Lin Ranran skipped lunch and spent the entire noon break crying silently with her face buried in her desk.
Before others returned from the cafeteria, she wiped away her tears and carefully used concealer to cover the redness and swelling around her eyes in front of a mirror, trying hard to maintain her usual haughty demeanor.
She was a queen—how could she cry over a boy and lower her own worth?
She thought fiercely, Gu Chenshi, what makes you so special? Don’t think the world stops turning without you. I’ll live better than before!
She believed she had disguised herself perfectly and that no one knew about what happened at noon. Little did she know, there was a particularly detestable guy who had recorded her secretly crying at her desk with his phone and sent it to her mother…
Who could it be?
Naturally, it was Kong Xiao, who wished he could trample Gu Chenshi underfoot.
Kong Xiao thought that by doing this, Lin’s mother would be endlessly grateful to him.
As long as he pleased Lin’s father and mother, gained their support, and got them to recognize him as their future son-in-law, hehehe… the goddess would eventually be his. After all, the goddess would more or less listen to her parents…
Kong Xiao looked at the successfully sent video, happily daydreaming about the future.
Little did he know that this move would not only fail to please Lin’s mother but would also be playing with fire…
Lin Ranran’s disguise was successful. To others, she still seemed like the lofty queen pursued and fawned over by many boys.
But only she knew—things were different now.
She irritably realized that she couldn’t control herself.
Ever since Gu Chenshi suddenly became cold, she couldn’t help but want to pay attention to him. She didn’t know what was wrong with herself. She thought maybe Gu Chenshi had gone too far and angered her?
As someone who had enjoyed being the center of attention since childhood, Lin Ranran had always been liked and noticed by others. So when she couldn’t help but pay attention to someone else, she truly couldn’t figure out what was happening…
Gu Chenshi had unknowingly become an indispensable part of her life, but before this, she had never realized it and thus never thought to cherish him. Even if she regretted it now, it was too late.
Not only was Lin Ranran’s mood strange and fluctuating, but Lin’s father and mother had also been very busy and troubled lately.
They hadn’t investigated before, but once they did, they were so angry they almost had a stroke.
Kong Xiao’s parents, taking advantage of the Lin family’s trust in them and their positions, had secretly embezzled public funds to speculate in stocks!
In a fit of rage, Lin’s father reported them to the police.
Perhaps Kong Xiao never dreamed that the lie he casually made up, which failed to bring down Gu Chenshi, would instead land his own parents in prison!
Compared to the chaos in the Lin and Kong families, Gu Chenshi spent his weekend peacefully and warmly at home.
At seven o’clock on Saturday evening, Gu Chenshi walked out of the convenience store outside the residential complex, carrying a plastic shopping bag.
There was no soy sauce left at home. Seeing that he had been sitting at the table studying, Mother asked him to go buy soy sauce, take a walk to stretch his legs, and rest his eyes.
Gu Chenshi pondered over a problem in his mind as he walked slowly back.
As he walked, he suddenly noticed something odd about the person walking ahead of him.
The person wasn’t tall, wearing a bulky black men’s down jacket, a black woolen hat, a face mask, and sunglasses.
Wearing sunglasses on a winter night as darkness fell was truly strange.
Of course, it was also possible that the person had just gotten double eyelid surgery and was wearing sunglasses to avoid scaring others with swollen eyes.
As long as it didn’t break any laws or disrupt public order, and as long as they felt comfortable, people could wear sunglasses whenever they wanted—that was their freedom.
However, what caught Gu Chenshi’s attention about the person ahead wasn’t their sunglasses, but their behavior, which seemed unusually nervous.
They kept glancing back from time to time, as if there were a bad guy secretly following them, waiting for the right moment to beat them up or drag them into a car when no one was around.
This made Gu Chenshi feel uneasy, and he couldn’t help but mimic the person ahead, turning around to look behind him. To his frustration, he found that there was no one behind him at all.
In other words, he was the one making the person ahead uneasy?
Did he really look that intimidating?
Come on, open your eyes and take a good look—he was just a student, out for a normal shopping trip. There was no need to make it seem like a spy thriller, right?
If they really thought he was a dangerous person, Gu Chenshi would suggest the guy ahead just stay in his room and not go anywhere.
Gu Chenshi was speechless. He quickened his pace, overtaking the overly nervous person in a few steps. Unable to resist, he glanced back and noticed that even after he had passed them, the person still looked back once more. This made him feel a little better.
So, it wasn’t that they saw him as a threat. But there really was no one behind them—what was there to look at?
What a weirdo.
“Oh, by the way, Chenshi, someone has moved into Grandma Li’s house.”
During dinner, Jing Lan remembered something and mentioned it casually.
Grandma Li was an old neighbor of Gu Chenshi’s family, and the two households had always gotten along well. When Gu Chenshi was young and his parents were busy with work, Grandma Li had taken the initiative to look after him for a while.
Grandma Li’s son had settled abroad and, worried about leaving his elderly mother alone at home, had flown back recently to take her with him.
The now-vacant house had been listed with an agency for rent.
Gu Chenshi didn’t pay much attention to it. So what if a new neighbor had moved in? They might not stay long anyway. At most, they’d exchange nods when they saw each other, and there wouldn’t be much interaction beyond that.
Jing Lan added, “But I think this kid is a bit strange.”
Gu Chenshi was taken aback. “A kid moved in? Without their parents?”
“Yeah, that’s why I said it’s strange. What parent would let a teenager live alone? They don’t look much younger than you.”
Gu Chenshi offered a possibility. “Maybe they just look young but are actually an adult.”
Jing Lan wondered, “Is that possible? Their face is so fair and delicate, looking even more youthful than yours.”
Gu Chenshi suggested another possibility. “Maybe they’re just good at skincare? Unlike your son, who’s just a rough guy.”
Jing Lan suddenly laughed and reached out to pinch Gu Chenshi’s cheek. “My son is handsome even without skincare.”
Just then, the sound of a door opening came from next door.
“Oh, they’re back.” Jing Lan put down her chopsticks and walked out, saying, “I’ll go take a look. They just moved in and must have a lot to unpack. Maybe I can help.”
Gu Chenshi shook his head.
His mom was always so warm-hearted, willing to go out of her way for anyone.
Gu Chenshi quickly finished the rice in his bowl, casually wiped his mouth, and was just about to head to his room when Jing Lan’s voice came from outside: “Chenshi, come give me a hand.”
Gu Chenshi walked out and couldn’t help but feel a bit startled when he saw the person outside.
A bulky black down jacket, black mask, black sunglasses…
Wasn’t this the weirdo who had been walking ahead of him earlier?
Jing Lan urged, “Chenshi, don’t just stand there, help your little brother hang the curtains—Hey, young man, how old are you this year?”
Jing Lan suddenly remembered what Gu Chenshi had said at the dinner table about someone looking young. Who knew who should really be calling whom “little brother”?
The weirdo paused for a moment, hesitated, and replied in a deliberately low voice: “Auntie, I’m twenty this year.”
“Twenty?” Jing Lan was utterly astonished and instinctively glanced at Gu Chenshi, thinking to herself, Did this silly kid actually guess right?