I'm the demise's white moonlight of the bigshot - Chapter 95 (Extra-11)
Chapter 95
Yuan Sheng’s birthday was in spring, a season of blooming flowers and pleasant warmth. Because Yuan Sheng did not care for restaurants outside, she always celebrated her birthday at home.
Just as the car came to a stop and Ji Ran opened the car door, Shiqi had already scrambled down from his seat all by himself.
“Grandma, Grandma.” Shiqi ran all the way to the front door with a laugh, where Yuan Sheng was already standing waiting for him.
Without the slightest hesitation, she bent down and scooped Shiqi up into her arms.
Shiqi grinningly held up the toy he was still clutching in his hand to show Yuan Sheng, his little face beaming with a bright smile, “Grandma, look quickly, a toy, Daddy bought it.”
What he was holding in his hand was a Transformer model toy.
For a little child, this was an irresistible temptation.
Yuan Sheng immediately let out an exclamation, “This toy is wonderful.”
“Daddy bought it for me, it’s from Daddy,” Shiqi proudly showed off to his grandma. Even though he was a little bit afraid of his dad himself, he still couldn’t help bragging to the whole world about how great his dad was.
Actually, Ji Ran could clearly see that the little fellow’s attitude toward his dad was quite different. During Shen Zhi’s business trip this time, because of the time difference, the two of them hadn’t been able to video call on the first day.
As a result, on the second day while Shiqi was lying quietly on the bed listening to her tell a story, he suddenly said hesitatingly, “I miss Daddy.”
Looking at his pitiful and aggrieved little expression at that moment, Ji Ran’s heart ached initially, but the next second she laughed.
She glanced at the time before messaging Shen Zhi to ask if he could video call.
When the video call first connected and Shen Zhi’s face appeared on the screen, the little fellow’s expression was genuinely happy, instantly beaming with a bright smile. His round, dark eyes curved into crescent shapes.
He slightly pursed his lips, looking too shy to take the initiative to speak.
Ji Ran intentionally asked, “Didn’t Shiqi just say he missed Daddy specially? Why aren’t you calling out now that you see Daddy?”
Shen Zhi on the other end seemed to have just stepped out of a conference room. He reached up to adjust his tie at the collar. A man who had just crossed into his thirties exuded the mature charm and backbone of a man all over his body.
Clearly facing him day in and day out, yet watching him pull his tie loose with a gentle motion still made that string in Ji Ran’s brain snap softly.
There was a sense of teasing washing right over her.
Was this man doing it on purpose? Sure enough, when she lifted her eyes to look over again, the man behind the video chuckled softly, his voice carrying its characteristic deepness, “Wife, do you miss me?”
Shen Zhi had never known that he could be so homesick.
Before leaving the country at the airport, he couldn’t help wanting to call her and Shiqi, wanting to hear Shiqi call him daddy in his milky voice, wanting to hear her call him Ah Zhi softly and gently.
Ji Ran lowered her eyes slightly and chuckled. Because the camera was close, the fluttering arc of her thick eyelashes was transmitted straight to the other side.
“Mm, I miss you too.”
As the two of them talked, they completely forgot about Shiqi in her arms. The little fellow first furrowed his brow slightly, then suddenly said loudly, “I miss Daddy too, I miss him even more than Mom.”
At such a tender age, he had learned how to compare first.
Ever since that day, the little fellow actively requested a video call with his dad every day. Not only did he show off the gift his dad brought back in front of Grandma, but he also had to take it to show off to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa.
Holding the toy in his hands, Shiqi carefully explained to his great-grandmother and great-grandfather, “This big yellow car.”
Clearly knowing nothing about these toys of his, the two elderly people looked like they were listening with rapt attention.
“Shiqi, go play by yourself, okay?” Fearing that the two elders might grow impatient from listening, Ji Ran negotiated with him in a low voice.
Who would have known the old matriarch would immediately say, “I love listening to our Shiqi talk about this.”
The old master nodded along as well.
This little fellow’s popularity among the elders was off the charts. Ji Ran’s own grandparents, as well as her maternal grandparents, loved him to absolute pieces.
Her maternal grandparents had even specially come to stay in B City for a period before, wanting to take Shiqi out to play every single day.
To the point that as soon as the little fellow opened his eyes during that period, it was, “Mom, I want to put on my clothes, I want to go out,” making it utterly impossible for him to stay at home.
