Young Brave Hearts – CH 071

Chapter 71

Leaving those words behind, Lu Rangchen went out to make the call.

He was already tall and imposing, and his gait was even more impressive.

A strange feeling.

He still possessed that captivating arrogance of the past, yet he had gained a clearer solidity and composure compared to his youth.

In a daze, his past and present selves overlapped.

Zhu Yunque’s eyes involuntarily followed Lu Rangchen until his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor, finally realizing that he was no longer the boy he once was.

He wouldn’t disappear when she needed him most.

He had the means to overcome obstacles and could shelter her from the storm.

Her heartbeat quickened subtly.

Zhu Yunque’s palms involuntarily burned.

Ye Tian, ​​who had been holding back for a long time, finally spoke up, “Sister, what’s going on between you two?”

To be honest, Lu Rangchen’s actions just now were quite natural, not at all like those of lovers who had broken up and never wanted to see each other again.

What Ye Tian didn’t expect was that just a while ago, Zhu Yunque wanted to saw him but could not, yet in just a few days, the two of them were getting along so harmoniously.

But actually, Zhu Yunque was quite confused as well. She didn’t know what her relationship with Lu Rangchen truly was.

She only knew that his presence brought her happiness and peace of mind, like a lifeless shell finally regaining its soul.

But facing Ye Tian, ​​she couldn’t express those feelings directly, only shaking her head, “For now, still an ex.”

This answer clearly surprised Ye Tian.

Zhu Yunque didn’t add anything further and turned to go into the temporary ward.

Deng Jiali was with the sleeping Zhu Yuxuan, seemingly calm, but she became agitated upon seeing Zhu Yunque.

Afraid of waking the child.

She pulled Zhu Yunque outside to talk.

In this helpless woman’s eyes, besides Zhu Ping’an, the only person she felt she could rely on in the whole family was Zhu Yunque. She didn’t hesitate to tell Zhu Yunque about her current predicament.

It boiled down to two things: the conflict with the other family’s parents and Zhu Yuxuan’s congenital heart disease.

The disease was almost certain; surgery was needed as soon as possible.

But the problem was, not only could Zhu Yuxuan not get an appointment with a specialist, but even if he did, the surgery would be extremely expensive.

Deng Jiali had already called Zhu Ping’an, but Zhu Ping’an couldn’t do anything about it and could only say to put him in the queue.

Deng Jiali was most annoyed by his helpless attitude, so she immediately turned her attention to Zhu Yunque.

This wasn’t the first time she’d done this; she pleaded with a tearful face, “Didn’t you have connections at this hospital before? Can’t you make an exception?”

The connections she was referring to were Xie Han, the wealthy and returned overseas student whom Zhu Yunque had met abroad.

Zhu Yunque had met him once when she returned to Nancheng.

Xie Han had even treated Zhu Yunque’s family to dinner.

At the time, he had casually mentioned to Deng Jiali that his family’s pharmaceutical company had a long-standing partnership with this hospital and that he had relatives working there; she could call him if needed.

What was said casually was taken seriously.

Zhu Yunque hadn’t expected Deng Jiali to actually remember it.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Relying on Ye Tian’s past incident of fighting for Feng Yanlai and ending up in jail, Deng Jiali had often bullied Zhu Yunque.

Zhu Yunque didn’t like this behavior.

But the reality was she couldn’t do anything about it; Zhu Yuxuan was her younger brother.

That boy was quite well-behaved, and they had a good relationship; she couldn’t just stand by and watch.

But asking Xie Han directly was also difficult for her.

Xie Han’s feelings for her had never faded since their time abroad. Zhu Yunque had rejected him many times, but he was still willing to help her deceive Lu Rangchen.

Over the years, the two had maintained intermittent contact.

It was after that meal that Xie Han confessed his feelings to her again, but Zhu Yunque rejected him again.

Xie Han wasn’t like Lu Rangchen.

He had a Western-style openness when it came to relationships; if they agreed, they were together; if not, it was fine, they could still be friends.

Not long after that, Xie Han had a new girlfriend.

Zhu Yunque had seen her on his WeChat Moments; she was a mixed-race model, very hot. The two had gone on vacation abroad, and she didn’t know if they had returned to Nancheng.

Seeing her silent, Deng Jiali became quite anxious, pinching her arm and pleading gently, “Queque, it’s not that I’m making things difficult for you, but look at this family. Who can I rely on? If I don’t rely on you, who else can I rely on? Xuanxuan’s illness really can’t be toughed out; I really can’t wait any longer.”

