This wasn’t Shen Nuan’s first confession. Every time she was rejected, she still tirelessly expressed her feelings. Her persistence had exceeded Fu Shijing’s expectations.
“Your feelings are nothing but wasted effort.” Fu Shijing pulled his hand away, making his meaning perfectly clear.
Shen Nuan immediately settled for the next best thing. “Then can I add your VX? I promise I won’t bother you.”
It wasn’t as if she had never tried adding him on social media before, but he had never accepted her requests. As a result, she only had his phone number, and every time she sent messages, she often earned herself another spot on his blacklist.
“With that much energy, you’d be better off doing something more meaningful.”
After throwing out those words, the man left without another glance.
Although his parents had a loving marriage, in his eyes, romantic relationships between men and women only clouded people’s judgment. They were unnecessary things.
Looking at his retreating figure, Shen Nuan called out, “But to me, loving you, Fu Shijing, is something meaningful.”
Only by staying alive did anything have meaning. Otherwise, everything else was empty talk.
Her heartfelt words made him pause slightly, and something unfamiliar stirred in his emotions.
Fu Shijing turned around and met her gaze. Her eyes were as gentle as water, like ripples spreading across a calm lake, but this was something he had never planned for.
Retracting his gaze, he continued downstairs.
【Ding~ Twenty thousand yuan has been deposited by the System.】
Shen Nuan had thought the man might be at least a little moved, but reality proved she had been overthinking.
999 comforted her. 【It’s okay, Boss. The male lead is just that cold-hearted. He doesn’t understand love right now, and he looks down on romance.】
At least she had made money. Shen Nuan replied indifferently, 【I know. Only after the female lead appears will he understand. It’s fine, as long as I can earn money by being a simp.】
【That’s right. That’s exactly the attitude we need.】
【Let’s head back first.】
Shen Nuan took out her key and opened the door. A heavy smell of alcohol hit her immediately, and the apartment was shrouded in darkness.
【Looks like the original host’s father has been drinking again.】Little Nine sighed.
【Probably.】
Shen Nuan understood. Most people couldn’t accept going bankrupt in middle age.
She switched on the lights and saw Shen Xiao lying over the coffee table. Empty bottles were scattered everywhere.
Walking over with a limp, she took the bottle from his hand. “Dad, it’s late. Stop drinking.”
“My liquor… my liquor…”
Realizing the bottle was gone, Shen Xiao opened his drunken eyes and searched around.
Before going bankrupt, he had never been a heavy drinker. Now, he constantly uses alcohol to numb himself.
“Dad, don’t drink anymore. It’s bad for your health.”
Only then did Shen Xiao notice his beloved daughter.
“My daughter’s back. Come, let’s drink together.”
“Dad, let’s go to bed. It’s already late,” Shen Nuan said softly.
She tried to hide the bottle, but Shen Xiao noticed immediately.
“My liquor. I want my liquor.”
He attempted to snatch it back, but he was so drunk he couldn’t even stand properly.
His body tilted, and he collapsed onto the floor.
Even after crawling back to the coffee table, he was still searching for alcohol.
Most of the bottles were already empty, and unable to find any liquor, he continued mumbling incoherently.
Seeing the original host’s father in such a miserable state, Shen Nuan felt terrible. Unfortunately, with her injured ankle, she couldn’t support him back to his bedroom, so she could only wait for the original host’s mother to return.
Although he wasn’t her biological father, ever since transmigrating into this novel, the original host’s parents had treated her wonderfully. For the first time in her life, she had experienced both fatherly and motherly love, and she had truly become part of this family.
She had to find a way to help her father pull himself together again.
Afraid he might hurt himself if the bottles shattered, Shen Nuan gathered all the bottles from the table and put them away.
After cleaning up, she checked the time. It was already nine o’clock, and she was just about to call when the door opened.
Ruan Yajing returned with two bags in her hands.
“Nuan Nuan’s home.”
Seeing her daughter, a smile appeared on Ruan Yajing’s face.
She placed the boxed meals on the table. “Quick, eat while it’s hot. I bought fried rice.”
“Mom, you’ve been working again?” Shen Nuan asked with concern. “And you’re out so late.”
Fatigue could be seen on Ruan Yajing’s beautiful face, but she showed no complaints.
“If I don’t work, what else can I do? What’s happened can’t be changed. We have to face life positively.”
During the first few days, she couldn’t accept moving from a luxurious villa to this run-down home, nor could she accept watching her life plummet overnight.
For money, she had sought help from her former friends and sisters, only to receive ridicule and mockery.
Only then did Ruan Yajing understand that apart from family, no one would truly help you, and no one was obligated to.
If she didn’t pull herself together, what would happen to her daughter? Was she supposed to let her daughter spend her entire life paying off debts?
Every time she thought about how they had dragged their daughter into this, she was consumed with guilt.
Over this period, she had experienced the coldness of human nature and accepted reality. Even if her abilities were limited, she would still do everything she could.
Shen Nuan’s eyes reddened.
“Mom, I’ll work hard and earn money so you and Dad can live well again.”
“Nuan Nuan, don’t burden yourself. Your father and I already know how thoughtful you are.”
Ruan Yajing wanted nothing more than for her daughter to live the life she wanted, free of worries.
Shen Nuan nodded emotionally. She didn’t know whether she would survive in the end, and she couldn’t make any promises right now, but she would definitely do her best.
【Little Nine, if I fail the mission, will the money deposited by the System still remain?】
999 answered honestly.
