Full Level Sweet Indulgence: The Big Shot Became Addicted to Me After the Announcement - Chapter 56

The girl stood there dazed. Unable to resist, the man reached out and ruffled her hair, then half-crouched to coax her gently, “Have a little, alright?”

Meng Ruo’s face flushed instantly. She hurriedly took the bowl and began feeding herself spoonful by spoonful.

For twenty years, she had always followed Gu Shi around. This was the first time another man had coaxed her like this as if she were a child.

“Slow down. How are you still so silly?” His delight was almost impossible to conceal.

And his tone was laden with unmistakable affection.

Meng Ruo’s face grew even redder. She wished she could bury her entire face in the bowl.

The man remained half-crouched, watching her intently.

Her heart raced so fast it felt ready to leap out of her chest.

When she finished, the man naturally took the bowl from her and reached out to wipe the corner of her lips with his fingertip.

Meng Ruo quickly dodged, her face flushed as she protested, “I can do it myself.”

The man chuckled softly again, his joy barely contained.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Jiang Chen.”

Meng Ruo was startled. If she remembered correctly, her middle school class monitor had the same name.

He had also been her deskmate.

Lost in her thoughts, the man continued with a smile, “You’re right, Classmate Meng Ruo.”

“Classmate Meng Ruo, you’ve forgotten all about me, haven’t you?”

Meng Ruo scratched the back of her head sheepishly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Fainting and being found by her former deskmate and then forgetting about him entirely.

That quiet, reserved boy had, over time, grown into an elegant and refined man.

“Get up and eat. It’s freshly made.”

The man’s voice sounded above her head.

Under the light, his tall, gentle figure seemed even more captivating.

Meng Ruo curved her lips into a faint smile and obediently got out of bed.

A sliver of her ankle was exposed to the air. Unseen by Meng Ruo, the man’s gaze darkened.

Since he had found her, she was his now.

Since Gu Shi didn’t treasure her, she belonged to him.

“Alright, let’s go, Jiang Chen.”

The girl looked up, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled. Now that she knew he was someone familiar, her restraint melted away.

Jiang Chen chuckled softly and patted her head, leading her downstairs.

Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen.

The way his name rolled off her tongue was as pleasing as ever.

And as intoxicating as it had always been to him.

One shouldn’t meet someone too dazzling in their youth, or they might spend a lifetime unable to forget them.

“This is delicious, Jiang Chen! You’re really skilled,” the girl exclaimed, her eyes squinting with happiness.

Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “How do you know I made it?”

“Just a guess.”

“Hmm, Classmate Meng Ruo and I are on the same wavelength,” the man said casually.

Meng Ruo felt the heat she had just managed to dispel rush back to her face.

Somehow, it felt like he was flirting with her.

But this was Jiang Chen, after all.

The renowned top student. Known for being aloof and unapproachable.

Back then, he had only spoken to her because they sat close to each other.

“Where did you go after that?” Meng Ruo changed the subject.

Jiang Chen paused for a moment before looking at her and replying, “I went abroad for a few years. Just returned recently.”

Meng Ruo nodded but didn’t press further.

“How are things with Gu Shi?” After a while, the man asked.

He knew he was asking a question he already knew the answer to.

After all, he had inquired about it as soon as he returned.

The smile on Meng Ruo’s lips stiffened. She replied with a bitter smile, “We’re just good friends, that’s all.”

The man placed some food into her bowl. “Eat more. You’re too thin.”

Meng Ruo shrugged and continued eating from her bowl.

She had already come to understand, what cannot be forced simply cannot be forced.

There was no need for it.

“I’ll go back after finishing the meal.”

The man frowned as he looked at the girl still in her pajamas. He casually picked up his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“Don’t catch a cold,” he said gently. “I’ll take you home.”

Meng Ruo nodded without further polite refusal and gave him a faint smile. “I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

“Then let’s exchange contact info first, just in case you try to skip out on me.”

“Okay.”

In the car, the two chatted intermittently, but the atmosphere was far from awkward.

“I’m here. Thank you.”

The girl got out of the car and handed the man his jacket with a soft smile. Jiang Chen took it but immediately draped it over her shoulders again, ruffling her hair gently. “Hurry inside. You can return it to me another day.”

The scene resembled that of a couple in the ambiguous stage tender and heart-fluttering.

Unbeknownst to them, a man not far away had taken in the entire scene.

Meng Ruo turned back and waved at him with a smile, and the man responded with nothing but a gentle smile of his own.

In that instant, only one thought crossed Gu Shi’s mind:

The way he looks at you is far from innocent.

Jiang Chen waited until the girl had entered her home before driving away, a faint smile lingering on his lips the entire way.

His unexpected gain.

Gu Shi followed the girl into her bedroom, grabbed her arm, and noticed she had changed into her pajamas. Barely containing his anger, he demanded, “Where did you go?”

Meng Ruo was baffled and tried to shake off his grip. “You’re hurting me.”

The enraged man was almost beyond reason. “You ran out of my bed and went to hook up with someone else? Are you that desperate ”

A sharp slap echoed in the quiet room.

Gu Shi pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, only then realizing what he had said. He wanted to apologize, but the girl stopped him.

Meng Ruo forced a smile, laced with sarcasm. “Yes, I am. So what?”

“Yeah, I hooked up, I climbed into his bed. I did everything I shouldn’t have. Are you satisfied now?”

Her tone dripped with mockery.

“Still, I’m nothing compared to Young Master Gu. What right do you have to judge me?”

Tears streamed down her face, yet her words grew harsher with each sentence.

Gu Shi reached out to touch her cheek, but she dodged his hand and sneered, “Don’t touch me. I’m cheap—don’t dirty Young Master Gu’s hands.”

Silence fell between them.

He wanted to say, Don’t talk about yourself like that.

But he couldn’t. He had been the one to utter those hurtful words first.

“If there’s nothing else, get out. Staying in the room of someone as cheap as me might taint you.”

Gu Shi’s heart ached as he watched the girl hang up another man’s clothes and plug in her phone, completely ignoring him. Finally, he whispered, “I’m sorry, Ruoruo. Take care of yourself.”

“Get out!”

Only after the man left did the girl crouch on the floor, hugging herself as she sobbed.

How could he? How could he say those things to her?

They had promised to remain friends, to be like family.

He used to dote on her so much.

But today, he called her cheap.

He said, Are you that desperate?

At some point, her phone screen lit up and dimmed, over and over again.

A message from Ruo Chen:
【I’m home.】
【Don’t catch a cold.】
【Classmate Meng Ruo, sleep early. Good night.】

Meng Ruo wiped her tears and replied: 【Good night.】

She didn’t know that Gu Shi hadn’t left. He remained sitting in his car, lost in thought, his expression complicated.

In that moment, even he couldn’t decipher his own emotions.

Was it regret? Or sorrow?

He only regretted speaking harshly and hurting her.

He only felt sorrow, watching her shed tears for him over and over again.

He felt utterly powerless.

When someone decides to leave, there never seems to be a way to stop them.

It was him before.

Now it’s her.

A long, long time passed. Only when the light upstairs went out did he finally drive away.