CFRFGC Chapter 144

⌈Anyone who wants to see Ji Min like you can see him?⌋

The child suddenly threw himself at the elderly man in front of him.

Shen Hanshan, with his hand on the cane, caught the child.

He habitually scolded in a stern voice, “Why are you crying…”

But seeing the child’s tear-streaked face, he couldn’t hold back and bent down to hug him.

This was the first time Ji Min had seen Lu Ran cry so intensely.

It wasn’t the kind of suppressed, wronged crying he had seen when Lu Ran was curled up in his arms.

It was as if the child had finally found someone to rely on and, with his face raised, cried out loud.

At this moment, even if Lu Ran didn’t remember anything, he would still long for home.

He would miss the grandfather who had raised him, miss the life spent by his grandfather’s side.

Because that was the only support he had ever known since birth.

Lu Ran cried for a long time, his forehead, nose, and chin all flushed red from the tears.

After crying, he quickly became cheerful again.

He spun around, saying, “Grandfather, Ranran has been very good recently! Ranran… Ranran has learned to write!”

He grabbed Shen Hanshan’s hand and said a long string of words.

The child slowly calmed down. Shen Hanshan and Ji Min sat together at the round table in the yard.

The child truly missed his grandfather.

He hadn’t fully remembered yet, but he still recalled that he hadn’t seen his grandfather in a long time.

Shen Hanshan asked Ji Min about Lu Ran’s recent condition.

Ji Min didn’t hide anything: “That day, he got caught in the rain, then experienced hypothermia, and had a fever. He lost most of his memory. His current name is Lu Ran and he’s in a welfare institution, not adopted by anyone.”

Shen Hanshan sighed.

He looked down at the child on his lap.

The child was half-kneeling, half-standing, leaning against his knee.

Shen Hanshan, though feeling distressed, was used to being strict, and instinctively said, “You’re not standing, go sit properly.”

As soon as he said it, Shen Hanshan regretted it immediately, worried he might scare his grandson.

The child looked up but wasn’t afraid. In fact, he seemed a bit bolder.

The child responded with an “Okay,” slowly getting up.

But instead of sitting on the small stool nearby, he “patted” over to Ji Min’s lap and, in the same posture, leaned against Ji Min’s knee.

Ji Min smiled and simply pulled the child into his arms.

Shen Hanshan: “…”

The two exchanged a glance.

From each other’s eyes, they saw the difference in their parenting philosophies.

But the child, after crying himself out, curled up in Ji Min’s arms and quickly fell asleep.

Ji Min carried the child into the room, took off his shoes, and placed him on the bed.

Shen Hanshan followed behind and looked at the child’s room.

The room was carpeted with thick plush rugs and various toys and books were scattered haphazardly on the floor.

It didn’t appear very organized, but it had a strange warmth to it.

Shen Hanshan was silent for a moment, not saying anything.

Soon, the two returned to the courtyard.

They sat facing each other.

The atmosphere was quiet for a while, but it was Shen Hanshan who broke the silence first: “Ranran owes you a lot. The entire Shen family owes you a favor.”

At this point, Shen Hanshan gave a self-deprecating smile.

The so-called Shen family now only consisted of him and his little grandson.

“I’m just doing this for Ranran. I don’t need anyone to owe me anything,” Ji Min said.

The two of them, one calling the child Ranran and the other calling him “Ranran”, each used their own terms.

Shen Hanshan didn’t press the matter and instead said, “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the police station to file a report, and then go to the welfare center to handle the procedures to bring Ranran back.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Min raised his head: “Grandfather Shen, you’re getting older and your health isn’t as good. It’s better if Ranran stays with me.”

Shen Hanshan raised an eyebrow.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the young man before him.

Ji Min, undeterred, met his gaze and said, “I treat Ranran like a younger brother. I will raise him well.”

Shen Hanshan didn’t respond directly but instead brought up another topic: “I just met with your grandfather. His health is quite good. Although he’s older than I am, he seems to be in better shape than I am.”

Ji Min tightened his grip on the armrest, his fingers slightly tensing.

Shen Hanshan continued, “The Ji family is large and has a lot going on. It wouldn’t be appropriate for Ranran to stay here as an only child.”

