Chapter 18
"This kid has been popular with girls since elementary school and high school. The daughters of those families used to be all around him, but he never showed any difference to any of them."
Speaking of this, Shi Yaqian couldn't help but sigh. The girls who liked to hang out with Shi Ru all came from well-off families.
She had also observed them secretly and found that they were all well-behaved children from their families, so Shi Yaqian was somewhat happy to see them interact.
But Shi Ru seemed oblivious; even when someone handed him a love letter, he could still earnestly advise them to study hard.
In Shi Yaqian's opinion, those girls were already very sensible, waiting until they went to university before sending their love letters.
They are nothing like those kids who think about dating as soon as they enter high school and whose grades are terrible.
Shi Ru couldn't even get a decent look at such an outstanding girl, but now he's taken a fancy to Cai Juan, who's been through a lot.
It wasn't that she was discriminating against people based on their education or family background. The Shi family's internal personnel weren't particularly complex, but the company was quite large. Shi Ru was the future president of the Shi Group, so his president's wife couldn't be some naive girl who didn't know anything about business.
At the very least, it should be able to convince the public!
She had read Zhu Yu's information. She had a delicate and frail face, and apart from that face, she was quite ordinary.
"Xiao Ru's environment used to be simple, but now that he's in college, he's exposed to a wider range of things, and naturally there are more temptations. But boys are never at a disadvantage in this regard."
Seeing Shi Yaqian's melancholy expression, Shi Fangyue offered her comforting words.
"Yeah, unlike you, who's been attracting attention with DVDs since junior high!" Shi Yaqian rolled her eyes at Shi Fangyue, annoyed.
It was well past mealtime, and without the masters' calls, the servants had all returned to their rooms in the annex to rest.
Only Shi Yaqian and Shi Fangyue, the siblings, remained in the large living room to connect.
Looking at her younger brother, who was no longer young, Shi Yaqian was filled with emotion.
When her father intended to bypass her and hand over the inheritance to Shi Fangyue, she had already considered a thousand ways to make Shi Fangyue lose his inheritance rights.
Or perhaps there are a million ways for Old Braden to make a will or for his will to become invalid.
But before she could even put it into practice, her mentally challenged brother had a huge falling out with their father and ran away to start his own business under an assumed name.
Shi Fangyue believed that he had not received any benefits from the surname "Shi" because he had changed his name and lived in seclusion. Little did he know that outsiders saw him as someone who had failed in his attempt to seize power and had been driven out of his home.
At that time, many people secretly tried to trip him up, hoping to use him to curry favor with Shi Yaqian.
But Shi Yaqian appreciated her brother's kindness, so she dealt with all those petty people who took advantage of her misfortune.
That's why Shi Fangyue was able to expand his business more and more over time.
"Xiao Ru is good in every way, except for this one thing: he's too rigid. He lives like an old Confucian scholar at such a young age."
Shih Ya-Chien simply smiled at this viewpoint and offered no comment.
Just as Shi Yaqian and Shi Fangyue were chatting casually after dinner about Shi Ru's relationship status, Tan Lingling made her move again.
Nighttime is a time when people easily open up. At this moment, Zhu Yugang had just finished washing up and was sitting in front of the makeup mirror, opening her bottles and jars one by one and applying them to her face.
Tan Lingling hid behind the bed curtains, pulling them open slightly to observe Zhu Yu's reaction.
"Zhu Yu, what's your relationship with those two classmates?"
Her tone was casual and indifferent, like a close friend gossiping about her relationship with her girlfriends.
If it weren't for the fact that the two of them only really started talking today.
“Uh,” Zhu Yu paused, her hand slapping her face. “We’re just ordinary friends. My graduation project was about filming, and we met while filming.”
"Ordinary friends?" Tan Lingling repeated the words, drawing out the last syllable. Her voice was deliberately embellished, sounding charming and intimate.
It won't make you feel uncomfortable at all, like your privacy has been invaded.
"Those two people don't look at you like ordinary friends. Seriously, if you had to choose one of them as your boyfriend, who would you choose?"
"They and I are really just ordinary friends. Would you date your ordinary friends?"
Zhu Yu couldn't help but let her imagination run wild following the other person's words, and immediately blushed at the images that popped into her mind.
I didn't care whether my strong reaction would be misunderstood as a cover-up; I just wanted to get rid of the unhealthy images in my head as quickly as possible.
"I can!" Tan Lingling stared intently at Zhu Yu's movements through one eye peeking out from behind the bed curtains, her gaze cold but her lips still smiling.
"There is no such thing as pure friendship between people of the opposite sex. If you think there is, it must be because the other party has put in a lot of effort."
"Let me think, who would you choose? — The taller boy who looks more serious?"
Tan Lingling's ambiguous description is of Shi Ru's image that day.
"How could that be! I already said we're just ordinary friends!" Zhu Yu jumped up like a cat with its fur standing on end.
She genuinely never intended to develop anything with Zhang Yuge and Shi Ru.
