Chapter 29: A Little Lighter

Shi Ran, sitting on the balcony next door, naturally overheard their conversation.

Before long, Shi Keyue, unable to bear the humiliation, cried and left. Lu Beiyan walked in.

Completely different from his previous cold and frosty expression, he now looked like a boy who had done something wrong, carefully observing Shi Ran’s reaction.

“Ranran, are you still angry?”

Three hours ago, as usual, Afei picked Shi Ran up from school, but instead of taking her back to the Xishan villa, he brought her to the penthouse suite here.

This week, she had been very busy collecting information about the Shi Group. She was looking for people in the company who had supported her mother before her death, hoping to garner more shares and directly take control of the company.

Therefore, Lu Beiyan hadn’t touched her for a week.

This time, he actually brought her directly to the hotel, the implication being self-evident.

How could Shi Ran easily give in to him?

Lu Beiyan had countless times thought that it would have been better not to go public; promising not to touch her was like lifting a rock to hit his own feet—it was too painful.

So, after Lu Beiyan once again deceived himself, came this scene.

Shi Ran hadn’t even eaten.

“I said, you don’t need to help me get revenge on her. I will naturally make her receive her due punishment.”

Lu Beiyan nodded, slowly walking over. She had only ordered one takeout meal; there wasn’t one for him.

“You take your revenge, I’ll take mine. No problem.”

Shi Ran: “…”

“I’m going to see Grandma tomorrow.”

Lu Beiyan chuckled. The little thing really knows how to choose her timing to negotiate.

“Okay, I’ll go too.”

“No!”

Seeing her full of apprehension, Lu Beiyan’s heart was instantly pierced, as if a tiny thorn was stuck inside, unable to be pulled out, yet causing a dull ache, impossible to ignore.

He picked up his chopsticks and ate the rest of her unfinished takeout, looking at her and saying word by word: “Ranran, we’ve gone public. Your grandma should know about our relationship.”

---

The next day, VIP ward.

The stooped old woman looked at the handsome couple and couldn’t stop smiling.

“Ranran’s boyfriend is so handsome. Why did you only bring him to see Grandma now?” There was a hint of reproach in her tone.

“Well, Ranran thought I wasn’t good enough,” Lu Beiyan echoed beside her.

The old lady immediately became unhappy. “Oh my, such a handsome young man, and she thinks you’re not good enough? Ranran, that’s wrong of you.”

“But it’s okay, after all, Ranran is as beautiful as a fairy descended from heaven. It’s understandable that she would reject me.”

Shi Ran looked at this dog of a man expressionlessly. She never knew he was such a good actor—a total green tea!

The naive grandmother immediately sided with him, scolding Shi Ran.

“Ranran, that’s wrong of you. Beiyan is such a good boy!”

Shi Ran: “Boy? Grandma, do you know how old he is?”

“What’s wrong with being older? Older men are more caring!” Grandma was completely on Lu Beiyan’s side.

Leaving the hospital, Shi Ran regretted bringing Lu Beiyan to see her grandmother. Getting rid of Lu Beiyan would be even more troublesome in the future.

---

Final exam results were out, and Shi Ran passed advanced mathematics.

Summer vacation arrived. Usually, she was the first to buy a ticket and rush back home from abroad. Now, although she was in the same place, everything was different. That home was no longer her home.

The good news was that her grandmother’s health was gradually improving. The doctor contacted her, saying she could be discharged. They would have a follow-up appointment in a week.

Her grandmother had been in the hospital for several months and longed to go home. However, since she had a follow-up appointment in a week, she couldn’t return to Jiangnan yet.

But her mother had left her an apartment in Yuanluo—a riverside apartment. She usually found it too far and hadn’t lived there, but it was quite suitable for an elderly person’s health.

Lu Beiyan also supported the idea of her grandmother leaving the hospital to get some fresh air and arranged everything, hiring a caregiver and a family doctor for her grandmother.

That night, Shi Ran didn’t return to the Xishan villa but stayed in Yuanluo to keep her grandmother company.

Lu Beiyan didn’t say anything.

The next day, Shi Ran still showed no intention of going back.

Lu Beiyan’s calls came one after another, “When are you coming back!”

“Grandma is alone here now, and I’m on vacation, so of course I’m going to keep her company! I’m not coming back.”

Lu Beiyan: “Shi Ran, when did I say you could stay out overnight?”

His voice was cold, and Shi Ran knew he was angry.

“But how am I supposed to explain it? That I’m not keeping my grandmother company during my vacation?”

Lu Beiyan: “I don’t care, come back tomorrow, or you know the consequences.”

The call was abruptly disconnected. Shi Ran really wanted to throw her phone away.

But the next day, Shi Ran obediently returned to the Xishan villa.

However, she waited until eleven o’clock at night and Lu Beiyan still hadn’t returned.

Finally, she couldn’t help but call Lu Beiyan: “What do you want? I’m back.”

Lu Beiyan seemed to have heard something funny. “Shi Ran, I didn’t call you back because I had something to do, but because you are my woman, and you should live in my place.”

“If you want to keep your grandmother company, you need my permission.”

!

These days, Shi Ran thought that as long as she didn’t leave him, she had gained relative freedom and the opportunity to make choices.

Unexpectedly, she still didn’t have any freedom at all.

She endured it!

But for two consecutive days, Lu Beiyan didn’t come back, and in three more days, her grandmother had a hospital appointment!

Finally, on the third night, Lu Beiyan returned.

Shi Ran quickly took off his suit jacket and diligently prepared a bath for him.

“So well-behaved today?” Lu Beiyan had drunk some alcohol and was a little dizzy, unsure if what he saw was real or an illusion.

This woman was no longer ignoring him as usual but opening the door for him, taking off his suit jacket, and preparing a bath for him, like a normal couple.

Maybe it was a dream, maybe the alcohol was getting to him, otherwise, why would she walk into the bathtub with him?

She said coquettishly, “A little lighter.”

Everyone around him knew he kept a woman, and they thought he lived a life of debauchery, but no one knew how difficult it was for him each time he wanted to be intimate.

He had to coax her like a grandfather coaxing a granddaughter; only then would the little girl agree.

She had never been so proactive, as if he was truly the center of her world, receiving all her affection.

Just as he was sinking into it, a sentence pulled him back from the clouds to reality.

“Let me go back to Grandma’s tomorrow, okay?”

The hazy feeling brought on by the alcohol dissipated, and he looked seriously at the woman in front of him.

“How many days? Or for a lifetime?”

Shi Ran was stunned, realizing Lu Beiyan’s unusual behavior.

“Just three days! Grandma has a hospital appointment in three days!”

“Okay.”

Shi Ran raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by his quick agreement.

Before she could be too happy, she was pulled into the bathtub.

“Not even wearing underwear?”

“Perfect, saves trouble.”