Ji Min understood the underlying message in his words, but he didn’t give in an inch: “The Shen family has a lot of matters to handle too. Otherwise, Ranran wouldn’t be staying with me.”

Shen Hanshan didn’t get angry.

The young man before him was very impressive. The strategy of approaching him under the pretext of a project was also quite clever.

But after all, he was just a child.

Shen Hanshan, having experienced so much in the business world, could see through Ji Min’s thoughts with a single glance.

Looking at the young man, he instead smiled and said, “Before I came, I heard someone from the Ji family was trying to push Ranran into trouble and you kicked that person out.”

Ji Min lowered his gaze and didn’t respond.

“You got rid of one, do you dare say there isn’t a second?” Shen Hanshan took a sip of tea, his eyes no longer filled with the same obsession as before. After the loss of his grandson, his son’s imprisonment, and his own life-threatening experience, his gaze had become much more composed.

He added, “The Shen family is not as capable as the Ji family, but at least it’s peaceful now.”

Ji Min still didn’t relent.

Shen Hanshan continued, “This time, if you want to bring Ranran home, you still need to get your grandfather’s approval, don’t you?”

This statement truly hit Ji Min’s soft spot.

Previously, Ji Min’s grandfather had visited Ranran once.

At that time, Ji Min had been very nervous.

He was afraid that his grandfather would value Ranran’s talents and treat him as a tool to further the Ji family’s legacy.

That day, after Ji Min’s grandfather left, Ji Min had been very unhappy.

The unhappiness wasn’t just because his grandfather had mentioned his father.

It was also because Ji Min felt a deep sense of defeat.

Even now, he still couldn’t go against his grandfather’s wishes.

Shen Hanshan felt grateful to Ji Min.

He also admired the young man.

He wasn’t here to poke at people’s wounds, but instead sighed and said: “I heard from the doctor that before you approached the Shen family, you had checked my medical records at the hospital and confirmed my condition.”

“You must have thought that my health was still salvageable and that I could still take care of Ranran, which is why you came to the Shen family.”

Ji Min didn’t refute this.

Shen Han Shan added: “With the Ji family’s capabilities, handling our little matters would be easy. Yet, you chose to reveal everything to me and let me handle it myself. Isn’t that to test my ability and attitude?”

“Child, no more testing me.” Shen Hanshan looked at Ji Min. “Don’t worry, I’m not like your grandfather.”

These words made Ji Min close his eyes, unable to hold back.

“Grandfather Shen,” Ji Min’s voice was a little hoarse as he softly pleaded, “You saw it, I’m not happy. Can you not let Ranran end up like me…?”

Shen Hanshan let out a light sigh.

Once, he had indeed wanted to cultivate the child into an exceptionally outstanding successor.

The child, in order to make him happy, worked hard to learn everything.

Due to his age and his disappointing son, Shen Hanshan has been feeling anxious in recent years.

However, this anxiety not only failed to improve things, but it had instead led the Shen family to the brink of collapse.

That day, when Ranran woke up, Grandfather Shen had already left.

The child rubbed his eyes and asked, “Where’s Grandpa?”

Ji Min patted his head and said, “Grandpa went back first.”

The child was immediately a little disappointed.

Ji Min spent a long holiday with Ranran.

He took the child to the wildlife park, then to the seaside, and they even went surfing.

Ranran had never played such exciting things before and was overjoyed.

On the last day of the holiday, Ji Min didn’t take Ranran out.

Instead, he sat in the child’s room, packing up the child’s recent clothes, toys, and the fairy tale books he liked, and packed them all into a suitcase.

This should have been something Butler Chen would do.

But it was Ji Min’s first time packing things up personally. He was fumbling as he did it.

The child didn’t know what was happening but still accompanied him in packing.

Once the suitcase was packed, Ji Min filled Ranran’s small backpack with snacks and helped him put it on.

The child tilted his head and asked, “Brother, are we going out?”

Ji Min smiled gently and didn’t answer.

He put the children’s watch he had bought on the child’s wrist and told him, “Ranran, by pressing this button, you can call me.”

The child looked down at the watch, then at the young man before him, still not understanding.

“Ranran, try it,” Ji Min said.

The child obediently pressed the button and Ji Min’s phone rang.

