Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 35
After the lights were turned on, Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t go downstairs. Instead, she went upstairs to her room and began packing her things.
It was only a two-day, one-night trip, so she didn’t have much to pack. The process was quick and easy. The moment she closed the suitcase lid and zipped it up, she wasn’t sure whether she should feel a sense of loss or relief.
Her feelings for Jiang Yan had already worn away bit by bit over time.
Watching him entangled with Lin Kexing didn’t stir much emotion in her—just numbness. Perhaps this was the plot—even though the circumstances had changed, the events that were meant to happen still occurred. Maybe she had even pushed the story forward without meaning to.
In the original novel, during this countryside vacation, there was no unpleasantness between the female supporting character and the male lead. There wasn’t even a truth-or-dare game. The owner had brewed some bayberry wine and poured a full bowl for everyone. The female supporting character didn’t want to drink, so the male lead drank hers—and naturally also drank for his “sister” Lin Kexing. After three bowls of fairly strong wine, he became intoxicated. After chatting with friends for a while, he couldn’t bear it anymore and went upstairs to his room. Lin Kexing, worried about him, went to his room when no one was paying attention. The male lead mistook her for someone else and kissed her… When she came to her senses, she pushed him away and hurried back to her room.
The next day, the male lead had almost forgotten this incident. He did ask the female supporting character if she had looked for him the night before. When she said no, he assumed it had all been a dream.
This time, the owner didn’t offer them wine because there was a child at the dinner table. The bayberry wine was tempting, and the owner’s wife had children of her own. Worried that the child might think it was a beverage and demand to drink it, and considering that these were just students, she didn’t serve them any alcohol.
From beginning to end, Jiang Ruoqiao had just watched from the sidelines. She hadn’t wanted to recreate the novel’s plot—just remain an insider, living through it this time.
But still…
Jiang Yan still ended up drinking alcohol, still felt unwell and returned to his room early, and the power still went out.
How frightening..
Jiang Ruoqiao had been afraid at first, but after seeing the two entangled together, that feeling diminished considerably.
The plot was already different. Her breakup with Jiang Yan wasn’t because of the “gold-digging” theme in the original novel, but because… he had intimate contact with another girl. Because he had no boundaries with her.
She was definitely leaving today.
If she didn’t go now, Lin Kexing would be the one to leave next.
Lin Kexing would leave feeling utterly wronged—and wouldn’t that just hand all the power back to them? If they came to explain that she had misunderstood… If Jiang Yan said Lin Kexing had already left and he had no such intentions towards her, it was all just a misunderstanding—how disgusting would that be?
She wouldn’t give them even the slightest chance to downplay the situation or smooth things over.
The person who leaves first holds the upper hand.
Jiang Ruoqiao dragged her suitcase out the door as quickly as possible. This was the owner’s self-built house with no elevator installed. She lifted her suitcase to head down the stairs. It wasn’t heavy, but going downstairs made it harder. Just as she gritted her teeth with effort, a hand forcefully took the suitcase from her. She looked up—it was Lu Yicheng.
Had he been waiting at the staircase the whole time?
Did he think she was going to do something stupid?
She wouldn’t 🙂
Even if she really went crazy, she’d make sure to torment Jiang Yan and Lin Kexing to death first.
Lu Yicheng had incredible arm strength. To Jiang Ruoqiao, he carried the suitcase as if it were cotton, seemingly without the slightest effort.
She could only follow him downstairs. When they reached the first floor, probably to avoid any suspicion, he handed the suitcase back to her.
Jiang Ruoqiao wasn’t ungrateful. He had followed her to Jiang Yan’s room and then followed her all the way down. Although he hadn’t said anything, she could sense his concern.
She pressed her lips together and said, “Thank you.”
Lu Yicheng just looked at her with a calm gaze.
In the courtyard, the others were playing cards. When they saw Jiang Ruoqiao coming with her luggage, Yun Jia and the others threw down their cards and rushed over, looking shocked.
“Ruoqiao, what are you doing?”
Jiang Ruoqiao smiled and said, “Something came up. I already spoke with the owner—he’s helping me get a ride back to the city. His cousin happens to be heading back and can take me along.”
Yun Jia frowned. “So sudden?”
She felt something was wrong and instinctively looked around, her eyes widening. “Where’s Jiang Yan? And where’s that sister of his??”
Right! Just now Ruoqiao said she wanted to check on Jiang Yan, and it hadn’t been twenty minutes, yet suddenly she was carrying her suitcase and leaving. Anyone would suspect something had happened!
Jiang Ruoqiao gave a cold, mocking smile.
“Damn!!” Yun Jia and the other two girls were furious and immediately said they were going upstairs to beat Jiang Yan to a pulp.
They were all adults—they could connect the dots.
In such a short time, Jiang Ruoqiao’s attitude had changed drastically, to the extent that she couldn’t bear to stay any longer. She had just gone to find Jiang Yan, and now both Jiang Yan and Lin Kexing were nowhere to be seen. Even the most obtuse person would sense something was wrong.
“Jiang Yan, you bastard!” Yun Jia, with the most volatile temper, looked like she was about to grab a wine bottle and storm upstairs to seek revenge.
Jiang Ruoqiao quickly stopped her, looking exhausted and helpless. “It’s not worth it. Really, I have something to attend to, so I’m going back first. You all stay and enjoy yourselves. The day after tomorrow, when I’m free, I’ll treat you all to a meal as an apology, okay?”
Only then did Yun Jia reluctantly hold back.
