CFRFGC Chapter 101

⌈”Look at how cheeky and courageous this guy is. It must be real.”⌋

The bodyguards at the back couldn’t keep up with Lu Ran’s actions.

They stood there, wide-eyed, watching as Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran fell into the manure pit.

That was the young master of the Gu family!

To throw the next heir of the Gu family into their own manure pit—this move was simply unbelievable.

Although the bodyguards were shocked, they still remembered that they were on Lu Ran’s side.

When they saw someone approaching on a small path nearby, they quickly called out to Lu Ran, “Young Master, someone’s coming!”

The person approaching was Ji Yue.

Her son had been invited to the Gu family, so she had come along as well.

As an elder, when she heard the screams of Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran, she instinctively moved closer to see what was happening.

She didn’t expect that upon getting closer, she would see Lu Ran.

Ji Yue frowned, wondering what Lu Ran was up to now.

But when Lu Ran saw her, instead of backing away, he picked up a bucket from the side and splashed more of the liquid onto Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran.

As he did, a captivating scent wafted toward her.

Realizing what Lu Ran was splashing, Ji Yue froze in place.

Hearing the bodyguard’s voice, Lu Ran looked up at Ji Yue.

“Is there something you need, boss’s aunt?”

She glanced at the bucket in Lu Ran’s hand, then at Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran, both of them covered in filth.

At that moment, Ji Yue suddenly understood what Lu Ran had meant earlier when he said he would “restrain” himself.

Seeing the cavalry arrive, Gu Ningqi immediately sought help, “Aunt, look at him…”

Lu Ran also looked over at Ji Yue.

Ji Yue saw the bucket in his hand, then quickly forced a laugh: “Ha, ha! You young people really know how to have fun… enjoy yourselves, I won’t disturb you. Ha ha…”

With that, she quickly turned on her high heels and left.

Inside the archery hall, Gu Zhi finally managed to calm down the anger of Shen Xingyu and Shen Xingzhuo.

Ji Min was puzzled as to why Lu Ran hadn’t returned yet.

Just then, he turned around and saw the young man slowly walking in.

He lowered his head, making it hard to read his expression. His coat had been taken off, leaving him in just a long-sleeve T-shirt.

As the person got closer, Ji Min noticed the mess on the boy’s pants and shoes.

With keen perception, he sensed that Lu Ran’s mood seemed a bit down, so Ji Min asked: “What’s wrong?”

“Boss, my coat got dirty. I want to go to the car to change,” Lu Ran muttered.

The boy’s voice had returned to normal, but it still carried a slight rasp.

Ji Min frowned.

It was normal for his shoes to get dirty after walking through the fields, but how had his clothes gotten dirty too?

He glanced at the bodyguard behind Lu Ran.

The bodyguard wore a dazed expression, seemingly lost in thought, as if recalling some shocking scene.

Ji Min had no choice but to look away.

He reached out to Lu Ran: “Come here.”

The boy’s hand extended, cold from being washed by cold water.

When he pulled the boy close, Ji Min noticed that the boy’s eyes were actually red.

Ji Min paused for a moment.

Having known Lu Ran for so long, he had seen the boy laugh, get angry, and even feel down. But he had never seen him look like he was on the verge of crying.

“What happened?”

Ji Min’s voice was low, then softened suddenly.

The boy’s voice came out hoarsely: “I got my shoes dirty.”

Ji Min froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but feel a bit amused.

He squeezed the boy’s hand, which had a faint callus, and said softly: “It’s just a pair of shoes. Is it worth looking like this? It’s normal for shoes to get dirty when you’re walking around. They’re dirty now, so what? I’ve seen you running and jumping without hesitation these past few days.”

“But… it was someone else who made them dirty.”

Lu Ran lowered his head to look at the mess on his shoes.

Ji Min noticed it too.

Since Lu Ran had put on these shoes yesterday, he had been especially careful with them, almost walking like he was treading on thin ice.

But now, the shoes were covered in dirt.

“Who bullied you?” Ji Min asked.

At this moment, the others in the archery hall also noticed Lu Ran.

