In fact, she had been thinking about this problem for a long time, but she still hadn't come to a conclusion. Every time, she could only attribute it to her genuine feelings for Ruan Yu, even if those feelings were based on the premise that "this would allow me to survive." Her care for Ruan Yu was never mixed with any ill intentions.
Mainly, the girl's temper, personality, and hard work suited her taste. Even though she particularly disliked math, she was still willing to be forced by Ruan Yu to do math problems in her room under a timer, gradually correcting her thinking.
However, this time, based on her agreement with Ruan Yu last week, she had a different guess.
Could the protagonist be like her, treating her kindly for some other purpose?
Just like Ruan Yu said that day, after graduating from high school, she wanted to leave the Wen family with her, since two people are always better than one.
Thinking about it that way, it actually makes a lot of sense.
A note from the author:
Several foreshadowing elements were planted.
The second update is here!
Chapter 27
The National Day holiday was fast approaching. On September 30th, as soon as school was over, Wen Yun asked the driver to take her to the rescue station.
After getting out of the car at the entrance of the rescue station, Wen Yun noticed He Sheng getting out of a black luxury car not far away. He shielded his eyes from the sun and waved to them with a smile.
"I've come to pick up Xiaodai." After entering the shelter, He Sheng asked, "How did things go with your family?"
Before Wen Yun could speak, Ruan Yu interrupted, "I'll have to trouble you to take care of Niu Niu from now on!"
"Niu Niu" is the nickname for the cow cat. After the two girls became friends, they would talk about their cats every now and then, and that's when they came up with the name.
He Sheng seemed to have anticipated this situation, so he suppressed his smile and nodded seriously, "Don't be shy, as I said before, just leave the cat to me!"
The tortoiseshell kitten has fully recovered, and the tuxedo cat has completed its deworming treatment. When the staff brought it out, it had even had a bath, and its originally dirty and dusty fur was now fluffy and smooth.
"You've only been a few days and you're already taking a shower? Aren't you stressed?" He Sheng asked.
The staff member said with a smile, "There was no stress. We only dared to give it a bath because we found that it was not afraid of water or people."
The black and white cat meowed, as if in agreement with her.
Ruan Yu couldn't help but reach out to the cat, take the cat that was lying obediently in the staff member's arms, and gently scratch the cat's chin.
"The little guy is already seven months old, so please arrange for him to be spayed/neutered as soon as possible," the staff member said. "You can get all his vaccinations done first, otherwise the cat will be weak after the surgery, making him more susceptible to infectious diseases and hindering his recovery."
Cats cannot be bathed within a week before vaccination, so the calico cat's vaccination was postponed. Wen Yun and her two companions discussed it with the staff and decided to wait until the end of the National Day holiday to vaccinate the cat.
He Sheng only took the little hawksbill turtle with him today, and also invited Wen Yun and Ruan Yu to his home as guests.
The two intended to go, but the housekeeper suddenly received a call from Wen's mother, saying that there would be a family meeting that night to discuss matters related to returning to the Wen family's old house in October. So they had to say goodbye to He Sheng and return home.
Upon hearing the keyword "Wen Family Old House," Wen Yun's eyes lit up instantly.
This is also one of the important plot points in the original story. The Wen family patriarch is celebrating his 70th birthday, which happens to fall during the National Day holiday. Naturally, the Wen family's siblings all took leave and brought their families to celebrate. As the true daughter of the Wen family, Ruan Yu was also taken to meet the patriarch.
In Wen Yun's opinion, this part of the plot is a rare example in the original text where the protagonist is not tortured, but rather given a pleasant surprise.
The old patriarch of the Wen family was getting old and disliked the younger generation who approached him with ulterior motives. The simple and hardworking protagonist caught his attention. After a conversation, he even took Ruan Yu to his study and personally wrote a calligraphy for her.
Wen Yun still remembers the content of that calligraphy: "It is washed by clear ripples but not seductive." It is the most classic line from Zhou Dunyi's "On the Love of Lotus".
The preceding line, which was deliberately omitted by Old Master Wen, is "emerging from the mud unsullied," which shows how dissatisfied he was with the current state of the Wen family.
When Wen Yun was reading the story, she didn't have high hopes for this elder. She didn't know if the author forgot about him while writing. After the birthday celebration, Grandpa Wen basically had no interaction with the protagonist, and the plot returned to the protagonist being suppressed.
Otherwise, if there had been a reliable elder willing to lend a helping hand in the ending, the protagonist wouldn't have been driven to desperation and chosen suicide.
