Song Ruannin looked at Zhai Yu, her beautiful face now unreadable.
Zhai Yu stood up and walked over to her.
He directly pinched Song Ruannin’s cheek.
Song Ruannin’s mouth was forced into a pout as she slapped his arm. “What are you doing?!”
“You want compensation, right? At least let me check the injury. How else would I know you’re not trying to scam me?”
As he spoke, his two fingers entered Ruan Ning’s mouth.
He probed the inside of her oral cavity back and forth.
Warm, moist, but indeed slightly swollen and congested.
By the time Song Ruannin reacted, Zhai Yu had already withdrawn his hand.
She coughed twice, a few tears seeping from the corners of her eyes, while Zhai Yu unhurriedly wiped his fingers.
After finishing, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Song Ruannin. “Speak. How much do you want in total for deleting the video and covering your medical expenses?”
Song Ruannin clenched her fist.
Delete the video to protect Bai Yuwei’s reputation?
He truly doted on this sister of his to the extreme.
Song Ruannin loosened her clenched fist, her tone fierce. “Any amount is fine?”
Zhai Yu looked up at her. “That depends on whether your face is worth the price you’re asking.”
Song Ruannin scoffed.
After a few years as the young master of the Zhai family, he had truly adopted the mannerisms of high society.
Using money to shut her up? Fine.
“I want ten million,” Song Ruannin demanded outright, asking for an exorbitant sum.
She wanted to see just how far Zhai Yu would go for his sister.
The man’s brow furrowed deeper as he picked up his phone. “Add my contact, then send me your bank account number.”
Song Ruannin was taken aback but said nothing. She took out her phone, added Zhai Yu’s contact, and sent her bank account number.
Zhai Yu simply walked aside to make a call, and within two minutes, the money was transferred.
Even though she was once the daughter of a high-ranking official, she had never seen such a large sum of money.
So, in his heart, a video and a slap from Bai Yuwei were worth ten million.
Then again, hadn’t he started dating her back then just to protect Bai Yuwei’s innocence?
Song Ruannin gripped her phone tightly, unable to describe what she was feeling now.
Zhai Yu lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke.
“What, do you regret it now?”
Song Ruannin looked up, her beautiful eyes with long dark lashes fixed on Zhai Yu, a flicker of confusion passing through them.
Zhai Yu walked up to her and blew a puff of smoke in her face.
“Now that you know I’m the young master of the Zhai family, do you regret breaking up with me back then? Song Ruannin.”
Hearing him mention this, Song Ruannin grew calm.
Her eyes were tranquil, tinged with a faint sadness, as she spoke word by word, “I have never regretted it.”
What I regret most is ever meeting you.
This thought remained unspoken.
Zhai Yu’s hand holding the cigarette tightened, and the cigarette butt fell.
Song Ruannin stood up and, right in front of Zhai Yu, deleted the video from her phone.
“Since we’ve settled this privately, I’ll leave if there’s nothing else. Thank you for the transfer, Young Master Zhai.”
Song Ruannin walked out of the office. The crowd that had gathered earlier had already been dispersed by Shen Yi.
Bai Yuwei sat on the sofa, glaring at Song Ruannin with resentment.
Song Ruannin quickly gathered her things and said to Shen Yi, “Sorry, I need to take the afternoon off.”
Shen Yi nodded, and Song Ruannin left.
A few minutes later, Zhai Yu emerged from the office, his face dark and gloomy. Without a word, he pushed open the door and left.
Bai Yuwei hurriedly chased after him. “I’m sorry, Brother Yu, I…”
Zhai Yu cast a cold glance at the woman, and Bai Yuwei fell silent.
Song Ruannin went to the pharmacy to buy anti-swelling medication and took a taxi directly back to her apartment.
After washing her face, she stood in front of the mirror and saw how terribly swollen her face was.
Bai Yuwei had been wearing a ring when she hit her, leaving a cut on her face.
It wasn’t shallow, and blood kept oozing out—it was likely to leave a scar.
