With a *ding* the elevator reached the fifth floor and the doors opened to reveal Ruan Tian and Huai Mo.
However, as Ruan Tian was preparing to walk away, Huai Mo suddenly stretched out his hand and caught her arm. Although he looked somewhat thin and frail, it turned out his grip was quite strong.
Ruan Tian was confused, and she asked puzzledly: "What's the matter?"
"I have something I want to give you."
Then, without waiting for her to agree, Huai Mo pulled her over to the door of another room. He quickly swiped the key card and then brought her inside.
Ruan Tian was so startled she couldn't even react. She never would have thought that Huai Mo had such a vigorous and overbearing side to him.
The aura he unconsciously released just now really shocked her.
Huai Mo let go of her arm and then went to pick up a gift box that was on the bedside table. He turned around and pushed the box into her hands while saying, "I overheard Jiang Lili saying that you needed this, so I decided to bring it over on the way."
Ruan Tian opened the box and looked inside. Inside was a set of dazzling jewelry.
The diamonds on the necklace sparkled and almost blinded her eyes. She looked up with wide eyes and stuttered, "This, this is yours?"
It seemed Huai Mo robbed a bank! ! !
Ruan Tian was scared! ! !
Should she call the police or not! ! !
Huai Mo fell into thought for a moment before smiling and saying, "My mother left it to me."
As a gift for the future daughter-in-law of the Huai family. He didn't say the second half out loud.
In fact, Huai Mo actually wouldn't mind if Ruan Tian knew his true identity.
After all, he hadn't really lied to her. It was true that he went to Capital University, and it was also true that his parents were the same as dead to him.
It was just that Ruan Tian had somehow formed the misimpression that he was poor and barely able to feed himself, so he was somewhat hesitant.
Ruan Tian hurriedly closed the box and stuffed it back toward him while saying: "I can't take this."
Huai Mo thought for a while and then said, "Aren't you going to attend an awards ceremony? Wear it for the ceremony and then return it to me when it's over. It isn't worth much anyway."
Ruan Tian didn't believe that, "Really?"
Could such a big and shiny diamond surrounded by all those smaller diamonds really not be worth much?
But Huai Mo nodded and responded confidently, "Really."
It was only 80 million yuan, which really wasn't much in his eyes.
Hearing his assurance, Ruan Tian really began to believe.
The main reason for this was her impression of Huai Mo. In her mind, what kind of valuable things could he have?
So she said, "Alright, I'll borrow this for now and I will return it to you soon. Don't worry, I will never lose or break your things."
Huai Mo seemed very happy and replied cheerfully, "Okay."
—-
On the morning of the award ceremony, Ruan Tian left the set and flew back to the capital. She quickly went to change her clothes and then hurried to the makeup artist.
The necklace on her neck was so beautiful that people couldn't look away.
The makeup artist was dumbfounded, "Ms. Ruan, where series is that necklace from? The style is really beautiful."
"Ah, I don't know, I borrowed it."
The makeup artist wanted to roll her eyes. Of course she already knew that it was borrowed, but what she was curious about was which brand it was from! That brand was so generous! Just by taking a glance she could see that this necklace was definitely not a common product. Combined with the ring on Ruan Tian's finger, the little makeup artist was sure that the jewelry Ruan Tian was wearing should be no less than eight figures.
A little fourth-line actress, but her treatment was so superior!
Before the red carpet walk began the organizer sent a photographer over to take pictures of all the stars. Then when the awards ceremony was over, they planned to post the photos on Weibo.
There were people coming and going backstage, with staff members and fans who had bought their tickets from scalpers at high prices all mixed in.
Ruan Tian's black backless dress seemed to make her already pale skin shine even brighter. As she stood and let people take pictures, many people were stunned by her beauty.
'The Replacement Princess' crew all gathered together to take a group photo backstage before the ceremony began. Ruan Tian stood beside Xu Jing and Zhao Meng'er, who had fallen on her face last time, stood on Ruan Tian's right.
Of course, Zhao Meng'er couldn't help herself and snapped a quick selfie to post on Weibo so she could show off. The selfie was captioned with the words: 【What an honor (*^▽^*) 】
But a certain sharp-eyed netizen happened to notice that there was someone else's hand in the lower left-hand corner of the selfie.
The hand was wearing a low-key and luxurious ring.
"Whose hand is that? If I'm not seeing wrong, that ring seems to come from a series of custom made pieces by a French master. That master's works all have a starting price of at least 50 million yuan."
"omg, it's so awesome? That's so expensive!"
"It's fake… the whole picture has already been released and the woman wearing that ring isn't wearing such expensive jewelry. Her most luxurious piece is a watch worth two million."
"Let me take a look and see who's bragging."
"I think it's real. That's Gavi's last work, and it was already worth 80 million back then. It's probably worth even more now."
"It should be an imitation…"
It wasn't clear whether the ring was real or not, but it had certainly attracted the attention of the netizens.
However, someone happened to see something and shouted heartbrokenly: "Wait, don't tell me that's Ruan Tian's hand?! I don't believe it! Impossible! She is not worthy!"
Seeing that ring, the anti-fans didn't want to confirm that it was on Ruan Tian's finger, and the fans didn't dare.
The TianTian Group only watched from the side cautiously and stayed silent. No one wanted to 'confirm' it was her and then be slapped in the face later if it was revealed that they were wrong.
The live broadcast of the red carpet event officially began at 4 p.m. According to the program Ruan Tian was supposed to walk side-by-side with Xu Jing. Of course, the other male-female pairs walking the carpet would generally hold hands, but she and Xu Jing were a bit awkward with each other so that didn't happen.
Xu Jing was tall and slender, with long and muscular legs concealed under the pants of his old-fashioned black suit. Today, he had styled his hair so that his bangs fell down over his brows, casually creating the impression of a typical rich second generation.
On the other side, Ruan Tian's backless dress clung to her figure perfectly and emphasized her slender waist and large chest. Looking down, you could see her collarbone where it met her elegant and perfectly proportioned neck. She was like an elegant swan with her skin that was white as snow, her long hair that was styled loosely, and her palm-sized face that looked bright and charming.