But she was still clearly furious. “What’s there to enjoy? This is so annoying!”
It was all Jiang Yan’s fault. This was supposed to be a joint outing between two dormitories, but instead, he had brought a “sister” along right under his girlfriend’s nose.
Sister, your ass!
Du Yu, Wang Jianfeng, and Lu Yicheng all stayed quiet. They had no real grounds to speak—they were from the same dormitory as Jiang Yan. In the girls’ eyes, all four of them were guilty by association.
Birds of a feather..
The owner’s cousin was a young woman in her early thirties, driving a Hummer.
She had come to pick up some items today and was now heading back. There was one extra seat, so Jiang Ruoqiao could catch a ride.
Lu Yicheng stepped forward to help with her suitcase.
Yun Jia shot him a sidelong glance. “We don’t need your help.”
Lu Yicheng: “…”
Fair enough.
All the men present understood—they were being targeted by misdirected anger. But what could they do when their roommate, their friend, might have done something despicable?
Yun Jia and Gao Jingjing helped Jiang Ruoqiao put her suitcase in the trunk.
Just as Jiang Ruoqiao was about to open the car door, Jiang Yan came down.
After the incident, his head had been pounding. He wanted to get up and chase after Jiang Ruoqiao, but he was so dizzy he could barely take a step. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and go to the bathroom for a cold shower, which finally cleared his head somewhat. When he came down and saw Jiang Ruoqiao about to get in the car to leave, his eyes turned bloodshot. Despite the pain, he rushed forward, almost colliding with Du Yu. He looked at Jiang Ruoqiao in disbelief, instinctively trying to grab her hand, his voice hoarse.
“Ruoqiao, listen to me… let me explain.”
That one word—explain—was painfully hard to say.
In fact, he didn’t even know what had happened. By the time he came to his senses, he found that the person in his arms was actually Kexing.
Lu Siyan also didn’t know what had happened. Seeing his mother about to leave, he wanted to go forward, but was grabbed by Lu Yicheng. Lu Siyan looked at him accusingly in protest, but Lu Yicheng shook his head, his expression serious. With that, Lu Siyan didn’t dare to rush forward anymore.
Dad rarely acted this way.
He was indeed a bit scared, but what was wrong with mom? Had someone bullied her?
Jiang Ruoqiao just looked at Jiang Yan quietly. “What do you want to explain? That I saw wrong? That I misunderstood? That it was just an accident? Jiang Yan, I’ll make it clear today. Whether it was intentional or not, whether it was a misunderstanding or not—this is where we end. We’re breaking up.”
Jiang Yan looked at her sharply. “B-Breaking up?”
Yun Jia, who had been dissatisfied for a while, lashed out, “If not break up, what? Keep you around for New Year’s? Someone like you doesn’t deserve our Ruoqiao!”
The confidence some men had..
Was Jiang Yan the only man left in the world? Something like this happens and they shouldn’t break up?
Not break up and keep him around for New Year’s? Not break up and wait for breast hyperplasia from the stress?
Jiang Ruoqiao pulled away, turned sideways to open the car door, not wanting to give outsiders a show. “I’m going back first.”
These words were for Yun Jia and the other three girls.
But Jiang Yan couldn’t accept this outcome. His head was throbbing terribly, yet he had only one thought: he couldn’t lose her. They had been so happy when they arrived, how did this happen? Why did this happen? Why were they breaking up?
He refused to believe it.
His mind was blank now, his only thought being that he couldn’t let her leave. If she left, he would lose her completely.
He reached out his hand, bracing himself against the car door, clearly trying to stop her from leaving. Jiang Ruoqiao raised her eyes to meet his gaze, but was startled—those eyes were gradually beginning to merge with the cold eyes she had seen in her dream.
She didn’t want to waste time.
Her gaze moved away from Jiang Yan and met Lu Yicheng’s eyes.
Lu Yicheng was also momentarily stunned. But he couldn’t ignore her current silence and resistance.
Although this matter had nothing to do with him, and he shouldn’t interfere, looking at her calm eyes, seeing her look toward him, he could no longer remain uninvolved.
Even he didn’t know why.
He couldn’t stay uninvolved. At least at this moment, he was no longer an outsider, at least not to her.
Lu Yicheng lowered his eyes, silent for a few seconds. He reassuringly patted Lu Siyan. Father and son exchanged a glance; during this time, they had developed an understanding. Lu Siyan pressed his lips together, unusually quiet.
After reassuring Lu Siyan, Lu Yicheng finally strode forward with his long legs. Before Du Yu and the others could react, he walked up and blocked Jiang Yan.
Lu Yicheng and Jiang Yan were about the same height.
In this chaotic moment, even Jiang Ruoqiao’s close friends didn’t step in. Instead, it was the formerly gentle and reserved Lu Yicheng who stood up, blocking Jiang Yan.
Though the two men were about the same height, Lu Yicheng was still a bit taller than Jiang Yan. They had been friends, but now they stood in opposition, as if in confrontation. Lu Yicheng’s eyes were calm and unruffled, but he remained positioned between Jiang Ruoqiao and Jiang Yan, blocking her from him.
Not just the others, but even Jiang Yan now looked at Lu Yicheng with confusion.
Lu Yicheng said nothing.
He stopped Jiang Yan, and Jiang Ruoqiao found the opportunity to open the car door, get in, and close it. It was as if she was now in a different world from them.
Jiang Yan could only watch helplessly as the car started and left, as if watching her disappear bit by bit from his world.