⌈”Boss, do you want to live with me?”⌋
Ji Min did not give up.
When he met Lu Ran again, he brought up the matter once more.
Learning from the previous attempts that ended midway, this time, as soon as the topic began, he spoke in a deep, deliberate tone.
“I’ve thought about it for a long time. It would be better if you moved in with me.”
“Huh?”
Lu Ran was in the middle of petting Da Huang when he heard the words. He looked over in shock.
Ji Min, unbothered, explained calmly, “My place is very quiet, perfect for you to study. Plus, I’ve prepared a room for Da Huang.”
He emphasized the last sentence with particular weight.
Lu Ran paused, eyeing him suspiciously. “But I don’t feel like living with the Shen family is affecting my studies…”
As he spoke, he squinted at Ji Min. “You wouldn’t happen to be—”
The moment he opened his mouth, Ji Min already knew what he was about to say.
But this time, Ji Min was well-prepared to respond.
The man, unfazed, took a sip of tea without engaging with the boy’s insinuation. Instead, he cut straight to the point.
“You’re afraid of Shen Xingyu.”
Lu Ran: “…”
Having his weak spot hit, he hurriedly retorted: “Not at all! Just a couple of days ago, I fed him a cockroach, and now he runs whenever he sees me. If anything, he should be afraid of me.”
Ji Min raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
He just kept looking at the boy across from him.
Under Ji Min’s gaze, which seemed capable of seeing through everything, Lu Ran silently set down the dog in his arms, picked up the cup in front of him, and lowered his head to bite on the straw. Then, he peeked at the man sitting opposite.
Ji Min didn’t move, still watching him.
Lu Ran lowered his head again and waged war with the straw, flattening it in his mouth before chewing it until it was flat.
When he looked up again to check, the man was still calmly staring at him, unhurried.
“Fine, fine!” Lu Ran grew annoyed. Pushing the cup away, he straightened his neck and said, “I am a little afraid of him. So what?”
“It’s perfectly normal for me to be afraid of him!” Lu Ran said righteously.
Ji Min’s brows furrowed deeply. “What did Shen Xingyu do to you?”
He had noticed long ago that Lu Ran’s reaction every time he saw Shen Xingyu was far from normal.
That kind of full-body stiffness and cold sweat dripping down his face had already gone beyond the realm of being “a little scared”.
Lu Ran choked slightly.
Aside from the fact that in his previous life, his car accident happened after encountering Shen Xingyu.
Even before the accident, he had always felt a little scared of Shen Xingyu.
Lu Ran thought carefully for a while before mysteriously beckoning Ji Min over.
Ji Min glanced at his gesture and leaned forward.
Soon, he felt the boy lean close to his ear and whisper, “Don’t you think Shen Xingyu is… abnormal?”
“Hm?” Ji Min was a little surprised.
“How is he abnormal?” he asked.
After asking, he noticed Lu Ran’s expression growing complicated. “Doesn’t he seem like he has some kind of mental illness?”
As he spoke, he even gave a slight shiver, as if fearful. “I feel like he’s more unhinged than the rest of the Shen family because he pretends to be a normal person.”
Lu Ran spoke with conviction: “Someone like me, a normal person, being afraid of a crazy guy like him and keeping my distance—isn’t that completely reasonable?”
Ji Min: “…”
Before meeting Lu Ran, Ji Min had actually admired Shen Xingyu quite a bit.
Shen Xingyu was highly capable in his work, handling several Shen family projects in an organized and impressive manner.
In the past, if a kid like Lu Ran, who casually rinsed cups in the toilet, had said something like this, Ji Min would’ve dismissed it without a second thought.
But now…
Ji Min carefully considered it for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
The Shen family as a whole clearly wasn’t all that normal.
Living in an environment like that was like a sane person being surrounded by patients in a psychiatric hospital.
How could it not affect Lu Ran?
So, Ji Min followed up matter-of-factly: “That’s why you should move out even more. You’re still in school. If you keep living with the Shen family, what if they corrupt you?”