The diamonds on her dress shone in the light, and when combined with the sparkling necklace around her neck, her jewelry was particularly eye-catching.
A cameraman's eyes lit up and he called, "Ruan Tian, look to your left."
"Ruan Tian, look right now, to the right!"
"Ruan Tian, Xu Jing, stand closer together. Let's get a group photo."
Ruan Tian smiled until her mouth was stiff. After all, on an occasion like this, she had no choice but to perpetually wear a smile.
Xu Jing silently moved his body a bit closer to her side and the cameraman exclaimed, "Good! That's it!"
After all the photos were taken, one of the hosts of the event pulled Xu Jing aside for a solo interview.
Thus, Ruan Tian entered alone.
Inside the venue, there were thousands of guests and fans already packed inside and the scene was very lively.
Meanwhile, because the red carpet walk had gone on the live broadcast, people had been able to clearly see the necklace and ring that Ruan Tian wore to the event.
A student who was studying to enter the jewelry industry was adamant that she was wearing Gavi's 80 million yuan works.
But most people in the stream really didn't want to believe it.
They wanted to shout: why would Ruan Tian be able to borrow such good jewelry?! For a vain and greedy person like her, wasn't it more likely that she had gotten her hands on some imitation pieces and she wanted to use them to show off and gain fame?
Thus, inside the chatroom, the topic of Ruan Tian's jewelry had even managed to overshadow the finale of the red carpet event, and the netizens were arguing past one another like crazy. (tl note: the 'finale' of a red carpet event are the people who walk the carpet last, but it's not actually the end of the event)
After all, for people who didn't want to believe, they wouldn't be convinced no matter what.
This state of affairs continued until a certain certified jewelry appraisal expert came out and settled the matter: "After inspecting the video myself, I can say that she is definitely not wearing an imitation. Back then this set won many awards in the industry and it is very distinct, so I am very sure."
Finally, since a jewelry expert had spoken, the netizens all had no choice but to recognize the truth.
However, as the saying went, sour chicken was always sour.
Sometimes, the smell of vinegar couldn't be washed away merely with disinfectant.
Jealous people began to pipe up: "That Ruan Tian really had a good husband to divorce. Looking at what she's wearing now, it seems she really managed to fish out a lot of money from him."
"I'm curious just how many hundreds of millions of Shen Shu's money she managed to swallow down. No wonder she acts that way. She really has the confidence to never remarry again, right? After all, the money is already all in her hands tsk tsk…"
"I heard that Ruan Tian took over one billion from the divorce, as well as a villa on the outskirts of the capital and various priceless luxury goods. Thinking about it, this set of jewelry should also be included in that."
In another place, Ruan Tian sighed without knowing why.
If Shen Shu had really given Ruan Tian one billion after the divorce…
Then Ruan Tian would be smiling even in her dreams! If he really did that, she would happily let go of all the things between them in the past and never scold or think badly of him again!
Inside the venue, Ruan Tian straightened her back and sat in her seat. The air conditioner was on a bit high, so she felt a bit cold. To combat this, and to conceal the scenery in the front of her dress, she draped a shawl over her shoulders and waited patiently as the seats around her gradually filled up.
Xu Jing sat on her left and the director who had directed 'The Replacement Princess' sat on her right.
After a brief opening ceremony, the award show began.
As she sat there Ruan Tian was very calm. After all, her mentality was more or less: Anyone can win, so long as that person isn't me.
An hour later, it was finally time to announce the winner of the Best Supporting Actress Award.
With a face full of smiles, the host picked up his microphone and said: "I'm happy to invite Mr. Shen Shu, the president of Huanshi Entertainment, and also Mr. Tao Xin, the executive producer of Fruit Station, in order to present our Best Supporting Actress Award."
Ruan Tian: **** your mother.
The cameramen at the scene were all professionals and immediately knew what to do when this twist was revealed, so the cameras immediately cut to Ruan Tian's face. However, Ruan Tian hadn't expected that the camera would ever focus on her when there were so many huge stars around, so her expression was very honest. It was an expression that said: **** your mother Shen Shu, I'm going to kill you!
She could hardly believe that Shen Shu actually condescended to come to such a place.
It was really out of character.
Producer Tao Xin handed over the list with the people receiving awards to Shen Shu and said with a smile, "I think it would be better for Mr. Shen to read this one."
Shen Shu slowly unfolded the list and glanced at the contents. Then he slightly lowered his head so that the microphone would properly capture his voice, looked directly at Ruan Tian, and then said clearly: "The winner of the 17th BAF Best Supporting Actress Award is-"
"Ruan Tian."
Shen Shu's steady voice passed through the microphone and to Ruan Tian's ears, announcing her win word by word. At the same time, all of the cameras turn to capture her expression.
What to say…
Ruan Tian somehow felt that this whole scene was somewhat surreal.
Her, the vicious supporting actress from a novel.
Now being awarded the Best Supporting Actress Award by that same novel's male lead.
Author, why not just go die?!
You heartless inhuman thing!
Meanwhile, the big screen on stage had started playing through some of Ruan Tian's more memorable performances from 'The Replacement Princess'. Seeing that, Ruan Tian remembered where she was and started moving. She took a deep breath, slipped her shawl off and set in on her seat, and then walked up to the stage.
She didn't look at Shen Shu at all. Once she got to the stage, she planted herself directly in front of the microphone and a thin film of nervous sweat appeared on her forehead. She gritted her teeth, forced her nervousness down, and then looked down at the audience under the stage before beginning to speak: "I am very surprised to have been given this award today, but I am also very happy and honored. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past few years, I will definitely continue to fight hard."
Fight to dominate the entertainment industry! To step on Hollywood! To explode across the whole universe!
All of her fans who were squatting in the chat room instantly became restless when they saw that their star had surprisingly won the award, and they began throwing in donations as if they didn't need money.
"Ahhhhhhh, TianBaby is really our pride."
