After the Young Master’s Death, He was Kissed by His Mortal Enemy! - Chapter 82

At first, Shen Xianming and Fu Sijie were stunned. Then, they both nodded simultaneously. “Of course we remember.”

It wasn’t exactly a huge deal, but it wasn’t a small one either.

For an average college student, barely passing a course with a sixty might be something to celebrate.

But not for the Shen family.

Shen Xianming and Fu Sijie had always dedicated themselves to raising Shen Ran as a well-rounded individual — excelling academically, physically, morally, and artistically. In their household, just barely passing a class was simply unacceptable.

At the time, Shen Ran had been sternly reprimanded over his grades.

“The reason my grades were so bad back then,” Shen Ran declared, his voice firm enough to make the ground tremble, “was because of Chen Xu!”

Hearing this, Chen Xu visibly flinched, guilt flashing across his face as he quickly looked away.

“I used to study really hard,” Shen Ran continued, voice growing quieter, tinged with regret and a touch of grievance. “But then Senior Chen Xu came to me one day and told me he could help me skip classes — said I could just relax and have fun. And that’s when everything started to go wrong…”

“Mom, Dad,” he said, voice dropping even lower, sounding genuinely remorseful, “I realized later that I’d made a mistake. I decided to stay away from Senior Chen Xu. But he refused to give up. He kept pestering me, haunting me like a ghost, and now he’s even chased me all the way here…”

In just a few words, Shen Ran had flipped the narrative completely.

The once seemingly devoted, gentle suitor Chen Xu was now painted as a toxic influence — a creepy, obsessive upperclassman who had led Shen Ran astray.

Meanwhile, all evidence pointed toward Cheng Yi.

Just look at Cheng Yi! Even when he was being slandered, he didn’t defend himself. He simply cooperated quietly with Shen Ran, maintaining a refined air — the very image of someone who had nothing to hide!

Clearly, he wasn’t the kind of person who would stoop to low or underhanded behavior.

On the other hand, Chen Xu, despite his flowery speeches, hadn’t been able to produce a shred of real evidence.

Empty words, baseless claims.

Noticing the shift in the Shen couple’s attitude, Chen Xu panicked and started stammering out a defense: “Uncle, Auntie! It’s not like that, I…”

“Enough.”

This time, Shen Xianming, having lost all patience, interrupted Chen Xu coldly — just as he had interrupted Shen Ran earlier when he’d been suspicious.

“Chen Xu, no one knows what kind of person Ranran is better than we do as his parents.”

“But even if Ranran isn’t at fault, Cheng Yi still isn’t a good—”

Shen Xianming cut him off again, voice firm: “We trust Ranran’s judgment.”

Whether everything Shen Ran said was true or not, whether his relationship with Cheng Yi was genuine or not — none of that mattered now.

What was clear was that Chen Xu’s character was severely lacking. He had been a bad influence on Shen Ran in the past, and now he had the nerve to show up at the Shen Group causing trouble, deluding himself into thinking he still had a chance.

Luckily, this time, everything had only been an embarrassing fantasy on Chen Xu’s part. If word of this had gotten out, who knew what kind of gossip would have tarnished the Shen family’s reputation?

Everything the Shen family did ultimately boiled down to protecting the name of the Shen Group.

“Mr. Chen,” Shen Xianming said coolly, “if you have nothing else to say, please leave. We still have a company event to continue attending.”

“But—!” Chen Xu tried again.

“If you don’t leave,” Shen Xianming said with a thin smile, “we’ll have no choice but to ask security to ‘escort’ you out.”

As if in response to his words, the door swung open, and several security guards in black uniforms filed into the room, standing in formation with stern expressions.

Chen Xu’s face turned pale. Though he was furious and unwilling, he couldn’t afford to cause a scene with security standing by.

He couldn’t win Shen Ran back, nor could he smear Cheng Yi anymore.

All his meticulous planning, the effort he’d spent getting into Shen Group and finally meeting the Shen couple — none of it had achieved anything.

…Worse, he had completely lost their trust.

Even if he tried to explain privately later, they would never listen again.

Casting one last unwilling, resentful look at Shen Ran, Chen Xu had no choice but to turn around and leave.