“Huh? Then I… should move out?”
Lu Ran seemed convinced.
Ji Min hid the smile in his eyes.
He had long realized that, although Lu Ran was difficult to deal with, when someone genuinely cared for him without any intention of control or coercion, this boy became particularly easy to convince.
Obedient, soft, and compliant.
The teenager hesitated for a moment, his gaze flickering uncertainly.
Finally, as if recalling something, he looked at the man across from him and asked, “But, boss… this is all family stuff. It doesn’t seem related to work. Why are you so concerned?”
Ji Min’s breath hitched.
It seemed like this “negotiation” was about to collapse again.
But Ji Min quickly switched to another prepared explanation.
His expression remained calm as he unhurriedly lifted his eyes to glance at the boy opposite him.
Just like when he pointed out a subordinate’s mistake during meetings, he raised his brows slightly and asked, “How is this unrelated to work?”
“Think about how many times you’ve taken leave recently.”
“But that’s because I’ve been busy with my studies lately,” Lu Ran said.
Ji Min, like an unscrupulous capitalist, shamelessly argued, “If your family matters hadn’t eaten into your study time, how would studying have affected your work?”
Lu Ran frowned. “Hmm… that kind of makes sense?”
But why did it feel like something about this logic was off?
“If you move in with me, it’ll solve everything. You won’t even have to worry about your homework getting eaten,” Ji Min said earnestly.
“But, but…”
Lu Ran struggled to pinpoint the source of the uneasy feeling.
Suddenly, realization dawned on him. He turned his head and asked Ji Min, “So, boss, are you saying… you want to live together with me?”
Ji Min: “…”
From behind, Butler Chen, who had been listening to the entire “negotiation”, couldn’t hold back a faint laugh.
At that moment, Ji Min very much wanted to turn and leave.
But he couldn’t allow Lu Ran to stay in the Shen household any longer, even if the boy seemed capable of handling everything on his own.
When it came to decisions he had already made, Ji Min was resolute in their execution.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself under the teenager’s astonished gaze and nodded calmly.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Before the boy could blurt out, “You really do like me,” Ji Min signaled Butler Chen with a glance. “Ahem, Uncle Chen, please step out for a moment.”
Butler Chen, slightly surprised, complied and left the room.
He waited outside the door for a while.
The conversation inside seemed harmonious, with no unusual sounds coming through.
In reality, Ji Min hadn’t spoken yet.
He was currently pressing a hand against his forehead, mentally preparing himself.
“…Boss, what exactly do you want to say?” Lu Ran asked curiously.
Ji Min raised a hand to stop him.
He took a few more deep breaths before finally managing to speak, albeit with difficulty. “You’ve been busy with your studies lately, so you might not be aware.”
“Huh?” Lu Ran stared at him blankly.
Ji Min inhaled deeply once more and said: “Because we’ve been spending less time together recently, rumors about me have escalated.”
“What!” Lu Ran was utterly shocked.
Ji Min forced himself to remain calm, working hard to maintain an air of seriousness while spouting complete nonsense.
“They’re saying that because I’m… not capable in certain areas, even you, my so-called ex-boyfriend who was once passionately devoted to me, eventually gave up on me.”
“Ah?” Lu Ran’s face filled with regret. “How could they guess the truth so easily?”
Ji Min: “…”
He pressed down on his throbbing temple, thinking to himself: Patience. Losing composure now will ruin the bigger picture.
With great effort, he nodded as if agreeing and continued his fabricated story.
“They also said that everything you’ve said before was just me bragging. That after trying, you were thoroughly disappointed and unwilling to live with me anymore, choosing instead to spend all your time in the lab.”
Lu Ran’s gaze grew sympathetic. “Boss, that’s just too pitiful.”
Ji Min wiped his face hard, his hand dragging down heavily. “So, do you understand now?”
A short while later, the door opened.
Butler Chen looked over curiously.
What he saw was Lu Ran eagerly pushing Ji Min out.
The man in the wheelchair looked utterly defeated, his face a picture of desolation, as though half his soul had left him.