"I'm going to cry. She really thanked us wuwuwu… She's so humble and knows gratitude, I can't help but be moved to tears."
"The TianBaby of today has not only reached a new height of beauty, but she's also improved her temperament by a few points! We'll stick with our TianBaby forever!"
Just when Ruan Tian was about to step down and return to her seat, the host spoke up from the side, "Teacher Ruan Tian, please wait a minute. We're going to have a group photo with the guests who came out to give out the award."
Of course, Ruan Tian really didn't want to wait.
Unfortunately, with so many people watching, it wasn't like she could just openly leave.
Thus, she replied in a cold voice: "Okay."
Her tone seemed to scream: Hurry up and let Shen Shu scram away!
Ruan Tian stood beside Shen Shu emotionlessly, her eyes flat and distant. But on the other side, Shen Shu's expression was not as cold as hers, and he tilted his head to glance over at her several times.
Thinking about it, this should be the second photo of him and Ruan Tian.
However, after the photo was taken Ruan Tian couldn't wait to rush back to her seat, and she completely ignored Shen Shu. Thanks to that, he felt depressed and slowly stepped down with a sullen face.
In the end, the crew of 'The Replacement Princess' won two awards that night, Ruan Tian won Best Supporting Actress, and Xu Jing won Best Actor.
After the award ceremony, Ruan Tian quickly put the necklace and ring back into the jewelry box, afraid that the things Haui Mo's mother left him might be damaged if she delayed.
Outside, Jiang Lili was waiting for her in the car and she was very excited, "TianBaby, your beauty has shocked the circle again. You're so pretty that they can't help but praise you. Tonight they're already calling you a noble black swan."
Ruan Tian replied in a cheeky voice, "I was born destined to eat using this face, hehehehe."
Meanwhile, Jiang Lili had picked up Ruan Tian's award and hugged and kissed it, as if she could see a sparkling road for her career as an agent inside of it. She said, "You're so confident. However, winning an award the first time you were nominated really is impressive, everyone is talking about it and you have a legion of new face fans."
Looking at the award now, Ruan Tian actually found it very pleasing to the eye despite its unfortunate name.
After all, it could be said to be the embodiment of her strength.
And with it in her hands, her desire to be an excellent actress only got stronger and stronger.
She wanted to film more, win more awards, and draw in more and more fans.
After all, this sort of award was proof that some people liked her. It was proof that she wasn't an existence that everyone hated.
When she returned home, Ruan Tian realized that she had forgotten an important thing.
Huai Mo's gift box was still in her bag. Ruan Tian had meant to give it to Jiang Lili for her to hand over to Huai Mo, but she had been swept up in her excitement and completely forgot.
Eventually, Ruan Tian set the box on her bedside table and decided to just ask Jiang Lili to help her return it tomorrow.
It really would have been a nearly perfect day if Ruan Tian didn't then receive a call from Zhou Xiaoqiao…
After picking up the phone, all she could hear was Zhou Xiaoqiao crying very badly. Ruan Tian almost couldn't understand what her sister was trying to tell her because of how choked with sobs her voice was.
"Mom fell down the stairs, what should I do? TianTian, what should I do?"
Ruan Tian began to really wonder if the female lead's white lotus halo damaged a person's IQ to this extent?!
If someone fell, shouldn't she call 120? What was the use of calling her? (tl note: think 911)
A few minutes before, Mother Zhou had missed her footing on the stairs and rolled down several feet to the living room floor. Besides Zhou Xiaoqiao, there was no one else in the house.
After passing out for a few minutes, Mother Zhou slowly woke up. She found that her leg was in a lot of pain and she couldn't move at all, and she suspected that it was broken. Distantly, she could hear Zhou Xiaoqiao sobbing frantically.
However, even at a time like this Mother Zhou was still worried about her eldest daughter, "Don't be afraid of Xiaoqiao, your mother is fine."
Zhou Xiaoqiao choked up all over again and sputtered out: "TianTian, can you come home and help us?"
But when Ruan Tian replied, it was in a fierce tone that she rarely used. She ruthlessly exposed her sister's hypocritical mask: "If you have enough time to call me up and cry, then you have enough time to dial 120 and call an ambulance. You should be able to do that much, right? It's no use crying to me. If you're too slow, maybe our mother will have already gone cold by the time help arrives."
And then there was only a dial tone.
Being cut off and hung up on like this, Zhou Xiaoqiao felt speechless. Somehow, it didn't seem right to continue crying in response to those words, but not crying also seemed wrong.
After all, she had long grown used to using her tears as a weapon to achieve her goals.
Hearing the interplay on the phone, Mother Zhou's face changed slightly, and the way she looked at Zhou Xiaoqiao also changed a little.
In her heart, she knew that Ruan Tian was right. Xiaoqiao should have just called 120 first instead of uselessly crying everywhere and doing nothing.
Zhou Xiaoqiao seemed shocked, and her tears collected at the corners of her eyes. After a moment, she sniffled and said in a weak tone, "Mom, I'm sorry, I was too scared and worried about you that I didn't think clearly. My sister is right, I need to call an ambulance and send you to the hospital."
Mother Zhou hummed an agreement and gestured for Zhou Xiaoqiao to come over and help her up for now.
"Did your sister say she would come to the hospital as well?"
"No."
Hearing that Ruan Tian had no intention to visit even at this point, Mother Zhou's face paled another shade, and her broken leg somehow seemed to hurt even more.
—–
Although Ruan Tian had broken off her ties with the Zhou family, she normally wouldn't ever curse Mother Zhou like that. But who asked them to keep bothering her?
Zhou Xiaoqiao's strange crying episode today really made her speechless. It seemed that the drama was over for now, but her heart was still restless.
