“My dad made it?” Seeing Gu Jingyi just looking at her without speaking, Ji Xingmi had to ask him herself.
Gu Jingyi saw that Ji Xingmi truly didn't know and sighed, saying, "It wasn't Uncle Ji, it was Feng Changze."
"Feng Changze? How could it be him?" Ji Xingmi was a little surprised. She couldn't figure out why he would do that.
"I ran into him when Auntie got married last time. I casually gave him the letter you wrote. Then, after a while, Feng Changze voluntarily submitted some materials detailing everything the Feng family had done, including the poisoning." Gu Jingyi felt odd saying this, his expression peculiar.
Ji Xingmi didn't understand how things had turned out this way. Hadn't she said anything? How could this happen? Lost in her own emotions, Ji Xingmi didn't notice Gu Jingyi was about to drown in jealousy. After a while, she finally realized Gu Jingyi's mood seemed off.
"What's wrong?"
"He likes you!"
"So?" Seeing Ji Xingmi truly didn't understand, Gu Jingyi sighed with relief and a touch of helplessness. He was glad Ji Xingmi had no feelings for Feng Changze, but he also felt a sliver of worry about his own romantic prospects. It seemed his path was still long!
"What about you? Do you like him or me?" Ji Xingmi looked at him even more strangely.
"I'm sure I don't like him. As for you..."
"Me what?"
"Not bad!"
"What do you mean, 'not bad'? Don't go~ We haven't finished talking!"
"It just means not bad. I'm going back to sleep, you should sleep early too." Gu Jingyi was at a loss. What could he do if she didn't understand? He shouldn't have let her go just now, otherwise, how could she have had a chance to run?
The next day, when Ji Xingmi woke up, it was just dawning. She couldn't sleep either, so she got dressed and went for a run. As she left, she ran into Gu Jingyi, who was also preparing to go for a run. Their eyes met, and they went out together. After two laps, Ji Xingmi's stamina gave out, and she stopped.
"I'm not running anymore, not running. This is almost my five days' worth of exercise."
"Mm~ Let's rest. I'll take you running when there's a chance."
"Forget it, I just couldn't sleep, so I thought about running. I don't want to run every day! I'm hungry, I want wontons."
"Okay~ Let's go! We'll head back!"
Gu Jingyi then took Ji Xingmi back. He went to the kitchen to see if there were any wontons Ji Xingmi wanted. Fortunately, the auntie knew Ji Xingmi was back last night, so she had prepared wontons in the morning. When Gu Jingyi asked, the auntie immediately cooked a bowl.
Seeing Ji Xingmi's satisfied expression after eating the wontons, Gu Jingyi also smiled happily. After breakfast, Ji Xingmi prepared to leave. Gu Jingyi was very reluctant. In the end, he couldn't help but hug Ji Xingmi in front of everyone, and then went to attend to his own matters.
After leaving Gu Jingyi's place, Ji Xingmi returned to the Ji family. Her mother was resting at home today. Seeing her daughter appear at the doorstep, she couldn't believe her eyes and rubbed them.
"Ahhh~ Xing'er, you're back!" Her mother's exclamation startled Ji Mingyi, who was sitting nearby. She looked back towards the door and indeed saw Ji Xingmi.
"Xing'er is back?"
"Mom, Auntie!"
"Xing'er, how long can you stay at home?" Ji Xingmi's mother's most pressing question was how many days her daughter could stay. Before Ji Xingmi could answer, she hurried to instruct the auntie to cook some of Xing'er's favorite dishes.
Ji Xingmi smiled and walked over to sit beside her auntie. "Where's Uncle? Why isn't he here?"
"The Ministry of Economic Affairs is a bit busy lately, so I didn't have him come along!"
Ji Xingmi nodded, understanding. They chatted for a bit, and then Ji Xingmi's mother returned, holding something in her hands.
"Xing'er, these are all your letters. You still haven't told me how many days you can stay at home?"
"I can only stay for two days. I have to leave early the day after tomorrow!"
"So soon!" Ji Mingyi frowned upon hearing this news.
"There's nothing we can do about it." Ji Xingmi's mother was very understanding now. At first, she hadn't understood, mainly because she doted on her child. Later, Ji Mingxue enlightened her, and her father said not to restrict her child's own thoughts. Slowly, she came to terms with it.
"Mom, you're the best~" Ji Xingmi hugged her mother and acted spoiled, something she rarely did. Her mother smiled happily.
Ji Xingmi never expected to have such a day, given her generally weak familial ties and her independent upbringing.
After chatting with her mother and auntie for a while, Ji Xingmi opened the letters her mother had just given her. One letter was from Qin Nuo, informing her that she planned to take the college entrance examination and would work hard to get into Kyoto. They could meet there then. Ji Xingmi smiled upon reading this, anticipating a reunion one day.
Three of the letters were from the military.