My Favorite Ship Became My Sister-in-Law - Chapter 19

In that brief moment, a certain emotion that was almost undeniable flared up in Shi Yue’s heart. However, just as he was about to confirm it, it was extinguished by Ji Chenchuan’s command to go to sleep, leaving no trace behind.

That night, Shi Yue did not move at all, sleeping soundly until his biological clock woke him. His head was nestled in Ji Chenchuan’s embrace, and Ji Chenchuan’s warm palm was still dutifully covering his ear.

Just like the day before, Shi Yue waited until Feng Liuyu arrived before heading to school. After finishing his exam, he went home to shower and change before returning to the hospital to accompany Ji Chenchuan. However, they had moved to a different room; Ji Chenchuan truly could not adapt to that annoying snoring. During this period, Shi Yue stayed by his side.

Ji Chenchuan recovered quickly. After only five days, he could move around freely, and thus he was discharged two days early.

Since setting off firecrackers was not allowed in the residential area, Ji Chenchuan’s grandmother video-called Feng Liuyu as they entered the house. She insisted that Feng Liuyu prepare a bucket of pomelo leaf water for Ji Chenchuan to bathe in, saying it would wash away bad luck.

Zhang Ping and Ji Chenchuan’s maternal aunt also came over, bringing nutritional supplements to visit him. Because of the incident with Song Shaorong, Shi Yue did not have a good impression of Zhang Ping. In front of Ji Shengqiang, Zhang Ping behaved with his tail between his legs the entire time, and the meal passed harmoniously.

After dinner, everyone except Ji Chenchuan helped clear the table.

Feng Liuyu missed her sister, so the two siblings sat on the sofa video-calling their mother. The three of them chatted about family matters. Ji Shengqiang and Zhang Ping discussed work, while Shi Yue had an endless stream of things to say to Ji Chenchuan. This left Ji Zhiruo as the only one alone, looking from one person to another, unable to join any conversation.

Consequently, Ji Zhiruo simply grabbed Shi Yue and asked what he was saying to her brother, insisting that she wanted to hear too.

Shi Yue’s phone suddenly rang. He shrugged his shoulders and stood up to answer it on the balcony. It was a delivery person asking him to inspect some goods; the courier was currently at his front door. Shi Yue explained that he was at the neighbor’s house and asked the courier to bring the delivery there instead.

Hearing Shi Yue’s phone conversation, Ji Zhiruo asked curiously what he had bought and hurried to open the door.

When she opened the door, the courier had already moved from Shi Yue’s house to theirs and asked if he was Mr. Shi.

“It is me,” Shi Yue said, standing by the door.

The courier handed the item to Shi Yue. It was a large, square box.

“What did you buy? It is packed in such a huge box,” Ji Zhiruo asked again.

“You will know once it is opened.” Shi Yue knew it was the gifts he had bought that night.

Seeing Shi Yue’s mysterious expression, Ji Zhiruo could not wait to see what was inside. She fantasized that perhaps Shi Yue had secretly bought a gift for her to give her a surprise.

Ji Zhiruo opened the box with great joy. When all the gifts were taken out, there was one for her father, one for her mother, and one for her brother, but none for her.

Ji Zhiruo stared at Shi Yue, her cheeks puffing out as if they were about to explode from anger. To think she had enthusiastically carried the gifts to her parents and praised Shi Yue for buying them, making her aunt green with envy. Her mother especially mentioned that it was the first time she had received perfume from someone; the normally refined Feng Liuyu happily gave Shi Yue a firm hug.

Ji Shengqiang was also incredibly happy. Although he did not lack foot-soaking basins, having someone think of him made him feel particularly joyful.

“Brother-in-law, this foot-soaking basin looks quite good. It probably cost over a thousand yuan,” Zhang Ping said sourly while looking at the basin.

Ji Shengqiang did not care about the price; it was Shi Yue’s thoughtfulness that made him so happy. He said he would use it to soak his feet tonight and asked Shi Yue, “What do you want? Yueyue, Uncle Ji will buy it for you.”

Feng Liuyu also joined in, asking Shi Yue if there was anything he wanted so she could buy it for him.

Ji Chenchuan leaned back on the sofa, watching the display of genuine affection with a half-smile.

Shi Yue smiled and declined, saying there was nothing he wanted. Since they could not spend the money, the couple felt a bit disappointed. Over the years, they had never treated Shi Yue as an outsider. Given that their family was well-off, they raised Shi Yue exactly how they raised Ji Zhiruo whenever he was at their house.

“Chenchuan-ge, this is yours.”

Shi Yue wanted to personally hand over the gift for Ji Chenchuan. It was an exquisitely crafted, palm-sized black luxury gift box. Shi Yue held it with both hands as if it were a precious treasure and presented it to Ji Chenchuan.

“I have one too?” Ji Chenchuan was somewhat surprised and pleased.

“Of course!” Shi Yue blinked his bright eyes at Ji Chenchuan and urged him to open it and see if he liked it.

