Young Brave Hearts – CH 099

Chapter 99: Classmate Wedding 02

◎ Please ◎

“…”

It had to be said, sometimes Zhu Yunque really admired Lu Rangchen’s selective memory ability.

He could remember whoever he wanted, whatever he wanted to remember, even if they’re reduced to ashes; if he did not want to remember and did not care, even if it was repeated a hundred times, he still would not remember.

Take Zhang Leyao, for example.

This girl had clearly met him twice before, and Zhu Yunque even mentioned her once, but Lu Rangchen just could not recognize her.

This made Zhu Yunque wonder if he was deliberately covering up his innocence to make her happy.

Zhu Yunque remained silent, then softly said, “The one who chased after you at the club before.”

Lu Rangchen’s eyes widened slightly, and he raised an eyebrow. “Her?”

“…”

“Too many; I really can’t remember.”

That “too many” was quite clever.

Zhu Yunque almost laughed out of anger.

Well, to put it simply…

She was a little jealous.

But right now, she just felt he was incredibly annoying.

Zhu Yunque, chopsticks in hand, glanced at him expressionlessly, her face practically screaming, “I can’t be bothered with you.”

Lu Rangchen looked at her and let out a muffled laugh.

He was just happy to see her like this.

Clearly, she was incredibly jealous, but on the surface, she had to put on a nonchalant, detached facade.

Regardless of whether she was eating or not, Lu Rangchen kicked her shoe under the table and whispered, “What, jealous?”

“…”

Zhu Yunque’s lips twitched, and she looked up at him. “Can’t you just let me eat in peace?”

Lu Rangchen’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. He didn’t answer but instead pulled out his phone and casually fiddled with it, seemingly doing something.

When Zhu Yunque turned her head slightly, as if to say it casually, Lu Rangchen had already taken her hand.

Zhu Yunque was slightly taken aback and asked, “What are you doing?”

Lu Rangchen didn’t answer, fiddling with her fingers until her fingerprint was completely registered. Then he glanced at her indifferently and said, “New phone.”

He smiled. “I have to give Teacher Zhu access to this.”

Hearing this, Zhu Yunque’s brows relaxed abruptly, and her heart skipped a beat.

Although Lu Rangchen had given her his password when they first got their marriage certificate, he still did the same thing after he got a new phone, which surprised Zhu Yunque.

After all, men seemed to be particularly protective of their privacy.

Xu Linda’s boyfriend was like that, and so was Xie Han.

Xu Linda and Lin Zhi had argued with them quite a bit about this.

But Lu Rangchen rushing to register his wife’s fingerprints on a new phone so soon was unheard of.

Not only did he register it, but he also blatantly placed the phone in front of her, casually raising an eyebrow, his expression as if to say, “You’re unhappy, aren’t you? Then see how many clueless guys are chasing after me.”

If it were before, Zhu Yunque wouldn’t have bothered to look.

But for some reason, that day she was a little stubborn and picked up the phone to take a look.

Lu Rangchen’s phone had been accidentally broken before.

This was a newly released model that Zhu Yunque bought for him.

The reason she bought it was that she controlled the family finances, so whatever she said went.

Originally, Lu Rangchen didn’t want the latest top-of-the-line model, but Zhu Yunque felt he deserved only the best.

Frankly, good things were just different.

His new phone even felt substantial in her hand, let alone the fact that Zhu Yunque had just turned on the screen and saw her photo as the wallpaper, dominating her view.

And this photo wasn’t a selfie of the two of them.

It was a photo Lu Rangchen had secretly taken of her one day after getting off work when he accompanied her to the market to buy groceries while she was choosing vegetables.

In the photo, Zhu Yunque was holding a plump tomato, gently smelling it.

She wasn’t wearing makeup, just a simple, casual knitted cardigan. Her long, soft hair cascaded down her back, and her profile was sharply defined and beautiful. The setting sun seemed to favor her, casting a pale golden halo around her.

Her scholarly air and refined, elegant demeanor remained unchanged.

Seeing this scene, Lu Rangchen inexplicably curved his lips into a smile and, without thinking, recorded it.

Now, Zhu Yunque stared at the photo, slightly lost in thought, then looked at Lu Rangchen incredulously.

The man, incredibly arrogant, raised an eyebrow at her and said casually, “Jealous? My goddess.”

“…”

Zhu Yunque’s lips twitched.

