Volume One, Chapter 17: She Likes Days Like These

“Uh, thank you, Second Brother... for the compliment.” Tang Ruan was somewhat taken aback by the unexpected praise.

Her second brother had always been serious and seldom smiled since childhood, and after entering the police academy and becoming a police officer, he had become even more stern.

The last time he praised her was when she got accepted into Nanda University.

She remembered that back then, he had only said two words: “Not bad.”

But this time, he used seven words and even said she had done “very correctly.”

“Very correctly!”

This was a compliment higher than getting into Nanda University!

Tang Ruan’s father, Tang Zhenguo, had two younger brothers, but both had married and had children earlier than him, each with two sons.

Tang Ruan was the only girl of their generation, cherished by the entire family.

Being the youngest, she was fifth in line, with four elder brothers above her.

Tang Che was the second son of the third uncle’s family.

On the road, Tang Che was driving, while Tang Ruan and a female officer sat in the back seat, one on each side, protecting Lin Jie to make her more comfortable.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” Tang Che suddenly asked.

Tang Ruan understood he was asking her, so she exhaled and answered honestly, “I just suddenly felt it was pointless.”

Forced things never turn out sweet, and after years of endlessly fawning over Huo Yanchuan, she was tired.

The female officer beside them, forced to be a bystander, quietly lowered her head, trying to minimize her presence.

Pretend she’s not here, pretend she’s not here.

Silence returned to the car.

“What’s wrong, Second Brother?”

Why ask that all of a sudden?

“Nothing, as long as you’re happy.”

Tang Ruan glanced sideways at the swiftly passing scenery outside the window. “I’m pretty happy now.”

She could eat what she wanted, drink what she liked, no longer chase after Huo Yanchuan, no longer swallow grievances, no longer fake happiness.

This kind of life was comfortable, and she liked it very much.

“Mm.”

They drove on in silence.

Tang Che dropped them off at the hospital, leaving the female officer there to wait for Lin Jie to wake and give a statement, while he drove back to the police station.

Wang Chengzu, backed by the Wang family of Jiangcheng, had a special status, so he needed to be watched closely to prevent any accidents.

After receiving detoxification injections, Lin Jie’s condition improved.

Late into the night, when Tang Ruan returned from the bathroom, she saw Lin Jie sitting on the bed, arms wrapped around her knees, lost in thought.

She sighed and walked over.

Hearing footsteps, Lin Jie’s vacant gaze slowly focused. She turned her head slowly and saw Tang Ruan, then lowered her eyes and whispered, “Thank you today, Ruan Ruan.”

If not for Tang Ruan, she could almost imagine what fate awaited her.

Tears uncontrollably welled up and spilled over.

At first, only soft sobs, but gradually the crying grew louder, as if venting all her grievances.

Tang Ruan didn’t speak or approach, only waited until Lin Jie’s sobs subsided before walking over to gently pat her shoulder. “It’s okay, Jie Jie, you still have me.”

Early the next morning, the doctor performed a full-body check on Lin Jie, found no problems, and discharged her.

She felt uneasy, not wanting to return to the Lin family, so Tang Ruan suggested she stay with her at Bihu Bay for a while to relax.

Just as they arrived at Bihu Bay, Jiang Wanyu called to ask if Tang Ruan would come home for dinner after work. Tang Ruan said she wouldn’t be home for a few days and was staying with Lin Jie at Bihu Bay. Jiang Wanyu didn’t ask further and reminded Tang Ruan to take good care of Lin Jie.

After hanging up, Tang Ruan turned to see Lin Jie on the sofa hugging a pillow, eyes full of envy staring at her.

Tang Ruan smiled gently. “What’s wrong?”

“Ruan Ruan, I’m so envious of you.”

Parents dote on her, and all the uncles and older brothers treat her like a little princess.

Unlike herself, whose parents seemed to love her, but deep down she knew that neither the family assets nor the company had anything to do with her.

Those things were only for appearances, just passing through her hands temporarily.

In the end, everything belonged to Lin Wen.

Tang Ruan didn’t know how to comfort Lin Jie, so she remained silent.

Fortunately, Lin Jie adjusted her emotions quickly, soon shaking off the sadness and curling up on the sofa to scroll through her phone.

Suddenly, she exclaimed and sat upright. “Ah! A juicy scandal!”

Tang Ruan: ?

“Look.” Lin Jie flipped her phone around to show a video posted this morning by a marketing account.

It revealed that Lu Xiaorou was not as gentle and innocent as she appeared.

The video exposed that since middle school, she had been dating boys, indulging in early relationships and materialism, all with wealthy families.

She even skipped classes in high school to stay in hotels with boyfriends, leading a chaotic private life.

Besides, her admission to A University wasn’t through normal channels but via an artistic specialty.

A University recruits artistic specialty students every year, so why single her out as abnormal?

Because the specialty under which she was admitted was only offered the year she enrolled and was revoked afterward.

That spot was clearly tailor-made for her.

The video had just been posted and was not widely spread, with only a handful of comments:

“Is this real? The entertainment circle is so chaotic!”

“Well, not really the entertainment circle. I remember Lu Xiaorou’s family isn’t wealthy. How could there be any shady dealings with A University admissions...”

“Fans of Xiaorou here! Blogger, I advise you not to spread baseless rumors. Defamation has legal consequences!”

“Are you blind or just brainless? Xiaorou works hard and studies while earning her own living. Where would she have the power for shady deals?”

“Let’s be rational about this.”

“Blogger, please delete this.”

...

Lin Jie easily read through all the comments.

“Hahaha, justice is served. Finally, someone has exposed Lu Xiaorou’s true colors!” Lin Jie laughed uproariously, thoroughly enjoying her schadenfreude.

Tang Ruan smiled quietly without replying.

It seemed the PR manager had begun to take action.

She wondered if Lu Xiaorou was ready to face her counterattack.

Lin Jie loudly declared, “I’m going to forward this video to every group chat!”

She wanted more people to know Lu Xiaorou’s true face!

That very night, Lu Xiaorou posted a rare video.

She appeared without makeup, her face bare, eyes red and swollen, clearly having just cried.

Facing the camera, she accused unscrupulous marketing accounts of spreading baseless rumors, sullying her reputation, causing endless trouble and immense psychological pressure.

Zhou Qing soon followed with her own video, calling on everyone to boycott malicious marketing accounts and restore internet integrity.

She even showed antidepressants on Lu Xiaorou’s dorm desk, explaining that Lu Xiaorou had been under great mental stress recently and asked everyone to be kind to her as a patient.

The two acted in concert, and along with their loyal fans stirring the pot, many netizens began to waver.

Lin Jie rolled her eyes. “So good at pretending, must have been a plastic bag in a past life!”

Recently, Lin Jie had been watching many videos related to Lu Xiaorou and Zhou Qing, with the platform’s algorithms pushing content about them exclusively, making her feel increasingly uneasy.

She threw her phone on the sofa. “I’m done watching!”

She feared if she kept looking, she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

At a private dining room near A University, Lu Xiaorou treated her entire dormitory to dinner.

Zhou Qing served food to Lu Xiaorou, who sat at the head of the table. “Xiaorou, you’re so wise. Those marketing accounts definitely won’t dare post nonsense again.”

Zhou Qing had seen the marketing video that morning and wanted to help speak out but was afraid of making things worse, so she had been watching from the sidelines.

Unexpectedly, Lu Xiaorou contacted her at noon, asking her to help post a video.

She agreed, thinking that since they were friends with a good relationship, helping with a video was only right.

She hadn’t expected an unexpected reward from it!