Early in the morning, when Shen Xingruo arrived at the Lu residence, she saw Liu Xingyan curled up on the couch, sleeping soundly with a small blanket in his arms. Being tall, he had to bend his legs while sleeping on the sofa, giving the impression of a pitiful little creature.
Lu Shan had also spent the night on the couch like this before, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with it. He wasn’t new to angering Pei Yuexuan, and he had gained quite a bit of experience from sleeping on the couch. He had gotten up at five or six this morning, went for a run, and looked quite spirited when he headed to the company.
Liu Xingyan frowned in his sleep as Shen Xingruo gently placed the things she brought on the table. Turning around, she saw the housekeeper still busy in the kitchen before slowly approaching Liu Xingyan.
Liu Xingyan didn’t have the best sleeping posture. The blanket had slipped halfway to the floor, and his T-shirt had ridden up, exposing a small portion of his abs. But he was deeply asleep; despite the uncomfortable conditions of sleeping with half of his body hanging off the couch, he clung to the pillow without any signs of waking up.
Shen Xingruo stared at him for a few seconds, then bent down slightly to help him cover himself with the blanket. Just then, Pei Yuexuan heard the commotion and came down the stairs, calling out, “Ah, Ruo Ruo’s back!”
“I was so upset by those two last night that I couldn’t sleep until after three in the morning. I just woke up and realized you had called!” Pei Yuexuan exclaimed joyfully as she rushed down the stairs and hugged Shen Xingru, examining her carefully. “Oh my, you’ve lost so much weight since you went to Paris for a few days!”
“Was the food not good there? I knew it! Those French people can’t eat enough with their tiny portions. Your dad probably didn’t plan it properly. Next time you go, go with me. I’ve been there many times!” Pei Yuexuan continued chattering, and just as she finished, the housekeeper came out of the kitchen with a warm glass of milk. “Ruo Ruo, here, warm your stomach first.”
Shen Xingruo smiled faintly at Pei Yuexuan’s words, accepted the milk from the housekeeper, and drank it, even though there was no need to warm her stomach in this scorching summer heat.
Perhaps it was the noise from Pei Yuexuan’s inquiries that woke up Liu Xingyan. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he hadn’t fully opened them when he yawned. As the familiar silhouette of Shen Xingruo began to take shape before him, his initial reaction was to think he hadn’t woken up yet, that he was still dreaming, and not a light one at that.
But the next moment, Shen Xingruo turned to look at him, a smile still lingering on her lips.
Seeing her smile, Liu Xingyan, who was halfway through his second yawn, was startled back. Then, the sudden halt of his yawn caused him to choke, coughing uncontrollably, increasingly intense like a consumptive cough, until he finally coughed so hard that he fell off the sofa with a solid “thump”!
He fell quite heavily.
Pei Yuexuan, the housekeeper, and Shen Xingruo all stared at him blankly.
The room fell silent, watching him struggle on the ground.
Pei Yuexuan, unlike the housekeeper and Shen Xingru, was silent in a kind of… despairing silence.
Because she couldn’t understand what sins she had committed in her past life to have such an unfilial son who seemed to be mentally handicapped in this life.
Seeing Liu Xingyan still not getting up after a while, she couldn’t help but speak up, “Liu Xingyan, are you a pig? Get up now!”
Of course, Liu Xingyan also wanted to get up, but after this fall, he somehow hit his bones and felt a dull ache, making it difficult for him to exert any strength.
Sensing his discomfort, Shen Xingruo intended to go over and help him up, but the housekeeper acted faster.
Shen Xingruo hesitated for a moment, then withdrew her foot.
After Liu Xingyan got up, he intended to sit on the sofa for a moment to rest. However, Pei Yuexuan, remembering the essay, found fault with everything he did and immediately scolded him again, “Are you in your seventies or something? Get up and go wash up! Look at you, how are you going to find a girlfriend in the future with that ghostly appearance!”
Liu Xingyan: “…”
Shen Xingru: “…”
The two glanced at each other unconsciously, then deliberately looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
Liu Xingyan was quickly chased back upstairs to wash up. Shen Xingruo stayed downstairs to chat with Pei Yuexuan.
Liu Xingyan finished washing up in a few minutes, changed his T-shirt, and headed downstairs. As he descended the stairs, the living room was still filled with laughter and chatter.
Shen Xingruo seemed to have brought some gifts for her mother. Listening to her mother’s joyful laughter, Liu Xingyan could tell that she had been successfully appeased. But as he reached the corner of the second floor, the living room suddenly became much quieter. He heard Shen Xingruo saying, “Aunt Pei the main reason I came this time is to thank you and Uncle Lu for taking care of me for the past year and a half. Dad is still in Paris and hasn’t returned to the country yet. He said he’ll come over again when he’s back.”
