The Sickly Beauty Can’t Escape the Obsessive Lover - Chapter 29.1

It felt like a heavy blow to the heart.

Jing Yuan’s legs grew weaker and weaker, as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

Although the fragmented memories in his mind couldn’t be pieced together into a complete picture, his fear of the unfamiliar man before him was certainly not unfounded.

Those forgotten memories must be related to this man!

Jing Yuan had already dialed the number, but Ji Yan hadn’t picked up yet. The strange man continued to stare at him menacingly, and to his relief, the man didn’t approach any further.

Holding the phone to his ear, he forced himself to stay calm. After confirming that Ji Yan was too busy to answer, he began talking to himself.

“I’m at the pavilion. Just turn the corner and you’ll see me.”

“Alright, wait for me. I’ll be right there.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jing Yuan turned and jogged along the cobblestone path outside the pavilion, waving toward the empty circular archway. “I’m over here.”

The man by the lakeside had been watching Jing Yuan for a long time. He tightened his grip on the hammer in his hand and silently continued working.

…

Having successfully escaped the pavilion, Jing Yuan’s back was drenched in sweat. But he didn’t dare to wander alone anymore and decided to head to the front hall where there were more people.

His heart was still pounding fiercely.

After regaining his composure, Jing Yuan felt grateful that his physical condition had improved significantly compared to two months ago. If he were still as frail as before, he would’ve been scared to death by that man.

He had once overheard Ji Yan discussing his car accident in the garden. He suspected that the fragmented memories were related to that incident. However, he had also learned from his father that he had never been in a car accident but had been kidnapped when he was a few years old. For now, the pieces of memory just wouldn’t connect.

Halfway there, Jing Yuan suddenly remembered something important.

He quickly lowered his head to check the photos and videos he had just taken.

Good—the man’s profile was captured in the footage. With this clue, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Ji Yan to investigate.

Jing Yuan felt somewhat relieved but began to hesitate again.

Was it too rash to tell Ji Yan that this man might be connected to his parents’ car accident based solely on fragmented memories? If it turned out to be a false alarm, wouldn’t it only disappoint Ji Yan?

Moreover, these were all his own speculations, heavily influenced by subjectivity. If Ji Yan sent people to investigate and caused a stir, it might strain the relationship between the Ji and Ning families. After all, the man could very well be a gardener working for the Ning family.

Jing Yuan grew tired from walking and slowed his pace. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it would be better to wait until his memories were fully restored before discussing it with Ji Yan.

Ji Yan was, after all, the antagonist. Anything related to his parents’ car accident would inevitably make him extremely sensitive. Jing Yuan worried that, in an attempt to force his memories to resurface, Ji Yan might resort to some extreme measures.

Thud—

Something hard struck Jing Yuan’s head, and stars exploded before his eyes. Dizzy, he leaned against a nearby pillar for support.

“I told you there was something wrong with your drone, didn’t I? And you still want to apply for a patent? I doubt it’ll work out.”

“If my drone hadn’t been bumped into, it would’ve been fine.”

Two boys, around seventeen or eighteen years old, walked up to Jing Yuan.

His head throbbed with pain—the drone must have scraped his skin. When he touched the sore spot, his fingers came away stained with blood.

Jing Yuan didn’t recognize these two. The owner of the drone bore some resemblance to Ning Jin in his features and was likely a younger member of the Ning family.

“The experiment failed, what rotten luck.” Ning Sui’s tone was dejected as he shot Jing Yuan a glare, as if Jing Yuan were the one responsible for his failed experiment.

Jing Yuan hadn’t intended to argue with Ning Sui, considering they were on the Ning family’s turf and the other seemed quite young. But Ning Sui’s unreasonable and rude behavior had thoroughly angered him.

“Look, your aircraft hit my head. Shouldn’t you at least apologize as a matter of courtesy?”

Ning Sui exchanged a glance with his friend as if he’d heard something absurd. “My second-generation aircraft cost 2.2 million just in R&D. I haven’t even demanded compensation for your head damaging my aircraft, and here you are whining about it.”

Ning Sui’s friend joined in, mocking Jing Yuan.

“How could he possibly afford that?”

“Pfft, I think so too.”

Jing Yuan wiped the blood from the right side of his head and stared sternly at Ning Sui. “Aircraft are supposed to fly in the sky. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t reach it. If your equipment hadn’t malfunctioned, how could it have hit me? Are all you Nings this unreasonable?”

