Chapter 76

Chapter 76

When school let out, more and more students gathered to watch the commotion.

The bald guy produced a bouquet of yellow roses from his back pocket and handed it to Wang Weiqi, saying affectionately, "I love you."

Everyone: "... Cringe."

Wang Weiqi looked ready to pass out and took off running, even sprinting past his own car. "Help! Police! There's a pervert here! Save me!!"

The bald guy: "..."

A student from No. 2 High School comforted him, "Chief, he's just overwhelmed. If you keep pursuing him, you'll definitely succeed."

The bald guy immediately gave chase, "Arf arf!"

The No. 2 High students followed suit, "Arf arf!"

To anyone watching, it looked like a pack of mad dogs had been let loose.

Tian Ruan watched them run off, then turned to Nan Mengyao with sudden sympathy. "Wang Weiqi isn't going to swing that way, don't worry."

Nan Mengyao walked faster. "Whether he swings that way or not has nothing to do with me."

Tian Ruan felt strangely heavy-hearted. Even after getting into the Maybach, he remained sullen. He reported to the man beside him, who was as composed and indifferent as ever, "I got caught up in the moment and joined the literature club."

"How?" Yu Jingmo, having witnessed Tian Ruan’s earlier actions, found it amusing.

"Just got carried away."

"Like just now?"

"Worse than just now."

Yu Jingmo reached out with his slender fingers and touched the forehead of the pretty young man beside him. "You are a bit warm, but if you weren’t, you’d be cold."

"..."

"Poor thing." As the car started, Yu Jingmo’s voice was low, audible only to those nearby. "If you don’t want to be in the literature club, I can pull you out."

Tian Ruan shook his head. "I walked in on my own, I’ll walk out on my own."

Yu Jingmo’s lips curled slightly. "I'll be watching."

Hearing this, Tian Ruan immediately perked up, ready to "give it his all" for the new club.

The next day was Friday. Early in the morning, Liu Ma was all smiles, cutting out double-happiness decorations and putting them up on the door of the side building. When Tian Ruan got up early for a walk with Yu Jingmo and saw it, he freaked out.

"Who's marrying Yu Shang?!" Tian Ruan turned to run.

Yu Jingmo grabbed his wrist. "No one's getting married. Liu Ma was just having fun with the decorations."

"What's she making those for? And shouldn't they be put up on our windows?"

Yu Jingmo’s eyes held amusement. "You want wedding decorations up?"

Tian Ruan looked away. "I just thought we're the only ones married..."

"Says who?" (Note: Double-happiness symbols are traditional Chinese wedding decorations representing marital bliss.)

"Who else?"

"Liu Ma, Auntie Zhang, and Steward Wang. Most of them are married—except the bodyguards."

"..." Tian Ruan asked, "So they don’t go home?"

"You just don’t see them when they do."

Tian Ruan imagined Liu Ma going home at night and returning before dawn to cook. "That’d be exhausting."

Yu Jingmo led him into the main house. "No idea what you’re picturing, but they get all their holidays. If they can’t go home during holidays, it counts as part of their annual leave. Expect just the three of us for New Year’s."

Tian Ruan: "...Then who’ll cook?"

Yu Jingmo: "Do I strike you as the cooking type?"

"No."

Not just Yu Jingmo—Yu Shang and Tian Ruan couldn’t cook either. Tian Ruan could already picture the tragic yet not-so-tragic scene of him, Yu Jingmo, and Yu Shang living off five-star hotel deliveries during the New Year...

Ah, the perks of wealth.

Tian Ruan wanted to be wealthy too. But here’s the thing—aside from the allowance Yu Jingmo gave him, why wasn’t the Du family giving him any? Not a dime so far. If he didn’t get any, Lu Qiuyan probably got squat, and he was too embarrassed to ask.

Liu Ma beamed: "Ma’am, you’d better dress to impress tomorrow."

Tian Ruan was puzzled. "What for?"

"The Lu family is coming!"

"??"

"You didn’t know? The master invited them—must be marriage talks! The young master’s finally getting married..." Before she could finish, she spotted the master of the house and hurried off to the kitchen.

Tian Ruan asked, "You invited Lu Qiuyan’s family?"

Yu Jingmo: "Yep."

"Why?"

"Just to meet."

"What are you planning?"

Yu Jingmo pinched his soft cheek, amused by his suspicious expression. "Meeting the future in-laws—what’s the big deal? Let’s eat."