“Oh, stop with the empty words. What thanks or no thanks? If anyone should be thanking anyone, it’s Aunt Pei thanking you. Thanks to you, Liu Xingyan managed to make some waves in the Lu family’s ancestral grave with his college entrance examination!” Pei Yuexuan, being the adult she was, quickly caught the farewell tone in Shen Xingru’s words and continued, “By the way, there’s still over a month left of summer vacation. Do you have any plans?”
“I plan to participate in a summer camp organized by a large organization in the United States. It will run from late July to mid-August, about half a month. By the time I return to China, it’ll be almost time for school to start again,” Shen Xingruo replied. Then she paused and added, “Aunt Pei, I’m grateful for the care you and Uncle Lu have given me over the past year and a half. I’ve been very happy in Star City.”
Pei Yuexuan smiled, “As long as you’re happy. Aunt Pei doesn’t want to part with you. Whenever you have time during your holidays, come to Star City more often to play. Your room is always ready for you!”
Liu Xingyan listened to their conversation and then turned to head back upstairs. Although he knew that the college entrance examination was over, the scores were out, and the college applications were submitted, there was no reason for Shen Xingruo to stay at his house. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that Shen Xingruo was leaving in such a hurry because of their breakup. It felt as if she was rushing off as if staying a little longer would make her pregnant.
Back in his room, Liu Xingyan lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. Yes, it was a knock from Shen Xingru. The sound of her knocking was all too familiar.
Subconsciously, he jolted upright from the bed.
Sure enough, Shen Xingruo was standing outside the door.
In that split second when they opened the door, their eyes met.
Just recently, they were a couple deeply in love, but within a few days, it felt like an invisible barrier had sprung up between them, keeping them neither too close nor too far apart.
But that wasn’t entirely surprising; after all, they hadn’t been in love for long.
With this in mind, Lu Xingyan wasn’t in the best mood. “Is there something you need? If you’re wondering how I’m doing, I’m fine, as you can see.” He pushed the door halfway open, hands in his pockets, his voice flat.
Shen Xingruo hesitated slightly. “I came to tell you that I’m leaving.”
He had just heard these words in the stairwell, but hearing them again didn’t make him feel any better.
He gave a nonchalant “Hmm” and casually remarked, “You didn’t need to tell me. After all, we’ve already broken up.”
Shen Xingruo paused, glanced at Lu Xingyan for three seconds, then without hesitation, turned and left.
Lu Xingyan paused. No, her leaving so quickly implied something else. Was there a problem with the script?
He took a moment to come back to his senses, then suddenly covered his forehead and slapped it. Did he have a problem?
Though he didn’t feel this way, seeing her made him unable to resist the urge to provoke her. The strange thing was, after doing so, he felt even more uneasy.
Shen Xingruo felt just as uneasy. Squatting in her room, she packed her bags with a subconscious extra force.
She had rushed back to Star City the day before yesterday. She just didn’t want to add to the chaos by going to Lu’s house at the worst possible time. Plus, she hoped to do something for Lu Xingyan in her way.
So for these two days, she had simply stayed at a hotel near the school, working tirelessly day and night.
But Lu Xingyan truly seemed to have turned a corner after just three days apart. It was clear that they had broken up; he spoke with an unshakable confidence. Maybe he had felt constrained in the relationship and had wanted to break up for a while, with no intention of getting back together.
With that thought, Shen Xingruo didn’t even want to stay for lunch.
Coincidentally, Fang Jingran chose the perfect time to clumsily bump into her line of fire, flapping his wings like a silly bird. “Sis, have you arrived yet? I’m already at Mingli.”
Shen Xingruo received his call, her voice icy and flat, devoid of any inflection. “Arrived or not, at your age, you still haven’t learned to walk independently? Or do you think I can get you in through the back door just by accompanying you?”
“Let me tell you, Fang Jingran, you don’t need to entertain any crooked thoughts. If you can study, then study. If you can’t, then don’t bother.”
“Just because you need someone to accompany you to see a teacher, you’re the epitome of high grades but low ability. In my opinion, the education bureau should immediately weed out people like you to prevent dragging down the standard of higher education.”
Fang Jingran: “…?”
Wait a second, wasn’t…
He had just finished his high school entrance exams not long ago. Due to his outstanding competition results, several prestigious schools extended invitations to him, including Mingli High School in Star City.
