Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Outside the grand gates of the Luo family's castle, Shen Dongyi, with her backpack in tow, waited anxiously until the security guard relayed the message: "Please bear with us, Miss Shen. Young Master Three has just finished his breakfast and is on his way to the garage; he'll be out soon."

Shen Dongyi was taken aback. "Coming out…?"

Having visited the Luo residence before, Shen Dongyi knew that the main house was quite a distance from the entrance, requiring a short drive even for someone in good health. Given Luo Qianjian's frail condition, it made sense for him to use a car if he intended to meet her at the gate.

But Shen Dongyi wasn't sure what the guard meant exactly.

Was Luo Qianjian planning to come out specifically to pick her up and bring her inside?

Or did he intend to take her back to school together?

Shen Dongyi wanted to clarify but didn't want to appear presumptuous or overly interested, so she simply asked in return.

The guard, merely relaying the information from the butler without much thought, couldn't provide the reassurance Shen Dongyi sought. He only said, "Yes, please wait a little longer. If you don't mind, Miss Shen, you can sit in our booth for a few minutes."

"No, no need. Thank you," Shen Dongyi said, gripping her backpack strap as she stood at the gate, head bowed in anticipation.

A moment later, two cars emerged from the castle grounds, stopping simultaneously at the entrance.

Lifting her gaze, Shen Dongyi saw the windows of both vehicles lower. In the rear of the second car sat Luo Qianjian, whom she had come to see. And in the front car…sat Luo Hefeng.

Luo Qianjian's elder brother, with whom Shen Dongyi had shared brief moments.

"Qianjian!" Shen Dongyi called out more cheerfully to Luo Qianjian first, then greeted Luo Hefeng with a restrained smile, politely saying, "Big Brother Luo, good morning."

Luo Hefeng's car was parked beside Shen Dongyi, but after lowering the window, he didn't immediately speak. It wasn't until Shen Dongyi greeted him that Luo Hefeng nodded slightly.

"Good morning, Miss Shen." Luo Hefeng's expression remained as calm as ever, showing no particular emotion as he briefly acknowledged her before instructing the driver to continue.

For Luo Hefeng's character, taking the time to stop and greet her was already quite exceptional.

"It seems Big Brother isn't too busy today," Luo Qianjian remarked, leaning out of his car window to Shen Dongyi. "I've never seen him bother to stop and greet anyone before."

Shen Dongyi watched as Luo Hefeng's car drove away, then refocused on Luo Qianjian, momentarily surprised by his words.

Then she smiled gently, saying, "It must be because I'm your classmate, Qianjian…"

Luo Qianjian raised an eyebrow lightly. "I've had many classmates throughout my life, yet Big Brother has never remembered any of them. Anyway, let's not talk about this. Get in the car."

Hearing the first part of his sentence, Shen Dongyi couldn't help but purse her lips before nodding.

Once inside the car, as they continued to leave the Luo residence, Shen Dongyi came to her senses and asked, "Qianjian, where are we going now…?"

"Back to school," Luo Qianjian replied calmly, then seemingly casually asked, "It's quite a distance from my home to school. Your journey here must have been exhausting, especially so early in the morning. I replied to your WeChat message telling you not to make the trip. Didn't you see it?"

Surprised, Shen Dongyi hastily explained, "Did you reply? I'm sorry, Qianjian. I didn't see it. My phone was dead when I woke up this morning, but I was in a rush to meet you, so I didn't charge it."

Luo Qianjian mirrored her surprise. "Ah, your phone was dead? How did you manage to pay for your ride here then?"

Shen Dongyi pulled out her wallet with a smile. "I always carry cash."

Luo Qianjian nodded, composedly saying, "That's good."

Shen Dongyi further explained, "I usually charge my phone before bed, but as you know, its charging port is unreliable. Last night, I plugged it in but didn't notice it wasn't charging properly. This morning, I realized it hadn't charged at all."

Luo Qianjian, who was typically considerate and avoided touching sensitive spots, asked innocently, "Then why don't you get a new phone?"

Shen Dongyi was momentarily at a loss for words.

Luo Qianjian looked at her, blinking, his tone light and cheerful. "Huh, didn't I mention that you've been using this phone since the start of university? It's been three years, and it's always having issues. You should really get a new one."

Shen Dongyi could only lower her head, as if hurt by Luo Qianjian's insensitivity, but she forced a smile and responded understandingly, "Indeed, I've used it for quite some time, but…let's save that for later. A new phone is quite expensive. You might not understand, given your fortunate circumstances…"

"What does that have to do with anything? When something essential breaks, it should be replaced," Luo Qianjian continued, oblivious to the practicalities of life, his tone matter-of-fact and somewhat smug.