It wasn’t particularly surprising that Ranran had called his brother.

He just didn’t understand when he said, “But I can have Uncle help me call.”

“When Uncle’s not here, you can call by yourself,” the young man said softly, his voice a bit low.

He took the child’s hand and walked out of the room.

But just before reaching the door, Ji Min suddenly crouched down and hugged the child.

“Brother, what’s wrong?” Lu Ran asked.

The longing in Ji Min’s heart surged suddenly.

In this vast mansion, no one had asked if he was scared or sad.

“Ranran…” The young man asked softly, “Will you remember me, Ranran? Will you always remember me?”

“Of course I will!” The child looked up and said, “Brother is my favorite big brother!”

Ji Min gently patted the child’s head.

In the end, he stood up, grabbed the suitcase, and took the child out of the room and out of the yard.

The Shen family’s car was parked outside.

When they came out, Shen Hanshan opened the car door and walked out with his cane.

Seeing his grandfather, the child’s eyes lit up. He let go of Ji Min’s hand to run over.

“Grandpa! Is Grandpa going to play with us today?”

Ji Min handed the suitcase to the Shen family’s driver.

Shen Hanshan patted the child’s head, then looked at the young man standing nearby.

He said to the child, “Ranran, say goodbye to your brother.”

The child was puzzled.

First, he corrected his grandfather, “Grandpa, my name is Ranran.”

Then, he asked confusedly, “Why do we have to say goodbye?”

Shen Hanshan softly said, “Grandpa will take you home.”

The child still didn’t understand the connection between “going home” and “saying goodbye”.

To him, going home just meant being with his brother, right?

Ranran looked at Ji Min and slowly waved his hand, “Brother, goodbye?”

Ji Min smiled faintly, but the smile was difficult to see.

Shen Hanshan nodded and helped the child into the car.

Once inside the car, the child saw Ji Min still standing in the same spot.

He suddenly realized and asked, “Isn’t Brother coming with us?”

Shen Hanshan sighed and said, “Brother needs to stay in his own home.”

As the car door was about to close and the car started, the child suddenly grew anxious and started banging on the window, shouting: “Brother is still down there! Brother got left behind!”

As he said this, the child’s tears began to well up.

Ranran had always been very well-behaved, so when he suddenly started to make a scene, everyone was startled.

The driver quickly stopped the car.

Old Master Shen had no choice but to open the car door.

The child immediately jumped out.

He ran over and threw himself into Ji Min’s arms.

At that moment, the child seemed to realize something and, with teary eyes, looked up and asked, “Brother, aren’t you coming with us?”

Ji Min hugged the child. “Sorry, Ranran, Brother can’t go with you.”

“Then I won’t go either!” the child cried.

“But didn’t you want to go home with Grandpa?” Ji Min said.

The child looked at Ji Min, then turned to look at Old Master Shen by the car, torn for the first time: “But, but…”

Finally, he realized that this wasn’t a fun outing, but a sad farewell.

“Ranran is going home with Grandpa,” Ji Min said softly.

“Then what about Brother?” the child asked, trying to hold back his sobs.

“It’s okay, Brother will stay in his own home,” Ji Min forced a smile.

He quickly added, “On the weekend, I’ll come see you.”

“Weekend? When is that?” The child’s voice trembled as tears fell one by one.

“You’re so silly, I’ve taught you this before,” Ji Min choked on the pain in his throat.

“There are still five days… wuwu…” The child couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into tears.

Ji Min also couldn’t hold back, hugging the child, his eyes stinging and burning.

Old Master Shen watched as the two, one big and one small, clung to each other, crying.

No matter how strong Ji Min was, he was still just a child in his teens.

In the end, Ranran cried himself out and was taken into the car.

Ji Min stood still, watching the car, which carried the few warm memories of his life, slowly drive away.

Ranran had a hard time adjusting when he first returned to the Shen family.

But once he realized that he could truly call Ji Min and that he could see him on weekends, he slowly began to get used to it.

When the child was lost and then found again, there were a lot of formalities to deal with.

Old Master Shen wanted to change Ranran’s name.

But the child had little memory of his past and only remembered his current name, “Lu Ran”.

He thought that when he was staying with Ji Min, Ji Min had hired a tutor.

