Volume 1 Chapter 15: Slap in the Face
How shameless!
Are you an idiot!
The words echoed lingeringly in the rain, exceptionally clear.
Ruan Wan pressed her lips together, struggling to hold back laughter.
After working together for so long, this was the first time Gao Yue had spoken what was truly in her heart.
On the other end of the phone.
Li Minglan was furious.
He realized there were outsiders around Ruan Wan and wanted to vent his anger but couldn’t, so he angrily hung up.
Just thinking about Li Minglan’s unusually furious expression made Ruan Wan want to laugh.
But she couldn’t laugh out loud.
So she tightly pursed her lips, her shoulders trembling slightly.
A few raindrops drifted in, landing on her face, glistening with moisture.
Those around her thought she was crying and hurriedly said, “Guangguang, don’t cry… there might be a misunderstanding.”
Only Gao Yue felt a sense of satisfaction.
Though it wasn’t what she had expected, as long as Ruan Wan was upset, she was happy.
She cleared her throat, “If you ask me, compared to looks and ability, family background is more important. Like Yu Ying, she’s a wealthy young lady, with a chauffeur to take her everywhere. While some people can only rely on men like dodder vines, and when they’re abandoned someday, they won’t even have a place to cry.”
As Gao Yue spoke, a tall figure appeared in the rain. Her eyes lit up with delight, revealing a somewhat shy demeanor.
It was her boyfriend coming to pick her up.
“Why did you come? I said I’d catch a ride back with a colleague.”
“Because I was worried about you, sweetheart.”
“You’re such a sweet talker~”
Gao Yue, blushing, linked arms with the newcomer and introduced him to everyone, “This is my boyfriend, Sun Wei. He works at Li Group.”
The young man had delicate features and was quite tall.
“Yueyue, your boyfriend is quite handsome.”
“Working at Li Group, he must have a high education. It’s not easy to get into Li Group!”
Gao Yue accepted all the compliments without hesitation.
She was a typical PND personality, and what she loved most was being the center of attention.
During the conversation, a sleek black Hongqi Guoli car pulled up in front of the magazine office. Its Jing A license plate was particularly eye-catching, and the imposing, tall front end exuded a strong sense of pressure.
Everyone’s attention shifted from Gao Yue’s boyfriend to the car.
“Wow, it’s my first time seeing a Hongqi Guoli, and with a Jing A plate at that.”
“Is this car expensive?”
“Not too expensive, just around 7 million, but the important thing is, this car isn’t something you can buy even if you have the money.”
“…”
Just 7 million? That’s enough to buy a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
This made everyone extremely curious about the car owner’s true identity.
In the misty rain, the car door opened, and a black automatic umbrella unfolded.
A man in a black suit stepped out of the car, exceptionally tall with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. As he walked, the well-tailored trousers perfectly hugged his hips and legs, revealing the powerful lines of his muscles.
He was comparable to a top male model.
Raindrops splattered on the black umbrella surface, and as he drew closer, the sense of pressure emanating from him grew stronger and stronger.
The moment Ruan Wan saw the man, her pupils dilated.
Compared to eight years ago, the man had shed the slimness of youth and now exuded the tension and charm of a mature man.
She couldn’t help but take half a step forward.
Gao Yue noticed and sneered, “What’s wrong, Team Leader Ruan? Seeing how rich he is, want to get to know him?”
As the last word fell.
The man stopped right in front of Ruan Wan.
Gasps echoed in the air.
The umbrella lifted, revealing a face with striking, handsome features that made the high-end advertisement of a popular male star nearby seem somewhat dimmed in comparison.
The familiar, icy scent mingled with the damp air as Ruan Wan clenched the hem of her clothes.
It was Li Yuan.
He had returned.
Ruan Wan lowered her lashes, instinctively avoiding Li Yuan’s gaze.
As the city lights began to glow, the red flashes of traffic amid the bustling streets resembled hurried breaths, piercing through the rain and mist to fall upon her face like a faintly flushed rouge.
The air fell silent, leaving only the sound of rain.