In the past, she had cared the most about her face. During the year she lived with Zhai Yu in college, they stayed in an old apartment near the campus.
In the summer, she was prone to mosquito bites.
Sometimes, when she had mosquito bites on her face and accidentally scratched them open, she would pull Zhai Yu over and ask him repeatedly.
“Zhai Yu, Zhai Yu, do I look uglier?”
The handsome young man would put down the book in his hands, carefully examine her face, and then say calmly.
“No, you look the same as before.”
She would ask again, “Zhai Yu, am I pretty?”
The young man’s ears would turn slightly red, and after a long pause, he would say, “Yes.”
A splash of cold water on her face made the wound sting even more.
Ruan Ning applied medicine in front of the mirror, put on a band-aid, and wore a mask to pick up Song Ziyan.
As it neared dismissal time, Ruan Ning saw a hunched figure standing at the school gate, holding a cotton candy.
After picking up Song Ziyan, Ruan Ning looked at the kind face and went over to greet her.
“Grandma!” Song Ziyan threw herself into Chen Wanyue’s arms.
The elderly woman’s eyes crinkled with joy as she handed the cotton candy to the little girl. “Well, did Xiao Ziyan miss Grandma?”
Song Ziyan nodded obediently.
Chen Wanyue looked at Song Ruannin, who was wearing a mask beside her.
She took her hand. “Ruan Ning, why don’t you and Ziyan come to my place for a while?”
Usually, Ruan Ning would take Song Ziyan to Chen Wanyue’s home every other week, but she had been too busy last week and forgot.
Once they arrived, Ruan Ning helped Chen Wanyue wash vegetables in the kitchen.
The elderly lady hurried into the room and brought out her savings passbook. “Ruan Ning, Yanxing told me about your sister’s situation. This is my small savings—see if it can be of any use.”
Ruan Ning immediately pushed Chen Wanyue’s hand away. “Auntie, I have money.”
Looking at the elderly lady’s kind face, she felt an indescribable emotion.
She was He Yanxing’s mother.
He Yanxing had been her father’s subordinate back then. He had fallen in love with Song Zhirou, and together they had Song Ziyan.
Before her father’s incident, he had anticipated something might happen and told He Yanxing in advance that if anything went wrong, he should take her and her sister abroad.
At the time, she and Song Zhirou were in a car accident and couldn’t leave.
Even if nothing had happened, she wouldn’t have left. Her father was an innocent man who had been framed—why should she run away?
Over the years, He Yanxing had already settled abroad.
She knew that if He Yanxing returned, he would inevitably be targeted by the people who had harmed her father back then.
But that was no excuse for him to leave his wife, child, and elderly mother here.
They stayed at Chen Wanyue’s place until dark. Before leaving, Ruan Ning received a call from He Yanxing.
“Is my mother doing well?”
“If you want to know, come back and see for yourself,” Song Ruannin replied coldly.
The person on the other end fell silent.
“I’ve gathered some money. I’ll transfer it to your account tonight for your sister’s treatment.”
Song Ruannin took a deep breath. “No need, I have money.”
The man on the other end didn’t believe her. “Ruan Ning, you don’t have to be polite with me. Whether I had a choice or not, I failed your sister, and I failed Ziyan.”
“He Yanxing,” Song Ruannin interrupted him. “I plan to clear my father’s name.”
There was another long silence on the other end.
“Ruan Ning, you can’t do it. The Yao family’s influence in Yancheng is far greater than you think.”
He had already fled abroad, yet people there were still investigating him.
He had never mentioned this to Song Ruannin.
“Ruan Ning, once your sister wakes up, bring my mother, your sister, and Ziyan here. I have the ability to take care of all of you.”
He Yanxing, the genius from S University—even Song Ruannin at Yanda had heard of him.
If He Yanxing hadn’t been exceptionally outstanding, her father wouldn’t have taken notice of him back then.
He certainly had the ability to take care of them.
Song Ruannin tightened her grip on the phone. “And what if my sister never wakes up?”
“Are you planning to stay there forever?”