“Senior Ruan is here.”
Someone shouted, and almost instinctively, Ruan Shu looked up.
She saw Ruan Ling’an walking over with a disgruntled expression, exuding an air of nonchalance.
Overall, he looked very unwilling to be here.
Ruan Shu’s bright blue eyes glanced over, and she was about to call out, “Brother,” but seeing his demeanor, she hesitated and shrank back slightly.
Did she and Grandpa disturb him?
“Ignore him,” Ruan He snorted, giving his grandson a knowing look.
“Got here pretty quickly.”
Ruan Ling’an hesitated and forced an explanation, “I was already nearby.”
Ruan He was hardly convinced. The lingering sweat on Ruan Ling’an’s body was a clear sign he had just come from the training room at the school, which was at least a thirty-minute walk from here.
Heh…
Ruan Ling’an’s expression was starting to crack, so he quickly changed the subject. “Grandpa, when did you arrive on the main planet?”
Ruan He replied, “Been back for a few days. Shu wanted to come see you. Otherwise, this old man wouldn’t have bothered.”
He had so many grandkids; he didn’t particularly care about seeing this one.
Only then did Ruan Ling’an’s gaze shift to the little dumpling next to him, who was looking at him eagerly.
Ruan Shu immediately lifted the basket in her hands and held it out to him.
“Third Brother, these are pastries made from mutated plant fruits.”
As everyone knew, eating fruits from mutated plants could relieve mental and physical fatigue and was generally beneficial to the body.
However, obtaining mutated plant fruits was no easy task, so any kind of mutated fruit came with a hefty price tag.
Even the Marshal’s family couldn’t afford to use mutated plant fruits as casual snacks.
But now, Ruan Shu had an abundance of these mutated fruits. She had a good haul from digging up the mutated blackberry vine, plus the fruits Grandpa had given her. Over the past few days, her father had also sent her some, and even the grandmas and grandpas in the group contributed.
She had so many that, even if she ate to her heart’s content, it wouldn’t be possible to finish them all in a short time.
Ruan Shu decided to make use of these mutated fruits and came up with the idea of turning them into pastries.
She even personally learned how to make pastries. It took her three days to master it; aside from needing help kneading the dough due to her limited strength, she did everything else herself.
Of course, she practiced with ordinary fruits at first, and after several failed attempts, Grandpa and the butler ate the less successful ones, claiming it was to avoid wasting food.
Ruan Ling’an took the basket, catching a glimpse of the delicately packaged pastries inside.
He felt a mix of emotions…
“Brother, Grandpa and I will head out now, okay?”
Ruan Shu said softly, looking at him, content that her third brother had accepted her gift.
Just as she took Grandpa’s hand to leave, she heard him speak.
“Want to go take a look?”
The moment Ruan Ling’an said it, he regretted it. What was up with his mouth today?
Ruan Shu tilted her head, looking at him with curious, clear eyes, instantly reminding him of the curious cat meme from the group chat.
It was exactly the same.
“Take a look at what?”
Ruan Ling’an, starting to regret, was about to brush it off, but what came out instead was, “What else? The school.”
Ruan Ling’an: “…”
What was he saying? Why couldn’t his words match his thoughts?
Ruan Shu’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”
No, he wanted to say, but instead, he said, “Yes.”
Ruan Ling’an was numb with confusion.
Ruan He could barely contain his laughter at his awkward grandson’s antics.
“Go on, you two. This old man will skip it,” he said, already thinking of a few old friends at the school he could brag about his granddaughter to.
Ruan Shu walked over to her third brother, looking up at him expectantly.
Ruan Ling’an still had that unruly look on his face, holding the basket in one hand with the other shoved into his pocket.
He raised his chin slightly. “Let’s go.”
Ruan Shu, like a little puppy with her wagging tail, started trotting along beside him.
But her short legs were no match for Ruan Ling’an’s long strides.
She kept falling behind, even trying to jog to keep up, but it wasn’t working.
“Third Brother,” she finally called out, realizing her little legs were just too short.
Ruan Ling’an stopped and turned to look at the little figure trailing behind.
Ruan Shu finally caught up to him, but she was exhausted, her small mouth slightly open as she gasped for breath.
“Third Brother, could you walk just a little slower? I can’t keep up.”
Her tone was soft and pleading without a hint of complaint.
If it were any other kid, they probably would have lost their temper and tried to tackle their older brother by now.
The classmates who had been secretly trailing them: “!!!”
She was actually so soft and sweet while talking to her brother, without even a hint of anger. She was way too easy to bully!
Ruan Ling’an glanced back at the sneaky followers behind them, and those few classmates immediately looked away, pretending to be just passing by as they hurried off.
“Little weakling.”
Though his words were a bit of an insult, there was a strangely affectionate tone behind them.
Ruan Ling’an bent down slightly and lifted the little one, whose cheeks were flushed from running. He effortlessly picked her up with one arm, a clear sign of how light she was to him.
—
First Military Academy Student Forum:
#Spill the Tea on the Third-Year Leader and a Certain Girl!#
Every grade at the First Military Academy has its own leader, the recognized top student in their respective year. Ruan Ling’an was already a school celebrity, so this post, with its enticing title, quickly drew a crowd.
1L: Front row, here to watch!
2L: Grabbing my seat for some juicy gossip. OP, you better not be playing us, or we’ll track you down by ID!
3L: Bold move, discussing gossip about the third-year leader. Aren’t you worried that psycho might come after you?
4L: OP, show yourself! We’re all waiting!
5L: As if Ruan Ling’an, that hopelessly dense guy, could actually get along with a girl.
OP: Here I am! Today, I went to the school gate with some friends and happened to catch a glimpse of Senior Ruan, who seemed to be rushing off somewhere—like he was looking for someone. Just so you know, I’m a fan of his, and I don’t mean any harm with this post.
Anyway, I got curious, so my friend and I decided to follow him to see what was going on. I’ve never seen him so hurried before.
And you won’t believe what I saw! Senior Ruan was indeed looking for someone, and it was a girl—a really cute, pretty one. She handed him a basket of food, and, the most surprising part? He actually accepted it!
Of course, our dear OP conveniently left out the part about an elderly gentleman being present and didn’t mention the girl’s age at all.
6L: Now I’m intrigued! Tell us more!
7L: Yes, yes, keep going! I need to know what happened next.
8L: Ah, memories of when some girl from another school tried to give him food and drinks. Ruan straight up told her he’d be down for a fight but wasn’t interested in dates. Classic Ruan!
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