Hearing Ji Min’s question, Gu Zhi, Shen Xingyu, Shen Xingzhuo, and the butler who had arrived later all gathered around.

The one most worried was the butler.

Logically speaking, he had taken the boy away and was supposed to return him to Ji Min safely.

But how did something go wrong when he left for just a short while?

“I wasn’t bullied,” Lu Ran muttered. “Shen Xingran spilled coffee on my shoes,” he explained.

Everyone thought he was finally going to complain.

But they saw him, still with red eyes, staring down at his dirty shoes with a look of distress.

Yet, he said, “Then I pushed both him and Gu Ningqi into the manure pit.”

Everyone: “???”

Then they heard the boy, with an expression of immense grievance, coldly add, “I also poured the manure water used for irrigating the crops onto them.”

Everyone: “…”

Who exactly is the one who’s been wronged here?

The butler of the Gu family was also stunned.

Did he hear that right?

Pushed them into the manure pit?

And the most outrageous part was, not only did he push them, but he actually said it out loud?

This was still in their Gu family!

For a moment, the butler didn’t even know what kind of expression he should make.

At this time, a voice came from the man in the wheelchair: “That’s pretty excessive.”

“We’ll talk to Old Master Gu about this later. I’ll file a complaint for you.”

Everyone: “…”

File a complaint?

Did they hear that wrong?

Leaving behind the stunned group, Ji Min took Lu Ran back to the car to change clothes.

When Lu Ran finished changing, he climbed out of the car, still looking upset.

Ji Min glanced at him and couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you really that angry?”

The boy didn’t respond, keeping his head down as he carefully put his dirty shoes into the bag.

After a while, he said, “I don’t know if they can be cleaned.”

Ji Min recognized the shoes. They were the ones he had bought for Lu Ran’s birthday.

Ji Min subconsciously said, “If it can’t be cleaned, just throw it away. There will always be new ones every year.”

After saying this, Ji Min paused slightly.

Of course, shoes aren’t something you buy only once a year.

Only birthday gifts were bought once a year.

Ji Min looked up and, as expected, saw the boy looking at him.

“Cough… What I meant was, a pair of shoes isn’t worth stressing over.”

Ji Min quickly explained.

But Lu Ran didn’t speak, only staring at him.

“Well, since you’ve changed, let’s go. Old Master Gu should be up by now.”

Ji Min said, then activated the wheelchair and moved forward.

Behind him, the boy quickly hopped over in two or three steps, reaching out to touch his head.

Ji Min, quick on his feet, grabbed the boy’s wrist.

With a helpless sigh, he asked, “What do you want now?”

“Let me touch it, Boss!” Lu Ran said.

At this moment, the butler’s voice awkwardly came from the side: “Old Master is awake. He asked me to invite Mr. Ji and Young Master Shen to come over.”

Hearing this, Ji Min finally released the boy’s wrist.

When they followed the butler to the main hall, they found that there were quite a few people there.

Old Master Gu, who was in his seventies, wasn’t in the best of health. He sat in a chair, propped up by a cane.

His hair was graying and thinning as he held a cup of tea, sipping it slowly with the deliberate pace typical of the elderly.

In front of him, a middle-aged man was bowing his head in apology: “Yes, yes, I didn’t expect him to contact the media outside to pressure you.”

Upon hearing this, Old Master Gu raised his head from his tea, staring at the man for a moment before suddenly raising his cane as if to strike.

“Pressure me? Is that really pressure?” The old man’s voice was trembling with anger. “Now the Gu family is under your control, your son is pushing you to the edge, and here you are apologizing to me?”

As soon as Lu Ran stepped into the room, he heard the old man scolding his son.

Seeing his curiosity, Ji Min gestured for him to lower his head and whispered in his ear, “This is Gu Ningqi’s father, Gu Zhi’s older brother, Gu Qing. You should call him ‘Uncle’.”

Lu Ran nodded, then raised his gaze again to observe.

Lu Ran hadn’t been exposed to many family scenes like this.

The only similar situations he had witnessed, aside from seeing his classmates being scolded by their parents when he was young, were when Shen Hongyuan scolded Shen Xingyu or Shen Xingzhuo.

