Chapter 42 - Chapter 42 She Has a Very Wealthy Fiancé

The moment the last syllable reached her ears, Ruan Xingchen's pupils shrank violently. What had she just heard? Uncle said he never watched this kind of thing… and that he preferred to do it instead?! Ruan Xingchen was utterly horrified. She shoved the man hard with all her strength. Lu Jingyuan hadn't expected the little girl to push him so suddenly. His hands loosened, and his back hit the sofa. Ruan Xingchen, having used too much force, tumbled straight to the floor. "Ow!" she yelped. Ignoring the stinging pain in her bottom and back, she trembled and pointed at Lu Jingyuan, her face flaming with embarrassment as she snapped, "You're such a perverted, lewd, disgusting old man!" Stuck with three such unflattering labels all at once, Lu Jingyuan's mouth twitched. He looked down at the girl on the floor. Ruan Xingchen glared right back at him, refusing to back down. In that instant when their eyes met, the air crackled like lightning and thunder. After a long while, Lu Jingyuan slowly raised his hand. Ruan Xingchen flinched back in fright. The man's large hand rested at his collar, and he unhurriedly undid the top two buttons of his shirt. Thinking Lu Jingyuan was about to undress, Ruan Xingchen screamed in terror, scrambling backward. "O‑old man! What are you doing? I warn you—if you dare mess with me, I'll… I'll call the police!" Lu Jingyuan uncrossed his legs, pointed a single finger at her legs, and said, "Sit properly and keep memorizing the papers." Ruan Xingchen stared blankly in the direction he was pointing. A deep flush instantly spread all the way to her neck. She squeezed her legs together, hurriedly tugged her skirt into place, and returned to the coffee table, picking up her papers to study. But the lines of text blurred before her eyes; not a single word sank in. The tips of her ears burned bright red. Some time later, the papers in her hands were taken away, and a warm glass of milk was set in front of her. Ruan Xingchen's heart skipped a beat. She looked up in confusion to see Lu Jingyuan holding the papers, looking down at her. "Drink the milk, then go downstairs to shower and sleep." Her gaze fell back to the glass. Her eyes softened. She reached out, picked it up, and took a small sip. The temperature was perfect. Not too sweet, just the way she liked it. Lu Jingyuan set the papers aside, waited quietly for her to finish, then walked her downstairs. At a hotel. Clothes were strewn all over the floor from the entrance to the bed. A woman's stockings, bra… a man's suit, underwear—tossed everywhere. The man sleeping soundly on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. His light brown irises flashed with cold sharpness. In the next second, he pushed the woman sleeping on his shoulder aside without a shred of tenderness, sending her crashing to the floor. The cold shock and pain jolted her awake. "Brother Jiang…" The man climbed out of bed unhurriedly, picked his clothes up from the floor, and dressed himself one by one. Once fully clothed, every trace of desire vanished from him. In an instant, he was the elegant, well‑mannered young master again. He looked down at the woman on the floor. His usually gentle eyes were now like sharp blades, as if he wanted to carve her into a thousand pieces. His thin lips uttered words icy enough to freeze bone. "How dare you drug me, Ruan Shuqing. Who gave you the guts?!" "Brother Jiang, I just—" Ruan Shuqing panicked, at a loss for words. Seeing that he wasn't going to listen and was about to leave, she scrambled to her feet, threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, sobbing, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again! Please don't break up with me, don't leave me!" When he remained silent, she added quickly, "I promise I won't bother Ruan Xingchen anymore!" The man pried her arms off his waist, turned back, and stared at her with utter disdain in his eyes. "Who do you think you are, huh?" "I—" Ruan Shuqing opened her mouth to speak, but the man had clearly run out of patience. He pulled her hands away ruthlessly and left without looking back. Alone in the room, Ruan Shuqing stood naked by the bed. After a long while, her tightly clenched fists at her sides slowly relaxed. She picked up her clothes and dressed, then grabbed her phone from the nightstand. She opened WeChat again and went to her chat with Ruan Xingchen. Looking at the explicit video she'd forced herself to send before falling asleep the previous night, along with the two messages, she curled her lips into a satisfied smile, her eyes blazing with mad possessiveness. "Ruan Xingchen, Brother Jiang is mine. Only mine!" Morning. Lu Jingyuan drove Ruan Xingchen to a street corner near her high school. He stopped the car, leaned toward the back seat, stretched out a long arm, picked up a bag, and placed it in her arms. Ruan Xingchen looked at him in confusion. She pulled a thermos out of the bag. When she opened it, she found warm milk inside. Before she could ask, the man said calmly, "Give one bottle to Xiaobai." "Okay." Ruan Xingchen nodded obediently, pushed the door open, and got out. "Bye, Uncle." Lu