Pyramid Hanging Upside Down Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Not long after, the ambulance that arrived in time took Zhao Shixuan away again, ending the farce.

Qi Feiluan had no intention of staying at the venue anymore. He said politely to Father Bai, turned around and walked out of the venue.

From leaving the venue to walking out of the building, Qi Feiluan heard the footsteps following him. Of course he knew who the owner of the footsteps was.

When Qi Feiluan was about to step out of the door into the cold night outside, Ji Xingyuan, who was quietly following him, finally couldn’t help but call him: “A-luan.”

Qi Feiluan stopped and turned to look back at Ji Xingyuan.

This was the first time he saw Ji Xingyuan in more than half a year.

Ji Xingyuan is a little thinner than before. His eyebrows are high and his eye sockets are deep, which can easily cause a sense of oppression when looking directly at people. After losing weight, this oppression should be more prominent, but at this moment Qi Feiluan felt that something had changed about Ji Xingyuan.

There was no indifference as Qi Feiluan imagined, nor the excitement of seeing each other again. Ji Xingyuan just stood a few steps away from him and looked at him calmly, almost softly, and said, “I didn’t know you were here before I came here. I came here with Jian Junshuang on an impromptu basis.”

This was not an explanation. Qi Feiluan nodded and said, “I understand.”

Ji Xingyuan opened his mouth again, and the words turned into a brief blessing: “Although it has been two days, I still wish you a happy New Year’s Day.

He called Qi Feiluan. In fact, he had a lot to say. He wanted to ask Qi Feiluan if he wanted to come back, wanted to tell him about the choices he had made, and even wanted to ask him if he could forgive himself. However, he was afraid that his behavior would be misunderstood by Qi Feiluan as some kind of coercion or control method, and he thought that he was back to his old ways, so these words became the most ordinary blessings with the least ambiguity.

“Happy New Year’s Day.”Qi Feiluan also replied.

Then Qi Feiluan stood here and waited for a while, but Ji Xingyuan just looked at him and remained silent.

Ji Xingyuan looked at Qi Feiluan almost greedily. Meeting Qi Feiluan at the banquet this time was an accident. He knew that he should not have followed Qi Feiluan, let alone stopped Qi Feiluan, but no matter how much he should not, he was defeated the moment he saw Qi Feiluan leave.

He now seizes every minute and every second to watch Qi Feiluan. One more look will be the support he needs to continue to spend the long years.

Over the past six months, he had been looking forward to Qi Feiluan’s return, but his expectations failed again and again. This torture finally reached its peak on his birthday.

On December 21, the day before the winter solstice, Ji Xingyuan turned down all work and banquets, refused everyone’s visits, put on formal clothes and waited in the Ji family manor.

On this day last year, he held a grand banquet here to celebrate his becoming the new generation leader of the Ji family, but what impressed him most was not the grand ball itself, but the opening and closing of the ball.

At the beginning, he and Qi Feiluan appeared from upstairs and walked down the stairs hand in hand; after the guests dispersed, the two of them danced together in the empty auditorium.

Ji Xingyuan has never felt lonely, not because he is always surrounded by guests, subordinates, and retainers, but because the person who has been by his side has always been there. But now that he is gone, loneliness is like a wave of countless hands grabbing him, trying to sink him forever in this infinite sea.

Ji Xingyuan just waited from zero o’clock to sunrise, and then from sunrise to sunset. The lights of this brilliant building were bright and dim, dim and bright again, but he never could wait for the figure that might appear.

Maybe he will come today, maybe he will come tomorrow, maybe he will never come back.

From waiting full of expectations to waiting without hope, Ji Xingyuan watched as the hands on the clock in the hall were about to turn a circle again.

Finally, the three pointers with different speeds overlapped for a moment, and then the fastest pointer jumped forward one space again.

A new day has arrived, Ji Xingyuan’s birthday has passed, and Qi Feiluan did not come to celebrate him.

The winter solstice has arrived, and Ji Xingyuan will be greeted by the longest dark night.

In front of the gate, Qi Feiluan thought that Ji Xingyuan stopped him because he had something to say, but seeing that he remained silent, Qi Feiluan was about to turn around and push the door to leave when he heard Ji Xingyuan say again from behind: “I also wish you a Happy New Year in advance.”

Since Qi Feiluan will not come on his birthday, Qi Feiluan will not come on New Year’s Eve and New Year either.

All Ji Xingyuan could do was wish him a happy holiday in advance.

The cold wind in the capital city howled outside the door. The mighty cold wind blew from west to east, from north to south. It obviously couldn’t blow on the two people, but it seemed to blow through their hearts.

Qi Feiluan walked out of the door into the cold wind, and the wind blew the scarf around his neck. Unfortunately, the closed door blocked Ji Xingyuan’s sight and no one could see him.

Qi Feiluan, who got into the car and turned on the automatic driving, leaned back in his chair. It must be said that he was a little surprised.

