He Lin did not expect her to be so sharp.
Ji Lingfeng had instructed him not to mention his help to Qiao Nian, so he pursed his lips and changed the topic. "Perhaps you were just lucky… By the way, Elder Feng will be coming too. You can come with him."
"Alright, I understand." Qiao Nian had already guessed the answer from his reaction. She looked up unhurriedly and said, "I'm hanging up."
…
He Lin reluctantly put down the phone upon hearing the busy tone.
He pushed the door and went in to report to the person inside.
"You told her?" Ji Lingfeng was busy with work. He put down what he was doing and looked up.
The Ji family's business was spread all over the world. He had to read a large number of reports and review various doc.u.ments every day. He only had four to five hours of sleep daily.
He became exhausted over a prolonged period.
His energy had long been depleted, but he had always maintained a strong front to the outside world.
He Lin had been by his side for more than 20 years and had personally witnessed his change.
He looked at the man's white hair that had appeared at some point and his heart ached. He hurriedly lowered his head and said softly, "Little Miss has agreed to attend your birthday banquet."
Ji Lingfeng was a little surprised. The pen drew an arc on the paper. "She agreed to come?"
"Mm."
He Lin looked up with a smile. "Little Miss said she would consider it. I think she means to come. Otherwise, she would have rejected me directly."
Qiao Nian was indeed the kind of person who would not drag things out.
Black was black.
White was white.
There were very few gray areas in her world.
Ji Lingfeng was slightly dazed. After a while, he pursed his lips. "Did you tell her?"
"No." He Lin hurriedly waved his hand, anxious to prove his innocence. "You didn't allow me to say it, so I didn't tell Little Miss."
Ji Lingfeng's sharp gaze was still fixed on him.
He Lin knew that he could not hide it from him. He lowered his head again and said in a low voice, "Little Miss said that she felt that someone was helping her from behind the scenes."
He immediately looked up again. "But I only said that she might have been lucky. I didn't say anything about what you did!"
Ji Lingfeng put down his fountain pen and raised his hand to stop him from continuing. He frowned. "I understand."
He Lin wanted to say something but hesitated. "Patriarch, actually, you helped Little Miss. Why didn't you say anything to her?"
Qiao Nian had always been amenable to coaxing but not coercion.
Previously, Little Miss had a very unhappy relations.h.i.+p with them.
If the Patriarch had admitted it, the relations.h.i.+p between Little Miss and the Ji family might not have continued to be so stiff.
Ji Lingfeng did not answer him directly. He seemed to have fallen into his memories. After a few minutes, his eyes were filled with devastation and exhaustion. "Because… I owe her a mother that I can never repay in my life!"
He could have saved Ji Qing back then.
However, for various reasons, he tacitly sacrificed his biological sister, who was also the love of his life.
He owed that child too much.
This was a sin that he would never be able to redeem in his life.
He Lin was dazed.
Ji Lingfeng did not look at him. He composed himself and raised his eyebrows again, then instructed him coldly, "Tell Ji Xiao to call Ji Ziyin back.
"Our Ji family doesn't have any dogs of the reclusive families!"
The Ji family had once ruled the reclusive families.
Even if the reclusive families gradually gained the upper hand in the past few decades, no one in the Ji family would openly surrender to them.