"Dongyi, you're always busy working part-time. Isn't the money you save supposed to be used wisely? Missing my reply due to your phone's poor condition is a minor issue, but what if it's something more important next time? With graduation approaching, you can't afford to miss crucial messages because your phone failed to charge due to a faulty connection…"

"I think you should get a new phone. Otherwise, the next time you visit my house, I'll give you one of my unused phones. They're technically new, as my big brother brings me the latest models every now and then, which I hardly use."

Luo Qianjian said with a smile.

Being a low-emotional villain was rather annoying to others.

But playing the role felt genuinely satisfying.

Didn't the protagonist, Shen Dongyi, look increasingly uncomfortable?

"No, no need. Thank you for your kindness, Qianjian. I know you have my best interests at heart, but I'll be more careful about charging my phone in the future. Apart from the charging issues, there's nothing seriously wrong with my current phone. Maybe I'll try a different charger…Let's talk about the project proposal instead?" Shen Dongyi changed the subject.

However, Luo Qianjian shook his head, leaning back leisurely while closing his eyes.

Luo Qianjian: "I don't like discussing serious matters in the car; it makes me dizzy. Let's talk about it when we get to school."

Shen Dongyi could only nod in response.

Arriving at the school library, Luo Qianjian and Shen Dongyi found a spot on the outdoor terrace, separated from the interior by glass doors, allowing them to discuss their project aloud without disturbance.

In their major's curriculum, concerning the composition of graduation credits, there was a requirement for two innovation credits. The large-scale creative project they were discussing today aimed to fulfill that requirement.

When it came to academics, Luo Qianjian was quite serious.

During their discussion, Shen Dongyi subtly exhaled in relief—Luo Qianjian's behavior in the car earlier was unusual, but now it seemed he was still the same as before.

After finishing their discussion, Luo Qianjian and Shen Dongyi divided the tasks and set deadlines, then parted ways at the library entrance.

Shen Dongyi headed to the cafeteria for lunch, while Luo Qianjian left the school grounds, as he had no classes that day.

However, after getting in the car, Luo Qianjian gave the driver an alternate destination, not rushing back to the Luo residence just yet.

He didn't go out of his way today merely to chauffeur Shen Dongyi back to school in a dedicated vehicle.

The destination wasn't far from the school, but halfway there, the car suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

Luo Qianjian, seated in the back, nearly collided with the seat in front due to inertia, but thankfully, his seatbelt saved him from being flung forward.

"Sorry, Third Young Master, are you alright?" The driver hurriedly asked and explained, "A person in a wheelchair suddenly darted out in front, forcing me to brake sharply."

Luo Qianjian slightly shook his head. "I'm fine."

Looking through the windshield, there was indeed a young man in a wheelchair wearing sunglasses on the road ahead.

Around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, his cold demeanor betrayed no hint of youthfulness. He was quite handsome, though his hair, reaching down to his neck, seemed somewhat unkempt, giving it an unintentionally "flowing" appearance, which did little to detract from his looks.

The driver said to Luo Qianjian, "Third Young Master, should I go check it out?"

Luo Qianjian nodded slightly.

The driver got out of the car, and Luo Qianjian lowered the window, curious about what was happening.

The young man had been sitting in front of the car all this time, silent and unmoving, as if he were a novice at seeking compensation for staged accidents.

"Sir, are you okay?" The driver approached the young man.

The young man, who had been slightly bowed his head, lifted it at the sound of the voice. His eyes hidden behind sunglasses, he asked confusedly, "I thought I heard the sound of brakes just now. Was I pushed onto the road? It's alright, my caregiver was just playing a prank on me. Could you help push me back onto the sidewalk?"

Realizing that the young man in the wheelchair was blind, the driver was startled, thinking that "a caregiver jokingly pushing someone onto the road" sounded more like attempted murder!

Moreover, this so-called caregiver wasn't anywhere nearby, clearly having fled the scene after committing a deliberate act of homicide!

"Well... how about I call the police for you?" the driver suggested.

The young man shook his head. "No need. The caregiver was hired by my family. I'm both crippled and blind, so it's not convenient for me to have conflicts with them."

The driver's eyes filled with sympathy, imagining a complicated and twisted family drama, then turned to look at Luo Qianjian in the car.

Luo Qianjian slightly leaned out to look at the young man in the wheelchair.

