Thank you to 貝妮_Blazy for the ko-fi~
⌈”He said he happened to see it.”⌋
Shen Xingzhuo’s face turned ugly in an instant.
He had always been authoritative in his circle; no one ever doubted him, especially when it came to money.
But Lu Ran had done just that.
His temper flared and he looked at Lu Ran, asking, “What do you mean? You don’t trust me?”
Lu Ran let out a laugh, his tone absurd: “Think about what you’ve done; why should I trust you?”
Shen Xingzhuo choked on his words.
Seeing that he hadn’t made the transfer quickly, Lu Ran didn’t mind and returned to the counter with his phone.
Just then, a customer arrived and Lu Ran skillfully took their order from behind the counter.
The frustration in Shen Xingzhuo’s heart grew heavier.
This meant that not only did Lu Ran not trust him, but he also didn’t take his words seriously at all.
Shen Xingzhuo gritted his teeth and walked straight to the counter.
“Give me your phone,” he said.
Lu Ran blinked, not expecting this guy to actually act like a big spender.
He quickly pulled up the payment code page.
Shen Xingzhuo swiftly paid the wages.
“Alright, now come with me.”
Lu Ran glanced at the incoming payment and continued to stay behind the counter: “Okay, I’ll let the boss know in a bit.”
Shen Xingzhuo frowned. “In a bit? Are you messing with me?”
More customers came in behind him.
Lu Ran waved his hand for Shen Xingzhuo to move aside and said irritably, “Do your employees at the Shen family company just leave without any handover? Isn’t there any procedure?”
Of course, Lu Ran could leave immediately.
But he had no reason to offend the boss of this shop just because of Shen Xingzhuo’s fleeting impulse.
Shen Xingzhuo simmered in silence, his face sour, and walked to the side to sit down.
After Lu Ran spoke with the boss, he continued to work until the evening.
Shen Xingzhuo sat there the whole time.
He already had a bad temper. After paying yet being left hanging for so long, he was about to explode: “Are you going to leave or not?”
Lu Ran remained unhurried.
While tidying up his things, he looked up at Shen Xingzhuo and asked, “Have you ever worked at your company?”
That one sentence hit Shen Xingzhuo’s sore spot.
He instantly fell silent.
As the two were talking, a voice came from outside the shop: “Brother Zhuo!”
A flamboyantly dressed young man walked in, clearly one of Shen Xingzhuo’s friends.
After entering, he walked straight to Shen Xingzhuo’s side: “Bro, it really is you! I knew it looked like you from outside.”
Shen Xingzhuo was in a bad mood and didn’t even lift his eyelids: “Get lost. I’m not in the mood.”
The newcomer wasn’t annoyed.
He looked up at Lu Ran behind the counter, then glanced at Shen Xingzhuo, thinking he understood something. He leaned close to Shen Xingzhuo’s ear and said, “Bro, this must be the illegitimate child that Ranran mentioned, right?”
Shen Xingzhuo was taken aback.
He instinctively wanted to explain but habitually closed his mouth, unwilling to undermine Shen Xingran.
The young man raised his eyebrows at Shen Xingzhuo: “Leave this kind of thing to me! I’m good at it!”
After saying that, he walked to the counter and spoke to Lu Ran in a friendly manner: “You’re Brother Zhuo’s friend, right? We were just about to go play billiards; want to join us?”
Shen Xingzhuo initially thought he was looking for trouble and was about to intervene, but upon seeing the situation, he stopped.
Going with them was Shen Xingzhuo’s territory.
It was certainly better than staying here and serving a bunch of people.
Lu Ran stared at the newcomer for a while.
Having received double pay and settled his salary for the past few days with the boss, he was in a pretty good mood.
“Sure,” Lu Ran replied with a smile.
The group drove to a club on the outskirts of the city.
The club was two connected twin towers, with only one of them open to the public.
When Lu Ran arrived at the private room, he saw many familiar faces from his past life.