Butler Chen’s heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that Ji Min had confessed and been rejected?
Ji Min had always carried a rather indifferent, even pessimistic, attitude toward life.
Meeting Lu Ran had been the one thing to change that, albeit slightly.
If he was now suffering the blow of unrequited love, wouldn’t his condition worsen?
But wait—something didn’t add up.
Hadn’t Lu Ran turned him down in various ways, both explicitly and implicitly, plenty of times before?
He had never looked this devastated back then.
Butler Chen was still fretting when he saw the boy behind the wheelchair sigh apologetically.
“Sorry, boss. I didn’t expect that just because I’ve been too busy with my studies to come by, they’d end up spreading rumors about you like this.”
Butler Chen: “?”
“I was wondering why you’ve been so insistent about me moving in lately.” Lu Ran patted his chest resolutely as if making an oath. “Don’t worry, boss. Once I move in, I’ll clear up all these rumors for good!”
Ji Min: “…”
Butler Chen’s confusion deepened.
Wait… moving in?
Didn’t this mean it worked out? Then why does Ji Min still look like he’s on the verge of death?
As if realizing that his promise might sound insincere after all the times he’d failed to deliver, Lu Ran added earnestly, “This is a domain I’ve worked so hard to conquer over these past few days! How could I let it all fall apart now?”
This time, Butler Chen understood.
Quietly, he glanced at Ji Min.
Well, well, well.
To lure him back, Ji Min really pulled out all the stops.
Even going so far as to admit his own inadequacy!
There was nothing more to say—this was undoubtedly true love.
Ji Min leaned back in his wheelchair, staring at the ceiling at a 45-degree angle, wearing an expression that screamed, “Just kill me now”.
Behind him, the boy leaned in conspiratorially and said, “Boss, don’t worry. I absolutely won’t tell anyone about what you said to me today!”
Ji Min: “…”
You’ve already spilled everything. And now you say you won’t tell anyone?
I’d rather believe in ghosts.
“All right then. I’ll move in next weekend,” Lu Ran said.
The moment he finished speaking, the half-dead man in the wheelchair suddenly straightened up.
Glancing at his watch, Ji Min said in a deep voice, “There’s still time today. Move in today.”
“Huh? That fast?” Lu Ran was stunned.
Ji Min gritted his teeth.
After paying such a high price, how could he let this drag on?
He had to get the boy back under his watch today.
Lu Ran: “…”
Sure enough, the boss is always in a hurry when it comes to these things.
Ji Min directed the driver straight to the Shen residence.
His car had parked near the Shen house countless times before and it had even stopped briefly at its gates.
But this was the first time it entered the Shen estate openly and confidently, all thanks to a certain someone in the backseat casually instructing, “Pull in closer, a bit closer. It’ll be easier to carry the boxes later.”
It wasn’t off-work hours yet, so only Madam Shen and Shen Xingran were at home.
Seeing a car from the Ji family drive in, they hurried out to greet it, only to spot Lu Ran stepping out of the back seat.
As soon as the boy got out, he was about to head toward the villa but paused, as if someone in the car pulled him back. He leaned back toward the car and, after listening to a few words from inside, nodded and replied, “Got it, got it. How could I forget to bring my books?”
After speaking, he turned to leave again, only to be pulled back once more.
The person inside, acting like a nagging housekeeper, seemed to issue a few more instructions.
Lu Ran frowned. “Don’t bring clothes? Then what am I supposed to wear?”
Only after hearing several more reminders did he finally step away from the car.
But just a few moments later, another person, an elderly man dressed as a butler, emerged from the front passenger seat.
He approached Lu Ran and turned to Madam Shen and Shen Xingran with a polite smile. “Our sir has extended an invitation for Young Master Lu Ran to stay at the Ji residence for a few days.”
Hearing the butler’s words, Madam Shen froze.
Lu Ran is leaving?
As she processed the meaning behind Butler Chen’s statement, her emotions became a little muddled.
Lu Ran had gone missing at the age of four and was only brought back to the Shen family more than a decade later.