This time, she couldn’t help but smile silently, a hint of sweetness in her eyes.

But smiling aside…

She couldn’t miss her checkup.

Since he’d given her this access, Zhu Yunque didn’t want to waste it, so she lightly tapped a few times, scanning his photo album.

As she expected, the album contained nothing interesting.

Besides photos of “his goddess,” there were only work photos, not even a single selfie of him. What a waste of his genetically blessed appearance.

After looking through the photo album, she then opened the man’s WeChat, seemingly with feigned seriousness.

There was no suspense, just as expected.

Her own picture was pinned to the top.

Besides her, all the other WeChat messages he exchanged were work-related.

Further down, there were call logs and text messages.

Zhu Yunque skimmed through them, concluding that it was a waste of time and life.

So, after returning the phone to Lu Rangchen, Zhu Yunque continued eating as if nothing had happened.

She ate in silence.

Lu Rangchen silently pulled out one of her textbooks to read, occasionally asking in a low voice, “Want some water? I’ll get you some.”

There was a water dispenser in the office, not far from Zhu Yunque.

Zhu Yunque wanted to say no, she could handle it herself, but before she could speak, the chair creaked against the floor, and Zhang Leyao, sitting diagonally opposite her, stood up with a dark face and stormed off in her mid-heels.

“…”

Everyone in the office stared speechlessly at that retreating figure.

Including Zhu Yunque and Lu Rangchen.

The two exchanged glances for a moment.

Lu Rangchen shrugged nonchalantly, picked up her water glass, and said, “You eat; I’ll get you some water.”

For some reason, Zhu Yunque suddenly had a strange feeling, like when they were in school, secretly dating in class, oblivious to everyone else.

This feeling could easily make one’s heart flutter.

Zhu Yunque unconsciously curled her lips into a smile.

Later, after dinner, she walked Lu Rangchen out of the school. Along the way, they encountered many students and teachers, all of whom looked at Lu Rangchen with that same kind of amazed gaze.

It’s no wonder everyone was so surprised.

After all, no one expected Zhu Yunque’s boyfriend to be this good-looking.

Zhu Yunque was secretly pleased.

But she thought she shouldn’t let Lu Rangchen come next time; he was just too flashy.

But Lu Rangchen wouldn’t listen to her.

For the next two weeks, whenever Zhu Yunque had evening classes, he would come to bring her dinner on time.

She couldn’t do anything about it.

Zhu Yunque could only drag him to the activity room on the rooftop to eat.

Of course, after dinner, Lu Rangchen wouldn’t forget to ask her for a kiss of praise.

But even this “praise” could only be a fleeting kiss, since there was a security camera outside the activity room.

In short, Lu Rangchen wasn’t very busy during the first month of school, so even though Zhu Yunque was very busy, the two of them lived a very affectionate life, never arguing.

This made Zhou Jin incredibly envious.

Although they were both young couples, her life with Li Tie wasn’t nearly as peaceful.

Although Li Tie loved her very much, they both had fiery tempers. Sometimes, they would argue and bicker, the worst time being when they gave each other the silent treatment for three days.

During those three days, Zhou Jin kicked Li Tie out.

Li Tie could only stay at Lu Rangchen’s place for three days.

Of course, he eventually gave in.

But even the most loving couple can’t stand this constant bickering, so Zhou Jin went to Zhu Yunque to ask for the secret to peaceful coexistence.

But Zhu Yunque didn’t have any secrets.

She and Lu Rangchen were like that; even if they argued, they couldn’t really have a proper fight. Even if there was friction, it was quickly resolved; either Lu Rangchen would give in, or she would let it go.

Thinking about it, Zhu Yunque could only be honest with Zhou Jin, saying she didn’t have any “heart-stirring wisdom,” probably because they hadn’t known each other long enough.

Zhou Jin thought about it seriously and agreed, “Well, after all, you two had such a long gap in between. Lu Rangchen is in the honeymoon phase right now; even if he wanted to argue with you, he wouldn’t want to.”

Zhu Yunque thought it made sense, so she smiled and said, “Then I’ll tell you when I actually argue with him someday.”

Some things are said in jest.

But unexpectedly, not long after their conversation, Zhu Yunque’s words came true. A week later, she really did have a conflict with Lu Rangchen.

It wasn’t because of trivial matters in life.

It was because of a phone call.

That day, Lu Rangchen was busy at the club all day and didn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock at night. Zhu Yunque was taking a shower at that time, and she left her phone outside.

