⌈He was wondering which leg he was thinking about.⌋
Ji Min’s expression remained indifferent as he took the phone, turned his wheelchair around, and chatted for a few minutes facing the floor-to-ceiling window.
Lu Ran noticed that Butler Chen had also entered and was sitting on the sofa, playing with Da Huang.
The assistant hadn’t left either, standing quietly by the side.
The office fell silent.
But Lu Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone in the room, subtly and without making it obvious, was paying attention to the outcome of Ji Min’s phone call.
Even Lu Ran himself was paying attention.
In Lu Ran’s impression, Ji Min had always been in a wheelchair.
From the original text, very little was said about Ji Min.
It only mentioned that his older brother, Shen Xingyu, knew Ji Min.
It seemed like just a casual mention in a wealthy family novel, just background information.
Wherever Ji Min was, his disability and wheelchair were always mentioned alongside his status and wealth.
It had become an unshakeable label.
But now, from the assistant’s words, it seemed like Ji Min might actually have the chance to be cured?
Lu Ran couldn’t help but pay closer attention.
The doctor, Dr. Keimler, who was on the phone with Ji Min, sounded like a middle-aged man. His speech was quick and his voice wasn’t very clear.
Ji Min spoke very little, only responding briefly every now and then.
The phone receiver didn’t emit much sound.
Lu Ran could only guess at what Ji Min was saying based on his occasional responses.
It seemed that Ji Min’s attitude toward this Dr. Keimler was completely different from the doctor’s.
The doctor appeared to be encouraging and regretfully persuading Ji Min to go through with the surgery.
Ji Min’s attitude, however, was somewhat ambiguous and cold.
He resorted to the old excuse of being “too busy”.
Lu Ran thought that this “too busy” excuse was probably a lie.
Although Ji Min was indeed very busy, his health issues clearly mattered more than his work.
If his leg could really be cured, why wouldn’t he get treated?
Ji Min quickly hung up the phone and handed the device to the assistant.
Lu Ran was a bit confused about the situation.
Unable to hold back, he asked Butler Chen, who was sitting on the sofa, “Is his leg treatable?”
Butler Chen responded in detail, “There’s a high chance of recovery. The sir has already undergone two surgeries, but the last one has been postponed for a long time.”
“Why has it been delayed?” Lu Ran asked.
Butler Chen was about to explain further when Ji Min interrupted, “Uncle Chen, the Li family is returning to Beijing soon. Please make the arrangements.”
Butler Chen stopped speaking, smiled at Lu Ran, and left the office.
Lu Ran didn’t get an answer.
He couldn’t help but keep thinking about the matter, even when he went downstairs for lunch.
Ji Min’s attitude toward the last surgery was clearly evasive.
Lu Ran didn’t understand why he felt that way.
In his previous life, when he first lay on the hospital bed, besides completely rejecting the fact that he had become disabled, he had secretly harbored some absurd hope.
A hope that the Shen family would actually find a doctor to treat him.
After all, they were his blood relatives.
His mother, father, and brothers.
Even though they despised him and resented him because of Shen Xingran, surely they couldn’t bear to watch him remain disabled for life?
But as time passed, that hope completely faded away.
Lu Ran knew it was because he had been too naive.
Perhaps his state, unable to move, unable to speak, and only able to be manipulated, was exactly what the Shen family wanted.
However, Lu Ran’s disappointment was only toward the Shen family.
Even if he had no way to fight back, he still couldn’t accept the thought of lying there forever.
At that time, if someone had told him that he had a chance to heal, Lu Ran would never have given up, no matter how slim the hope.
So he didn’t understand why, when there was clearly an opportunity, Ji Min chose to avoid it.
From Ji Min’s office to the elevator, and then to the staff cafeteria on the basement level, the entire way, Ji Min distinctly felt someone’s gaze lingering on his legs.
From time to time, the person would look down at them.
Ji Min knew logically that the kid had probably overheard the phone call just now and was now pondering over his legs.
