Chapter 25: This Trip Was Not a Waste

Tan Tian waved his hand, looking put out. “Joking, joking. That JK uniform is for you. One of these days I will film you singing and dancing in that skirt.”

When he said the words “for you,” Qin Jianqing wanted to cover his mouth. But Tan Tian was too quick. Seeing there was no stopping him, Qin Jianqing simply pulled Jian Huaifeng away and pretended he had not heard.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense. I don’t have his weird taste.” Qin Jianqing saw Jian Huaifeng with his head down and silent, so he waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, big nephew, scared stupid?”

Jian Huaifeng said out of nowhere, “I’m imagining it.”

Qin Jianqing: “…Damn.”

In the end, with Tan Tian urging them impatiently, the three skipped their meal and took a taxi to Tan Tian’s studio.

His studio was in his own home. Because it was far from school, he had applied for half-day attendance. When his coursework was not busy, he stayed home working on videos and photography.

On the way, Jian Huaifeng described the style he wanted to shoot. Tan Tian already had several ideas in mind and listed them one by one, asking Jian Huaifeng what he thought.

Tan Tian said, “I have a rough idea now. I can try the makeup, but my studio doesn’t have opera costumes. We’ll probably have to rent them. I don’t know much about that, so I’ll need to ask someone.”

Jian Huaifeng pressed his lips together and thought, then had an idea. “Let’s go to my house. My second sister has opera costumes.”

So the three quickly turned around and headed to the Jian family mansion. Qin Jianqing only knew Jian Huaifeng was Wei Nanting’s nephew by blood, and that his family background was probably not ordinary. He had never looked into it carefully. Only when the car drove into the villa district did he get a rough idea.

They were definitely not an average wealthy family.

The car stopped at the villa entrance. Jian Huaifeng was still telling them that his second sister and parents were not home today, so they should relax. The moment he got out, he saw someone crouching by the front gate like a puppy.

Zhao Jun looked like a street punk squatting by the roadside, a blade of grass in his mouth, idly teasing ants. When he saw Jian Huaifeng return, his eyes flickered away.

Recently, gossip had started spreading among their rich-kid circle. It had been building for a while. Quite a few people suspected Jian Huaifeng did not look like the Jian family.

Before, it was only suspicion. Now there was solid proof. They even knew the real young master of the Jian family’s name.

Many people watched for fun and said, as if it had nothing to do with them, “See? I told you.”

A few troublemaking rich kids got excited, guessing when the real young master would return and what Jian Huaifeng would do then. Would he be sent back to his original family?

Someone mocked, “Jian Huaifeng was spoiled from childhood. Send him back to that poor countryside and he’ll faint from crying right away. Can he stand that kind of hard life?”

“So what if he can’t stand it? He isn’t the Jian family’s biological child. Now that the real son is back, is the Jian family supposed to keep raising him? Even if they wanted to, doesn’t he still have biological parents? If they send one away and don’t take one back, all those years of raising him would be wasted. Wouldn’t they lose out?”

“Do you think Jian Huaifeng will shamelessly cling to the Jian family?”

A voice message was sent, the tone mocking. “Of course he’ll find a way to stay with the Jian family. He was raised like a pampered young master, looking down his nose at people, despising anyone low-born. Now tell him he isn’t the Jian family’s biological child, but the son of some poor nobody from the mountains. Can he accept that fall?”

The one who said this was Li Qiming, one of the more active members of their rich-kid circle. Everyone knew he did not get along with Jian Huaifeng. Li Qiming was an illegitimate son. Since childhood he had felt inferior. Although the Li family had officially recognized him as heir, he could never get over that hurdle in his heart.

Once, these rich kids made plans to go to a mountain resort together. Before they left, Li Qiming arrived late and delayed the group. That day, Jian Huaifeng had been set off by someone and was in a terrible mood. He asked who had not arrived yet. When he got the answer, he said, “Oh, the Li family’s illegitimate son. Not even recognized by the Li family yet, and he already puts on such airs.”

After saying that, he told the driver to leave first. The other rich kids also looked down on this illegitimate son. They thought the same as him. Seeing him leave, they could not be bothered to wait either and followed one after another.

When Li Qiming finally arrived, he found no one there and thought everyone else had not shown up. After waiting a long time, someone finally informed him that they had already reached the resort and told him to come on his own, then hung up.

But in the end, no one told him where the resort was.

Li Qiming still brooded over it. After mocking for a while, he suddenly mentioned Zhao Jun. “Isn’t he right next door to your house? How about this: we’ll book a private room, and you invite him to hang out. Let’s see if he knows about this.”

People in the group immediately agreed. They all wanted to test the situation of this confirmed fake young master.

Zhao Jun knew exactly what they meant. They said it was to hang out together, but really they wanted to test him and have some fun at his expense. Those who wanted a show would get one, and those with grudges would settle them.

The shade at the Jian family’s front gate was thick. The early summer light was not strong to begin with, and after being cut by countless leaves, what fell through was thin and scattered. Yet Zhao Jun felt as if a harsh light shone on him, leaving nowhere to hide.

