When the man noticed her, Ruan Yu had no choice but to respond. She walked up to them with the cat in her arms, lowered her eyes and whispered to the cat, "Niu Niu, this is your brother."
The black and white cat couldn't understand, but it smelled the freshly grilled fish fillets on the table. Ignoring her, it turned its head to look at the table.
"Isn't this the 'Siberian Husky of cats'?" Wen Lu laughed as soon as he saw the black and white cat. "Does Yunyun own it, or does Xiaoyu own it?"
“Of course we raised it together.” Wen Yun smiled and tugged at Ruan Yu’s sleeve, making her sit next to her. “But Xiao Yu rescued the cat at school.”
"May I touch it?" Wen Lu asked sincerely.
Ruan Yu hesitated for a moment, looked at Wen Yun, and seeing that the other party did not intend to stop her, she reluctantly handed over the cat.
“I’ve always wanted to bring a kitten home. When I was little, I finally managed to lure a stray cat home. I think it was a little orange tabby. I even made a nest for it in a cardboard box, thinking that I would give it a bath when it got a little older, because it would get sick if it was dirty.”
Wen Lu carefully held the cat, letting its four limbs rest on her body so it wasn't dangling in the air, and slowly recalled, "A few days later, the cat and the cardboard box disappeared. I searched for a long time near my home, but I couldn't find it. I could only assume that it had become a spirit, didn't like me, and ran away with the box in the middle of the night."
Although he spoke in a lighthearted, joking tone, Wen Yun and Ruan Yu both understood the implied meaning and their expressions changed.
"Xiaoyu, are you dressed like this to go to the gym?" After a moment of silence, Wen Lu changed the subject. "I heard that the gymnasium at C City University of Finance and Economics is very close to the student dormitories, and it's fully equipped. There are also yoga and tai chi instructors leading classes in the morning. Anyone can participate as long as they get up early enough."
At the mention of C Finance, Wen Yun and Ruan Yu both perked up their ears and subconsciously looked at him.
“I have a few good friends who are from the C Finance Department, and their majors aren’t all finance-related.” Wen Lu pushed up his glasses, gently scratched the ear of the cat in his arms, and said unhurriedly, “If you’re interested, I can arrange a small group chat so you can inquire yourselves.”
A note from the author:
The second update is here!
Recovering the foreshadowing about the older brother's dislike of Xiaoyu _(:з」∠)_
Chapter 45
After joining the C City University of Finance and Economics's student group and saying goodbye to Wen Lu, Wen Yun and Ruan Yu continued their morning exercise as usual.
The calico cat was put back into the room next to the gym. When they entered the gym, Wen Yun deliberately closed the door tightly and pulled Ruan Yu to sit on the exercise bike.
“I’ve pretty much figured out what’s going on with your brother, and now I’ll tell you my conclusion,” she said. “You can take what he just said as a ploy to gain our trust.”
The first conclusion left Ruan Yu stunned.
She could sense that her brother's feelings for Niu Niu were genuine, indicating that he truly loved animals and had experienced the regret of adopting a stray cat only to have it abandoned by his family.
But the person she trusted most is now telling her that it was all a lie...
Seeing her confusion, Wen Yun quickly explained, "Playing the victim can combine facts with inner thoughts in a packaged way, so that uninformed people can only understand the topic the victim is talking about, rather than understanding the details behind the person's appearance."
If she hadn't gone through all the chat history between the siblings over the past few years beforehand, she might have actually been moved by Wen Lu's words.
“…I think I understand a little now.” Ruan Yu nodded slowly. “What other conclusions?”
“He didn’t intend to escape the Wen family with us,” Wen Yun continued. “On the contrary, he only said he would sponsor our university education because he was determined to inherit the Wen family’s inheritance.”
"As for why he is called a 'sister-complex', I looked at the chat history. It is true that he took great care of me before I went abroad to study. But when I expressed my desire to work hard to inherit the Wen family, he began to intentionally distance himself from me. When asked, he said he was too busy with his studies and didn't have time to check messages."
She took out her phone and showed Ruan Yu screenshots of the newly saved chat history in her encrypted album. "I once watched a period drama where an older sister doted on and indulged her younger sister, simply because she knew her sister was useless and posed no threat to her succession to the throne. Once she discovered and confirmed that her sister was going to compete with her, she instantly turned evil and became mortal enemies with her sister."
Watching the chat history between the brother and sister change from daily messages with instant replies to Wen Yun sending messages frequently, but not receiving a reply from Wen Lü for several days in a row, Ruan Yu suddenly felt a chill in her heart.