On every piece of homework, Ranran carefully wrote his full name.

Old Master Shen put in a lot of effort, trying to at least change the surname.

But the child was surprisingly stubborn about this matter.

It was as if he wanted to remember his name as a way of holding onto the time he was lost, so he refused to change it, no matter what was said.

When Lu Ran officially started school, the situation became awkward.

Every time he handed in his homework, the name on it was still Lu Ran.

The teacher and Old Master Shen took turns and the child superficially agreed. But behind the scenes, he did as he pleased.

The most outrageous incident was when the name was changed to “Shen Xing Lu Ran.”

It was full of stubbornness and half-heartedness.

At first, Old Master Shen was so furious he almost exploded.

But when the verdict for Shen Hongyuan came out, Old Master Shen went to prison to visit. When he returned, he was silent for several days.

From that point on, Old Master Shen felt that the “Shen” surname didn’t seem all that important anymore.

Why bother being angry with a child?

He had met with Director Lu, and by coincidence, his own wife also had the surname Lu.

So, he directly decided to change the child’s name to Lu Ran.

It was as though he had taken his grandmother’s surname.

With the new name, leaving behind the past troubles, it was all right.

So, Lu Ran grew up as the young master of the Shen family, carrying the name Lu Ran.

At fifteen.

In a small alley near Y University.

Zhang Lin parked his sports car to the side, casually following the girl ahead of him.

While following, he loudly teased, “Senior, why are you running? I can’t catch up!”

The girl was a bit scared but still politely said, “Classmate, please stop following me. I, I’m almost home.”

“Is that so? Well, I’ll go see you at your house!” Zhang Lin whistled.

Not wanting to walk, he turned back to the car, intending to drive over.

But before he could open the door, everything went black. His head was covered with a sack.

“Who?!” Zhang Lin was startled.

Before he could say anything, someone outside threw two punches and then kicked him into a nearby filthy ditch.

“Ugh, it smells so bad!”

“That’s where scum like you belong.”

Two voices came from outside. From their tone, neither of them sounded very loud.

Hearing the voices, Zhang Lin roared, “Lu Ran! Fang Chen! Is it you two?!”

“Idiot, if you keep bothering our senior, you’ll just stay in there and soak!”

Lu Ran kicked him once more, then turned and dragged Fang Chen away.

A few minutes later, the two of them were standing in front of a public restroom’s sink, rubbing their clothes.

“It stinks. Why does it smell so bad?!”

Fang Chen was about to collapse. “If I go home like this, my dad won’t guess that I did something bad, right?”

“Shut up, we’re just doing a good deed,” Lu Ran replied, still trying to rinse off his pants.

He sighed and replayed the situation. “That was a misstep. Next time, we’ll keep our distance. It was my first time putting someone in a sack. I didn’t have much experience.”

“This isn’t about putting someone in a sack!” Fang Chen replied, speechless.

They had originally planned to teach Zhang Lin a lesson and then head home.

But halfway there, Lu Ran insisted there was a cat by the drain.

So, they ended up wading through the water to save the cat.

However, when they got closer and looked, where was the cat?

It was clearly just a white plastic bag!

“You should really donate your eyes,” Fang Chen said.

Lu Ran, feeling extremely awkward, had no words to say.

And, just when they hadn’t been sure where they were wading through, the water smelled awful. Now, their clothes were covered in a foul stench.

If Ji Min found out…

He would definitely laugh!

This was the first time Fang Chen had done something bad in his life. He was still uneasy, constantly muttering: “You can’t let my dad find out. You can’t tell him I was fighting.”

Lu Ran didn’t even think before replying, “You can’t tell Ji Min about today either.”

After saying this, Fang Chen, who had been rubbing his pants, stopped and turned to stare at Lu Ran.

“What are you looking at me for?” Lu Ran said.

Fang Chen thought for a moment about what Lu Ran had just said and then shook his head, grinning.

“What you just said is interesting. Who do you think you are, thinking you can just see Ji Min whenever you want?”

“Why did you specifically warn me?” Fang Chen bumped Lu Ran’s shoulder.

Lu Ran ignored the teasing in Fang Chen’s words and sneered, “Maybe only ghosts can see him whenever they want.”

After that, the two of them went back to vigorously scrubbing their pants.