Ning Sui was momentarily speechless. “You!”

“At least we Jings have principles. Unlike you, shamelessly flattering and groveling to latch onto the Ji family.”

“If we’re shameless, at least we know to apologize when we hurt someone. Your behavior just proves your family’s upbringing is truly one of a kind in Ningcheng.”

“Jing Yuan, are you asking for death?” Ning Sui, the youngest son of the Ning family, had been doted on by all his uncles and brothers and had never been lectured like this.

In a fit of rage, he threw down his aircraft and swung a fist at Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan nimbly ducked and, knowing he couldn’t win a fight, took advantage of Ning Sui’s momentary confusion to sprint away.

Ning Sui: “…”

…

Reaching the front hall, Jing Yuan gasped for breath, lamenting that the day’s fortune was against him—nothing was going right.

His head was injured, yet he couldn’t seek justice.

Before long, a furious Ning Sui caught up. Seeing that Ji Yan wasn’t around, Jing Yuan quickly hid behind Old Man Ning, worried that Ning Sui might go berserk and attack him.

In the main hall, the Ning family relatives were chatting over tea. When they saw Ning Sui enter, they greeted him warmly.

“Little Sui’s here.”

“Little Sui seems to have grown taller.”

“I heard Little Sui patented an aircraft design in high school. Looks like our family is raising a scientific genius.”

Amid the flattery, Jing Yuan realized the kind of environment Ning Sui had grown up in—no wonder he was so arrogant.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, Jing Yuan decided not to press the issue. After all, he and Ji Yan weren’t part of the Ning family, and causing a scene at Old Man Ning’s birthday banquet would likely lead Ji Yan to urge him to let it go, possibly even branding him as immature.

Jing Yuan shot Ning Sui a covert glare before heading toward the lotus leaf pancakes. He picked up some fruit and pastries, planning to find a quiet corner to replenish his energy.

“Grandpa, I was just lectured,” Ning Sui complained to Old Man Ning and his father, feigning grievance. “That person said our Ning family has no upbringing.”

Ning Sui’s father turned pale at once. Their family had prestige and status in Ningcheng and was recognized as a scholarly household. No one had ever accused the Nings of poor upbringing.

Old Man Ning, holding his tea, also stiffened and said to Ning Sui, “Don’t rush. Tell us slowly what happened.”

Ning Sui glared at Jing Yuan, adding fuel to the fire: “I was conducting an experiment in my courtyard just now when Jing Yuan suddenly barged in. My aircraft malfunctioned and bumped into him, and he started relentlessly pestering me, even insinuating that our family lacks proper upbringing.”

Old Master Ning: “Jing Yuan?”

Ning Sui pointed at Jing Yuan, who was sneakily observing the situation: “He’s over there.”

Almost everyone in the room turned to look at Jing Yuan simultaneously.

Jing Yuan, who had been chewing fruit in his cheeks, swallowed awkwardly and had no choice but to approach Old Master Ning.

Ning Sui’s father, a hot-tempered man who valued the Ning family’s reputation deeply, asked Jing Yuan gruffly: “I’d like to ask Young Master Jing, what exactly do you mean by barging into Xiao Sui’s courtyard and accusing our Ning family of lacking proper upbringing?”

Jing Yuan hadn’t known that the small courtyard belonged to Ning Sui. Rubbing his head with his right hand, he explained softly: “His…”

“Enough,” Old Master Ning interrupted. “These are just minor conflicts between children, no need to make a big deal out of it. Xiao Sui’s aircraft bumping into him was wrong in the first place.”

Seeing that his grandfather wasn’t taking his side, Ning Sui pouted: “Grandpa, that’s my experimental area, it’s inherently dangerous. I don’t even know how Young Master Jing found his way there.”

Old Master Ning comforted him: “Alright, Xiao Sui.”

Ning Sui remained resentful, staring daggers at Jing Yuan.

At that moment, the group that had gone to the study for a private conversation returned.

Jing Yuan had been fine until he saw Ji Yan entering last. His eyes instantly reddened, though he tried hard to hold back tears.

Ning Jin walked at the front and was the first to reach Jing Yuan. Surveying the strange atmosphere in the room, he asked: “What happened here?”

Ning Sui’s father snorted coldly: “Our Ning family has been accused to our faces of lacking proper upbringing.”

Ning Jin frowned slightly, while Ning Yao behind him asked with a smile: “Why would someone say that?”