It was just a coincidence.

Lu Rangchen had just sat down on the sofa when he saw Zhu Yunque’s phone flashing.

Normally, Lu Rangchen wouldn’t touch her phone without permission, but the problem was that the person calling that day was an old acquaintance.

None other than Zhao Qijia, someone he hadn’t thought about for years.

Those three characters were clearly displayed on the phone screen, making Lu Rangchen frown in annoyance, his expression growing increasingly grim.

Even after he hung up, Zhao Qijia kept calling relentlessly.

Every time he hung up, Zhao Qijia would call again.

Lu Rangchen was so annoyed he almost laughed.

Finally, he simply turned off Zhu Yunque’s phone.

When Zhu Yunque came out after showering to look for her phone, Lu Rangchen was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, watching TV with a rather unpleasant expression, lost in thought.

Zhu Yunque was quite puzzled that he had actually returned.

She called out to him.

But Lu Rangchen seemed not to hear her at all, simply leaning back lazily for several seconds before glancing at her indifferently.

His handsome face was unmistakably cold.

“…”

This was the first time Zhu Yunque had seen Lu Rangchen treat her this way, and she was somewhat bewildered.

Normally, Lu Rangchen would smile at her first, then get up to greet her and hug her.

So what was going on?

Was he angry?

Zhu Yunque walked over, puzzled, but couldn’t figure out what she had done to offend him.

The atmosphere remained subtly tense.

Zhu Yunque stood before him, somewhat confused, and asked again, “When did you get back?”

As she spoke, Zhu Yunque gently tugged at Lu Rangchen’s sleeve.

Early autumn.

It had rained outside again, and the temperature inside wasn’t high.

So much so that Zhu Yunque’s fingertips were slightly cool.

The coolness touched his skin, and Lu Rangchen’s throat tightened slightly. He almost involuntarily looked up at her.

Seeing that he was finally looking at her, Zhu Yunque blinked and said, “What’s wrong?”

The girl’s tone was soft.

It was completely coquettish, leaving Lu Rangchen suddenly helpless.

But even so, it couldn’t quell the flame that had just ignited in his heart.

Lu Rangchen still expressionlessly looked away and said in a flat voice, “I just got back not long ago.”

“…”

Zhu Yunque suddenly had nothing to say.

She felt quite inexplicable.

Just then, Deng Jiao had asked her for some English questions, and Zhu Yunque, thinking her studies were more important and wanting to reply quickly, hadn’t paid much attention to Lu Rangchen’s current mood. She glanced around the vicinity a few times, and only when she couldn’t find it did she ask him, “Did you see my phone just now?”

Zhu Yunque’s eyes were innocent and clear, as if she truly didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.

Lu Rangchen met her gaze, and for a second, his jawline tightened.

So, she couldn’t tell he was angry at all, could she?

Not only could she not tell, but she was also looking for her phone so nonchalantly, eager to talk to Zhao Qijia.

Lu Rangchen gave a forced smile and chuckled.

His smile…

Zhu Yunque was even more speechless and even a little annoyed.

She frowned, her tone unpleasant, and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

Lu Rangchen chuckled and abruptly stood up.

He pulled a phone, encased in a light-colored case, from his pocket, tossed it onto the coffee table, and said sarcastically, “Going upstairs so I don’t disturb your reunion with your old classmate.”

With that, he actually turned and left briskly.

Zhu Yunque watched his tall, arrogant, and furious back, her temples throbbing.

She glanced down at the phone on the coffee table.

…Wasn’t that hers?

–

Thinking about it later…

That must have been the first time they’d argued since their marriage.

Even when they were dating, they’d had disagreements, but never like this. Lu Rangchen was so obviously angry, and most importantly, Zhu Yunque had absolutely no idea why.

It was precisely because it was so inexplicable, and also their first time after marriage, that Zhu Yunque remembered that night so vividly.

She usually seemed gentle and mild-mannered.

But in reality, she was capricious and quite individualistic.

Even more so in matters of the heart.

Perhaps she had been spoiled by Lu Rangchen, because that night Zhu Yunque truly held her breath and ignored him.

Seeing Lu Rangchen go upstairs to the bedroom, she turned on her phone and went to the study to find Deng Jiao.

The young girl was currently struggling with the new grammar she had learned, so Zhu Yunque simply video-called her and patiently explained it to her again.

