23 – Huh? Whose puppy is this?
Jiang Mingci was currently hesitating about whether he should go to the villa.
“I caused the young lady to sprain her ankle, so she must really hate me now…”
He had been standing there, tangled in his thoughts for a long time. It was the height of summer, and his cheeks were slightly flushed from the sun.
Yet he still remembered to hold the fruit basket in his arms, shielding it from the sun with his back, afraid the fruit meant for the young lady would get too hot.
He didn’t dare go in.
But he couldn’t bring himself to leave either…
Until a luxurious, gleaming car pulled up in front of him, and the driver rolled down the window, handing him a bottle of water.
“Hey there, thanks for giving me directions earlier.”
The weather was hot, and Jiang Mingci was indeed a bit thirsty, but he glanced at the bottle with its diamond-like appearance.
Then he froze.
The university’s basketball court was never short of girls offering water, and he had seen this kind of diamond-patterned water before.
At the time, someone had joked, “Two thousand yuan for a bottle of water, that’s so extravagant.”
Jiang Mingci never accepted water from girls, and hearing that made him even more reluctant to take it.
He politely shook his head. “Thank you, but no need.”
Hearing this, the driver hesitated and glanced at the rearview mirror, then wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Take it, kid. It’s from our Second Young Master.”
As for the exact reason, well, he didn’t dare guess, and he didn’t dare ask.
Jiang Mingci was taken aback. “Second Young Master is…”
The tinted windows only allowed those inside to see out, not the other way around.
Seeing that Xie Jingchuan had no intention of rolling down the window, the driver explained, “He’s the older brother of the young lady you danced with.”
Jiang Mingci’s eyes lit up slightly, and he called out quite obediently.
“Hello, brother.”
The young lady’s brother would be his brother in the future.
Inside the car, Xie Jingchuan lazily narrowed his long eyes, which revealed no particular emotion.
He simply said, “Take the water.”
This time, Jiang Mingci didn’t refuse. After accepting it, he smiled gently toward the window. “Thank you, brother.”
The driver watched as the two faced each other across the opaque window.
The lazy, noble young master and the youthful college student.
Oh no, something seemed to be starting to feel a bit off.
“Drive.”
Xie Jingchuan’s long fingers tapped leisurely on his knee.
After the car had driven some distance, the driver noticed the Second Young Master in the back seat, seemingly lost in thought, and the more he looked, the more something felt off.
Especially when he muttered thoughtfully, “Jiang Mingci…”
The driver couldn’t hold back any longer and asked, “Second Young Master, you couldn’t possibly… have some kind of interest in that kid, could you?”
Hearing this, Xie Jingchuan suddenly lifted his gaze, his lazy, captivating eyes giving the driver a cool, warning look.
His voice carried a hint of warning. “Don’t breathe a word of this.”
The driver hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes, of course!”
So that’s the Second Young Master’s type—no wonder he’s never had a girlfriend!
In the end, it was Chen Yi who spotted Jiang Mingci still standing outside the gate while she was watering the plants on the balcony.
She hurried downstairs and said to the young lady, who was enjoying a bowl of ice jelly, “Young Lady, Jiang is here.”
Xie Yurao looked up but didn’t see anyone. “Where is he?”
“He’s… outside the gate.”
Although Chen Yi secretly shipped the young lady with Mr. Tan, she had always been soft-hearted.
She added, “He’s probably hiding and doesn’t dare come in. But with this weather, it’s so hot outside—he’s likely about to get heatstroke.”
Xie Yurao raised an eyebrow in confusion and stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”
Summer had arrived in full force, with bright, dazzling sunlight casting a golden glow over the ground.
Xie Yurao opened a parasol before stepping out of the villa.
Under the telephone pole, a boy in a white shirt crouched on the ground, a basket of fruit placed before him.
“Oh, whose little puppy is this?”
A crisp, sweet voice suddenly rang out, tinged with laughter.
Jiang Mingci abruptly looked up.
A beautiful woman in a crimson long dress stood before him, the hem of her skirt revealing jade-white calves. Holding a small parasol, she gazed down at him with a smiling expression.
“Y-young Mistress…” Jiang Mingci hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
Perhaps it was the heat, or maybe he had stood up too quickly—his vision darkened for a moment, and his body swayed slightly.
Xie Yurao raised an eyebrow lazily and reached out to steady him.
Through the thin fabric of his shirt sleeve, Jiang Mingci felt the cool, smooth touch of her small hand on his arm. His body stiffened, and the tips of his ears instantly flushed redder than if they had been sunburned.
“Are you alright?”
Jiang Mingci shook his head, his face flushed, stammering nervously, “N-no, I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Xie Yurao asked him, “Since you’re here, why didn’t you just come inside? Isn’t it hot out here?”
“I…”
Jiang Mingci’s voice was low, “I was afraid you were still angry and didn’t want to see me.”
Xie Yurao held her small parasol, her gaze resting on his slightly flushed face as she drawled, “I am indeed angry.”
Jiang Mingci lowered his head dejectedly.
Xie Yurao added, “But not at you.”
With that dog of a man, Tan Shen, irritating her every day, she hardly had the energy to be angry at anyone else.
On the second floor of the villa.
Chen Yi returned to the second floor intending to continue watering the flowers when she noticed someone standing in the spot she had just occupied.
The man held a watering can, his gaze fixed intently on the scene below, his expression indescribably cold.
She had been standing in that very spot earlier and knew it offered a clear view of everything happening downstairs.
Chen Yi cautiously called out, “Mr. Tan…”
Tan Shen paused slightly, calmly withdrew his gaze, and continued watering the flowers with the can in his hand.
“I’ll handle it. You can go rest.”
Chen Yi hesitated, “Are you… sure about that?”
Tan Shen gave her a cold glance, as if to say, “What’s there to be unsure about when watering flowers? Is it difficult?”
Chen Yi’s expression turned somewhat complicated. Unable to hold back, she pointed at the flowerpot.
“Well, you… don’t just water that one spider plant. It’s practically drowning…”
Tan Shen: “…”
He glanced down at the spider plant, its pot overflowing with water, its roots nearly rotting from the soaking.
He pressed his lips together in silence and moved on to water another pot.
“Understood.”
Chen Yi gave a pained look at the flowers she had carefully nurtured before finally turning and heading downstairs.
After she left, Tan Shen lifted his gaze once more, fixing it on the two figures below.
Bright, unrestrained sunlight poured down, the small parasol sheltering the two beneath it. The handsome school heartthrob and the beauty in the crimson dress truly looked like a scene from a painting.
Faint, crisp laughter drifted up, signaling her delight.
“You look like a pitiful little puppy.”
Jiang Mingci lowered his eyes in confusion, his ears uncontrollably reddening, “No, Young Mistress, don’t talk nonsense…”
After all, he was the aloof school heartthrob at his school.
Xie Yurao gave an ambiguous smile and turned away, saying, “Alright, let’s go.”
“Mm, okay.”
Tan Shen coldly withdrew his gaze. Having witnessed the entire scene, he had remained calm from start to finish.
Truthfully, he didn’t care how Xie Yurao treated this childish, foolish schoolboy.
Whether she steadied him by the arm, held a parasol for him, or teased him until he was flustered and blushing.
There was only one thing.
Tan Shen expressionlessly set down the watering can.
This little scoundrel of a fox, better not come provoking him again.
The man turned and left indifferently, leaving behind only a row of drowned flowers.