There was no choice. Both of their families were strict.

It was the first time they’d done something bad in their lives, so they really didn’t dare tell their parents.

To make matters worse, they still had to get past the butler at home.

They couldn’t even change their clothes; if they did, their parents would think they had been out causing trouble.

No matter how much they washed, the smell remained.

So, the two of them had no choice but to buy a new set of clothes and then go to a laundromat, spending extra money to get their clothes properly cleaned.

Then, as if nothing had happened, they went back to their respective homes.

When Lu Ran returned home, he looked around the yard.

It had already been decorated for tomorrow, as it was Old Master Shen’s 76th birthday celebration.

Lu Ran entered the living room and saw his grandfather sitting on the sofa.

With a smile, he walked over and said, “Grandpa, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“Because of a rascal like you,” Shen Hanshan replied.

“I’m not a rascal!” Lu Ran argued, “It’s not even nine o’clock yet. I came back early. I can still help you look over the guest list tonight.”

Shen Hanshan glanced at him, then at his hand, and asked: “What happened to your hand?”

Lu Ran looked at his palm and immediately realized he had made a mistake.

Lu Ran had never done laundry before. After scrubbing his jeans, his palms turned red and itchy.

He was still a bit afraid of his grandfather, especially after beating Zhang Lin today, so he felt guilty.

Clearing his throat, he very unethically sold Fang Chen out: “Fang Chen went into the drainage ditch to save the cat, his pants got dirty but he didn’t dare change them, so I helped him wash them!”

Unexpectedly, the same thing was happening at Fang Chen’s house.

Shen Hanshan looked at Lu Ran’s hand and confirmed there was nothing wrong.

He didn’t bother to address the boy’s nonsense.

This child had been spoiled by Ji Min.

He feared nothing in the world. He was particularly good at pretending, with a lot of cunning up his sleeve.

Most of the time, Shen Hanshan turned a blind eye.

But when it came to being strict, he didn’t hesitate.

After all, he was getting older and it was important to think about the child’s future.

“Alright, come over and have a look at the guest list,” Grandpa called.

Lu Ran walked over and started reading the names on the list.

Most of the people were familiar, though some were more likable than others.

After reading for a while, he got distracted and started looking for the surname “Ji” on the list.

Since the Shen family and the Ji family had become closer, they had invited many people.

Lu Ran checked several rows but didn’t find the name he was looking for. Just then, his grandfather handed him another piece of paper: “Look at this.”

Lu Ran chuckled awkwardly, came back to his senses, and slowly started recognizing the names.

The next day at noon, the birthday banquet began.

Shen Hanshan had given up some of the traditional family business practices. With his company’s continuous expansion, the Shen family had been doing quite well.

Many people came to congratulate him.

Lu Ran and the butler stood by the door, greeting guests.

With his graceful demeanor, politeness, and enthusiasm, he received compliments from all the elders coming and going.

No one would have imagined that this same young man had kicked someone into a stinky drain just the night before.

The Zhang family also arrived.

The Zhang family now had a close business relationship with the Shen family.

As soon as Madam Zhang arrived, she pulled Lu Ran aside to chat.

Zhang Lin’s face was still a bit swollen. Seeing Lu Ran, the culprit behind his current state, he was furious but dared not speak up.

At this point, everyone knew that Lu Ran was the most troublesome person to mess with in their circle.

If anyone dared to say anything bad about Lu Ran now, Madam Zhang would immediately slap them.

But Zhang Lin couldn’t hold it in. As he entered the hall, he shot a glare at Lu Ran.

Meanwhile, Lu Ran was politely responding to Madam Zhang’s warm greetings.

But where neither Madam Zhang nor the other guests could see, he made a “fool” gesture at Zhang Lin and raised his middle finger.

Zhang Lin was so angry his head felt like it was about to explode.

Outside, Ji Min had just stepped into the courtyard and witnessed this scene.

The young man by the door, on one hand, appeared overly obedient, yet on the other hand, he was mercilessly making rude gestures.

He was truly enjoying himself.

The person flipping the middle finger seemed to have caught a glimpse of Ji Min from the corner of his eye.

Like a child caught in the act of mischief, he quickly retracted his finger with a swift motion.

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