Chapter 4: Let Me Go

“Ranran, where are you running to?”

Lu Beiyuan, dressed in a well-tailored suit that perfectly complemented his physique and long legs, approached her.

Shi Ran shrank back, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at him.

“Let me go… let me go…”

Lu Beiyuan bent down, grabbed her foot, patted her ankle, then picked her up and carried her upstairs.

They were back in that room, back to the ultimate starting point.

He picked up the bowl of porridge again. This time, he didn’t need to blow on it; the temperature was just right.

“Open your mouth.”

Seeing that Shi Ran still didn’t move, he sighed, picked up a document from the table beside him, and handed it to her.

“Read this. If you still don’t drink it after reading it, then I’ll let you go.”

Shi Ran took it, opened it. It was a contract, clearly stating that her biological father had sold her to this man for one hundred million yuan.

Below the contract was another document. She opened it; it was a photo of her grandmother lying in a hospital bed, along with a medical report.

Her grandmother had cancer, and her medication cost tens of thousands of yuan a day.

She had lost her mother when she was young and was raised by her grandmother. When her father’s company was doing well, they could afford the medical expenses. Later, as the company’s business declined, her grandmother’s medication was stopped.

Now, her grandmother’s health was deteriorating day by day…

Shi Ran felt that the pain in her heart was far greater than the physical pain. Her biological father had sold her, and she was powerless to protect the most important person in her life.

“As long as you’re willing to stay by my side, I will hire the best oncologist and provide your grandmother with the best medicine.”

“Otherwise, your father will face excessive compensation, which he can’t afford. The company will also go bankrupt. Can you really bear to watch your grandmother, at her age, still worry about you?”

Shi Ran’s hands, clutching the papers, began to tremble. She glared at the man in front of her, her eyes bloodshot.

“Why? Why me? Why are you doing this to me?”

Lu Beiyuan scooped a spoonful of porridge and brought it to her lips. This time, the girl didn’t refuse; she mechanically opened her mouth and drank it. He was overjoyed, knowing she had agreed.

“Because it’s only you.”

Only you make my heart beat.

“I told you, I have a boyfriend.”

Lu Beiyuan pressed his temples, his tone impatient: “I know. Break up within three days.”

“But you can’t keep me locked up forever, can you?”

Lu Beiyuan raised an eyebrow, his voice low, his gaze fixated on her eyes with a captivating intensity. “I really want to keep you locked up forever, so you’ll belong only to me.”

“But my Ranran wouldn’t like that. I won’t lock you up, but you have to stay here. Forget about studying abroad; you’ll study domestically, at Jiangnan University. I’ve already arranged it.”

Jiangnan University was the best university in City A.

Shi Ran didn’t want to study abroad anyway; she had been trying to avoid him. Before, the Shi family couldn’t compare to a wealthy and powerful family like the Lu family. The gap between the two companies was too large, and there was no intersection.

Shi Ran had been hiding abroad, which is why Lu Beiyuan hadn’t found her.

But now, Lu Beiyuan knew everything about her family and had even controlled her grandmother.

She couldn’t escape…

“Can I at least have my own dorm room?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

…

After eating the porridge, Lu Beiyuan contentedly put the bowl aside, looking at the girl’s pale face, her lips, however, were crimson, looking vibrant and alluring.

“Nineteen?”

Shi Ran looked up, meeting a gaze full of desire, one that spoke of determination.

She didn’t like this look; it felt like she was naked in front of him.

“Mm.”

She had met him when she was seventeen, in her third year of high school. Now, in her second year of university, she had already passed her nineteenth birthday.

Lu Beiyuan nodded, picking up the documents on the table, looking at her thoughtfully.

“Sixty-seven days.”

Shi Ran didn’t understand, looking at him questioningly, but didn’t ask. Seeing him remain silent, she lowered her head again.

“Seven days left until winter break. Have fun. In a few days, you’ll register at Jiangnan University. Your major hasn’t changed; it’s still oil painting.”

After speaking, Lu Beiyuan left. Shi Ran hugged her legs, staring at the deep blue bedsheets, feeling lost.

All the misfortunes seemed to have started on this day. The only fortunate thing was that he still knew she liked painting.

Remembering his deep utterance of “sixty-seven days,” Shi Ran reached for the file on the bedside table, opened it, and found it was an investigation report on her, including her blood type, birthday, height, weight…

and her experiences from childhood to adulthood, romantic relationships, academic performance…

Sixty-seven days…

It seemed to be the time until her twentieth birthday.

What did it mean?

Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind, startling Shi Ran. She threw the folder away.

The legal marriage age for women is twenty years old…

Shi Ran could only force herself not to think about it. It couldn’t be that, she didn’t want to gamble her whole life away; she just wanted him to get tired of her and let her go.

She was so tired. Shi Ran slept again before going downstairs.

After waking up, her mind was clear, but her heart felt heavy. She wanted to go back and ask her father, who had always cherished her, how he could be so cruel as to sell his daughter.

Lu Beiyuan was very thoughtful. In just one afternoon, the closet in her room was filled with beautiful clothes, each expensive and in her previous style: sweet and artistic.

She picked out a dress to change into and only then discovered that her body was covered in marks left by Lu Beiyuan. She quickly tried to cover them with powder, but couldn’t completely hide them. In a fit of anger, she threw the entire jar of concealer on the floor, causing a loud crash as the glass shattered.

Jinju, the maid, rushed in at the sound, startled. The purple concealer was splattered on the gleaming floor, the glass scattered everywhere, a complete mess. However, it didn’t seem like an accident; it seemed more like a release of anger…

In this villa, only Lu Beiyuan had the right to vent his anger in this way.

She never expected that the first woman Lu Beiyuan brought back would have such a fiery temper.

Lu Beiyuan was notoriously uninterested in women. The maids in the villa didn’t dare to have any thoughts; those who did were fired.

She really thought this girl was amazing, to have brought down such an aloof and unattainable man from his pedestal.

Jinju hurried over, pulling Shi Ran to a clean area and helping her wipe the concealer off her ankle.

“Miss Shi, are you alright? Please don’t do anything rash. You don’t know, this morning when you were sick, Mr. Lu was going crazy. If anything else happens to you, we servants will suffer!”

Jinju was in her forties, with a kind face. Everyone in the villa called her Sister Jin.

Shi Ran felt a little embarrassed and apologized: “Sister Jin, I’m sorry, I’ll trouble you to clean up.”

“Miss Shi, don’t mention it, it’s no trouble at all. I’m even happy about it. Mr. Lu is finally acting like a normal man, having a girl he likes. I’m so happy!”

Sister Jin was sent by the old lady from the main house to serve Mr. Lu. When the news reached the old lady, she was overjoyed.

Shi Ran changed into another outfit and found Jiangnan University’s uniform in the closet.

So familiar…

Lin Yue wore it…

The boy she had secretly admired for three years in high school had gone to Jiangnan University. She had seen him wearing this uniform playing basketball on his QQ feed.

Lin Yue…

Is there still a possibility for us?