Chapter 25 Invitation

The next afternoon, Lin Xian arrived at the Donghai Lakeside Villa District at the time he had agreed upon with Ji Lin.

After getting out of the car at the entrance of the villa district, Lin Xian walked inside.

The internal roads were indeed wide, and nothing had changed since his last visit. He noticed that the road in front of Ji Lin's villa was the widest and straightest, indeed suitable for sports cars.

Because it was an internal main road, there were relatively many manhole covers, and they were relatively concentrated. There were two manhole covers on each side of Ji Lin's villa, about ten meters away.

Manhole covers are very common in urban areas.

In urban construction, there are many underground pipelines, such as sewers, underground gas pipelines, water pipelines, power pipelines, communication pipelines, etc. These pipelines will have a manhole every certain distance to facilitate future maintenance and repairs.

However, in densely populated residential areas like this, most of the manholes on the roads are sewers or sewage wells. The wide roads are suitable for large septic trucks to come and dredge regularly.

This is the same for both villa districts and general residential areas.

In terms of eating, drinking, and defecating, all living beings are equal. No matter how high-end the residential area is, if the sewage wells are not regularly dredged by septic trucks, blockage is only a matter of time.

Lin Xian walked slowly, looking at the "well-placed" manhole covers, chuckled inwardly, and looked away.

Arriving at the gate of Ji Lin's villa, Lin Xian pressed the doorbell.

"Welcome."

Ji Lin quickly opened the door, smiling at Lin Xian standing at the door:

"Come in, you're really a great help."

He pulled Lin Xian into the room.

The living room was quite tidy, but it was unlikely that Ji Lin had tidied it up. Someone like him probably had a nanny or a housekeeper… otherwise, with Ji Lin's self-care ability, he would probably starve to death.

At this time, various streamer decorations, colorful props, and balloons of all sizes that had not been inflated were placed on the floor of the living room.

"Are you going to turn your house into an amusement park?"

Lin Xian looked at him suspiciously:

"Isn't it a bit too much to make such a big show for a birthday party?"

"It doesn't matter, it's better than not enough."

Ji Lin didn't care much about this.

Well, anyway, he's not short of money.

Lin Xian scanned the villa with its large floor-to-ceiling windows, extremely luxurious decoration, Nordic style, and a fireplace that was more ornamental than practical.

"I usually like to sit in this place."

Ji Lin pointed to a spot on the wooden floor:

"Usually this living room is filled with all kinds of books and newspapers. I like books very much. Sometimes sleeping in piles of books makes me feel more at ease than sleeping in bed."

"That's my bedroom." Ji Lin pointed to a room opposite the first floor:

"Normal bedrooms are built on the second floor, but I'm too lazy to go upstairs. I basically haven't been to the second floor at all. It's more convenient to sleep on the first floor."

Under Ji Lin's lead, Lin Xian walked into the bedroom with him.

Although this bedroom was not small, it was obviously not worthy of this villa in terms of area. It should be as Ji Lin said, this bedroom was converted from other rooms on the first floor. Normal bedrooms were all on the second floor.

However, the furnishings in the bedroom were too simple. Except for a table, a bed, and a separate washroom, there was almost no other furniture.

"It fits my stereotype of you." Lin Xian couldn't help but complain.

He walked to the desk, on which were placed two photo frames.

He picked up one of them…

It looked like a family photo of three people, with the parents standing in the back and a little boy standing in the front.

But Lin Xian quickly realized that this was not a family photo of three, because he saw a familiar face—

Xu Yun.

The man standing on the right side in the back of this photo was Xu Yun in his youth. Lin Xian had seen Xu Yun's youthful appearance in the Donghai University graduation album, and it was exactly the same as him in the photo frame now.

It seemed that Xu Yun's life was indeed very happy in those years. His face was born from his heart, and he looked so young and cheerful.

Then, it goes without saying that the woman standing next to Xu Yun, who looked both beautiful and virtuous, must be Xu Yun's wife.

Xu Yun's wife had many identities. She was Ji Lin's sister, Ji Xinshui's niece, and Xu Yiyi's mother.

The remaining child was even easier to guess.

The little boy wearing a suit and tie was naturally Ji Lin as a child.

Ji Lin in the photo looked no more than four or five years old.

This photo should have been taken during the stage when Xu Yun and Ji Xinshui had a very good relationship and often gave Ji Lin gifts and books.

This was a happy time that belonged exclusively to the three of them.

Beautiful.

But short-lived.

Lin Xian held the photo frame, pointed to the little boy on it, turned around and looked at Ji Lin:

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a family portrait of you and Xu Yun's family?"

Ji Lin nodded:

"Yes, we had a very good relationship back then."

Lin Xian looked into his eyes:

"Xu Yun died so tragically and left behind a vegetative daughter… Do you feel sad for his death?"

"Of course I feel sad." Ji Lin nodded:

"After all, Xu Yun was my first friend in life. I liked him very much."

*Da.*

Lin Xian put down this photo frame and picked up another photo frame on the table.

This photo frame also contained a group photo, but in terms of atmosphere, it was much more serious than the previous happy family portrait.

This was a group photo of three people, an old man and two children, a boy and a girl.

The old man in the photo had white hair on his temples, dry skin, and wore a black woolen hat. His eyes were sharp and cold, and he sat upright in the chair.

This face…

Ji Xinshui.

Lin Xian had seen many photos of him in the news. His facial features and figure were highly recognizable, very much like those serious aristocratic gentlemen in old Western movies.

On Ji Xinshui's left and right stood two children, a boy and a girl.

The boy and girl were about five or six years old. The boy on the left was Ji Lin, who was a little older and taller than in the previous photo with Xu Yun, but his general appearance had not changed, and his hair was also longer, covering his eyebrows.

