⌈”I hope I didn’t scare that little classmate.”⌋
Lu Ran was taken aback, not expecting anyone to be there.
He was currently lifting the hem of his shirt with one hand and had the other hand resting on his already unbuttoned waistband.
His belly button was even exposed.
No matter how he looked at it, it felt strange.
He quickly lowered his shirt and then raised his head to look over.
The person in the wheelchair was the same one he had seen behind the floor-to-ceiling window.
Now this person had removed his coat, revealing a blue-gray suit underneath.
Unlike his earlier observations from outside the window, now that they were closer, Lu Ran noticed that he was even wearing gloves.
One of the gloves was off and the almost pale, thin fingers lightly rested on a black thin blanket.
His knuckles were wide. Even with his pale complexion, they did not appear weak at all.
The aura of this person felt both unfamiliar and familiar to Lu Ran.
It was unfamiliar because this wealthy man had a style that was entirely different from the Shen family.
Too excessively calm.
It was precisely this calmness that made Lu Ran feel a sense of familiarity.
It reminded him of himself when he had once lain in a hospital bed.
Lu Ran wrung the water from the hem of his shirt.
The person in the wheelchair remained silent, only watching him with those dark eyes that seemed to lack light.
“Mr. Ji…?” Lu Ran pondered for a moment before speaking first. “Thank you for giving me a ride last time.”
“Hmm…” He glanced at the urinal beside him.
Out of an understanding of “disabled people” and sympathy from his own past experiences, he tentatively asked, “Do you need help?”
After asking this, the man withdrew his gaze.
He only spoke softly, “Get out.”
Lu Ran paused for a moment.
On the surface, this was rather impolite, as if he was trying to shoo him away.
But judging by his tone, it seemed to be merely a statement, devoid of any emotion.
Lu Ran looked at the mess on his coat and pants and firmly shook his head. “No.”
Ji Min looked over again.
Lu Ran pointed at the row of stalls. “Isn’t this a public restroom? You can go to the bathroom if you want, wash your hands if you want, or find a stall to daze off in. I’m just standing by the sink; it’s not bothering you. Why do I have to go out?”
The man raised his eyebrows slightly but genuinely didn’t say anything more.
From his appearance, it didn’t seem like he was indifferent; he was simply too lazy to speak.
Lu Ran ignored him and ran over to the cabinet to get a towel.
There were many compartments in the cabinet and Lu Ran pulled them open one by one.
One compartment was quite full and Lu Ran moved quickly to open the drawer.
With a “whoosh”, two boxes flew out.
Lu Ran hurriedly caught them.
Looking closely, he found that he was holding two elegantly packaged square paper boxes.
There were no words printed on the boxes. Lu Ran couldn’t figure out what they were, so he held them and studied them for a while.
He only noticed the letters “XL” printed in the corner.
“The towels are in the second compartment,” a voice suddenly reminded him from behind.
“Oh.” Lu Ran replied, putting the boxes back in the drawer.
He opened the lower compartment and found white disposable towels.
“Thanks,” he said.
Lu Ran took the towel back to the sink.
The person in the wheelchair had now removed both gloves.
He was turning on the faucet and rinsing his hands in the cold water.
At this time, the weather had turned a bit cold and Lu Ran felt a chill just watching.
He took off his damp shirt and picked up the hairdryer to stand by and dry off.
When he was about to take off his jeans, Lu Ran looked up.
Their eyes met.
Lu Ran froze for two seconds, suddenly feeling that it wasn’t very appropriate to take off his pants in front of someone else.
He hesitated while pinching the button with his fingers. In the end, he decided to button it back up. He bent down to wet the towel in his hand and wiped the stains off his pants.
The person next to him kept his hands in the cold water for five or six minutes before finally turning off the faucet and maneuvering the wheelchair to move out.
The restroom door was quite heavy and required some effort to push open.
It would certainly be inconvenient to do so from a wheelchair.
Since Lu Ran was close to the door, he helped push it open with a hand.
The door opened.
The old butler, who had been waiting outside, was genuinely surprised to see Ji Min in the wheelchair. “Sir?”
Ji Min glanced at him but said nothing.
He maneuvered the electric wheelchair forward.
Lu Ran had almost finished tidying himself up.
