Not knowing about Ruan Muyan’s situation, Li Shu said indifferently, “I believe I made myself clear before, classmate.”
Li Shu didn’t hear a response. He looked towards Ruan Muyan and saw her staring ahead blankly, looking extremely frightened. Li Shu was puzzled. He had simply declined her, so why did she have such an expression?
Scratching his cheek, Li Shu whispered to Lu Yuanqing, who had already gotten out of the car beside him, “What’s wrong with her?”
Lu Yuanqing glanced back and guessed it was probably related to his uncle. He didn’t dare to voice such speculation aloud; otherwise, he might be the next one to receive such treatment, and he didn’t want to experience that.
Li Shu frowned, but Ruan Muyan seemed to come to her senses suddenly. She didn’t know where the feeling just now came from. The conversation had been interrupted, and she couldn’t continue. With downturned eyes, she looked at Li Shu with a pitiful expression. “Li Shu, are you really going to be so heartless?”
Li Shu almost laughed at this person’s logic. He was a ruthless person, but from the beginning to the end, he was not the truly ruthless one in this case. The original owner had genuinely offered his heart to Ruan Muyan, only to receive nothing in return and have that heart trampled on repeatedly. Did the original owner deserve to suffer like this? Why? Just because he fell in love with someone who didn’t love him back, and worse, the original owner never knew until his death that his feelings were never reciprocated.
Throughout, this woman had maintained an innocent facade. She was indeed innocent; she hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But how should the broken-up couples and the injured innocent girls be accounted for? Where could they seek justice?
Before the memories of the original owner surfaced, Li Shu had no opinion of Ruan Muyan. She was just someone the original owner loved but shouldn’t have loved. Since she didn’t like him back, he could keep his distance. But the reality was different. Why did the original owner fall for this woman? They clearly had no interactions before, but suddenly one day, the original owner became infatuated with her as if possessed. No matter what she did, he wouldn’t blame her and couldn’t bring himself to blame her.
Under the influence of some external force, the original owner placed Ruan Muyan in a position higher than his own life. Whatever she wanted, no matter how difficult, he would find a way to get it for her. Just like how he had scolded the girl in his class without distinguishing right from wrong just to please Ruan Muyan, in the days to come, under Ruan Muyan’s influence, the original owner’s actions became increasingly excessive, until he lost his life.
As for this woman in front of him, she had washed her hands clean of everything. Yes, everything was done by the original owner. What did she have to do with it? Those things were all forcibly given to her by the original owner. She was so innocent. She was also a victim. But how many people knew that the original owner did not do any of these things on purpose?
When the original owner’s deeds were exposed, at that time, Ruan Muyan was like she is now, looking at him from a distance like an outsider. She was surrounded by young talents, and without exception, all of whom had their eyes fixed firmly on the more attractive Ruan Muyan. They regarded the original owner undergoing judgment as if they were observing something amusing, a toy eliminated from the game.
Thinking of those memories, perhaps influenced by the lingering emotions of the original owner, a deep sorrow welled up in Li Shu’s heart—for himself and for that relationship that had no beginning and no end. The original owner had given everything, only to find in the end that everything was false. What he had insisted on, what he had held onto, were all nonexistent things. How tragic.
After all, Li Shu was not the original owner. He quickly adjusted his expression, took a step forward, and looked down at the slightly blushing girl. The tone in his voice was noticeably colder. “Ruan Muyan, I understand that my previous actions may have troubled you. Now I’ve figured it out. Since you don’t like me, let’s return to being strangers. Wouldn’t that be better? Or is it that you don’t like me but also don’t want to let go of the feeling of having the school grass chasing after you…”
Li Shu didn’t finish his sentence, but the sarcasm in it was quite evident. This sentence almost blatantly accused Ruan Muyan of keeping him around as a backup plan.
Leaning closer, Li Shu lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear. “Do you think it’s impressive to be pursued by me wholeheartedly? Look, the aloof academic master who ignores all the girls in the school is relentless only towards me even after being rejected…”
“No!” Ruan Muyan’s thoughts were almost all guessed, and she couldn’t help but shout, “No, it’s not like what you said, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…I just…”
But she couldn’t explain herself. The young man’s cool breath enveloped her, but his eyes seemed to harbor unmelting ice. The chill seeped into her skin, making Ruan Muyan shiver.
She looked at the person so close to her. The face was familiar, but the expression on his face was completely unfamiliar. It wasn’t like he was looking at a person at all; it was as if she were an object, one despised by its owner, something he hated but couldn’t discard.