"That brother's financial assistance..."
“We have to,” Wen Yun said. “Since we’ve decided to leave the Wen family, let’s put your brother’s mind at ease. Just treat him like a ruthless capitalist like Dad. Only when we accept his financial support will he feel at ease, instead of trying to ruin our mental state and our future because of all sorts of suspicions.”
Ruan Yu remained silent for a long time before murmuring, "So, my brother would do that too?"
"All I can say is, don't have too many illusions or expectations about this family." After saying that, Wen Yun felt like she had cursed herself as well, but thinking about the unknown plot a year from now, she added, "Of course, I'm no exception. If one day you find that my personality has changed drastically and I'm no longer the person I am now, please run away from me as soon as possible, and don't try to save me!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly felt the girl's gaze turn cold, as if it were cutting into her face with a knife. Then she saw the girl stand up and tightly grip her wrists with both hands.
"I hope that day will never come."
The girl leaned slightly forward, meeting her gaze, and spoke through gritted teeth, her words seemingly spoken with great determination.
Wen Yun hadn't expected such a strong reaction and instinctively apologized, "Ah, I'm sorry! I really just meant to give you a heads-up, after all, who can predict the future..."
“That’s our future too!” Ruan Yu interrupted bluntly. “As long as we want to change things, and we all work together, there’s nothing we can’t do!”
Wen Yun thought that this was too idealistic, but then she remembered that it sounded like the same inspirational quote she had given the protagonist, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree: "That's certainly true..."
Ruan Yu then released her wrist and turned to exercise, hiding her surging emotions deep inside.
She had to admit that what this person had unintentionally said earlier had struck a chord with her.
If we're talking about family, she and the Wen family are the ones who share the same blood and have the same inherent flaws.
In that instant, she also wanted to tell the people around her that if they ever found themselves changed, they should run away and not try to pull her out of the mire or point her in the right direction like they do now.
-
The night after discussing the future with Wen Lu, Wen Yun and Ruan Yu received the cooperation agreement printed by Wen Lu.
"According to Chinese law, verbal agreements are not valid. I thought that signing an agreement would give you peace of mind in the future."
The man pushed up his glasses and smiled as he scrutinized the expressions of his two younger sisters. "You can look at them for as long as you like, but make sure you read them carefully before signing. If you don't understand anything, just ask me. In the future, when you encounter agreements from other people or companies, make sure you read every single clause carefully."
Ruan Yu had never seen an agreement before. After patiently reading it, she didn't ask any questions, but instead turned her attention to the people around her.
As she expected, the person looked up and pointed out many of the agreements that she didn't think were problematic.
"What about the funding period? It won't work if there's no deadline."
"Since we've already talked about money, let's not use vague euphemisms like 'hope' or 'try our best,' shall we?"
“Supporting parents after adulthood is a legal obligation. You are our older brother, not our father. You cannot decide to take on this obligation for us.”
The brother and sister discussed the contents of the agreement back and forth, with Ruan Yu trying her best to keep up with their train of thought.
Two hours later, Wen Yun finally signed "Wen Yun" on the two copies of the agreement, and then told Ruan Yu where to sign.
"It's only been a year since we last met, how come Yunyun knows all this?" Wen Lu took back the agreement they gave her and looked at Wen Yun with great interest.
“You’ll be an adult soon, so it’s not unreasonable for you to learn about these things before entering society, is it?” Wen Yun retorted.
“That’s true. Anyway, we’re used to previewing the courses for higher grades in advance.” Wen Lu smiled, seemingly agreeing with this statement. “By the way, the news I’ve heard recently isn’t just about your identities as the real and fake heiresses.”
Remembering the "false information" he had mentioned on WeChat, Wen Yun frowned. "Recently, some scions of wealthy families have indeed been acting rather dishonestly. Brother, have you heard any other rumors?"
"There are rumors that my dear sister's grades have dropped drastically because of a forbidden romance."
Upon hearing Wen Lu's words, Ruan Yu's expression changed drastically. Then she heard someone next to her chuckle and say, "Which idiot who read too many melodramatic romance novels is spreading this rumor now?"
“I don’t know either, but what that person called forbidden love is only relative to the mainstream situation.” Wen Lu pushed up his glasses. “But for your situation, it’s not forbidden at all.”
"So, what exactly is this so-called 'forbidden love'?" Ruan Yu couldn't help but ask.
"The real and fake heiresses are in love," Wen Lu said unhurriedly. "Logically speaking, since the real and fake heiresses are on the same household registration, isn't that a forbidden love?"