But because of this kid’s usual behavior and the things he had been doing recently, Ji Min couldn’t help but wonder for a moment whether he was thinking about the specific leg of his.
And the staring continued.
Unable to bear it any longer, Ji Min gritted his teeth and asked, “Have you had enough of staring?”
If it had been anyone else, they would have awkwardly looked away after being confronted like that.
But Lu Ran wasn’t anyone else.
After being asked, he didn’t shy away. Instead, he boldly continued to look, unabashedly, and then asked him, “Why don’t you treat your leg? Isn’t it treatable?”
The boy’s question was so blunt, it left Ji Min momentarily stunned.
With his status, it was rare for anyone to speak to him so directly.
Especially about something as personal as his health.
Even Butler Chen, who took care of his daily needs, tended to avoid this subject when it came up.
But this kid—whether it was because he was truly fearless or because Ji Min had spoiled him recently—actually dared to ask him this question.
And it caught Ji Min off guard.
Butler Chen, who had been standing quietly beside them, seemed to be observing carefully. But from the look on his face, it was clear he was secretly amused.
Ji Min remained silent for a moment, then, flustered, he finally threw out, “What does it matter to you?”
Lu Ran glanced at him and gave a soft “oh” in response.
Since Lu Ran really didn’t ask any more questions, Ji Min’s earlier thoughts, which he had carefully prepared in his mind, got stuck.
It was awkward and he felt uneasy all over.
How could the conversation just end like that?
Based on what he knew about this kid, this shouldn’t have happened.
But to Ji Min’s surprise, Lu Ran really didn’t say anything else.
He behaved well all the way until they finished lunch.
Quickly and diligently finishing the food on his plate, the boy drank his juice and waited for him while scrolling through his phone.
Whatever he saw on it made his gaze quickly flicker toward Ji Min again.
Ji Min stopped with his chopsticks, feeling that familiar, almost tangible gaze once more on his legs.
Even the cover of the dining table didn’t seem to do much to block it.
Ji Min looked up and saw Lu Ran, staring at him with those shiny black eyes.
He was still holding the straw in his mouth.
The black straw, which he gripped with his teeth, was being chewed on in a way that made it look like it was being mistreated by his delicate, white teeth.
And there he was, biting the straw while… staring at his legs.
Without thinking, Ji Min clenched the chopsticks in his hand.
After a moment, he “slammed” them down and asked, “What are you looking at again?”
“Hm?” This time, the boy looked up as if he’d been caught and was confused.
Then he quickly waved his hand in dismissal and explained, “I wasn’t looking at anything!”
As he said that, he glanced at his phone again, almost as if he couldn’t resist, and then snuck another look at Ji Min.
The change in his attitude made Ji Min squint his eyes.
He had been so confident just moments ago and now he acted like a thief.
“What’s on your phone?” Ji Min asked in a low voice.
“Uh… nothing,” Lu Ran replied.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow in disbelief and directly extended his hand toward him, saying, “Give it to me.”
With a serious look on his face, Ji Min looked just like a teacher confronting a student.
Lu Ran subconsciously handed over his phone.
Ji Min took the phone, glanced at the boy, and then looked at the screen.
On the screen was a Weibo account, posting a piece of news.
[Shocking! Some homosexual groups, in order to seek thrills, actively contract diseases…]
Ji Min stared at the news, flipping it over and over for a while, but couldn’t find any connection between the article and himself.
He then looked up at Lu Ran.
The boy looked like someone who had been caught gossiping about the teacher—his eyelashes seemed to carry a sense of guilt.
Ji Min couldn’t make sense of why he looked guilty, so he asked, “What’s wrong with this news?”
“Ahem, nothing wrong,” Lu Ran said, reaching to take his phone back.
But Ji Min immediately raised his hand and dodged it.
“Explain it clearly,” he said.
Lu Ran poked the straw in his cup, fidgeting.