Innocent, yet with a delicate beauty.

Ji Lin's appearance when he was a child was even better than it is now. He could have gone directly to Hollywood to be a child star.

And turning his gaze to the little girl standing in the lower right corner of the photo…

Lin Xian felt like he was seeing an elf princess in the forest.

This little girl was a foreigner, and she didn't seem to be of pure Western descent. She looked more like a face unique to the Middle East.

Her facial features were exquisite, her face had distinct edges and corners, and she was tall and slender. She was a beauty in the making.

She looked a few years older than Ji Lin at the time, and was nearly a head taller than Ji Lin in the photo; however, girls always grow everything earlier than boys, not to mention that she was of foreign descent, so this height difference was not surprising.

"Who is this?"

Lin Xian pointed to the beautiful little girl in the photo and asked Ji Lin:

"Is this also your sister? I don't seem to have heard you mention her before."

"Angelica."

Ji Lin said softly:

"She is also one of the orphans adopted by Ji Xinshui. We grew up together. Lin Xian, you usually like to watch movies so much, you should be familiar with her."

Angelica?

Lin Xian began to compare actors in movies in his mind…

He instantly matched a similar face!

"Angelica… Could it be that Hollywood actress?"

Ji Lin nodded.

"I remember now, that movie you adapted, *Broken Bridge*, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, you were nominated for Best Screenwriter, and there was also a Best Actress nomination, which was this Angelica… So you are a family."

Ji Lin nodded again:

"Yes, it's her. We grew up together in Ji Xinshui's orphanage. Later, when I was three or four years old, Angelica and I were taken to live with Ji Xinshui."

"You told me about this before."

Lin Xian recalled the conversation between the two in the dormitory before:

"You told me at the time that Ji Xinshui would bring those smart children to his side to raise. You are definitely smart… But how did this Angelica get raised by Ji Xinshui? It can't be just because she was born beautiful, right?"

"Of course not."

Ji Lin lowered his head and smiled, took the photo frame from Lin Xian's hand, and looked at the elf-like beautiful girl in the photo:

"Angelica is also very smart."

He raised his head and looked at Lin Xian:

"Lin Xian, Hollywood is such a complicated place, not just anyone can make it. Angelica has many amazing qualities, and even in terms of action… I haven't seen a woman stronger than her. Her action is really very strong. It feels like…"

Ji Lin blinked:

"It feels like you."

"Me?"

"Yes." Ji Lin put the photo frame on the table and continued:

"Your action is also very strong, like driving alone to chase the murderer… If it wasn't for the bomb suddenly exploding, were you still planning to force the taxi to stop with your sports car? Or flip the taxi over?"

"Maybe."

Lin Xian didn't deny it. That was actually his original plan. When necessary, he would be prepared to damage Zhao Yingjun's Ferrari to flip over that taxi.

The Ferrari has a low chassis and a low center of gravity. As long as you find the right angle and cooperate with centrifugal force, flipping over that taxi is as easy as flipping your hand.

It's just that the time hadn't come yet, and the taxi exploded directly.

"Angelica is that kind of person. She can do that kind of thing too."

"Are you talking about in the movie?" Lin Xian asked.

Ji Lin shook his head and smiled meaningfully:

"In reality, she's not much different."

……

Afterwards, Lin Xian and Ji Lin walked out of the bedroom and began to decorate the living room.

Now you can really buy anything on online shopping platforms, and these decorations are designed to be convenient and idiot-proof to install. Basically, you just unpack, pull apart, and paste, and then it's done.

Convenient and efficient.

Therefore, it only took Lin Xian and Ji Lin more than an hour to decorate the living room together.

Once these decorations were in place, the atmosphere of the entire living room instantly went up.

It became festive and warm.

Lin Xian noticed that Ji Lin not only bought a lot of decorations online, but also bought a lot of table games and those prank-like funny toys.

"You're really putting in the effort…"

Lin Xian exclaimed:

"You've done a lot of homework for this birthday, haven't you?"

"I did watch a lot of guides online." Ji Lin replied truthfully:

"They all say that after eating at a birthday party, you can play these table games. Didn't we play these at Chu Anqing's birthday party that day? I think it's quite interesting."

"Probably because you usually don't play much."

Lin Xian smiled helplessly:

"Actually, we've all played these games hundreds of times. We were playing them when we were in school. But it's true, it's lively with a lot of people, and it's fine to play some games."

"Speaking of a lot of people being lively, Lin Xian, I really have something to tell you."

Ji Lin neatly stacked the various games on the ground, moved them to the table, and then turned to look at Lin Xian:

"You know, I don't have many friends. I can't invite as many people as Chu Anqing did for her birthday… So if you have any friends, feel free to bring them over to play."

Letting himself bring friends over to play?

In his case, Gao Yang is his only friend in Donghai, and Ji Lin doesn't know him…

"Didn't Chu Anqing's classmates say they would come?"

"There aren't many of them, and they're all girls…"

"I see."

Lin Xian suddenly thought of someone, smiling and looking at Ji Lin:

"I do have a high school classmate in Donghai. How about I invite him to your birthday party?"

"Of course." Ji Lin smiled:

"The house is so big, it's more lively with more people. I don't want my birthday party to be too deserted. That would be embarrassing. Can your classmate come?"

"I'll ask."

Lin Xian took out his phone, his eyes still on Ji Lin:

"You should also be familiar with the name of this classmate of mine."

"Oh? Who is it?"

Ji Lin walked over, and Lin Xian showed him the contact card on his phone that had not yet dialed, staring carefully into his eyes, and said word by word:

"Zhou, Duan, Yun."