Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 21
Two couples were scheduled to come view the apartment in the afternoon. Lu Yicheng also had to go to a student’s home to tutor, but fortunately he had already coordinated with Jiang Ruoqiao the day before. Jiang Ruoqiao would take the bus over after lunch.
It was August and the heat was near its peak for the year. As Jiang Ruoqiao stepped outside, she couldn’t help but sigh as she felt the blazing sun – Jiang Ruoqiao… ah …Jiang Ruoqiao, you’ve really become a good mother for your son now.
If this were in the past, no matter who invited her out, she would never leave the house at high noon. No one could make her break that rule.
There’s a saying online: In this weather, only true love can motivate someone to go out.
It seems her son had become her true love, not her boyfriend.
Jiang Ruoqiao was fully armed for battle.
She not only applied sunscreen, she didn’t miss spots like behind the ears and ankles. She wore UV-protective clothing, a sun hat, and even wielded a parasol. Only then did she stride out of the apartment building like a warrior, basking in the sunlight. She quickly made her way to the community gate where the rideshare driver was already waiting.
The roads were clear at this time. They arrived at the base of Lu Siyan’s building right at 1 o’clock.
Lu Yicheng very politely waited downstairs for her 10 minutes in advance. Lu Siyan also insisted on coming down with him to greet his mom.
When Lu Yicheng pulled out the access card from his pocket, Lu Siyan sighed dramatically like a little adult, “Poor baby’s gonna be so tired again.”
The fleeting smile at the corner of Lu Yicheng’s mouth disappeared as he turned to explain to Jiang Ruoqiao, “I live on the 6th floor.”
Jiang Ruoqiao: “…”
It was fine for Lu Yicheng. He’d been doing this for years, and at twenty, he was full of energy. Climbing six floors in one go was nothing to him. But Lu Siyan and Jiang Ruoqiao became his contrast.
Lu Siyan huffed and puffed, “Can’t…climb anymore…”
Jiang Ruoqiao wasn’t much better. She’d always tried to avoid physical activities during PE class, and now, with the heat, her once fair face had taken on a faint red flush by the time they reached the sixth floor.
Lu Yicheng opened the door. Lu Siyan slipped in nimbly like an eel. Very attentively, he took the watermelon red slippers from the shoe rack and placed them by Jiang Ruoqiao’s feet. He raised his head, flashing his shallow dimples with a smile, “Mommy, shoes.”
Jiang Ruoqiao, surprised, glanced at the slippers on the mat and then at Lu Yicheng.
For some reason, despite not being that close with Lu Yicheng, she felt certain these slippers had never been worn by another woman.
Lu Yicheng lowered his gaze, “Siyan insisted on buying them.”
Lu Siyan used a tone fishing for praise, “Yeah yeah, Daddy is just too stingy, insisted on buying cheap ones. Mommy, bear with these ugly shoes for now.”
Jiang Ruoqiao chuckled as she put on the watermelon red slippers.
This color was a test for skin tone.
Generally, bright colors made the skin look dark unless it was very fair.
Jiang Ruoqiao had inherently light skin to begin with, and she was especially attentive to sun protection. The largest expense each month was basically spent on her face. She always believed in the saying – there are indeed many things in this world that hard work is destined to be useless for, but investing in oneself is the only thing guaranteed to pay off as long as you put in the effort.
She was a fairly self-disciplined person, both in studying and in maintaining her appearance.
As for other matters, they all had to come second to herself.
Jiang Ruoqiao was indeed meticulous from head to toe.
Her pair of feet, after this summer, were still evenly fair without any “tan lines” from wearing sandals. At this moment, even the slippers on her feet didn’t seem so tacky anymore.
Jiang Ruoqiao also took in this apartment.
The layout was very similar to her grandparents’ place – perhaps old units were all designed this way?
Eyeballing it, it seemed to be a 2bed 2bath.
The living room was quite narrow, but Lu Yicheng kept the place especially clean. Although the furniture was simple, even vintage, and the walls were peeling in places, it had the upper hand of being neat and tidy without piles of clutter. Everything was organized meticulously by him. Even the old glass windows were polished bright. Compared to Lu Yicheng, Jiang Ruoqiao felt her life was much messier.
Today Lu Yicheng had specially bought a case of bottled water. He reminded Jiang Ruoqiao, “I’m not sure if you’re used to the tap water here, so I bought bottled water. The tenants can also use this.”
“Okay.” Jiang Ruoqiao nodded.
Lu Yicheng tapped on his phone a bit more before looking up, brows relaxed, “I sent you the WiFi password.”
“Got it.”
Jiang Ruoqiao noticed Lu Yicheng didn’t say much today.
Normally, he didn’t talk much unless it was important, but today he was especially silent.
After Lu Yicheng left with his ever-present black backpack, Jiang Ruoqiao finally asked Lu Siyan, “What’s up with him? Why does he seem unhappy?”
Lu Siyan covered his mouth, looking conflicted.
At lunch today, Daddy had told him not to mention what happened at the market this morning to Mommy.
He had promised.
Promises are meant to be kept.
“Daddy said not to say, and I promised.” Lu Siyan replied gloomily.
Jiang Ruoqiao arched a brow, “Alright then, I won’t ask.”
The reason for Lu Yicheng’s behavior today wasn’t hard to guess.
She thought it probably had to do with Jiang Yan’s WeChat post.
This was understandable. The four of them had known each other since reporting to the dorms freshman year. After two years, there were certainly feelings. The four guys were kindred spirits, and Jiang Yan was indeed very loyal to his friends. Recently she had gained a deeper understanding of Lu Yicheng. No wonder he had the best reputation of any campus heartthrob in recent A University history – the public had a discerning eye. He was truly impeccable – reliable, responsible, earnest and detail-oriented. Someone with such a strong moral compass, it had been difficult enough for him to accept Lu Siyan as his and her child.