“You asked me to explain,” he replied.
If Ji Min had witnessed Gu Ningqi’s grand performance, he probably would’ve urgently asked Lu Ran to shut up by now.
But unfortunately, he wasn’t there at that time.
Now, he was still quite intrigued. “Quickly tell me.”
As Ji Min spoke, Lu Ran could barely hold it in anymore.
He glanced around at the other people in the cafeteria, leaned forward slightly, and covered his mouth with his hand.
Then, in a low voice, he said mysteriously, “You see, the news says that you gay men, in order to seek that kind of thrill, actually go out of your way to get infected with diseases…”
“So what?” Ji Min still didn’t understand the connection.
But… what did “you gay men” mean?
Ji Min was about to correct him when he saw Lu Ran looking at his legs again.
This time, the gaze was clearly different from when they were in the elevator.
It was filled with intense shock.
“Ahem, I know saying it like this is not great,” Lu Ran continued.
Lu Ran’s face unexpectedly showed a bit of embarrassment, but he still curiously asked, “So you’re letting the opportunity to treat your leg slip away and you’d rather stay in the current situation.”
“Is it… that you have some special preference in that area?”
After hearing Lu Ran’s long string of words, Ji Min’s first reaction was—
No wonder the boy had been so obedient for so long. He was waiting for this.
Once Ji Min caught the meaning behind Lu Ran’s words, he completely exploded.
His temples throbbed, veins popping on his forehead.
“Lu Ran!” he ground out between clenched teeth.
The boy on the other side seemed to remember that Ji Min was his boss and hurriedly tried to backpedal. “I get it! Everyone has their own preferences and that’s fine.”
Seeing the man’s dark face not improving, Lu Ran thought even harder.
“Um… maybe you special groups see it as, um… a form of… flawed beauty?”
The boy clearly had no talent for saying the right things.
He was trying to “compliment” but couldn’t help but express a strong sense of surprise as if he were looking at something strange.
Ji Min felt like his lungs were about to burst.
All the hesitation and frustration from the call with the doctor had long disappeared.
He practically spat out a response through gritted teeth: “First of all, I’m not gay…”
Before he could get to his “second point”, the boy immediately interrupted.
“But you already did that kind of thing with Zhang Lin! And you’re still saying you’re not gay!”
Ji Min: “…”
At that moment, he felt like he could stand up and chase Lu Ran for an 800-meter sprint.
He was that angry.
But even sitting in a wheelchair, he could still chase after and beat someone up.
Seeing the situation was going south, Lu Ran quickly jumped up from his seat, grabbed his tray, and ran off.
As he ran, he mumbled in a low voice, “Why are you like this?!”
“I didn’t want to say anything at first. You’re the one who made me.”
“Now that I’ve said it, you’re actually mad!”
Ji Min: “Come here! I promise I won’t hit you!”
After shouting, Ji Min finally remembered that they were in the cafeteria.
Although the few remaining employees hadn’t overheard their conversation, the sight of the chase made them all turn in shock.
Even the aunt serving food at the counter had an expression of curiosity as she stretched her neck to peer outside.
Ji Min took a deep breath, then another, gritting his teeth and swallowing his anger.
He thought to himself, No, this won’t do!
I need to contact Dr. Keimler now.
No matter what, I have to maintain a strong attitude.
I cannot let the reputation of these “special groups” fall on my head!
Shen Xingran also thought this was unacceptable.
He had to find a way to connect with the Ji family.
At the last banquet, Lu Ran left with Ji Min, making quite a scene.
Later, Shen Xingran heard from others that Gu Ningqi’s position as heir was still under consideration.
Ji Min even had the ability to influence Old Master Gu’s decision.
Anyway, for whatever reason, he couldn’t let the Ji family head be overshadowed by Lu Ran.
Shen Xingran originally planned to have Madam Shen make demands on Lu Ran.
But after the incident with the discarded trash bin last time, Madam Shen was scared and absolutely refused to agree.
