⌈It seems like you still owe me ten billion.⌋
Madam Shen finished speaking.
Lu Ran didn’t respond, nor did he get angry.
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Madam Shen looked at Lu Ran in front of her, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Over the past few days, her feelings toward Lu Ran had become complicated.
On one hand, she never expected her despised son to actually have ties with the Ji family.
And although she didn’t want to admit it, this kid didn’t seem as unpresentable as she had imagined.
On the other hand, she had been bombarded by many rich wives the day before.
Some of them criticized her for not caring about Lu Ran.
While others, who were unaware of Lu Ran’s relationship with her, congratulated her for finally finding the child she had lost.
Their congratulations were sincere and serious, and in Madam Shen’s eyes, they even seemed a bit exaggerated.
As she awkwardly handled the situation, a sudden wave of self-doubt surged in her heart…
Could it be… that she really hadn’t cared enough about Lu Ran?
At this moment, she felt a little uneasy about the request she had made to Lu Ran.
She would later blame him for being ungrateful and not agreeing to it.
Yet, at the same time, she also thought that it was Shen Xingran who was truly clueless, letting her—his mother—make such an unreasonable request to her son.
Just then, Shen Hongyuan came downstairs.
He had also heard Madam Shen’s words and, in a calm voice, echoed, “Your mother is right. Now that you’re home, everything should be for the family’s benefit. Take Ji Min to our house sometime or take Xingran to his place to play.”
He spoke while walking over to the couch and lighting a cigarette for himself.
Lu Ran glanced at them and then walked toward the bathroom with Da Huang.
The first thing he did when he got home was often to go to the bathroom to wipe the dog’s feet with a towel.
Shen Hongyuan and the others didn’t think much of it or care about Lu Ran’s reaction.
He even turned to Shen Xingran and said, “He definitely won’t agree right away. Just keep asking and he’ll give in eventually.”
As soon as he finished speaking, they saw Lu Ran come out of the bathroom holding a trash bin.
The bathroom on the first floor was mostly used by the servants and it wasn’t equipped with an automatic smart toilet.
So, someone had to personally take out the trash every day.
Madam Shen and the others assumed that Lu Ran was simply taking out the trash.
But instead of going to the door, Lu Ran walked toward them, holding the trash bin.
With a “whoosh” sound…
The trash bin of used toilet paper landed on the three of them, on their heads and faces.
“Ah!” Madam Shen screamed, jumping up from the couch in shock.
Shen Hongyuan, still smoking, swung his hand to swipe at the toilet paper and, in doing so, accidentally set it on fire.
The burning paper fell onto his pants, causing him to yelp and leap up high in alarm, frantically trying to pat it out.
Shen Xingran, despite trying to dodge, couldn’t escape either. He stood up and slapped at himself a few times, eventually pulling out a couple of dirty paper balls from his hoodie pocket.
The servants standing nearby were frozen in shock.
Um…
Wasn’t this the paper they had used in the bathroom?
The living room descended into chaos.
Lu Ran stood to the side, holding the empty trash bin.
This time, he had wised up and put a fresh trash bag on it, making sure not to get his hands or sleeves dirty.
He grinned as he watched the three people hopping around.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he exclaimed, “Ah, you mentioned fairness. It just reminded me that you all still owe me ten billion.”
“As for Ji Min…”
Lu Ran shook the trash bin, smiling, “You’re welcome to go. When I see you, I’ll make sure to give you a warm welcome.”
The phrase “warm welcome” made Madam Shen and the others’ faces turn pale with fear.
After Lu Ran left.
Madam Shen felt something wasn’t right behind her. She reached back and, to her horror, pulled off a blood-stained sanitary pad from her back.
Madam Shen completely broke down.
She pointed at Shen Xingran and Shen Hongyuan, cursing angrily, “I told you not to provoke him! Didn’t you remember what kind of things he could do?!”
Lu Ran didn’t let this incident bother him.
He wasn’t even angry.
He had long figured out the Shen family’s nature.
It was truly the Schrödinger’s fairness.
The next morning, he went to Ji Min’s office.
When he saw Ji Min, he suddenly remembered this matter.
Lu Ran wanted to remind him that Shen Xingran was likely to come looking for him soon.
But just as the words were about to come out, he felt uneasy.
He and Shen Xingran didn’t get along and Ji Min should be aware of that.
What exactly was he expecting Ji Min to do by bringing this up?
Not see Shen Xingran?