Now, she and Jiang Yan still hadn’t broken up and he was even showing off their love on WeChat Moments. How could Lu Yicheng’s feelings not be complex seeing that?
This was good actually.
Without thinking about that “future”, if not for Lu Siyan’s arrival, they fundamentally wouldn’t have much interaction.
Now she certainly couldn’t “go with the flow” and develop anything with him because of Lu Siyan.
They should both treat each other as tools.
To him, she was just a mother sharing risks and responsibilities for their child.
Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t dwell on it further since the tenants had arrived. It was a young couple who had already paid a down payment on a house but wouldn’t get the keys until the end of next year. In the meantime, they needed to rent. Originally they weren’t very satisfied with this unit – the complex was old with outdated facilities, and it was a walk-up. Modern young people were used to the convenience of elevators. Climbing 6 floors every day was truly hard to bear.
But after entering, their view changed.
The short-haired woman very politely said, “You don’t mind if I look around?”
Jiang Ruoqiao smiled, “Of course not.”
The woman looked around sighing, “Although this apartment is a bit old, I quite like the squarish layout. And it’s been maintained well – look how bright the windows are, the floors are so clean, and there’s no dampness in the rooms…”
Lu Yicheng’s apartment did have its advantages.
For example, the location was decent, not too remote. Within a kilometer were bus stops and a subway station. Nearby were also large supermarkets and a farmers market.
At the same price point in the area, one could only rent a tiny single elevator studio. Most importantly, Lu Yicheng wasn’t a middleman – this was his own property. Tenants didn’t need to worry about him running off. Direct communication between the owner and renter was also more convenient.
The young couple quickly decided to sign the contract.
Lu Yicheng was also on his way back.
Jiang Ruoqiao searched online again for places near A University. This was her first time realizing raising Lu Siyan wasn’t just a figure of speech.
Raising a child really costs a fortune!
For example, Lu Yicheng’s rent here would have been difficult to find anywhere near A University.
You could either choose to share a flat – but many people had requirements for roommates. Bringing a child, basically no one would agree.
So the difference in rent for two apartments was at least 1500-1600 yuan.
1500-1600 was no small sum – almost equivalent to a student’s monthly living expenses.
Besides rent, private kindergarten tuition wasn’t cheap either. Tuition per month averaged anywhere from 3000-10,000 yuan. Plus a nanny’s salary and Lu Siyan’s daily living costs. Just calculating it made Jiang Ruoqiao’s hands tremble.
On average, she had to spend at least 5-6000 yuan per month on Lu Siyan.
This was still under the condition of no illnesses or special expenses.
Jiang Ruoqiao couldn’t help but wail at the sky. It really is a cash incinerator, a gold-devouring beast!!
Actually with her current income, supporting herself and Lu Siyan was not an issue. But like this, she could forget about quickly getting her grandparents an elevator apartment…
Fortunately she had some savings, but she still couldn’t shake off a sense of anxiety.
Lu Yicheng’s pressure certainly wasn’t less than hers.
When signing the contract, he too furrowed his brows.
In this moment, Lu Yicheng and Jiang Ruoqiao’s joys and sorrows were shared.
Lu Yicheng had beautiful penmanship, but in this moment, Jiang Ruoqiao had no interest in admiring his forceful strokes.
After signing the contract, Lu Yicheng visibly relaxed. At least for now, this matter had gone smoothly.
By the time they finished up, it was almost mealtime. Although Lu Yicheng felt the need to maintain some distance from Jiang Ruoqiao, he wasn’t completely ignorant of social etiquette. Today Jiang Ruoqiao had helped host the tenants and chatted with them. He couldn’t just ignore her when it came to dinner.
But eating out had terrible cost performance.
A simple meal for two adults and a child easily ran over 100-200 yuan without getting anything nutritious.
Before, Lu Yicheng likely would have considered many external factors and chosen to dine out. But it was different now. He had to tighten his belt while generating income. At this critical juncture, he definitely didn’t want to spend an extra cent. So he decisively said, “Let’s eat dinner together. I’ll go buy some dishes and be right back.”
Under Lu Siyan’s expectant gaze, Jiang Ruoqiao nodded.
When Lu Yicheng said he’d be right back, he really returned in just over ten minutes with bags of groceries.
As soon as he returned, he washed his hands and busily got to work in the kitchen.
He washed and chopped vegetables, setting a knife to the cutting board, he cut the pork ribs into even little chunks.
When Jiang Ruoqiao came over to wash her hands, she happened to pass the kitchen and subconsciously glanced inside.
At this time, the glow of sunset poured through the window into the kitchen.
Lu Yicheng was enveloped in an orange halo. He had his back to her as he bent over chopping ingredients.
He was tall and slender. Bending over like this, his spinal line was clearly outlined.
The kitchen wasn’t large. He seemed a bit cramped inside.
Lu Yicheng knew Jiang Ruoqiao was watching him from the doorway.
He lowered his gaze, focusing only on the cutting board. After slicing the ribs, he deftly washed the board and began cleaning a sea bass.
After watching for a while, Jiang Ruoqiao was pulled to the sofa by Lu Siyan.
She was a foreign language major with professional aptitude. Lu Siyan clutched an English picture book, coquettishly asking her to read with him. On the sofa, mother and son nestled together. Jiang. Ruoqiao fluently told him the story… Her voice carried into the kitchen, and even Lu Yicheng could hear her telling the story.