Tian Ruan was a little worried. Though Lu Qiuyan’s parents weren’t bad people, they weren’t exactly easy to deal with either.

That same noon, Du Henbie took time out of his busy schedule to treat his freeloading little brother to a meal.

Tian Ruan dragged Lu Qiuyan along without a second thought. Where Lu Qiuyan went, Yu Shang naturally followed.

There weren’t many high-end restaurants near Deyin, so they ended up at the same Michelin-starred place as last time. The outdoor terrace seating wasn’t half bad.

Du Henbie kept it low-key, loading up on grilled dishes.

Tian Ruan: "Still doesn’t beat last time."

Du Henbie: "What did you eat last time?"

"Steak."

"You have no taste. This is foie gras, understand?"

Tian Ruan ate the braised foie gras, "Guess you've got some decency after all."

Du Henbie chuckled, [dryly] "No sense of hierarchy."

The dinner went smoothly, with both host and guests enjoying themselves. Du Henbie obligatorily inquired about Tian Ruan's recent life, offering no opinions but simply saying, "Good."

The more Tian Ruan observed this elder brother, the more he seemed like an NPC. The original novel's second male lead, having appeared too early, had been reduced to a supporting role—what a downgrade.

The key was that the protagonist shou was also here, yet Du Henbie showed no interest at all.

Tian Ruan decided to move the story forward. Pointing at the salmon Du Henbie was about to pick up, he said, "Lu Qiuyan likes this."

Du Henbie paused his chopsticks and placed the salmon on Lu Qiuyan's side. "Growing kids need their nutrition. Eat more."

Lu Qiuyan: "...Thanks."

Du Henbie: "You're my parents' sworn son, which makes you my sworn brother."

Lu Qiuyan didn’t respond. The idea of being the Du family’s sworn son felt like some kind of joke—if he took it seriously, he’d lose.

Du Henbie gazed at Lu Qiuyan, his gaze intense. "For some reason, I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before."

Lu Qiuyan: "?"

Tian Ruan’s chopsticks dropped with a clatter as he stared at Du Henbie in shock, barely stopping himself from yelling: You’ve seen Lu Qiuyan in the original novel and fell deeply in love with him!

Du Henbie picked up Tian Ruan’s chopsticks and handed them to a waiter who came to replace them, saying, "Thank you." That ended that conversation.

Yu Shang stood up. "I'll go freshen up."

But he didn’t go to the restroom. Instead, he stopped by a flower wall around the corner, quietly listening to the conversation at the table.

Seizing the perfect opportunity while Yu Shang was "in the restroom," Tian Ruan let slip a little spoiler: "Maybe Brother really has seen Lu Qiuyan before."

Explain.

Tian Ruan: "Like in a dream."

Lu Qiuyan clenched his chopsticks, through clenched teeth, "Don’t say it’s a wet dream."

"...Not a chance. I have no interest in high schoolers."

Tian Ruan: "The dream I meant was more like a premonition. You saw Lu Qiuyan in your dream, Brother, which is why he feels familiar. But after waking up, you forgot, leaving just a vague sense."

"How did you know I had that dream?" Du Henbie looked at Tian Ruan seriously. "You know way too much."

Tian Ruan: "...Just throwing it out there. Suit yourself."

"Then do you know if He Lansi has been to school these past two days?"

"He Lansi?" The topic shifted too abruptly, and Tian Ruan was temporarily thrown.

Speaking of which, I really haven’t seen He Lansi these past two days. Even for something as "big" as the four-school league, there’s no sign of that flamboyant fox’s showy antics.

Tian Ruan shook his head. "Haven’t seen him. Did something happen? Did his family finally go bankrupt?"

Du Henbie chuckled. "You really wish for his family to go bankrupt?"

"I wish for his family to go bankrupt, but not him." As long as He Lansi himself didn’t go bankrupt, he wouldn’t be driven to a dead end.

Though He Lansi was a bit of a peacock, he’d never done anything to wrong him.

Du Henbie raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat approving of his stepbrother’s words. "You’ve got a good head on your shoulders."

Tian Ruan piped up, "So, can you help him?"

"Why don’t you ask your husband to help? Here, he’s got more pull than me."

"Mr. Yu has already lent fifty million."

"Fifty million just to watch it vanish?" Du Henbie saw right through it. "The He family can’t hold on anymore. Fifty million thrown in won’t even make a dent. Student Lu has experience with this, right?"

