Chapter 3: May the World Accept Heterosexuality
There was a knock on the door. It was likely Gu Zhi coming to call her downstairs for dinner.
Ruan Yi sat up, feeling her lips were a bit hot. She reached out to touch them; her originally tender and soft lips were somewhat swollen.
Perhaps it was due to the heatstroke.
She opened the door to find Gu Zhi waiting there.
Gu Zhi looked down at her. Ruan Yi was 1.68 meters tall, which was considered tall for a girl.
But she was still nearly a head shorter than Gu Zhi, and this brat was surprisingly still growing.
Gu Zhi helped her smooth her messy hair, gently tucking a few strands damp with sweat behind her ear.
“It’s time to eat. Are you still feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine now, just don’t have much of an appetite.”
The tips of Ruan Yi’s ears turned pink. Because of the abrupt turn in her dream, the strange tactile sensation on her lips hadn’t yet dissipated.
“Even with no appetite, you have to eat a little, otherwise you’ll be hungry before bed.”
Gu Zhi’s tone allowed no refusal. His hand rested on Ruan Yi’s spine, gently pushing from behind as they walked downstairs.
The family of three sat at the dining table. There were few people, but the food was exaggeratedly abundant.
The maid lowered her head and placed top-quality donkey-hide gelatin and bird’s nest in front of her mother as usual.
Gu Zhi kept putting food into Ruan Yi’s bowl. Just as she finished a mouthful, new food was clamped into her bowl.
Ruan Ying watched the interaction between the two children with a smile. Seeing the atmosphere was quite good, she finally spoke.
“Xiao Yi, Ah Zhi, Mom has something to tell you.”
It was finally coming. That refined scum, that piece of trash.
Ruan Yi’s prospective stepfather, and also her university professor, Fu Jingchen.
That seemingly elegant gentleman had treated her mom and Ruan Yi very well in her past life, especially Ruan Yi, who was constantly under his care.
In reality, he was a terrifying, abnormal marriage fraudster.
He had deep schemes and was full of deceit.
After Fu Jingchen moved into the villa, her mom’s emotions became increasingly unstable. Later, she was suddenly diagnosed as having mental abnormalities caused by long-term accidental ingestion of psychiatric drugs, leading to hospitalization and eventually complete derangement.
How could it be accidental ingestion!
Although there was no solid evidence yet, Ruan Yi firmly believed that he had targeted Gu Zhi and the Ruan family from the very beginning.
That night, Gu Zhi was drugged.
Although Ruan Yi noticed something was wrong in time and smashed Fu Jingchen’s head with a vase, the drug’s effect was excessively strong. There was no time to seek medical help, and soaking in cold water was useless.
That night, Gu Zhi suffered so much he forcibly cut his own abdomen several times with a knife. The extreme pain distracted him from the intense suffering and desire caused by the drug, and only then did he survive it.
The doctor arrived later and treated the wounds urgently.
But Gu Zhi’s abdominal muscles were unavoidably left with hideous scars.
If viewed by those perverts in the novel’s barrage comments, this plot point would probably be considered “candy.” Gu Zhi was practically forced to bear a mark left because of that scum Fu Jingchen—the readers would definitely find it thrilling.
Ruan Yi felt a chill run down her spine.
“Mom met a new friend and decided to bring him home soon. Xiao Yi, Ah Zhi, will you object?”
Ruan Yi silently complained in her heart. They weren’t three-year-old children anymore. Bringing a “friend” home—how could they not know what that meant?
Ruan Ying’s tone was flat. It seemed like a discussion, but it was actually a notification. After all, the mistress of the Ruan family didn’t need anyone’s permission to do things.
On the contrary, whatever others wanted to do depended on Ruan Ying’s support.
Just like Gu Zhi’s status: in name but not in reality.
Gu Zhi was called a brother, but he actually wasn’t even in the same household register as Ruan Yi.
Gu Zhi was the orphan of her father’s old friend. Because of his parents’ accidental death, Gu Zhi was sent to the Ruan family.
