Sheng Qingxi had no idea how things suddenly escalated like this.
Just moments ago, Lin Ran had her pinned against the door. As if he found talking too tiring, he tightened his arm around her waist, effortlessly lifting her up. His other hand slid down slightly, supporting her leg as he positioned it around his waist.
Instinctively, Sheng Qingxi wrapped her legs around his waist in response to his movements.
The two of them were now intimately close, with Lin Ran’s strong hands gripping her waist firmly. The heat from his body seeped through the thin fabric and warmed the small patch of skin on Sheng Qingxi.
She pressed her lips together—it felt hot.
In order to avoid slipping off of him, Sheng Qingxi had to reach up and hold onto his increasingly broad shoulders. His lean, muscular upper body exuded a powerful strength, enveloping her in his arms.
It wasn’t until they settled into this position that Sheng Qingxi realized, belatedly, how… awkward this posture seemed.
“Lin Ran,” she called out uneasily.
She was now mere inches away from Lin Ran, his warm breath brushing against the side of her face. She could feel the heat of his gaze as it roamed over her face, lingering on her eyes, brows, and lips.
Lin Ran’s dark eyes were locked on Sheng Qingxi’s face, his voice low: “Say it again.”
At that moment, Sheng Qingxi found it hard to meet Lin Ran’s gaze. His current demeanor felt dangerous to her, but today was a particularly important day for both of them. She tried her best to compose herself and meet his gaze.
His eyes seemed to burn with fire.
Sheng Qingxi bit her lip and spoke in a softer voice than before: “Lin Ran, I agreed to be in a relationship with you after what you said that day at the amusement park. You… you’ll be my boyfriend from now on.”
As she said this, a small, inexplicable joy rose in Sheng Qingxi’s heart.
From now on, Lin Ran would be her boyfriend.
Hers.
Lin Ran lowered his head slightly, and the distance between them shrank even more.
He could kiss her with just a small move, but before he could make any such gesture, Sheng Qingxi’s hand moved to his shoulder, as if to push him away. Her eyes held a hint of fear.
Lin Ran chuckled softly, “Scared?”
Sheng Qingxi blushed and remained silent.
That kiss on the Ferris wheel had startled her.
It was too intimate, and she… wasn’t quite used to it.
In truth, Lin Ran had no intention of doing anything more to her. He was well aware that he wasn’t in the right state of mind. Especially considering the time, the place, and the fact that he wasn’t even wearing any clothes. He knew this was only going to make things harder for himself, but the truth was, he couldn’t bring himself to push her too far.
If things got too heated, he’d end up having to deal with it on his own, and he certainly didn’t want to scare her off.
But Lin Ran wasn’t planning to let Sheng Qingxi off that easily. He sat on the edge of the bed with her still in his arms and asked directly, “Sheng Qingxi, will you move out and live with me when we go to college?”
Sheng Qingxi’s eyes widened slightly at his words, and she stammered, “Move… move out to live together, just the two of us?”
Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. “Who else do you want to live with?”
Sheng Qingxi: “……”
She tried to struggle against him, “In the same room?”
The same room?
Lin Ran would certainly want that.
But if they really stayed in the same room, neither of them would get any sleep.
Lin Ran snorted softly, “Oh, so you want to share a room with me? You’re really thinking too much.”
Sheng Qingxi’s face turned red as she hurriedly explained, “That’s not what I meant!”
Seeing her face flush such a deep red, Lin Ran decided to stop teasing her and quickly explained, “Ah Zhen and the others mentioned wanting to live close to us. They’re planning to find a place near Ning University. Coincidentally, my cousin has two apartments on the same floor there. If you don’t want to live in the dorms, that’s fine. I’ll live on campus with you, keep you company.”
Sheng Qingxi had learned about Lin Ran’s life during her previous lifetime’s investigations.
Lin Ran didn’t like noisy environments and had never lived in a dormitory. From the state of his room, it was clear he liked everything neat and clean. He probably wouldn’t adapt well to the typical boys’ dorms, where chaos could break out over just about anything.