In fact, he knew all of Shen Xingzhuo’s friends.
After he returned to the Shen family in his previous life, he worked hard to integrate into the Shen family’s life, even though some characteristics of Shen Xingzhuo’s friends made Lu Ran uncomfortable; he still tried to accept them.
However, due to his relationship with Shen Xingran, no matter how well he did, he would only be excluded.
The person who invited him today was someone Lu Ran also recognized, named Chen Sheng.
This guy had caused him quite a bit of trouble in his previous life just to please Shen Xingran and Shen Xingzhuo.
Lu Ran felt a bit restless, waiting to take action against him.
However, when Shen Xingzhuo entered the room, a few people immediately came over to greet him.
“Brother Zhuo, the Huang family’s business is finished; Huang Mao asked me to check with you if there’s any way to fix this,” one person said.
Lu Ran casually took a sip of water, his ears perking up at the mention of Huang Mao’s name.
Shen Xingzhuo felt a headache coming on at this topic.
He replied irritably, “Doesn’t he know who he offended? What can I do about it?”
The others agreed upon hearing this.
Some sighed with pity, while others seemed to revel in the misfortune.
Only Lu Ran didn’t quite understand.
Whom did Huang Mao offend?
No wonder his video stirred up such a huge commotion online.
Sure enough, someone was targeting this guy.
There was a moment of silence in the private room before someone couldn’t hold back their curiosity: “It’s strange; how did Huang Mao get to offend that person from the Ji family?”
The tone wasn’t just casual gossip; it carried a hint of secretive curiosity and envy.
It seemed that knowing the person they were talking about was quite a prestigious matter.
Talking about this topic piqued the interest of many present.
Chen Sheng lowered his voice mysteriously: “I ran into Huang Mao the day the incident happened. I heard it was just an accident.”
“An accident? He sure has good luck,” someone sneered.
“Don’t disbelieve it,” Chen Sheng said, “You all know how Huang Mao drives; if he doesn’t crash into something, he feels uncomfortable.”
“Come on, he wouldn’t crash into the Ji family’s car this time, would he?”
“Even if you gave him a thousand chances, he wouldn’t dare!”
“Hey, listen to me!” Chen Sheng continued, “They say he just happened to be seen by that person.”
Lu Ran suddenly paused as he listened.
He slowly realized that the car accident they were talking about was likely the one he encountered.
Someone was skeptical: “No way? Just seeing him would require intervening? The Ji family is that kind-hearted?”
“Tsk!” Chen Sheng slammed his thigh in anger, “Did you forget what happened to that person’s leg?”
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment.
No one dared to gossip anymore.
Shen Xingzhuo felt uncomfortable as well.
That day, Huang Mao had essentially done a favor for him, and the matter at hand… he didn’t want to face or recall it for now.
Moreover, Huang Mao’s accident had also brought a considerable setback to his studio.
“Alright, enough gathering here; the billiard table is empty.”
As Shen Xingzhuo spoke, the few who had gathered began to disperse slowly.
After finishing his gossip, Chen Sheng remembered something important.
He looked at Lu Ran and asked meaningfully, “Oh, you’re from the Shen family…”
“Don’t,” Lu Ran gestured to stop him, “I’m not from the Shen family. My last name is Lu and I’m someone hired by Second Young Master Shen.”
He said this with conviction and Chen Sheng was momentarily taken aback, feeling a bit perplexed.
Shen Xingzhuo paused at the words “not from the Shen family” as well.
Chen Sheng glanced between Shen Xingzhuo and Lu Ran, unable to understand whether their relationship was good or bad.
Should he proceed with this scheme or not?
But then he thought that he had a decent relationship with Shen Xingran and Shen Xingzhuo always followed Shen Xingran’s wishes.
It was never wrong to stand up for Shen Xingran.
“Why act so distant? Since you’re here, we’re all brothers.”
Chen Sheng sat down next to Lu Ran, narrowing his eyes, “Otherwise, why don’t you, Brother Lu, treat us to this meal today?”
