Wen Wan was startled by the boy who had suddenly appeared.

She took a step back and shook her head, a little embarrassed.

"Hey, I just think you have a great vibe. I’d like to be friends, that’s all. I don’t mean any harm, I promise." The boy seemed unwilling to let such a beautiful gem of a girl get away.

Wen Wan said quietly, "I’m sorry... I’m waiting for someone..." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"It doesn’t matter if you’re waiting for someone. We can just be friends," the boy insisted.

"Hey, man, you’ve got some nerve." Jiang Sifan appeared just then, his tone displeased.

The boy turned to look and saw Jiang Sifan grab Wen Wan’s hand and pull her away.

He immediately grumbled, "What the hell? If she has a boyfriend, she should’ve said so."

Jiang Sifan led Wen Wan to the base of a tree, then asked curiously, "Were you waiting for me over there?"

Looking a little forlorn, Wen Wan nodded.

"You could have messaged me on WeChat. I was tutoring tonight, so I got back late," Jiang Sifan explained.

Wen Wan replied, "Class President, I knew you were going to tutor. I was worried that messaging you would disturb your session..."

"You silly girl." Her words made Jiang Sifan laugh in exasperation.

Then he asked, "So, what did you need me for?"

Wen Wan took a business card from her pocket and handed it to Jiang Sifan.

Jiang Sifan was puzzled. "What’s this...?"

"The university held a Legal Awareness Day today. It was mainly about financial issues, disputes, and entrepreneurial scams targeting college students..." Wen Wan said quietly. "This is the business card of a lawyer I met. When she heard we were starting a business, she said she could help us analyze our situation for free."

Jiang Sifan took the card and looked at the information on it, frowning. "Can we... trust this?"

"I think since it was a Legal Awareness Day held in partnership with the university, it should be trustworthy," Wen Wan replied.

"Okay, I’ll think about it." Looking at Wen Wan, Jiang Sifan started to feel guilty.

He said apologetically, "Wen Wan, I’m really sorry. I told you this startup was a sure thing, but we haven’t made a single cent. I’ve also been taking up the time you could be using for your part-time job. Why don’t you take a few days off? I can handle things on my own."

Hearing this, Wen Wan blushed and explained, "Class President... you don’t have to feel bad. Actually... I’ve been really happy going out with you these past few days. I..."

She hesitated for a moment before finishing, "I don’t have many friends. I’m really happy that I can help you."

When Jiang Sifan heard that, he thought, ’What on earth was I just saying? Is Wen Wan that kind of person?!’

He quickly apologized. "I’m sorry, Wen Wan. That was shallow of me. Okay, then it’s settled! Let’s keep fighting for this together!"

Wen Wan smiled shyly. "Okay~"

"I’ll walk you back to your dorm."

"There’s no need, Class President. I can get back by myself."

"No way!" Jiang Sifan said firmly. "You waited for me this late. If I don’t walk you back to your dorm, what kind of man would I be?"

His rather macho statement made Wen Wan blush.

In the end, she agreed to let Jiang Sifan walk her back.

After dropping Wen Wan off, Jiang Sifan returned to his own dorm.

After washing up and lying down in bed, he took out the business card again.

After thinking it over, he decided to add the lawyer on WeChat.

...

「Yangcheng.」

Lu Fan arrived at the flower shop, looked at Jiang Yixia, and said with a smile, "Yixia~"

Hearing his voice, Jiang Yixia frowned. "Don’t you have anything better to do all day?"

"Who says? I’m here on a mission." Lu Fan produced a box of Suzhou snacks from behind his back. "Our daughter specifically saved these for you. I brought them all the way from Jinling just for you."

Jiang Yixia paused for a couple of seconds before finally saying, "Just put it on the table."

"I took our daughter to visit her professor today. Don’t you want to hear about it?" Lu Fan said, deliberately trying to pique her curiosity.

But Jiang Yixia replied calmly, "A certain someone established a restoration fund for classical gardens and ancient architecture, which really impressed our daughter and scored him a lot of points. And that certain someone also took her shopping at a clothing store and bought her a very expensive dress and boots."

"Ah, that Silu," Lu Fan said with a mock sigh. "She tells her mom everything, and so quickly, too. I was hoping I’d be the one to tell you."

Jiang Yixia retorted, "I’m her mother. Of course she tells me everything."

She said irritably, "Congratulations to a certain someone for finally earning a few brownie points with his daughter."

"Haha, well, you can thank my thick skin for that. I’m the one who took the initiative to contact that professor Silu idolizes," Lu Fan said with a laugh.

Just then, his assistant, Jiali, walked over.

She came up behind Lu Fan and whispered a few words in his ear.

Jiang Yixia took in the entire exchange.

"Mm, I understand." Lu Fan nodded after listening to Jiali.

Then, Jiali left.

After she left, Lu Fan noticed Jiang Yixia stealing a glance at him out of the corner of her eye and deliberately teased, "Yixia, were you getting jealous just now? Don’t worry, she’s just my assistant. I’m not interested in her."

"Who you like has nothing to do with me," Jiang Yixia said in a calm tone. "It wouldn’t matter to me even if you liked men."

"I don’t believe that. If I liked men, you’d definitely be heartbroken," Lu Fan said, feigning certainty.

Just then, Jiang Yixia gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "If you don’t believe me, you could always take a trip to the Shu Capital and try falling in love with a man."

"I was just joking with you. Look at you, getting all worked up." Then Lu Fan added, "Oh, by the way, you should give Sifan some more spending money. He’s realized he’s being scammed with his startup, and he just added my assistant on WeChat."

"Why did he add your assistant on WeChat?" Jiang Yixia suddenly grew tense.

"Well, to raise their legal awareness, I had my assistant go to the university to run a legal aid awareness event. She took the opportunity to slip them a business card. And what do you know, he just added her on WeChat to ask for advice on how to handle the startup."

Lu Fan’s words made Jiang Yixia realize that this man was, in his own way, genuinely helping their two children.

Seeing that they had chatted enough for the day, Lu Fan glanced at the time and said, "Alright, Yixia, you should close up shop. It’s getting late. I’ll be going now."

Seeing him about to leave, Jiang Yixia hesitated for a moment, then called out, "Wait."

Hearing this, Lu Fan guessed she wanted him to stay. He immediately stopped in his tracks and asked teasingly, "What’s wrong? Can’t bear to see me go?"

Jiang Yixia shot him a look, then went into the back room and came out with a thermos. "Bring this back to me clean tomorrow. If I find a single speck of grease, don’t even think about getting soup next time!"

"Haha, I knew it! Yixia, you’re the best to me." Lu Fan took the thermos, opened it to take a sniff, and sighed contentedly. "Even the most lavish feast can’t compare to this lean pork soup."

"Just go already, I’m closing up," Jiang Yixia urged.

After Lu Fan left, she began tidying up the shop by herself.

Recalling his words, Jiang Yixia blushed and muttered, "That jerk... always with the cheesy pickup lines."

But unlike the previous times, this time, a faint smile touched the corners of her lips.