Judging by the packaging alone, it was clear that the item inside was valuable. Ji Chenchuan accepted it cautiously. Everyone crowded around curiously to see what it was.

“This box looks like it holds a ring. It is not a ring, is it?” Ji Zhiruo, still puffed up with anger, came over to look.

Ji Shengqiang, who was sipping sweet wine, nearly choked.

The word “ring” made Shi Yue inexplicably nervous, and the hand holding the box trembled slightly. No one noticed that Ji Chenchuan’s hand, which was about to open the box, also paused for a moment.

“Nonsense. Rings are for marriage proposals. Why would Yueyue give his brother a ring?” Feng Liuyu laughed gently and lightly tapped Ji Zhiruo’s forehead.

Ji Chenchuan revealed the item to satisfy everyone’s curiosity. Inside was a black steel-strap watch, the very one Shi Yue had set his sights on that night.

“Yueyue has excellent taste. It is exactly the style your brother Chenchuan likes,” Feng Liuyu said truthfully. Ji Shengqiang also agreed it was nice.

Zhang Ping and the aunt felt sour watching from the side. Zhang Ping recognized that although the watch was not a major brand, the price was not cheap for the working class.

“Put it on and let us see, Chenchuan-ge,” Shi Yue urged.

Ji Chenchuan carefully took the watch out and put it on his wrist. The pure black watch complemented his slender, well-defined fingers, making them look even fairer.

Shi Yue could swear he did not have a hand fetish, but those hands were truly beautiful; he really wanted to hold them.

“It suits me quite well. Thank you!” Ji Chenchuan said suddenly, looking at Shi Yue.

Shi Yue’s hand, which was reaching out to take Ji Chenchuan’s hand, stopped in mid-air. Finally, under the puzzled gazes of everyone, he gave a dry laugh and scratched his head. Shi Yue could feel that Ji Chenchuan must have seen through what he wanted to do, which was why he had suddenly spoken to interrupt him.

“Do I have good taste or what?” Shi Yue awkwardly changed the subject.

Ji Chenchuan nodded cooperatively. Shi Yue wanted to say more, but Ji Zhiruo would not let him go, insisting that he make up for her missing gift. Her stubbornness made everyone laugh. Shi Yue hurriedly agreed, as he was terrified that Ji Zhiruo would become even more erratic and pester him relentlessly.

Ji Chenchuan was discharged on Monday, and Shi Yue and the others were to receive their report cards on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Ji Zhiruo uncharacteristically woke up at seven o’clock and left the house at seven-twenty to call Shi Yue so they could go to school together. Her main purpose was to ask when her gift would arrive; she was very excited to see what Shi Yue would give her. To her surprise, no one answered despite her knocking for a long time. When she called, Shi Yue had already left.

“The report cards are issued at eight-thirty. Why did you go so early?” Ji Zhiruo said huffily to Shi Yue on the other end of the phone.

She had wanted to go with Shi Yue, but now she could only go with Ding Nana. After hanging up, Ji Zhiruo called Ding Nana, and the two agreed to meet at their usual spot: the residential area entrance.

The morning sun pierced through thin clouds, shining on the youthfully vibrant girls. As they walked to school, Ding Nana immediately asked about Ji Chenchuan, as Ji Zhiruo had told her about his accident.

Ji Zhiruo said her brother was recovering well and could probably return to work in half a month. Then, she started talking about the gifts Shi Yue had given her parents and brother.

When Ding Nana heard that Shi Yue had given Ji Chenchuan a watch, she suddenly screamed and asked if Ji Zhiruo knew the meaning of giving a watch.

“What?”

“A watch represents the flow of time and the passing of years. Giving a watch symbolizes eternal companionship, signifying that no matter how time flows, the relationship between the two will remain unchanged. If Shi Yue were a girl, this would be a blatant confession to your brother! Just think about it, whenever your brother looks at the time, he will think of who gave him the watch,” Ding Nana said with immense excitement.

“But Shi Yue is a boy. What is the meaning when a boy gives one to another boy?”

“Um,” Ding Nana had not heard of a meaning for boys giving to boys, so she could not think of one. She said, “It should be friendship lasting forever or friendship for ten thousand years.”

“Pff,” Ji Zhiruo thought that was wrong. She said, “I think it is more like a brother-in-law trying to get on the good side of his elder brother-in-law.”

“My goodness!” Ding Nana shook Ji Zhiruo violently while saying, “Ji Zhiruo, have you no shame? Calling him elder brother-in-law already.”

Ji Zhiruo laughed loudly. The two girls continued their usual talk, tirelessly discussing the handsome guys from the affiliated middle school all the way to their own school.

At eight-thirty.

The moment she received her report card, Ji Zhiruo looked at it ten times to make sure she had not misread it. She screamed with excitement; she had actually improved her ranking. This must be the top student effect triggered by her liking Shi Yue.