‘Why was it like this? Where did things go wrong? This shouldn’t have happened.’ Ruan Muyan’s heart was in chaos and she was overwhelmed by confusion. She stammered, “No, this isn’t right. It shouldn’t be like this…”
She kept repeating the same words over and over again, incoherent.
Li Shu didn’t want to get entangled with her any more. He took a step back, and with that step away from Ruan Muyan, the coldness around her also retreated. It was as if she had stepped out of an ice cellar and back into sunlight. She shivered, and her rationality returned with it.
Things were truly different now.
After casting a complex gaze at Li Shu, Ruan Muyan turned and walked away.
“Stop.”
An unfamiliar stranger’s voice came from behind. This voice belonged to a mature man who had been in a superior position for a long time. It carries a heavy sense of oppression, and Ruan Muyan instinctively halted her steps.
She turned around and saw the black car door behind Li Shu open, and a well-dressed man stepped out.
He was extraordinarily handsome, unlike any outstanding man she had seen before. He exuded danger yet possessed a charm that couldn’t be matched by the young men at school. Seeing him, Ruan Muyan felt that all the beauty she had seen before had lost its color.
He was a man of utter perfection. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a soft halo over him, softening the sharpness of his features.
Ruan Muyan stared blankly. She heard a familiar voice in her mind—the voice of someone seeing prey and wanting to capture it. For the first time, her expectations matched the voice in her head. A man so perfect should belong to her.
She tucked a strand of hair that was blown onto her cheek by the breeze behind her ear and spoke in a voice as gentle as the drizzle in March, “Sir, do you have business with me?”
Lu Yuanqing had been standing not far from Li Shu the whole time and witnessed everything. He was initially surprised by Li Shu’s attitude towards Ruan Muyan. Like Li Shu’s roommates, he knew very well how obsessed Li Shu was with Ruan Muyan in the past. He hadn’t quite believed it when Li Shu said he wanted to cleanly break off with Ruan Muyan before, but now it didn’t seem strange. If Li Shu could suddenly fall for a girl, he could naturally withdraw when that girl didn’t like him. There was nothing strange about that.
Even though this withdrawal was a bit quick and ruthless, there was still something that Lu Yuanqing did not expect to happen.
His uncle, who usually showed no interest in anything, actually got out of the car for this matter and stopped the girl.
When the car windows are closed, people inside the car cannot hear the sounds outside the car. Similarly, people outside the car cannot hear the sounds inside the car.
Li Heyuan only saw Li Shu getting out of the car and being intimate with a girl. He didn’t know what they said. Li Heyuan knew this had nothing to do with him. Li Shu was just a college student and it was normal for him to like a girl, even if the girl might not like him.
He told himself this was a normal phenomenon, but he still couldn’t control himself. If this girl liked Li Shu too, he had nothing to say. Since she didn’t like him, why bother pestering him all the time?
After getting out of the car and noticing Ruan Muyan’s reaction upon seeing him, Li Heyuan furrowed his brows even tighter. This woman was not worth Li Shu’s affection at all.
He stood next to Li Shu and observed his reaction. Seeing that his attention was not on that woman, he relaxed unconsciously. But before he could fully relax, he heard the woman’s voice.
His anger surged almost instantly. It wasn’t because of the way she looked at him or the subtle hints of seduction, but because of Li Shu.
Li Shu was momentarily stunned by Ruan Muyan’s behavior after seeing Li Heyuan. Despite knowing all the things this woman had done, Li Shu still didn’t expect that she would be so blatant and seduce another man in front of him after just trying to get back together with him and failing.
This time, Li Shu truly felt it was unworthy of the original owner. This woman probably never cared about the original owner from beginning to end.
Lu Yuanqing also widened his eyes. Now he felt a slight admiration for Ruan Muyan. She was truly bold. It had been a long time since he had seen anyone dare to actively approach his uncle.
Ruan Muyan didn’t know Li Heyuan’s identity. She did these actions out of habit. In the past, she had always been successful because of the bonus of her charm attribute, and she believed this time would be no different. No matter what kind of man he was, none could escape her charm in the end.
At this moment, she had already forgotten about Li Shu, whom she had just encountered a setback with. She didn’t care about him at all. She conquered so many targets just to get higher points.
But Li Heyuan was different. This man suited her taste perfectly. Compared to him, all the men she had met before were far inferior. If she could conquer this man…
Everyone present was not foolish. Ruan Muyan’s attitude was so obvious. Li Shu had already learned from the system what kind of person this woman was, but he was still somewhat shocked when he suddenly witnessed it.
Li Heyuan’s reaction was clear. He never liked people who tried to get close to him, especially this woman who Li Shu had liked before. He frowned, pulled Li Shu away and warned, “Stay away from him in the future.”
Ruan Muyan: ???
