The evening descended, and the city lights began to glow.
After spending most of the day at the amusement park, Jiang Feng and Situ Yan had dinner at a nearby specialty restaurant before heading back to the city.
On the road, Situ Yan drove quietly, lost in her thoughts.
Today was truly unforgettable for her, the most memorable day she had spent alone with Jiang Feng since they met.
Although they didn't do much besides bungee jumping, the warmth of being together and Jiang Feng's companionship throughout the day left her with endless aftertastes.
Just as Situ Yan was immersed in this lingering warmth, her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at it and saw it was a call from Jing Jie!
In an instant, her good mood was completely shattered, and some unpleasant memories she had barely forgotten rushed back to her mind.
The phone kept ringing, and Situ Yan had no choice but to answer using the car's Bluetooth system.
"Situ Yan, where are you? Are you with Jiang Feng?" As soon as the call connected, Jing Jie impatiently asked.
"Jing Jie, if you're calling to reprimand me again, I suggest you save it. Grandpa has already kicked me out of the family, and I don't regret my decision. I am determined to be with Jiang Feng for the rest of my life; tell him not to waste his thoughts on me!" Situ Yan declared firmly.
Jiang Feng, sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head and looked at Situ Yan.
"Ahem, what are you talking about? I'm not here to blame you."
Unexpectedly, Jing Jie responded to Situ Yan's harsh words not with reproach but with a calm and even genial tone: "Grandpa just mentioned that he also acted impulsively today without considering everything thoroughly, causing you a lot of grievances. So - he hopes you don't harbor resentment against him; he means well for our large family and is sometimes stubborn and obstinate."
"Huh?" Upon hearing Jing Jie's words, Situ Yan froze, almost stepping on the brake!
What was going on? Did her ears deceive her into hearing things?
Beside her, Jiang Feng remained silent, watching her quietly with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Jing Jie, are you okay? What did you just say?" Situ Yan asked incredulously.
"You heard right; I'm conveying Grandfather's exact words. Besides him, my dad and second uncle also want to apologize for today; they realized they didn't consider some things thoroughly. But no matter what, we are family. Could you really hold a grudge against this family forever?" Jing Jie said with a wry smile.
Situ Yan was utterly stunned, left completely in the dark!
This was all too bizarre! Had her entire family taken leave of their senses?!
"Jing Jie, what's going on here? Explain clearly!" Situ Yan asked coldly.
"Nothing much, everyone just did some collective self-reflection. Also, tell Jiang Feng, our Situ Family holds no malice against him. This misunderstanding stemmed from not having clarity on certain issues," Jing Jie cryptically replied. "Of course, you had a hand in this too. Your rashness and secrecy led us to view Xiao Feng with prejudice. If you had been upfront earlier, none of this would have happened. - Grandpa said you should bring Xiao Feng by sometime; he will personally entertain him and have a good talk."
"Jiang Feng?!" Situ Yan exclaimed, finally realizing her entire family, including her stubborn grandfather, had suddenly changed their attitude because of Jiang Feng!
But what exactly had they discovered about Jiang Feng that led to such an abrupt change?
However, Jing Jie didn't give her the chance to dig deeper, saying with a knowing laugh, "Alright, I won't disturb your time with Xiao Feng any longer. Please convey our family's sentiments, and I personally apologize to Xiao Feng for my previous lack of manners. I look forward to you bringing Xiao Feng back to visit our old house again."
With that, Jing Jie hung up the phone.
Situ Yan was still in disbelief!
Before this, she had been prepared to burn bridges, yet her family had undergone such a dramatic reversal?
Was this not just an illusion?
"Jiang Feng, what exactly did you do?" Situ Yan turned to him, bewildered, and asked.
"As you see, I did nothing." Jiang Feng replied with a calm smile, resting his hands behind his head.
He too was baffled about which part of the Situ Family's plan had gone awry, causing them to go back on their words.
Still, their willingness to admit their mistakes and change their attitude, no longer expelling Situ Yan from the family, was a good thing; after all, Situ Yan no longer had to bear the burden of being ostracized.
"They must have learned something about you that forced them to change their perspective!"
Situ Yan said, taking a deep breath, "I'll ask Mr. Mu when I go back; he must know something..."
While Situ Yan was filled with doubts and was inwardly complaining, she didn't notice that a black sedan had silently caught up with her from behind.
The black sedan gradually rode alongside Situ Yan's car, and the driver's side window slowly lowered, revealing a face as expressionless as a poker face.
Hmm?
Though Jiang Feng had never met the face, he immediately sensed a trace of danger emanating from the person!
And in the next moment, as if to confirm Jiang Feng's intuition, the person unexpectedly pulled out a small black pistol, aiming it at Jiang Feng and Situ Yan!
"Get down!" Jiang Feng, quick-witted, immediately shouted at Situ Yan.
"What?" Situ Yan, not comprehending, turned her head in confusion to look at Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng didn't have time to explain further and quickly grabbed Situ Yan by the shoulder, pulling her over to his side and pressing her down forcefully!
At the same moment, the driver fired a shot!
He had a silencer, so there was no loud bang heard when the gun discharged, and a bullet smashed through the glass and entered!
Had it only been Jiang Feng, he could have caught the incoming bullet in a multitude of ways.
However, now he had to shield Situ Yan, leaving him no time for anything else. While focusing on ensuring Situ Yan's absolute safety, he ended up a bit too slow himself, the bullet grazing his arm and breaking the skin.
Situ Yan noticed the sound of the bullet whizzing past and realized they were under attack. She quickly lifted her head in shock and asked nervously, "What happened?"
"Stay down, get down!" Jiang Feng pressed her down again because the driver's second shot had already been fired!
Jiang Feng leaned back, and the bullet nearly grazed his nose, directly punching a hole in the car's other side window glass!