Ning Sui’s father said with sarcasm: “Because your nephew was conducting experiments in his own courtyard when his aircraft accidentally bumped into Young Master Jing, who appeared out of nowhere.”

Ning Yao asked gently: “Xiao Jing, are you alright?”

Jing Yuan didn’t speak, only lifting his moist eyelashes to sneak a glance at Ji Yan.

Seeing Ji Yan’s stern expression, Ning Sui adopted a look of someone enjoying the show. Everyone said Ji Yan and Jing Yuan didn’t get along – today Ji Yan’s face must have been thoroughly shamed, and he’d probably reprimand Jing Yuan severely when they got home.

Crossing his arms, Ning Sui chuckled with schadenfreude.

Jing Yuan actually wasn’t sure how Ji Yan would react either. Just as he was hesitating about when to tell everyone that his head had been scraped, Ji Yan had already come to his side.

“What happened to your head?” Ji Yan asked calmly, leaning down to examine it.

Jing Yuan touched his tingling nose: “It got scraped by the aircraft.”

Ji Yan held the side of Jing Yuan’s head, examining it more carefully: “Did he apologize to you?”

Jing Yuan shook his head: “No. He said my head bumped into his aircraft and refused to apologize.”

Ji Yan nodded. Seeing that the wound had stopped bleeding and was already scabbing over, he didn’t appear too concerned.

Noticing the blood on Jing Yuan’s hand, he lifted the slender wrist: “Is this blood from your head just now?”

Jing Yuan sniffled: “Mm-hmm.”

Sensing trouble, Ning Sui immediately said: “He was the one who barged into my courtyard and got bumped into accidentally. Just because my first words weren’t an apology, he started insinuating things about the entire Ning family.”

Ji Yan completely ignored Ning Sui, his attention still focused on Jing Yuan: “Are you injured anywhere else?”

Jing Yuan slowly shook his head.

Ji Yan naturally took Jing Yuan’s hand and guided him to sit down, his gaze fixed firmly on Old Master Ning. “This is Jing Yuan’s first time visiting the Ning family upon invitation, so he isn’t familiar with the layout of the estate. He went to the lake to see the koi and returned by passing through Ning Sui’s courtyard, which is no different from any public area. Does anyone find this route problematic? Or perhaps every courtyard in the Ning family has restricted zones clearly marked as private property, off-limits to guests? Or maybe there was originally a gate that Jing Yuan pushed open without permission?”

Ning Sui stammered, wanting to refute but finding no words.

Old Master Ning smiled. “Of course, we don’t mean to forbid guests from entering. This matter is Ning Sui’s fault.”

Ji Yan suddenly lowered his gaze with a faint smile and lightly adjusted his glasses. “Since there was no issue with Jing Yuan passing through Ning Sui’s courtyard, then shouldn’t Ning Sui apologize for his aircraft hitting Jing Yuan?”

Ning Sui’s father argued, “We already said Ning Sui didn’t have time to apologize before Jing Yuan attacked the Ning family.”

Ji Yan’s eyes turned cold. “Yuan Yuan, repeat what was said between you two.”

Jing Yuan blinked nervously and repeated their earlier conversation verbatim.

After he finished, Ji Yan’s voice was icy. “Ning Sui, was there a single false word in what he said?”

Ning Sui didn’t dare meet Ji Yan’s eyes and remained silent.

Ji Yan’s gaze swept slowly over each member of the Ning family. “Jing Yuan is injured, yet not one of you has asked after him or shown concern. Instead, you’ve dragged a junior here for interrogation. If this isn’t a lack of upbringing in the Ning family, then what is? A charitable family?”

“You—” Ning Sui’s father immediately stood up but was stopped by Ning Zhao.

Ji Yan stared at Ning Sui, his already cold eyes darkening with menace. “Jing Yuan has poor health. The Ji family takes meticulous care of him at home. Yet at your Ning estate, his head was injured and bled, and no one provided any medical attention. Instead, he was dragged out and falsely accused. If this gets out, everyone will surely think the Ning family is truly a family of scholars—exemplary in teaching and upbringing.”

The entire room fell into dead silence.

Ning Zhao glanced at Old Master Ning and stepped forward. “Ji Yan, our family was in the wrong in this matter. I apologize on their behalf.”

“Second Uncle,” Ning Sui muttered softly, realizing he had caused trouble.

Ning Jin also spoke up. “Xiao Yuan, we’ve wronged you.”