Chapter 5

Chapter 5: She Only Sees Jiang Shixu as a Brother The newcomer was Gu Zechuan's friend, Jiang Yuzhou. He was also the man who had said at the drinking party that night that he felt a bit sorry for Ruan Chutang. Having known him for nearly three years, Ruan Chutang had always had a good impression of Jiang Yuzhou. She replied, "Just here to buy a few things." Jiang Yuzhou glanced at the bag in her hand. "Is that a gift for Gu Zechuan?" Ruan Chutang found it too troublesome to explain, so she simply nodded in acknowledgment. "This brand of watches isn't cheap—even the most basic model costs five figures. You really don't need to give him such an expensive gift. Gu Zechuan, he..." He doesn't deserve it. He had already admitted with his own mouth that he couldn't let go of Chen Wan, that he only treated Ruan Chutang as a substitute. Last night, he had even abandoned Ruan Chutang, pulling Chen Wan by the hand and leaving in front of everyone. After Gu Zechuan and Chen Wan left the birthday party, they went to a hotel and indulged themselves for the whole night. Ruan Chutang didn't know about any of this, but he was fully aware. They had a small group chat with friends from their social circle. Ruan Chutang had been dating Gu Zechuan for three years and still hadn't been added to that group, but the moment Chen Wan returned to the country, Gu Zechuan pulled her in. At noon today, Chen Wan had inexplicably posted a bed photo of the two of them in the group, saying Gu Zechuan should save it well as a keepsake. Then, less than a minute after posting, she retracted it, saying she'd sent it by mistake. He happened to see it at that moment and wanted to say something, but in the end, he held back. It wasn't his business anyway—better to avoid trouble than to invite it. Thinking of all this, Jiang Yuzhou initially wanted to persuade Ruan Chutang to let go, to tell her the truth. But when the words reached his lips, he changed his mind. "Gu Zechuan doesn't lack these things. You don't need to spend several months' salary on such an expensive gift for him." After all, Gu Zechuan was his good brother—more than a decade of friendship. Those words still couldn't leave his mouth. He also wanted to tell Ruan Chutang that maybe the gift she spent months of salary on wouldn't even be appreciated by Gu Zechuan. That would be too hurtful, and Jiang Yuzhou couldn't bear to say it. Ruan Chutang, of course, knew Gu Zechuan didn't deserve it, and the gift wasn't for him anyway. She nodded and smiled dismissively. "Alright, I won't next time." Ruan Chutang chatted with Jiang Yuzhou for a while, and the two parted ways. Jiang Yuzhou watched Ruan Chutang's retreating figure and let out a long sigh. "Ah, what a good girl. How did she end up being ruined by Gu Zechuan?" He opened WeChat and couldn't help but send a message to advise Gu Zechuan. [Bro, this girlfriend of yours is genuinely great. I just ran into her buying you a watch—a watch worth tens of thousands, bought without a second thought. That must be several months of her salary. Cherish her while you can.] Gu Zechuan was having dinner with Chen Wan when he received the message. The anger he'd been carrying dissipated in an instant upon reading it. His expression gradually softened. So Chutang knew she was in the wrong today too, and was thinking of buying a gift to admit her mistake. In that case, he'd give her a way out. When she gave him the gift, he'd take it and take the opportunity to apologize, saying his tone hadn't been great and telling her not to take it to heart. He'd make up a few sweet words to coax her—Ruan Chutang would definitely fall for it. "Zechuan, what's wrong? Who messaged you?" Chen Wan, sitting across from him, asked. Gu Zechuan put away his phone and said impassively, "Nothing." Chen Wan didn't press further. A short while later, Gu Zechuan got up to use the restroom, and Chen Wan picked up his phone from the table. She had seen him enter his password before—it was easy to remember, his birthday. Chen Wan quickly entered the password and opened WeChat. She first looked at the chat with Ruan Chutang. The conversation was still stuck on a week ago, when Ruan Chutang had asked if he wanted to travel together during the National Day holiday, saying she rarely got time off and wanted to go out for a bit. She had also sent some guides for tourist spots she really wanted to visit. Gu Zechuan had replied five hours later with, "There are so many people during National Day, what's there to enjoy?" and Ruan Chutang hadn't sent any more messages after that. Chen Wan casually glanced at those tourist spots, a flicker of mockery in her eyes. So their three-year relationship wasn't all that great either—Gu Zechuan wouldn't even accompany her on a trip. Ruan Chutang's WeChat messages were nothing out of the ordinary, so Chen Wan exited the chat and scrolled through casually, spotting Jiang Yuzhou's message. Chen Wan let out a cold laugh, recalling how indifferent Ruan Chutang had seemed during their previous two encounters, and sneered inwardly. She'd thought Ruan Chutang was about to let go, but it turned out she was still trying to buy a gift and admit fault, hoping to reconcile with Gu Zechuan. Chen Wan exited