Volume One, Chapter 10: Throwing Herself Into His Arms

Meng Huaijin glanced at her sideways, his tone and expression both indifferent. "This is none of your business."

"I wouldn’t dare interfere with you; I was just asking casually." Survival instinct always ranked first for Shu Wan.

The man replied coldly, "You’re not allowed to ask either. I can ask about your matters and get involved; my matters, you don’t need to ask, and you’re not allowed to."

"……" That was truly her uncle, ah! Otherwise, it would have been infuriating beyond words.

Only the officials are allowed to light fires; the common folk are forbidden from lighting lamps! Shu Wan fell silent.

Meng Huaijin ignored her pufferfish-like expression and casually instructed, "Go tell your friend that you’ll head back tonight. We’ll decide tomorrow where to go."

"He’s going home tomorrow," Shu Wan said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to go back with him to Nancheng?"

Shu Wan was stunned but then shook her head.

Why return? There was no one waiting for her anymore…

She said absentmindedly, "I’m not going back. I’ll stay here properly, work hard after graduating from university, save up, and then support you in your old age, Uncle."

Playing the good girl and acting coy were her specialties, just like the hangover soup she cooked.

Meng Huaijin glanced at her without much temper, then nodded toward the hotel, "Go tell your friend."

At this moment, he was a surprisingly enlightened and good guardian.

A capricious guardian.

Shu Wan went to the hotel to report to Zhou Ze that she was safe, and before leaving, she even received a gift from them.

Speaking of the gift, Shu Wan almost wanted to strangle those two!

She had expected something nice, but instead, they gave her twenty copies of the high school final sprint test papers from Nancheng No. 1 High School! Each book contained fifty test sheets!

Once again, two friends who treated her like a Japanese tormentor.

But this precisely proved they still considered her a friend, and their relationship remained as it had been.

---

Shu Wan had no memory of when the bodyguard parked the car beneath the apartment building.

She had been exhausted from daytime wandering and then worn out further after battling her formidable uncle for hours, so she fell asleep shortly after getting into the car.

Feeling a sudden coolness on her wrist, Shu Wan slowly opened her eyes but dared not move.

The bodyguard had already gone downstairs, leaving only Meng Huaijin and himself in the car.

Facing Shu Wan was a head of thick, slightly tousled hair. When he lowered his head, his clean and sharp bone structure stood out clearly. Though his demeanor was fierce, his brows and eyes were calm, casual, and nonchalant.

---

Meng Huaijin was applying medicine to her wrist with professional skill, his movements practiced and precise. Even for what was a minor soft tissue contusion in his world, he focused intently—simply because she was a girl.

This was why he had been reluctant to agree to Meng Xian’s earlier request: girls were delicate and sensitive, especially during adolescence, more complicated than any official guidelines. For example, today’s situation, with her crying, left him helpless and speechless.

"Uncle," Shu Wan softly called, watching his focused expression.

Meng Huaijin didn’t lift his head but responded faintly, "Hmm."

"You’re a good person, though sometimes a bit stern."

Now she was handing him the ‘good person’ card again—wasn’t she the one who had just cried and accused him at length?

The man shot her a chilly sideways glance. "If you have something to say, say it."

Her wrist was perfectly bandaged with gauze. Shu Wan tried moving it and smiled at him. "Zhou Ze’s flight is at eleven tomorrow. Can I borrow your car and Zheng Heng’s? It’s hard to get a taxi during the holiday, and I want to trouble Zheng Heng to send Zhou Ze off."

Zheng Heng was the bodyguard, just 23 years old, who had retired due to a severe abdominal injury in a military exercise.

After being reassigned to Beicheng, Meng Huaijin found him preparing to deliver takeout and hired him as a driver.

"We’ll talk about it tomorrow." This was his non-committal reply to Shu Wan.

---

The next day, Shu Wan woke up early and saw Meng Huaijin was already there. As she was about to repeat her request from last night, the man took the car keys and left.

