to do now was to head straight for Gaolan Mountain!
Ji Yunqi would absolutely not allow her family to be in danger. This was her bottom line, and it was her most sincere concern for her family.
“Dad… Mom, you must hold on! I’m coming!”
…………..
