⌈”You make noises when you walk and turn over in your sleep.”⌋
Lin Yi felt a bit nervous, afraid that Madam Zhang would see how he looked right now.
Shen Xingran was secretly pleased in his heart.
The Zhang family coming to see Lin Yi now indicated that they still valued him greatly.
If they knew it was Lu Ran who caused the trouble…
Lu Ran’s days ahead would surely be difficult.
“What are you afraid of?” Shen Xingran advised Lin Yi, “The worse you look now, the more Madam Zhang will feel sorry for you, right?”
Lin Yi cast a suspicious glance at Shen Xingran.
He hesitated for a moment, but still tidied himself up a bit before opening the door for Madam Zhang.
Madam Zhang was very warm; as soon as she entered, she cupped Lin Yi’s face in her hands. “Oh dear, look at this little face; it’s so pale. Why are you hiding in your room and not going out to get some sunshine?”
“I’ve been feeling a bit down lately,” Lin Yi said, following Shen Xingran’s suggestion.
“When you’re feeling down, you should go out even more!” Mrs. Zhang pulled Lin Yi to sit down by the bed and, seeing Shen Xingran, nodded with a smile.
This lady didn’t seem like the idle rich wives.
It was said that Madam Zhang worked at the Zhang Company when she was younger. There was a certain commanding presence in her words that hinted at a strong woman.
Shen Xingran stood aside, obediently watching Madam Zhang fuss over Lin Yi.
But in his heart, he wondered why the Zhang family chose to socialize with the Lin family.
The Lin family was somewhat inferior compared to the Zhang family.
The Shen family was more on the same level as the Zhang family.
He thought about it this way.
Shen Xingran felt a bit displeased. But if it really came to him being paired up with Zhang Lin, he wouldn’t want that either.
Although Zhang Lin was the only son in the family, he was just a spoiled second-generation rich kid, even less capable than Shen Xingzhuo.
His mother was also extremely domineering.
After pondering for a while, he devalued the Zhang family’s marriage prospects.
When Shen Xingran came back to his senses, he felt something was off.
Madam Zhang had been caring for Lin Yi, urging him to go out more and visit the Zhang family often.
She even reminisced about funny stories from Zhang Lin’s childhood.
As they chatted, the conversation never steered towards Lin Yi’s recent experiences.
Shen Xingran felt anxious watching this. He shot Lin Yi a glance.
Unfortunately, Lin Yi was led away by Madam Zhang’s topic.
In desperation, Shen Xingran had to speak up himself: “Auntie, Lin Yi hasn’t wanted to go out these past few days because he’s been bullied.”
Slightly embarrassed, he lowered his head as he continued, “The person who bullied him is named Lu Ran and he has some connections to our family…”
After Shen Xingran finished speaking, there was a long silence without a response.
When he looked down, he met Madam Zhang’s smiling face, but her dark eyes were filled with discontent.
Shen Xingran felt a glimmer of hope.
It seemed that the Zhang family really valued Lin Yi; just hearing this made Madam Zhang angry.
But after that thought, Shen Xingran felt a pang of bitterness.
What was it about Lin Yi that the Zhang family found appealing?
He was about to embellish the story further when he noticed Madam Zhang staring at him. Although her expression was still smiling, her tone was serious: “What bullying? It’s just kids playing around.”
Shen Xingran was momentarily stunned.
Playing around? What did that mean?
Shouldn’t Madam Zhang confront Lu Ran about this?
Feeling anxious, Shen Xingran almost blurted out how Lu Ran had pushed Lin Yi into a toilet bowl.
Lin Yi also felt a bit anxious.
But Madam Zhang decisively interrupted their conversation: “Alright!”
“There’s no overnight grudge between friends,” she said, reaching out to stroke Lin Yi’s face, her tone leaving no room for refusal. “Xiao Yi, go and have a good chat with your friend. It’ll be fine once you sort it out.”
Neither Shen Xingran nor Lin Yi expected this outcome.
