Le Tong placed the lunch boxes one by one on the coffee table, turned around, but did not look at Mr. Ji on the hospital bed. Instead, she waved at Baobao.

"Baobao, go wash your hands and eat."

There was a moment when Le Tong hesitated about whether to visit Mr. Ji, but Ji Rui’s anxious look when he left lingered in her mind.

While staying at the Ji Family, she was naturally a bit distracted, handling the urgent matters at hand, and upon giving some instructions, she left work early and dove into the supermarket to buy a bunch of groceries.

She didn’t like Mr. Ji, but she couldn’t change the fact that he was Ji Rui’s father and Baobao’s grandfather. If she insisted on showing Mr. Ji a sour face in front of Ji Rui and Baobao, it wouldn’t be impossible, but it would be a bit of a loss of dignity.

The so-called ’Love for a house extended even to the crow upon it,’ even if she didn’t like Mr. Ji, considering his nurturing grace to Ji Rui and Baobao, it was only right to make some soup and meals for his injuries.

Mr. Ji obediently opened his mouth to drink the soup as per Ji Rui’s wishes, but his gaze followed the figures, large and small, until the two disappeared into the bathroom.

"Ah Ru, she..."

Ji Rui glanced at him lightly, interrupting his words with an unfriendly tone, "Don’t have any ideas about her! Matters between me and her are none of your business!"

There was no discernible emotion on Ji Rui’s face, but he was on full alert like a porcupine. His message was clear: whether Mr. Ji liked or disliked Le Tong, whether he supported or opposed their relationship, it meant nothing to him.

Mr. Ji was somewhat helpless, hurriedly explaining, "No, I don’t mean it that way..."

Ji Rui raised his thick eyebrows, fiercely handing a spoonful of porridge to Mr. Ji’s mouth. "Then what do you mean? Anyway, don’t meddle in my affairs with her!"

In Ji Rui’s heart now, Baobao and Le Tong had unknowingly taken on the most important position, more important even than the Ji Family.

Thus, just by mentioning it, Mr. Ji had made Ji Rui bristle entirely.

As Mr. Ji’s consciousness became clearer, he also realized that bringing up Le Tong now was no different from touching Ji Rui’s reverse scale, but there were some things he had to remind Ji Rui of.

"Sigh... alright... then what about CoCo?"

Ji Rui’s hand, poised in mid-air, paused, "Her? You still have the nerve to mention her? If it weren’t for you colluding with her, would she have treated me this way?"

Mr. Ji faced his son’s resentful expression with difficulty, "But, you two originally had a marriage agreement..."

Because of Ji Rui’s mother’s death, Mr. Ji and Ji Rui’s mother’s side of the family and friends had drifted apart. So, if CoCo hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have remembered the marriage agreement between the two families. He admitted that at the time he was indeed attracted to CoCo’s family’s power, and was focused on securing things for his two sons. He naively believed that the CoCo family and the Ji Family were well-matched, and that the marriage between Ji Rui and CoCo, who were childhood sweethearts, would be a strong alliance that was beneficial to everyone involved.

How could he have known that what he thought was a win-win situation was merely pushing his son into a pit of fire?

As for Le Tong, in Mr. Ji’s mind, she was always just a materialistic woman willing to sell everything, including her own flesh and dignity, for money.

However, after everything that happened recently, and witnessing the extent to which his son and grandson defended Le Tong, Mr. Ji’s views on Le Tong began to shake.

After all, whether it was his son or his precocious grandson, both were extremely intelligent. An ordinary person would be lucky not to be completely outsmarted by those two. Even though Le Tong was clever, she wasn’t so clever as to deceive both son and grandson simultaneously.

Moreover, he had heard about Ji Rui’s intention to transfer property to Le Tong, which was a result that took him by complete surprise.

Perhaps, Le Tong wasn’t as bad and mercenary as he imagined, and CoCo was far from loving his son as much as he thought.

"I was the one who got involved with CoCo on my own. Originally, for the things she helped me with, I had already made a deal with her father. We were squared away without any debt left. She and her father both knew that I never acknowledged that marriage agreement. If it weren’t for you giving her false hope, she wouldn’t hate me like this."

While Baobao was still hospitalized, Ji Rui had Xiao Li arrange to have CoCo forcibly sent away, and subsequently had detailed negotiations with her father in private. Both sides reached an understanding.

Who would have thought that Mr. Ji would interfere, creating a situation where Ji Rui became a person without a place on either side, leading to the current predicament.

Mr. Ji wasn’t aware of all the complexities involved, and upon hearing all this, he was filled with deep regret and guilt towards Ji Rui.

"I’m... I’m sorry! So... what do we do now? Should I go talk to her father?"

Although Mr. Ji said it, he didn’t really have much confidence in his heart. But in the end, since this issue was stirred up by him, he ought to take absolute responsibility.

Ji Rui looked at him coldly, "You? Forget it, with the way you are now, what leverage do you have to negotiate with anyone? That whole family of hers would chew you up and spit you out without a second thought. Going there is nothing more than walking to your own death."

It wasn’t that Ji Rui was underestimating Mr. Ji, but given that he had been thoroughly drained by his dear wife and beloved sons, what did he have to negotiate with?

Mr. Ji’s face fell, he lowered his head, dazed for a moment, then looked up at Ji Rui in confusion.

"Then... what should be done? Are we just supposed to sit and wait for death? That market over there was just starting to develop, but now, won’t the losses be huge?!"

He admitted that in recent years, most of his attention had been taken up by Baobao and those two unfilial sons, but that didn’t mean he was unaware of the massive effort Ji Rui had invested in Y Country to establish what he has now.

Now, this foothold is on the brink of collapse, and the person who caused this predicament is himself. How could he not feel guilt?

Looking into Mr. Ji’s eyes filled with guilt, Ji Rui felt inexplicably angry, but facing a patient, he could neither hit nor curse, so he could only grit his teeth and respond in a low voice.

"Isn’t this all thanks to your two beloved sons? Forget about it, you leave it to me, I’ll figure it out!"

Mentioning this, Ji Rui felt even more irritated.

A few days ago, Lawyer Fan helped him contact a few renowned lawyers. Ji Rui communicated with these lawyers via video two or three times, explaining the situation, and those lawyers, after their assessment, replied saying that the circumstances weren’t optimistic and that Ji Rui should come in person to conduct proper communication and resolution work.

Originally, Ji Rui had prepared to make a trip in the next couple of days, but with the old man in such condition, he had to delay his plans.