Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 41

Jiang Ruoqiao had to admit, her roommates were perceptive.

She really was secretly supporting a man—no, to be precise, a boy.

Listening to them talk, she couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. Could this be the subtle transformation that comes with motherhood? On the surface, she looked no different than before, but when she examined things more closely, it was truly terrifying.

Take booking a hotel, for example. She swore that while using the app, she never once thought, “I need to be frugal and pick a cost-effective place.” Yet her fingers had unconsciously skipped over the high-end hotels and settled on a reasonably priced chain hotel with great value—and she booked it.

Same with ordering takeout.

She hadn’t intended to save money at all, but someone please tell her—why did she skip her usual light meal and instead order the economical chicken cutlet rice?!

It just didn’t make sense!!

Why had she become like this?!

Jiang Ruoqiao sat silently on the edge of the bed, inwardly cursing herself, full of regret and self-contempt.

After touring the tiny twenty-square-meter room, Yun Jia and the others found comfortable spots to sit. Yun Jia had only made that comment in passing—none of them took it seriously, except for Jiang Ruoqiao. Mainly because the three of them knew her all too well.

Jiang Ruoqiao practically had the phrase “never support the poor” carved into her DNA. You could see it just from how she dated.

So if she were ever to financially support someone, it could only be her grandparents—or a future child.

A man? No way 🙂

If a man ever needed her support, she’d kick him to the curb without hesitation.

In the end, Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t tell them about Lu Siyan. Not because she didn’t trust her friends.

On the contrary, the four of them were very close.

It was just that this situation was too complicated, too surreal. She wasn’t planning to keep it from the people close to her—she would tell them eventually… just not now. Look at the situation: the kindergarten had only just been confirmed, Lu Siyan hadn’t started yet, the apartment still wasn’t settled, the nanny hadn’t been found, and her relationship with Jiang Yan hadn’t even been properly sorted. Their breakup hadn’t even hit the twenty-four-hour mark.

Before her friends arrived, Jiang Ruoqiao had already ordered bubble tea tailored to each of their preferences.

She herself didn’t like sweet drinks.

While the other three sipped their bubble tea with great enthusiasm, Jiang Ruoqiao curled up on the bed, sipping bottled water.

Her roommates all strongly disapproved of Jiang Yan. But since they’d broken up, there was no point in continuing to complain about Jiang Yan and his oh-so-“sophisticated” purple-loving “sister.”

Biting her straw, Yun Jia said, “I really think Jiang Yan’s mom is a total deal-breaker. Don’t you guys agree? Thank God Ruoqiao got out fast. If she’d married into that family, that mother-in-law would’ve been the death of her.”

Jiang Ruoqiao smiled without commenting.

See? As long as you stood in her shoes, it was easy to see how wrong Jiang Yan’s mom was.

“Exactly,” said Gao Jingjing, who rarely commented on this kind of stuff. “Forget everything else. Just look at how protective she is of Lin Kexing—it’s not normal. In setups like this, either she sees Lin Kexing as her own daughter, and then any sister-in-law who gets stuck with her is doomed, or… they’re not even related by blood, and this ‘sister’ clearly has feelings for Jiang Yan. God, just imagining it makes me sick. If you ever got jealous, his whole family would probably turn on you and call you petty, asking why you couldn’t get along with your ‘sister’…”

Luo Wen frowned. “Yeah, that’s a tough situation. If it were a real sister or cousin, fine. But a non-blood-related ‘sister’? That’s practically a perfect position for attack or defense.”

“Exactly,” said Gao Jingjing softly, always the most observant in the group. “And that’s not even the worst-case scenario. The worst would be…”

She paused.

Jiang Ruoqiao exchanged a glance with Gao Jingjing and gave a small nod, signaling she understood what Gao Jingjing was getting at.

Luo Wen: “?? What are you two hinting at?”

Gao Jingjing smiled. “The worst would be—Jiang Yan’s mother sees Lin Kexing as her future daughter-in-law.”

Now that was the real kicker.

Jiang Ruoqiao gave a slight smile. “She can see Lin Kexing however she likes. It’s none of my business anymore. As long as she doesn’t cause me trouble, I’ll be the ex everyone praises.”

Yun Jia: “Jiang Yan should seriously be exiled from China.”

“The kind of guy who gets played by both his ‘sister’ and his mom? I honestly wonder how he even got into college through legitimate means.”

“Let’s not be too harsh,” said Gao Jingjing. “We’re on Ruoqiao’s side because we’re her friends, so everything’s crystal clear to us. But if someone looked at this from a different perspective, they might not see the problem at all.”

Jiang Ruoqiao nodded with a smile. “Exactly.”

So-called “sweet romance novels”? This was exactly what they looked like.

To the uninformed, from Lin Kexing’s perspective, Jiang Yan’s mom might actually seem like a rare and wonderful mother-in-law.

After all, in the original novel, Jiang Yan’s mom eventually cared more about Lin Kexing than her own son.