Though dorm life could be lively, it wasn’t suitable for Lin Ran.
Sheng Qingxi wrapped her arms around Lin Ran’s neck, resting her head on his shoulder. In a soft voice, she said, “Lin Ran, I’ll live off-campus with you. I don’t know how to cook, but I can take care of the housework.”
Lin Ran squeezed her cheek playfully, threatening, “Anyone who dares make you do housework will get their legs broken. You don’t have to worry about anything—just live there.”
As long as she was by his side.
Lin Ran leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers, and added, “Live with me.”
Sheng Qingxi’s eyelashes fluttered, and in a soft voice, she responded, “Mm, with you.”
…
That night, Lin Ran and Sheng Qingxi weren’t the only ones still awake until the early hours.
Lin Youcheng and Xu Yirong were also wide awake.
The once spotless floor was now littered with shards of glass, water from a broken vase spilled across the ground, and the flowers lay scattered in a wilted mess. The living room was in complete disarray.
Normally, the servants would have come to clean up immediately, but tonight, no one dared approach the living room.
Mr. Lin had never been this angry.
Xu Yirong sat on the cold floor, her face pale and her eyes red. In her ears echoed Lin Youcheng’s barely controlled rage as he questioned, “Both of my children have moved out—what more do you want?!”
He violently threw the investigation report at Xu Yirong, his chest heaving with fury, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. “You want revenge on me, fine! But what did my children ever do wrong?”
Assistant Song hurried forward to support Lin Youcheng.
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”
Since learning the results of the investigation, Lin Youcheng had been overwhelmed by more than just anger—he was in shock. This woman, who had always been gentle and kind, had been by his side for ten years.
How could someone he had shared his life with for so long change so drastically?
Xu Yirong closed her eyes as if resigning herself to fate, tears slipping down her cheeks. Compared to Lin Youcheng’s hysteria, her voice was calm. “Do you think I wanted this?”
“If you hadn’t hidden from me the fact that you gave most of the family fortune to Xiao Huo and Yan Yan, would I have been pushed to this point?”
Lin Youcheng could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You did all this for a bit of money? What about what you said to me before we got married? Has our family treated you unfairly over the years?”
Xu Yirong suddenly laughed, her left hand resting on her abdomen, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “A bit of money?! Your children will be set for life, but what about my child? What about our child?!”
Lin Youcheng’s face stiffened slightly as he slowly turned his gaze toward Xu Yirong’s stomach. “What child?”
Xu Yirong, now calm, stood up from the floor, wiping the tears from her face with an indifferent gesture. She raised her head slightly and sat down on the sofa, her expression blank. “I’m pregnant—four months now.”
At this, Lin Youcheng finally understood why Xu Yirong had done all of this.
What he hated most was the dirty power struggles within families, and yet Xu Yirong had dragged innocent children into it.
He averted his gaze and closed his eyes.
Everything that had happened was ultimately his fault. If he hadn’t lost his senses last year and financially supported Cheng Jiayue, Xu Yirong wouldn’t have broken their prenuptial agreement and used her pregnancy to secure her position.
He had failed as a husband and even more so as a father.
Lin Ran was right—he was too selfish.
Lin Youcheng waved his hand wearily. “Whether or not you want to keep the child is up to you. The lawyer will be in touch regarding the divorce. This marriage wasn’t without my faults, but for the past ten years, Lin Ran and Lin Yanyan have respectfully called you ‘Aunt.’ Three years ago, they were the ones who compromised. They’ve done nothing wrong, and they owe you nothing.”
With that, Lin Youcheng got up and headed upstairs.
Assistant Song bowed slightly and, in an official tone, said, “Madam, the police are waiting for you outside.”
Xu Yirong bit her lip, her nails digging into her palms.
