Lu Zheng suppressed his anger. Today, he had to admit defeat, swallowing his pride as he reluctantly scanned the code to pay.
Jiang Li contentedly put away her phone. As she stood up, her skirt fluttered lightly. Even standing on a step stained with spilled food, the girl looked as clean as if she were treading on clouds.
“Young Master Lu, don’t forget to clean the stairs you dirtied.”
Lu Zheng was helped up by a few juniors. Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Li’s blunt words stopped him in his tracks, leaving him thoroughly annoyed.
“Hey, getting so close to that poor guy—Xu Jiarang will be furious, and you won’t be able to calm him down.”
Jiang Li turned her head and asked seriously, “You care so much about whether Xu Jiarang is angry—are you secretly in love with him?”
Then, her brows relaxed as she generously added, “If you like him, I’ll let you have him.”
The onlookers gasped in shock. How audacious!
But upon closer thought, Jiang Li truly had the capital to act this way.
Although it was an arranged marriage between two families, the Jiang family’s influence far surpassed that of the Xu family.
Jiang Li had no interest in wasting words on these people. She turned around, took Shen Muran’s hand, and walked away without a second thought for what others might say about her.
Once they left the cafeteria, Jiang Li found a shady spot under a tree. She pulled a few iodine swabs from her bag, unwrapped them, and began disinfecting his wounds.
Shen Muran wasn’t used to such close physical contact and tried to pull away, but Jiang Li stepped closer, narrowing the distance between them.
“Don’t move, you’re smearing it.”
She carefully applied the ointment, muttering under her breath, “Damn Ji Chengyu, such an unreliable guy!”
He couldn’t even manage to chase down a new tennis racket!
Fortunately, she had picked up some ointment for scrapes at the hospital yesterday and hadn’t used it yet. Now, it came in handy for Shen Muran.
Jiang Li frowned, her words flowing in a steady stream.
Shen Muran watched her the entire time, silently demanding justice.
Her words were like stones, striking not only at Lu Zheng but also chipping away at the numb shell around his heart, leaving it tightly entangled in an unfamiliar emotion.
He felt uneasy.
He desperately wanted to escape this ambiguous closeness, unsure whether it came from a friend or foe.
The girl’s hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and as she leaned in, she carried a faint scent of pear blossoms. Her fingertips carefully pressed the edges of the bandage as she applied it.
“Why do you keep hurting yourself? Yesterday it was your hand, today it’s your face—tomorrow, it won’t be your leg, will it!”
Seeing no reaction from him, Jiang Li snapped her fingers. “Hey! Give me some reaction, will you? Are you too moved to speak?”
Shen Muran snapped back to reality, meeting her bright, sparkling eyes.
None of the sharpness from earlier remained.
Jiang Li seemed very accustomed to being close to him.
But why?
The distance between them was too close, and her warm breath brushed against Shen Muran’s face.
This feeling was strange.
Like frozen hands touching hot water—the first reaction wasn’t warmth but a tingling, numbing sensation.
“Lu Zheng was clearly bullying you. Taking his photo wouldn’t scare him; it would only make him angry enough to beat you up, and afterward, you wouldn’t even get any compensation.”
“That bastard’s insults were harsh too. Just now… were you really angry?”
Shen Muran fell into thought.
Anger?
It seemed to have long been absent from his life.
After his parents passed away, he began living under someone else’s roof. At his uncle’s house, he had to learn to accept all kinds of harsh treatment from others.
Surviving was hard enough.
He needed to spare more time to earn money and pay off his debts. He had to save his energy to chase his dreams.
He didn’t want to waste unnecessary energy on emotions.
A life without ups and downs was best.
“I’m used to not caring, as long as I get the compensation.”
The afternoon sunlight, like crushed gold foil, filtered through the gaps in the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
In Jiang Li’s memory, Shen Muran’s cold expression hadn’t appeared for a long time.
Yet it was this very face that reminded her time and again that she was facing a fragile and sensitive Shen Muran.
In the years after their marriage, he never brought up the past.