Lu Qiuyan said expressionlessly, "A gaping hole of hundreds of millions, and that’s just the surface. It can’t be filled."

Tian Ruan’s eyes sparkled. "Bro, weren’t you involved with He Lansi? Help him out."

Lu Qiuyan glanced at Du Henbie in shock but didn’t comment.

Du Henbie scoffed. "The problem is, he’s disappeared."

Tian Ruan wracked his brain, recalling the original book. After the He family went bankrupt, there was actually one property still in the cousin’s name. He Lansi wanted to live there but was kicked out by the cousin.

The property was probably at...

"Citrus Cove." The name was easy to remember, and Tian Ruan recalled it.

"That gated community in the suburbs?" Lu Qiuyan, having grown up in Su City, could spot new developments blindfolded.

Du Henbie smiled at Tian Ruan. "Coming to you was the right choice. You really do have some kind of sixth sense."

Tian Ruan: "..."

Du Henbie took out a brocade box from his pocket and handed it to Tian Ruan. "Your gift."

Tian Ruan opened it to find a pair of diamond cufflinks. "Not even close to the rock Mr. Yu gave me."

Du Henbie was surprised. "Not a dove egg?"

"Bigger than a dove egg."

Du Henbie was speechless. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to give his younger brother such an expensive gift, but he’d planned to save it for his birthday for a bigger surprise. Now it seemed Yu Jingmo had already raised Tian Ruan’s standards.

Tian Ruan had no real concept of the cufflinks’ value and immediately clipped them onto his school blazer. "They’re quite nice. Thanks, bro."

Du Henbie gave a polite smile.

Then Tian Ruan looked at Du Henbie eagerly, shooting glances at Lu Qiuyan—the hint was clear.

Of course, Du Henbie had also prepared a gift for Lu Qiuyan: the latest [Brand X] phone. Nothing too fancy, but still a nice thought.

Lu Qiuyan thanked him.

Tian Ruan looked at his shabby phone, "..." Should've just given me a phone.

After the meal, Tian Ruan and Lu Qiuyan headed back to school together. As they stepped out of the Michelin-starred restaurant, they spotted Yu Shang's chauffeur-driven car and suddenly froze.

"Where's Yu Shang???"

They hadn't seen him for the latter half of the meal.

"Did he fall into the toilet or something?" Tian Ruan's imagination ran wild. "No way, he's the main protagonist."

Lu Qiuyan had already turned back and, after walking a few steps, saw Yu Shang emerge with a serious expression. "Were you constipated? Took you so long!"

People turned to stare at Yu Shang—Tsk, tsk, such a well-put-together guy, how could he be constipated?

Yu Shang: "...I wasn't."

Lu Qiuyan: "Then what were you doing in the bathroom? Got bothered by a crossdresser again?"

Yu Shang: "No."

Lu Qiuyan: "Can you say anything other than 'no'?"

Yu Shang thought for a moment. "I didn't eat enough."

Lu Qiuyan: "...We'll get you some more food back at school."

"Mm."

The three of them got into the car, and Tian Ruan asked curiously, "So why were you in the bathroom for so long?"

Yu Shang gave Tian Ruan a knowing look. "I had a dream while I was in there. I saw Lu Qiuyan in it."

Lu Qiuyan was confused. "What nonsense is this? Do you have sleeping sickness?"

Yu Shang: "No."

"Then what was the dream about?"

"..."

Only Tian Ruan was horrified, goosebumps rising all over. Yu Shang must have eavesdropped on their conversation! His so-called gentleman was no gentleman at all!

A loud thunderclap crashed overhead.

Tian Ruan clutched his head and huddled close to Lu Qiuyan. "Ahhh... don't strike me!"

Lu Qiuyan patted his shoulder. "It's just thunder, nothing to be afraid of."

Tian Ruan couldn't explain—he suspected that whenever Yu Shang was upset, thunder would strike.

"I heard you joined the literature club?" Lu Qiuyan, not comfortable being so close to someone, pushed Tian Ruan upright. "You won one essay award and suddenly think you're a literary genius?"

Tian Ruan, determined to stay in his lane as a side character and follow his own path, declared earnestly, "I joined the literature club to reform its bad habits."

With that, he clutched Lu Qiuyan's hand. "Buddy, join us!"

Lu Qiuyan: "What?"