【If you fail, you will be erased by the System, but all the money deposited during this period will remain in your account.】
【That’s good.】
If that day truly came, she would prepare in advance and at least lighten part of her parents’ debt.
“Mom, let’s help Dad to bed first.”
Shen Xiao had fallen asleep at some point, and Shen Nuan couldn’t bear seeing him like this.
“Okay.”
Ruan Yajing looked at her husband.
“Honey, let’s go back to the room.”
Together, mother and daughter struggled to support Shen Xiao.
【Boss, your ankle is injured. You can’t put too much weight on it.】Little Nine worried.
【It’s fine. I can endure it. It’s not far, and how could Mom move Dad by herself?】
Little Nine could only worry helplessly.
After finally getting Shen Xiao onto the bed, Ruan Yajing patted her daughter’s head.
“Nuan Nuan, give your father some time. I believe he’ll regain his confidence. We’ll get through this together.”
Smiling faintly, Shen Nuan replied, “He will, Mom. I believe Dad will stand up again.”
“Come eat first. It won’t taste good once it gets cold.”
Her daughter’s maturity and thoughtfulness brought comfort to Ruan Yajing.
Perhaps because of the family’s misfortune, she had changed greatly. Her daughter had truly grown up.
“Okay.”
【Boss, Mom is so wonderful. I’m touched.】Little Nine was emotional.
【Yes, Mom is wonderful. I have to work even harder. I can’t disappoint her.】
As they came out, Ruan Yajing finally noticed her strange gait.
“Nuan Nuan, what happened to your foot?”
Shen Nuan wrapped her arm around her mother’s and acted spoiled.
“I just twisted it by accident. It’s nothing. It’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? And I even had you help move your father just now.”
Ruan Yajing regretted not noticing her discomfort earlier.
“Mom, I’m really fine. It’s only a minor sprain. Let me eat first.”
She deliberately changed the topic because she didn’t want her mother to worry.
“Then eat first. It’s already late.”
Shen Nuan ate the simple egg fried rice, her heart overflowing with warmth.
After her own mother died when she was young, her father remarried. Her stepmother brought along a daughter, and later she and her father had two sons.
With four children in the family, her father’s wages from construction work weren’t enough, and Shen Nuan gradually became an unwanted presence in the household.
She had never experienced a mother’s love, and under her stepmother’s influence, her father came to dislike his own daughter, leaving her without even the little fatherly love she might have had.
After transmigrating into this novel and witnessing the close relationship between the original host and her parents, Shen Nuan felt both envious and happy.
Meanwhile, Ruan Yajing busied herself cleaning the sofa.
“After eating, go rest. Don’t go to your part-time job tomorrow. Take care of your feet first.”
Putting down her disposable chopsticks, Shen Nuan hugged her mother’s slender waist.
“Mom, you’ve worked so hard.”
Ruan Yajing’s eyes became moist. The exhaustion of the entire day vanished because of her daughter’s warm words.
“What’s there to be tired about? As long as our family stays safe and together, that’s all that matters.”
Shen Nuan nodded heavily.
Yes, as long as the family stayed together in peace and happiness, nothing else mattered.
After dinner, Shen Nuan wanted to help clean the mess caused by Shen Xiao’s drinking, but Ruan Yajing firmly ordered her back to her room to rest.
Not wanting to disappoint her mother’s concern, she obediently returned to her bedroom.
After washing up and settling into the hard bed, it was already past ten.
Before dying from overwork, she had also rented a house in an old neighborhood. Even though the walls were peeling and rats and cockroaches occasionally appeared, she had adapted to that kind of life.
Taking out her phone, she noticed a crack along the edge of the screen, probably caused by today’s fall.
She turned it on and sighed in relief when the display lit up. Fortunately, it still worked.
“Fu Shijing, have you gotten home yet?”
She felt that sounded inappropriate and deleted the message.
“Fu Shijing, thank you for today.”
But she had already thanked him several times. Would thanking him again seem too insincere?
【Boss, what are you hesitating over?】Little Nine asked anxiously as he watched her repeatedly delete and rewrite.
【I’m thinking about what kind of message would catch his attention without annoying him.】
After thinking for a while, Shen Nuan still couldn’t come up with anything.
【That might be very, very difficult.】999 wasn’t even trying to sugarcoat it.
Shen Nuan gave up.
【I’ve pestered him for so long. Of course he’s annoyed with me. I’ll just send whatever.】
“Fu Shijing, you should be home by now, right? Rest early. I’ll come see you again next time.”
Because she had confessed her love through text countless times, Shen Nuan had already had several phone numbers blocked. Back when she had money, changing numbers had been easy.
But now she was broke and couldn’t afford to do that anymore, so she hadn’t dared send messages recently, afraid she’d be blocked again.
After waiting for some time and receiving no reply, she had no idea whether he had seen the message.
Shen Nuan stopped waiting and opened her laptop to work on her resume.
She knew she lacked experience, and with Fu Shijing’s strict standards when hiring people, successfully passing the interview would be difficult. But she had no other choice and decided to submit her application first.
Halfway Mountain Forest Villa.
After washing his hair, Fu Shijing came out and noticed his phone vibrating on the bedside table. Casually picking it up, he saw that it was a message from her.
He wasn’t surprised.
Over the past year, she had sent countless messages.
He originally intended to block her as usual, but then he remembered the words she had spoken before he left.
I love you, and loving you is something meaningful.
For the first time, he hesitated.