These people were brought together by fate, wouldn't it be better to just stay friends?
"Okay, okay, just friends," Tan Lingling quickly reassured Zhu Yu, seeing that she was getting a little anxious, but her reassurance seemed somewhat perfunctory: "So, if, I mean, suppose two people were pursuing you at the same time, who would you choose?"
"Uh...why do I have to choose between these two? Can't I like other people?"
Does this mean she has someone she likes?
Tan Lingling keenly grasped the hidden meaning behind those words and immediately asked excitedly, "Then what kind of person do you like?"
Generally, people who don't have a specific person they like can only give ambiguous and abstract answers to this kind of question.
But it's different for people who have someone they like; their answers to questions are tailor-made for them, almost down to one decimal place.
"Me..." Zhu Yu picked up a comb, applying hair oil as she thought, "I like people who are very capable in their own field."
"Everyone has a bit of an admiration for the strong, is there anything else?"
"Some people need to be kind; they can be tough on the outside but soft on the inside, but they must have strong principles."
"Anything else, like appearance, age, family background, personality, etc."
Tan Lingling was deliberately trying to lead Zhu Yu to think about those two people, since the person who gave her the task loved nothing more than stealing other people's things.
If she could distract Zhu Yu, she could quickly accumulate her own resources and strive to break free from his control as soon as possible.
"As for appearance, she has to be good-looking... at least half as good-looking as me." Zhu Yu said the last half of the sentence very quietly in front of the mirror, and Tan Lingling did not hear it at all.
However, it is difficult to match the first half of the sentence with a specific person.
After all, the requirements that Zhu Yu is currently making would also apply to other girls.
"As for age, I don't like men who are too much older than me, and I especially don't like men who are younger than me. Ideally, they should be the same age as me, and their family background can be good, but not too good... If it's too good, I'm afraid they'll look down on me."
"But my family background can't be too bad either, I don't want to be wiped out of my family."
As she spoke, a figure gradually emerged in Zhu Yu's mind.
She had quite a few demands. Taking advantage of the fact that she was hiding behind the bed curtains and Zhu Yu couldn't see her, Tan Lingling rolled her eyes without any restraint.
"As you know, my family isn't well-off, so my requirements for a partner are very simple."
Tan Lingling slowly opened her mouth, her voice low and deep, as if she intended to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zhu Yu.
"Uh, how so?"
To avoid giving himself away, Zhu Yu asked in return.
"I only want to marry a rich man!"
It is indeed a very simple wish. Compared to most people who are afraid to say it and will be looked down upon or accused of being materialistic, Tan Lingling is much more fearless.
Quite frank.
"A rich man? What kind of requirement is that? Shouldn't you want to marry someone who loves you and treats you well?"
Zhu Yu believed that after experiencing torment and humiliation, Tan Lingling's desire and need for love would be even more urgent.
Having money is nothing compared to having the will.
Priceless treasures are easy to obtain, but a loving husband is hard to find.
"What do you consider to be love?" Tan Lingling pulled back the bed curtains and looked at Zhu Yu frankly.
She didn't turn on the light, but with just a desk lamp in front of Zhu Yu, she was able to see Zhu Yu's expression clearly.
Zhu Yu turned around when she heard the noise, and felt a chill run down her spine, probably because the temperature had dropped overnight.
She didn't pay attention, just packed up the last of her things, turned off the light, and climbed into bed.
Hearing Tan Lingling's question, he tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Shared interests, similar aspirations, he loves me, I cherish him, we support each other and rely on each other?"
Tan Lingling gave a barely audible laugh. If she could really meet someone like Zhu Yu described, that would be wonderful.
But she was already a wretched person, with no ambitions or interests to speak of. Now, all she wished for was to "live."
Because she offended the young master of the Zhou family, even living has become a luxury.
Thinking of Zhou Ye's torturous methods, Tan Lingling's face turned pale. Zhu Yu still had such beautiful wishes; if she could, she really didn't want to ruin her.
"Why are we talking about this..." It was clearly Tan Lingling who started the topic, but now it was she who was refuting it: "We are all going to be big stars in the future. Love and marriage will only be stumbling blocks for us."
"Celebrities shouldn't have relationships too early!"
These words sounded like a warning, yet also like a temptation, making Zhu Yu feel somewhat uncomfortable: "Why? Are celebrities not allowed to be ordinary people?"
"Besides, the rule of not being able to date only applies to idols who rely on fans. We actors let our work speak for itself. So what if we date one person every three months?"
Tan Lingling thought Zhu Yu would be someone like herself, but she never expected to hear such words from her.
Especially the phrase, "Let's talk about one in March."
If Zhu Yuzhen had such a mindset, even if she really fell into Zhou Ye's hands, it might actually lead to a wonderful thing.
Tan Lingling comforted herself in this way.
The two parted on bad terms. Tan Lingling went to sleep with a heavy heart, while Zhu Yu had a lot of complaints but nowhere to vent them, so she could only vent her anger on her phone screen.
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