Mu Jingzhe looked at Tang Moling with an embarrassed expression. She hadn’t expected the mighty and domineering CEO to have such a side to him. Seeing Tang Moling unconsciously protecting his butt seemed like watching a naughty child seeing his parents. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

  Tang Moling finally realized that his actions were abnormal when he saw the way she was looking at him. He quickly put his hand down and was about to say something when he saw the way Ji Buwang was gazing at Mu Jingzhe.

  His gaze was focused and gentle, as if he was looking at a treasure.

  Tang Moling’s heart instantly sank. Previously, he had already noticed that there was something wrong with the way Ji Buwang looked at her. He’d had a feeling that his uncle had feelings for Mu Jingzhe, but because he was too shocked and because he liked Mu Jingzhe, he had subconsciously ignored this nagging feeling. But now, Tang Moling could no longer ignore it.

  Uncle probably liked Mu Jingzhe and wanted to make her his aunt, right?

  No, no, definitely not!

  Tang Moling was on the verge of breaking down. He had just declared with confidence that she wouldn’t be able to find anyone better than him, and now his uncle had appeared out of nowhere.

  The change in his status and position, as well as his status as the successor, had all happened because his Uncle Ji Buwang had been unconscious. It was solely because of this that he’d gotten such an opportunity.

  Now, his uncle had woken up. It was a good thing that his uncle had come out of his coma. Tang Moling should be happy, but at the same time, this also meant that his status as the heir might be gone.

  He was about to lose the identity he was the proudest of.

  Not only that, but he liked Mu Jingzhe, and so did his uncle. He could be arrogant around others, but how could he be arrogant around his uncle?

  It was hard for Tang Moling to describe how he felt at the moment. It was as if he had died once, experienced a calamity, seen everything get destroyed, and in the end, there was nothing left.

  He didn’t dare imagine what it would be like to lose everything and watch Mu Jingzhe become his aunt, so he told himself that he had to be overthinking things.

  Tang Moling was lost in his thoughts when he heard Ji Buwang speak.

  \r \r \r

  “You still haven’t told me why you broke off the engagement. Grandpa said that you were very serious this time, and your heart had definitely settled down. I didn’t even disturb you, so why did you suddenly break off the engagement?”

  “I… I…” Could Tang Moling say that he had broken off the engagement because he’d had a change of heart? In front of Ji Buwang, he couldn’t say that he had fallen for Mu Jingzhe.

  “Why do you still have the temper of a child at this age? One moment, you’re like this, and the next, you’re like that. You got into a quarrel and broke off the engagement. Outrageous.” Ji Buwang lectured him. Tang Moling’s mind was a mess, and in the end, it went blank. There was also a dumbfounded look on his face.

  He needed to calm down, so he found an excuse to run away.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at Tang Moling’s back view and then at Ji Buwang. “You guys are really strange. You’ve always been in the county city and even moved around in the same area, but you’d never met.”

  “I think it’s quite strange too.” Ji Buwang smiled. “He suffered a little when he was young. In order to change his personality, we indulged him a little. Later on, he could be a little agitating. Did he bully you?”

  “I don’t think so.” Mu Jingzhe tried hard to recall Tang Moling’s past in the original book. It seemed to have been described before, but there wasn’t much of a description. It was likely that this uncle of his had no name in the novel.

  Mu Jingzhe only remembered that Tang Moling was a domineering CEO and the only suitable heir. However, under the circumstances, would Tang Moling inherit the position from his maternal grandfather’s family?

  What about Ji Buwang then? He didn’t seem to exist in the book. Had he not woken up?

  Upon thinking of this, Mu Jingzhe didn’t feel good. Ji Buwang was still too young to remain in a coma forever. Besides, she also knew that he had retained awareness while he had been in a coma.

  Did that mean that he would struggle while being ‘awake’ in his unconscious state and eventually die soberly?

