At Ruan Zhengde's bedside.
Ruan Chen took a pear from the fruit basket and quietly began peeling it.
Her hand was steady; the white, jade-like ceramic knife sliced along the pear, falling in a smooth arc into the trash can.
Fu Jianzhi sat obediently to one side, resting his chin on his hand and looking at Ruan Chen's hand.
Ruan Chen cut the pear in half, sliced it into pieces, placed them in two small bowls, stuck toothpicks in them, handed one to Fu Jianzhi, and then took the other and brought it to Ruan Wenlou's mouth.
"Miss, I can do it myself."
"Grandpa, you can just call me by my name." Ruan Chen said this many times, but Ruan Wenlou never listened.
This was the first thing she said after entering the ward.
Fu Jianzhi's eyebrows drooped almost imperceptibly—Ruan Chen's voice trailed off with a barely perceptible sob.
He felt even more guilty.
After Ruan Chen finished feeding Ruan Wenlou the peach, she got up and washed her hands. Fu Jianzhi brought over iodine swabs.
The boy took her hand without any hesitation. There was a faint scratch on the side of Ruan Chen's left hand, and she didn't know where she had gotten it.
Warm hands grasped Ruan Chen's slender yet strong wrist bones, and a slightly cool cotton swab rubbed against them, which felt very comfortable.
Ruan Chen noticed that although he wasn't as tall as her, his hands were already a size bigger than hers.
"Alright," Fu Jianzhi released her hand, his index fingertip seemingly unconsciously rubbing Ruan Chen's wrist bone, and tossed the cotton swab aside. "Be careful."
Ruan Chen didn't think much of it.
The screen of her phone, which she had tossed on the hospital bed, lit up. Just as she was about to go and pick it up, Fu Jianzhi, as if wanting to know what Ruan Chen was going to do, grabbed it from her first. "Sister."
It was a message from Xu Qingjing.
Ruan Chen asked half an hour ago, "Shouldn't you repay the favor you owe me?"
Xu Qingjing's reply was simple: "As you wish."
Then he sent another message, "Are you free tonight? Would you do me the honor of dropping by?"
Ruan Chen was surprised that this kid was actually quite polite.
"OK."
Send me your address and time, and I'll arrange for a driver to pick you up.
Ruan Chen leaned against the table, typing, wearing an oversized coat, looking lazy and expressionless. Fu Jianzhi, however, seemed to read her mind and asked, "Did the young master of the Xu family reply to you?"
"They asked me to meet them tonight for dinner so we could talk face-to-face."
Ruan Chen also felt that it was not a good idea to make a hasty decision about this matter by simply sending a message.
"How old is he?" Fu Jianzhi frowned, looking somewhat dejected, with an expression that didn't suit his age. "He's already asking girls out to dinner?"
Ruan Chen found his feigned maturity amusing, but didn't think much of it. "He's almost an adult—Jian Zhi, you'll be twelve in two months? What kind of birthday present do you want?"
Fu Jianzhi, unusually, ignored Ruan Chen and poked at the equally divided pear pieces in the bowl, breaking them into pieces.
Yes, Ruan Chen is fifteen years old this year. She is as beautiful and captivating as a rose in its first bloom. In her eyes, there is a vast world, an endless future, and every day in front of her.
She emerged from that filthy, decaying slum and quickly integrated into the world that was rightfully hers, skillfully handling every experience and every person she encountered, gradually grasping the rights that were hers from birth.
She is a genius, a rising star, destined to shine.
Fu Jianzhi started to give up on himself again, wondering what he was.
"What do you want for your birthday?"...Isn't that the tone you use to coax a child?
What do you mean he's almost an adult? You'll be twelve next month.
In Ruan Chen's eyes, she still felt like a homeless stray dog that her family had thrown out.
"What's wrong with you?" Ruan Chen had no idea what this kid was struggling with inside, so she tapped the back of his hand with her finger. "You have no manners when you eat."
Fu Jianzhi casually tossed the remaining pieces of pear into his mouth, put down the bowl, and walked out dejectedly, saying, "I'm leaving now."
Ruan Chen asked casually, "Where are you going? I'll pick you up tonight."
"Why did you pick me up?" Fu Jianzhi was still sulking.
Ruan Chen could tell that Fu Jianzhi was unhappy.
She assumed that she had left Fu Jianzhi alone at home at night because he felt lonely.
"I'll take you out for dinner tonight. You might inherit the Fu family business someday. You should get to know him. The eldest son of the Xu family is quite interesting. I think you two might get along well."
Upon hearing that he would be included, Fu Jianzhi's eyes lit up immediately.
With his back to Ruan Chen, he first pursed his lips to suppress the smile he couldn't hide, then composed himself before turning around. Resisting the urge to rush to Ruan Chen, he walked over in small steps.
His face was tense. "Sis, you're having serious business, isn't it inconvenient to have me with you?"
Ruan Chen looked at her with exasperation, "Your sister Xiaoya was already going out to do business with Mom and Dad when she was eight, and she was already participating in shareholder meeting decisions when she was twelve. Look at how your Fu family practically raises you. Aren't you being biased towards your brother?"
"Alright then, I'll go too." Fu Jianzhi still sounded like he didn't want to go, but you forced him to. He was reluctant. "I was going to watch MOOCs tonight, but my plans have to change again."
Ruan Chen was too lazy to call him out, and went along with his words, "We'll make it up when we get back tonight, I'll make it up with you."
Seeing that Fu Jianzhi's emotions were relatively calm at the moment, Ruan Chen asked cautiously, "Jianzhi, can you recall any other details about what happened this morning?"
Ruan Zhengde refused to admit that he was involved, so Ruan Chen had to find another way to break through.
Fu Jianzhi suddenly panicked, put his hands in his pockets, and said in a hoarse voice, "I don't remember."
He subconsciously reached out to touch the sleeve that Zhanlu had transformed into, only to find nothing there, before remembering that it was with Ruan Chen.
Then he made a fatal mistake—Fu Jian subconsciously released his mental energy to connect with Zhanlu's mental network.
Ruan Chen was tucking the blanket around the drowsy Ruan Zhengde—after all, he was old and had lost so much blood, his energy and spirit were clearly depleted.
Then she sensed Fu Jianzhi's direction, a slight fluctuation of mental energy.
Ruan Chen turned around abruptly and stared at Fu Jianzhi.
She is completely pure and cannot be mistaken.
Fu Jianzhi met Ruan Chen's gaze—he knew Ruan Chen's name was on the list of students at Jinghua University of Technology, and her status was that she had passed the early admission assessment and was awaiting admission.
My mentor was the renowned Duan Jingfu.
Fu Jianzhi didn't understand why Ruan Chen still needed to study for three more years of high school, but he knew that Ruan Chen's mental strength level was likely above his own, and that she would probably become a researcher at a research institute like her teacher in the future.
So when Ruan Chen went to confront Ruan Zhengde, he gave her Zhanlu.
Fu Jianzhi's eyes were full of confusion and innocence. "Sister, what's wrong?"
Ruan Chen asked, "Jian Zhi, was that you just now?"
Fu Jianzhi feigned ignorance, "What? I didn't say anything just now."
He couldn't let Ruan Chen discover his secret; the Ten Famous Swords were too dangerous for her.
It was as if he couldn't let Ruan Chen know that he had long been a murderer.
"fine."
Ruan Chen didn't ask any more questions. She had her own secrets, and Fu Jianzhi could certainly have them too.
After all, Fu Jianzhi wasn't anything to her.
"Oh, right, here's your stuff." Ruan Chen took off the ring from her little finger and handed it to Fu Jianzhi.
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