When Ji Jiangyuan asked that question, he immediately regretted it.

Sure enough, within seconds, he witnessed his mother perform the “face-changing” traditional art. Ji Ya’s Oriental languor, which could enchant foreigners, instantly transformed into a grotesque expression:

“Tang Hong’en went to find you at school!”

She knew it – Tang Hong’en would go looking, disregarding her wishes. He had always been doing such things!

So his mother knew about it all along.

Tang Hong’en hadn’t actually gone to school specifically to find him; that one time was when he coincidentally met him while looking for Xia Xiaolan. Xia Xiaolan had mentioned this, and Ji Jiangyuan believed she wouldn’t lie about such a thing.

Then it was his curiosity that led him to follow the trail to the hospital.

“He didn’t come looking for me. I just happened to see him through someone else… If you think that at nineteen I still shouldn’t know about your divorce from my father, we can pretend I never asked. Mom, you don’t need to be so nervous. No one can take me away from you.”

Ji Jiangyuan still remembers when he first went to America and fell seriously ill. Ji Ya had been paranoid and wouldn’t let him go out alone for two years, not even to school, thinking someone would snatch him away.

Ji Jiangyuan’s words came too late – Ji Ya had already smashed the telephone onto the ground.

The teacups and fruit plates on the coffee table weren’t spared either.

Ji Jiangyuan pressed his lips together, his whole body taut like a drawn bowstring. Ji Ya, wearing slippers, stepped on broken porcelain pieces, and Ji Jiangyuan finally embraced her from behind.

“I was wrong, I shouldn’t have asked. Please don’t hurt yourself like this.”

The porcelain had cut into Ji Ya’s foot, but in her hysterical state, she couldn’t feel the pain. These episodes always ended with either Ji Jiangyuan or her boyfriends giving in.

Ji Jiangyuan knew that Ji Ya had dated several well-off men who initially loved her deeply and weren’t scared off by her hysterical side. However, normal people found it difficult to accept a partner who could become hysterical at any moment. Those who weren’t scared away in the first year usually left by the second… Ji Jiangyuan had nowhere to run – he was Ji Ya’s son!

After settling Ji Ya on the sofa, Ji Jiangyuan skillfully took out the first-aid kit to remove the glass shards, disinfect, and bandage her wounds.

Amidst the mess on the floor, Ji Ya found her cigarettes that she’d thrown under the sofa and lit one with trembling hands.

Once her hysterical episode passed, her face returned to its usual calm.

Ji Ya’s beauty wasn’t in her striking features; in modern terms, it was a kind of “high-class beauty” – refined and enduring. Her current American boyfriend, George, was particularly entranced by her smoking.

Ji Jiangyuan remained coldly detached, having grown accustomed to Ji Ya’s hysteria.

This inquiry had completely extinguished Ji Jiangyuan’s hopes – why the Ji family despised his birth father Tang Hong’en was truly a forbidden topic.

Cigarettes helped Ji Ya think, and the prolonged silence between mother and son didn’t affect her. She pondered who this “someone” was through whom Ji Jiangyuan had met Tang Hong’en – who was helping Tang Hong’en make connections?

Tang Hong’en held a position in Pengcheng, which was why Ji Ya had let Ji Jiangyuan return to China for university.

Without someone tipping him off, how would Tang Hong’en know her son was at Huaqing?

Ji Ya wouldn’t allow her son to escape her control. What she arranged for Ji Jiangyuan was the best, including his future marriage.

While Ji Jiangyuan was cleaning up the broken glass in the living room, Ji Ya suddenly softened her voice:

“How are you doing at school? Have you made some good friends? The chocolate you took from home last time, was it for Ning Xue?”

Ji Jiangyuan’s hands paused.

“No, I gave it to other classmates.”

Chocolate and candy wouldn’t have been specifically brought for male classmates.

Ji Ya knew that back in America, Ji Jiangyuan had been popular with girls. If not Ning Xue, then who could it be? Whether it was Tang Hong’en or anyone else trying to take Ji Jiangyuan away, Ji Ya wouldn’t allow it.

She decided to meet Ning Xue.

Only the Ji family knew about Ji Ya’s emotional instability. Those who didn’t live with her couldn’t detect anything unusual about her.

Ning Xue was also quite willing to meet with Ji Ya.

What was wrong with divorce?

Only foolish women forced themselves to stay in unsuitable marriages. Smart women knew when to cut their losses and correct their poor choices. Besides, Ji Ya had taken Ji Jiangyuan to America, not only establishing herself there but also providing excellent material conditions for Ji Jiangyuan. When Ning Xue went to America with her grandfather Ning Yanfan during high school, they stayed at Ji Ya’s home, and she greatly admired Ji Ya as a person.

Ji Ya took Ning Xue to dine at “Maxim’s,” a place even Shao Guangrong found expensive. The high prices didn’t deter wealthy customers. In the winter of 1984, times weren’t as hard as in previous years, and although few, some people had quietly become wealthy.

The restaurant still had many foreigners, and everything from the decor to the music and the oil paintings on the walls clearly distinguished it from roadside stalls selling stewed offal.

“Xiao Xue, why haven’t you been visiting lately?”

Ji Ya chatted casually with Ning Xue, who swallowed her food before responding: “Auntie, it’s my fault for not visiting you often. The coursework at Huaqing is quite demanding, and on weekends I have to complete the assignments my grandfather gives me.”

Ning Xue felt awkward explaining that she and Ji Jiangyuan barely acknowledged each other at school, rarely meeting or speaking.

Under such circumstances, she wouldn’t actively tell Ji Jiangyuan she wanted to visit the Ji household.

Yet they were truly old family friends, with connections going back to their grandparents’ generation, supporting each other through decades of ups and downs. However, in their generation, Ji Jiangyuan had grown distant from her. Ning Xue couldn’t force his friendship – Ji Jiangyuan was warm and polite to other female classmates he had no connection with, and seeing this for long enough had disheartened Ning Xue.

Fortunately, she didn’t need Ji Jiangyuan’s “friendship” as a life support. Rather than dwelling on this issue, Ning Xue preferred to focus more on her studies.

Ji Ya was a very perceptive person.

Though Ning Xue appeared indifferent, she still cared.

“Has Ji Jiangyuan made new friends at school? I mean friends beyond ordinary classmates.”

She was asking if Ji Jiangyuan had a girlfriend, wasn’t she?

Ning Xue immediately recalled the several times she’d seen Xia Xiaolan and Ji Jiangyuan together. Xia Xiaolan had a boyfriend, and perhaps only Ning Xue and Ji Jiangyuan knew who he was. Although Xia Xiaolan was distracted in other areas, Ning Xue merely thought she was wasting her talent, but wouldn’t deliberately assume anything inappropriate about her.

If there were any feelings involved, it would be Ji Jiangyuan’s feelings for Xia Xiaolan, right?

Ning Xue firmly shook her head, “I’m sorry, Aunt Ji, I haven’t noticed anything special. Ji Jiangyuan gets along well with all his classmates.”

In those few seconds of hesitation, Ji Ya had already gleaned what she wanted to know.

So there was someone.

Only an exceptional girl like Ning Xue would be worthy of her son.