Chapter 19

After those people had left, Ruan Miao obediently followed He Shangye upstairs and stood at the railing on the second floor, looking like a little quail.

He Shangye noticed his nervousness and didn't ask further. He just said lightly :"Your mother is here?"

"Yes," Ruan Miao replied. "She hasn't seen me for more than half a year and wanted me to have a meal with her."

He Shangye nodded, "Then go ahead. I don't have anything here."

Ruan Miao watched He Shangye leave. Although it had nothing to do with him, he felt a bit guilty about Zhou Yuancen constantly watching him and then being caught by He Shangye. And… Did He Shangye know what Zhou Yuancen was planning behind the scenes?

Ruan Miao didn't have any deep brotherly feelings for this half-brother. However, from what he had seen over the past month, He Shangye was at least a competent elder brother. He was responsible towards both him and He Shanglu. Although he didn't show any warm concern or have deep conversations, He Shangye was quick to solve any needs that arose. Regardless of how he felt about his siblings, he had never treated them poorly in public.

Moreover, from a perspective of ability and character, Ruan Miao admired him. He Shangye, who had just graduated from university, decisively expelled Liang Rui and salvaged the already shaky family business. It was evident that he had endured many hardships that no one knew about.

Ruan Miao didn't want to disrupt the current situation from any angle. The He family should belong to He Shangye. Even though Liang Rui owed Zhou Yuancen, the He family didn't owe her.

After dinner, Zhou Yuancen did indeed drive him back. She stood at the school gate and told Ruan Miao, "Go back quickly."

Ruan Miao lifted his foot to walk inside the school. Midway, he felt something and turned around to see Zhou Yuancen standing alone under the streetlight, quietly watching him.

Maybe she loved her child too, but was blinded by years of hatred. She would rather endure separation from her child than see her enemy suffer. But in the end, she had never cherished the old Ruan Miao.

Ruan Miao sighed softly in his heart and waved at her, "Go home and rest early."

Zhou Yuancen seemed surprised by his sudden turn and hurriedly waved back, "Okay!"

Her tone carried a hint of happiness, as if her spirits were lifted by those words. Ruan Miao felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart. He turned back and continued walking inside. The school's bell rang, and the quiet school suddenly became lively. Many students, unable to sit still, rushed out of the classrooms with their backpacks. Ruan Miao's backpack had already been brought out by Xi You.

"Here you go." Xi You generously handed him the heavy backpack. "I don't know why you carry all these things back every day. It's exhausting."

Ruan Miao thanked him and put the backpack on, smiling as he explained, "I have a weak foundation, so I have to work overtime in the evening."

"If you keep carrying such a heavy bag, don't expect to grow any taller," Xi You reminded him.

The two of them headed downstairs together. Xi You didn't ask what Ruan Miao had been doing while he was absent. He was very perceptive and even now, Ruan Miao couldn't be sure how he viewed him. His thoughts were particularly difficult to read.

Just then, Xi Li and Jian Fanyu also came out of the classroom. Naturally, Xi You walked over to his second brother, while Ruan Miao had no choice but to walk shoulder to shoulder with Jian Fanyu. Ruan Miao had a lot on his mind today and didn't pay much attention to Jian Fanyu beside him.

However, Jian Fanyu noticed that Ruan Miao was silent and turned his gaze slightly before asking, "You weren't in the classroom tonight."

"My mother came to see me," Ruan Miao explained briefly. "She hasn't seen me for a long time."

Jian Fanyu's eyes flickered, and he recalled many things. In his previous life, he had been so entangled with Yan Yang that he had paid little attention to other matters, but he still remembered this incident well.

He had heard about Ruan Miao's mother. A few years ago, there was quite a stir involving the He family. Liang Rui was indeed a true scoundrel, while He Shangye was cold-hearted, which made Ruan Miao unhappy in that family.

Later, under his mother's instructions, Jian Fanyu betrayed He Shangye by handing over important documents that were supposedly crucial to the He family's survival to their adversaries. Fortunately, He Shangye discovered it in time and mitigated the damage, but Ruan Miao faced the prospect of being expelled from the He family.

The reason Jian Fanyu remembered this even after more than a decade was because Yan Yang had intervened to protect Ruan Miao, shielding him from retaliation by the He family. Jian Fanyu had even lost sleep over it for a long time because Yan Yang's mind was occupied with how to comfort Ruan Miao.

Thinking carefully, it seemed improbable that someone like He Shangye would allow such a significant mistake to occur. The so-called documents were likely fake. Ruan Miao's schemes might have worked on Yan Yang and others, but they were too inexperienced to deceive He Shangye, who surely wouldn't have missed their intentions.

Who's to say that the documents weren't a bait?

Jian Fanyu glanced at the oblivious Ruan Miao, deep in thought. Unfortunately, the current shell was occupied by someone else, and many things in this life were completely different from the last. He was curious about what the current Ruan Miao would choose.

