Lu Yan opened the photo and zoomed in. Technically, it was a screenshot—one Lu Jizhou had taken from Lu Yanzhi’s social media post.

The caption read: “First time in the same frame / happy / happy /”

There were four people in the picture: two elderly folks chatting cheerfully, and beside them, Lu Yanzhi and Xia Ruan. Lu Yanzhi was grinning widely, and even Xia Ruan had a faint smile. Recalling what Lu Jizhou had said earlier, Lu Yan clenched his hand into a fist at his side.

“What are you looking at?” Xia Fei patted Lu Yanzhi on the shoulder. 

Lu Yanzhi put away his phone and looked up at Xia Fei. “Just checking the time.” The post he’d just made was set to be visible to Lu Jizhou only. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be disappointed. 

“No need to check the time—you can leave now,” Xia Fei said coldly. 

Lu Yan realized Xia Fei had misunderstood. In the past, he wouldn’t have bothered to correct him, but things were different now. He picked up a nearby wine glass and raised it toward Xia Fei. “Xia Fei, I think there’ve been a lot of misunderstandings between us. Let’s take this chance to clear things up.” 

Xia Fei gave a cold snort. “What misunderstandings? I remember very clearly how much you looked down on me back then.” 

From afar, Xia Ruan saw the two standing together, talking about something. Since they didn’t look like they were about to fight, she didn’t go over. Instead, she found a quiet spot to sit down. To match her formal dress, she had worn a pair of small heels today. Though they weren’t high, they still hurt her feet after being used to wearing flats for so long. 

As she rested her feet, she gave her face a little pinch—it had almost gone stiff from all the fake smiling tonight. At this point, she fully agreed with Xia Fei’s earlier suggestion: they should just find a reliable manager to run the company. The siblings could just sit back, collect dividends every year, and live the easy life. 

Lu Yanzhi started the conversation by talking about Fang Yinan, quickly hitting it off with Xia Fei. In the end, he successfully earned Xia Fei’s forgiveness. By the time the banquet ended, the two were already acting like close brothers. 

Seeing this, Xia Ruan asked curiously, “Brother, since when did you two get so close?” 

Xia Fei patted her on the shoulder. “Ruan Ruan, don’t worry. We’re just ‘plastic’ brothers. The second I no longer need him to get updates on Fang Yinan is the second I drop him.” 

Noticing Xia Ruan suddenly looking wary, he quickly added, “Don’t worry. He’s not getting a single word about you out of me. Not a chance.” 

Xia Ruan looked at him, as if he was just one step away from patting his chest in promise. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him completely. Why did his assurance feel so unreliable? But then again, she wasn’t afraid of Lu Yanzhi asking around—she didn’t believe he had any real feelings for her. He was probably just intrigued that the country girl he once rejected had changed so much and was just looking for a bit of fun. 

As for the birthday, Zhou Yanheng was in a great mood today. He looked over at the siblings beside Zhou Jingyi and asked, “Xia Fei, have you decided what you want to major in?” 

“I’m planning to apply to the sports university.” After speaking, Xia Fei cautiously glanced at Zhou Yanheng. He knew his own strengths—besides being good at sports, he was terrible at everything else. 

Although Zhou Yanheng had expected it, he still felt a bit disappointed. So he turned to Xia Ruan. “What about you, Ruan Ruan?” 

“I haven’t decided yet,” Xia Ruan answered honestly. In her past life, she had always been thinking about how to make money. But this time, she didn’t have to worry about that, so she wanted to do what she truly liked—to study a subject she enjoyed. 

Zhou Yanheng’s eyes lit up a bit at her words, so she quickly added, “But it definitely won’t be finance or business. Maybe something like design or languages.” 

Zhou Jingyi knew what he was thinking and stepped forward. “Dad, the kids aren’t interested in the business. How about transferring some of your shares, and we just enjoy being laid-back shareholders? Isn’t it nice to just wait for the dividends every year?” 

Zhou Yanheng was a little disappointed that they weren’t interested, but he wasn’t as forceful as he had been in his youth. After what happened with Zhou Jingyi back then, he had realized that nothing was more important than his children’s happiness. So he didn’t outright reject her suggestion—he simply nodded and said, “Let’s wait and see.” 

Xia Ruan tilted her head and glanced at Zhou Jingyi. She thought what she just said actually sounded like a pretty good idea. 

Soon, Zhou Yanheng regained his smile. “Tomorrow’s the weekend. Why don’t you all stay over tonight?” 

Zhou Jingyi and Xia Longchuan nodded in agreement, and of course Xia Ruan and Xia Fei had no objections. 

Back in her room, Xia Ruan went straight to soak in the tub. Last night’s dream had left her feeling drained, and she’d been running around all day too. She was exhausted. 

Leaning back against the tub, Xia Ruan rested her head against the edge and recalled last night’s nightmare. The feeling of hunger had been terrifyingly real. She splashed water on her face. Was that dream trying to warn her about something? She hadn’t provoked Lu Yan again, and all the dumb things Xia Fei did to him in the book had been stopped thanks to her, so nothing bad should happen, right? 

