Powerful Investment Chapter 29: Cheng Pian and Naisi

Chapter 29: Cheng Pian and Naisi

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

“This is my brother, Ji Huan.” Ji Jin glanced briefly as if that was enough introduction. The introduction was so simple it was almost too brief—besides the fact that this was his brother and his name was Ji Huan, he didn’t reveal anything else.

Zhao Ze and Cheng Pian exchanged a look, unsure what to say. Finally, Cheng Pian’s face flushed red as he forced out, “Hello, brother.”

Zhao Ze shot a slight glare at Cheng Pian. Cheng Pian was only seventeen, younger than Ji Jin, so calling Ji Huan “brother” was fine. But Zhao Ze, the team manager and older than Ji Jin, felt it was inappropriate to address him so casually.

“If there’s nothing else, you two can head back first,” Ji Jin said, relieving Zhao Ze and Cheng Pian. “I’ll talk with him myself.”

Zhao Ze and Cheng Pian gratefully nodded and hurriedly left. Even though the dorm was inside, they still walked outside. For some reason, even though Ji Huan looked very gentle and approachable, being around him made people unable to relax.

Maybe this was the legendary strong presence.

Ji Jin resignedly took out his key card and opened the door. Holding Ji Xingxing in his arms, he briefly thought about impulsively shutting Ji Huan out. But he only dared to think about it. Before he could act, Ji Huan grabbed the door handle and squeezed inside.

Zhao Ze must have been in a hurry to tidy up earlier because the room looked a little messy. But that was normal—after all, a single parent raising a child was bound to have a cluttered home.

Ji Huan clicked the door shut behind him and sat down on the small living room sofa by himself. Just sitting there, he carried an aura of superiority.

Compared to him, Ji Jin holding the child and standing obediently to the side looked like a well-behaved student facing a teacher. Anyone who knew Ji Jin would be scared out of their wits seeing him like this.

Ji Huan sat silently on the sofa, but Ji Jin was exhausted holding Ji Xingxing. He couldn’t keep pretending, so he reverted to his usual casual self and slumped down on the sofa with the child.

His brief moment of being “good” lasted only a minute—getting Ji Jin to behave was impossible.

“What wind blew you here all of a sudden? You scared me,” Ji Jin slouched on the sofa. Ji Xingxing eyed the unfamiliar man in front of him and instinctively hid behind his father, peeking out with big eyes.

Ji Huan relaxed slightly, rubbing his brow as he leaned back on the sofa. “It’s all your fault, brat. I just got back from Germany and saw the news about you everywhere. So on my first day off, I had no choice but to come find you.”

Ji Jin raised his eyebrows, thinking it would have been better if Ji Huan hadn’t come.

Ji Huan was three years older than Ji Jin, an Alpha, and a diplomat. He had been stationed at the German embassy and had only recently returned to the department to take up a leadership role.

He hadn’t expected his younger brother to give him such a “surprise” right after returning home.

“Is this my little nephew?” Ji Huan was already tired of dealing with Ji Jin. The main reason he came was because he’d heard Ji Jin was accompanied by a child.

An Omega couldn’t get others pregnant, so this child must be Ji family’s and definitely his nephew.

Ji Huan wasn’t particularly fond of children, but naturally liked his own nephew. He stood and reached out to hold the baby, but the little one, Ji Xingxing, shrank tightly into Ji Jin’s arms, scared.

“Ji Xingxing, this is your uncle,” Ji Jin said as if he didn’t notice the child’s fear, and he gently nudged Ji Xingxing’s little arms toward Ji Huan. “Go play with your uncle for a bit, come on.”

Ji Xingxing helplessly looked back at Ji Jin, but Ji Jin didn’t budge. Ji Huan took the nearly tearful baby in his arms and sat back down.

Ji Xingxing didn’t move at all, his little arms suspended in midair, not daring to touch Ji Huan. His big watery eyes looked at his dad in grievance, but Ji Jin let him stare.

Ji Huan’s scent smelled like oranges. Among Alphas, it wasn’t too aggressive, so Ji Xingxing wasn’t very repelled, just clearly unhappy.

“I want Daddy to hold me…” Ji Xingxing stared at Ji Jin, then glanced at his uncle with a scrunched, unsure face—he wanted to cry but didn’t dare, and couldn’t smile either.

“You let your uncle hold you,” Ji Jin flatly refused.

Actually, Ji Huan felt a bit awkward holding such a tiny baby. The little one was so small and soft that if he applied too much force, he might leave marks. He dared not squeeze, nor hold loosely. Finally, he compromised by letting Ji Xingxing lean against him and gradually freed one hand.

He pulled a small red box from his pocket. It looked very delicate and contained a pair of exquisite, tiny silver bracelets. The bracelets were so light and small they seemed as if a little pressure could break them.

“These are from your uncle. Do you like them?” Ji Huan took out the bracelets. They had two tiny bells attached that jingled softly as he moved.

Ji Xingxing’s attention was caught. He smiled at the little bells and carefully poked one. Ji Huan then fastened the bracelet onto Ji Xingxing’s wrist.

The bracelets fit perfectly and wouldn’t fall off. Whenever Ji Xingxing waved his hands, the bells jingled merrily. The child finally relaxed and sat swinging the bracelets while resting in Ji Huan’s arms.