She had felt annoyance, even rejection toward him in the past. But now, upon hearing he was leaving, she couldn’t help but feel a complicated mix of emotions.
That complexity, however, quickly turned into delight.
Lu Ran is finally leaving?
No more bringing misfortune to the Shen family?
This calls for a celebratory banquet!
Lu Ran ignored the two and went straight upstairs to pack his belongings.
He didn’t have much—a backpack and a suitcase were all he needed to take his life with him.
Madam Shen’s emotions shifted from confusion upon hearing Lu Ran was leaving, to joy when she realized it, and then to an uneasy sense of obligation.
As she watched him descend the stairs with his luggage, it suddenly struck her that she was the mistress of the Shen family, and Lu Ran, despite everything, was someone they had officially acknowledged as a member of the family.
At this moment, it seemed she should say something.
As Lu Ran passed through the living room, Madam Shen, seated on the sofa with a teacup in hand, spoke to him indifferently.
“Stop.”
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow and glanced at her.
Perhaps because she realized he was leaving, Madam Shen reverted to the demeanor she had when Lu Ran first met her—the authoritative air of the Shen family’s matriarch.
In a lecturing tone, she said, “Once you leave, always remember you are a member of the Shen family. Don’t embarrass us at the Ji family.”
“If you go out and bring nothing of benefit back, and make us clean up after you again—”
Before she could finish, her words abruptly ceased.
A figure in a wheelchair had appeared at the entrance.
The man in the wheelchair swept his dark eyes across the living room, his tone carrying a hint of impatience as he asked, “Haven’t you finished packing yet?”
It was obvious to whom that impatience was directed.
Madam Shen stopped speaking as if her throat had been seized.
Next to her, Shen Xingran looked at Ji Min in astonishment.
He had only come to pick up Lu Ran, yet Ji Min had personally gotten out of the car and entered the house.
For someone unrelated to Lu Ran, forcing him to stay at the Ji residence was already somewhat inappropriate.
To show up in person at this moment was even more so.
“It’s done,” Lu Ran said, pushing his suitcase as he walked up to Ji Min.
Just as he was about to leave, he glanced at Madam Shen and stopped in his tracks.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you leaving?”
Lu Ran winked at him, attempting to signal something.
Unfortunately, Ji Min didn’t understand and simply frowned back at him.
After a long moment of signaling, Lu Ran eventually turned to Madam Shen and said, “My boss mentioned he’s very interested in the layout of this villa and would like to have a look around.”
Madam Shen: “?”
Ji Min: “?”
Ji Min rubbed his temples.
The fact that he had personally come to pick Lu Ran up was already impolite enough. A tour…
Lu Ran gave him another pointed look.
Ji Min: “…”
He heard himself say to Madam Shen, “Yes, that’s correct. I’d like to take a look at the house’s layout.”
Madam Shen, though a bit puzzled, saw it as an opportunity.
She still remembered the request Shen Xingran had mentioned earlier and immediately responded, “Xingran, take Ji Min and Lu Ran around for a tour.”
Ji Min had no idea what Lu Ran was up to but reluctantly followed along.
Shen Xingran, harboring his own small schemes, deliberately pressed the button for the third floor in the elevator instead of the second.
He had recently tidied up his room and knew how much a person’s environment could affect their impression.
Intentionally, he brought Ji Min to the third floor, opened the door, and showed off his carefully arranged room.
Ji Min had absolutely no interest in observing Shen Xingran’s “specialized” room.
While Shen Xingran explained his design concepts in a deliberate and refined tone, Ji Min noticed Lu Ran sneaking behind his wheelchair.
The boy quietly unzipped his backpack and pulled out a glass jar.
As Shen Xingran continued his elegant commentary, Lu Ran opened the jar and softly addressed the remaining “experimental materials” inside.
“Off you go, my little darlings~ You’re free now.”
Ji Min: “…”
Moonlit: I really love Lu Ran HAHAHA HAHAHA ꉂ (≧ヮ≦)