It was already pretty late at night, so Ruan Tian couldn't find anyone to complain about the incident to. However, with this uncomfortable itch in her heart, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, so she sent a series of messages to Jiang Lili, all ruthlessly complaining about the day's experience:
【It seems that my mother fell down the stairs today. Zhou Xiaoqiao called me to cry, but didn't call an ambulance. 】
【I'm so speechless here. So it turns out that I'm a doctor in Zhou Xiaoqiao's eyes? 】
【If I were really a doctor, the first thing I would do is operate on her brain. 】
【After all, I can hear the sound of water sloshing around in her head even from ten miles away. 】
【She's no longer on the level of just a 'stupid white lotus'. She's pure gold certified stupid. 】
Click. Messages sent successfully.
Then she looked up.
Bad! Not good! It was the wrong person!
Somehow Ruan Tian's messages were sent to Qin Yu!?
She quickly withdrew the messages so he wouldn't see them. However, in the next instant, she received a reply-
MadDogQin:【I already saw it. 】
Ruan Tian was fairly certain that saying bad things about Qin Yu's sweetheart in front of him was a good way to provoke him into personally taking a knife and hacking her to death.
But…
In life, a person shouldn't be afraid when facing difficulties. The best way is to just solve them!
So awesome!
Thus, after Ruan Tian withdrew the messages, she calmed down and continued going about her business as if nothing had happened.
She slipped out of her clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Once she got out she put on her pajamas and a moisturizing mask and then crawled into bed, where she leaned back against her pillow and checked Weibo with her phone.
It seemed that Jiang Lili hadn't lied to her earlier. The crazy face fans were really praising her for her beauty like no tomorrow, calling her a fairy who had descended to Earth from the heavens and saying she was human beauty personified.
However, the most popular photo from the event was the one of Ruan Tian and Shen Shu.
The organizer's plan was simply genius. The former couple who had already torn each other's faces and publicly announced their divorce were unexpectedly reunited at the awards ceremony. This was the only time they had shared a stage or a photo in at least the past two years.
Then, the ex-husband dramatically had to present the award to his ex-wife.
It was a topic that would explode with popularity and interest no matter what!
The photo of the two of them had already been reposted 30,000 times, all with the same question marks. The netizens commented that the expression on Ruan Tian's face was frosty like her husband was dead.
However, in the same instant, Shen Shu's eyes turned toward her and showed inadvertent gentleness, which caused the netizens to declare that they would definitely reunite.
All in all, this kind of ambiguous situation was perfect for the netizens who loved to speculate randomly.
Of course, Ruan Tian saw a lot of silly people online saying all sorts of things. For instance:
"President, your wife has already been driven out for several months now, but I have news!"
"Has she repented her mistakes?"
"No, it seems your wife has won an award, and you are merely the award-giver."
They were too funny.
Of course, Ruan Tian wished they could be a bit more serious if they were going to role play this way. They should have really added the word "ex" in front of the word 'wife'. She would be happier that way, and it would be more true to life.
At the same time, the netizens had found a new topic of interest. That being, when these two divorced, exactly how much property did Shen Shu give Ruan Tian?
After this awards ceremony, all of the subsequent hot topics revolved around Ruan Tian and Shen Shu, this former couple whose marriage had already ended.
Any videos or pictures that happened to contain the two of them, whether on or off stage, were dug out by the curious netizens. Of course, after looking at them, all the normal people only felt that both of them had the words 'We better not meet again in this life' written across their faces.
However, for the CP fans, this was no issue. They declared in a braindead way that only by being deeply hurt could you then deeply love.
In addition, Shen Shu's face was unexpectedly very impressive, which won him even more support. He had been born with the temperament of an aristocratic young master deeply ingrained in his bones and, combined with his good looks, even many actors in the entertainment industry couldn't compare.
Shen Shu was indeed good-looking, otherwise, Ruan Tian would never have fallen in love with him at first sight in the first place. He had a unique aura that seemed nine parts coldness and one part gentleness, as well as an extremely handsome face.
Online, under the leadership of the CP fans, people were banging the gong of reunion and reconciliation.
They all felt that, no matter which angle they looked at it from, these two were the real CP!
"This is really love. When Sister Tian was on stage Shen Shu's eyes never looked away from her once."
"Heh, but when Sister Tian left without hesitation, tsk… Shen Shu's face really turned white. It's obvious that ShenXRuan is the only real CP."
"All other CP are fake, only ShenXRuan is real. I want to see progress by tomorrow!"
"I agree to this remarriage."
Ruan Tian suddenly became an object of envy for some reason. Before, everyone just thought of her as a shameful thing that had been kicked out of a wealthy family and she had suffered all sorts of ridicule. But now it seemed the winds had changed. The ex-husband seemed to want her back, and there were rumors that she had already gotten over a billion from the divorce. All in all, the netizens were clamoring with excitement and envy.
They even came up with a litany of nicknames for her.
FanCircleGirl: RuanTian, sister, you really must be the first person to get so rich thanks to a divorce. We should all learn from you.
Ruan Tian: Rich? My ***!
The divorce agreement from when she separated from Shen Shu was still lying in her drawer, okay? She didn't even get a dime!
However, Ruan Tian wasn't someone who would disclose her personal matters online, so she definitely wouldn't take the initiative to publish something private like the divorce agreement just to shut up some random netizens.
At the same time, the netizens began showing off their borderline supernatural abilities for finding all sorts of things.
Within a short time they somehow even found a photo of Ruan Tian in high school.
In the photo, the school uniform she was wearing was a bit too big and obviously didn't quite fit. She was standing near the door of the classroom with her hair tied up in a bun, her face was small and pale, and her eyes were a little red. She was looking at the camera blankly as if she were in a daze.
The CP fans quickly took this photo and edited it together with a photo of Shen Shu.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian recalled that the photo was actually from a time when her teacher had been punishing her by making her stand in the hallway.
It wasn't a good memory, and the photo definitely hadn't been taken with good intentions.
In fact, she didn't have many good memories of her time in high school in general. She had rarely laughed or smiled, and overall she hadn't liked it.
Mostly she had just clumsily and stubbornly done her own thing.
Ruan Tian turned off her phone and tried to go to sleep, but found that she couldn't. After tossing and turning for a while, she turned on an old movie before laying down again. Around when she saw the clock hit 2 a.m. she finally began to feel sleepy and gradually drifted to sleep.