Early childhood education industries were well-developed nowadays, and some parents sent their children to early education classes when they were only a few months old. Ji Ran didn’t wish to judge other people’s parenting methods, but for her part, she preferred to let Shiqi be happy and joyful.
Soon after Shiqi finished introducing his toy, Yuan Sheng sat behind him and asked in a low voice, “Shiqi, shall we go upstairs and draw?”
“Okay.” Shiqi turned around to look at Grandma behind him, nodding without the slightest hesitation.
His favorite game was drawing with Grandma, and Yuan Sheng reached out to pick him up, but Ji Ran immediately said in a low voice, “Shiqi, didn’t we agree not to ask for hugs?”
The little fellow cast a troubled look at Yuan Sheng, then looked at Ji Ran, saying in a small voice, “Mom, Grandma insisted on hugging me.”
Ji Ran: “…”
How’s that for shifting the blame.
Yet Yuan Sheng bent down without a second hesitation and picked him up anyway, smiling as she said, “That’s right, I’m the one who insisted on holding our Shiqi.”
After the two of them went upstairs, Ji Ran and Shen Zhi followed after them.
Many of the works in Yuan Sheng’s art studio had been cleared out. Last year, Shen Zhi organized a charity art exhibition for Yuan Sheng’s works, though Yuan Sheng initially felt certain no one would go to see them.
To her surprise, the final results turned out exceptionally good, and there were even people willing to bid to purchase her paintings.
Shen Zhi originally hadn’t been willing to sell them to others, planning to donate all ticket sales along with his personal contribution. But Yuan Sheng felt that since it was for charity, it should look like actual charity work.
Thus, when she received the proceeds from selling her paintings, she felt a little thrilled.
She had barely worked a day in her entire life. Because of her illness, she had always been cared for by her own parents, even implicating her mother—who was at such an advanced age—into having to go out as a sanitation worker to earn money to support her and Xiao Jing.
Even though Shen Zhi later showed the utmost filial piety to her maternal grandparents, to her, she still felt deeply indebted to her family.
Therefore, after selling her paintings, Yuan Sheng kept only ten thousand yuan and donated all the rest. With that ten thousand yuan, she took her grandparents on a short, two-day local tour near B City.
Yet when the grandparents returned, they were indescribably happy.
Perhaps in their minds, no amount of hardship or exhaustion mattered as long as they could watch Yuan Sheng get better; that was a greater source of comfort to them than anything else.
Now, Yuan Sheng no longer took medication, and even her doctor had remarked that they never expected her condition to recover so well.
Inside the art studio, Shiqi picked up a pencil and began randomly doodling on the white paper attached to the drawing board. Yuan Sheng stood nearby, watching him tenderly and keeping a careful eye on how he held the pencil to prevent him from poking himself.
Shen Zhi stood at the doorway to take a look, reached out to take Ji Ran’s hand, and said in a low voice, “Let’s let them play here.”
Ji Ran was a bit surprised, but Shen Zhi had already pulled her hand back, leading her to tiptoe downstairs together.
At this moment, the warm, gentle spring breeze carried a comfortable sense of warmth as it blew against them. When the breeze swept past, Ji Ran’s long, draped hair was gently lifted, and she reached out to lightly brush her long locks away from the top of her head.
The large trees on both sides of the tree-lined path were lush with foliage, exuding the fresh vitality of spring, with spring sunlight faintly filtering through the dense leaves.
Shen Zhi held Ji Ran’s palm, his other hand tucked into his trouser pocket. Even viewed purely from behind, his posture was upright, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist that gave his physique an exceptionally superior appearance.
Of course, the most eye-catching feature remained his long legs encased in black trousers, wrapped neatly in crisp fabric to look straight and slender.
When Ji Ran turned her head, her gaze froze for a moment. Originally she had things she wanted to say to Shen Zhi, but catching sight of the man’s profile, she felt a slight sense of trance.
Sunlight filtered down through the tree branches, landing right upon the bridge of his nose with a faint trace of thin light.
The profile contour of his face was truly handsome, with lines that were three-dimensional and deep without being overly exaggerated, everything proportioned to absolute perfection. Following his jawline downward, the Adam’s apple on his slender neck, even with a slight shift, exuded a sense of sexiness.
The calm and self-possessed composure inherent in a man who had reached thirty of standing firm was utterly captivating.
This single glance of hers made her look on in daze.
