IF Extra 【2】: Jiang Yan Meets Sixteen-Year-Old Little Wen Ran
Jiang Yan ended up staying with Little Wen Ran.
Little Wen Ran’s daily life was quite simple. It consisted of nothing more than running around to find local tournaments to play in, using his skills to earn enough money to solve the problem of food and shelter.
“Your mechanics are quite good. Why haven’t you considered going professional?”
When Jiang Yan mentioned this, Little Wen Ran’s head drooped. “I’ve thought about it.”
He opened his phone to show a group photo. In it, a youth wearing a red team uniform looked directly at the camera.
“Look,” Little Wen Ran said, having little to no guard against him. “I went to a youth training camp before.”
“It’s just that… because I don’t have my ID card, I couldn’t sign a contract.” Little Wen Ran’s mood turned a bit somber, but he quickly changed the subject. “What about you? Why don’t you go pro?”
Jiang Yan reached out and lightly scraped the boy’s nose. “Because I have to stay here and accompany you.”
“Yeah, right!”
Little Wen Ran buried his head even lower, but the tips of his ears turned a quiet shade of red.
This somewhat strange older brother made him angry sometimes, but for the most part, he was very good to him. He frequently brought him little gifts—sometimes a small cake, sometimes candy, and even new clothes and shoes.
Even though Jiang Yan claimed every time that he was only being so nice because he was staying in Wen Ran’s place, Wen Ran knew in his heart that Jiang Yan could easily find a much more spacious and comfortable room. There was no need for him to squeeze into such a tiny space with him.
After arriving in this timeline, Jiang Yan had quickly found a job. His academic performance had always been top-tier during his school days, and he had even been guaranteed admission to the country’s elite Liqing University. Therefore, working as a private tutor was no trouble at all.
Charging by the hour, the money was enough to cover the daily expenses for both him and Wen Ran.
Since Wen Ran had escaped that home, Jiang Yan was the first person willing to treat him so well. He trusted the man deeply.
After a long silence, Wen Ran finally spoke up tentatively. “Jiang Yan… can you lend me some money?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Wen Ran felt a pang of regret for his impulsiveness. They had only been together for a few months, yet here he was, asking to borrow money.
If Jiang Yan had a falling out with him because of this, he would lose his only friend.
“How much do you need?”
“Two thousand…” Wen Ran gritted his teeth. “No, one thousand. One thousand is enough.”
“Enough for what?” Jiang Yan keenly caught the point. “Wen Ran, tell me the truth. What do you want this money for? Are you planning to wire it to your mother again?”
Faced with this question, Wen Ran instantly lost his composure. He didn’t even stop to wonder how Jiang Yan knew about that. He explained anxiously, “I just want to get my ID card back!”
“She said that if I give her three thousand yuan this time, she’ll give it back to me.”
With his ID card, he could do so many other things.
“Do you really believe what she says?”
Little Wen Ran was stumped. “I…”
“If you want to get your ID back, I can help you. Why go through all this trouble?”
Little Wen Ran looked at him with innocent, bewildered eyes. “You… help me?”
Sitting on the train back to Wen Ran’s hometown, Little Wen Ran appeared exceptionally nervous. He asked, “Will this really work?”
Jiang Yan patted his head. “Relax. When has your Gege ever lied to you?”
Hearing this, Wen Ran’s heart finally settled. For some reason, the man in front of him always brought him a great sense of security. It felt as though as long as Jiang Yan was by his side, he had nothing to fear.
Walking back into that familiar village, Wen Ran still felt a bit of resistance. He didn’t even dare to walk toward his own house. After all, he was only sixteen, and having been frequently beaten and scolded, it was normal for him to feel afraid.
Just as he began to tremble slightly, a slender and powerful hand reached over and grasped his.
Jiang Yan comforted him gently, “Don’t be afraid. Gege is here.”
Wen Ran nodded. At this point, he had no choice but to trust Jiang Yan.
Wen Ran’s home was a very ordinary courtyard that looked extremely dilapidated. A woman was sitting in the yard, cracking melon seeds. She spotted Wen Ran immediately.
The boy was following submissively behind a man, his head bowed.
“You actually dare to come back?” Li Fenlan threw down the melon seed shells in her hand and stepped forward, reaching out to grab Wen Ran by the collar.
But before her hand could reach him, Jiang Yan blocked it.
Jiang Yan was much taller than her. Dressed in a formal suit, he carried a natural air of authority. He looked Li Fenlan in the eye and said, “Don’t get physical.”
Li Fenlan looked him up and down. “Who are you?”
Her tone was relatively polite. In their small village, it was rare to see someone dressed so decently and sharply. Jiang Yan looked like someone of high status; she didn’t dare offend him without knowing his background.
Jiang Yan stared at her. “You must be Wen Ran’s mother?”
“I am,” Li Fenlan said hesitantly. “What’s the matter?”
“Good. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find you.”
Jiang Yan didn’t bother being polite. He said directly, “Your son was working at my house last week and smashed an antique vase.”
“He can’t afford to pay for it. As his mother, shouldn’t you be the one to compensate me?”