But now that she has transmigrated into the novel, and plans to leave the Wen family with the protagonist, she must win the support of the older generation to avoid trouble from the Wen family elders.
She has to make use of characters that the author has forgotten.
As expected, at the dinner table tonight, Mr. Wen brought up the matter of taking Ruan Yu back to the Wen family's old house.
"If you're asked why you haven't changed your surname, just say you're nostalgic and that you had to wait until graduation because of the frequent exams in your senior year of high school," Wen's father reminded Ruan Yu.
Upon hearing this, Wen Yun almost broke the chicken bone in her hand, but she managed to hold back and not roll her eyes at her father on the spot.
This is clearly a blatant attempt to shift the blame onto Ruan Yu! It was the Wen family who clearly had no intention of changing Ruan Yu's surname and even set a one-year observation period!
Ruan Yu obediently agreed and asked gently, "What clothes should I wear to see Grandpa?"
"Aunt Ge will arrange everything for you." After saying that, Wen's father glanced at Wen Yun for some reason and couldn't help but remind her, "Don't offend anyone during the birthday celebration."
"Don't worry, Dad," Wen Yun replied readily, but she didn't really think so in her heart.
Her principle is "I will not offend others unless they offend me," but if troublemakers come to her, why can't she fight back?
Just like the incident with Luo Qin and Zheng Jiafei, they were the ones who wanted to smear Ruan Yu and get her expelled from school first. Even if she knew it would cause enmity, she couldn't just ignore it.
After dinner, Wen Yun went to find Ruan Yu with her math test paper and shared her thoughts with her.
Ruan Yu actually had a deep impression of Grandpa Wen. Ever since she returned, she had carefully kept that calligraphy hanging in her room.
But in her previous life, she really had no contact with Old Master Wen after that. She was always busy and after being expelled from the Wen family, she felt guilty and felt that she had let down Old Master Wen's expectations of "rising from the mud unsullied and being pure and unpretentious". She had no face to see the elder who had treated her kindly.
“This can’t really be considered exploitation.” Seeing Ruan Yu’s hesitation, Wen Yun quickly advised, “By blood you are your grandfather’s granddaughter, and you need his help to escape a murky environment and go to a wider world. Your grandfather is reasonable and will definitely support you. It’s a matter of mutual consent.”
“I understand the reasoning,” Ruan Yu said softly, stroking the notebook in her hand.
"That's good. You have to be thick-skinned in these kinds of things." Wen Yun breathed a sigh of relief. "If Grandpa doesn't support us, we should give up on this hope as soon as possible and think of another way. Everything is for a better future."
She never imagined that after listening to her superiors make empty promises for so many years, she would one day be the one making empty promises herself.
But seeing the faint smile on Ruan Yu's face, she felt that her pie-in-the-sky promise was quite promising.
"Do you have any relatives or elders you're close to?" Wen Yun asked, seizing the opportunity. "Even former teachers from school would be fine."
The original text has limited perspective and content, and she is not Ruan Yu herself, so she does not know who the other party has been in contact with over the years.
Ruan Yu thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I have an aunt, my adoptive father's younger sister, but she's always away doing business and hasn't been home for years. The last time I saw her, I think... was when I was admitted to high school?"
"Is she good to you?" Wen Yun asked again.
“It’s great.” Ruan Yu nodded without hesitation. “My aunt cares about my grades and buys me new clothes and stationery. My current schoolbag and old cell phone were gifts from my aunt.”
She opened her phone, pulled up her contacts, and showed Wen Yun a string of numbers. The contact's name was marked "Ruan Ruilin - Aunt," a character name Wen Yun had never seen before.
Wen Yun understood. "Since she cares about you, she should come to see you when your college entrance exam scores come out. We should also ask her next year. It would be great if we could get her support. I've heard that business people travel all over the country, are knowledgeable, and have more free thinking. Maybe your aunt can point us in the right direction."
After making a rough plan for the future, Wen Yun took out her math exam papers and notes from the previous monthly exam and began to ask Ruan Yu for help.
Although she understood the lesson with the help of system tools, He Sheng's words still reminded her, "Don't try to answer questions beyond your capabilities."
She only understood and remembered the problem-solving strategies for the questions on the monthly exam paper. If she couldn't apply those strategies to similar questions, it would be useless.
-
The day to go to the Wen family's old house arrived quickly. The night before, the housekeeper delivered the ironed clothes to Wen Yun and Ruan Yu's rooms respectively.
