Feeling stuffy and uncomfortable, Shen Shu stepped out of his study with the plan to go downstairs and pour himself a glass of cold water. However, as he was walking by the utility room, he happened to see the maid doing something. She was holding a ragged cardboard box that looked like it was about to fall apart and muttering: “They don’t even want such beautiful things. What a sin, ah…”
As she walked out of the utility room, the maid suddenly spotted Shen Shu, and her muttering immediately stopped.
Shen Shu, holding his cup of water, looked at the box in her hands and asked, “What are you doing?”
The maid replied, “The Old Madam who asked me to pack up all the unwanted things in the utility room and throw them away.”
She opened the box and showed the contents to Shen Shu, “It seems to be some things you didn’t want from your high school days.” After a pause, she added: “I think they were given by one of your former classmates.”
Shen Shu remembered now.
Not a classmate, they were given by Ruan Tian.
Back then she had made various handicrafts to give to him, like a small bamboo basket and some animal dolls.
That feeling of breathlessness, irritability, and depression suddenly surged up again.
Shen Shu’s expression turned ugly and he said: “Put it down first.”
The maid got a bit nervous. In fact, she had felt it was a waste to throw these things away and had secretly taken some away to her room, so she thought she had been discovered and began to feel a little scared. She blurted defensively, “But you didn’t want any of these before.”
Hearing her words, Shen Shu’s face darkened another shade.
Seeing his expression turning darker and darker, the maid immediately stopped talking nonsense and said: “Well, I’ll just put the box on the table.”
“En.”
After the maid set down the box and ran away, Shen Shu opened it and looked inside. Inside he found that it was indeed a collection of gifts he had never bothered to throw away which had piled up in the utility room.
There was even one of the notes that Ruan Tian had often written for him back then. Her sharp but slightly crude handwriting stood out against the faded post-it note.
It said: “To classmate Shen Shu, wishing you happiness every day.”
Shen Shu clutched the note so tightly that his knuckles gradually turned white.
At the top of the stairs, Mother Shen watched this scene for a long time. Eventually, she sighed and said: “What’s wrong with you?”
Shen Shu rarely reached out to anyone for anything. He kept his thoughts and feelings deep in his heart, always the aloof and noble prince, but this time he couldn’t help but want to tell the truth for some reason.
He hung his head, and when he spoke his voice was very low, “Mom, I’m a little uncomfortable.”
His heart seemed to twinge, and he didn’t understand what was wrong.
He only knew that as long as he thought of Ruan Tian, he would start to feel uncomfortable inside.
As he looked down at Ruan Tian’s handwriting, he somehow remembered the photo they had taken for their marriage certificate.
Back then, the little girl who had just grown up was smiling and seemed very happy.
She had held his arm cautiously, prettily leaning her head against his shoulder but not quite touching, careful not to let him find out.
Shen Shu’s fingers unconsciously tightened even further and he continued in the same low voice, “Something feels wrong, and my heart hurts.”
————————–
Whenever Ruan Tian began filming, her work and rest schedule always became very regular. She would go to bed early and wake up early, and if filming ever ended early she would just take it as an opportunity to run a few laps for exercise before sleeping at her usual time.
While in this state, she wouldn’t go online very much, and she wouldn’t pay much attention to outside news. Instead, she spent her free time concentrating on studying the script and practicing her lines. And, occasionally, she would find the martial arts instructor and ask him to teach her so she could improve herself.
She would only check Weibo if she was feeling very idle.
During one such moment of idleness, Ruan Tian unexpectedly saw that a set of Zhou Xiaoqiao’s photos had climbed to the top of the hot search.
@HeartThrobStation: Look at this beautiful little sister who will make your heart throb! She looks just like a little princess who has been raised in a greenhouse. 【Picture】 【Picture】 【Picture】.
“Is this an amateur model?!”
“She’s so beautiful! Does this little sister have a Weibo? Someone point the way.”
“@ZhouXiaoQiao, seems to be her Weibo. She’s a very low-key rich second-generation little sister. Really the embodiment of white, rich, pretty.” (tl note: white rich pretty is like slang for an ‘ideal beauty’ I guess)
Ruan Tian quickly closed the app and grabbed a nearby table unsteadily.
Suddenly she felt like she was losing her nerve! ! ! She almost couldn’t breathe! ! !
It was that ****ing Zhou Xiaoqiao! ! !
Zhou Xiaoqiao, the heroine of this novel, was really a bitch.
That woman’s tactics were deep, and an uncountable number of levels higher than her own.
Most importantly, Zhou Xiaoqiao’s golden finger was also much thicker than hers! ! ! (tl note: “golden finger” is basically like a cheat that helps a character get ahead? Like plot armor?)
Ruan Tian was actually a bit afraid of her.
From long ago, Ruan Tian had discovered that Zhou Xiaoqiao liked to snatch the things that belonged to her.
She would do it subtly, secretly, quietly, but she would do it all the same.
Her tricks were always in the style of ‘Ah, that was an accident… I didn’t know… I’m innocent… I didn’t mean it… etc…’, and she never got tired of playing them.
However, Ruan Tian had always been confident about one thing: Zhou Xiaoqiao would never be able to enter the entertainment circle.
On the one hand, her family would never agree, and on the other hand, Zhou Xiaoqiao’s magical ‘wilting beauty’ body wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
After gathering herself, Ruan Tian secretly logged into an alternate account with very few followers and decisively left a comment: 【I feel like she looks a bit like a bitch~】
tl begging corner:
OMG, Tiantian, that comment. Me approve! 🤣👏