She even told him not to provoke Lu Ran again and to let the family stay calm for a couple of days.
Shen Xingran hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.
However, he wasn’t one to give up. If things didn’t work out in the open, he could still work behind the scenes.
Ji Min’s personal whereabouts were highly confidential. Though Shen Xingran had many friends, those friends often looked uncomfortable when they heard Ji Min’s name.
But perseverance paid off!
After several rounds of inquiry, Shen Xingran finally discovered that Ji Min would attend a small charity auction.
What was even better was that the day of the auction coincided with the start of the school year at Y University.
Lu Ran wouldn’t be with Ji Min, and there would be no interruptions!
The day of the auction arrived.
Ji Min entered the venue with a cold expression.
His mood seemed particularly bad.
The figure that often stood behind his wheelchair had disappeared.
For some reason, the space felt empty.
The man didn’t seem angry, though. Compared to usual, his face just carried a tired, lackluster air.
It was as if he had lost interest in everything.
It wasn’t until the assistant walked in with a little yellow dog, bending down to hand him the leash, that Ji Min’s expression softened a little.
“Da Huang has gotten used to the surroundings,” the assistant said.
Ji Min took the leash, his face improving slightly.
The little dog, being older, didn’t adapt to new environments as easily as a puppy.
So whenever they arrived at a new place, Ji Min would always have the assistant take Da Huang around to get familiar with the area before entering.
On the stage, the introductions and images of each auction item flashed by.
Ji Min leaned back in his wheelchair, his fingers absentmindedly playing with the ear of a small white rabbit toy on the leash.
He wasn’t particularly interested in the items on display.
That was until a watercolor painting appeared on the screen.
The painting depicted a small yellow dog rolling around on the grass, tongue out.
Ji Min’s gaze paused for a moment, and he signaled to his assistant to note down the number.
Then he looked down at the quiet little dog lying at his feet.
In his mind, he almost heard someone’s reaction to seeing this painting.
They would have pointed at the dog in the picture with a childlike sense of wonder and said, “Da Huang, look, this picture looks just like you!”
Ji Min’s lips curled up for a moment.
Butler Chen, who had been watching him, smiled and asked, “Are you feeling unwell today, sir?”
The air pressure had been very low when he woke up this morning.
The man suppressed the curve of his lips, coldly letting out a short “Hmph,” and said flatly.
“Just irritated.”
Butler Chen couldn’t help but laugh quietly.
After returning home last night, Ji Min did something unprecedented—he took the initiative to call Dr. Keimler.
Although the surgery wasn’t finalized, he asked in detail about the procedure and related matters.
Normally, he had an attitude of not wanting to discuss these things, so for him to take the initiative to inquire surprised both the doctor and Butler Chen.
Butler Chen thought to himself: As expected, young people really have a way.
Just yesterday in the cafeteria, with just a few words, Ji Min had been so provoked by Lu Ran that it felt like he was ready to undergo the surgery right then and there.
Lu Ran had even invented the idea of “deliberately contracting diseases” and the “beauty of imperfection” of certain groups.
Ji Min thought about the things Lu Ran had said yesterday, and for a brief moment, his expression cracked into a smile.
What “special groups”?
That had nothing to do with him.
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from nearby: “Excuse me, are you Mr. Ji?”
Ji Min frowned.
He turned to look and saw the adopted son of the Shen family standing not far away.
Shen Xingran had finally managed to get an invitation and squeezed his way into the auction.
However, the seating arrangement was quite dispersed, and it took him quite a while to find Ji Min’s location.
Just as he was wondering how to approach and greet Ji Min, he saw Lu Ran’s dog.
Although he was shocked that Ji Min had actually helped Lu Ran take care of a dog, it also presented a perfect opportunity to start a conversation.
Shen Xingran squatted down, pretending to be delighted as he clapped his hands at the little dog: “Da Huang, it’s me!”