He knew now that he could no longer expect anything from Shen Ran or the Shen family.

But one thing he swore to himself, bitterly and furiously —

He would never, ever let Shen Ran and Cheng Yi have their happy ending.

Their so-called engagement, their talk of “forever” — it was nothing but a ridiculous fantasy!

“Just you wait!”

Unlike the brooding Chen Xu, Shen Ran remained as bright and carefree as ever.

No matter what, seeing Chen Xu — who had come charging in ready to cause trouble — leave defeated was a source of pure joy for him.

It was the same delightful feeling as watching your enemy trip over their own feet — pure, unrepentant schadenfreude.

“Goodbye, Senior Chen Xu~” Shen Ran waved enthusiastically, looking like a strip of seaweed fluttering in the wind. “Cheng Yi and I are truly very happy together! Please don’t bother me again, okay? But you’re welcome to attend our wedding — we’ll be waiting~”

Chen Xu didn’t look back; he just quickened his pace.

Grinning broadly, Shen Ran watched him leave — until suddenly, his smile froze.

The moment Chen Xu passed by him, Shen Ran once again caught sight of that beautiful woman.

The beautiful “older sister” who lingered behind Chen Xu.

She was still wearing the same dress as before, her eyes brimming with tears as she gazed at him, filled with countless emotions, as if carrying a thousand unspoken words.

Shen Ran stood there dumbstruck for a moment, unconsciously reaching out to grab Cheng Yi’s hand.

Something deep inside told him that this beautiful sister had something important to tell him.

But Chen Xu was walking so fast — in the blink of an eye, his figure was already vanishing through the doorway.

In that final fleeting moment, Shen Ran saw the beautiful sister make one last motion.

She lifted her fair hand and pointed upward.

Up?

What’s up there?

Instinctively, Shen Ran tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling above him.

…Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

But if there was truly nothing, then why had the beautiful sister pointed up for him to see? What was she trying to show him?

Before Shen Ran could think it through, he heard Shen Xianming’s voice, much gentler now.

“He’s gone. Ranran, it’s not that your mother and I didn’t believe you earlier,” Shen Xianming said, “it’s just that Chen Xu was a guest. It would’ve been rude not to let him finish speaking.”

“That’s right,” Fu Sijie added, “we could tell Chen Xu was playing tricks. You’re our son — of course we trust you. We could see he was the one pestering you.”

Their words sounded nice enough.

But how could Shen Ran not understand what his parents were really thinking?

If they had truly trusted him completely, they would never have allowed Chen Xu to go on talking for so long.

If he hadn’t scrambled to turn the situation around at the last second — spinning half-truths into convincing reality — they might have actually believed Chen Xu instead.

“Aiya, Mom, Dad, of course I know you love me the most!” Shen Ran said cheerfully. “Let’s not think about that person anymore. The annual party isn’t over yet — I still have to go back for the prize draw!”

“This kid,” Shen Xianming chuckled. “Still dreaming about that penthouse? Don’t worry. Even if you don’t win it, Dad will make sure you get it. Eight million — how about that?”

“Good, good, you have to keep your word!”

Even though Shen Ran knew this sudden generosity was just a guilty reaction, he was still very pleased.

The more he could squeeze out of them, the better!

Still, Shen Ran couldn’t get the beautiful sister’s hand gesture out of his mind.

On the way back to the banquet hall, he kept glancing upward every few steps. He even deliberately pulled Cheng Yi to lag a few paces behind his parents.

In a low whisper, Shen Ran murmured, “Hey, hey, Cheng Yi, when Chen Xu was leaving just now, did you see anything strange?”

Cheng Yi raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at his lips. “All I saw was a pitiful stray dog running away with its tail between its legs. Other than that, nothing.”

Nothing, huh…

It seemed Cheng Yi still couldn’t sense the presence of spirits.

But Shen Ran wasn’t surprised.

Meanwhile, up on the rooftop of the Shen Group building— More than thirty stories high, the winter wind was even fiercer and more biting.

It cut across the face like a cold, sluggish blade, the pain only registering moments later.

Ordinary people would never willingly come to a place like this in the freezing winter.

But right now, on the rooftop, there stood alone figure.

Support