Chapter 16: Mid-Hill Villa
I’ll leave… once I go back and deliver the agreement.
After completing his discharge procedures the next morning, Qin Sixing brought Yuan An back to the Mid-Hill Villa.
As the car drove steadily up the mountainside, Yuan An looked at the passing scenery along the route and felt a lingering sense of familiarity.
Mid-Hill Villa… if he remembered correctly, there was only one villa district located on the mountainside in Hejiang City. And the estates belonging to the Zhao and Chu families were also located here.
Meeting those two again in the future was bound to happen sooner or later.
He had spent a long time thinking by himself last night. Since he had already been reborn and had severed ties with the Lu family, he should do his utmost to shake off the influence that his past life and those people had over him.
At this thought, Yuan An was briefly dazed. He was surprised to discover that when he thought of Zhao Yu and Chu Baihan again, his heart was completely calm.
The expression on Yuan An’s face soon returned to normal.
The car came to a smooth stop in front of a villa. Waiting by the main entrance was Song Chucheng, who was letting out a barrage of endless yawns.
He helped take Yuan An’s belongings out of the trunk and led him over to the adjacent, slightly smaller villa to settle his things, showing him around the place in the process.
The villa was fully equipped with everything he could need, and the decor felt incredibly warm. Some of the furniture and household appliances were even covered with embroidered dust blankets.
After the tour, the group returned to the main villa next door to have lunch.
Qin Sixing had to return to the company in the afternoon, so before leaving, he specifically instructed Song Chucheng to take good care of Yuan An.
However, because Song Chucheng had stayed up late playing video games the previous night, drowsiness washed over him right after lunch. While watching TV with Yuan An, he fell fast asleep directly against the sofa.
Auntie Su came out carrying a fruit platter. Seeing the soundly sleeping Song Chucheng, she chided him with half-doting exasperation. Worried that Yuan An might feel bored by himself, she brought over a small Border Collie for him to play with.
The little Border Collie was named Beika. Only a little over two months old, it couldn’t bark properly yet, but it was highly active and incredibly intelligent.
Yuan An played with it for a while and found himself liking it more and more. After obtaining Auntie Su’s permission, he buckled on a leash and took Beika out for a walk.
It was currently early afternoon, but since it was only April and they were up in the mountains, it wasn’t overly hot outside; the temperature was just right.
Yuan An held the leash and led Beika slowly toward a flat area. Before long, they arrived near a lake.
The water quality of the lake was excellent. Under the spring sun, it looked like a beautiful azure gemstone laced with faint golden patterns.
Beside the lake stretched a lawn, where a group of young men and women were currently having a picnic. Cheerful laughter drifted over from that direction from time to time.
Beika was drawn to the group of people and involuntarily pulled Yuan An toward them.
When they were still a certain distance away, Beika’s pace quickened. Yuan An hurriedly tugged the leash to a stop, then scooped Beika up into his arms.
The people picnicking here were likely wealthy second-generation youths. If Beika rushed over and startled someone, it might cause trouble for Qin Sixing and Song Chucheng.
Beika couldn’t comprehend why Yuan An was stopping him. It struggled slightly in his embrace, letting out a few soft whimpers.
Yuan An originally intended to leave quietly before anyone noticed them, but unexpectedly, Beika’s whimpers caught someone’s attention.
A girl cried out excitedly, “Wow, a puppy!”
Her actions caused the others to notice Yuan An as well, and they all turned their heads to look over.
Only then did Yuan An discover that within this picnicking group were several of his old acquaintances.
There was Lu Suichu, who was vaguely surrounded in the center, alongside Chu Baihan and Zhao Yu, whom he had just run into yesterday.
He hadn’t expected that while he was just thinking this morning about how he would run into them sooner or later, he would cross paths with them right now.
Upon seeing Yuan An, Zhao Yu let out a direct, disdainful snort, his eyes locking onto Yuan An with a dark, hidden malice. Chu Baihan kept his gaze lowered the entire time, his thoughts unreadable.
When Lu Suichu spotted Yuan An, the gentle smile on his face froze for a fraction of a second before immediately restoring to normal.
The girl who had cried out earlier spoke up again: “Hey, handsome, can I play with your puppy for a bit?”
Zhao Yu said in a cynical tone, “This guy is sick. His filthy dog probably has some kind of disease too. Yu Shihan, you’d better keep your distance from him.”
The girl, Yu Shihan, looked at Zhao Yu in confusion, then held her tongue, seemingly abandoning her desire to play with Beika.
Lu Suichu cast a glance at Zhao Yu and chided him with mild disapproval, “Zhao Yu, how can you say that about An An?”
He stood up, walked over to stand in front of Yuan An, and asked in a sorrowful yet intimate tone, “An An, where have you been these past few days? What Father said that day was merely spoken out of anger. You can still come back home.”