WeChat, turned off the screen, placed Gu Zechuan's phone back where it was, and pulled out her own phone to call Gu Zechuan's mother, Madam Meng Yaqin. "Hello, Auntie Meng. I just went with Zechuan to look at rings and ran into that girlfriend of his. That girl was in the store trying on rings, pressuring him into marriage..." ... Ruan Chutang carried the gift back to the villa and continued packing her luggage. She placed the gift for Jiang Shixu into her suitcase, and as she packed, Jiang Shixu's cool, handsome face surfaced in her mind. She and Jiang Shixu had known each other for a very long time. Both families' old residences were in the same villa district, no more than two or three hundred meters apart, so the two of them had often crossed paths when they were young. Jiang Shixu was four years older than her. The first time she met him was at the Jiang family's old residence. Her father and mother had taken her to the Jiangs' home as guests. She was only ten then, still a child who hadn't grown into herself, while Jiang Shixu had already grown into the image of a male lead from a youth campus idol drama. Chutang only remembered that the moment she laid eyes on Jiang Shixu, she was utterly stunned by his beauty. His face was handsome in a strikingly aggressive way, yet his eyes were as cold as ice in the depths of winter. Her mother told her to greet him, so she obediently called out, "Shixu-gege." In her memory, Jiang Shixu remained icy cold, responding with a dry, indifferent "Hello." Back then, she thought this older brother must be very hard to get along with. That misunderstanding persisted for several years. Later, when she was in high school, her math grades were poor. Lady Jiang had heard about it from somewhere and said to Ruan Shaodong with a smile, "Let our Shixu tutor Tangtang. Math was his best subject in high school—he scored over 140 on the college entrance exam!" By then, her mother had already passed away, and Ruan Chutang's personality was vastly different from when she was a child. In five years, Ruan Chutang had grown from a carefree, worry-free child into a quiet, rebellious teenager. "I don't need you to teach me." That was the first thing she said to him after he walked through the door. At that time, Jiang Shixu was twenty-one. He was tall, measuring over 185 centimeters, dressed in a simple white short-sleeved shirt and dark gray jeans. His slightly tousled, layered haircut gave him an air of youthful vigor. "But I insist on teaching you." That was his reply, his voice carrying a hint of amusement and casual indifference. Chutang assumed Jiang Shixu would surely be strict and harsh. That wasn't the case at all. After looking at her math exam paper, Jiang Shixu merely furrowed his brow, then began patiently explaining the problems to her. Going through each wrong question one by one, not a trace of impatience appeared on Jiang Shixu's face. His voice was deep and pleasant, with a faint raspy texture. As Chutang listened, she found that math didn't seem so detestable anymore. Some problems had two or three different solution methods, and Jiang Shixu would explain each one to her. Ruan Chutang's gaze gradually shifted from initial resistance and disdain to admiration and reverence. "Wow, Jiang Shixu, you're amazing! It's been so many years since you graduated high school, how do you still remember all this so clearly?" "I don't remember everything. I reviewed the textbooks before coming." After saying that, he paused, then lightly tapped her head with his pen. "So disrespectful. Remember to call me Shixu-gege from now on." In the summer of Ruan Chutang's sophomore year of high school, Jiang Shixu tutored her for two months. At that time, Jiang Shixu was a junior at Jiangcheng University. He spent almost the entire summer without going out to play, spending every day either explaining problems to Ruan Chutang or checking her exam papers and grading her homework. High school students' summer breaks were short—by the time school started for her, Jiang Shixu was still on vacation. Every day when Ruan Chutang came home from school, she would see Jiang Shixu sitting on the sofa in her living room, waiting to tutor her. Thanks to Jiang Shixu, her math grades improved by leaps and bounds, soaring from failing marks all the way up to 130. Ruan Chutang's grades in other subjects were all excellent. With math no longer dragging her down, she successfully gained admission to Jiangcheng University on the college entrance exam, becoming Jiang Shixu's junior. At that time, Chutang only felt that Jiang Shixu was a particularly wonderful older brother from next door. She respected him and liked him, but there wasn't the slightest hint of romantic feelings. So when her father said she was to form a marriage alliance with the Jiang family and marry Jiang Shixu, she couldn't accept it. She only saw Jiang Shixu as a brother—how could a younger sister marry her brother? Just as she was lost in these memories, the bedroom door was pushed open. Gu Zechuan stood at the doorway, looking down at Ruan Chutang. "Have you finished packing everything?" "Mm, almost done." Gu Zechuan leaned against the doorframe. "Chutang, is there something you want to say to me?"