She started sobbing as she spoke.

Zhu Yunque reflexively frowned, but before she could speak, Lu Rangchen’s voice sounded behind her.

The man’s deep, magnetic voice, mixed with the sound of footsteps, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhu Yunque choked and turned around. Deng Jiali, following the sound, also saw Lu Rangchen.

He was carrying some food—snacks, fruit, and milk—clearly for the child.

Lu Rangchen first glanced at Zhu Yunque, then his gaze settled on Deng Jiali.

Deng Jiali had never actually met Lu Rangchen, only heard his name, but inexplicably felt that this man and Zhu Yunque had a special relationship.

She looked at Zhu Yunque and lowered her voice. “This is—”

Before Zhu Yunque could speak, Lu Rangchen introduced himself, saying, “I’m Lu Rangchen, Zhu Yunque’s friend.”

Deng Jiali’s mind went blank for a moment, and she blurted out to Zhu Yunque, “You got back together with him?”

“…”

Zhu Yunque’s face flushed with embarrassment for a moment, then immediately denied it, saying no.

Lu Rangchen glanced at her casually, his gaze so serious that it was hard to look him in the eye.

Zhu Yunque refused to look at him, instead escorting Deng Jiali back, saying, “You go back first. I’ll think about what you said.”

At this, Deng Jiali perked up, saying, “Don’t think about it! Zhu Yuxuan is your brother; you have to help me solve this.”

She was acting all coquettish and pleading.

Lu Rangchen frowned.

This was the first time he’d seen that expression on Zhu Yunque’s face. No longer calm and collected, but rather as if she were being held hostage by something invisible, restrained and helpless.

He suddenly felt quite impatient with that woman.

But he restrained himself, not interfering in their affairs.

After Zhu Yunque had calmed Deng Jiali down, she came out and saw Lu Rangchen leaning against the wall.

The man, hands in his pockets, long legs slightly bent, a plastic bag containing the pile of things still hanging from his wrist, glanced at her as she emerged and said, “Running into trouble again?”

Zhu Yunque: “…”

For some reason, she didn’t like Lu Rangchen looking at her like that.

Perhaps it stemmed from her inherent pride and self-esteem, or perhaps it was the rift between them and their families from years ago.

Zhu Yunque lowered her eyes and said, “No, I can handle it.”

Lu Rangchen clearly didn’t believe her but didn’t want to expose her, simply handing her the plastic bag and saying, “Here.”

Zhu Yunque paused, then took it.

Lu Rangchen looked at her casually. “Still coming back with me?”

Those words were undeniably tempting.

For a fleeting moment, Zhu Yunque really wanted to abandon everything behind her and impulsively follow him.

But she was too good at putting herself in constraints.

She simply shook her head helplessly and said, “No, you go back first; I’ll stay with them a little longer.”

Lu Rangchen knew this would happen.

There wasn’t much to say; after all, Zhu Yunque wasn’t his girlfriend anymore, and he had no right to drag her away.

A strange possessiveness burned within him, and he finally nodded and said, “Okay.”

Not long after, Lu Rangchen left.

Deng Jiali, as expected, pestered Zhu Yunque again, asking all sorts of questions.

What she was most curious about was what was going on between the two of them. Hadn’t they broken up so many years ago? How did they end up together again?

But with Zhu Yunque’s personality, she couldn’t get her to talk. Even Lu Rangchen couldn’t get anything out of her when she didn’t want to.

She completely ignored Deng Jiali, only shaking Zhu Yuxuan’s hand.

Then she remembered that Lu Rangchen had just gone out to make a phone call… but she didn’t know what he’d said.

Unfortunately, he was already gone.

She was too embarrassed to go and ask him.

She considered sending him a WeChat message but felt it would be too abrupt; after all, Lu Rangchen had only said he was making a call, not that he actually wanted to help her.

She had never had the right to ask him for anything.

That was true in the past, and it was true now.

After struggling for a long time, Zhu Yunque ultimately didn’t contact Lu Rangchen but couldn’t help opening his WeChat Moments.

It was still the same WeChat account.

Even the cover photo hadn’t been changed.

The only thing that caught Zhu Yunque’s attention was the bio under his profile picture—”The wind is rising.”

The wind is rising.

Seeing this sentence, Zhu Yunque’s heart skipped a beat.

She clearly remembered that when they first added each other, Lu Rangchen’s profile picture didn’t have this sentence.