It sounded as if Lin Yi had to take the initiative to apologize to Lu Ran!
Lin Yi was completely dumbfounded.
But he didn’t dare to contradict Madam Zhang.
After giving a few more instructions, Madam Zhang stood up to leave.
Before she left, she gave Shen Xingran a meaningful look.
The events that happened at the club that day could be hidden from these younger ones, but could they really be concealed from her?
But who knew if it was that particular person, dissatisfied with her husband’s arrangements, who specifically used this incident to send a message to the Zhang family?
After all…
That illegitimate child named Lu Ran later appeared in another building.
He was even personally welcomed in by Ji Min’s butler.
Causing trouble for Lu Ran was essentially making things uncomfortable for Ji Min, wasn’t it?
The Zhang family wasn’t that confused yet.
After leaving the Lin family, Shen Xingran felt a sense of panic.
An overwhelming feeling of loss of control washed over him, making him particularly anxious.
Shen Xingzhuo couldn’t be relied upon.
On Lin Yi’s side, the Zhang family’s attitude was also strange.
Was there really no one who could handle Lu Ran?
Shen Xingran felt that this situation couldn’t continue.
Upon returning to the Shen family, he specifically informed the cook and then tied on an apron to head into the kitchen.
It wasn’t quite cooking from scratch, but he helped out to prepare a meal for Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen.
When Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen returned home and before they could even head upstairs, Shen Xingran directly took Madam Shen’s arm: “Mom! I made you a meal. All your favorite dishes!”
As he spoke, he pretended to be excited and led Madam Shen toward the dining room.
However, before they even stepped into the dining room, both Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen’s expressions froze.
Sorry.
Now, whenever they came here, they didn’t want to eat.
Seeing their expressions, even Shen Xingran secretly cursed their pretentiousness in his heart.
It had been several days already; how many times had they cleaned up?
But perhaps it was just right this way.
“Xingran, why don’t we have it sent upstairs instead?” Madam Shen said, her face stiff as she patted Shen Xingran’s hand.
But just as she finished speaking, they noticed that the food was already set on the dining room table.
Instantly, both Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen wore troubled expressions.
Shen Xingran immediately displayed a hurt expression.
Gently rubbing the red mark on her fingers, she cautiously asked, “Dad, Mom, don’t you want to eat? If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I…”
Seeing him like this, Madam Shen immediately felt a pang of sympathy: “No, no, that’s not what I meant, it’s just…”
Shen Xingran took the opportunity to pull Madam Shen and Shen Hongyuan over to sit on the sofa.
He expressed his understanding: “I know; it’s my fault for not considering things thoroughly. But…”
Madam Shen felt comforted by this.
Her affection for Shen Xingran grew, along with a sense of guilt.
Shen Xingran hesitated for a moment, as if he could no longer hold back, and said, “Dad, this is your home. You’re the head of the family; how can you let… you both feel so restrained at home while the… culprit roams freely?”
As soon as these words were spoken, they struck at Shen Hongyuan’s soft spot.
Shen Hongyuan’s expression immediately darkened and Madam Shen’s face also looked grim.
Shen Xingran fidgeted with his fingers, his tone hesitant but the content was embellished.
“When you’re not here, he even tried to take the dog upstairs. If this continues…”
Madam Shen pondered for a moment and then patted Shen Xingran’s hand: “You’re right; this can’t go on. We need to teach him a lesson.”
All day long, Lu Ran had no idea what Shen Xingran had been up to.
He had quit his job at the breakfast shop but picked up a few other part-time jobs.
After being reborn, Lu Ran enjoyed the feeling of working hard and living an honest life.
When he returned to the Shen family home, the villa was quiet, looking much the same as usual.
Lu Ran wiped Da Huang’s paws, fed him some dog food, and after washing up, collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
Just as he was about to drift off, the door was suddenly knocked on loudly.
Irritated, Lu Ran got up.
He thought it was Shen Xingzhuo returning home in the middle of the night. When he opened the door, he saw it was a servant from the Shen family.
