The elevator stopped at the first floor. Ruan Xingchen turned and ran into the emergency stairwell, climbing all the way up to the twelfth floor.
Pushing open the safety door, the anger on her small face suddenly faded. She smoothed her long, straight black hair, then walked with small, graceful steps to the door of the apartment and pressed the doorbell.
No one answered.
Unwilling to give up, she pressed the bell more rapidly.
After quite a while, the door was finally opened.
A tall, slender figure appeared before her.
Ruan Xingchen's bright eyes immediately lit up.
The man in front of her was strikingly handsome. His finely tailored suit looked expensive, and his figure was comparable to that of a magazine model. His elegant and noble demeanor was mixed with a strong sense of masculinity. At first glance, he seemed like a reserved and successful bachelor…
What a pity—he looked a bit older than her.
The neighbors had said he was single.
At his age and still unmarried, there must be some unspeakable issue, right?
While Ruan Xingchen was sizing him up, the man was also observing her.
The girl in front of him looked only about fifteen or sixteen.
She wore a simple cotton nightdress and a pair of cartoon slippers, her exposed toes soft and delicate.
Looking further up—
She had a doll-like face with delicate features and large, expressive eyes. Aside from her height of about 1.6 meters and her more mature figure, everything about her gave off the impression of a young girl.
Lu Jingyuan frowned slightly.
Was this girl also sent by those old men?
It seemed those elders were truly desperate to get him married.
They had even resorted to sending someone this young.
Just as Ruan Xingchen was lost in her imagination about what kind of "problem" this man might have, a low, deep voice sounded in her ears.
"Come in."
She froze for a moment, then subconsciously followed him inside.
As soon as she stood in the living room, his indifferent voice sounded again.
"Go ahead."
"What?"
Ruan Xingchen thought she had misheard.
What did he just say?
Seeing her confusion, Lu Jingyuan frowned slightly, his tone cold.
"If you decided to come up here, you should already be prepared."
Prepared for what?
Ruan Xingchen felt that this man had clearly misunderstood something. Just as she was about to explain, he suddenly stepped closer.
Startled, she stiffened.
After a brief, awkward moment, he seemed to realize something was off.
"…Not what I thought," he muttered, stepping back slightly.
His gaze fell on her flushed face, and he paused.
Ruan Xingchen took a deep breath, telling herself over and over not to get angry.
Keep composure. Stay elegant.
She calmed herself, gently moved his hand away, and held up what she had been carrying. Looking up at him with an innocent expression, she spoke in a soft voice:
"Sir, you've misunderstood. I live downstairs. Something of yours fell earlier and landed on my balcony…"
Lu Jingyuan's expression suddenly darkened, and she swallowed the rest of her words.
"Downstairs?" he asked in a deeper tone.
"Yes!" Ruan Xingchen nodded firmly. "So you really misunderstood."
Whether it was because of the awkward misunderstanding or the fact that she kept calling him "sir," Lu Jingyuan's expression grew even colder.
He stared at her silently for a moment before saying,
"You've got the wrong person."
Ruan Xingchen widened her eyes.
Wrong person?
How could that be? There was only one apartment above hers.
After a brief silence, she decided not to argue with this stubborn man for now.
Patting her pocket, she realized her phone was missing.
Looking up at him, she asked,
"Sir, could I borrow a phone?"
Perhaps because of the earlier misunderstanding—or perhaps because he felt slightly responsible—Lu Jingyuan, who was known for being distant, was unexpectedly accommodating.
He stepped aside and gestured toward the landline beside the sofa.
"The phone's over there."
Ruan Xingchen said sincerely, "Thank you."
She trotted over, picked up the receiver, and calmly dialed a number.
Five seconds later—
Her expression changed instantly as she spoke into the phone in a trembling voice:
"Hello? Police? This is Ruan Xingchen from Apartment 1103 on Huanbei Third Road. There's a suspicious older man here who tried to harass me… I'm really scared. Please come quickly…"