A Little Trick, the Scumbag Dad Can't Hold the Knife After Understanding Love-Chapter 249
When he said it hurt, Ji Nian pulled him aside and motioned for him to lower his head. "Let me see."
Lu Jinghuai obediently bent down, complying with her gesture. Noticing she was holding something, he instinctively took it from her.
He hadn’t used a bandage today, and the wound, now scabbed overnight, had darkened slightly, standing out starkly against Lu Jinghuai’s flawless face.
Ji Nian examined it for a long time but couldn’t figure out the issue.
The area around the wound didn’t look inflamed, and it had already scabbed over—so why was it still hurting?
"Maybe we should go to the infirmary and have a teacher check it?"
Lu Jinghuai shook his head softly. "No need."
Then, shifting the topic, his silver-gray eyes fixed intently on Ji Nian. "Maybe… if you blow on it, it won’t hurt anymore."
"That’s a lie. When I had a stomachache as a kid, my dad even told me eating an ice cream would make it better."
Lu Jinghuai: "……"
Ji Nian shook her head, thinking how naive children could be.
Then, with a mysterious air, she pulled something from her pocket—it looked like a lipstick, but when twisted open, it revealed a spray nozzle.
"Here, close your eyes."
Still processing why his suggestion had been rejected, Lu Jinghuai hadn’t fully grasped what she intended to do, yet his eyes instinctively obeyed, fluttering shut.
His pale golden lashes trembled slightly, betraying his confusion.
Ji Nian took a moment to admire the breathtaking beauty before her, then, satisfied, raised the spray and misted it over his wound.
"Done."
Only then did Lu Jinghuai open his eyes, reaching up to touch the damp edges of the wound.
"What is this?"
He glanced curiously at the object Ji Nian had tucked away.
With a mischievous grin, she raised a finger to her lips. "It’s a secret."
This was the first time she’d tested it on a human—previously, she’d only used it on animals.
"Was it a gift from someone important to you?"
Assuming he meant her uniquely designed "lipstick," Ji Nian nodded. "Yeah, from the man who loves me most in the world."
'Love.'
Such a heavy word.
Lu Jinghuai’s mind raced. The people his father had left him might actually come in handy sooner than expected. What method should he use to punish the scumbag who dared deceive a young girl?
Then came Ji Nian’s next words—
"My dad."
Lu Jinghuai: I’m the scumbag here.
Ji Nian tilted her head, watching as his gaze drifted, lost in thought. She chuckled to herself—kids these days, even spacing out while walking.
"Oh, this cake is for you, by the way. It’s not leftovers."
"I didn’t know what flavor you’d like, so I just picked my favorite."
She pointed to the box in his hands.
But Lu Jinghuai’s attention wasn’t on the dessert—it was on the logo printed on the box.
A restaurant that cost three thousand per person. Not cheap.
"Is this place good?"
He tilted his head, curiosity coloring his voice.
"It’s alright. Their seafood seemed decent."
Ji Nian couldn’t quite remember. She’d eaten plenty but hadn’t paid much attention to the taste, too focused on her conversation with Chen Mo.
Lu Jinghuai nodded, his eyes darkening with unreadable emotion.
So she’d been so engrossed in their talk that she hadn’t even noticed the food.
...
Ji Nian noticed the young royal heir seemed off all day, lost in his thoughts.
[When he was injured as a child, it was pretty severe. The antidote worked well for him, but could there be lingering side effects?]
Like heightened sensitivity to pain when wounded.
Since he was technically a past client of hers, Ji Nian was tempted to ask him about it in detail—if only she weren’t worried about reopening old wounds.
During art class, the classroom’s air conditioning suddenly malfunctioned, alternating between blasts of cold and hot air before settling on a relentless stream of heat. The students groaned in misery.
July—the peak of summer’s scorching heat—turned the room into a sauna within minutes. Even lifting a finger was enough to break a sweat.