  Mu Jingzhe frowned, thinking that it was too cruel. Ji Buwang looked at Mu Jingzhe’s furrowed brows and glanced in the direction Tang Moling had run.

  Tang Moling had been so traumatized that he had even forgotten to drive. Ji Buwang looked at the car Tang Moling had left behind and thought to himself, ‘I didn’t want to disturb this nephew of mine, nor did I want to meet him too early. Now that I’ve seen him, I have to talk to him.’

  During the period of time that he had left this nephew be, he’d seemed a little too indulgent.

  Tang Moling, who had run out of the room, suddenly shuddered. He finally stopped in his tracks and entered a daze, ignoring where he was standing.

  Tang Moling might be living a glorious life now, but his childhood hadn’t been good. His mother had been blinded by love and had fallen in love with a poor boy. Because of her parents’ objections, she had even eloped and cut off all contact with her family.

  Reality wasn’t a fairy tale. It ended in tragedy. His mother had been used to living a good life since she was a child. She couldn’t take any hardships and had been defeated by reality in a short time.

  However, because of her pride, she hadn’t contacted her parents. Later on, she didn’t have the chance to contact them. When she fell sick, she died because she didn’t have the money to treat her illness.

  His father had then married his stepmother, who wasn’t like Mu Jingzhe and viewed him as a thorn in her side. Thus, he had a severe prejudice against all stepmothers.

  He couldn’t be blamed for this. Those days had been really gloomy. Fortunately, his maternal grandfather had found him later on… No, the correct form of address was ‘Great-Grandpa’. However, in the place where he had grown up, great-grandfathers were also called ‘Grandpa’, so he was used to calling him ‘Grandpa’.

  Grandpa had brought him back. Thanks to the love of his maternal grandfather and uncle, he’d finally started to see good days.

  Initially, Grandfather and the rest hadn’t nurtured Tang Moling particularly. They’d only wanted him to be a rich, idle person who would assist Uncle and the rest if he could. However, they hadn’t expected that First Uncle would pass away and Young Uncle would later fall into a coma. The doctor had even said that the chances of him waking up were very slim.

  Since both of his uncles had gotten in an accident, he was the only choice his maternal grandfather had. When his uncle fell into a coma for a year, he started grooming Tang Moling to prepare him to inherit the family business.

  Tang Moling would be the heir to the Ji Family in the future, which was a consensus everyone had reached. Grandfather would also hand more and more matters over to him, and it would be fine as long as he worked by following the protocol.

  However, Tang Moling hadn’t expected Ji Buwang to wake up. Tang Moling had feelings for his maternal grandfather and uncle. Back when Ji Buwang had gotten in an accident, he had also been unable to sleep well and had often visited his uncle.

  With the passage of time, seeing that his uncle had remained unconscious, and due to his busy life, Tang Moling had gradually stopped visiting and thinking about what would happen when Uncle woke up.

  However, Ji Buwang had woken up without any warning. Now that he had woken up, Tang Moling’s position as the heir would be awkward, as he didn’t have a rightful claim to the position to begin with.

  However, he hadn’t expected that after his uncle woke up, he wouldn’t be in a hurry to announce it to the outside world and take back the heir position immediately. Instead, he hid it from the outside world, even from him.

  Even Grandpa didn’t tell him about it. During this period of time, Grandpa had been acting normally and hadn’t mentioned taking back any power. Hence, he hadn’t sensed anything unusual.

  However, Tang Moling couldn’t lie to himself and say that everything would continue to be like this.

  Although he had undergone three years of training, he was still far inferior to his uncle, Ji Buwang, who had been trained since he was young. Now that his uncle had woken up, why would he be chosen as the heir?

  Tang Moling was happy and conflicted. Besides, Mu Jingzhe was involved.

  “Ah.” Tang Moling scratched his head in frustration. Why did he have to say those words to Mu Jingzhe?

  He didn’t want Mu Jingzhe to be his aunt. He couldn’t accept that.