He had already established an independent household at that time. Her father had intended to move Gu Zhi’s household registration into the Ruan family, but Ruan’s mother did not agree.
Ruan Yi was the only daughter. The Ruan family had a vast business, and Ruan Mother could not tolerate the possibility of any accident happening.
For example, the accident of a child with no blood relation potentially taking a share of her precious daughter’s inheritance.
This was why Gu Zhi still had the surname Gu. It was quite good, actually, because if he were called Ruan Zhi, it would sound terrible.
Ruan Ying was a strong woman. This could be seen from the fact that her daughter took her mother’s surname; the person in power at the group was also her.
Her father had little say.
Even though her father’s status was low, it didn’t stop him from cheating. He used the Ruan Corporation’s money to maintain several mistresses outside and nearly brought dirty diseases home.
Her mother issued an imperial decree and used all means to throw her father out of the Ruan family.
Ruan Ying had fought quite a bit with the old shareholders of the Ruan Group because of her father’s messy affairs.
The shareholders all thought Ruan Ying was making a mountain out of a molehill, as men cheating was common.
She spent effort to remove her father’s meager equity in the Ruan Group. The group’s internal share structure and cash flow were indeed affected.
But who was Ruan Ying? Not only was she not love-brained, but she was also exceptionally clear-headed and decisive. These matters were solvable for her; it was just a matter of time.
If the subsequent accidents hadn’t happened, she would have been a veritable “big heroine” in control of her own life.
If Mom hadn’t been drugged, nothing would have happened.
Ruan Yi’s lips were pressed tightly together, immersed in her complex thoughts.
“Mom, Sister had heatstroke this morning and isn’t in a very good state right now. It’s fine, we have no objections.”
Gu Zhi’s tone was calm. Because Ruan Yi’s silence made the scene a bit awkward, he considerately explained for her.
Under the table, a hand covered her fingers, which were making small movements due to her agitation.
The warm, large hand patted her gently, seemingly trying to reassure her.
Gu Zhi, this fool. He was inviting a wolf into the house.
Hearing that Ruan Yi had heatstroke, Ruan Ying looked worried. She only relaxed after getting to the bottom of it and confirming she was fine now.
Until they finished dinner and went upstairs, Ruan Yi lacked interest in everything.
“What’s wrong? Unhappy because of that Mr. Fu?”
Gu Zhi stopped at Ruan Yi’s bedroom door, his gaze never leaving her.
“I’m fine. Ah Zhi, be careful usually, and have less contact with that Fu Jingchen.”
Gu Zhi chuckled low. “If anyone needs to be careful, it should be you, Sister. You are a girl.”
“Just because you are a guy! Who knows if that Fu Jingchen is some kind of homosexual!” Ruan Yi grabbed his hand in agitation and shook it vigorously.
“?” Gu Zhi: May the world accept heterosexuality.
Ruan Yi regretted it deeply as soon as she said it.
Saying such baseless things when nothing had happened yet made her seem mentally ill.
If one didn’t know better, they might mistake Ruan Yi for being extremely homophobic.
Gu Zhi’s eyelashes were very long. The hallway light poured down from overhead, casting a small shadow under his eyes. A smile flashed in his dim pupils.
Cute. To even get this wrong, she’s simply too cute. Want to…
Tsk, it’s standing up again.
He adjusted his stance, trying to make his reaction less obvious.
“A university professor interested in male students? Is that so? It seems things like that are indeed quite common in Country M. I’m very happy Sister is worried about me.”
To even give her a way out like this—he was simply an angel!
“Cough, exactly, exactly. Anyway, just be careful of that Fu Jingchen!”
After returning to her room, Ruan Yi busily began to recall the plot after Fu Jingchen entered the Ruan family. She had to think of how to deal with it in advance.
How did Gu Zhi already know Fu Jingchen was a university professor? Did he know Fu Jingchen?
Could it be that Fu Jingchen had already made a move on Ah Zhi before entering the Ruan family?
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