After Tong Yi gave away the bouquet only to ask it back, he caught Jiang Li looking at him with an unmistakable oddness in her eyes. At first, her gaze was akin to seeing someone out of his mind, but then it shifted to an expression of sudden realization, though he had no idea what she had realized. Feeling inexplicably nervous, Tong Yi tried to look calm as he faced Jiang Li, asking, “What are you thinking about?”
Jiang Li honestly replied, “After the wedding is over, you should really catch up on some sleep to adjust your jet lag. You don’t seem quite right today.”
When she returned from abroad for the olympiad, it took her two days to overcome jet lag and adapt back to the domestic time zone, so she could particularly empathize with Tong Yi.
Tong Yi: “…” Is that it?
Old Master Feng breathed a sigh of relief at their conversation, thinking he might have been overly sensitive just now.
However, Feng Qi still frowned at Tong Yi, “Rather than adjusting the jet lag, it might be better for you to return to the United States earlier. That’d save you some trouble flying back and forth.”
Tong Yi: “…”
He was just studying abroad, not emigrating. Telling him to ‘return’ was somewhat impolite, don’t you think?
Tong Bingran very keenly noticed the change in the Feng family’s expressions. His eyes darted around before he walked over to Tong Yi, warmly putting his arm around his nephew’s shoulder. “Look at you, kid, how could you give the bouquet to Jiang Li? Do you know what it means for a man to give a woman a bouquet?”
By this time, Tong Yi had snapped back to reality. He shrugged off Tong Bingran’s arm, remarking nonchalantly, “I had no use for the bouquet, so I thought I’d just let Jiang Xiao Li have it for fun. But I see she doesn’t like it much either, so I might as well keep it!”
Tong Bingran laughed with a meaningful look, “You can’t say it like that. You’re an adult now, and Jiang Li is not yet seventeen. Even if you have a feeling…”
“Dad!” Tong Xu suddenly interrupted Tong Bingran, “Xiao Yi’s personality has always been like this. He probably doesn’t even know what it means to give away a bouquet. Let’s explain it to him properly, so he’ll be more careful in the future.”
Hearing Tong Xu say this, Tong Bingran was clearly stunned, as he couldn’t figure out what his son was trying to do.
Tong Xu turned his gaze towards Jiang Li, “I’m sorry, Miss Jiang. This is my cousin, Tong Yi. He has always been casual and often acts without thinking. I apologize to you on his behalf for his offense just now.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li subconsciously frowned. Tong Xu’s words seemed to be an apology for his cousin, but in reality, he was indirectly belittling Tong Yi to the point of almost outright stating that Tong Yi was a delinquent who shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Still, although Tong Yi’s reputation as a troublemaker was well-known to many, but that didn’t stop him from having his own set of admirers!
Tong Yi naturally caught the underlying message in Tong Xu’s words. He was about to retort, but Jiang Li spoke first, “Tong Yi is my sister-in-law’s nephew. Logically speaking, he should also call me aunt, so I naturally won’t hold it against him.”
Jiang Li’s remark caused a wave of laughter among the onlookers, and Old Master Feng’s expression also relaxed completely. He turned his gaze to Tong Yi and said with a smile: “I see Xiao Yi is quite filial, it’s just a pity that he didn’t apply his filial piety in the right way, causing such a misunderstanding.”
Because Jiang Li often called him ‘big nephew,’ Tong Yi had long been accustomed to it, so he didn’t react much now. Instead, he shifted his gaze towards Tong Xu and said, “Speaking of which, you and I are of the same generation, right? Shouldn’t you also be calling Jiang Xiao Li ‘Aunt’?”
Tong Xu: “…”
Seeing him speechless, Tong Yi pretended to be shocked, “You don’t want to? This is a bit disobedient and unfilial!”
Seeing Tong Yi’s nonchalant look, Old Master Feng completely dispelled his previous suspicions. Even to him, this young man was clearly still a naïve kid and probably hadn’t realized it himself. How could someone like this harbor any shady intentions towards his precious granddaughter!
Anyway, today was an important event for Feng Yang and Tong Nian. Old Master Feng didn’t want to make the situation any more awkward during the wedding, so he stepped forward to smooth things over, “You kids aren’t blood-related anyway; seniority and what-nots are not important. Each to their own is fine. Today is Yangyang and Nianian’s big day, let’s all enjoy the feast and please be understanding if there’s any lack in our hospitality.”
With Old Master Feng speaking out, the guests naturally couldn’t dwell on this issue any longer. Next came the bride and groom’s round of toasts. As one of the groomsmen, Tong Yi had to take quite a few drinks on Feng Yang’s behalf.
As he trailed beside the groom, he silently kept his gaze on Jiang Li. When he saw her taking the opportunity to sneak away, he followed without drawing attention. Tong Yi followed Jiang Li to a corner of the garden. Finding her sitting on a swing, looking lost in thought, he approached from behind and asked softly, “Why did you… speak up for me just now?”
Jiang Li turned to him, raising an eyebrow and asking back, “What did I do?”
Tong Yi looked at Jiang Li and teasingly said, “The things you said to Tong Xu just now. Don’t tell me our gallant hero Jiang couldn’t stand seeing injustice and had to step in to help?”
Jiang Li caught a whiff of alcohol on Tong Yi and wrinkled her nose instinctively, “How much have you drunk? It smells awful.”
Tong Yi winked with a smile, “Just a bit. Most of it spilled on my clothes, so it smells stronger. Smell it more closely if you don’t believe me!” As he said this, Tong Yi deliberately moved a bit closer, his smile playful, making him appear rather flirtatious.”
Jiang Li gave him a glare, “Your eyes tell me you just lied.”
“…” He did lie, but even he didn’t know why he felt the need to lie over such a trivial matter.
“Do you and your cousin have a bad relationship?” Jiang Li asked again.
Tong Yi pondered for a moment and shook his head, “Not really, but he’s always liked to compete with me since we were young. After my parents’ incident, I went through a rough patch, and I just can’t stand seeing him acting like a good older brother.”
Jiang Li frowned, “That’s not what a good brother does. In front of so many people today, he belittled you without regard for the occasion. Don’t be fooled by the facade he’s creating.”
Hearing her defend him made Tong Yi feel quite elated. “Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong. I do act carelessly most of the time. Anyway, my uncle loves cleaning up my messes. There are even times when I feel bad for not giving him something to busy himself with.”
“…” Jiang Li was speechless. What kind of logic was that?
Tong Yi extended a hand and gently pushed the swing Jiang Li was on. Jiang Li, worried he might suddenly push her too hard, grabbed tightly onto the ropes. Surprisingly, Tong Yi actually kept pushing her swing gently, which was quite unexpected.
The sight of two teenagers, one swinging and the other gently pushing in silence, created a particularly tranquil and harmonious atmosphere, as if taken from a scene in a drama. Not far away, Tong Youyou’s arm was caught by Tong Xu, causing her to look up at her brother in confusion, “Brother, you just said you’d take me to find Sister, why aren’t we going now?”
Tong Xu sighed, “She’s talking with your second brother. Let’s not disturb them now.”
Because of the distance, Tong Xu couldn’t hear Tong Yi and Jiang Li’s conversation, but he could easily see the expressions on their faces. Jiang Li looked relaxed as she sat on the swing, while Tong Yi stood behind her, pushing her gently with a look of indulgence on his face. Even at a glance, Tong Xu could tell their relationship was very close; otherwise, given Tong Yi’s usual temper, he would never lower himself to push a swing for a girl.
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