When she slept, she dreamed of high school, of Shen Shu and that group of boys.
And then, just before 6 a.m. the next day, Ruan Tian woke up with a throbbing headache.
After washing up and changing her clothes, she sleepily went to the kitchen and made breakfast for herself. Once she had eaten, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't taken out the trash yet.
Thus, Ruan Tian took her garbage to the dumpster downstairs. However, when she came back up, there was an unexpected figure in front of her door.
The person at the door was Shen Shu, who had come uninvited once again. Ruan Tian brushed past him and was about to close the door with a tired expression when a hand suddenly caught the door firmly and pushed it open, allowing the man to forcefully step inside.
Ruan Tian felt it was ridiculous.
Men were really cheap and two-faced things.
For two years of marriage he had never paid any attention to her, but now, after they were long divorced, he suddenly started coming around.
She really wanted to ask: Young Master Shen, what exactly are you thinking?
In fact, she really did ask just that.
Shen Shu raised his arm to show he had something in his hand. It was one of the many letters Ruan Tian had written to him.
"There are still many things that belong to you in my house." He said in a low voice.
When Ruan Tian saw the yellowed paper in his hand, she was suddenly forced to remember many things. These days she rarely got angry about what had happened between them anymore because she was determined to say goodbye to the past peacefully.
However, Shen Shu insisted on irritating her again and again, stabbing her heart and constantly reminding her of the misery she suffered during those years.
Of course, she knew exactly what things Shen Shu was talking about, but it was slightly shocking that Shen Shu also knew.
Unexpectedly, he remembered those letters too?
Ruan Tian squeezed her fists and looked at the man in front of her. His cold and handsome face gradually seemed to overlap with the proud young man from a few years ago.
Back then, it had been the last spring outing in high school.
Mountain climbing and camping! It was like an event perfectly tailored for her.
Ruan Tian's physical fitness had always been good, so the teacher asked her to lead the way. Meanwhile, Shen Shu fell to the back of the group in order to take care of the sickly Zhou Xiaoqiao.
Back then Ruan Tian hadn't been very good at talking. She had frowned and said frankly to Zhou Xiaoqiao: "You are not suitable for climbing. If you go on like this you will only drag everyone else down."
Of course, after she said that Zhou Xiaoqiao just cried as usual.
Shen Shu gave her a cold look.
And Ruan Tian could only shut up.
However, in her heart, she felt that what she said wasn't wrong.
Thus, she followed behind Shen Shu angrily, thinking that if something happened to him she would at least be able to take care of it.
But after they had climbed halfway up the mountain and stopped to rest, the weather suddenly changed and it began to rain. Before long, it was raining very heavily.
The teacher was flustered by the situation. He found that they couldn't keep going up, but they also couldn't safely go down, so he could only ask everyone to find a place to hide from the rain.
And, who knew what Shen Shu was doing, but he said something about leaving something behind and turned back down the trail. After that, he disappeared for a long time.
Ruan Tian was worried about him, so she put on a raincoat and headed out to follow him.
Three hours later, she finally found traces of Shen Shu.
It seemed he had fallen and rolled down the mountain.
Ruan Tian gritted her teeth, protected her face with her arms, and rolled down as well.
The rain was still coming down heavily, so she was soaked when she finally found Shen Shu in front of a big rock. The back of his head was bleeding. Ruan Tian tried to check the wound and patted his face a few times, but he seemed to have passed out.
Ruan Tian could only carry his unconscious body to a nearby cave, bandage his wound, and try to give him some water.
At that time, she had been terrified.
She had been afraid that Shen Shu might never wake up again. She had prayed that the rain would quickly go away, the teachers would find them before too long had passed.
After nearly a day in the cave, Shen Shu finally showed signs of stirring from his coma. He opened his eyes blearily, but he didn't seem to be very conscious.
However, he had suddenly sat up and wrapped his hands around her waist in a hug and rubbed his chin against her neck. His warm breath tickled her ears and he murmured weakly, "You smell so good."
Ruan Tian's brain had turned sluggish and her whole body had gone stiff.
She had gulped and asked cautiously, "Do you know who I am?"
Shen Shu looked at her dazedly. It seemed as if he recognized her, but also seemed as if he didn't.
After a while, he nodded, "I know."
Then, the boy leaned in close and his thin, cool lips lightly fell on hers. He opened his mouth and kissed her.
Ruan Tian blushed red, and she felt awkward and at a loss.
While she was still stunned, she heard Shen Shu say in her ear: "When you grow up, I'll marry you, okay?"
They were not discovered until the third day.
She heard that Zhou Xiaoqiao was the first person to find them.
However, during their time in the cave Ruan Tian had developed a high fever and also broke her calf, so she ended up staying in the hospital for two months. While she was in the hospital she had written to Shen Shu every week.
"The first person I want to see when I get out of the hospital is you."
"My fever has finally gone down, so happy."
"To classmate Shen Shu, wishing you happiness every day."
"I've thought about it, when I turn 20 I will marry you right away."
But those letters were never answered.
When Ruan Tian was finally discharged from the hospital, she found that Shen Shu was still the same as before, cold, distant, indifferent and faintly polite in the way you might be to a stranger.
He seemed to have forgotten everything.
Forgotten what he said.
Forgotten that he kissed her.
And, of course, forgotten he promised to marry her.
Later, on the eve of their college entrance examination, Shen Shu seemed to have lost his patience. He had looked at her contemptuously and said, "You like me, but what does this have to do with me?"
Right.
Her love was worthless to him.
In his eyes, her heart didn't matter, and he could trample on it at will.
In Shen Shu's eyes, she wasn't even dust.
Maybe back then he had felt she was pitiful when she was feverish and nearly unconscious, so he had done those things while treating it like a joke or a game.
And only she had taken it seriously.
And now, today, Shen Shu was in front of her, and his hand held that same pile of letters firmly. He clenched his teeth and asked, "When did you write these?"
Ruan Tian had a sullen expression, but she still dismissed it in a light tone. "I forgot."