In his previous life, Luo Qianjian, being frail and disliking crowds, and dying young, didn't know many people from other families.

But coincidentally, he recognized the man in the wheelchair in front of the car.

—The eldest son of the Gu family, Gu Xingyun.

Gu Xingyun, originally a paragon of success, lost his sight at the age of twenty-seven due to a car accident.

That was Luo Qianjian's simple impression of Gu Xingyun from his past life.

However, upon living again and learning the original plot of the series of domineering CEO novels that made up this world, Luo Qianjian knew that Gu Xingyun wasn't actually blind; he was pretending.

As for the reason...

To put it simply, Gu Xingyun was sick.

If Luo Qianjian's illness was in his weak constitution, then Gu Xingyun's was in his sudden onset of idiocy.

However, given the prevalence of mental illness in this world, Gu Xingyun didn't quite reach the level of mental health expected of a protagonist, barely qualifying as normal.

But Luo Qianjian felt no empathy for this "normal" person, only saying indifferently to the driver, "Don't meddle in other people's affairs."

The driver was taken aback.

The driver felt that today's Third Young Master was different from usual.

First, he seemingly intentionally "showed off his wealth" and poked at sensitive spots while in the car with his classmate.

Now, he showed no compassion for the pitiful young man.

While it wasn't the Third Young Master's responsibility, if it were the former Third Young Master, he would certainly have intervened.

But since Luo Qianjian was the employer, and he had spoken thus, the driver, who didn't have any additional ability to help, could only nod, helped push the young man back onto the sidewalk, and then returned to the car to continue driving.

Luo Qianjian's car passed by Gu Xingyun's wheelchair.

Underneath the sunglasses, Gu Xingyun stared straight ahead as Luo Qianjian's car receded into the distance.

After a moment, Gu Xingyun couldn't resist muttering, "So cold-hearted. You were in my arms when you were a child, you should be calling me uncle according to seniority..."

The special assistant, who had been following Gu Xingyun since before he went "blind," had stepped away for a moment and happened to return just then, hearing his boss's murmur and asking in confusion, "What did you say, Boss Gu?"

"Nothing, let's go back to the hospital." Gu Xingyun leaned back in his wheelchair, waiting for the assistant to push him, feigning disability with remarkable skill.

On Luo Qianjian's side, they finally arrived at their destination—a leisure park beneath a high-end apartment building near the university town.

"Just drive slowly along the road, I'll take a stroll." Luo Qianjian said to the driver as he lowered the window.

The driver thought it odd to sit in a car and visit a park for peace of mind... but considering the Third Young Master's frail health, it made sense.

The driver drove diligently.

Luo Qianjian's gaze was fixed on the park.

When passing by the area where children played on the slide, Luo Qianjian suddenly said, "Stop the car."

The driver subconsciously stopped the car, then wondered if Luo Qianjian intended to get out.

But before he could ask, the driver found himself speechless and staring wide-eyed at something in the diagonal front.

Ahead and to the side, a particularly cool-dressed child around five or six years old slid down from a plastic slide. A couple of meters beside the slide was a wooden bench where two people sat side by side, both looking at the child on the slide with loving expressions.

Both were no longer young, but even past their fifties, they appeared much younger than their peers due to years of pampered living. Especially the woman, whose elegance and gentleness made her seem in her thirties at first glance, without any awkwardness.

The driver didn't recognize the woman, but he did recognize the man sitting next to her!

It was their master, Luo Chen of the Luo family!

This driver, who was responsible for shuttling Luo Qianjian daily, had been working for the Luo family for quite some time. Although he hadn't experienced it himself, he had heard stories about Master Luo Chen's particularly flirtatious youth.

And this casual park setting wasn't somewhere Luo Chen would typically be found, especially not sitting so closely to a beautiful woman, with both of them accompanied by a child...

The driver clicked his tongue, increasingly convinced that this was Master keeping a mistress and parading around with an illegitimate child, now caught by the third young master!

Wait a moment...

The third young master's visit today was actually quite purposeful. Could it be that the third young master already knew about Master's affair and was here to catch him in the act?

No wonder the third young master seemed out of sorts at times today.

"Third young master..." The driver cleared his throat softly.

Luo Qianjian opened the car door and calmly replied, "Wait for me for a bit."

The driver wanted nothing more than to get out of the car and join in on the "fun," but considering his paycheck, he didn't dare get involved: "Alright, third young master."

Luo Qianjian got out of the car and slowly walked toward the children's slide.