…

That night, after confirming that Zhu Yuxuan’s condition was temporarily stable, Deng Jiali and Ye Tian took the child home.

Zhu Yunque returned to her place late at night.

The fatigue of a busy day washed over her after showering, but even at this late hour, Deng Jiali didn’t “let her off the hook,” constantly urging her to find a way to get an appointment with a specialist for Zhu Yuxuan. It seemed that she and Zhu Ping’an didn’t have much money saved, and it was likely that Deng Jiali would have to cover the surgery costs.

As for the conflict with the other parents, Deng Jiali knew Zhu Yunque couldn’t do anything about it; she could only say that, at worst, she would have to pay them compensation.

Zhu Yunque was quite numb to these things.

She just glanced at the phone, tossed it aside, and pulled the covers over her head to sleep.

The next morning, on her day off, Zhu Yunque was woken up again by a phone call from Deng Jiali.

This time, however, it wasn’t any of those messy, troublesome things.

It was good news.

Deng Jiali happily told Zhu Yunque, “The parents of the kid who had a fight with Zhu Yuxuan drove over this morning with fruit and gifts to see Zhu Yuxuan. I didn’t expect this at all; I thought his family was going to cause trouble again.”

“It wasn’t his father, but a rather young driver who came to inquire about our child’s condition.”

“I was completely stunned. You wouldn’t believe how fierce his family was on the day of the incident. It was just a small scratch on his forehead, but they acted like it was the end of the world.”

“Now, not only are they not causing trouble, but they are even apologizing. I don’t know what kind of luck we’ve encountered.”

“Oh, and he also said that his child won’t bully Xuanxuan anymore.”

At this, Deng Jiali breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yunque, however, was slightly taken aback.

She truly hadn’t expected Lu Rangchen to resolve this matter so easily.

After hanging up, Zhu Yunque considered calling Lu Rangchen to express her gratitude, but after much deliberation, she decided to send him a text message instead.

Perhaps it had been too long since she’d had such a private and one-on-one conversation with him.

Zhu Yunque felt a subtle tension for a moment.

After considering her options for a while, she only asked him one question: 【Are you awake?】

Unexpectedly, Lu Rangchen replied very quickly.

Chen: 【Just woke up.】

It’s almost eleven o’clock, and this guy just woke up. Being the boss really did give you the money to be capricious.

Zhu Yunque couldn’t help but mentally complain, a smile unconsciously curving her lips. She was pondering what to say next when Lu Rangchen spoke first.

He said: 【It’s a holiday today; are you home?】

Zhu Yunque paused for a moment before typing: 【Yeah, at home】

Lu Rangchen replied: 【Me too】

It was a perfectly ordinary sentence, but in the current context, it carried a hint of ambiguity.

Zhu Yunque pursed her lips, deliberately pausing for a few seconds before replying: 【Have you had breakfast?】

Lu Rangchen’s reply was surprisingly fast.

Almost instantly, he replied: 【No, there’s nothing to eat at home.】

“…”

Zhu Yunque was suddenly speechless.

Thinking to herself, “Such a grown man, and there’s nothing to eat at home.”

She couldn’t tell if it was a momentary impulse or some other emotion at play, but by the time she came to her senses, the message had already been sent.

She said: 【I have some】

Lu Rangchen replied instantly, 【I want to eat scallion oil noodles】

Chen: 【You make them】

Those three words were like a captivating spell, making Zhu Yunque’s heart rate rise uncontrollably.

They were both adults.

Everyone understood what those words meant.

But she just couldn’t control herself.

She couldn’t resist wanting to see him, to thank him, even if it was just to cook him a bowl of noodles.

So she went upstairs, carrying the packed groceries, and arrived at Lu Rangchen’s door. She knocked lightly only twice before the door opened unexpectedly.

The familiar scent of the man wafted out.

It was a faint scent of ebony, mixed with the refreshing aroma of shower gel—deep and alluring.

Zhu Yunque pursed her lips and glanced down at Lu Rangchen, who was shirtless and wearing only loose pajamas.

The man had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his abdominal muscles supple and firm. His crisscrossing V-lines descended, hidden beneath the folds of his trousers, forming a distinctly masculine, undulating curve.

“…”

Realizing something, Zhu Yunque’s mind suddenly went blank, and her thin face instantly flushed red.

Lu Rangchen, however, calmly observed her.

His expression was a half-smile, tinged with a mischievous roguishness. He shamelessly curled the corner of his mouth and said, “It isn’t like I haven’t touched you before.”

“…”

“What’s there to be shy about?”