Chapter 27: I Longed for My Father’s Success, Part 12

The "one-on-one tutoring" was originally set up for Shen Lanzhou, so it's no surprise that Shen Lanzhou is present. Ruan Jiaojiao is there as well, which only goes to show she's truly the female lead.

When Ruan Jiaojiao saw Qin Zhan, she paused for a moment, a bit dazed. It felt as if she hadn’t seen Qin Zhan for a long, long time, and she had no idea how he was doing these days.

But that daze lasted only a second. She quickly returned to normal.

Back then, among their peers at school, Qin Zhan was arguably the most handsome—one could easily say he was the sort of boy who dazzled an entire generation’s youth. However, due to his family circumstances, his popularity wasn’t great; he simply didn’t have the time or energy to socialize with others.

With so many burdens weighing on him, his expression often seemed unapproachable, detracting a little from his natural charm.

Now, with those burdens lifted, the youthful vigor unique to his age began to shine through, immediately drawing the attention of every girl his age.

For now, though, no one had been bold enough to hand him a love letter directly.

Ruan Jiaojiao’s brief daze was, in part, because she was stunned by this fresh, spirited Qin Zhan.

She had always kept in touch with him—partly because they were in the same class, but mostly because Qin Zhan was just so handsome.

Of course, now that there was Shen Lanzhou, Ruan Jiaojiao’s eyes didn’t linger on Qin Zhan anymore. On the contrary, all her attention was on Shen Lanzhou.

She was absolutely certain that she liked Shen Lanzhou—liked him immensely. From the very first day he entered the school, from the moment she turned and caught a glimpse of his back, she was smitten.

Their study group consisted of a girl with her head full of sweet romance, a boy who had no interest in studying and only wanted to play games, and a young master merely putting on a show to placate his parents.

The outcome was predictable.

Qin Ye waited at the school gate for a while before he finally saw Qin Zhan emerge.

Qin Ye drove a rather standard car—not bad, but nothing special. While waiting for his “discounted son,” a luxury sports car roared down the street, its engine so loud it could be heard from blocks away.

Qin Ye rolled down his window. He didn’t even need to ask his sidekick; it had to be the male lead’s car.

In a city this small, the only real big spender was Qin Ye himself. Anyone even flashier must be the “rich second generation” male lead, as written in the script.

Just then, Qin Zhan got into his car. Seeing him glance in the direction of the engine noise, Qin Ye explained, “That’s the new transfer student at school.”

“Do you like sports cars, Tuantuan?”

Qin Zhan shook his head. “No, they’re too loud.”

“What kind of car do you like, then?”

Qin Zhan’s birthday was in March, and Qin Ye was planning a surprise for him. This time, he was determined that the kid wouldn’t react with the same deadpan monotone.

“An off-road vehicle.”

This kid has some wild tastes.

Qin Ye grunted in acknowledgment and said no more.

He drove Qin Zhan away, while the owner of the sports car—a young man with bright red hair—watched their car disappear and clicked his tongue.

“This little city’s full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, huh?”

“What do you mean?” his red-haired companion asked, also driving a flashy sports car—one bright red, the other neon yellow.

“That car that just went by is a limited edition. It doesn’t cost as much as our sports cars, but it’s still several hundred thousand and definitely marks someone with status.”

What he didn’t say was that his own brother liked the same type of car, claiming it wasn’t too ostentatious but still showed you couldn’t be underestimated—and the build quality was excellent.

Most importantly, it was a domestic brand. Driving it showed a patriotic spirit. Truly, the best of all worlds.

“There’s always someone with a bit of money. This place is good for retirement, but not for me. I prefer the night life of the city. From what I’ve seen, this place doesn’t even have a decent bar.”

“Poor Zhou-ge, getting sent here by his family out of nowhere. When he sees us, won’t he just break down and bawl?”

“If he really grabs us and cries, be sure to record it.”

“Don’t worry.”

The two red-haired boys imagined a touching reunion after traveling so far to be with their friend in hardship. Surely, he’d be in tears.

Instead, when he saw them, their friend just looked coldly at them and rolled his eyes at each one.

After that, he took the keys from one of them, got in the car, and drove off without a word.

Red-hair: ...

“What kind of reaction is that?”

“A proud, disdainful reaction.”

“So I came all the way here just to get a dirty look and hand over a car?”

“Oh, come on. You know what he’s like. Let’s go.”

Still grumbling, Red-hair got into his companion’s car, clearly disgruntled.

The stories about Shen Lanzhou were ever-changing, but the one thing everyone knew was his status as a young master.

Since it was common knowledge that his family was obscenely rich, he eventually picked up a nickname: “Young Master.” Mention Shen Lanzhou, and perhaps not everyone would recognize the name, but say “Young Master,” and everyone would know exactly who you meant.

At one point, Old Master Shen forbade Shen Lanzhou’s parents from visiting him, but he himself made a special trip.

He came full of hope, but his face was thunderous by the time he arrived.

It just so happened to be study group time after school.

