When she returned to Elder Hua’s side, the news that she had spent more than half a month making a purple clay teapot for Elder Mao had already reached them.
"Yo~ Our craftswoman is back? Did you bring one back for me?" Elder Hua was a little jealous, but he also knew about the incident where Elder Mao had smashed a purple clay teapot before.
"Actually, the first one I made wasn't that one. I wasn't very satisfied, but I brought it back!" Ji Xingmi said and took out the first purple clay teapot she successfully made. Elder Hua had already gotten used to her pulling out strange things from her bag. He took the teapot, looked at it, and said, "Since you've learned for so long and this is your first one, this one will be mine!"
Ji Xingmi nodded in agreement. Then she frowned, deep in thought. Elder Hua, after fiddling with the teapot for a while, noticed her unusual demeanor. He put the teapot down and prepared to talk to her. He had been busy with other things during this period and hadn't had a good chat with her in a long time.
Just as Elder Hua was about to speak, Ji Xingmi spoke first, asking, "Grandpa Hua, what would you do if one day I did something incredibly unbelievable?"
"Unbelievable? How unbelievable?"
"It's hard to say now, maybe like making someone disappear and reappear! Anyway, it's a bit against common sense! I can't explain it clearly!" Ji Xingmi seemed a little anxious at this moment. She didn't know how to articulate this matter, nor did she know if it could be successful!
"Xing'er, Xing'er! Calm down first, calm down. What happened? Speak slowly! No rush!" Elder Hua comforted her. Ji Xingmi was quite agitated now, her hands were trembling, and her eyes were a little red. Elder Hua didn't know what was going on with her, so he could only try to soothe her. "Yes~ take a deep breath~ no rush, take your time, we'll talk after we've thought it through. It's okay if you don't say anything! It's okay, Grandpa is here, Grandpa Hua is always here. Relax!"
Ji Xingmi tried to swallow hard, attempting to suppress her emotions. "If one day, if one day..."
"It's okay! Even if you were to break the sky one day, Grandpa will protect you, we will all protect you! Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Ji Xingmi nodded upon hearing his words, and then tears flowed down unexpectedly. Elder Hua felt very distressed. She rarely showed such overt emotions, not even when she received the news of Old Ji's accident. What had she encountered today?
In the end, Ji Xingmi's emotions were still difficult to calm down, and she couldn't say anything. Elder Hua had no choice but to call Gu Jingyi in and have him take Ji Xingmi back to her room to rest. Gu Jingyi was also very worried about her, but it was clear that this was not the right time to ask her for reasons.
Gu Jingyi was not afraid of Elder Hua's presence at this moment. He directly picked her up and walked out, taking her back to her room. Gu Jingyi did not leave immediately but stayed by her bedside, holding Ji Xingmi's hands tightly, trying to transfer all his strength to her.
"Rest well! It's okay, I'm here!" Ji Xingmi nodded upon hearing his words and then closed her eyes. Gu Jingyi only left after Ji Xingmi fell asleep. He went to find Elder Hua, but Elder Hua was completely clueless. He had also asked the guard who went out with Ji Xingmi, but no one had noticed anything unusual. Mushroom said that Ji Xingmi had become like this after lunch, and she didn't know what had happened specifically.
Then Elder Hua asked Mushroom to recount the entire lunch incident involving Ji Xingmi. Elder Hua found no problems. When Gu Jingyi came in, Mushroom had just left.
"Grandpa Hua, Xing'er she..."
"We haven't found the problem yet! How is she?"
"She's asleep!"
"Let her talk when she figures it out herself! Don't worry too much. I've also asked, and she didn't encounter anything unusual. It's probably something on her mind. She'll talk when she's ready," Elder Hua sighed and waved Gu Jingyi away.
Gu Jingyi came out from Elder Hua's place, still worried. He went to find Mushroom again to get more information, but he also found no issues. She only became like this after eating. Did she eat something unpleasant?
Ji Xingmi was actually not asleep. She was wandering around in her space, contemplating the possibility of what she wanted to do.
When Ji Xingmi woke up, it was already very bright, but her room curtains were drawn, so she didn't know. After she tidied herself up and came out, everyone was already busy. Elder Hua saw her and waved at her. Ji Xingmi walked over when she saw him.
"How are you? Feeling better!" Elder Hua asked softly.
"Mmm!"
"Can you tell me what happened now?"
Ji Xingmi nodded and told them about what she had overheard at the restaurant yesterday. It turned out that the two people speaking English whom she had encountered at the Kyoto Grand Hotel were planning something, and this matter was related to her.
Although the two people were speaking English, their English had a slight accent from the Land of the Sun. She had often watched such funny videos before and knew what kind of people they were. She listened carefully and realized that the news about her being in the research institute had still been leaked. They were currently investigating who she was, and there were a series of arrangements for a subsequent banquet to confirm her as the target.