Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 17

How strange – she, Jiang Ruoqiao, wasn’t actually the main character in the novel?

The author must have been blind.

In fact, no matter how absurd the dream, Jiang Ruoqiao had dreamed of it before. As a child, she dreamt of becoming a fairy, of possessing the magic to turn stones into gold. She had even dreamt of owning the seven-colored flower from the stories. Now she had merely dreamed of finishing a novel – That was nothing.. A small matter.

But finding herself cast as a disposable second female lead? That unsettled her. So much so that even the revelation that her boyfriend and another woman were the story’s lead couple suddenly seemed trivial in comparison.

Jiang Ruoqiao lay in bed a while longer before rising to wash up.

While brushing her teeth, she thought of the dream again and couldn’t help but feel a little strange.

Usually, dreams faded upon waking up, the details growing increasingly blurred. Her dreams were always fragmented—incoherent snippets lacking any sense or order. But this time was different. Instead of fading, the dream had grown more vivid, crystalizing with an eerie clarity. As if it were real, something that had truly happened.

How bizarre.

After freshening up, Jiang Ruoqiao sat on the sofa, her appetite for breakfast completely gone.

Perhaps she should do something.

She grabbed a pen and some paper from her bag and began jotting down everything she could recall about the novel’s plot. But the more she wrote, the more unsettled she felt.

The details were too real.

Take the background of Jiang Yan’s family, for instance.

Or the connection between the male and female leads.

The female lead’s name was Lin Kexing. She had secretly carried a torch for the male lead for years. Jiang Ruoqiao’s first thought was of that “Star” person, as all the details matched up perfectly. It sent a chill down her spine.

According to the book, Jiang Yan’s childhood was marked by a dramatic upheaval. His family was turned upside down, forcing his mother to take him to work for the Lin family. Jiang Yan’s mother and Madam Lin were old acquaintances, and Madam Lin, kind-hearted as she was, extended a helping hand to the mother and son.

And so for over a decade, the male and female leads lived under the same roof—though their stations couldn’t have been more different. Lin Kexing was the young daughter of the Lin family, while Jiang Yan was merely the son of Madam Lin’s assistant.

The female lead had harbored feelings for him since they were children, but Jiang Yan never reciprocated. Raised by a gentle and virtuous mother, he saw Lin Kexing only as a little sister. He cared for her, certainly—but only as an older brother would.

He was two years her senior, and their differences in status and age only grew more pronounced when he went off to college. Living on campus, their interactions slowly dwindled…until he eventually fell for someone else.

Thus began Lin Kexing’s years of quiet anguish.

On the surface, she understood he didn’t return her feelings. She tried to accept it, to smile and bless him as he found happiness with another. But her love for him had taken root too deeply, for too long. Letting go was impossible.

Of course, the leads were destined to end up together. So the author took the path of least resistance, turning Jiang Yan’s first love into a shallow, materialistic woman who chased only wealth and status.

Many novels have proven one thing: the second female lead basically has no good ending 🙂

Especially the one the male lead once truly loved.

If he hadn’t ever loved her, perhaps she’d have had a chance—a redemption arc, a fresh start, maybe even a fulfilling conclusion to her story.

But in “Pampered into Marriage”, the male lead Jiang Yan really deeply loved the second female lead.

The novel wasn’t long. Jiang Ruoqiao wrote down everything she remembered in a way that only she could understand. Real or not, documenting it cost her nothing. Normally, even a book she had finished mere days ago would fade quickly from memory. Within a week, she’d be hard-pressed to recall the main characters’ names.

Yet this story…

One scene in particular seized her with dread.

It mirrored a dream she once had.

In that dream, she watched as an extravagant banquet unfolded. Jiang Yan stood surrounded by a crowd, with another woman at his side.

After the cocktail party, she walked on the road in a sorry state. Jiang Yan sat in the car and said in a cold tone, “Beg me, beg me and I’ll let you go.”

Damn it!!

In the novel, the second female lead’s humiliating reunion with the male lead happened at this exact cocktail party.

Yet strangely, the book never depicted that scene in the car, with Jiang Yan uttering those icy words…

Could it be that the author deliberately wanted to omit the scenes between the male protagonist and the second female lead?

That made sense – it would be awkward, since by the reunion scene, the author had already established mutual feelings between the male and female leads. Yet in her dream, Jiang Yan seemed to still be hung up on their relationship.

A male lead who hasn’t let go of his past with a second female lead isn’t a proper male lead!

Jiang Ruoqiao shook off the thought.

None of this was confirmed. Not yet.

Besides, Jiang Yan’s wealth, or lack thereof, no longer mattered. Their split was inevitable. Who cared if her soon-to-be ex was a rich kid? It wasn’t as if she could demand damages for her broken heart.

No, what she needed was to determine if the book was real.

At noon, Lu Yicheng arrived with Lu Siyan in tow. Noting that Jiang Ruoqiao’s face didn’t look very good, he hesitated before asking, “Are you feeling unwell?”

If she was ill, he’d take the child back with him. Although Siyan was very well-behaved and sensible and didn’t bother people much, a sick person should want to rest well.

Jiang Ruoqiao shook her head. “No.”

At most, she just felt uncomfortable in her heart.

But that wasn’t something she could explain to Lu Yicheng.

Or to anyone.

Who would believe her? To the world, Jiang Yan was the perfect boyfriend.

“Alright then.”

Lu Yicheng patted Lu Siyan’s head, father and son exchanging a wordless glance—

Don’t disturb your mother.

Understand.

After Lu Yicheng’s departure, Jiang Ruoqiao led Lu Siyan inside. The boy trailed behind her, and after kicking off his sneakers, fished out a pair of plastic slippers from his backpack. When Jiang Ruoqiao turned, she found him perched neatly on the rug, sliding his feet into the cheap shoes.

