“How do you want to get revenge?”
Rong Junheng remained completely unfazed,
“Keep him by your side, kneeling on the ground and repenting day after day?”
“Or should we break both his legs and kick him out of the Rong family?”
“……”
The look of hesitation in Ruan Zhi’s eyes turned to astonishment.
I was just so angry at the time that I wanted to see on purpose if he would really agree to anything.
But to everyone’s surprise, his serious, solemn expression gave no indication that he was joking; it was as if the person he was talking about wasn’t his own son.
The way he immediately acted on whatever decision she made as soon as she spoke.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
Her kindness and gentleness were practically written all over her face. Rong Junheng sighed softly to himself, his voice low and gentle:
“Little girl, do you know what the cruelest way is to get back at someone who’s hurt you?”
Ruan Zhi pursed her lips and shook her head.
Rong Junheng suddenly leaned in, fixing his gaze on her eyes, and spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice soft yet utterly captivating:
“Ignore him, rise above him, effortlessly take everything he has, and make him spend his entire life seething in silence, unable to get what he wants, and forever living in regret and agony.”
Ruan Zhi’s heart began to race. Deep in the man’s eyes, a faint glow shone, radiating a temptation so alluring it felt like a crime.
She had a vague sense of what was going on, yet she didn’t quite understand.
Isn’t he Rong Che’s father? Why would he help her, a stranger?
“Why?”
Without realizing it, I voiced the doubt that had been weighing on my mind.
Suddenly, the man reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from the side of her face, tucking it behind her ear.
As his warm fingers casually brushed against the base of her ear, she felt as if her whole body were being roasted over a fire—it was scorching hot.
“You know, little girl.”
Rong Junheng was very pleased with her face, which had turned a deep crimson—even her ears were bright red—and she looked absolutely adorable.
Ruan Zhi was in a state of utter confusion; her mind was a jumble.
Before she could get her thoughts in order, the man suddenly said:
“If you marry me, you’ll become Xiao Che’s elder and will enjoy the same rights and status as I do in the Rong family.”
“You’re crazy!”
Ruan Zhi’s eyes widened in surprise, and she instinctively stepped back, plopping down onto the couch.
Seeing that she had turned pale with fear, Rong Junheng couldn’t help but sigh softly:
“Am I being too direct?”
“……”
Ruan Zhi stared at him with wide eyes, her fingertips clenched tightly around the sofa.
Is that a direct question?
He’s truly out of this world!
Marry her son’s ex-girlfriend and have Rong Che call her “Mom”?
She wouldn’t even dare to write something like that in a screenplay.
“Can you think of a more ruthless way to get revenge than this?”
Rong Junheng bent down, and under Ruan Zhi’s wary gaze, the rough yet gentle tips of his fingers gently brushed against her slightly red and swollen eyelids,
“Xiao Che kept saying he loved you and wanted to marry you, but then he turned around and slept with your best friend. You’d been dating for a year, and they’d been cheating on you for half a year. When you saw it happen right before your eyes, didn’t you feel any hatred?”
Ruan Zhi’s eyes fluttered, and she closed them tightly.
Of course she hates him.
She gave those two people everything she had to give—love, friendship, and trust—only to be met with repeated deception and betrayal.
Rong Junheng stared intently as her thick, curled eyelashes trembled slightly and her chest rose and fell unevenly; the knuckles of his fingers, clenched against the sofa beneath him, turned white.
He parted his thin lips slightly: “I warned him that night. I thought he’d take it to heart and cut ties with that woman.”
Ruan Zhi suddenly opened her eyes; a momentary look of bewilderment flashed in her eyes, and an endless sense of bitterness spread from the depths of her heart to her face.
“He listened, but he just couldn’t do it.”
If he hadn’t wanted to end the relationship, Xia Shan probably wouldn’t have let her find out on purpose.
After all, he managed to keep it a secret for half a year…
No! There’s one more possibility.
Xia Shan can’t wait to marry Rong Che!
Ruan Zhi stared wide-eyed at the man standing very close to her:
“Do you know you’re going to be a grandpa?”