This was a common tactic among Chen Sheng and his group.
Usually, people like Lu Ran, who were illegitimate children, would desperately want to integrate into their circle. Even if they were tight on money, they would force themselves to keep up appearances.
This kind of tactic was considered “mild” among them.
Shen Xingzhuo sat on the sofa to the side, holding a glass of wine.
He heard what Chen Sheng said and knew what Chen Sheng was up to.
But he didn’t speak up to stop him.
Shen Xingzhuo still remembered how Lu Ran had left him hanging in the store all day, which made him a bit unhappy.
Shen Xingran had made him angry but at least knew to say something nice to cheer him up.
He planned to wait until Lu Ran asked him for help before he spoke up.
Shen Xingzhuo caught a glimpse of Lu Ran out of the corner of his eye.
But he heard Lu Ran say, “Sure. You guys eat whatever you want and order whatever you want to drink!”
His agreement was incredibly straightforward.
Chen Sheng was taken aback.
He looked at Lu Ran with suspicion and called the waiter over: “So I won’t hold back?”
Saying this, he hesitated and ordered two bottles of wine.
The club’s drinks weren’t priced.
There wasn’t even a need for pricing.
Chen Sheng wasn’t sure about Shen Xingzhuo’s attitude towards Lu Ran. Although he was a rich heir, he wasn’t stupid; just ordering two bottles was fine and wouldn’t cause too much trouble.
Who would have thought that Lu Ran would be very dissatisfied with his “cautious” actions and directly reach over to take the electronic menu, ordering more than ten bottles without even looking.
Chen Sheng watched, his mouth slowly dropping open.
After Lu Ran finished ordering, he patted his shoulder and said to Chen Sheng, “Call over the other guys too, and order whatever they like.”
The way Chen Sheng looked at him changed.
From initial scrutiny and disdain, it shifted to respect.
Shen Xingzhuo didn’t understand what they were up to.
Seeing that Lu Ran hadn’t asked him for help, he held it in for a while but couldn’t manage to keep it in.
He deliberately mocked, “Treating? Is your salary enough to buy a bottle of water?”
Lu Ran looked over innocently while biting on his cup: “I’m treating; who said I’d pay?”
Shen Xingzhuo didn’t understand.
Lu Ran smiled at him: “I was brought here by you, so of course, it’s you, Second Young Master Shen, who pays.”
In his past life, Lu Ran had already been taken advantage of.
When he had just returned to the Shen family, he had no concept of Shen Xingzhuo and his group’s spending level.
Chen Sheng had him treat. Wanting everyone to be happy, he agreed without thinking.
He even made up his mind to contribute all his remaining balance.
But when it came time to settle the bill, he found that everything he had wouldn’t even cover a small portion of what Shen Xingzhuo would spend to treat others.
He ended up being ridiculed for it.
This time, he wasn’t that foolish.
When Shen Xingzhuo heard Lu Ran’s words, he almost laughed out of anger.
He was angry, but in a corner of his heart, there was a secret admiration hidden away.
He was pretty clever and knew how to be sly.
However, Shen Xingzhuo hadn’t been played like this before.
Just as he was about to curse, he lowered his eyes and met Lu Ran’s gaze.
The boy was sipping water from his cup, looking up at him with eyes that still held a hint of mischief.
Since he was looking up, the downward curve of his eyes made him appear obedient and cute.
Compared to his usual dark, brooding gaze, he looked much more pleasing to the eye.
Shen Xingzhuo’s irritation dissipated by more than half.
Chen Sheng came over to get close to Lu Ran.
He sat down on the sofa next to Lu Ran and directly reached to wrap an arm around Lu Ran’s shoulders.
Shen Xingzhuo lifted his eyelids and looked over, fixated on Chen Sheng’s hand.
Without even thinking, he blurted out in a fierce tone, “Where do you think you’re putting your hand? Don’t get handsy.”