Grandpa Wen disliked bright red and purple, finding them too garish, but the clothes for the birthday celebration couldn't be too plain, and certainly not black. After much deliberation, Wen Yun finally wore a light blue, sweet and refreshing autumn long dress, while Ruan Yu wore a cream-white shirt and a khaki skirt, paired with white sneakers. They sat hand in hand in the back seat of the car.
Holding hands was Wen's mother's request, as described in the original text, to show Wen's grandfather and other relatives the appearance of the two daughters getting along harmoniously.
Wen Yun was actually a little nervous when she held hands with Ruan Yu, afraid that Ruan Yu would recall this scene from her past life and feel resistant or disgusted by it. On the contrary, Ruan Yu seemed very natural, not only holding her hand calmly, but also not letting go even when they were sitting in the car.
Wen Yun's palms were sweating from being held so tightly, so she quickly leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You don't actually need to hold my hand now."
Ruan Yu responded, and replied in a similarly low voice, "But I'm nervous."
Actually, she wasn't nervous. She just felt safe holding this person's hand. With her by her side, no matter what happened, she knew she would be protected.
She vaguely sensed that this was what He Sheng had told her not long ago: the dependence of cats on humans.
Sensitive cats only show their docile, cute, and annoying side in front of the person they trust most. They know that no matter if they are being affectionate or throwing a tantrum, the person they trust will soothe them and make them feel better.
Although Ruan Yu wasn't a cat, she truly felt that she could rely on someone with peace of mind.
Just like now, she sensed the nervousness and discomfort of the people around her, but she also knew that they wouldn't refuse her.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the person hurriedly said, "Then hold his hand, don't be afraid."
Wen Yun was completely unaware of Ruan Yu's little schemes. As long as the protagonist's needs weren't excessive, she would try her best to satisfy them.
It's just holding hands. If it can calm the protagonist down, stop her from being nervous, and stop her from remembering those unpleasant things from her past life, then she'd be happy to let the protagonist hold her hand for a while longer.
So they led each other all the way to the entrance of the Wen family's old house.
Older people often prefer to maintain their health in places far from the hustle and bustle of the city, and Mr. Wen is no exception.
Compared to the Wen family, the mountain where the old house is located is more like a scenic area. Even though the sun is already high in the sky, there is still thick white mist rolling in the mountains, and the birds are singing sweetly. As far as the eye can see, there is a reassuring dark green.
When getting off the bus, Wen Yun subconsciously waited for Ruan Yu for a few seconds, and their hands, which were clasped together, remained suspended in mid-air for a few seconds.
She looked down and saw the girl's exposed wrist, which was much fairer than it had been a month ago. She inexplicably wanted to pull up the girl's sleeve to protect it from the sun.
A note from the author:
The first update is here!
I'm helping an old classmate with his background check tonight, so I might update a little later.
Chapter 28
As Wen Yun was thinking this, Ruan Yu had already gotten out of the car, checked the silver butterfly hair clip, and looked at the old man walking towards their family.
Finding the old man's identity in the original owner's memories, Wen Yun greeted him with a smile: "Uncle Li!"
"Miss Yunyun." Uncle Li, the old housekeeper, smiled kindly, bowed to them politely, and gestured for them to enter. When he looked up, his gaze fell on Ruan Yu, who was walking side by side with Wen Yun.
The old house's architectural style is both casual and dignified. As Wen Yun followed Uncle Li through the gate and courtyard to the living room, she looked around and felt that the environment was a bit oppressive.
But the moment she stepped into the living room, her vision cleared up. The antique-style furnishings were very elegant, the rockery made the sound of flowing water, and the sunlight shone through the old-fashioned windows, lazily illuminating an elderly man who was washing teaware.
When Wen Yun saw the old man clearly, she felt a sudden panic in her heart and her body trembled. But she quickly realized that it was not her own emotion, but a feeling left over from the original owner of the body.
For some reason, the original owner seemed to be particularly afraid of the Wen family patriarch.
"Sir, Yuanmin and his family have arrived." Uncle Li stepped forward and bent down to say to the old man.
Mr. Wen's father was the eldest son of Old Master Wen, so every time they visited the old house, the whole family was the first to arrive. Old Master Wen was already used to this. Hearing this, he looked up and his gaze also fell on Ruan Yu, and then he looked at the hands that Ruan Yu and Wen Yun were holding tightly.
Wen's mother gently pushed Ruan Yu forward and said softly, "Dad, this is Xiao Yu. She just came home last month. Xiao Yu, quickly call him Grandpa."