These words were formulated quite cleverly. On the surface, it merely sounded like he was persuading Yuan An, who wanted to sever ties, to change his mind. But to those onlookers who didn’t know the truth of that day’s events, it carried an entirely different implication.
Lu Suichu hadn’t intentionally lowered his volume, so the surrounding wealthy second-generation youths heard him loud and clear.
For Yuan An to appear here meant he was highly likely a resident of the Mid-Hill Villa district. Seeing his well-behaved, handsome appearance and his subtly elegant, refined aura, a few individuals had secretly developed intentions of making his acquaintance.
But to think he was actually a member of the Lu family; his background was indeed quite significant. However, from the sound of Lu Suichu’s words, it seemed Yuan An had committed some fault and had been driven out of the Lu family estate.
If that was the case, then it seemed there was no real value in making his acquaintance.
The gazes of several wealthy youths slowly shifted from appreciation to disdain as they looked at Yuan An.
Yuan An looked at the hypocritical worry on Lu Suichu’s face. Coupled with the reactions of those wealthy youths, he understood Lu Suichu’s objective in an instant.
Lu Suichu wanted to completely cut off any opportunity for him to form a social circle with these people.
Yet, he had never even desired to interact with anyone inside Lu Suichu’s social circle. Instead, it was Lu Suichu who had invisibly snatched away so many people from his side over the years.
Yuan An had only discovered Lu Suichu’s true nature beneath that gentle facade shortly before his death in his previous life, so he didn’t understand why Lu Suichu remained this guarded against him.
“Why go to such lengths?” Yuan An asked softly, voicing the confusion in his heart.
Lu Suichu was startled for a moment, staring blankly at Yuan An’s calm eyes for a short while.
What did Yuan An mean by that question just now?
Before Lu Suichu could think it through clearly, he saw Yuan An let out a gentle smile. His dimple became distinct, and his bright eyes sparkled like stars.
“Brother, you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll probably go back home in a couple of days.” He had originally intended to turn around and leave immediately, but now, that intention vanished.
The early afternoon sun shone lightly onto Yuan An’s dark chestnut hair, casting a soft, golden warmth around him, making his entire being appear incredibly warm and gentle.
The sleeve of his thin sweatshirt slipped down slightly, revealing a pale section of his forearm and wrist. Mirroring his slender fingers, he supported the puppy in his arms with a gentle, elegant posture.
Everyone present was collectively stunned into a daze. A voice even surfaced simultaneously in their minds:
*You’re telling me that a young master this gentle and elegant was driven out of his home because he committed a fault?!*
Chu Baihan and Zhao Yu instinctively thought the same way in their hearts, but they quickly pulled back their thoughts and returned to normal, though their expressions remained somewhat peculiar.
Lu Suichu also snapped out of it. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he asked, “What are you going back for?”
The moment the question left his mouth, he realized it was improper.
Formulating it that way made it sound as if he were unwelcoming of Yuan An’an’s return.
Sure enough, he watched as Yuan An seemed to be dazed for a short moment, then lowered his head dejectedly.
“I’ll leave… once I go back and deliver the agreement.”
Lu Suichu was completely blank, intuitively feeling that Yuan An seemed different from the version in his impressions. But looking at Yuan An’an’s characteristically sorrowful expression, the confusion in his heart was replaced by a surge of delight.
*That’s more like it. Yuan An should remain this miserable, like a pathetic wretch.*
Just then, Lu Suichu heard a low murmur of whispers from behind him.
“I heard Lu Suichu was brought back to the Lu family midway through his childhood. Chairman Lu and the CEO felt they owed him a debt, plus he has a heart condition… under those circumstances, it’s very easy for the family to play favorites, right?”
“Thinking about it that way, it does seem like it. This person is also from the Lu family, and he even calls Lu Suichu ‘brother,’ yet we’ve never seen him before.”
Lu Suichu’s body gave a sudden jolt. Only then did he realize that he had accidentally exposed his true colors in front of everyone.
*Yuan An set a trap for him?!*
Lu Suichu looked at Yuan An in utter disbelief, only to see the other party’s gaze turn cautious. Yuan An’s hands holding the dog tightened slightly, adopting a sorrowful, defensive posture.
—He looked so innocent and pitiful, as if that casual conjecture that had just crossed his mind was an absolute atrocity.
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**The author has something to say:**
Although Yuan An’s character design is gentle, gentleness can also be used as a weapon to counter others.
Yuan An lived a tragic past life. In the early stages after his rebirth, he is slowly adapting to the subversion of the plot beats in this life. Occasionally, under the influence of his past memories, he might get stuck in a horn, so I hope everyone can give him a little time~
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