Chapter 42: “Class Monitor, Want to Go for a Walk?”

Lu Guifan’s answer suddenly made everything clear to Jiang Ruotang.

At that moment, Jiang Ruotang realized how vast the world was, and that battlefields without smoke and gunfire were everywhere. Compared to that, the ten years of youth he had wasted, scheming and struggling for fame and gain alongside the Lin father and son in their tiny corner of the world, felt narrow-minded and laughable.

“Ruotang… Ruotang… what are you thinking about?” Zhao Yunshu’s voice pulled him back.

Jiang Ruotang’s shoulders gave a slight shiver as he snapped out of his memories. He quickly gathered his thoughts and answered Zheng Huasheng’s question.

“I think… Longming Group is determined to win Huachen Auto…”

Hearing this, Zheng Huasheng’s gaze flickered with a hint of disappointment. They had just shared such an exciting conversation about Chengtan’s development, but now the charm was fading fast—as if an online blind date had gone stale upon meeting in real life.

Jiang Ruotang smiled secretly to himself. You let me answer your test, and I’m not even allowed a dramatic pause?

“This so-called determination is nothing more than Longming Group putting on a grand show. To be honest, Longming Group isn’t actually interested in acquiring Huachen Auto at all.”

Zheng Huasheng’s gaze sharpened. “Why do you think that?”

“It’s simple. Look at Longming Group’s previous acquisitions. What they truly want is the new energy vehicle market. Traditional production lines like Huachen Auto’s are not what they’re after.”

“Then why join the bidding war for Huachen Auto at all?”

Even Zheng Huasheng himself probably didn’t realize the corners of his mouth were curling into a faint smile.

“Why else? To drive up the acquisition price. Make Fengteng Auto—who’s ranked second—pay more for the production line. As long as Fengteng’s budget and bank loans are tied up in this deal, Longming Group eliminates its most financially powerful competitor for the upcoming auction of Yixin Electronics. I’ve heard many of Yixin’s patents are incredibly important for new energy vehicles—that’s the real prize Longming has its eyes on.”

When Jiang Ruotang finished speaking, the teasing look in Zheng Huasheng’s gaze faded, replaced by a trace of respect.

“This is your final answer? You won’t change it?” Zheng Huasheng asked.

“I won’t.” Jiang Ruotang’s voice was firm.

For most eighteen-year-olds, this would be completely beyond their grasp—but Jiang Ruotang trusted the right answer Lu Guifan had given him in his previous life. There was no reason to change it.

Zheng Huasheng visibly relaxed. “Good. Then let’s wait and see. If you turn out to be right, I’ll gladly give up my leisurely retirement to lend you a hand.”

“Deal—”

Jiang Ruotang held out his hand.

Zheng Huasheng smiled and gave him a high-five. “A promise is a promise!”

On the way home, Zhao Yunshu drove while mentally replaying the cryptic exchange between the old and the young. Only now did she faintly grasp what they were hinting at—and was secretly shocked by Jiang Ruotang’s insight.

“Ruotang, you’ve really got guts.”

“Hm? How so?” Jiang Ruotang asked with a smile.

“You told me and Mr. Zheng exactly how much your grandfather left you—weren’t you afraid the two of us would team up and scam you out of your money?”

Jiang Ruotang lowered his head and laughed. There certainly were people like that—like the Lin father and son from his previous life. They would have stripped him bare if he’d had even a scrap left.

“You wouldn’t even take my dad’s money. My grandfather’s inheritance isn’t as much as my dad’s fortune anyway.”

“Maybe I was just lying to you both—trying to protect my ‘I’m not greedy for money’ persona!” Zhao Yunshu joked.

Jiang Ruotang couldn’t help laughing. “What persona… You’re just naturally not greedy. Family matters more to you than money.”

That struck a chord in Zhao Yunshu’s heart, making her feel unexpectedly warm—and all the more eager to remind this kid not to suffer any losses.

“Child, you must stay cautious… You told me and Mr. Zheng your investment plans in Chengtan before any agreement was reached. Aren’t you afraid someone might leak your plans? What if competitors get ahead of you? Or some shady characters come knocking to swindle your money?”

“Like I said—I trust you. And the Mr. Zheng you so carefully chose for me, I trust him too.” Jiang Ruotang looked at her, as if seeing once more the Zhao Yunshu of his past life—working overtime to earn his medical fees, turning grey far too soon.

Zhao Yunshu sighed softly. This child’s trust made her feel like she should treat him even better.

“But you must feel pretty happy, right? I’ve often heard your father say… you were always upset that your mom wasn’t there for you… thinking she didn’t care. But looking at it now—this generous inheritance from your grandfather was the love of two generations passed on to you.”

Though she’d never met He Yun, Zhao Yunshu had seen her photo exhibitions—and always felt she was a woman with a free spirit.

Jiang Ruotang closed his eyes, feeling the gentle breeze brushing his face—like a soft whisper from his mother, or a distant kiss carried across time.

“When I was small, I thought sharing every meal, every moment was the only kind of love. But as I grew older, I craved freedom, understanding, and a broader world. Maybe she couldn’t give me the former—but the latter, with her vision and skills, she could have… if only she’d had the chance. Now, I no longer blame her. I even wonder—did she take all the photos she dreamed of? Did she capture those fleeting moments? Did she see sights and events I never will? If she were still alive… would we sit in a car like this, chatting about the things mothers and sons everywhere talk about? Or would she, with her worldly travels, have given me an even wider view of life?”

Zhao Yunshu pulled the car over, unfastened her seatbelt, and hugged him.