Wen Yun was stunned when the gossip she was watching unexpectedly turned into something involving the main character.
"No way!" she immediately retorted seriously. "Just because Xiaoyu and I are close doesn't mean we're dating! What nonsense! Same-sex marriage is legal, but how can people still blindly pair us up? Can't people of the same sex have normal friendships?!"
"That's what I was thinking too, which is why I decided to come back and see for myself if it's true or not," Wen Luyou said. "But I do hope it's true. It's good for two good girls to stay together; it's better to keep the good stuff in the family, isn't it?"
"Brother, that's enough!!" Wen Yun roared in a low voice, wishing she could strangle him.
"Alright, alright, I'm being nosy. I won't disturb your studying and rest anymore." Wen Lu tactfully stepped back and opened the door. "Goodnight."
After he left, the room remained silent for a long time.
"Is what my brother said true?" After a long silence, Ruan Yu asked, "Can same-sex couples fall in love?"
“That’s true. Same-sex couples can even get legal marriage certificates in China, and more and more people are starting to accept this kind of marriage. The downside is that there are no blood relatives or offspring, but that’s not a big problem. If you really want an heir, you can adopt an orphan.” Wen Yun nodded. “But you must not be misled by what he said! You haven’t experienced love yet, so don’t easily elevate anyone’s goodwill to love!”
She paused, her tone softening: "After you've met more people and experienced more things, and met someone who truly moves you and will take good care of you, then it's not too late to think about romance!"
Ruan Yu didn't immediately agree. It seemed she took a long time to process what she had to say before obediently nodding, "I'll remember."
However, as soon as she returned to her room, she opened He Sheng's chat window: [Do you have any novels or movies/TV shows related to homosexuality?]
Then I received a string of exclamation marks from the other party.
Ruan Yu hurriedly explained: "I didn't mean anything by it. I just suddenly came across this term and wanted to learn more about this group. I remember there are works about this group in the anime/manga you like, and you even sent me pictures of 'perfect couples' before?"
[Oh, that's fan art of Yuan Yan. But to be honest, I don't quite believe you 'didn't mean anything by it'~] He Sheng joked, but quickly sent a link to the artwork. [Just a reminder, shipping is fine, but some pairings are just for fun, not official pairings, so don't spam them everywhere!]
As the end of the semester approached, Ruan Yu was trying to improve her grades while also tutoring that person. She didn't have time to watch all the works at once, and she was afraid of being discovered by that person, so she only dared to put on her headphones before going to bed and secretly watch a little bit.
She thought that by learning more about this group, she could face her desire to keep that person by her side more objectively and calmly. However, the more she learned, the more she realized how slow she had been to realize that even if her brother hadn't reminded her, she might not have thought about love even after spending several more years together.
Moreover, her affection and shyness for that person had long since transcended the spiritual realm.
At the end of January, during the most stressful days before the final exams, Ruan Yu had strange dreams.
In her dream, she and that person were already in college and living in the same dormitory.
That day, she developed a fever for some unknown reason, shivering and curled up in the blankets, calling out to that person in a weak voice.
The dormitory room had bunk beds with desks underneath. The person quickly responded and came upstairs, carrying a cool towel. He placed it on her forehead and gently wiped her face, just like the day she had wiped her face to bring down her fever.
Ruan Yu doesn't remember what she said, only that she started crying as she spoke.
Unexpectedly, in her blurred vision, the most familiar face magnified, a cool, soft touch pressed against her cheek, followed by her lips, and then slowly moved downwards.
A reassuring coolness continued to touch her.
A note from the author:
The first update is here!
Chapter 46
Startled awake by the alarm clock, Ruan Yu huddled in the blankets, breathing rapidly. After a long while, she finally managed to sit up, unscrew the water glass on the bedside table, and take a sip of warm water to calm herself down.
She only took the yuri novels and anime that He Sheng gave her out of curiosity and tried to understand them seriously. She treated that person the same as usual and never mentioned anything about relationships again.
But to her utter surprise, the virtual and the real worlds merged together through a dream, catching her completely off guard.
She never imagined that she would subconsciously hope to take things that far with him.
This caused Ruan Yu to unconsciously recall her dream from last night when she saw that person in the restroom. She was momentarily dazed, and when she came to her senses, she found that her face and ears were burning hot.
"What's wrong?" Wen Yun, noticing Ruan Yu's flushed face in the mirror, turned around in surprise, toothbrush in hand. "Why is your face so red? Are you having an allergic reaction?"