A faint smile ghosted across her lips. She approached, glancing down at the slippers with a sigh. “Your father bought these, didn’t he?”

Lu Yicheng’s aesthetic sense really needs to be improved!

Even as a child, she’d have balked at wearing something so tacky.

Lu Siyan mimicked her sigh. “They were the cheapest ones.”

According to him, when Lu Yicheng had taken him home the day before, they’d passed a street vendor hawking slippers. Recalling that Jiang Ruoqiao had no spares for the boy, he’d stopped and selected the most economical pair.

Cheap, certainly. But practical.

Unsightly as they were, they did look comfortable enough.

Jiang Ruoqiao knew Lu Yicheng had shouldered the lion’s share of the childcare. He’d drop Lu Siyan off, but he was the one handling meals, baths, and bedtimes. She scarcely had to lift a finger.

But after today, everything would change.

She’d contacted the agency, and the results of the DNA test were due to arrive that very afternoon. They’d send the electronic copy first, followed by a physical report.

When Lu Siyan came over these past two days, Jiang Ruoqiao would turn on the TV and let him watch cartoons for about ten minutes.

“Siyan,” Jiang Ruoqiao suddenly called out to him.

Lu Siyan turned his head to look at her.

Every time she looked at his face, Jiang Ruoqiao experienced a peculiar feeling because he looked so much like her younger self. She had never been pregnant or given birth, and couldn’t form a natural maternal bond with Lu Siyan, so even now, she could still detach herself emotionally. The strange thing was, whenever she developed such “avoidant” thoughts, looking at his face would make these feelings fade away.

She wondered if Lu Yicheng felt the same way.

After all, they were still students.

Jiang Ruoqiao paused, “Nothing, just wanted to ask if you’d like some ice cream after your nap.”

Lu Siyan’s eyes immediately lit up, “Of course I do!!”

This was too wonderful!

Mom was letting him watch cartoons and now actively offering him ice cream. Usually, he had to sneak to the refrigerator and eat ice cream secretly when mom wasn’t looking.

Jiang Ruoqiao smiled.

While Lu Siyan slept, instead of going upstairs to catch up on sleep herself, she sat on the living room carpet, gazing at his sleeping face.

Then her phone buzzed.

No need to check the sender. It had to be the agent.

Sure enough, when she lit up her phone, the helpful and professional sister had sent her several messages—

「Miss Wang①, the DNA test results are out, I’m sending them to you, please check.」

「Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.」

「Please send me your address later, I’ll mail you the report. Don’t worry, everything is confidential. I’ve made sure the institution has deleted all your files and information – no one can trace it.」

Jiang Ruoqiao glanced at the sleeping Lu Siyan, took a deep breath, and opened the report.

She didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed.

Indeed, her relationship with Lu Siyan was… undoubtedly mother and son.

Lu Yicheng arrived earlier than the previous day.

Jiang Ruoqiao hadn’t concealed anything from him. Before his arrival, she had already forwarded him the test results via text.

The outcome was hardly shocking.

If she and Lu Siyan weren’t related, now that would have been a twist.

But in the moment, as they faced each other, a peculiar feeling descended. Knowing was one thing. Sensing it, another. But seeing it declared in stark black and white? That changed everything.

They were in the same boat now. Bound inextricably.

This bond ran deeper than anything Jiang Ruoqiao had ever shared with Jiang Yan.

After all, she and Lu Yicheng had a child.

Without dating, without so much as holding hands, with nothing between them…they’d created a life.

Lu Yicheng could tell Jiang Ruoqiao’s mood was far from pleasant, and feared she might be frightened away by all the challenges ahead. So he took the lead, shattering the silence.

“Let’s talk about getting Siyan registered.”

Jiang Ruoqiao’s head throbbed at the mere mention.

Household registration, household registration…

This was the most headache-inducing problem of all!

Lu Yicheng reached into his backpack and pulled out two documents, handing them to her. “Registration is non-negotiable. Getting a fake household register is off the table. It’s illegal, for one. But more than that, if anything ever happened, we’d be in serious trouble. And Siyan will be in school soon—elementary, then middle and high school, university. All of them require household registration verification. To be blunt, I considered registering him under someone else’s name. I know people back home who could help. But after some thought, I couldn’t do that to him. It would only breed resentment, making him feel like he belonged to someone else. This is our responsibility to bear. No one else’s.”

Jiang Ruoqiao kept her gaze lowered. “I know, but…”

But how? How could they possibly register him?

Lu Yicheng stared at the top of her head, a fleeting smile touching his lips. He cleared his throat and continued, “We’ll register him as my child born out of wedlock. I’ve looked into it with the relevant authorities. As long as I take him to an approved facility for a DNA test proving our biological connection, I can add him to my household register.”

Jiang Ruoqiao’s head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. “You mean…you’ll register him? Under your name?”

It sounded simple, but the social pressure would be significant.

He’d face endless questions. Relentless scrutiny. After all, how could he, barely twenty, have fathered a five-year-old?

He couldn’t breathe a word of the truth. His only choice was to weather the storm. To endure the judgment.

That fact alone would be enough to forever mark him as an outcast.

Getting Siyan registered wouldn’t be the hard part.

No, the true challenge lay in finding the courage to take that first step.

And now, Lu Yicheng had made the decision for them both. In one fell swoop, he’d shouldered the entirety of the blame, shielding Jiang Ruoqiao completely.

In that instant, in her eyes, he positively glowed. Radiant. Resplendent.

She couldn’t help but think of one word — Bodhisattva.

He was a bodhisattva in the flesh.