This reply seemed to make Shen Shu angry.
Ruan Tian had no idea what he was angry about.
Her only thought was: Sure enough, he hadn't read a word of those letters before.
Thinking a bit further, Ruan Tian realized that Shen Shu must have loathed her for all the time she spent following behind him like stick gum on his shoe.
Then, after they got married, that disgust became hate.
She suddenly remembered back to the morning the day after they had slept together. She had been laying on the bed and watching as he coldly put on his clothes while occasionally sending her gazes full of mockery and ridicule. In the end, without saying a word, he pulled out all the cash in his wallet, tossed it on the bedside table, and then left.
Ruan Tian could only sigh. Her life really wasn't easy.
She solemnly apologized to Shen Shu, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have liked you."
She didn't know why, but Ruan Tian somehow sensed that Shen Shu got even angrier after she said this.
His whole body was shaking.
Yes, he was literally shaking.
His face was gloomy, his eyes were red, and his teeth were clenched. At the same time, his hands seemed to be unable to exert any strength, and the letters were trembling in his hands as if he might drop them at any moment.
Ruan Tian: This person really isn't afraid to shake.
In order not to irritate the patient any further, Ruan Tian felt that she should apologize with a more sincere tone, rather than the kind of tone she might use at her mother's funeral.
So she looked straight into Shen Shu's eyes and said in a serious tone: "I was wrong, okay? I was really wrong. I've recognized my mistakes. Don't worry, I won't like you anymore for the rest of my life."
Ruan Tian felt that Shen Shu seemed a little unsteady all of a sudden.
However, looking at his rumpled clothes, he probably didn't sleep at all last night, so maybe it was normal for him to be a bit unstable at the moment.
Ruan Tian could tell just by looking at him that he was exhausted. His face was a sickly shade of pale, like he was a terminally ill patient.
He took a deep breath and couldn't make a sound for a long time.
His throat seemed to be blocked, and his chest had an inexplicable but sharp pain.
Ruan Tian cautiously took the letters from his hands and, after a moment of silence, she slowly tore them all up.
"Like this, are you satisfied?"
Shen Shu's face was deathly pale. His whole body was slightly hunched and his breathing was unsteady. Only by holding the edge of a nearby table could he barely keep his feet, and his eyes, which were reddened until they looked bloody, could only vaguely focus on the dirt on the ground beneath him.
He finally squeezed out: "You're right, I shouldn't have come."
Ruan Tian smiled. It seemed that this man had finally said something a human would say!
Shen Shu finally wanted to let her go and planned to leave on his own!
But, before he left, he said, "Ruan Tian, I'm sorry."
Ruan Tian felt that his apology was unnecessary!
Rather than an apology, he should get out of here! Get out! Leave far away!
—–
Ruan Tian had a three-day holiday in the capital for the red carpet event, but after three days she would have to return to the set and continue filming.
She discovered that all the trouble she took to move had been unnecessary. After all, no matter where she moved, it seemed she would always be found.
After resting for a while, Ruan Tian swept up all the scraps of paper and threw them into the trash can. She wanted to get rid of them quickly because looking at them was just a constant reminder that she used to be a brain dead child who had been blinded by love.
She leaned on the sofa pillow and just sat there in a daze for a while. Then she picked up her phone and sent a text message to Jiang Lili: 【For any future activities, make sure I won't be on the same set with Shen Shu again. 】
【If he's there, I won't be and if I'm there, he shouldn't be. 】
Around 9 a.m. it seemed Jiang Lili woke up, because she finally sent a reply, 【Order received! In the future, I will make sure to check everything carefully. Our TianBaby is already also a big name so these kinds of demands are reasonable! 】
A big name? Heh.
After a while, Ruan Tian headed out to the supermarket near the gate of the community in order to buy some ingredients and cook a meal. She didn't wear a mask or anything because she usually never had to think about that sort of thing.
However, she underestimated her current degree of fame.
As soon as she strolled into the fresh food area, people around her began whispering to each other.
"Oh my god! That's Ruan Tian, right?"
There seemed to be a lot of people who recognized her at the supermarket.
"Uuuuuuuu, she's so beautiful, even more beautiful than in her photos. How can anyone in this world really look like this?"
"I really want to go up and ask her for an autograph. Maybe in the future she will get really big and then an autographed photo will be super valuable."
"She actually went out to the supermarket without wearing a mask? Ah, no, she's so beautiful it's blinding! I'm going to faint, someone save me."
Ruan Tian heard a bit of this and felt embarrassed, so she lowered her head and continued to buy her vegetables.
Finally, a little girl summoned up the courage to go up to her. She said in a cheeky but also shy voice, "Sister Tian, can you give me your autograph ah?"
Ruan Tian 'hmmd' for a moment before replying, "Unfortunately, I don't have a pen."
The little girl immediately took out her pen from her schoolbag and said, "I have one, I have one."
Ruan Tian nodded and then signed her name on her notebook. The little girl then kindly gave her a mask, which she accepted and put on.
From there she quickly went to the checkout to buy her food and leave.
But then she ran into Qin Yu in front of the elevator.
Of course, this wasn't really surprising considering they lived next door to each other.
Qin Yu stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and then said with a somewhat grim smile, "Did you meet your ex-husband this morning?"
Ruan Tian had scolded the love of this guy's life last night, so today she had resolved to be a bit more polite to him. But unfortunately, Qin Yu, this person, he really had a cheap mouth that made all sorts of strange and uncomfortable remarks which made it impossible to get along with him.
So she sneered and fired back, "None of your business."
"Did you install surveillance on my house or something?"
Qin Yu just laughed, "You're being filmed but you don't even know it, and you still have the face to call someone else a gold certified fool? From where I'm standing, you don't seem to be much better."
Ruan Tian was given a new understanding of how annoying Qin Yu was.
Why! ! !
Why is it that she can't win when she quarrels with Qin Yu? Why did she lose every time! ! !
Qin Yu continued to look at her with unpleasant eyes, as if searching for an opportunity to pick at her.
