Volume 1 Chapter 16: Not as Precious as Our Child
“Let’s go, home.”
The people around them stirred once again.
“Wow, he really is Team Leader Ruan’s husband!”
“Then what was that phone call earlier? Was he deliberately making his wife jealous?”
“…”
The whispers reached Gao Yue’s ears, and her mind exploded with a buzzing sound.
This person really was Ruan Wan’s husband…
Not only was he wealthy, young, but also good-looking.
Thinking back to what she had said earlier, she felt like a clown who had misread the situation, her toes curling in embarrassment, not daring to dwell on it.
On the other side.
Ruan Wan moved her lips, wanting to ask Li Yuan why he didn’t want the reward.
That was a hundred thousand yuan.
But then she remembered Li Yuan’s current status.
—The maternal grandson of the Lu family in the Capital Circle, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him the Crown Prince of the Capital Circle.
Now, he didn’t even care about the Li family with its billions in assets, let alone a mere hundred thousand yuan.
Ruan Wan loosened her tightly clenched hand and asked softly, “I have a colleague who needs a ride, is that okay?”
“Mm.”
Ruan Wan turned around and pulled Li Jing to get into the car.
But Li Jing shrank her neck and pointed at the rain that was about to stop, saying, “It’s almost stopped raining, I’ll just go buy an umbrella.”
Ruan Wan: “”
Guessing that Li Jing was afraid of Li Yuan, Ruan Wan didn’t force her and left the umbrella with Li Jing instead.
After the driver started the car, the colleagues left behind wore expressions of avid curiosity.
“Oh my! As expected, the person who caught Sister Ruan’s eye is no ordinary man!”
“They’re such a perfect match!”
“Team Leader Ruan is too low-key! That’s a Jing A license plate, so impressive!”
In the crowd, Lin Yuying’s expression was awkward.
She tried squinting her eyes to memorize the car’s license plate, but with her 300-degree nearsightedness, even squinting only allowed her to make out the character “Jing.”
She heard the police officer call him Captain Li.
There weren’t many people with the surname Li, could it really be Li Minglan?
In the car.
Ruan Wan looked at the carpet stained by her wet shoes, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Suddenly, she remembered many years ago when she had faced a similar embarrassment, and Li Yuan had been there then too.
The high school Ruan Wan attended was a provincial key public school. According to her mother’s arrangements, she was supposed to attend an international school, which was what people in Jiangcheng called a “noble school.”
But her father disagreed, saying he was afraid Ruan Wan would pick up bad habits from wealthy kids.
Because of this, Ruan Wan was completely unaware of the love-hate entanglements between Li Minglan, Jiang Song, Pei Baichen, and Shen Zhizhi.
Her high school was Jiangda High School, and just a wall away was the country’s top institution—Jiangcheng University.
Back then, Ruan Wan was already very interested in books related to machinery.
There was an out-of-print book that was only available in the Jiangcheng University library.
However, entering and exiting the Jiangcheng University library required a swipe card.
Ruan Wan had no choice but to give up.
Until one day, on her way home from school, she found a Jiangcheng University student ID card.
The photo on the student ID was missing.
Name: Li Yuan
Major: Physics Department
Ruan Wan tightly gripped the card, and a bold idea came to mind.
For a good girl who had followed the rules for the past 17 years, she knew she should return the card, but she wanted to take this opportunity to go to the library and see that book.
She took a deep breath and swiped the card to enter the library.
“Beep!”
On the display of the entrance gate, a one-inch photo of a boy popped up:
Short-cropped hair, cold pale skin, sharp and cold eyes, around eighteen or nineteen years old—the most handsome person Ruan Wan had ever seen.
But his aura was too intense, and Ruan Wan was startled.
If he discovered she had his card, would he mistake her for a thief?
Ruan Wan’s heart pounded like thunder.
—“Hey, classmate, could you swipe me in?”
At the entrance, a girl carrying a thick stack of books hurried to catch up with Ruan Wan and said with a smile, “My card is in my pocket and it’s really hard to get out. Could you help swipe me in, junior?”
Ruan Wan pressed her lips tightly together.
Her mother had always been frail, spending years recuperating abroad, while her father had always taught her to give whatever she had to Lin Yuying. Whenever Lin Yuying wanted something, she would hand it over.
Only then would her father praise her, calling her a good girl.
Over time, Ruan Wan became unaccustomed to refusing others.
Especially for such a small favor.
Ruan Wan’s face flushed crimson as she quickly tapped the student card.
With a beep, the girl’s puzzled voice rang out, “Huh? Isn’t this Senior Li Yuan’s card? Why do you have it?”
Looking back now, it wasn’t a big deal.
The girl’s tone was merely surprised, without any malice.
But for a teenage girl, it felt like the end of the world.
Perhaps it was because this boy named Li Yuan was too well-known. In that moment, she could keenly feel the gazes from all directions fixed on her.
Some curious, some scrutinizing.
But to Ruan Wan, it felt as if everyone was saying: Look, she’s a thief.
This caught the attention of a nearby security guard.
The middle-aged man walked over, eyeing Ruan Wan’s youthful face, and asked sternly, “You’re not a student of Jiang University, are you? How did you get this card?”
Ruan Wan hung her head even lower.
She wanted to turn and run, but her legs felt as if they were filled with lead.
The crowd around them grew, and whispers crept into her ears.
—“She’s my girlfriend.”
A clear voice rang out. Ruan Wan looked up and saw the strikingly handsome boy walking toward her.
Even more handsome than in the photos.
Behind him stood a girl holding a pale pink box, as if it were a gift she had prepared for someone.
The girl stared in shock, her impeccable makeup showing a slight crack, “Li Yuan, is it because of this little girl that you turned me down?”
Ruan Wan stood there dumbfounded, wanting to shake her head in denial.
But Li Yuan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said to the security guard with a slight smile, “She’s not from our school. She’s here to study with me. Is that allowed?”
After confirming that the student card indeed belonged to Li Yuan, the security guard smiled kindly, “Go ahead, young couple studying together and making progress—that’s great!”
Ruan Wan couldn’t remember how she entered the library.
It felt as if Li Yuan had pulled her inside.
When they reached a quiet spot, Li Yuan let go of her and leaned casually against the window, framed by the autumn foliage outside. “So, what happened?”
Outside, an autumn breeze rustled.
The red of maple leaves and the yellow of ginkgo intertwined in the wind, dazzling and magnificent.
As the boy drew closer, his handsome, carefree features filled her vision, set against the scenery outside the window—indescribably beautiful.
Ruan Wan’s heart skipped a beat.
The memory came to an abrupt end.
A cool sensation touched Ruan Wan’s palm. Looking down, she saw Li Yuan placing an exquisite box in her hand.
“What’s this?”
“A birthday gift.” Li Yuan glanced sideways, his dark eyes reflecting her figure. He seemed in a better mood now, no longer as aloof as before. “Open it and see.”
Ruan Wan’s heart stirred.
She hadn’t expected Li Yuan to remember her birthday.
She opened the packaging and saw a pink-orange fountain pen.
—It was the limited edition collaboration piece she had once seen in a store display case, priced at 200,000 yuan each.
She paused, her mood entirely different from when she had received Jiang Song’s gift. “Thank you, big brother, but it’s too expensive.”
Big brother.
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant form of address—she had simply followed Li Minglan’s lead.
Li Yuan lifted his thin eyelids and gave her a deep look, casually remarking, “It’s not expensive. Not as expensive as the child you want.”