When he agreed that Bo Hanxu would come to the banquet, he had already mentally prepared himself for the possibility of meeting Ji Xingyuan. If he did, it would be unexpected and reasonable.

What surprised him was… Ji Xingyuan actually didn’t try to keep him or say anything else to him.

A simple explanation, a supplementary blessing and a blessing in advance.

If outsiders saw it, they would probably think it was two strangers chatting.

Qi Feiluan turned his head and looked at the passing scenery outside the window. The brilliant lights of the city gave his face a golden edge.

On the other side, Ji Xingyuan, who was watching Qi Feiluan leave, stood there for a while, and his straight back suddenly collapsed. When he turned around and walked back to the venue, he straightened up again.

Ji Xingyuan returned to the venue, and the guests gathered around again.

Father Bai picked up a glass of wine and handed it to Ji Xingyuan and said, “Welcome Mr. Ji.”

Ji Xingyuan glanced at the wine glass, took off the leather glove he had been wearing with his left hand with his right hand, revealing the covered metal prosthetic leg, then stretched out the prosthetic leg with his left hand to take the glass of wine, and replied: “It’s my pleasure.”

When Father Bai saw Ji Xingyuan’s left hand, he couldn’t help but froze because of his experience.

All the other guests’ eyes fell on Ji Xingyuan’s left hand, and the venue fell silent for a moment.

Ji Xingyuan raised his glass and took a few sips of wine as usual, then placed it on the waiter’s tray as usual, then turned around and asked Bai’s father: “Mr. Bai, do you have any questions?”

Father Bai came back to his senses and quickly controlled his expression, and said naturally: “It’s nothing, just a little unexpected.I thought the Ji family was the most traditional and would not accept prosthetic replacement.”

Ji Xingyuan said: “None of us can say whether prosthetic replacement is the future of human development, but the emergence of new technologies is an irresistible trend.It is not just a technology, it will also gradually change people’s cognition, ethics and aesthetics. If we cannot accept such innovation and stick to the old concepts and traditions, we will only be eliminated by the wave.Mr. Bai, do you think I am right?”

Father Bai understood: “I consider myself a fairly enlightened person.Although I still cannot accept the use of prosthetics to replace original limbs, as Mr. Ji said, the new bill on prosthetic replacement protection is in line with the trend of technological innovation. Our opposition is not against the bill and technology, but against ourselves.”

As he spoke, Father Bai showed a wry smile and said: “In addition to prosthetics and the development of AI, once the carrier and software are available, perhaps real ‘robots’ will appear. I only hope that I will not live to vote in parliament on whether ‘robots’ have human rights.””

While Father Bai was talking to Ji Xingyuan, the guests in the venue were also talking frequently in twos and threes.

Ji Xingyuan has been wearing a one-handed glove on his left hand for a long time. People who have noticed it have made many speculations. Some people think that his left hand may be allergic, scarred or burned, but no one guessed that he actually replaced the prosthetic leg.

Most people hold a conservative view on prosthetics, after all, they are metal inserted into the human body.

For disabled people or people with amputated limbs due to injuries, prosthetic technology is of course a boon. However, after prosthetic technology matures, many people with intact limbs and no problems will replace prosthetic limbs.

What exactly does prosthetic limbs mean to humans, and is it really safe?Is it really convenient enough for humans to give up the integrity of their limbs?

These questions have not yet been answered, and the upper class despises the installation of prosthetic limbs. In their aesthetic view, a complete limb is what a normal person looks like.

But Ji Xingyuan publicly showed off his left hand that had been replaced with a prosthetic limb…

This was both a signal and a bomb, making everyone eager to discuss with those around them what it meant.

…

After that night, Qi Feiluan returned to his daily life. Meeting Ji Xingyuan that night seemed to be just a dream.

Qi Feiluan was lying on the bed in his room and fell asleep at night, when he suddenly caught a slight noise in his sleep.

Before his consciousness could break out of his sleep state, his subconscious mind vaguely realized that something was wrong.

Then the noise gradually grew a little louder and came straight towards him.

Qi Feiluan woke up suddenly. As soon as he opened his eyes, a big hand like an iron hoop held a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose.

Qi Feiluan held his breath reflexively, and then began to fight back in an attempt to break free.

Qi Feiluan had no idea that someone would break into his home late at night and attack him. You must know that the villa area where he lives with his parents is well kept secret and secure. The villa itself also has an intelligent system. However, these people broke in so easily, silently and quickly, which shows that these people are definitely not ordinary kidnappers.

Although Qi Feiluan reacted and barely fought back twice, these people acted decisively and cooperated tacitly. In the confusion, he was punched on the chest and abdomen. He couldn’t hold his breath. The moment he took in his breath, he realized something was wrong.

Sure enough, Qi Feiluan lost consciousness not long after.

In the groggy moment before losing consciousness, the last thing he thought about was that he was glad that his parents had gone to attend the social season dinner and hadn’t come back yet.