Initially, he hadn’t thought much about it and planned to attend Huize First High School. But considering how well Shen Xingruo was doing at Mingli, he figured the school’s teaching standards must be good. So, he mustered up the courage to call Shen Xingruo and ask for advice.
Unexpectedly, for the first time, Shen Xingruo didn’t hang up on him directly. She gave him some advice and even offered to accompany him when he went to see the teacher at Mingli.
They had made plans, but now…?
He stood at the entrance of Mingli, utterly bewildered.
He thought Shen Xingruo had softened towards him, believing she had a cool exterior with a warm interior, but he was overthinking it. Her role as a sarcastic older sister was probably never going to change.
After scolding Fang Jingran, Shen Xingruo didn’t feel any less frustrated. She quickly packed her bags in a few swift motions, intending to leave early.
But Pei Yue’s insistence on having lunch with her was unwavering. No matter how much Shen Xingruo tried to decline, she couldn’t resist, ultimately agreeing to stay.
Lunch was a bit delayed today. When Lu Xingyan came downstairs, Aunt Zhou was still in the kitchen cooking.
He didn’t want to listen to Pei Yue and Shen Xingruo chatting as if no one else was around, so he sat on the sofa and absentmindedly turned on the TV.
To his surprise, his dad, Lu Shan, appeared on the screen!
Earlier in the morning, Lu Shan had gone to the company and participated in an interview for Star City TV’s midday news segment.
The footage being shown on TV was freshly cut and aired.
In fact, with the professional handling of Jia Bo’s public relations team, Lu Shan had no intention of personally addressing the recent incidents of exam irregularities or the jumping incident at Jinsheng Mall.
However, after reading Lu Xingyan’s essay yesterday, he was moved and felt there were many things he wanted to express. So, he made a last-minute arrangement for an interview.
At this moment, the TV was airing his response to the exam irregularities.
“…Regarding this matter, the investigation results have also been released. There’s not much to say. If something hasn’t been done, it simply hasn’t. To be honest, this might sound harsh, but if I truly wanted to create a shining resume for my son, I wouldn’t need to resort to manipulations during the college entrance exams.”
“When I was young, I had a particularly bad relationship with my father. When I took the college entrance exams, I missed one exam due to a high fever, and my overall grades turned out to be particularly poor. That led to a big argument between my father and me.”
“The argument was so intense that I ended up leaving home for two years. I even told my father firmly that I didn’t love studying and wouldn’t continue. My father, with his temper, said, ‘If you don’t want to study, fine. Get out and don’t waste food and resources at home.’ So, I left just like that.”
“In the first year away from home, life was tough. Even though I had graduated from high school, I realized outside that studying was still the better option. Studying was easier. At least I thought, if you finish university, you’ll have a job guaranteed, at least you won’t starve.”
“So, in the second year, I studied hard outside and continued to prepare for the college entrance exams. But the results came out even worse than the first time, worse than I expected. I felt something was wrong. It didn’t seem right at all!”
“The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was wrong. At that time, I wanted to check my grades, to see if there was some statistical error. It wasn’t until September, when the school started, that I discovered I had been admitted to university. I even went to the school to enroll, but the grades I received didn’t match the actual grades. I didn’t go to register. What happened? It’s simple. Someone took my place.”
Lu Xingyan was bewildered. He looked at Pei Yue and asked, “Dad has such a convoluted experience? Is it true?”
“That’s a stale story from many years ago. With your dad’s character, he still wants to show off on TV,” Pei Yue shrugged, unimpressed.
On TV, Lu Shan continued to reminisce.
“In the past, it wasn’t like now. Nowadays, with the internet so developed, it’s common for those with a bit of money to manipulate things and take someone else’s spot in university. These incidents are often reported now, but what’s reported is just a small fraction. More often, people’s lives are stolen, and they never find out.”
“I was somewhat fortunate back then because my family’s condition was decent. When I left home, nobody knew what my family did, so the replacement was done without any qualms. When I tried to reason with them later, they ignored me. Eventually, I went home and begged my dad, and he helped me. My rightful grades were restored because of that.”
“So, the recent rumors online about me manipulating my son’s exam scores in secret are completely baseless. Of course, I want the best education for my son. From primary school to high school, as long as it doesn’t affect others, I provide him with good learning conditions. But whether he studies or not is his own business. If he doesn’t like studying, even if I send him to Harvard, he won’t graduate.”
“Not to mention, I’m just a real estate developer. How could I have the ability to manipulate the college entrance exams for my son? Even if I did have that ability, I’ve experienced firsthand such unfairness. I would never, as a person who experienced that injustice, perpetrate it on others.”