But if you considered all the details of the story as a whole, would it still feel like a warm, fluffy romance?

This kind of thing was never even mentioned in the original book. It was something she’d gleaned from the sidelines, just by observing. Who knew how many hidden details the author never bothered to write?

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan had been waiting outside her apartment building all day.

From noon until afternoon, then into the evening.

He hadn’t eaten, didn’t even feel hungry. This was the second time in his life he’d felt this kind of panic. The first was when he got the news of his father’s unexpected death. The second—was now. He kept trying to reassure himself that with the kind of relationship he and Ruoqiao had, she would give him a chance to explain. If he tried hard enough, maybe they could reconcile. But deep down, a voice kept whispering: You’re about to lose her.

When Jiang Yan didn’t return home, both his mother and Lin Kexing grew concerned.

Outwardly, Lin Kexing acted as usual when she returned. Mrs. Lin had been busy lately and hadn’t paid much attention to her daughter, so that hurdle was passed. But just as she was starting to relax, she heard Jiang Yan hadn’t come back.

She normally found every excuse to hang around the guesthouse wing, but today she holed up in the main house, afraid of running into him. But now… she couldn’t ignore it. She rushed over to find Jiang Yan’s mother, visibly anxious. “Brother Jiang Yan still isn’t back?”

Mrs. Jiang shook her head. “No. He won’t answer his phone, either.”

Truthfully, she wasn’t surprised.

As his mother, she knew him best. She knew how deeply he cared for Jiang Ruoqiao. At the time, she’d even felt a bit of regret—after all, Jiang Yan had known Lin Kexing for over a decade. They’d lived under the same roof for ten years, and all that time, Jiang Yan had never developed the slightest romantic feeling for her. But from the moment he met Jiang Ruoqiao, he’d been drawn to her.

He was so much like her and her late husband.

All three of them were the same—they would love at first sight, and if it wasn’t love at first sight, no amount of time together would ever develop into love.

But what was love worth in a man’s life? Especially compared to his career? At best, love was the cherry on top. Nice to have—but not essential.

Marriage, after all, was mostly about responsibility.

She understood her son: the more the Lin family gave him, the more Lin Kexing poured her heart into him, the more indebted he’d feel—until he couldn’t repay it anymore. At that point, he would take responsibility.

Lin Kexing, worried, asked, “Should we send someone to look for him?”

It was getting so late. What if something had happened?

Mrs. Jiang sighed. “No need. He needs to sort this out himself. If he can’t even get through this, then clearly, he and his girlfriend weren’t meant to be. If two people don’t even have basic trust, how could they spend a lifetime together? Let him figure it out.”

Lin Kexing froze but said nothing. Staring out into the night, her face was clouded with worry.

Jiang Yan waited all night without closing his eyes, yet still didn’t see Jiang Ruoqiao.

By then, he had to admit it—she was avoiding him. She’d blocked his calls and messages, and after standing there all day, he still hadn’t seen her… She really wanted to break up!

Jiang Ruoqiao, meanwhile, had a dreamless, peaceful night in the hotel.

She had advanced the novel’s plotline, bringing up the breakup ahead of schedule. And the breakup wasn’t because he had no money—it was because he had done something akin to betrayal. If he tried to blame her in the future, she would be the first to object. Just like the last two times, she felt nothing but relief after the breakup. This time, even more so—because she’d taken control. As long as Jiang Yan faded out of her life, she was confident her future would be bright.

In the end, it was men who had held her back.

The first thing Jiang Ruoqiao did upon waking was check her email to see if the company had responded.

…Still no reply.

She comforted herself: big companies don’t usually give interview results so quickly.

Plus, to compete for a single position, HR would likely schedule several candidates together for interviews.

She spent the whole day in the hotel. Not idle, though—she coordinated her next semester’s class schedule with her boss to plan video shoots. The rest of the time was spent managing her social media account. On that front, she had clearly been slacking lately. Thinking about it, it was likely due to the influence of the original novel… She pulled herself together. The account still brought her monthly income—she couldn’t afford to neglect it.

She had collected old photos and videos from friends.

After thinking it over, she decided to create a few videos with a “nostalgia” theme and see how they were received.

She edited meticulously, curating every detail. It took nearly an hour just to pick the right background music. And precisely because of this dedication, even though she didn’t post often—sometimes only once every few days—her fanbase remained stable, and each video received good engagement and shares.

Once she finished editing, she uploaded the four-minute video.

Just as she was wrapping up, she received two intriguing texts from Lu Yicheng.

「Yesterday, it was Jiang Yan who borrowed my phone to call you. I’m sorry.」

「I’ve scheduled an apartment viewing with the agent today. Are you free to come? If not, I’ll take Siyan myself and send you videos so we can decide together. What do you think?」

Jiang Ruoqiao propped her chin in her hand, tilting her head as she read the messages.

She couldn’t help but smile wryly. Why was he being so cautious?

Did she really seem that fierce? That scary to him?