Ruan Tian picked up her plastic bag of groceries and then said 'oh' as if she just realized something, "So it turns out that you are embarrassing me on behalf of your little love? What a pity that my sister doesn't like you."
Qin Yu gave her a deep look and spat: "How stupid."
Ruan Tian didn't want to bother with him anymore.
But Qin Yu seemed to be in the mood to talk, because he said: "I know you aren't such a herbivore. The next time Shen Shu comes around you should just directly tell him to go away."
Ruan Tian just continued to ignore him.
However, like a pervert, ignoring him only seemed to make him more interested.
In the end, he even shamelessly forced his way into her house because he wanted to eat.
Angrily, Ruan Tian just gave up. She flopped down on her chair and said, "I'm not cooking today, I plan to starve to death."
Qin Yu looked at her like he was looking at a kid, then rolled up his sleeves and went into her kitchen. Before long she could hear the sounds of vegetables being washed and cut, but she just sneered. He could really act.
But then, half an hour later, Qin Yu really served two dishes and a soup.
Ruan Tian couldn't help asking: "When did you learn to cook?"
Qin Yu took a sip of the soup and said, "When you stay in the hospital sick all the time you have a lot of boredom and free time, I learned it by watching videos there."
Ruan Tian lowered her head and suddenly felt a little guilty.
After all, she always used to curse Qin Yu with the hope that he would never be able to get out of the hospital.
Back when they were in high school, Qin Yu had always been getting hospitalized every three days or so. Ruan Tian had heard that it was a congenital disease that had caused him to be weak since childhood. She also heard that he rarely got visitors and his parents favored Qin An over him because of his terrible temper.
After eating, probably because he understood that Ruan Tian didn't want to see him, Qin Yu didn't plan to stay too long. But before he left, he pursed his lips and squeezed, "Shen Shu and I are not the same."
Qin Yu knew that his feelings for her had been distorted for a long time.
Back when he had watched her confess to Shen Shu with his own eyes, his teeth had itched with hatred.
From there, he had done everything he could to attract her eyes, and to shatter all of her fantasies about Shen Shu.
He had done all kinds of despicable things that he knew he shouldn't have done.
However, he couldn't help himself. He liked her.
But to his words, Ruan Tian was indifferent as usual. She just muttered 'ok'.
After three days of it, Ruan Tian was already accustomed to being secretly photographed all the time by paparazzi. If they wanted to take her picture, just let them!
Whatever didn't kill her would only make her stronger! ! !
As for the rumors outside that she and Shen Shu were about to remarry, she just played dead and let them say whatever they wanted.
Occasionally, she would go online to see the various videos edited by the CP fans and felt they were a little interesting.
However, when she would scroll down and see the comment sections full of 'So true.', 'They'll remarry soon.', and 'Their love is more real than gold', Ruan Tian really wanted to get a megaphone and shout directly into their ears: "Fake, fake, it's all fake!"
These videos are all faked, friends!
There was no love in her heart, okay? She was now just a ruthless machine that only pursued her career!
At the same time, the matter of what Ruan Tian received from the divorce was still a mystery. There were many different opinions. Some said that it should be more than one billion yuan, while some said that it should be more than two billion yuan. But one thing they all agreed on was that Ruan Tian had made a lot of money from her divorce.
Meanwhile, Zhao Meng'er still hated Ruan Tian. Nowadays she hated her even more since Ruan Tian had robbed away the limelight and even won an award on the day of the awards ceremony.
Thus, she was just looking for any chance to step on Ruan Tian's head.
But this time she had learned to be smart. She didn't buy any water armies, nor did she spend money to hire a marketing team to start a new smear campaign.
Instead, she used her fans to slowly and subtly push the discussion in the direction she wanted.
"Even after taking so much money, she still has to come out and act pitiful? No matter how she's really doing, she can really make her fans feel distressed for her."
"Before Ruan Tian was always putting up a pitiful appearance of herself being violently abused by the netizens. However, in reality, she was already so rich. She could have easily solved it with her money, right? And don't forget that she was only divorced in the first place because of her unclear relationships with other men. She's really too scheming."
"Heh, so Ruan Tian is just trying to leech a bit more from Shen Shu now, right? Last time it was money, and this time its fame."
"Even though Shen Shu was already so kind and gave her so much money."
The rumors that Ruan Tian had managed to walk away with a billion or two in assets seemed credible to the netizens because of the jewelry she had worn during the awards ceremony, in their hearts it was all but confirmed as true.
Some people followed the trend and joined in on the ridicule, while others just watched the fun from the side.
Of course, everyone seemed to have forgotten that no one had shown any evidence of how the assets were divided during the divorce.
Thus, thanks to Zhao Meng'er's subtle machinations, Ruan Tian's name flew up the hot search again.
However, suddenly the netizens found an old post from a lawyer who had 'accidentally picked up' a copy of a divorce agreement between two 'unnamed people' that someone who worked at the law firm had failed to destroy. Seeing this old post, the netizens instantly made the connection.
After all, although there was a mosaic covering the names in the picture, it was poorly applied so you could vaguely make out the words "Ruan" and "Shen".
Along with the picture, there was a post that read:
【You see, this is a classic case of a verbal agreement made by a client going wrong. This should be a reminder to everyone about the importance of signing a prenuptial agreement. For instance, in this case, the woman was ultimately forced to leave the marriage with nothing, and there's no chance that she will even be able to win anything back with a lawsuit. 】
…
The lawyer who had made the post containing the partially obscured document had actually posted only a few days after Ruan Tian and Shen Shu had signed the divorce agreement.
Of course, it stood to reason that no one on Shen Shu's team of lawyers would make such a low-level mistake. From any perspective it was practically impossible for the CEOs personal legal documents to be leaked.
However, thanks to a bit of bad luck, it really happened. In fact, the "lawyer" who was dancing happily on Weibo was actually just a small freshly graduated assistant who had happened to intern on the team back then.
In reality he didn't even have a licence to practice law, but online he could bluff and pretend all he liked and soak in the admiration of the netizens.