Calmly, she smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and, without waiting for Assistant Song to say more, slowly made her way to the door. The etiquette she had painstakingly learned over the years was now etched into her bones.
As long as she and Lin Youcheng were not yet divorced, she was still Mrs. Lin.
—
Half a month later.
With the highest score in the province, Sheng Qingxi became the darling of the elderly in the West City district. That day, countless fruits and vegetables were sent to Shengkai Welfare Home, and many people brought their children for Sheng Qingxi to pat on the head or touch their hands for good luck.
Every day, someone came to Shengkai looking for Sheng Qingxi, and even during her morning jogs, people would press gifts into her hands, smiling and congratulating her.
It wasn’t until she went to school to fill out her college application that she finally got a moment to breathe.
That morning, when Lin Ran came to pick her up, he couldn’t help but laugh. The girl was wearing a hoodie in the middle of summer, with a mask covering her face, trying to hide herself as much as possible.
Lin Ran, amused, pulled the hood off her head, gently tapped her nose, and teased, “Don’t go overheating my girlfriend—if you don’t care, I do.”
The more time he spent with this silly girl, the more he found her adorable. How could anyone be this cute?
Lin Ran sometimes thought that it was as if God had torn open his shattered life and placed inside it the most beautiful and tender gift in the world. The moment he met her, he couldn’t move.
But Sheng Qingxi wasn’t in the mood to joke with Lin Ran right now. She quickly climbed into the car, patted the seat, and urged him, “Lin Ran, Lin Ran, hurry! Let’s go!”
Lin Ran stifled a laugh as he carefully helped her put on her helmet. “I bought you all those dresses, and you still insist on torturing yourself.”
Indeed.
Lin Ran still remembered back in spring when Sheng Qingxi had wanted to wear a dress to school, but he wouldn’t let her. So, just a few days after the college entrance exams, he had a truckload of the latest dresses delivered to Shengkai.
That caused quite a commotion, and later, Sheng Qingxi called him, quietly grumbling that the dresses had filled her room to the point of overflowing.
Lin Ran had just chuckled at that.
Today, they were going to the school to fill out their college applications together. Lin Ran’s exam score was only three points lower than Sheng Qingxi’s estimated score. He had surpassed Ningcheng University’s cutoff by thirteen points.
He could finally attend the same university as his Xiao Xi.
A year ago, Lin Ran wouldn’t have even dared to imagine this, but somehow, it had come true.
Instead of heading straight to No.1 High School, Lin Ran detoured to the mall to buy Sheng Qingxi a new dress. He was genuinely worried that his girlfriend might give herself heatstroke by midday.
Returning to No.1 High School felt particularly gratifying for Lin Ran this time.
Because today, he could openly hold Sheng Qingxi’s hand as they walked into the school. Although he’d always been able to walk openly by her side before, this time was different—this time, he was holding his girlfriend’s hand. It felt completely unlike any other time.
Even Old Qu, the teacher, could tell that this boy was practically beaming with pride today, as if the words “spring in his step” were written all over his face. But considering Lin Ran had just aced the college entrance exam, Old Qu gave him a pass and even handed him a bag of candy.
As Sheng Qingxi filled out her college application, Lin Ran stood by her side, watching. But before long, he got pushed aside by the teachers.
The office was swarming with teachers surrounding Sheng Qingxi, each offering advice and suggestions, wishing she could somehow enroll in eight different programs at once to study them all. In the end, however, they respected her decision to choose her own path.
Lin Ran had been trying to guess which major she would choose, but after going through all the possibilities, he never would have thought she’d pick anthropology.
From a short distance, Lin Ran gazed at the quiet profile of his girl and smiled.
This was perfect.
After finishing up with the application, they said their goodbyes to the teachers in the office and, just like when they arrived, walked hand-in-hand out of the school. It felt as if, on this walk, they were the only two people in the world.
The warm summer breeze swept past them.
Lin Ran turned his head toward Sheng Qingxi and asked, “Where do you want to go for our graduation trip?”