A Little Trick, the Scumbag Dad Can't Hold the Knife After Understanding Love-Chapter 330

"Bruce, help me arrange something."

"See if we can find volunteers for the drug trial."

Ji Nian leaned dizzily against Zhiliao, being fed while Wei Yang knelt beside her, fanning her gently.

"You've really lucked out this time, Nian. In the past, you'd just collapse on the lab couch and wake up days later, starving."

Bruce's eyes were bloodshot, but he immediately turned to carry out her request upon hearing her words.

John ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‍Qiao, who had been unconscious, suddenly jerked awake and lifted his head to look over.

Ji Nian understood and gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course, there are slots for the O-country team too."

John Qiao abandoned sleep entirely, sitting up stiff as a zombie before dragging himself away.

"Get someone to watch over them. If they faint, make sure they’re carried back to bed. If it’s been more than two days, wake them up for water and food."

"...Mm. And one more thing..."

"Tell them when they wake up—the notes I left over there contain my thoughts and insights on the toxin formula. They can copy them if they want..."

Her words trailed off as Ji Nian’s lips stilled, and she slumped against Zhiliao, fast asleep.

She slept deeply.

In her dreams, she seemed to see Chen Yueling and that little boy again.

He never seemed to grow, still the same small figure she’d seen years ago, crouched beside her, gently stroking her hair with a worried expression.

Ji Nian found his gaze comforting and didn’t resist his touch.

A woman hummed a lullaby softly, and Ji Nian felt as though she’d returned to infancy, her whole body submerged in the warmth of amniotic fluid, so comfortable that even the nonexistent wrinkles on her imaginary eggs smoothed out, drawing an involuntary sigh from her.

She had no idea how long she slept, but when she woke, a blurry figure stood by her bed.

The sofa in Ji Nian’s room was probably too short for him—if he bent his legs, it’d look like he was sitting on a toilet. The man seemed aware of this, so he reclined lazily against it, long legs crossed.

Dressed in casual homewear, his posture was relaxed yet effortlessly elegant.

In his hands was a book—

"The Beloved Five-Year-Old: The Whole Family is Obsessed."

Ji Nian blinked hard. "......"

"Dad."

Her voice was still hoarse from sleep, laced with exasperation.

Hearing her, Ji Tingzhou set the book down and glanced over. Seeing she was awake, he stood and picked up the water glass from the table, walking toward her.

In a bizarrely gentle tone Ji Nian had never heard before, he cooed, "Baby’s awake. Does baby want some water-water?"

Ji Nian: "......Whoever you are, get out of Ji Tingzhou’s body right now."

"Tch."

"Brat."

He shot her a sidelong glance, and the usual domineering aura that brooked no defiance returned.

Ji Nian nodded in satisfaction. "That’s more like it."

She leaned forward and took a sip from the straw in the cup, her throat instantly feeling better.

"How long was I asleep, Dad?"

She rubbed her eyes.

"Twelve hours."

Ji Nian sat up and stretched.

Only twelve hours?

It felt like an eternity had passed.

She thought she’d be the first to wake, but Bruce had beaten her by two hours—he’d already gone to the hospital to meet with volunteers.

Ji Nian couldn’t show her face for the drug trials, but Bruce and John Qiao were enough.

As she stared into the mirror, watching Ji Tingzhou blow-dry her hair from behind, she couldn’t help asking, "Dad... do you believe in me?"

He didn’t catch it over the noise of the dryer, so she repeated herself.

When he finally heard, he lifted his eyelids lazily and gave her a look.

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

Ji Nian laughed—then immediately choked on a mouthful of damp hair.

...

"Hey—"

On her way to the lab, Ji Nian suddenly heard a voice from the bamboo grove.

She turned to see a figure stepping out.

It was Ji Xi.

No one in the Ji family mistreated him, but none of them particularly welcomed him either.

Though Ji Nian had guessed how he came to be, that didn’t mean she’d hold him in higher regard just because he’d split from her own body.

Pretending not to hear, she kept walking.

"Ji Nian!"

When she ignored him, Ji Xi panicked, calling her name in a rush as he jogged over. He reached out to grab her but hesitated, clearly remembering the last time she’d beaten him senseless.

The trauma was real.

"When will you let me go?"

"Do you know anything about my mom?"

This time, Ji Nian stopped.

She turned her head slightly, staring coldly at him. "Who’s your mom?"

Ji Xi had spent days in the Ji household, watching how gently Ji Nian treated everyone else. Seeing her look at him like this now made his chest ache.

"Ji Wanting... my mom’s name is Ji Wanting."

He knew it was wrong to ask Ji Nian, but he was desperate.

Ji Xi was afraid his mother would worry if he disappeared.

Hah.

He actually called Ji Wanting Mom.

The thought made Ji Nian nauseous.

"I don’t know."

She started walking again, but Ji Xi quickened his pace to keep up. "Then... has anyone come looking for me?"

"No."

"You’re lying..."

Ji Nian stopped and turned fully to face him, meeting his eyes—so similar to her own, barely holding back emotion. She repeated, "No."

Ji Xi didn’t follow this time. He stood frozen, devastated.

He remembered nights when he couldn’t sleep, counting stars outside, only to see Ji Nian sneaking off to who-knows-where.

The moment she left, a tall, well-built man would rush out after her, scanning the area frantically before spotting her and exhaling in relief, a helpless smile on his face.

That’s how everyone here was...

The second Ji Nian left their sight, their eyes would instinctively search for her.

Ji Nian wasn’t like him.

"It must be... Mom’s just too busy with something urgent..."

His voice cracked as tears spilled over.

Deep down, he knew.

The moment contact was cut off, he’d been abandoned.

But Ji Xi refused to accept that he was unloved, unimportant.

No one in this world cared about him.

No matter how obedient, how diligent, how hard he studied—it would never earn him love.

...

On the day the trial succeeded, news leaked despite the lack of strict confidentiality. Reporters swarmed in, some even daring to approach the Ji residence directly. Associations of all kinds sent representatives to investigate.

Bruce and John Qiao were run ragged.

But early that morning, Ji Nian took a car to the resting place of Chen Yueling.

She was just a child. There wasn’t much she could do.

That was Ji Nian’s reasoning.

She brought Chen Yueling’s favorite flowers and crouched before the grave, staring at the photo for a long time.

After that dream, she’d had an inkling of something.

But the idea was too absurd, with no way to confirm it, so she buried it for now.

"Please watch over me," she whispered.

Then, at the smaller, unnamed grave beside it, she placed a large bag of Mimi shrimp crackers.

"Time’s up, Ji Nian."

Wei Yang, waiting below, reminded her.

Ji Nian nodded. "I’m coming."

It was time for Ji Tingzhou’s surgery.

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