Instead, it was Shen Zhi who turned to look at her, speaking first, “What is it?”
“I feel like I’m constantly being charmed by you lately.” Ji Ran narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke in a soft voice, her pretty eyes carrying a smile.
They say that upon entering marriage, especially after having children, romantic love quickly transforms into family affection.
Yet Ji Ran didn’t feel that way at all. She seemed somewhat dull-witted regarding emotions; back then she failed to notice Shen Zhi’s feelings, and now it felt like she was paying off a debt—not only did it not turn into mere family affection, but she grew even more attracted to him.
Even if he just stood quietly right there, he was like a magnet, firmly capturing her line of sight.
After a slight pause, Shen Zhi stopped walking and drew closer, enveloping her within his body’s warm aura, a somewhat feverish heat blending with the cool, refreshing woody scent on him.
Ji Ran closed her eyes slightly, and his kiss descended.
Shen Zhi’s lips carried a slightly suppressed heat. At this moment, this intense emotion seemed unable to be contained, gradually spilling over and tightly wrapping her within it. Ji Ran stood quietly in place, tilting her head up slightly to accept his kiss.
A gentle breeze brushed past them, resembling a warm oil painting.
When Ji Ran was led to the pavilion in the residential area, Shen Zhi slightly lifted his chin and asked in a low voice, “Does this place feel familiar?”
The pavilion?
Ji Ran was stunned for a few seconds, but under Shen Zhi’s gaze, she wracked her brain until she recalled a certain rainy night when he had run over to wait for her at the pavilion in the residential area of her home.
Looking at him, Ji Ran suddenly asked, “If I hadn’t come looking for you that night, would you have kept waiting?”
Shen Zhi answered almost without hesitation, “Yes.”
He would have kept waiting.
For him back then, home was not a harbor; it was merely a cold house with neither family nor her, and he felt zero attachment to living there.
Instead, in a place so close to her, he would always think that perhaps she might appear.
Ji Ran could never have imagined that as he sat inside the pavilion that night, just as despair had completely filled his heart, he inadvertently raised his gaze to watch that slender figure struggling forward through the dark night.
She was holding a very large umbrella, and because the wind was extremely strong that night, it forced her to steady the umbrella handle with both hands.
Clearly she was somewhat battered by the elements, yet he sat right there in the pavilion and smiled.
Because she had come.
Although he was skilled at waiting and didn’t fear waiting, what was scarier than waiting was hopeless waiting. The moment Ji Ran appeared in the rainy night, he knew his wait would ultimately not end in emptiness.
When Ji Ran raised her head to look at him, Shen Zhi suddenly pulled his hand out from his pocket, bringing along a necklace he had been holding onto all this time.
She looked at the necklace in surprise. It was a clavicle chain with a very delicate design, the focal point being the pendant at the very bottom.
The overall design was shaped like a sunflower, with a rare yellow diamond embedded in the center.
Diamonds of such rare colors always sparked intense bidding wars in auction houses whenever they were introduced to the market.
Ji Ran hadn’t expected him to buy things for her amidst his busy schedule. At this moment, Shen Zhi held the necklace suspended mid-air, the master diamond reflecting exquisite cuts that radiated an elegant and brilliant glow.
Because of the sunlight hitting it, it was truly dazzlingly bright.
Until he drew close, reaching out to slip the necklace around her neck and gently fastening the clasp behind her head, he spoke in a low voice, “Ranran, do you know why I bid on this necklace?”
Ji Ran lowered her head to look at the necklace resting against her throat.
She shook her head slightly.
Shen Zhi chuckled softly, “Because I really love its name, The Eternal Sunflower.”
When he saw the name of this limited-edition necklace in the catalog, his heart changed instantly. The Eternal Sunflower—isn’t a sunflower one that grows toward the sun?
His fingers gently hooked onto the necklace resting against her chest, his fingertips accidentally brushing across her skin, smooth and delicate like silk.
“Doesn’t it look like us? I was born facing toward you.”
As he finished those words, his dark, ink-like eyes locked steadily onto her. At that instant, Ji Ran’s heart felt full yet ached sweetly—a sunflower growing toward the sun.
Just like him.
And she was that little sun, radiant and warm.
Ji Ran reached out and hugged him, pressing her lips against his neck as she spoke in a slightly muffled tone, “From now on, I will always be looking at you.”
No longer just you growing toward me.
I will always be looking at you too, never looking away for the rest of my life.
