Ji Jing had only heard that Ji Yao was the youngest sister in the family, but she didn't know why Ji Yi was so concerned about her relationship with Ji Yao. Even though the nine sons of the Ji family didn't quarrel, they were worried about the two daughters having conflicts.
Ji Jing couldn't be bothered to deal with it and simply retorted, "What I practice isn't feudal superstition, it's legitimate Taoism."
Ji Yi didn't want to argue with her and just said, "In any case, if you have any issues, you can find our eldest brother and dad. Mom is currently accompanying Yao Yao, so don't disturb her."
Implied in her words was that Ji Jing's matters were all disturbances. Ji Ming and Ji Ling could disturb her, but not anyone else.
Ji Jing was speechless. They didn't want to interact with her more, did she really want to live in this unfamiliar house?
If it wasn't for Ji Ming's sake, she would have confronted them earlier.
Ji Jing walked directly into the room and pushed the door closed with a loud "bang," locking Ji Yi outside. Ji Yi almost ran into the door and was so angry that she wanted to teach this brat a lesson next time.
Ji Jing walked around the room and opened all the gifts she received. Most of the gifts from Ji Yi and the others were things that young girls would like, such as perfume and necklaces. Ji Jing put them all in a display cabinet, since she didn't need them.
Ji Ming's gift, on the other hand, was a photo album of Ji Jing from birth to age two. It showed that she had also been loved by her parents during her childhood, with records of her birth, 100-day celebration, weaning, and crawling, as well as photos of her traveling with her parents and Ji Yun and taking pictures together at various scenic spots.
Ji Jing looked at it with some emotion, but she had no memory of these days, feeling like she was looking at someone else's life record. However, she could feel Ji Ming's intentions behind this album and so she put it in her bedside table.
Ji Ling's gift was unexpected, a longevity lock.
Below was a note, written by Ji Ling: "This was originally intended to be given to you by our grandmother when you were one year old, but for various reasons, it was not given. I have kept it all these years and now return it to its rightful owner."
Ji Jing was surprised that Ji Ling had put so much effort into giving her the longevity lock. When they were downstairs earlier, she didn't feel that he had any different attitude towards her than towards the other brothers.
She was also surprised that there was such "feudal superstition" in the Ji family. The longevity lock was made by ancient people to lock the life of children, and she thought that according to Ji Yi's degree of "anti-feudal superstition," Ji's family couldn't possibly have such things.
However, what Ji Jing did not know was that as the eldest son, Ji Ling was raised as an heir by their grandparents. The older generation paid attention to these things, so Ji Ling would not reject them. The other brothers were all raised by their parents and received international education, so naturally, they did not recognize these things.
"Jing Jing! You can come down and eat now!" Ji Ming shouted downstairs.
Ji Jing hesitated for a moment, then put the longevity lock and photo album in the same drawer and quickly went downstairs.
Only Ji Ming and Ji Ling were left at the dinner table.
"Jing Jing, come sit here." Ji Ming greeted her. The table was full of dishes that Aunt Chen had carefully prepared. "I don't know what you like to eat, but I figured that Taoist temples are usually light, so Aunt Chen prepared lighter dishes."
"These are great." Ji Jing smiled.
She understood gratitude, and since Ji Ming was good to her, she couldn't always be difficult. Ji Ming sat at the head of the table, and Ji Jing sat on his left. When she sat down, she nodded to Ji Ling across from her.
Ji Ling said, "If you want to eat something, you can ask Aunt Chen to make it. She is skilled in several different cuisines."
Ji Jing obediently nodded. "Okay, I won't be unfair to myself."
Ji Ming also smiled and cast an appreciative glance at his eldest son. Ji Jing may have been separated from the family for many years, but she was still a relative connected by blood.
Ji Ming said gently, "Your other brothers have gone out and won't be eating here. They're all busy with who knows what, so don't worry about them."
Ji Jing nodded, "Yeah, it's okay. We'll just eat on our own."
In fact, she didn't really care. Those who accept her will ultimately accept her, and she didn't have the energy to try to change the minds of those who have prejudices against her.