However, as Lu Ran watched for a while, he noticed that the scene before him was different from those he had encountered.

Although Old Master Gu was also angry, he wasn’t venting his emotions like Shen Hongyuan. It was clear that he was upset with his son, and even though he was scolding him, every word carried the frustration of “not living up to expectations”.

Gu Ningqi’s father, although being reprimanded, was clearly more concerned about the old man’s health than anything else.

Lu Ran found himself lost in thought.

Ji Min paused for a moment, not immediately speaking.

He knew that, because he had never experienced such family dynamics, the boy was especially curious about these kinds of interactions.

But he was simply standing at a distance, watching, with no desire to participate or try it himself.

Just then, Gu Qing, who had been scolded, turned to see the two of them, his face turning red. He quickly said to Old Master Gu, “Dad, the younger generation is here, please stop scolding me.”

Old Master Gu turned his head and, upon seeing Ji Min and Lu Ran, responded with a casual, “You’ve arrived, huh.”

His gaze lingered on Lu Ran’s face for a while, but he didn’t say much more.

Ji Min, leading Lu Ran forward, was about to speak when suddenly, a foul, pungent smell entered the main hall.

The odor was so overwhelming that it caused everyone to simultaneously look toward the entrance of the hall.

Old Master Gu even muttered, “Why does the manure this year smell so strong…”

When they looked up, they saw Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran, both looking a complete mess.

The two were covered in brown stains, their hair full of straw, and there were even some disgusting bits of something stuck to the tips of their hair.

Seeing them in such a state, everyone in the hall was stunned.

As soon as Gu Ningqi saw that Lu Ran was present, he knew he had come at the right time.

No matter what Lu Ran was here to do today, once he finished reporting, they’d all leave!

With that, Gu Ningqi dragged Shen Xingran forward. Shen Xingran lowered his head, his face full of shame.

Gu Ningqi lifted his head to show his father and grandfather his current state, his voice stern as he said, “Grandfather! It’s all his fault!”

He pointed toward Lu Ran, who was standing behind Ji Min. “He randomly pushed me into the manure pit!”

“This is our Gu family! How dare he be so reckless, doesn’t he have any respect for us?!”

Both Old Master Gu and Gu Qing froze at his words.

They looked at Lu Ran, who was standing behind Ji Min.

Old Master Gu was the first to furrow his brows and look at Gu Ningqi. “What nonsense are you talking about? He pushed you both into the manure pit?”

Old Master Gu pointed at Lu Ran, then shook his head. “Look at him, he’s just a kid with small arms and legs. How could he possibly push two of you into the manure pit?”

Gu Ningqi was stunned.

At the same time, Lu Ran blinked a few times.

He moved a little closer to Ji Min, making himself look even more pitiful and helpless.

When the others looked over, Lu Ran even wrinkled his nose, speaking in a tone full of disgust. “Ugh, Boss, what’s all that dirt on them? They smell so bad, it’s disgusting!”

Gu Ningqi and Shen Xingran, who had been pushed into the manure pit by Lu Ran himself, stood frozen.

Disgusting?

You’re the one who did it, and now you’re asking what’s on them?

“Wait, how can you say that, Grandpa?” Gu Ningqi hadn’t even bothered to clean himself up before dragging Shen Xingran over to complain to Old Master Gu.

But his grandfather actually didn’t believe him?

“Enough! You’re a grown man and you’ve ended up like this. You still have the nerve to complain?” Gu Qing covered his eyes, unable to bear it.

Hearing his father say this too, Gu Ningqi finally lost his temper.

“If it wasn’t for him, why would I and Xingran be walking all the way around the back of the archery hall like this, looking like this?!”

He finished shouting, only to see the boy across from him, looking like he was frightened, pulling Ji Min’s wheelchair back a few steps.

Lu Ran then scrunched his nose and, in a tone full of grievance, said, “Boss, they’re so scary. Maybe we should just leave.”

“Enough! Look at how you’ve scared him!” Gu Qing immediately scolded.

Old Master Gu’s expression darkened. He fixed his gaze on Gu Ningqi. “You came around from the archery hall?”