She could not wait to tell her parents and brother the good news. Without looking for Shi Yue or waiting for Ding Nana, she laughed manically while taking a taxi home. The driver watched her nervously the entire way, fearing the young girl might suddenly have a seizure.

Ji Chenchuan was on the balcony talking to a client when he heard the doorbell ring urgently. Knowing his mother was busy making soup in the kitchen, he went to open the door while still on the call.

“Ta-da!” As soon as the door opened, Ji Zhiruo could not wait to unfold her report card for Ji Chenchuan to see. “Did you see, Brother? I improved! I improved! I improved! I am no longer the perpetual eighth from the bottom; I am now ninth from the bottom.”

This was indeed a joyous occasion for the whole family; there was finally progress. The client on the other end of the phone seemed to sense the celebration and ended the call.

Ji Chenchuan gave Ji Zhiruo a thumbs-up and praised her for doing a great job.

Hearing this, Feng Liuyu hurriedly put down her work and gave Ji Zhiruo a big hug, full of encouragement. She then urged Ji Zhiruo to tell Ji Shengqiang the good news. On the other end of the phone, Ji Shengqiang also praised Ji Zhiruo and asked what reward she wanted.

“I want to go to Hainan to pick coconuts,” Ji Zhiruo said. She remembered Shi Yue saying he wanted to go coconut picking.

Ji Shengqiang agreed without hesitation, saying the whole family would go to Hainan with her.

“Dad, can Shi Yue come with us?” Ji Zhiruo asked. At the mention of Shi Yue, Ji Chenchuan’s brow furrowed slightly.

“As long as Shi Yue wants to go, why not?”

“Then I will go tell Shi Yue.”

Thus, Feng Liuyu and Ji Chenchuan discussed the departure time, booking flights and hotels, while Ji Zhiruo was only responsible for notifying Shi Yue.

Due to Ji Chenchuan’s physical condition, Feng Liuyu set the time for two weeks later. However, Ji Chenchuan said he would not go. Firstly, he had several important clients to meet, and secondly, he did not enjoy traveling. He told his parents to accompany his sister well, even on his behalf. Feng Liuyu said she was worried about leaving him home alone.

“During the four years of university, I was also alone,” Ji Chenchuan said. Knowing her son’s personality, Feng Liuyu was a bit disappointed but did not force him.

Ji Zhiruo shut herself in her room to call Shi Yue. She could not wait a second longer to tell him the news and get him to agree to go to Hainan with her family. However, no one answered after two calls. Her feverish anticipation was not cooled by the unanswered calls; instead, it grew more intense.

“Brother, let me borrow your phone to make a call!” Ji Zhiruo ran out of her room and spoke to Ji Chenchuan with a grin.

For some reason, she felt that if she called from her brother’s phone, Shi Yue would definitely answer. Sure enough, the call was connected as soon as it rang.

Shi Yue’s out-of-breath voice came from the other end: “Hello, Chenchuan-ge.”

“It is your Chenchuan-ge’s sister,” Ji Zhiruo said huffily, her cheeks puffed out.

“Ji Zhiruo.” Shi Yue’s voice sounded a bit disappointed. “Is something the matter?”

Ji Zhiruo asked where he was. Shi Yue said he was at the school basketball court. Ji Zhiruo told him to wait there and that she was coming to find him immediately.

Under the shade of a tree.

After hanging up on Ji Zhiruo, Shi Yue stuffed his phone back into the pocket of his school uniform hanging on a tree. It was halftime, so he had been able to answer the call.

“Here, have some water.” Li Chao handed a bottle of ice-cold mineral water to Shi Yue.

“Thanks.” Shi Yue took it without hesitation, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink.

Shi Yue had been invited by Li Chao to play a game of basketball today. Since losing at the gymnasium last time, Li Chao had indeed kept his promise and avoided Shi Yue. His sudden visit today was because he was transferring schools; on this last day of the semester, he wanted to have a proper game with Shi Yue, regardless of the outcome. Shi Yue did not refuse him.

“That guy from last time was not your biological brother, right?” Li Chao asked Shi Yue. In the first half, he had once again been beaten soundly. However, this time he did not dare use foul language like before.

“What if he is? What if he is not? Do you refuse to accept defeat?” Shi Yue glanced at Li Chao. He knew that guy referred to Ji Chenchuan.

“No,” Li Chao said. “I just saw that he was quite good to you. I was curious, so I asked.”

Shi Yue certainly knew Ji Chenchuan was good to him, but hearing it from someone else made him feel a sense of pride, as if it were a formal certification. The corners of Shi Yue’s mouth curled up. “He is the brother from next door.”

“I heard your family and Ji Zhiruo’s family are neighbors. He is not her brother, is he? They look a bit alike.”

“Yes.”

“He really is Ji Zhiruo’s brother,” Li Chao said with surprise and delight. “No wonder you defended her so much. Does that mean you do not like Ji Zhiruo? Then I can go and pursue her.”