Chapter 21 These are all mine, and you…
Huo Lan gently smoothed the stray hairs behind her ear, and suddenly felt as if his heart was filled with love.
"Are you already making plans for your husband so soon? Baby, you're getting into character so quickly."
"ah?"
Jiang Shiyuan was not immediately aware of what he had said that gave him such a misconception.
Huo Lan gently patted the top of her head, then pulled her into his arms and lay down, covering her with the blanket together.
"Don't worry, I'll plan the time."
He held her tightly, as if he had never possessed her so truly before.
"I'll take some time in the next couple of days to go back to your home with you and visit your uncle and aunt. After all, they've raised you for over ten years."
Jiang Shiyuan was startled and looked up at Huo Lan abruptly, "How did you know I have an uncle and an aunt?"
She regretted saying that as soon as she finished speaking. A meticulous person like him, who had kept her by his side for so long, would naturally have investigated her past thoroughly.
Huo Lan cradled the back of her head, resting his chin on the top of her head, his embrace warm and tender.
"Guess when we met? You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Jiang Shiyuan replied somewhat embarrassedly, "When I was a junior in college, at the Huise Club... I accidentally wandered into your suite."
"Was it an accident?"
Jiang Shiyuan wanted to retort forcefully, but then she suddenly realized that she had indeed climbed to the top for ulterior motives. However, her intentions weren't particularly strong; she simply hoped that a kind-hearted powerful figure at the top could help her. Even if it were someone else, it wouldn't matter.
However, she certainly didn't dare to say that last sentence.
"I was just desperate and went straight to the top floor. So why was it you and not someone else? It means we were destined to meet."
Huo Lan shook his head and continued, "There is a bit of fate involved, but this fate started earlier than you think."
Jiang Shiyuan was even more puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Huo Lan affectionately touched her nose. "I knew you would be going to Huise that night, so I booked a suite for you in advance. But I didn't expect you to run into my world under those circumstances... So, our progress was incredibly accelerated."
He seemed lost in thought, but after a while he chuckled softly, "I thought our night would only happen long after we've known each other."
Although Jiang Shiyuan had not yet understood the meaning of Huo Lan's words, her body had already begun to feel cold.
It's as if, not only in the five years since they met, but for many years before that, she had lived under his watchful eyes.
"Huo Lan, tell me, when exactly did we meet?"
Do you still remember the boy who used to have a bottle-collecting contest with you when you were little?
"The boy who collected bottles?"
Jiang Shiyuan read it aloud with a puzzled look, recalling that summer vacation in sixth grade.
When she was ten years old, she was in the fourth grade at Guoya Elementary School. That summer, her uncle's friend came to visit and jokingly said that she was not his biological child and that he did not plan to send her to junior high school.
At the dinner table, the friend said that Jiang Shiyuan was so beautiful that she didn't need to go to school at all. She could marry a rich man as soon as she turned eighteen, and ask for a higher dowry to repay her uncle for raising her.
My uncle was drunk at the time, and when he heard this, he just smiled a few times. The adults chimed in, and soon the matter was forgotten.
But a careless joke can easily hurt a child's feelings.
My uncle and aunt's family is not poor. My uncle is a chef and earns more than 10,000 yuan a month, which is enough to support the whole family. My aunt and uncle are teachers and are a highly respected family in the area.
But she was called a burden since she was a child.
Whether it was a joke spoken intentionally or unintentionally by an adult, or the innocent words of a child, these three words accompanied Jiang Shiyuan for a very long time.
Therefore, she needs to be sweet-talking and diligent; she needs to win their favor so that they won't abandon her.
Jiang Shiyuan had always done this, but until that day, someone said they wouldn't support her studies and wanted her to get married early because she was an outsider.
Jiang Shiyuan is already ten years old. She has her own opinions and ideas, and she is bold and has enough ideas.
After learning that she could sell collected bottles and cardboard boxes for money, she hardly stayed at home that summer vacation. She often made excuses to go to her classmates' houses to do her homework, and once she was out, she would be gone for the whole day.
She would take the bottles and cardboard she collected to the recycling station to be weighed. In addition, she would help her classmates with their summer homework, imitating various handwriting styles. Although she didn't earn much money, she was accumulating it nonetheless.
The annual Go championship for children and teenagers was held in the school's auditorium.
Because of this competition, the school was still very lively despite being on summer vacation, especially the auditorium, which was almost packed with people.
During the hot summer vacation, the Great Hall of the People was open on all sides but had no air conditioning. Almost everyone held a bottle of mineral water in their hand, and this became Jiang Shiyuan's main battleground.
Although she was focused on picking up bottles, she couldn't help but notice the person everyone was talking about.
They say that Guoya has produced a Go prodigy who, when playing against children of the same age, can always win within ten minutes, regardless of who it is.
Some students, under immense pressure, burst into tears as soon as they found themselves at a disadvantage and realized they had no chance of survival.
As luck would have it, one of the Go players in the group that Jiang Shi was willing to play with started crying.
The boy opposite her was very handsome and refined, with red lips and white teeth. He just stared at her quietly, without any extra emotion in his eyes.
It's like a beautifully manufactured robot with a highly advanced internal structure.
Jiang Shiyuan only glanced at it briefly before focusing on picking up the bottles again.
It wasn't until the event was over and the auditorium was almost empty that Jiang Shiyuan was about to go to the restroom when she saw the "Go prodigy" standing straight against the wall on the other side.
Jiang Shiyuan was startled. "What are you doing here?"
The beautiful child prodigy ignored him completely, still facing the wall without blinking.
Are you really a robot?
The boy opposite finally softened his expression and replied with some annoyance, "I'm not."