But asking for that… didn’t it seem a little strange?
Ji Min was just his boss.
How could an employee ask their boss to avoid someone?
Ji Min looked up and saw Lu Ran frowning, standing in place for a moment.
He said softly, “I’ll have someone bring you a glass to seal you in.”
“Huh?” Lu Ran didn’t quite understand what he meant.
Once Ji Min noticed that he had come to his senses, he tilted his chin toward the doorframe and said, “Standing there motionless, I thought you were trying to get framed and hung as a painting.”
Lu Ran: “…”
He suddenly understood.
If Shen Xingran wanted to come, let him come.
With Ji Min’s bad temper, who knew what would happen if Shen Xingran did show up.
But then he thought of something else and reminded Ji Min, “I’m about to start school.”
If Lu Ran remembered correctly, the job Ji Min had given him seemed like a temporary holiday part-time job.
Once school started, it would be over.
Even if it didn’t end, Lu Ran would be too busy with his courses to follow Ji Min around like he had been doing.
Mentioning this, Ji Min paused for a moment.
He realized that the kid’s holiday was almost over.
The office fell silent for a moment.
Da Huang obediently curled up on his little cushion.
Lu Ran slowly walked to a small desk and sat down, pulling out the books he had brought from his bag.
The air conditioner gently blew warm air.
The humidifier was also working.
The once quiet and silent instruments now seemed unusually noisy at this moment.
Lu Ran absentmindedly flipped through the pages of his book.
His lab supervisor was quite the pervert, insisting on conducting a review test at the start of the semester.
Now, he had to start reviewing.
But at that moment, Lu Ran found himself somewhat distracted.
He was thinking about his “job”.
Though Ji Min, this boss of his, had a strange temper, often speaking sarcastically and frequently clashing with him, even having improper intentions toward him, there was one thing to be said—he was generous.
He had even helped him out a lot.
And the job wasn’t busy, just a bit demanding in terms of acting skills.
It also required a bit of shamelessness.
Suddenly, Lu Ran became a little worried about Ji Min’s “reputation” after he left.
After all, he had built this “empire” recently!
But then he thought, with Ji Min’s status, even without him, there must be plenty of people willing to play this “ex-boyfriend” role, right?
He just didn’t know if they’d be as good at it as he was.
Whether they’d flatter him with the same sincerity.
Lu Ran’s mind wandered through a mess of thoughts.
Not a single word in the book he was holding registered.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell if he was lamenting the loss of such a well-paying job.
Or worrying about Ji Min’s reputation in the future.
Lost in thought, Lu Ran suddenly heard a sigh from across the room.
Looking up, he saw the man behind the desk, fingers pressed against his temple, raising an eyebrow and sighing as he looked at him. “You’ve got the book upside down.”
Lu Ran looked down and realized that, indeed, it was.
He wasn’t embarrassed. With a casual “Oh”, he turned the book right side up.
“Focus on your studies,” Ji Min said.
Lu Ran had heard Ji Min say this many times before. At first, he thought his boss was quite peculiar—his only demand of him was to focus on his studies.
Later, after realizing Ji Min had other “improper” intentions toward him, he couldn’t help but marvel at how unique Ji Min’s approach to those intentions was.
Now, hearing the same words again, Lu Ran’s thoughts somehow aligned with those of his peers, and he found himself feeling a little annoyed.
Study, study, it’s always about studying.
Ji Min shifted his gaze from the boy in front of him and looked over at the gray, ordinary filing cabinet beside him.
After a long silence, he gave a compromise-like response: “If you don’t study well and fail, I’ll fire you.”
“Eh?” Lu Ran looked up at him, a bit surprised.
When he understood the implication in Ji Min’s words, he said, “I have classes to attend, experiments to do, my schedule is tight…”
Before he could finish, he saw Ji Min, seated in his wheelchair, suddenly turn toward him.
At first, Ji Min hadn’t expected Lu Ran to continue this “job” after school started.
Why bother with this once the semester begins?
But seeing the boy absentmindedly fiddling with his fingers, he inexplicably softened for a moment and gave that compromise.
Ji Min had been frustrated just a moment ago.
Now, hearing the refusal in Lu Ran’s words, a feeling of displeasure rose inside him again.
He coldly stared at Lu Ran with his dark eyes and sneered, “You have time for other part-time jobs, but not for mine?”
Lu Ran: “…”
As soon as he spoke, Ji Min realized his tone was off.