Shu Wan opened her mouth, then closed it again, a bit bewildered.

"Aren’t you leaving yet?" he glanced back coldly.

"Going," Shu Wan smiled and followed, tilting her head in thanks.

Meng Huaijin ignored her attempts at flattery and drove straight to a nearby shop selling high-end specialty products, loading several boxes into the car.

Shu Wan watched silently, her heart aching with an indescribable feeling.

He was cold, autocratic, strict, and had a bad temper, but he truly treated her, his little shadow, well—and even knew how to help her maintain friendships, in his own adult way.

When Meng Huaijin closed the trunk, Shu Wan got out and asked the shopkeeper for a few extra boxes of specialty goods.

"All for two friends? Going to empty my paycheck?" The man came over, tilting his head to meet her gaze.

"…No, no, I’ll pay for these myself." Though, of course, it was her own money.

Unexpectedly, he joked. Shu Wan stepped back a bit, putting some distance between them before explaining, "Grandpa Chen lives alone in the countryside. I want Zhou Ze to bring him some."

Meng Huaijin frowned and looked at her quietly for a moment before bending down to take the goods from her and put them back.

"…Not allowed again?" Shu Wan had just been deeply moved, and now…

"He’s not in Nancheng." The man said slowly,淡然.

---

"Not in Nancheng?" Shu Wan was baffled. "His hometown is in the Nancheng countryside. If not in Nancheng, then where—"

Her dim eyes suddenly lit up brilliantly. "Did you relocate him? And now he’s in Beicheng?"

Meng Huaijin didn’t respond. He took a long stride and was about to get into the driver’s seat.

Suddenly, a soft, slightly fragrant figure flung herself into his arms, holding him tightly, her hands locked around his waist so firmly it was almost suffocating.

"I will repay you."

Sweet words came like a torrent, and Shu Wan hugged Meng Huaijin briefly before quickly pulling away just before his thunderous anger could strike, calmly circling around the front of the car and slipping into the passenger seat.

Meng Huaijin frowned, gazing at the bustling street, his expression calm and serene as still water.

"Where in Beicheng is Grandpa Chen? Can I go see him?" Seeing that he didn’t flare up during normal driving, Shu Wan dared to push her luck.

"You know why I didn’t let him come to Beicheng with you, Shu Wan." Meng Huaijin bluntly shattered her youthful dreams. "You’re innocent regarding your parents’ matters, but he’s not. He’s been with the Shu family for over twenty years. How much do you think he really knows?"

Shu Wan’s curved lips instantly drooped. After a long silence, she hugged her knees and stared blankly out the window.

When the old butler left, he told her he would spend his twilight years peacefully in the countryside. That was a lie. In the end, he was not spared either…

"Grandpa Chen—will he be like my parents? At his age?" Shu Wan’s voice trembled as she asked.

Meng Huaijin glanced at the rearview mirror but refrained from uttering the cruelest words.

Meng Xian and her husband, guilty or not, who took the blame for them? Now dead with no evidence, no way to investigate. As for the butler…

Finally, Meng Huaijin ruffled her soft hair carelessly and told her, "No, I promise."

---

When picking up Zhou Ze at the hotel, Shu Wan wanted to sit in the back and chat with him. Just as she opened the car door, her backpack was suddenly yanked up forcefully.

Along with her whole body, Meng Huaijin dragged her like she was a chicken or duck straight to the front passenger seat.

Shu Wan: "…"

In front of her friend, doesn’t she have any dignity? Not a single shred of face left?

She could only weep silently.

This mercurial, inscrutable, moody man! He wasn’t always the ‘good guy’ either.

After Zhou Ze left, Shu Wan was listless for a while because of Grandpa Chen’s situation until the first winter snow fell in Beicheng, coinciding with her birthday.

That was truly a… memorable coming-of-age feast.