Lin Yuying was nearly three hundred degrees nearsighted. Without her glasses and through the haze of the rain, she only felt the person before her bore some resemblance to Li Minglan.
She had graduated from an international high school, a prestigious private institution in Jiangcheng.
Li Minglan and Shen Zhizhi were prominent figures at the school. Lin Yuying, two grades below them, had some interactions with them through a shared club.
However, since graduating from high school, she had not seen Li Minglan again.
Even after the marriage alliance between the Ruan and Li families, she had only seen him two or three times, and always from a distance.
So, when she saw the person before her bore a five or six out of ten resemblance to the senior from her memories, she assumed it was Li Minglan and was suddenly startled.
Had Li Minglan really come to pick up Ruan Wan?
How could that be…
Lin Yuying’s expression shifted.
It was unclear which colleague spoke first, “Team Leader Ruan, is this your husband?”
This remark shattered the silence.
Just as Ruan Wan was about to deny it, Li Yuan glanced at Gao Yue before his gaze swept coldly over Sun Wei beside her, “Your boyfriend?”
Gao Yue’s face flushed red.
Was this man trying to flirt with her?
The absurd part was that everyone thought he was Ruan Wan’s husband.
Like a victorious rooster, she lifted her head and declared, “Yes.”
The moment her words fell—
The air froze, and a sound like tearing wind whistled past their ears. Before anyone could react, they saw Li Yuan grab Sun Wei’s shoulder with a backhand motion and throw him over his shoulder onto the ground.
Water splashed up, but no one saw how he had struck.
“Ah Wei!” Gao Yue cried out, rushing forward.
She blocked Li Yuan’s path, “Hey! You can’t just hit my boyfriend because you’re pursuing me. Fine, I’ll be your girlfriend, okay?”
Li Yuan remained expressionless.
The black strands of hair falling over his forehead, his cold pale skin, and his thin, crimson lips created a striking visual contrast.
His eyes were sharp yet indifferent, exuding a wild, untamed arrogance, yet his appearance was refined and noble—an unusual contradiction.
“Your boyfriend is suspected of economic crimes and is a fugitive wanted by the police,” he said, his voice cold and calm.
Gao Yue froze, turning to look at her boyfriend.
Sun Wei trembled, ignoring the intense pain in his body, and tried to flee.
But it was too late.
On the quiet road, the sound of police sirens suddenly blared, red and blue lights piercing through the rain as a blue-and-white police car sped over.
The police officers quickly subdued Sun Wei.
—Five minutes earlier, they had received a tip that a major economic fraud suspect had been spotted near Jingbei Road.
“Looks like the power of the people is still greater—they subdued the criminal before we could!”
Beside them, Gao Yue collapsed to the ground.
She could never have imagined that her boyfriend was an economic fraudster…
Remembering how she had lent him 500,000 yuan not long ago, Gao Yue jolted to her feet and frantically grabbed Sun Wei, “The money! Give me back my money!”
The only answer he got was: “The money’s long gone, spent.”
Gao Yue was completely stunned.
The captain of the criminal police team who had led the operation was about to thank the concerned citizen, but when his gaze met Li Yuan’s, he paused for a moment. “Captain Li?”
“Long time no see, Zhang Qi.”
Zhang Qi was especially excited!
“That anonymous tip just now—it was you who called, right?”
“I knew it! This guy’s had so much plastic surgery even his own mother wouldn’t recognize him. An untrained citizen would never match him to the photo on the wanted poster!”
“This guy is a Class-A wanted criminal with a 100,000 yuan bounty. Captain Li, if you’re not busy, would you come back to the station with me to handle the paperwork?”
Li Yuan seemed somewhat distant in response to Captain Zhang’s enthusiasm. “No need, I have other matters to attend to.”
His attitude wasn’t exactly off-putting—it was as if he was naturally this aloof, treating everyone the same way.
Yet, in the very next moment.
The man bent down to pick up the black umbrella from the ground. His slender fingers gripped the black handle as he held it over Ruan Wan’s head, casting a shadow over her. His voice drifted down from above.
“Let’s go, let’s head home.”