“What’s the matter?” Lu Ran asked.
The servant knocked very loudly, but when he saw Lu Ran, he seemed a bit intimidated.
He involuntarily lowered his voice and said, “Young Master Lu, Madam has trouble sleeping and easily wakes up at night. Please avoid making noise in the evenings.”
“I’m sleeping; what noise?” Lu Ran replied.
The servant felt a bit awkward but continued, “Your walking and turning while sleeping makes noise.”
Lu Ran shot him a glance and “bang!” slammed the door shut, returning to bed to continue sleeping.
He burrowed under the covers. Just as he was about to sink into a deep sleep, the door was knocked on again.
Lu Ran quietly opened his eyes in bed.
In his dark eyes, there was no anger from being woken up, only a calmness like still water.
He lifted the blanket and got out of bed.
When he opened the door, a different servant stood outside.
“What now?” Lu Ran asked.
The servant replied, “Madam has been startled awake again. Please keep quiet, Young Master Lu.”
Lu Ran couldn’t help but want to laugh.
He suddenly recalled that something similar had happened in his previous life.
During that time, Madam Shen seemed to be mentally exhausted for some reason, always hearing noises from downstairs.
Whenever she woke up at night, she thought he had made some sort of noise.
Ironically, Lu Ran had taken it seriously.
He thought it was because he was too loud or accidentally made some noise in his sleep.
He was extremely careful, minimizing all his movements.
He walked on tiptoe, and at night, he didn’t even dare to turn over in bed.
Yet, Madam Shen still thought he was making noise.
In the end, she even broke down and yelled at him, forcing him from the first floor where the servants lived to a storage room in the villa’s courtyard.
Looking back now, how could he possibly disturb her when he was on the first floor and she was on the second?
Moreover, in the end, he had even lightened his breathing, yet he still managed to wake her.
Either she simply didn’t like him, blaming him for any worries she had, or she had long planned to drive him out to the courtyard to live.
Lu Ran looked at the servant outside the door, said nothing more, and indicated that he understood.
He decided not to sleep that night and directly got up to finish his thesis.
He also noted the frequency and intensity of the servant’s knocks.
The next day, Lu Ran borrowed a portable speaker from a classmate and bought a rubber massage hammer.
When he returned home, after many days, Madam Shen was finally sitting on the sofa on the first floor again, chatting and laughing with Shen Xingran.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, they appeared as if they had just turned the tide and were overjoyed.
Lu Ran didn’t say anything, keeping his head down as he sulked back to his room.
Madam Shen exchanged a glance with Shen Xingran: “See, he needs to be taught a lesson to behave.”
Shen Xingran feigned concern from the side: “Mom… maybe it’s better to let it go?”
Madam Shen directly waved her hand to call the servant: “Tonight, continue as planned. Just be careful in the second half of the night not to disturb the second and third floors.”
That night, shortly after the lights in Lu Ran’s room were turned off…
The door was knocked on again, with the same suggestion as in his previous life to move to the villa in the courtyard.
Lu Ran pretended to be overwhelmed with annoyance.
After shutting the door, he patiently waited.
By the time it was the second half of the night, the servants knocked on his door more softly, almost instinctively.
The second and third floors of the villa had also fallen into a deep sleep.
Lu Ran opened his door and plugged the memory card into the fully charged portable speaker.
The entire villa was quiet, immersed in darkness.
Suddenly, a loud explosion went off:
“Boom tss! Boom tss!”
“Boom tss!”
“The vast horizon is my love~”
Lu Ran carried the speaker up to the second floor, racing all the way to the master’s bedroom door, where he began to bang furiously with the massage hammer.
“Bang bang bang!”
“Boom tss!”
“You are the most beautiful cloud in the sky~”
Madam Shen and Shen Hongyuan, who had just fallen asleep, rushed out with messy hair.
Moonlit’s corner:
Lu Ran: You’re not letting me sleep? Fine then… NO ONE SLEEPS!
Moonlit: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA
