Young Brave Hearts – CH 083

Chapter 83

Lu Rangchen returned to Nancheng that afternoon.

The time difference between China and France was seven hours. He could have chosen another time to return, but for some reason, he just wanted to come back early to see Zhu Yunque.

It was right after he got off the plane.

He received a text message from Zhu Yunque, saying she was going to the hospital to see Zhu Yuxuan that afternoon.

Lu Rangchen couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw the message.

He thought to himself that this girl was quite trustworthy.

At least when they were dating, she never bothered to tell him where she was. It was always Lu Rangchen who had to call or text her before she would tell him.

Thinking he’d returned to see her anyway, Lu Rangchen decided to go to the hospital to find her.

However, his timing was worse than arriving early.

Lu Rangchen had just reached the ward door from the nurses’ station when he heard a commotion coming from the fire escape nearby.

A woman’s voice, filled with dissatisfaction and grievance, was clearly audible; the target of her accusation was obviously Zhu Yunque.

Zhu Yunque hadn’t expected Lu Rangchen to suddenly appear, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to overhear Deng Jiali’s words.

Or perhaps Lu Rangchen’s presence was too intimidating.

The moment Lu Rangchen finished speaking, the scene froze.

Even more surprised than Zhu Yunque and Deng Jiali was Zhu Ping’an; this was the first time he’d seen Lu Rangchen in person.

In the prime of his life and exceptionally talented, he was indeed the kind of man Zhu Yunque would remember for a lifetime.

The man was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. He subconsciously opened his lips, but before he could speak, Deng Jiali, her voice trembling with tears, accused him, “Don’t you know what bad things your Cheng family has done? What kind of innocent act are you playing at by coming here to ask us?”

Lu Rangchen’s brow furrowed, and he remained silent.

Zhu Yunque gripped his hand tightly.

Her voice trembled slightly as she said, “Lu Rangchen, let’s talk outside.”

Lu Rangchen glanced at her, his cold, dark gaze fixed on her stubborn and defiant face.

“Why say it outside? Say it to my face!”

Deng Jiali, emboldened by some unknown source of courage, stopped arguing with Zhu Yunque and instead defended her, “He should know! He should know how much his grandfather bullied people back then!”

“That old man deliberately posted that mess online so everyone could criticize her. Otherwise, would my Ye Tian have ended up in the police station fighting?!”

“And what about Yunque going abroad? Wasn’t that forced on her? Forcing her to leave is one thing, but then he threatened my husband’s job! Do you, rich people, think you can act so lawlessly?!”

The woman spoke rapidly, leaving Zhu Ping’an no chance to interject.

Zhu Yunque finally raised her voice, interrupting her with a shout, “Stop talking!”

Perhaps when someone who never got angry did, their anger was even more overwhelming. Deng Jiali’s heart trembled at her sudden rebuke.

Then she looked at Lu Rangchen.

His face was deathly still.

He gripped Zhu Yunque’s hand tightly, as if something heavy had been pressing on his heart, and suddenly collapsed. He stared at Zhu Yunque and asked, “Is what she said true?”

In that instant, years of suppressed emotions were crushed and annihilated.

Zhu Yunque’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

That tears were mixed with bitterness, love, and something even thicker and deeper than love—something Lu Rangchen had never dared to hope for before, something he could never comprehend.

His chest had never felt so constricted, so suffocating that he could hardly breathe.

Lu Rangchen’s deep eyes churned with emotion. Before he could speak, Zhu Yunque spoke up, her voice damp like raindrops, “So what if it’s true?”

Her palm, holding Lu Rangchen’s, was slightly sweaty. Her eyelashes trembled as she said, “It’s all in the past.”

Lu Rangchen’s throat tightened at her words, as if a fishbone was stuck there.

Indeed, it was all in the past.

But that was from her perspective.

From his perspective, Lu Rangchen had never felt that it was in the past.

Zhu Yunque turned to look at Deng Jiali and said, “So you’re satisfied now?”

Deng Jiali choked back a sob, stammered, and then said in a tearful voice, “What did I do? I was just speaking up for you—”

“I don’t need you to speak up for me.”

Zhu Yunque looked at her expressionlessly, her face cold and devoid of warmth, and said, “I just hope you’ll let me go.”

These words were like another slap in the face to the couple.

In the brief moment of their stunned silence, Zhu Yunque looked at Zhu Ping’an.

Perhaps the appearance of Lu Rangchen made her even more certain, and she said, “The debts I incurred because of my mother’s mistakes have been repaid today.”

“I owe you nothing anymore.”

“And I’ll no longer be responsible for the Cheng family’s actions.”

At this point, Zhu Yunque took a deep breath and said, “My decision to be with Lu Rangchen isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision but a lifelong commitment.”

“I’ll never separate from him again.”

Her voice was light and calm, yet its force was like a thunderbolt.

It struck Lu Rangchen’s heart with a powerful tremor.

When his dark eyes looked at her again, Zhu Yunque’s eyes and nose were red. She smiled and said, “I’m really tired of carrying this moral burden for so many years.”

All that about Feng Yanlai, about Ye Tian, ​​and about her father, Zhu Ping’an.

She’d had enough.

Her eyes were empty, like a stagnant pool. Zhu Yunque said, “From now on, just pretend I don’t exist.”

–

That day, Zhu Yunque left decisively.

Only a carton of milk and a bag of fruit remained, cold and impersonal. After she left, Zhu Ping’an kept calling her, but Zhu Yunque didn’t answer any of them, simply turning off her phone’s notification mode.

Lu Rangchen also had a lot on his plate. His manager called, asking him to return to the club to handle some matters, mentioning several promising new athletes who needed to be met in person.

This appointment was last-minute but quite important.

Lu Rangchen, however, wasn’t really in the mood to go. He simply took Zhu Yunque’s hand and got into the car, frowning as he said, “No time.”

His tone was rather cold, consistent with his boss-like demeanor.

But it wasn’t that he didn’t have time.

He simply couldn’t be distracted from Zhu Yunque’s presence.

By now, Zhu Yunque had calmed down considerably and couldn’t help but interject, “Why don’t you go? I’m fine.”

Lu Rangchen glanced at her, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, as if he were suppressing some anger, a mixture of suppressed frustration and resignation.

Zhu Yunque: “…”

How could she not guess what he was angry about?

Thinking about it, she could only say, “Why don’t I go back with you?”

As she spoke, their intertwined fingers tightened, a clear signal from Zhu Yunque.

After all, they hadn’t seen each other for over ten days, and neither of them wanted to be apart.

Hearing this, Lu Rangchen lowered his gaze and glanced at her. When he looked up again, a faint, fleeting smile finally appeared in his eyes. He chuckled and said, “That’s almost enough.”

At least he’d appeased her a little.

Zhu Yunque remained obedient and well-behaved for the rest of the journey.

She actually understood somewhat what was causing Lu Rangchen’s anger and began to think about how to explain it to him later.

However, before she could figure it out, they arrived at the club.

They were urging her on, so Lu Rangchen simply asked someone to take Zhu Yunque back to his office. Before leaving, he pinched her cheek, being quite gentle and patient, and said, “Be good; wait patiently for me to come back.”

To be honest, the people at the club had never seen their boss so gentle with anyone before.

Even the receptionist who came to show them the way was stunned.

After dropping Zhu Yunque off at his office, she immediately started gossiping in the WeChat group, saying she’d just seen the boss and his girlfriend. The girl was gorgeous, and the boss was incredibly gentle with her, even pinching her cheek!!!

The group consisted of about ten people, all club staff.

This news caused quite a stir.

After all, Lu Rangchen had cultivated his single persona for years, and nobody expected him to suddenly start dating. Everyone was curious, asking if there were any photos.

The receptionist, of course, didn’t have any.

But the curiosity was overwhelming.

So, the men and women in the small group pretended to have something to do and slipped into Lu Rangchen’s office.

They might make her a cup of coffee, print something, or bring Zhu Yunque some fruit and a drink.

Zhu Yunque was usually very gentle, and this was no exception. After several rounds of back and forth, the small group chat exploded again—

【Holy crap, I never expected the boss to like this type! I thought he’d prefer curvy, hot girls.】

【You’re right!!! I didn’t expect the boss to actually like this kind of pure and innocent girl either! But this sister-in-law is really beautiful; her aura blows away all those hot girls.】

【Why call her sister-in-law? That’s too old-fashioned; she should be called the future boss lady.】

【Hey, have you guys heard? This beauty was the boss’s first love, a teacher.】

【Holy crap, a broken mirror mended! How is she so amazing that she’s managed to keep the boss in check for so many years???】

The group chat was buzzing with discussion.

Someone somehow sent the screenshots to Lu Rangchen.

Lu Rangchen was supervising the physical tests of several new athletes with the coach when he received this screenshot. He chuckled and immediately sent it to Zhu Yunque, saying, 【Future boss lady, you’re quite charming.】

At that time, Zhu Yunque was using Lu Rangchen’s computer to prepare her Monday presentation.

By the time she saw the screenshot, quite some time had passed.

Logging into WeChat on her computer, she clicked on the image, paused for a moment, and then a sweet, amused look appeared in her eyes.

She had just typed, “When are you coming back?” when the office door was pushed open again.

This time, it wasn’t some employee who had deliberately come in to check; it was Lu Rangchen returning.

Zhu Yunque looked up and saw his handsome face, her heart skipping a beat.

The man before her wasn’t only handsome.

His eyes also held a hint of danger.

He simply closed the door and locked it from the inside. Lu Rangchen glanced at her, then casually tossed his lighter and cigarette case onto the coffee table.

His tall figure stood there casually, one hand rolling up the sleeve of his shirt jacket, staring at her with the inexplicable air of a refined scoundrel.

It had been so long since they last met.

This man seemed captivating in every way, possessing a fatal attraction.

Zhu Yunque was momentarily blinded by lust.

She pursed her lips, finally getting up and walking towards him.

Lu Rangchen looked down at her, a slight smirk playing on his lips, then reached out and pulled her tightly into his arms.

He gave a roguish smirk and said, “Quite sensible.”

Before Zhu Yunque could even speak, he pinched her chin and kissed her greedily.

His tongue swirled and teased, both lustful and passionate.

Their breaths mingled with saliva, and Zhu Yunque could only swallow involuntarily, then helplessly wrapped her arms around his neck, being carried horizontally to the sofa by Lu Rangchen.

But this man was going too far. She had endured it for the previous eight years, but after only half a month, she was crazy thirsty.

Zhu Yunque bit her lip and moaned softly as he kneaded and pinched her. Finally, unable to resist, she could only bite his chin and push him away.

Faint red teeth marks were left on her neck.

The man’s lips glistened, his stubble barely visible to the naked eye, scratching softly against Zhu Yunque’s fingertips—it was incredibly sexy.

They continued like this, tugging at each other, until finally, they had kissed enough.

Lu Rangchen pulled up her skirt, which had fallen to her thighs, and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose as she breathed heavily. He chuckled hoarsely, a hint of exasperation in his voice. “Hey, boss lady, you’ve had your fill of beauty, so isn’t it time to be honest with me?”