Jian Huaifeng was a bit arrogant and willful, but there was no real grudge between them. They had practically grown up together, causing trouble together too. Even knowing he was not the Jian family’s real son, there was no need to push him into a fire pit.

But those rich kids had been urging him in the group just minutes ago. Li Qiming seemed to notice his hesitation and prodded him in the group. “It’s just inviting him out to have fun. We’re not going to do anything. Why are you so hesitant? You like him or something?”

Zhao Jun immediately got anxious and replied, “Like him my ass.”

Just as he made up his mind, a taxi stopped in front of him. He looked up and saw Jian Huaifeng’s cold, clear eyes.

Since the last time Jian Huaifeng played until Zhao Jun cried, he had hardly seen him. Even at school, Zhao Jun deliberately avoided him. Daidai had joked that he had been played into PTSD. Jian Huaifeng shook his head and pretended not to see.

“What are you doing here?” Jian Huaifeng looked at the person squatting on the ground.

Only then did Zhao Jun stand up. He stammered, “No, nothing. It’s just, we’re on break, and the guys haven’t gotten together in a while. You didn’t come to the graduation party either. Li Qiming and the others said they booked a venue. They told me to invite you to hang out, like a make-up graduation gathering.”

After he spoke, he noticed two people behind Jian Huaifeng. One was carrying a pile of camera equipment. “What are you busy with now? You haven’t come to hang out with us lately.”

Zhao Jun had heard about those matters concerning Jian Huaifeng. Ever since Jian Huaifeng hung the Hengqu Four Sentences plaque in his room, Zhao Jun could not quite understand him. He even thought Jian Huaifeng had been traumatized after the kidnapping. Later, when Jian Huaifeng dragged him to play piano, Zhao Jun became certain of the reason. To keep himself from suffering more mental attacks, he had deliberately avoided him for quite a while.

Qin Jianqing teased, “Strange. Everyone has a communication device called a phone, right? You want to invite him out, but you don’t call or text. You just squat at his door the whole time?”

Zhao Jun felt the embarrassment of having a secret exposed. “Actually, I did call.”

Jian Huaifeng picked up his phone and saw there were indeed many messages and missed calls, including some from Wei Nanting. He opened the other chat windows and replied only to a few of Wei Nanting’s messages, then put his phone away. “Sorry, I have something to do now. You all go have fun.”

He had noticed Zhao Jun’s guilty look, but he could not be bothered with their boring tricks. He dismissed Zhao Jun and led the others into the villa. After crossing the garden and entering the main hall, just as they were about to go upstairs, he turned his head and saw Zhao Jun had followed them in.

Jian Huaifeng stood by the stairs, holding the railing, and looked back at Zhao Jun with doubt. Zhao Jun went back to his usual shameless manner and grinned at him. “If you’re not going, I don’t want to either. What fun place could that Li Qiming find? It’s the same stuff every time. I’m long sick of it. If they love playing so much, let them. You guys have photography gear and an assistant. Looks more fun than their side. Bring me along.”

Qin Jianqing, who had been called an assistant, scowled. “Who are you calling an assistant? I’m his uncle. If we’re going by seniority, you have to call me that too. If you can’t talk properly, talk less. If you want to join, call me uncle!”

Zhao Jun: “…”

Jian Huaifeng knew Zhao Jun’s personality. He could not be sent away with a word or two, so he turned and went upstairs, which counted as silent agreement.

“Is it really okay for us to go into your sister’s room?” Tan Tian asked. After all, they were guests in someone else’s house and would be using a girl’s clothes and accessories. Even if the one using them was her biological brother, as an outsider he should not rummage around in her room.

Jian Huaifeng led everyone to the second floor and pushed open a door, but it was not Jian Junya’s bedroom. Jian Junya had her own separate walk-in closet. Without exaggeration, it was even bigger than her bedroom.

She had chosen opera out of genuine love. Over the years she had commissioned plenty of custom opera costumes and headpieces for herself. Like people who love collecting figures, she had an entire wall covered with opera costumes in all sorts of bright colors.

The wall beside the costumes was even more impressive. Tan Tian clicked his tongue when he saw it. “My god, did they move a museum into the house? Are these headpieces and hair ornaments antiques?”

Actually, on closer look, the ornaments were all very new. It was just that Jian Junya treasured them too much. Several sets of headpieces were locked in glass cases and displayed one by one like museum exhibits, giving them the look of antiques.

Qin Jianqing had studied traditional wood carving under Qin Louyue for years and had seen many things. He pointed at a gorgeous headpiece. “This, this isn’t real kingfisher feather, is it?”

Tan Tian leaned in to look. His gaze was instantly drawn to the phoenix crown covered in large and small pearls and green butterfly decorations. “My god, I’ve only seen this kind of headpiece on TV.”

Jian Huaifeng shook his head. “It’s not kingfisher feather. They used silk of a similar color instead.”

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