The people who had started this whole mess also clicked on the picture and saw the two partially obscured surnames and began to feel shocked. Out of fear that they were seeing things, they quickly sent it over to their various friends to confirm, causing the topic to spiral like crazy.
" IWantToEatBeef, come and take a look at this, tell me if it's really Ruan Tian and Shen Shu!"
"I'm at the UC headquarters right now, but it really seems to be the divorce agreement between Ruan Tian and Shen Shu, right? That 'Ruan' is the one from Ruan Tian's name, and that 'Shen' is also from Shen Shu's name! What's wrong with this world?"
"Prenuptial agreement? Leaving the marriage with nothing? No chance for even a lawsuit? My world is collapsing…"
"This law student has carefully read the entire divorce agreement. I guarantee that I didn't read it wrong. The woman didn't get a dime, and no real estate changed hands. In short, Ruan Tian got nothing."
"Who was it before who kept saying she got over a billion? Now the divorce agreement has been released, it's way too ****ing far away from a billion!"
Thus, the rumor of the 'billion yuan divorce' was broken.
Zhao Meng'er was dumbfounded. It turned out that Ruan Tian left the marriage with nothing? ! And Ruan Tian just accepted that without causing any trouble? If she were in Ruan Tian's shoes, she knew she would have extracted some money from Shen Shu no matter what!
Zhao Meng'er felt unwell all over. It seemed that each time she tried to confront Ruan Tian things would never go well.
Having her plans foiled again, she felt a coppery taste in her throat and spat blood before directly falling ill.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian's fans exploded when they saw the divorce agreement.
That night, the 'ShenXRuanCP' megathread was filled with blood. The usually quiet megathread that would barely get a few hundred people suddenly had thousands of people stimulated to the point that they had come out to shout together in an unprecedented and bloody fury.
" ShenShu, stay away from our TianBaby, you don't deserve her."
" ShenShu, don't even imagine her, don't have the dream of reconciling or of mending the broken mirror, just go home, wash, and sleep."
" ShenShu, you cruel and ruthless dog man! Don't let yourself get caught by me if you don't want to get fried up and fed to my pigs. Actually, my pigs probably wouldn't even be willing to eat, because they don't eat garbage!"
ShenShu, devils like you need to get out. Go quickly! Scram away!"
ShenShu, You really have ****ing thick skin to suddenly start pretending to pay attention to Sister Tian like that! It's no wonder she blocked you. If it was me I would have just picked up a knife and hacked you to death!"
The TianTian Group all persevered, fueled by extreme anger, and repeatedly reported the megathread to the admins. And eventually, thanks to their unflagging efforts, they finally successfully blew the megathread up until it was taken down.
Cheers rang out!
They began to celebrate!
Meanwhile, the CP fans could only lower their heads and tucked their tails, not daring to have any complaints.
Since their home had blown up, they could only quietly start a new megathread elsewhere in a humble manner. However, these CP fans were still too naive, because the TianTian Group was on a warpath and wherever they went no grass would grow!
Opening up one more megathread was just one more megathread for them to blow up!
The CP fans typed between angry tears: You can't stop this CP!
But the TianTian Group was always ready to shoot them down with walls of retorts! ! !
Shen Shu, that barren old dog man.
Fortunately, she already divorced him.
If they hadn't already divorced, did he think he could still live to this day!
The number of people jumping out to scold Shen Shu was no less than the number of people who had always been jumping out to 'greet' Ruan Tian in the past.
When Ruan Tian saw her fans all jumping up to scold Shen Shu, she felt it was a little funny, but also she was a little happy in her heart.
Well done.
They were right to scold him.
It seemed tere really was some justice in the world.
Ruan Tian really never expected that the last page of her divorce agreement would be leaked like this though. In the end, the hot search stayed near the top of the list for the whole day and generated all sorts of conversations. Some people tried to make excuses for Shen Shu, but most people felt that his actions were way too overboard and ruthless.
At the same time, Huanshi Entertainment just went quiet and allowed its boss to be scolded. They didn't take any remedial measures, and their usually powerful public relations team didn't make any moves.
Even the little intern who posted the picture in the first place had quietly deleted it out of fear of Huanshi Entertainment's retaliation, but nothing seemed to happen.
Shen Shu seemed to be completely ignoring everything outside.
After he had left Ruan Tian's house in the morning, he had felt sick and feverish for the rest of the day. As he tried to sleep, his mind was cluttered with dreams of the past.
It was nothing but intermittent and fragmentary imagery, completely unclear.
However, the one point of clarity was Ruan Tian's face.
He woke up sweating profusely, and his face reflected in the window was white as a ghost. As he looked at his own pale reflection, he began to feel that something in his memory was off. Different from what he thought.
—
Thanks to Shen Shu's visit, Ruan Tian couldn't sleep, and her mind was full of thoughts of the time back then when Shen Shu had told her that he wanted to marry her.
Ruan Tian knew that there was no way that Shen Shu had amnesia of that time.
Even if they were in a novel, it wasn't that easy for people to lose their memory!
It was just a case of the 'overbearing president' having no brains.
The plot was always illogical like this.
Just one dog blood twist on top of another dog blood twist.
She could guess that eight or nine out of ten what had happened was Zhou Xiaoqiao took credit somehow. Probably the first person that Shen Shu saw when he opened his eyes was Zhou Xiaoqiao. In that situation, even if Zhou Xiaoqiao closed her mouth and didn't say a word, Shen Shu would naturally mistakenly think that the person who saved him was Zhou Xiaoqiao.
This was the golden finger of the heroine.
It was unreasonable.
But Ruan Tian just told herself that it didn't matter anymore.
It didn't matter, it didn't matter.
The important thing for her to focus on now was becoming the top newcomer in the entertainment industry, being the big wave that would slap all the waves who came before her to death on the beach, concentrating on her career, and becoming a big star that would go down in history! (tl note: So there's an idiom that basically means 'the new replaces the old' which is literally new (waves) pushing old (waves) out (of the ocean), hence the beach imagery)