Wei Yuanxiao, who was walking behind, noticed that Lu Jingyuan had suddenly stopped and paused as well.
"Jingyuan, what's wrong?"
Lu Jingyuan withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Nothing."
After a brief pause, he turned around and headed back the way they came.
"You go ahead. I need to use the restroom."
Though Wei Yuanxiao found it a bit odd, he didn't ask further.
But after he left, Lu Jingyuan stopped again, turned slightly, and looked precisely in the direction where Ruan Xingchen was.
Ruan Xingchen looked up and saw two familiar figures approaching.
The woman wore high heels and a tight black dress that accentuated her figure. Her arm was wrapped intimately around the man beside her, and a provocative smile played on her lips.
Just as they were about to reach her, the man calmly removed the woman's hand from his arm and stepped forward alone, stopping in front of Ruan Xingchen.
Looking down at her, his expression softened unconsciously.
"Why are you here?" he asked gently.
The woman, whose hand had been brushed aside, stared at her empty arm. A flash of resentment flickered in her eyes.
Ruan Xingchen lowered her gaze, hiding the complicated emotions within. Then she looked up again, a sweet smile blooming on her delicate face.
"I came with a classmate to do a part-time job."
"A part-time job?" Jiang Heng frowned slightly and turned to look at the woman behind him.
Ruan Shuqing shrugged and let out a dismissive laugh.
"She's just an illegitimate daughter. My father already did more than enough by supporting her until she turned eighteen. There's no reason for our family to keep providing for her forever."
Very few people in C City knew that the Ruan family had an illegitimate daughter.
But Jiang Heng, as Ruan Xingchen's fiancé, naturally knew some of the family's secrets.
Ruan Xingchen had always lived outside the Ruan household. Even after her mother passed away, she was never brought into the family home. For years, she had lived alone on the allowance her father sent each month.
Now that she was still in school and the allowance had stopped, she had no choice but to find work.
Jiang Heng fell silent for a moment. Then he reached out and gently patted her head, his eyes soft.
"It's okay, Xingchen. You still have me. I'll take care of you."
"Jiang-ge!" Ruan Shuqing couldn't hold back.
Take care of her? How could that be allowed?
Jiang Heng belonged to her!
But he seemed not to hear her at all. His gaze remained fixed on Ruan Xingchen.
"After all, you're my fiancée. It's only natural."
Ruan Xingchen simply looked at him, her brows slowly knitting together.
Ruan Shuqing glanced between them, her hands clenched tightly at her sides, her lower lip nearly bitten through.
After a while, she forced down her anger, took a breath, and put on a composed smile again.
"Jiang-ge, I'll wait for you in the private room. The others should be arriving soon—come over when you're ready."
Jiang Heng didn't respond.
She shot Ruan Xingchen a resentful glare before reluctantly walking away.
Watching her disappear, Ruan Xingchen tilted her head slightly. Then, suddenly, she raised her hand and knocked Jiang Heng's hand off her shoulder.
"Scumbag."
He had done it on purpose.
On purpose, to make Ruan Shuqing hate her even more.
Jiang Heng raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying it.
Ruan Xingchen's expression turned fierce, her eyes blazing.
"You're with her now? You like her?"
They had grown up together—she knew exactly what kind of person he was. He knew she hated Ruan Shuqing, yet he still chose to be with her.
A shadow flickered across Jiang Heng's eyes.
After a brief silence, he let out a low chuckle and leaned closer, his voice lowered.
"She's nothing compared to you…"
Ruan Xingchen clenched her teeth and slapped the cleaning cloth in her hand against his face.
Then she turned and ran off.
Jiang Heng wasn't angry. He calmly removed the cloth, his gaze fixed on the direction she had left.
A determined glint appeared in his eyes.
From the shadow of a pillar in the corridor, a man watched him silently for a long moment—his gaze deep and unreadable—before turning and leaving.