She patted her slightly flushed cheeks. Dreams are usually the opposite of reality. Yes, nothing to worry about. Still, just to be safe, she sneakily looked up how to open an overseas bank account. Better safe than sorry. 

❖❖❖ 

Lu Yan had been staring at a particular photo on his phone until a knock at the door pulled him out of it. He exited the photo, put away his phone, and got up to answer. 

Outside the door stood Lu Yuwei, holding two glasses of milk. What Xia Ruan had said yesterday made her excited—her precious Lu Yan had someone he liked! She had wanted to talk to him about it last night, but to avoid betraying Xia Ruan’s confidence, she’d held herself back until now. 

Seeing the milk in his mom’s hands, Lu Yan knew she was here for one of her “heart-to-heart” talks again. So he simply opened the door. “Come on in.” 

Lu Yuwei smiled and handed him one of the glasses. “Time for our milk talk.” 

Lu Yan took the glass and followed her into the room, waiting for her to start. 

Seeing how calm he looked, Lu Yuwei felt like he’d already seen through her intentions. She coughed awkwardly and said, “Yan Yan, anything interesting going on in your class recently? I’ve hit a creative block with my current article.” 

Whether that was an excuse or not, Lu Yan thought seriously for a moment and replied, “Two transfer students joined our class. Does that count?” 

Lu Yuwei held back her surprise. Two? There were two of them? Why hadn’t Ruan Ruan mentioned that? Seeing Lu Yan glance her way, she quickly put on a curious expression. “Where did they transfer from? How are their grades? Are they easy to get along with?” 

Lu Yan thought for a bit and said uncertainly, “One transferred from Renhuai. The other had been self-studying at home due to health reasons and just recently joined the class.” 

Lu Yuwei had a hunch that the one Ruan Ruan mentioned was the second one. “Wow, studying at home? She must be really smart, huh?” 

Thinking of the way Fang Yinan had solved problems that day, Lu Yan nodded. “Yeah. She’s pretty amazing.” 

Lu Yuwei was even more shocked now. Lu Yan had rarely ever praised anyone before. She remembered what Xia Ruan had said and casually asked, “Is the new classmate a boy or a girl?” 

Lu Yuwei usually cared about things that were different from others, so when she asked that question, Lu Yan didn’t think there was anything strange about it. He kept his answer as brief as possible: “The one who transferred from Renhuai is a boy, the one who took a leave from school is a girl.” 

Afraid that asking too much about the girl would make Lu Yan suspicious, Lu Yuwei pretended to be curious. “I remember Renhuai High School is a private school, right? Why would a classmate transfer now? Did something happen to their family?” For someone who writes stories, a family going bankrupt was a classic trope. 

Lu Yan was used to his mom’s unique way of thinking. Actually, considering that photo he saw earlier, he kind of hoped Lu Yanzhi did transfer because of some family crisis. But since that clearly wasn’t the case, he looked at her and shook his head. “No idea.” 

“Are they easy to get along with?” she asked again. 

Lu Yan thought for a moment. The two new students did seem to be getting along pretty well with the class. 

After that, Lu Yuwei started asking all sorts of random questions. Lu Yan suddenly felt something was off. Seeing how she was racking her brain for questions, he leaned closer and said bluntly, “Mom, if you want to know something, just ask directly. Don’t beat around the bush.” 

After beating around the bush and getting nowhere, Lu Yuwei finally gave up on keeping her promise not to sell out Xia Ruan. She looked at Lu Yan with excitement, “That new girl—she’s kind of special, isn’t she?” 

Lu Yan frowned. “Why would you say that?” 

Lu Yuwei blurted out, “Ruan Ruan said you treat her differently.” 

Lu Yan’s frown deepened. “She said that?” 

Lu Yuwei quickly covered her mouth and shook her head, refusing to speak. 

Lu Yan couldn’t help but laugh. No wonder his mom had been acting excited all evening. Other parents worry about their kids dating too early—his mom was worried he wasn’t. In her words, a youth without a teenage romance is incomplete. 

Lu Yan glanced back at the expectant Lu Yuwei and smiled. “Nothing like that. She’s overthinking it.” 

“So you really don’t have a classmate you like even a little?” Now Lu Yuwei was genuinely distressed. Senior year was just around the corner—if Lu Yan didn’t make a move soon, he’d miss out on the chance for young love. No, she’d have to dig out her books tomorrow and show them to him—maybe they’d inspire something in him. 

Meanwhile, after a bath, Xia Ruan felt completely relaxed. She towel-dried the water from her body, changed into her pajamas, and stepped out of the bathroom. 

The room Zhou Yanheng had arranged for her looked like something out of a dream. It felt like her childhood princess fantasy had all come true in one night. She lay on the bed, pulled her phone from under the pillow, and started scrolling as usual before sleep. 

Right away, she saw a message from Lu Yan. The moment she read it, the phone slipped out of her hand and smacked her right in the face.