Would he heed that so-called mother's words, or… remain content with the status quo?

"What's wrong?" Ruan Miao felt uncomfortable under Jian Fanyu's stare. He thought that Jian Fanyu's current persona was unrecognizable compared to the previous one, yet at times, he seemed quite friendly.

Was he still the same character from the original story, or was this some confusing fanfiction?

"It's nothing. I just feel…" Jian Fanyu said softly, "You're different from before. Like another person."

Ruan Miao's back was covered in cold sweat. He laughed awkwardly, "That's not possible. It must be your illusion. Besides, we weren't very close before, so you might not know me well."

"True." Jian Fanyu nodded in agreement, as if he accepted Ruan Miao's explanation. "Though there are many theories about soul displacement and possession in the book, those are just hypotheses and can't be real, right?"

"Right, right." Ruan Miao quickly nodded, "Those are just lies."

He was scared out of his wits, fearing that Jian Fanyu might actually discover something. Jian Fanyu's light laughter reached his ears, sounding somewhat pleasant. Ruan Miao couldn't quite grasp his mood.

This was problematic. Among the characters in this convoluted story, including Xi You, He Shangzhi, He Shangye, and Jian Fanyu, none seemed fully understandable to him. They all appeared to have high intelligence.

Only He Shanglu gave him a bit of reassurance, as that guy was just a simple-minded brute, perhaps the only one with a lower IQ than himself. Ruan Miao suddenly felt that He Shanglu was a thousand times better than these people.

When he got home, because of Ruan Miao's overly gentle gaze, He Shanglu felt uneasy and angrily said, "What's with you staring at me like that all the time?"

"No, no," Ruan Miao apologized and said earnestly, "Second Brother, don't change like this."

He Shanglu: "???"

Was this guy asking for a beating again?

Ruan Miao dashed back to his room and shut the door before He Shanglu could make a move. He wasn't about to provoke that tyrant.

As days went by, Ruan Miao's difficult situation at school improved significantly. Perhaps because his diligent and modest attitude made others see that he was genuinely trying to reform, and most importantly, he had clearly drawn boundaries with those who were hard to deal with, his behavior had become more upright. As a result, many students were willing to interact with him. Everyone likes someone who is obedient, serious, and diligent.

Ruan Miao gradually found people to talk to in class. The group leader no longer passed him assignments with a cold face but occasionally spoke to him. Although they were far from breaking the ice, he was quite satisfied with the progress.

"Hmph." Xi You poured cold water on him, "Everyone is just assessing you. Don't get too proud."

"I know," Ruan Miao said nonchalantly. His recent hard work in memorizing vocabulary was paying off. He no longer faced lengthy passages he couldn't understand, and his error rate had improved a lot. He believed that with a bit more persistence, he would soon catch up to the average level.

Xi You glanced at his mock test papers and couldn't help but praise him, "You're improving quite quickly."

"Of course." Ruan Miao said proudly, "I used to be one of the top ten in the grade and always scored first in English exams!"

"Used to?" Xi You looked at him suspiciously, "Weren't you clueless about where the textbooks were?"

Ruan Miao wished he could bite his tongue. His pride had made him careless and he had said too much. "Oh… I meant back in elementary school. I hadn't gone bad back then, and you didn't know me then."

Xi You looked at him with an expression that didn't quite match his usual demeanor, "Is that so?"

Ruan Miao felt like a fool. If this were a novel, readers would surely scold him for being both pretentious and foolish. He decided he needed to be more cautious with his words in the future and avoid exposing any more flaws.

On another Saturday, Ruan Miao got up early, had breakfast, and went out. He wanted to visit various educational institutions to see if he could find affordable and reliable teachers for tutoring, hoping to achieve better results with less effort.

Unexpectedly, he ended up encountering a big scene.

He swore he wasn't intentionally eavesdropping, but the situation was so pressing that he felt awkward refusing to listen.

Yan Yang and Jian Fanyu were standing in a park by the roadside. The atmosphere between them was extremely cold. Yan Yang was speaking in a low, submissive tone, while Jian Fanyu's face was grim, clearly not wanting to engage with him.

Uncertain of what Yan Yang had said, Jian Fanyu suddenly turned and threw a punch.

Ruan Miao quickly held his breath. Jian Fanyu, though appearing weak, had significant strength. With one punch, Yan Yang was knocked to the ground, unable to get up, with blood streaming from his nose. Given their similar height and build, Jian Fanyu's willingness to take such abuse must have been due to his deep affection for Yan Yang.

It seemed Yan Yang was just a heartless scoundrel.

Before Ruan Miao could fully reflect on this, Jian Fanyu's gaze turned towards him and accurately spotted his hiding place.

"Still not coming out?"

Ruan Miao was startled, causing the fruit he was holding to drop.