Sure enough, when he saw Lu Ran’s expression, it was filled with that familiar look, and he sighed.
Ji Min: “…”
Then, as if suddenly struck with an idea, Lu Ran bent down to pick up his bag.
He pulled out a set of clothes.
It was the set of clothes he had worn out of Ji Min’s villa yesterday.
Now, freshly washed and neatly folded, it was in his hands.
Lu Ran walked over to Ji Min’s desk, placed the clothes down in front of him, and gave him a look that seemed to say, “I get it”.
He said, “Don’t buy me clothes anymore.”
Hearing this, Ji Min had a sudden realization.
Ji Min narrowed his eyes and asked, “So, yesterday you thought I liked you just because of that entire wardrobe of clothes?”
Lu Ran confidently nodded and added, “And the shoes too.”
Ji Min had been holding back all day, and now he finally felt like he was getting the upper hand.
He let out a short laugh, “Ha? Is that it?”
Lu Ran blinked at him.
Ji Min tried to clarify, “Don’t get the wrong idea, buying you clothes wasn’t because I like you, it’s because…”
His clarification got stuck on the “because”.
Ji Min hesitated, trying to come up with a proper reason but couldn’t find one.
It didn’t seem like there was much of a reason at all.
At first, Ji Min hadn’t planned on preparing clothes.
It was just that last night, after hearing Lu Ran’s line “I don’t want to dirty the clothes”, he remembered how Lu Ran looked at the party, wearing that haute couture outfit like a little peacock with its tail held high.
In a sudden whim, Ji Min made a call and had a whole wardrobe of clothes, accessories, and shoes delivered.
It had been urgent.
When they returned to the villa, it had just arrived.
As time passed, Ji Min noticed the way the boy looked at him again.
It was almost as if his gaze was saying, “Stop making excuses. See? You really do like me.”
Ji Min finally struggled to squeeze out a sentence: “It was just… work clothes.”
“Hmm?” Lu Ran seemed a bit surprised.
At that moment, Ji Min suddenly realized why Lu Ran could lie so effortlessly in front of everyone.
After he made up one excuse, the rest of it came naturally: “You’re my ‘ex-boyfriend’, after all. The clothes have to match the identity.”
“Ah!” Lu Ran suddenly understood.
It seemed to make sense.
Ji Min: “…”
He thought to himself, this kid might be hard to handle, but surprisingly easy to deceive.
He continued, “You’re going back to school soon, and if we’re going to renew our ‘contract,’ it’s the same reason. You can’t just change the ‘ex-boyfriend’ position like that.”
Lu Ran thought for a moment and found that it made sense.
If he kept changing, wouldn’t that expose him?
Ji Min had thought that his rejection was obvious enough that the kid would at least feel a little embarrassed.
The story was so absurd that a normal person would’ve had some doubts.
But to his surprise, there was no reaction at all.
The kid casually returned to his seat, looking like he even sighed in relief.
After thinking for a moment, he said, “I thought there was a reason you liked me.”
“What reason?” Ji Min frowned and asked.
Lu Ran raised his eyes to look at him and said, “You like someone like Zhang Lin, so isn’t it normal for you to like me?”
Ji Min froze for a while upon hearing this.
He seriously thought about it and then asked, “Who’s Zhang Lin?”
But after he asked, he noticed that the boy was looking at him with that indescribable expression again.
“Don’t act like you don’t know. You’ve already made a move when he was asleep and now you’re pretending to forget.”
Ji Min: “…”
That was when he remembered his most embarrassing moment.
He took a deep breath and was about to tell the kid not to say nonsense when the office door was knocked on.
Both of them stopped talking immediately.
Ji Min paused before saying, “Come in.”
The door opened, and the assistant entered with a phone, saying, “It’s Dr. Keimler on the line.”
“Mm.” Ji Min responded, reaching for the phone.
As he reached for it, he subtly glanced at the boy across from him.
Lu Ran was already looking down at his book.
As soon as the assistant came in and spoke in a formal tone, the somewhat annoying and absurd atmosphere in the office quickly faded, like a receding tide.
It returned to its usual cold, professional atmosphere.
Comparing the two, Ji Min suddenly realized.
Here he was, in the middle of a work environment, wasting time with a kid on a “Do you like me or not” question.
This made Ji Min feel somewhat uncomfortable.
The assistant reminded him, “The doctor is asking when you have time for the surgery.”
As soon as the assistant’s words reached his ears, Lu Ran’s attention perked up.