Gu Ningqi saw a glimmer of hope and quickly responded, “Yes! A lot of people over there saw us like this, and they—”

Before he could finish explaining himself, Old Master Gu raised his cane and struck him. “I’ll beat you, you little bastard! You’ve embarrassed the Gu family!”

He had the chance to clean himself up first but deliberately came dirty to complain. How is that not embarrassing?!

Gu Qing quickly stepped in and had someone pull Gu Ningqi away.

Soon after, several servants entered, mopping the floors and airing out the room.

It took a while, but the hall finally returned to its calm state.

Old Master Gu poured himself another cup of tea.

He then raised his gaze to look at Lu Ran.

The old man’s face had lost its anger and he asked calmly, “The Shen kid, was it you who pushed Ningqi and the others?”

When asked, the boy, who had been feigning innocence just moments ago, boldly answered, “Oh, yes, I not only pushed them, but I also splashed them with manure.”

Ji Min, who had been about to speak up for Lu Ran, was rendered speechless.

But to everyone’s surprise, Old Master Gu smiled.

He held his teacup and gestured to Lu Ran with his chin. “Look at him, so mischievous and bold. It must be true.”

Gu Qing immediately apologized, “Father’s getting old and his eyesight isn’t what it used to be. He didn’t recognize him, don’t mind him.”

Old Master Gu gave his son a side-eye. “It’s not so easy to recognize people. If it were that easy, how come his father hasn’t found him in all these years?”

After saying this, Old Master Gu extended his hand toward Lu Ran. “Come here, let me take a look.”

Lu Ran glanced at Ji Min before stepping forward.

Old Master Gu grabbed Lu Ran’s wrist and took the reading glasses from a servant, carefully studying Lu Ran’s features.

After a long while, Old Master Gu sighed. “You’ve grown fast. The last time you came… you were only a bit taller than this table.”

Saying this, the old man gestured with his hand, as if comparing Lu Ran’s height.

Lu Ran had never encountered such a warm scene before and instinctively turned to look at Ji Min.

Ji Min, standing not far away, smiled and watched him.

Old Master Gu adjusted his glasses again and glanced at the two of them, then fell silent.

At this moment, Gu Qing spoke up, “Dad, you should eat something. You haven’t had anything yet this morning.”

Old Master Gu nodded. “Alright, both of you come with us.”

Lu Ran had expected the elderly man’s breakfast to be light.

But when they arrived at the dining room, he was surprised to find that the entire table was filled with desserts.

Gu Qing said, “The old man acts like a big child, always craving sweets. But he can’t eat too much—just a little in the morning.”

Ji Min knew about Old Master Gu’s habits. He sat at the table but didn’t touch the desserts.

Lu Ran, however, was a bit hungry.

He didn’t hold back, picking up a bowl of yangzhi ganlu[mfn]a sweet dessert soup[/mfn], and starting to eat.

After a bite, his eyes lit up.

He turned to Ji Min and said, “Boss, this is delicious, and it’s not too sweet.”

He then tried another one.

Seeing him like this, Old Master Gu suddenly spoke up, “Now you like sweets, huh?”

“Hmm?” Lu Ran looked up, confused.

Old Master Gu sighed and said, “Your grandfather has diabetes. Every time he comes here, he’s very picky with food. He doesn’t eat sweets and we don’t make any in the house.”

Old Master Gu’s voice was slow as he continued, “When you came here, I asked if you wanted some, but you just covered your mouth and shook your head.”

The child didn’t eat and didn’t even look at the sweets on the table.

But Old Master Gu, watching him, couldn’t shake the feeling that the child wanted them.

So, when Lu Ran wasn’t paying attention, Old Master Gu slipped a piece of cake into his mouth, and the boy’s eyes instantly lit up.

However, when Old Master Gu cut a piece of cake for him, the boy still shook his head and said he didn’t want it.

Old Master Gu found this curious and asked him why.

At that time, Old Master Shen was sitting nearby, reading a chess manual.

The boy secretly glanced at his grandfather and quietly said, “Everyone can eat sweets, but only Grandpa can’t. That’s just too pitiful.”

He added, “I’ll just stay with Grandpa and not eat them either.”

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