He walked out the door.
After Ji Min had already moved some distance away, he seemed to recall something and turned back.
His somber black eyes looked over and asked, “Are you from the Shen family?”
Lu Ran wanted to argue.
But the man wasn’t seeking his affirmation and didn’t give him a chance to speak.
Or rather, he didn’t care about Lu Ran’s willingness; he only cared about the fact he had learned.
He casually remarked, “Please send my regards to your older brother, Shen Xingyu.”
Lu Ran’s mind went “buzz”.
Shen Xingyu.
The person Lu Ran feared the most.
The mention of that name instantly brought a sharp pain that seeped through his bones.
It was the phantom pain lingering in his memory from that moment of the car accident.
Lu Ran looked at the back of the man in the wheelchair.
He suddenly remembered that the original text mentioned that his older brother, Shen Xingyu, was an alumnus of this young master of the Ji family and that the two had a good private relationship.
The butler instructed a security guard to take Lu Ran away, then followed Ji Min as they left.
“How did he end up here?” Ji Min asked.
“It’s a small accident; he probably got bullied next door and accidentally came through the fire escape,” the butler explained.
Ji Min didn’t ask any more questions.
The butler smiled and added, “Last time, the sir went out of his way to help this young student. I thought this time, since you’re present, you would choose to help as well.”
“He just has a way with words,” Ji Min thought of the words he had heard in the car last time.
This time, the butler didn’t respond.
However, the atmosphere between the master and servant didn’t seem strictly hierarchical.
At that moment, an assistant approached them.
Before the assistant could speak, Ji Min made an impatient gesture.
The butler stepped forward with a smile and said, “The sir is tired today.”
The assistant suddenly seemed a bit flustered. “President Ji, we…”
“Please tell President Zhang that we can discuss the project at another time,” the butler interrupted him.
As he spoke, the two headed toward the elevator, preparing to leave.
“I’d like to ask how the sir suddenly appeared in the public restroom?” the butler inquired.
Ji Min’s voice remained cold. “There’s something dirty in the room.”
“Oh?” The butler was somewhat surprised.
He teasingly glanced at Ji Min before turning to look down the hallway toward the restroom.
The butler seemed to think of something, his expression subtly apologetic. “I hope that little student isn’t too scared.”
“Uncle Chen!” Ji Min said, his voice tinged with helplessness.
Butler Chen didn’t seem to mind, smiling with the tolerance of an elder.
The two took the elevator down and walked toward the exit of the Twin Towers.
The butler recalled Lu Ran’s reaction from earlier and teased, “The sir clearly helped and did a good deed, yet he specifically chose to say ungrateful things. Normally, the sir wouldn’t do this.”
Ji Min ignored him and reached out to open the remote-controlled door.
Just as the master and servant stepped out of the main entrance, they saw an ambulance parked in front of the neighboring building.
Someone wrapped in a blanket was being pushed out.
Before the person appeared, a voice from within the blanket screamed like a slaughtered pig, “Lu Ran! I’m going to kill Lu Ran!”
Perhaps due to the wild movements while shouting, the blanket slipped, revealing Lin Yi, who looked like a drenched chicken.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the butler beside him.
With a hint of sarcasm, he asked, “Is this what being bullied looks like?”
Butler Chen was also a bit surprised and shrugged helplessly.
Behind them, President Zhang, realizing the situation had gone awry, hurriedly chased after them.
“President Ji! Wait! I’m truly sorry about today’s incident; it was my subordinates who were inconsiderate!” He had gone to great lengths to arrange for this meeting with Ji Min and wasn’t about to let it slip away easily.
But after speaking for a while, President Zhang realized that the person in the wheelchair didn’t even spare him a glance.
Instead, he seemed lost in thought, staring at the building next door.
His black eyes held a hint of rare interest.
President Zhang followed his gaze and was taken aback. “Isn’t that… Xiao Yi?”
Although President Zhang said this, he didn’t approach.
Firstly, Lin Yi’s current state was utterly disgraceful and embarrassing…
Secondly, for some reason, Lin Yi’s friends were instinctively avoiding him, as if he was covered in something dirty.
“President Zhang, your son’s fiance is making such a scene; aren’t you going to take a look?”