The bedroom and study were close together.

The door wasn’t closed properly.

So Lu Rangchen heard almost everything Zhu Yunque said in her gentle yet clear voice.

And not only him.

Li Tie, on the phone with him, heard it clearly too. After listening, he laughed and scolded him, saying, “Lu Rangchen, what can I say to you? You got angry without even asking, and now you’re complaining that she didn’t talk to you. Aren’t you just making trouble for no reason?”

Lu Rangchen was already annoyed.

Now, not getting a single pleasant word from him, he simply told him to get lost.

Sitting on the sofa, he reached for a cigarette.

But then he remembered Zhu Yunque’s three rules for him: no smoking at home. His movement stopped abruptly.

Yeah, he was annoyed that she wasn’t paying attention to him.

But he remembered her rules perfectly.

The more he thought about it, the more speechless he became.

Lu Rangchen gave a self-deprecating laugh, finally withdrawing his hand and leaning back dejectedly.

Li Tie then said, “But who called her just now? Why did you react so strongly?”

It was quite a strong reaction.

He almost lost control just now.

Thinking about it carefully, no one in his life had ever made him like this.

Suddenly, he felt that Zhao Qijia was pretty awesome.

Since high school, this guy had been around Zhu Yunque, always managing to inexplicably provoke his intense jealousy.

After high school, he chased after her all the way to university, and just when he set his sights on Zhu Yunque, Zhao Qijia was still around.

He finally managed to shake him off.

Unexpectedly, the two were still in contact.

Wait, why was this guy so persistent?

Thinking about this, Lu Rangchen almost laughed in exasperation.

But then again, no matter how awesome he was, Zhu Yunque still ran off with him, and now they were both married. Even if he worked himself to death, he couldn’t change anything.

Thinking about it this way… Lu Rangchen touched his nose and actually thought Li Tie was right.

He had just made a mountain out of a molehill.

Even if there was some lingering connection between them that he wasn’t aware of, he would have asked her before throwing a tantrum.

He was unconsciously analyzing the situation, coupled with Li Tie’s encouragement.

Lu Rangchen finally came to his senses.

However, getting him to calm down was easy, but getting Zhu Yunque to calm down was incredibly difficult.

Even after Lu Rangchen hung up the phone and went downstairs to cut fruit for her, knocking on her door and bringing it to her study, Zhu Yunque didn’t even glance at him.

“…”

Lu Rangchen was truly helpless.

He finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

He even stood there helplessly for a few seconds, choking back tears as he said, “I just cut it.”

He pushed the fruit plate further inside. “There’s dragon fruit, which you like.”

After saying that, his long, narrow, beautiful eyes stared intently at Zhu Yunque, his gaze piercing.

But Zhu Yunque, when she got ruthless, was a completely different story.

She acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing, continuing to explain grammar to Deng Jiao on the other end of the video call.

Lu Rangchen stood silently to the side for a few seconds, realizing she really wasn’t going to pay attention to him. He touched his neck, then turned and left, feeling utterly helpless.

A short while later.

Footsteps sounded downstairs again.

Lu Rangchen pushed the door open and came in again.

This time, it wasn’t fruit, but the milk he had just poured for Zhu Yunque.

Perhaps feeling rather embarrassed about what had just happened, he didn’t even look at Zhu Yunque directly this time. Instead, he arrogantly tossed the milk onto her table, put his hands in his pockets, and said, “Don’t forget to drink it later.”

Without pausing, he opened the door and left again.

The air was filled with his alluring, almost bewitching scent.

At this point, Zhu Yunque’s explanation had truly stopped.

Looking at the fruit and milk on the table, she couldn’t help but twitch her lips, about to mutter, “Crazy.”

But then, a second later…

She saw a small note under the milk glass.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Instinctively, Zhu Yunque pulled out the cream-colored note.

Just as she expected, Lu Rangchen had written three elegant and beautiful lines on it—

“I was wrong.”

“It’s okay to be angry with me, but don’t hold it in overnight, okay?”

“Please.”

Staring at those three lines, Zhu Yunque finally couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Deng Jiao was engrossed in her lesson when she heard Zhu Yunque’s laughter. She looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“…”

Zhu Yunque snapped out of her reverie, her smile fading. She shook her head and said, “Nothing.”

As she spoke, she took out her phone, snapped a picture of the note, and then said to Deng Jiao, “That’s enough for today’s one-on-one tutoring. I have something to do now.”