Even when Ji Huan rubbed his little face, Ji Xingxing didn’t resist.

After playing with his little nephew for a while, Ji Huan suddenly cleared his throat.

Ji Jin thought to himself: here comes the serious part.

“Was the one outside just now your Alpha?” Ji Huan’s first question hit like a deep-water bomb, splashing everywhere, leaving Ji Jin momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

“Cheng Pian… Although he was an Alpha, he was only seventeen. You didn’t think I would go after a minor, did you?” Ji Jin lay lazily on the sofa, staring at Ji Huan — who looked somewhat like him — with a look that was hard to understand.

“Then who was your Alpha? You already had a child; you couldn’t just not take responsibility.” Ji Huan spoke ruthlessly. “You should have guessed why I came.”

“Definitely Mom pushing you. I understood.” Ji Jin said softly. But he would never obey — not in this lifetime.

“She wanted you to quickly find an Alpha to marry, even a Beta would do.” Ji Huan rubbed his brow again. With Ji Jin behind him and their nagging mother ahead, he felt how difficult it really was.

But Ji Jin remained indifferent.

Speaking of which, Ji Jin had run away from an arranged marriage back then. The Ji family had a long history in politics and some savings, mingling with high society. There were just two sons — one Alpha and one Omega. Especially the younger son, an Omega, was spoiled at home and naturally expected to marry someone of equal social status to avoid hardship.

Although the status of Omegas had been improving, their situation was still awkward. Most Omegas rushed to settle marriages young, trying to find a decent, conscientious Alpha to rely on.

But Ji Jin was born wild, and nobody suited him. Mother Ji worried herself sick and finally picked a good family to arrange a marriage. Just then, Ji Jin took the red envelope money he’d saved, ran away from home, and was never heard from again.

The Ji family searched for a long time with no success. Only after the game Legend Reappearance became popular did they discover he was playing esports, and things seemed okay. Just when they relaxed, he suddenly announced retirement and went abroad, vanishing from their radar again.

It wasn’t until recently, when Ji Jin came out to clarify he really was an Omega, that the Ji family got the news again and came to catch him.

“Your child’s already born, but you still won’t bring your Alpha home to see Mom and Dad?” Seeing Ji Jin silent, Ji Huan pressed again.

As an Alpha, he really couldn’t understand his younger brother. Running away from an arranged marriage could be because parental marriage orders felt wrong — restraining, loveless. But now with a child born, as an Omega he should consider marriage matters — at least… at least complete the marking, stabilize his body.

Yet as an Alpha, the moment he entered he smelled the faint but unmistakable unmarked scent on his brother.

Ji Huan sighed and continued to rub his little nephew’s face. Human babies really did have the softest faces to squeeze.

“No.” Ji Jin answered bluntly. His Alpha was still nowhere to be found. Going back now would only mean being treated as a single-parent Omega and getting set up with endless blind dates with various Alphas. “I haven’t even met a suitable Alpha yet, so I can’t go home.”

Ji Huan didn’t know what to say after such a straightforward answer. He carefully looked around the dorm room. Although he barely understood Ji Jin, he could understand a little.

Back then Ji Jin had just taken some red envelope money and ran off. Going abroad surely cost a lot. Ji Huan noticed a piece of cross-stitch in the corner and guessed Ji Jin might have been doing cross-stitch crafts to exchange for money.

Mother Ji loved embroidery, and both brothers had learned a bit. Cross-stitching took time, effort, and strained the eyes, but wasn’t very profitable — better to find a substitute player job. Using this skill to make money meant he was truly desperate.

Ji Jin was an Omega, and the Omega suppressants he used were expensive, not to mention raising a child.

Ji Huan sighed again and decided not to pressure Ji Jin. “Then tell me what you need or lack. Although Mom was mad at you, she didn’t want you to suffer out there. Whatever you need, tell me, and I’ll try to help.”

Ji Jin waited for this sentence. “Ji Xingxing came back from abroad but still didn’t have a formal household registration in City B; he was still using a passport and couldn’t even attend kindergarten.”

“Okay, I’ll have someone look into it and see what can be done.” Ji Huan nodded promptly and rubbed Ji Xingxing’s little face again.

Ji Xingxing felt a little pain from the rubbing, struggled to get down, and called out in a baby voice, “Uncle! Uncle! It hurts!”

Ji Huan was sweetly charmed by the “uncle” and happily teased Ji Xingxing.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Ji Jin went to open it and saw Naisi standing outside with a small backpack, full of maternal affection, rushing to Ji Jin and hugging him tightly.

Ji Huan looked puzzled, and his gaze toward Naisi and Ji Jin suddenly felt very awkward.

Wasn’t it said that no suitable Alpha was found yet? Today he’d already seen several Alphas making moves on his brother.

 

Author’s note:

Ji Huan: My brother says he doesn’t have an Alpha, but I don’t think that’s true.

Cheng Pian: Hello, brother.

Naisi: Hello, brother.

Lu Yao: Hello, brother.

Ji Huan: … Which one is really my brother’s Alpha?

 

Hahaha — Chapter 1 finally revealed a small detail. Mother Ji wanted to raise a refined, talented Omega, teaching God Ji embroidery, but somehow it all went sideways.

 

 

 

 

 

This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.