Ji Min’s voice rang out.
President Zhang suddenly felt a rush of heat on his face, thinking that Lin Yi’s crazy behavior was truly embarrassing.
At the same time, he felt a sense of suspicion growing in his heart.
Uncertain if it was his “arrangement” today that angered Ji Min, leading him to specifically find someone to cause trouble for Lin Yi in the neighboring building…
Lu Ran had no idea what the big shots were thinking.
By the time he returned, it was already quite late. He went to pick up Da Huang and practically collapsed into bed, falling fast asleep.
The next morning, he didn’t have any classes.
Shen Xingzhuo had sent him double wages in advance, so he didn’t need to go to his part-time job at the fast-food restaurant and ended up sleeping until well past noon.
It wasn’t until he heard someone banging on his door that he finally stirred.
Annoyed, Lu Ran got up.
“Who is it?!” he shouted.
Da Huang was squatting beside the door, looking between the door and Lu Ran.
He didn’t bark but maintained a polite vigilance.
“It’s me!” The person banging on the door shouted back.
It sounded like Shen Xingzhuo’s voice.
Lu Ran was a bit surprised.
The Shen family didn’t often linger on the first floor.
The Shen villa had three floors; the third floor belonged entirely to Shen Xingran and the second floor housed the master bedroom and study, along with two vacant rooms for Shen Xingyu and Shen Xingzhuo when they occasionally came back.
As for Lu Ran’s place on the first floor, the entire level was filled with servant quarters.
So, with the Shen family’s self-important attitude, they wouldn’t come down here, let alone bang on doors.
Scratching his messy hair resembling a bird’s nest, Lu Ran shuffled in his slippers and opened the door with a scowl.
Before he could say anything, Shen Xingzhuo was about to bang again, but Lu Ran pulled the door open unexpectedly.
“Are you crazy? Can’t a person get some sleep in the morning?”
Shen Xingzhuo seemed to have heard something outrageous and pointed to the bright daylight outside. “Is this what you call morning? How can you sleep more than me?”
Lu Ran didn’t bother arguing with him.
He blocked the excited Da Huang, who was wagging his tail, and stared at Shen Xingzhuo, asking, “What’s up? Once it hits my Alipay, it’s mine. Don’t think about me paying it back.”
“Who mentioned money?” Shen Xingzhuo was exasperated.
Afterward, he hurriedly corrected himself, “I mean, it’s about money! How much did you spend yesterday?”
“Ah?” Lu Ran hadn’t recalled yet.
Until Shen Xingzhuo pulled up an electronic bill and shoved it in Lu Ran’s face.
Only then did Lu Ran remember that he had ordered over ten bottles of expensive wine just to mess with Shen Xingzhuo.
Yesterday, Shen Xingzhuo had agreed to pay but he hadn’t expected Lu Ran to go all out like that.
When the club sent the bill this morning, Shen Xingzhuo was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out. Furious, he immediately drove to the Shen family to find trouble with Lu Ran.
“You can’t be so broke you can’t pay for this small amount, right?” Lu Ran yawned.
Shen Xingzhuo was momentarily speechless.
His studio had been losing quite a bit of money recently, but to say he couldn’t afford it was a stretch.
It was just that this was indeed an unusually high expense.
But admitting he couldn’t afford it in front of Lu Ran…
Shen Xingzhuo… absolutely could not bring himself to say that.
He was furious.
But when he looked down at Lu Ran, whose hair was messy and who was rubbing his eyes, he felt a corner of his heart soften, feeling less angry.
Shen Xingzhuo was used to doing as he pleased, always able to express his anger whenever he wanted.
Now, however, for the first time in his life, he felt a frustration that festered in his heart, leaving him stifled and speechless.
“You!” Shen Xingzhuo pointed at Lu Ran.
“What did I do?” Lu Ran looked at him innocently. “Didn’t you agree to it yourself?”
Shen Xingzhuo glared at him for a while but couldn’t come up with a retort.
He turned to grab something to throw in frustration. He picked up a cup but for some inexplicable reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to throw it.
In the end, Shen Xingzhuo, filled with anger, placed the cup back on the table.
He squatted down and playfully ruffled Da Huang’s head several times, snorting in annoyance before turning to leave.