However, his expression of surprise quickly froze.
The dog, which had been lying next to the wheelchair, glanced at him, then, frightened, crawled under Ji Min’s wheelchair.
Ji Min bent down to take a look at the dog, then glanced at Shen Xingran.
He furrowed his brow.
Lu Ran rarely mentioned anything about the Shen family, nor had he made any judgments.
Ji Min had never paid attention to this adopted son.
Now, however, he was somewhat surprised.
Da Huang was a very friendly dog. Even if someone accidentally stepped on its paw or tail in the company, it would never act so scared.
This was the first time Ji Min had seen Da Huang avoid someone like this.
He handed the leash to his assistant and asked them to distract the dog with some treats.
Only then did he seriously turn his attention to Shen Xingran.
The awkwardness on Shen Xingran’s face flashed quickly.
He didn’t shy away either; instead, he smoothly continued, “Da Huang is usually a bit scared of me at home because when he wants to get close, Lu Ran always…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, leaving just enough room for imagination.
Ji Min raised an eyebrow silently.
What would Lu Ran do to Da Huang?
Even if one day Da Huang pooped on his pillow, Ji Min figured this guy would probably just hug Da Huang and say, “My son really knows how to pick a spot!”
Ji Min was getting a little impatient and told his assistant to find the auction organizer.
But at that moment, Shen Xingran added, “Lu Ran often talks about you at home…”
Hearing this, Ji Min waved his hand, signaling the assistant to stop.
He wanted to hear what Lu Ran said about him at home.
When Shen Xingran saw his attitude, he sensed an opportunity and immediately began brewing tea.
“I heard that you take good care of Lu Ran and know my older brother. My father and I have always wanted to visit and thank you. But Lu Ran said…”
Shen Xingran glanced carefully at Ji Min and then pressed his lips together, making a show of being embarrassed before continuing.
“He said your temper isn’t very good… and also said that if we came to find you, he’d…”
As he said this, Shen Xingran bit his lip and lowered his head.
Ji Min listened to these words, fell silent for a moment, and unexpectedly felt like laughing.
This Shen Xingran clearly had a way of saying things without telling the whole truth.
But these words… they really did sound like something Lu Ran would say.
It was a skill to perfectly match one’s actions with the corruption of others, even surpassing it. Not everyone had that ability.
Shen Xingran spoke for a while but received no response.
He furrowed his brows, feeling a little annoyed.
To say that he cared about Ji Min a lot wasn’t true.
Shen Xingran knew Ji Min’s status, but when he learned that Ji Min was a cripple, his interest faded.
If he could get Ji Min into his grasp, of course, that would be a good thing.
But someone with Ji Min’s background was too risky to provoke, and being a cripple didn’t help.
Shen Xingran had previously weighed the pros and cons and hadn’t paid much attention to Ji Min.
However, now that he had decided to act, Shen Xingran had already formulated a plan overnight!
What does a disabled person like Ji Min need the most?
Of course, it’s warmth and comfort from others!
And these were the things Shen Xingran was best at.
As long as he made his move, Ji Min would be easy to handle.
Shen Xingran looked at the man in the wheelchair.
He suddenly took a few steps closer, his eyes soft with sympathy as he gazed at Ji Min’s legs hidden under the thin blanket.
Shen Xingran spoke gently, “But those are Lu Ran’s opinions. I don’t think they’re true.”
As he spoke, he raised his head and looked seriously into Ji Min’s eyes.
He tried to soften the man with the warmth in his gaze.
He then continued to gaze at Ji Min, his tone filled with sincerity.
“To me, your disability is not a flaw at all.”
“A disability is an incomparable kind of beauty!”
As Shen Xingran spoke, he reached out to touch Ji Min’s knee.
Before his hand could reach out, however, he saw the man who had been sitting steadily in the wheelchair and his butler behind him suddenly dart back a meter.
The two of them looked at him with expressions that could only be described as terrifying.