“An… an antique vase?” Li Fenlan thought she had misheard. she asked cautiously, “Then… how much does he have to pay?”
“Not much. One million yuan.”
“One million?!” Li Fenlan’s eyes widened to the extreme. One million? She couldn’t even fathom how much money that was! It was certainly not something they could afford.
“Could you have made a mistake, sir?”
“There is surveillance footage. Do I look like I have the free time to play games with you?” Jiang Yan’s tone turned fierce, making Li Fenlan shiver in fright.
“But one million…”
Even if she scraped together every cent in her house right now, it wouldn’t even be a fraction of that amount. She couldn’t help but despise Wen Ran even more in her heart for causing such a massive disaster.
“You cursed, money-losing waste!”
She reached out to hit Wen Ran again, but Jiang Yan grabbed her hand and shoved it aside. “Save your family business for when you’re alone. Don’t let it disgust me.”
“I’ll tell you the truth, sir. I have nothing to do with him anymore,” Li Fenlan said, not wanting to pay a single cent. “The moment he left this house, he stopped being my son.”
Hearing these words, Little Wen Ran felt a dull ache in his heart. So this was his place in her life.
“Mom, help me,” Little Wen Ran said, his eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t want to get beaten anymore.”
“Don’t call me that!” Li Fenlan avoided him like he was a poisonous snake. “If you broke someone’s things, you pay for it yourself.”
“Fine. I don’t care what kind of act you two are putting on.” Jiang Yan pulled out his phone as if to make a call. “Originally, my father saw that he was young and didn’t want to ruin his future, so he told me to come here for a private settlement.”
“If you insist on not paying, then I’ll just have to call the police.”
Just as Jiang Yan finished speaking, a luxury car pulled up at the entrance. Several bodyguards stepped out and bowed respectfully. “Young Master, perhaps you should head back first. We will handle the rest.”
“Wait! Don’t call the police!” Li Fenlan was truly terrified now. If the police were involved, she was still Wen Ran’s mother; they would surely make her pay.
Seeing the luxury car and the bodyguards, the last of Li Fenlan’s suspicion vanished completely. She immediately grabbed Jiang Yan’s arm and begged, “Young Master, please have mercy. I really have nothing to do with him. Look at the state of our house—a million yuan would be the death of us!”
“Why don’t you just take him away? Let him work for you for the rest of his life to pay back the debt!”
“If I take him away and he runs, what then?” Jiang Yan asked. “Will he come back to you?”
“I’ll give you his ID card!” Li Fenlan only wanted to sever ties with Wen Ran now. “With his ID in your hands, are you still afraid he’ll run?”
Jiang Yan felt nothing but disgust looking at the woman desperately trying to cast off her own son.
Li Fenlan ran into the house to rummage through her things. In less than three minutes, she returned with Wen Ran’s ID card and eagerly pressed it into Jiang Yan’s hand.
Only after watching Jiang Yan and the bodyguards hustle Wen Ran into the car and drive away did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Wen Ran sat in the back seat, his heart heavy. He didn’t understand why, even though he was her own flesh and blood, Li Fenlan didn’t treat him like a human being at all, but rather like an object to be traded away at will.
Tears blurred his vision.
At that moment, a warm hand reached over and pulled him into an embrace. Jiang Yan’s voice was incredibly gentle. “Ran Ran, if you’re sad, just cry for a bit.”
A moment later, the sound of Little Wen Ran’s low sobs filled the car.
Once he had finally calmed down, he remembered to ask Jiang Yan: “By the way… where did you rent this car from?”
There were even bodyguards; even he had been scared.
“That? You’ll find out in a couple of days.”
Jiang Yan had actually called his own home just to see if it would work. To his surprise, the old man’s number was still the same. His father had even asked him what he was doing out of school for the past few days.
However, the old man was as easy to handle as ever. The moment Jiang Yan called him “Dad” and coaxed him a bit, he immediately solved whatever problems Jiang Yan needed.
Jiang Yan looked at the aggrieved boy in front of him and asked, “Ran Ran, do you want to go to school?”
Wen Ran’s eyes shimmered with light. “I… can I?”
With the help of Jiang Yan’s father, they actually managed to find a high school for Wen Ran.
Even though Wen Ran had been out of school for over a year, he studied incredibly hard, cherishing this hard-won opportunity. He was smart, too, and would stay up late every night doing practice problems.
And Jiang Yan was there to teach him, helping him catch up on his missed lessons.
Jiang Yan placed a glass of milk on Wen Ran’s desk. Seeing the boy’s face scrunched up in deep thought over a problem, he reached out and patted his head. “Stuck again?”
“Which one?”
Wen Ran pointed at the paper. “This one.”
Jiang Yan sat down right next to him. With a single glance at the problem, he began to analyze the logic for him. His slender fingers gripped the pen, and the handwriting he produced was beautiful and fluid. Wen Ran watched him, slightly dazed.
Gradually, Wen Ran stopped listening to what Jiang Yan was saying, his gaze fixed on the man’s handsome profile.
His heart suddenly began to race.
What is wrong with me?
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