"Then what are you doing standing here? Why don't you go home? It's so hot here, you'll get suffocated in no time."
The boy remained cool, saying, "None of your business, just go."
Jiang Shiyuan looked at him more and more strangely, so she asked, "What's wrong with you? Didn't you just win the game? You were the best player in the whole competition."
Although she didn't watch the competition, she saw him stand on the podium as the winner at the end.
Shouldn't he be overjoyed to go home and share his happiness with his parents?
Faced with Jiang Shiyuan's question, he no longer faced the wall, but looked at her with deep eyes.
He wanted to tell her to get lost, but then he saw the garbage bag full of water bottles that she was clutching tightly in her hand.
The boy was a few years older than her, but much taller. He said coldly, "So you're working as a cleaner at such a young age?"
Jiang Shiyuan asked, puzzled: "Cleaning?"
"Yes, it's the cleaning staff who clean up the trash."
When she heard the person opposite her call the water bottle in her hand trash, Jiang Shiyuan also started to get a little unhappy. "This isn't trash, it's my tuition fee!"
The boy glanced at her dismissively and said in a nasty tone, "Only a fool would treat trash as tuition."
Jiang Shiyuan wasn't going to take it lying down and retorted, "Only a fool would stand like a robot facing the wall at the toilet door!"
Jiang Shiyuan angrily grabbed her plastic bag and was about to leave, but then suddenly remembered something and turned back.
"You think you're so great? How about you have a match with me?"
The boy remained indifferent, saying, "You're not qualified to compete with me."
Ignoring the other party's sarcasm, Jiang Shiyuan pointed to the auditorium and small playground not far away, "There are lots and lots of plastic bottles there now. Let's have a competition to see who can collect the most bottles in half an hour. Do you dare to compete?"
The boy rolled his eyes at him, put his hands in his pockets, and walked towards the auditorium. "I never pick up trash."
But when we got to the auditorium, I still asked her, "When does it start?"
Seeing that the boy had taken the bait, Jiang Shiyuan's mood brightened up a bit. Pointing to the clock above the auditorium, she said, "It's 5:30 now. We'll finish at 6:00!"
"Sure, I'm bored anyway."
Jiang Shiyuan shouted "Start!" and before she could even lift her foot, the boy had already picked it up with lightning speed.
Today's Go competition is a national-level event. Because it is the preliminary round and there are important awards, there are many participating students and parents, as well as many people who come to watch and have fun. Water bottles can be seen almost everywhere in the Great Hall of the People.
Jiang Shiyuan quickly began cleaning, feeling that the amount she did in one day was almost equivalent to ten days' worth in the past, which made her even happier.
When the clock struck six, Jiang Shiyuan stopped the boy who was still struggling to pick up bottles.
The boy was so tired that sweat was beading on his forehead, but he still tried his best to control his breathing and maintain an elegant posture.
Jiang Shiyuan thought this person was really strange.
Without thinking too much, she took the plastic bag full of bottles from the boy, tied it up, and turned to carry the two large plastic bags to the bathroom by the door.
She was small and weak, so it was almost impossible for her to carry several large bags of water bottles directly back to the recycling station. So she decided to hide them in the bathroom and then bring them back to the recycling station in batches.
The boy quickly blocked her way, preventing her from leaving directly.
"You haven't counted the bottles yet. I definitely have more than you. I'm sure I'll win."
Jiang Shiyuan smiled and said, "But I've already won, all these bottles are mine."
"What do you mean?"
What I mean is, all of these are mine, and what's yours is also mine.
She then bowed deeply to the boy, saying, "Thank you for your help; it allowed me to finish picking them up so quickly."
She left the boy behind, unaware that he was trembling with anger at her.
Much later, as the sun began to set, Shi Teng hurriedly arrived at the school and found Huo Lan.
Their young master Huo stood alone in the already empty auditorium, smashing nearby plastic bottles with all his might.
The sounds of things being smashed and thrown around inside the auditorium were deafening, and Huo Lan was so angry that she almost fainted.
Shi Teng thought Huo Lan was angry because of Xu Feixuan, so he quickly walked up to Huo Lan and knelt down in front of him.
"Xiao Lan, Madam didn't mean it. He just has too high expectations of you."
In today's National Go Championship, Xu Feixuan set a goal for her to defeat her opponent within ten minutes at most.
However, Go cannot be quantified by such standards. Since he failed to do so, Xu Feixuan took him to the bathroom and punished him by making him face the wall in contemplation.
Later, they actually left him alone at the school and took his people with them and left.
"After your mother got home, she immediately sent me to pick you up. Your mother still loves you very much."
Huo Lan was only thinking about the girl who had just lied to him, and didn't even think about Shi Teng's words of comfort.
"Shi Teng, why do you think some people are so good at lying?"
Shi Teng didn't understand what Huo Lan was talking about for a moment; he thought Huo Lan was still blaming Xu Feixuan.
"Madam just had too high expectations of you. She wasn't lying to you. She's your mother and will only be good to you. She loves you."
Huo Lan finally snapped out of his anger towards Jiang Shiyuan and heard Shi Teng's comforting words. He felt as if his soul had been ripped away.
“She doesn’t love me. She just uses me as a tool to show off. When my abilities are no longer enough for her to show off, she will abandon me.”
Thinking of this, a fire gradually rose in Huo Lan's eyes again, "And that little liar, I need to find out who she really is!"
-----------------------
Author's Note: Huo Lan—a creepy male ghost who's been monitoring the female lead since she was ten years old!
——
Jiang Shiyuan: These are all mine, and what's yours is also mine.
This statement came true again in some way many years later [winking emoji]
P.S.: The weird encounter of picking up trash was something I suddenly came up with while I was sleeping... [laughing and crying emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