Old Master Shen wandered into the school, wanting to see his grandson diligently studying with his own eyes.

What he saw made his face turn ashen.

His beloved eldest grandson was joking and laughing with a girl, while across from him, two students were huddled over their books, working hard.

“Those are the top two students in our grade,” someone told him.

Old Master Shen: ...

It would be a late night. Qin Zhan borrowed his teacher’s phone to call Qin Ye, but Qin Ye still arrived early to wait.

He got out of his car. After picking up his child every day, he was already a familiar face to the school security, so it was easy for him to enter—after all, it was dismissal time, and parents only needed to register to enter the grounds.

With his hands behind his back, Qin Ye wandered the campus.

When he reached the classroom of Qin Zhan’s study group, he happened to see Old Master Shen standing there, face dark as thunder.

The old man’s hair was white as snow, leaning on a cane, dressed in a traditional tunic suit, staring grimly through the classroom window at Shen Lanzhou.

Shen Lanzhou, who had been playing around with Ruan Jiaojiao, suddenly felt a chill and started glancing nervously around. When he looked up, his gaze met the old man’s.

Shen Lanzhou: ...

Shen Lanzhou, spoiled into a dandy by his parents, had only ever been thoroughly beaten by his own grandfather.

He had truly been chased around with a cane. To this day, the sight of the old man made him shudder.

Now was no exception.

Shen Lanzhou fell silent at once, grabbing a random book to fake studying diligently.

“What are you pretending for? I seriously wonder if you even recognize the words on the page,” Ruan Jiaojiao teased.

There was a touch of frenemies between Ruan Jiaojiao and Shen Lanzhou. They were either bickering or needling each other, and they did it so sincerely that any bystander could instantly imagine a dramatic backstory of love and hate.

To Old Master Shen, their playful banter looked suspiciously like flirtation, though in reality it was often laced with sarcasm and veiled barbs.

Qin Zhan didn’t really understand Ruan Jiaojiao. She always had to provoke Shen Lanzhou, and every time she lost the argument and ended up in tears, she’d come crying to him.

The first time, since he’d known her since childhood, Qin Zhan patiently comforted her.

As a result, his impression of Shen Lanzhou grew worse.

But then it happened a second, a third, and countless more times—often right in front of Qin Zhan.

Shen Lanzhou would ignore the rest of the group, headphones on. Qin Zhan and the second-ranked student didn’t bother with him—if he wanted to study, fine; if not, so be it.

If anyone had questions, they would answer; if not, they followed their own routine, reviewing and practicing problems.

When Shen Lanzhou slacked off, Ruan Jiaojiao, unable to stand it, would forcibly snatch his headphones away and launch into a righteous tirade.

Even though Qin Zhan was closer to Ruan Jiaojiao, if he imagined her doing that to him, he was sure he’d start arguing with her on the spot.

Shen Lanzhou was the same—he’d clench his fists, but ultimately never laid a hand on her, only fired back with a torrent of words.

Ruan Jiaojiao would be hurt again, and as soon as the study session ended, she’d rush to Qin Zhan for comfort—at which point, Qin Zhan would bolt before she could reach him.

He had no sympathy; she’d brought it on herself.

Now, whenever Shen Lanzhou and Ruan Jiaojiao met, they clashed like bitter enemies.

At this point, Qin Zhan, who was more perceptive than Shen Lanzhou, had already figured things out.

Ruan Jiaojiao kept picking on Shen Lanzhou because she liked him.

But when she tried to approach him normally, Shen Lanzhou ignored her completely.

His "Young Master" reputation was matched only by his famously prickly, “don’t bother me, commoners” attitude.

Ruan Jiaojiao only got a reaction when she resorted to outrageous antics.

Gradually, things developed into their current state.

Sometimes, Qin Zhan even felt a bit sorry for Shen Lanzhou.

In the story’s original plot, Qin Zhan only joined the study group at Ruan Jiaojiao’s request, and not for long—he had to work part-time, after all.

Because he was rarely present, he didn’t know the real dynamic between Ruan Jiaojiao and Shen Lanzhou.

On the few occasions he was there, all he saw was Shen Lanzhou being cold to Ruan Jiaojiao, and Ruan Jiaojiao looking bullied and aggrieved.

So every time Ruan Jiaojiao came to him for comfort, he obliged.

And with each tearful complaint, Qin Zhan’s opinion of Shen Lanzhou worsened.

Since he already had a bit of a crush on Ruan Jiaojiao, her seeking him out only deepened his feelings.

The more he liked her, the less he could stand to see her hurt.

Eventually, Ruan Jiaojiao grew tired of it all, tired of putting herself out there and being met with indifference, and decided to give up on Shen Lanzhou.

Qin Zhan saw this and decided to confess his feelings. Ruan Jiaojiao accepted.

But Shen Lanzhou, no longer being teased, was dissatisfied.

As soon as Shen Lanzhou made a move, Ruan Jiaojiao switched sides without hesitation, leaving Qin Zhan as the lone clown in the end.