Hanging up the video call, she picked up the fruit platter and milk and went back to the bedroom.

At that moment, Lu Rangchen had just changed into his loungewear and was half-reclined on the sofa in the bedroom, reading a book.

The loungewear was something Zhu Yunque had picked out for him a few days ago. Lu Rangchen had complained that the color was too pale and hadn’t wanted to wear it, but tonight he obediently wore it.

It proved that Zhu Yunque’s taste was never wrong.

Lu Rangchen looked incredibly handsome in that loungewear, so handsome that she wanted to snuggle into his arms immediately.

Of course, Zhu Yunque only thought about it.

She wasn’t one to back down easily; even inside the bedroom, she remained expressionless.

Lu Rangchen, on the other hand, had his eyes glued to her, never leaving her since she entered.

He just stared at her, his gaze meeting hers in the mirror.

Zhu Yunque gave him a haughty look, then casually looked away, feigning sulkiness.

Lu Rangchen stared for two seconds, then burst out laughing.

His shoulders trembled slightly with laughter.

He thought to himself, “What’s all this about?”

Just because of a stupid phone call.

The more he thought about it, the more impatient he became.

So Lu Rangchen simply put down his book, unleashing his shameless nature, and, completely losing his patience, walked to the dressing table and, without caring whether Zhu Yunque liked it or not, simply scooped her up in his arms.

Zhu Yunque gasped softly in fright.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him.

But unexpectedly, in a dizzying second, Lu Rangchen had her pinned down on the soft sheets.

Her heart pounded fiercely.

Zhu Yunque punched his shoulder, both angry and amused, scolding him, “What’s wrong with you now?”

Though her tone was annoyed, the flutter in her eyes betrayed her.

Lu Rangchen didn’t care whether she liked it or not; he grabbed her two slender wrists with one hand, raised them above her head, and kissed her lips directly.

The man’s lips and tongue were wet, soft, and warm; without a word, he pried open her pearly teeth.

Her accusations were forcefully silenced by his assault. Zhu Yunque had no chance to refuse, only able to sob after being plundered, and involuntarily submit.

People say that sex settled scores.

But sometimes, a kiss could have the same effect.

Adding to the fact that this scoundrel was being shameless and dishonest, Zhu Yunque quickly melted like snow melting in spring.

However, it was unfortunate.

She had her period that day, the first day of it, and her lower abdomen was throbbing with pain; she had no time for romance.

So, just as Lu Rangchen was about to take things further, she decisively stopped his hand, her eyes glistening with tears, and said pitifully, “No, my period started.”

She hadn’t expected it to be so unfortunate.

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow and let out a muffled laugh.

Even so, he wasn’t satisfied. He cupped the back of her head and leaned down to kiss her.

Her anger had probably subsided.

This time, Zhu Yunque didn’t resist. Instead, she embraced him, letting him have his way, and they shared a passionate French kiss.

When they pulled away, their breathing was erratic.

Lu Rangchen’s ears turned a rare blush as he placed her hand over his heart and asked in a tender voice, “Are you still angry with me?”

His deep, magnetic voice was tinged with desire.

Every word he uttered was like a seductive melody.

Zhu Yunque stared at him intently, her heart pounding. She bit her lip and said, “Now you know you regret it?”

Lu Rangchen chuckled, nodding with a smile. “Regret? I regretted it right after you got angry. Is that answer acceptable?”

As he spoke, he leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek.

His roguishness seemed to have unleashed its true nature.

Zhu Yunque couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes crinkling with affection.

But after a few seconds, reason prevailed. She grabbed Lu Rangchen’s collar, her eyes demanding, “Then what was wrong with you just now?”

“Oh.”

Lu Rangchen responded lazily, his long arms sweeping Zhu Yunque up in a sweeping motion.

With a half-smile and with effortless ease, he pulled Zhu Yunque onto his lap.

Her hair was disheveled from his earlier teasing.

Lu Rangchen patiently smoothed her hair, then looked directly into her eyes after a while, saying seriously, “It’s all because of a phone call you received.”

“…”

Zhu Yunque was a little confused. “Who? What call?”

He hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t know about this.

Lu Rangchen’s heart eased slightly.

Raising an eyebrow, he feigned scrutiny. “You know your most loyal suitor from high school, my nemesis, Zhao Qijia?”