Ji Nian tied her hair into a ponytail, letting her neck breathe, and aimed a pink mini fan at her face. It was a small relief, but better than nothing.
"Ji Nian, where’d you get that fan?"
Her bespectacled desk mate, panting like a dog from the heat, slumped over the table, glasses askew, eyeing the fan with envy.
"Lu Jinghuai bought it. I’m not sure where."
After explaining, Ji Nian glanced toward Lu Jinghuai’s seat—just in time to see him elegantly fanning himself with a folding fan adorned with cherry blossoms and a dangling kitten charm.
Ji Nian: "……"
That fan had been a freebie from yesterday’s comic convention. Seeing how he kept playing with the kitten charm, she’d assumed he liked it and gifted it to him.
She’d thought he’d keep it as a collectible, not actually bring it to school.
[Seems like his mood’s improved a bit?]
She averted her gaze.
He Xiang, Lu Jinghuai’s seatmate and fellow convention attendee, lifted his head from his math homework (solved during art class) and stared at his desk partner wielding the ultra-girly fan with grace.
He Xiang: "……"
...
After school, Ji Nian returned home, showered, changed, and went straight to Ji Tingzhou’s room.
In this heat, he refused all outdoor activities, content to lounge in the air-conditioned room, munching on watermelon while binge-watching dramas. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Dad."
Ji Nian plopped down beside him.
Without looking away from the screen, Ji Tingzhou remarked, "Jump’s back?"
Ji Nian: "……"
"It’s because you keep calling Uncle by his childhood nickname that he never visits."
Ji Tingzhou smirked, clearly pleased. "Good."
Ji Nian speared a piece of seedless watermelon from the fruit tray. The rich red flesh was juicy and sweet.
She recounted the rumor’s origins and her own thoughts on the matter—some parts still unclear, which was why she’d come to Ji Tingzhou for advice.
Finally tearing his eyes from the TV, Ji Tingzhou turned to her.
Though she’d outgrown her chubby cheeks, she was still undeniably young in his eyes—just slightly larger than a speck of dust.
"Your reasoning isn’t flawed."
Ji Nian stared at him expectantly, but just as he seemed about to continue, he stopped.
"And then?"
Amused, Ji Tingzhou pinched her cheek.
"And then? Figure it out yourself."
Despite spoiling her rotten in daily life, Ji Tingzhou was strict when it came to this (especially since his dream of retiring at thirty had been dashed).
With a knowing look, he said, "Don’t obsess over the dead."
Then, as if shooing away a nuisance, he waved her off to go play with the dog.
Shoulders slumped, Ji Nian wandered away, baffled.
Once she was gone, Ji Tingzhou’s relaxed expression darkened.
He summoned Zuo Yi.
"Investigate the incident in Country F."
A few days ago, Country F suddenly declared bankruptcy. While such news wasn’t particularly rare on the international stage—after all, on average, one country goes bankrupt every year—it still caught Ji Tingzhou’s attention.
Zuo Yi’s eyebrow twitched slightly at the remark.
“Are you suspecting… the Crows?”
The organization had vanished en masse seven years ago, fading into silence as if dead. Just hearing the name again made Zuo Yi feel as though he was recalling something from another lifetime.
Ji Tingzhou didn’t respond, but Zuo Yi could guess the answer from his expression.
“If it really is them…”
“Then they’ve quietly amassed a fortune and returned?”
In a sudden flash of insight, Zuo Yi thought of the recent mishap with the collaboration with Chen Pharmaceuticals.
Were they behind it again?
“Is it a requirement for every Crow leader to be a complete psychopath?”
Zuo Yi’s lips twisted in exasperation.
After making such a massive fortune abroad, why not just enjoy a peaceful life overseas instead of sneaking back here?
What, are they secretly in love with Ji Tingzhou or something? Honestly.
“Understood. I’ll have the results for you by tomorrow.”
As he walked away, Zuo Yi mentally scrolled through his contacts, wondering which connections might prove useful.