Jingyuan gave a slight nod. He watched the little girl's figure disappear before starting the car and driving away. Few students arrived at school this late, especially on the third‑year floor. Ruan Xingchen walked straight to her classroom holding two thermoses, pulled out her chair, and handed one to Lu Xiaobai. "From Uncle. Warm milk." Lu Xiaobai stared at the thermos in her hand thoughtfully and muttered, "No wonder he suddenly went to buy milk powder." "What are you talking about, Xiaobai?" Ruan Xingchen leaned closer. "Do you think Uncle's gone crazy? Making us milk?" Lu Xiaobai's mouth twitched. She silently mourned for her uncle for three seconds, then pushed Ruan Xingchen's face away expressionlessly. "Class is starting soon. Drink yours and stop talking nonsense." Ruan Xingchen: "…" After being scolded by Fang Rong, Fang Xinxin became much more obedient. She went to school and came home on time every day, locking herself in her room as soon as she returned to the apartment. She rarely appeared in front of Ruan Xingchen and no longer caused her trouble. Ruan Xingchen still stayed at Lu Jingyuan's apartment after dinner every evening to study the papers. Whenever Lu Jingyuan was home, he would make her a glass of milk at night. When he wasn't, Lu Xiaobai kept her company, and the two girls ordered takeout if they got hungry. After a while, Ruan Xingchen hadn't improved much in her studies, but she had definitely gained weight. When Lu Xiaobai noticed, she pinched Ruan Xingchen's cheek and teased, "You never used to gain weight. But after being raised by my uncle for a while, you're almost turning into a little pig." Ruan Xingchen frowned and pulled her hand away. "You're the pig!" Even so, she started watching her diet a little after that day. She didn't want to turn into a pig. As the exam date drew nearer, Lu Xiaobai suddenly had more free time. It was the weekend. After returning to the city center from the Lu mansion, she rushed straight to Wutong Apartments, ran up to the 12th floor, snatched the papers from Ruan Xingchen's hands without a word, and dragged her out. Lu Xiaobai's reasoning: "Studying is important, but you need to relax sometimes, or your brain will break." Ruan Xingchen thought it made sense, so she went out happily with Lu Xiaobai. Not long after Ruan Xingchen left, Fang Xinxin got up too. As she washed up in the bathroom, her gaze accidentally fell on Ruan Xingchen's unwashed clothes in a bucket. An idea popped into her head. She set down her cup and toothbrush and walked over. She lifted the dress Ruan Xingchen had changed out of, examined it several times, and ran her fingers over the fabric reluctantly. The dress was covered in lace frills, looking elaborate yet light, with a cool, smooth touch. No wonder it was a designer piece—it felt amazing. Fang Xinxin's eyes flickered. She set the dress down and began unbuttoning her pajamas. Once she was down to her underwear, she picked up the dress again and tried to put it on. She managed to slip it over her head, but the zipper at the back wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pulled. She had a naturally broad frame, while Ruan Xingchen was petite. The dress Jiang Heng had custom‑made for her simply didn't fit Fang Xinxin. She tugged and tugged, but the zipper still wouldn't close. Annoyed, she yanked it hard. A sharp rip sounded. The zipper broke. Fang Xinxin panicked and let go. The dress fell to the floor. The small zipper pull bounced across the ground a few times and rolled straight into the toilet. She hadn't expected it to break so easily. Afraid Ruan Xingchen would make her pay for it, she quickly picked up the dress and put it back in the bucket, arranging it roughly to look undisturbed. As for the broken zipper and the missing pull… she would just deny everything if Ruan Xingchen asked. She quickly put her own clothes back on, finished washing up, grabbed some pocket money, and left. Once she stepped out of the apartment building, the guilt from her mischief finally eased a little. She bought some snacks at a nearby supermarket. When she returned to Wutong Apartments and waited for the elevator, she ran right into Lu Jingyuan. Her eyes lit up, and she called out cheerfully, "Hi, Uncle! What a coincidence!" Lu Jingyuan frowned slightly. Fang Xinxin walked up beside him, putting on what she thought was her prettiest smile. "Uncle, are you not working today?" When he didn't answer, she didn't mind. "Speaking of which, my cousin is really pitiful. She lost her mom at a young age, and her dad won't even acknowledge her because she's an illegitimate child—" She suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth, as if she'd let something slip by accident. Lu Jingyuan ignored most of her words, but his expression shifted faintly at the mention of Ruan Xingchen. Fang Xinxin, who had been watching him closely, didn't miss the change. Jealousy flared in her chest, but she kept smiling and continued, "Actually, I'm kind of jealous of my cousin. She's pretty and nice, and I hear lots of boys at school like her… But she probably doesn't care about them. She already has a very wealthy fiancé, after all."