Jiang Li only knew that he had struggled with money since childhood, and the medical debts from his mother’s cancer treatment, compounded by interest, took years to repay.
It wasn’t until several years later, when he became the most commercially valuable tennis player and his worth soared, that he began to show even the slightest hint of a smile.
Hey~ Money? She had some too.
Jiang Li put on a bright smile again. “Don’t be upset, I got you a thousand yuan!”
She tapped on her phone to transfer the money.
Ding—Chicken Wife Protection has received 1,000 yuan.
The girl’s smile was gentle. “Well? With money in your own pocket, are you feeling better now?”
“And there’s a surprise too.”
Jiang Li rummaged through her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. “Ta-da! I saw you liked this competition on your social media. You want to go, right? I got you the application form.”
On the registration form for the Jincheng University Tennis Championship, there was also a sticky note with a phone number written on it.
After receiving the invitation code, Jiang Li had passed by a convenience store and printed out the form.
“This is the contact number of the person in charge. Their team happens to be looking for an injury substitute. Just fill out the form and submit it, and you’ll be able to play!”
Jiang Li blinked her big eyes, not wanting to miss even a flicker of delight on his face.
But Shen Muran only lifted his gaze to glance at her, his voice low as he replied, “Thank you.”
“Jiang Li, Professor Zhu wants to see you in his office.” A senior from the same department called out to her from a distance.
Jiang Li turned her head and replied, “Got it!”
When the old professor called for her, it was never good news. Being late would only make things worse.
Anyway, she had already paved the way for Shen Muran. This time, all he had to do was submit the application form to compete. As for the results and whether he could catch Cheng Li’s attention, they could only do their best and leave the rest to fate. Still, Jiang Li believed in his abilities.
She quickly stuffed the application form and a box of blueberries into his arms, a vibrant smile playing on her lips. “If you’re hungry, have some fruit to tide you over. Remember to apply for the competition. I believe in you~”
Without waiting for the senior to call her again, Jiang Li slung her cello over her shoulder and dashed toward the music building.
The girl’s figure gradually faded into the distance, and Shen Muran stood still, watching for a long time.
Emotions churned in his eyes, a mix of frustration and confusion tangling his thoughts into a messy knot.
He lowered his head again to examine the blueberries in his hand.
Why did this color…
The first day of every month was the day Shen Muran had to return to the Bo family.
Although his grandfather suffered from dementia, he never forgot about family gatherings for meals.
Laughter filled the living room as Zhou Wanyue held a magnifying glass up to a certificate, placing it in front of Elder Bo.
“Dad, look! Xiao Zhou won first place in the city team competition this time. There’s over five thousand yuan in prize money!”
“If I hadn’t gone into his room and seen it, this child would have kept it from us.”
Then the woman handed a plate of fruit to her son, sighing with a smile. “He really hasn’t let down all these years of nurturing!”
Bo Lingzhou’s lips curved slightly, his expression tinged with shyness, his tone deliberately humble. “Mom, these are just basic competitions. I still have a lot to learn.”
This was the scene Shen Muran walked into as soon as he entered.
“Aunt, Cousin, Grandfather, hello.”
Zhou Wanyue’s smile froze the moment she saw him, unable to hide the disgust on her face.
The woman merely gave a curt “hm.”
Bo Lingzhou tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. “You’re back so late. Didn’t you know we were having dinner with Grandpa today?”
Shen Muran was already accustomed to the routine of being questioned as soon as he returned home.
He glanced at his grandfather and replied calmly, “I was held up at school, so I came back late.”
Elder Bo’s cloudy eyes seemed lost for a moment before recognizing Shen Muran. He happily reached out his hand. “Ranran is back? Grandpa thinks you’ve lost weight. Seventh grade must be keeping you busy. Make sure to eat more later.”
His grandfather’s memory of him always remained frozen at the age of twelve.
The old man’s hand, covered in age spots, tightly grasped Shen Muran’s.
His grandfather’s kind smile completely dispelled the discomfort in his heart.