Baby?
Ruan Li froze for a moment, her face instantly burning.
She had thought…
Ah, she couldn’t even bring herself to say it.
A wave of intense embarrassment washed over her mind. Ruan Li felt as if she were glued to the floor, unable to move, and awkwardly changed the subject, “I-I’ll find you some clothes first.”
Outside the door, in the hallway.
Gou Junjun didn’t understand. “Zhao Shen, how did you…”
Zhao Shen glanced at someone in the hallway and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Ruan Li has face blindness. Have you forgotten A Si’s bet?”
Gou Junjun was taken aback. “You mean…”
“Yes. She mistook him for someone else.”
“What?” Gou Junjun was shocked. “But how could Shi Yu…”
He paused. “Could it be that he’s also doing it for Jiang Siyan’s bet? That Cullinan?”
Jiang Siyan had used an eight-million-yuan sports car as the wager, something everyone in their group knew.
And Ruan Li was beautiful, with a cool and obedient demeanor.
Faced with such a beauty, even if the seduction failed, the man wouldn’t lose anything.
With this mindset, there were countless people eager to impersonate Jiang Siyan and seduce the face-blind Ruan Li.
Gou Junjun’s sympathy overflowed, and he whispered with a sigh:
“Then Ruan Li is really pitiful! I heard that A Si broke his leg in a car accident, and it was Ruan Li who took care of him the whole time. What a good girl. And A Si too—even we, as his brothers, can tell he cares about Ruan Li. Why would he still send someone to test her? I really don’t get it.”
Zhao Shen thought for a moment and replied seriously, “Resenting the bright moon for shining high, yet not shining on oneself alone.”
“What?”
Noticing the person at the other end of the hallway getting closer, Zhao Shen didn’t say more.
“Anyway, don’t mention this to anyone. Let’s just pretend we didn’t see Shi Yu.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll keep it to myself!”
Zhao Shen nodded.
Actually, there was one more thing he hadn’t told Gou Junjun.
That was Shi Yu’s true identity.
He had accidentally found out—
The Impoverished School Grass was actually the Crown Prince of the Capital Circle.
When gods fight, mortals suffer. Whether it was Fu Shiyu or Jiang Siyan, neither was someone they could afford to provoke.
As for Ruan Li.
Perhaps she had also guessed Fu Shiyu’s identity, or maybe not.
While the two were whispering, Ruan Baozhu at the other end of the hallway was feeling smug and satisfied.
She had been waiting for the sound of an argument from inside the room.
Unexpectedly, in a peaceful atmosphere, the door closed.
And Jiang Siyan’s two brothers acted as if nothing had happened, even planning to leave.
Ruan Baozhu’s smile slowly froze on her face.
How was this possible?
Having caught Ruan Li with another man, how could they remain indifferent?
Just as the two were about to pass her, Ruan Baozhu grabbed one of the men and asked sweetly, “Excuse me, is Sister Ruan Li and Brother A Si inside?”
“…They’re inside.” Gou Junjun could only answer this way.
Ruan Baozhu couldn’t help but raise her voice, “Impossible! You’re lying!”
Gou Junjun was startled by her shout and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “Miss, what does a couple’s business have to do with you? Are you trying to be a homewrecker and steal someone else’s man?”
“…” Ruan Baozhu was both angry and annoyed. She raised her hand to knock on the door, determined to confirm for herself.
But Zhao Shen spoke lightly, “I advise you not to disturb them. No one likes to be interrupted at a time like this.”
Ruan Baozhu froze.
She didn’t believe it. She insisted on knocking on the door to see if the man inside was really Jiang Siyan.
At the critical moment, Ruan Bo stopped Ruan Baozhu, looking toward the door with relief. “It seems Xiao Li was right. Her relationship with Siyan has improved a lot lately.”
As agreed, Ruan Bo then sent Ruan Li the address of a foreign rehabilitation center.
When Ruan Li received the message, her almond-shaped eyes widened suddenly.
It was her foster mother’s address!
It seemed Ruan Bo believed her. A hint of joy colored Ruan Li’s brows and eyes, and her steps lightened noticeably as she carried the medical kit into the living room.
Shi Yu leaned back on the sofa, watching the girl approach him.
She had changed into a home dress, her hair loose—thick, dark, and slightly wavy, piled like clouds on either side of her shoulders. It framed her oval face, fair and clean, with a smile gracing her cheeks and shallow dimples softening her features.
Earlier, in the entryway, he had noticed a badge—the one issued by Haicheng University during its centennial celebration last year.
So she was also from Haicheng University.
Since they attended the same school, it wasn’t surprising that Zhao Shen and Gou Junjun knew her.
Shi Yu just hadn’t expected those two, who were practically inseparable, to even deliver takeout together.
“Your clothes are here.”
Ruan Li handed the neatly folded clothes to Shi Yu.
A lead-gray short-sleeved shirt and matching cotton pants, carrying the faint scent of laundry detergent.
When Shi Yu didn’t take them, she explained, “They’re new. My boyfriend hasn’t worn them yet.”
“Boyfriend?” Shi Yu repeated the word, following her lead. “You like him a lot?”
“Yes,” Ruan Li nodded.
Shi Yu chuckled softly.
Admittedly, as a woman living alone, she was cautious—placing men’s sneakers outside the door and hanging a man’s jacket on the balcony, as if she really had a boyfriend.
But she had forgotten to leave some men’s items in the bathroom too.
He didn’t expose her, simply saying, “I don’t want someone else’s clothes.”
He extended his hand instead. “Just apply the medicine directly.”
Ruan Li stared at the already healed wound, somewhat confused.
But remembering how Shi Yu had helped her outside the café, she knelt halfway in front of the sofa, cradling his hand, and gently dabbed his fingertips with a damp iodine swab.
Shi Yu watched her face.
Her long eyelashes lowered, casting an amber shadow on her eyelids. As she knelt, the hem of her egg-yellow dress brushed the floor, revealing her round, fair toes against the dark carpet.
She seemed to assume the dress was modest, completely unguarded.
A high neckline, sleeves covering her upper arms, and a skirt reaching her ankles.
Even the cartoon print on the chest had faded and peeled from years of wear, looking childish and careless.
Little did she know, when she raised her arms, the overly wide sleeves barely concealed anything.
A slender waist.
Soft lips.
A sweet voice.
Shi Yu felt a growing restlessness.
Just then, a cool breeze brushed his fingertips.
It was Ruan Li’s habit of blowing gently on the wound as she applied the medicine.
Her lips were naturally rosy, as if glossed, and he could almost picture her student days—being called out by the dean to remove her makeup, rubbing her lips raw with the back of her hand to prove she wasn’t wearing any, looking utterly wronged.
“All done,” Ruan Li said. “It’s getting late. You should go now. Thank you for helping me outside the café today.”
Leave?
Shi Yu’s fingers twitched slightly, the lingering sensation on his fingertips refusing to fade.
In the next moment, he wrapped one arm around Ruan Li’s waist and effortlessly pulled her onto his lap.
The loose nightgown crumpled under his firm arm, the hem riding up a few inches to reveal her slender ankles—porcelain-white and fragile, like a still-life subject for an art student.
“What are you doing?”
Meeting Ruan Li’s astonished gaze, Fu Shiyu tightened his restraining arms, his fingertips sliding up from the cuff. The cool touch was like fine jade, tempting one to toy with it.
He narrowed his eyes:
“I have professional ethics. Since we didn’t finish yesterday, I’ll make up for it tonight.”