Rong Junheng was taken aback—a rare occurrence for him. When he came to his senses, he instinctively sat up straight and stared intently at her stomach, his expression somber.
His gaze was dark and eerie, which made Ruan Zhi quickly clutch her stomach and turn away, then look up and glare at him:
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m talking about Xia Shan—she’s pregnant with Rong Che’s child.”
Rong Junheng let out a quiet sigh of relief; he really had become quite senile.
It was her first time with him—not only was it too brief, but even if she were to get pregnant, it would be with his child; there’s no way it could be Xiao Che’s.
As he thought about what she had said, his brow furrowed slightly, and his almond-shaped eyes narrowed into a fierce gaze:
“I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
It seems he doesn’t know yet.
Ruan Zhi immediately understood, and the next second, she realized that everything around her had suddenly fallen silent.
Her heart skipped a beat; afraid that Rong Junheng would return to the previous topic, she hurriedly stood up, kept her head down, and walked past him:
“I’ve said what I needed to say. I’m leaving now.”
“Wait a minute.”
Rong Junheng looked at the timid little rabbit trying to slip away, gave a resigned smile, and yanked her back.
He tilted his chin slightly toward the floor-to-ceiling window: “Take a look.”
Ruan Zhi followed his gaze and was stunned.
While the two were talking, a heavy snow began to fall outside the dimly lit window, covering the tree branches with a thin layer of white.
Rong Junheng took her by the hand and led her over to the floor-to-ceiling window:
“The weather forecast says temperatures will drop sharply tonight, with heavy snow expected over the next three days.”
“……”
Ruan Zhi had a vague sense of foreboding.
She turned her head and met Rong Junheng’s strikingly handsome profile; a hint of bashfulness flickered in her eyes as she whispered:
“Could you ask Ah Xing to take me home?”
It’s hard to hail a cab here even in broad daylight, let alone at 10 p.m. when it’s snowing.
Rong Junheng looked down at her; a few strands of hair that hadn’t quite dried yet fell across her full, smooth forehead, softening the sharpness of his facial features.
His voice was calm: “Ah-Xing has already clocked out and is resting.”
Ruan Zhi felt her face flush with embarrassment, but then she thought of something and her almond-shaped eyes widened:
“Then have someone take me back. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be up here on the mountaintop this late.”
That was the decision she regretted the most that night.
Rong Junheng raised his eyebrows slightly: “Right now, there’s no one else but me.”
“I have night blindness, and with all this snow, the path down the mountain can get slippery.”
“If you’re not afraid, I can give you a ride.”
Ruan Zhi felt a lump in her throat: “……”
His eyes, as deep as a dark pool, shone with an eerie brightness—hardly what you’d expect from someone with night blindness.
But when you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to keep your head down.
This was the most profound realization she had gained during all those years of living under someone else’s roof.
“There are guest rooms here—pick any one you like, and I’ll take you back down the mountain once the snow stops.”
Rong Junheng didn’t want to push the little girl too hard, but when even heaven seemed determined to keep her by his side, there was nothing he could do.
Seeing Ruan Zhi’s resentful expression as she pressed her lips tightly together, a hint of a smile flashed across his deep eyes.
He summoned the housekeeper, Aunt Song, and instructed her:
“Please take Miss Ruan to the guest room on the third floor to rest.”
When Ruan Zhi recognized the woman as the auntie who had poured her some water earlier, she smiled politely and said:
“Thank you for your help.”
As soon as Mrs. Song heard it was a room on the third floor, she smiled even more warmly at Ruan Zhi.
After Ruan Zhi followed Aunt Song upstairs, Rong Junheng sat back down on the couch and made a phone call.
He answered the phone almost instantly and asked in a calm voice:
“Where is Xiao Che right now?”
At that moment, in an unremarkable black car parked beneath the old apartment building, the bodyguard looked toward the entrance of the stairwell, where a disheveled figure was leaning against the door, smoking with his head down.
“He has been waiting for an hour downstairs at Miss Ruan’s rental apartment.”
Rong Junheng let out a soft “hm” through his nose, and when he spoke again, his tone was cold and sharp:
“Forget about him. Go find out the truth about that woman’s pregnancy.”