Jiang Ruotang leaned in and whispered by her ear, “Mom, I’m fine now. Don’t worry.”

That was for Zhao Yunshu—but also for He Yun.

On Monday morning, Zhao Yunshu sat nervously in her office, waiting for the 10 a.m. financial news release. She was anxious the outcome might not match Jiang Ruotang’s prediction, but deep down, she also felt a strange confidence in this boy.

Suddenly, voices of surprise rose from the pantry.

“Oh my god! The new owner of Huachen Auto is Fengteng Auto?”

“What? But wasn’t Longming Group the highest bidder?”

“This is huge! How’s the stock doing?”

“Lots of insiders are saying Fengteng’s move is like hurting the enemy ten thousand while wounding itself eight thousand—it’s thrown off Longming’s expansion into the auto sector, but Fengteng’s burdened itself with huge bank loans and cash flow pressure. They’ll have to pray Huachen Auto pays off this massive investment…”

Hearing the news, Zhao Yunshu couldn’t help but clench her fist in delight.

Great—Ruotang was right!

That rush of joy felt like the moment a school report card was handed out and her son had placed first in the entire grade.

As for Zheng Huasheng, he was sitting on his balcony at home, sipping tea and teasing the parrot in its cage.

“The little rascal won.”

“The little rascal won! The little rascal won!” chirped the parrot, happily mimicking his words.

Of course, none of this mattered to the average high schooler.

Only Jiang Ruotang, seeing the news, smiled faintly.

He sent a message to Zheng Huasheng: [Mr. Zheng, I won.]

Zheng Huasheng was a straightforward man—his reply came quickly: [Brat, I’m in a cab heading to meet your lawyer.]

Jiang Ruotang squinted with a smile. Both Zheng Huasheng and Dai Ming were highly efficient people; if the two of them worked together, they’d probably get twice the result with half the effort.

It’s just… Mr. Zheng’s leg wasn’t in great shape, and now he always had to call a cab because of him… As the “boss,” wasn’t he being a little disrespectful to his elder?

“Ruotang, Ruotang, what are you smiling at?” Lin Lu’s voice suddenly rang in Jiang Ruotang’s ear.

“Ah, I was just watching the acquisition battle between Longming and Fengteng!”

Lin Lu chuckled. “Those are things adults care about. How would students like us know the hidden secrets behind them?”

“Just watching for fun,” Jiang Ruotang replied casually.

“Really just for fun?” Bai Yingchuan’s voice came over, tinged with curiosity and teasing.

“Huh?”

“I’ve been following that news too. Judging from the result, wasn’t Fengteng Auto tricked by Longming Group?” Bai Yingchuan leaned over in Jiang Ruotang’s direction, though he was still slumped over his desk.

This made Lin Lu, sandwiched in between, feel like an unwanted third wheel—completely out of place.

He wanted to join the conversation but had no idea what these two were talking about. Who tricked who?

Jiang Ruotang didn’t expect Bai Yingchuan to be interested in this at all. Propping his chin on his hand lazily, he asked back, “Don’t tell me someone in your family bought Fengteng Auto stocks? And now that they’re tanking, you’re heartbroken?”

“Right on the mark,” Bai Yingchuan smiled and nodded. “So tell me, should they sell quickly?”

“Sell? No way—buy while the price is low. Fengteng Auto’s an old player. Seeing their stock dropping like this, they’ll definitely release some major positive news soon.”

“Like what?” Bai Yingchuan asked with real interest.

Actually, this was just Jiang Ruotang’s intuition—but he imagined, if he were on Fengteng Auto’s board, what would he do?

“For example, leak some news that Huachen Auto’s products are even more popular overseas—and that Fengteng has already received huge foreign orders right after the acquisition.”

“Nice.” Bai Yingchuan smiled knowingly.

“But don’t take me too seriously—I’m just talking nonsense. After all, we’re just students in our little ivory tower… Though…”

Jiang Ruotang was about to say more, but when he caught sight of Lin Lu’s aggrieved face, unable to join the conversation, he decided to stop.

Unexpectedly, Bai Yingchuan’s hand reached behind Lin Lu’s back to pat Jiang Ruotang lightly on the back of the head, teasingly laughing, “Hey, you can’t start something and not finish it. Don’t leave us hanging.”

“Ahem…” Jiang Ruotang never thought Bai Yingchuan would joke around with him. “You’re the one leaving gaps!”

“Even if I leave gaps, I’m still better than you,” Bai Yingchuan shot back.

Expressionless, Jiang Ruotang made a rude hand gesture at him and turned away, focusing on the electrons in the magnetic field again.

Laughter from classmates drifted from the back row.

“I’ve noticed Bai Yingchuan only likes talking to Jiang Ruotang.”

“Yeah, he laughs the most when teasing Jiang Ruotang.”

Bai Yingchuan turned with a half-smile and said, “Then I’ll tease him more so I can laugh more.”

A sense of crisis welled up in Lin Lu’s chest again. He’d always thought he was closer to Bai Yingchuan—but now it was obvious that Bai Yingchuan was far more interested in Jiang Ruotang.

And right now, he just wanted to insert himself into their conversation. Before, he’d pretended to help Jiang Ruotang get close to Bai Yingchuan for his own ends—but now that he saw Bai Yingchuan genuinely interested in Jiang Ruotang, he had no choice but to try his best to meet Bai Yingchuan’s expectations.

Otherwise, once he lost his value, Bai Yingchuan would toss him aside too.

He used to fake humility to achieve his goals—but now, Lin Lu truly felt humble.

Trying to please, Lin Lu picked up where Bai Yingchuan left off: “Ruotang, I’m curious too—what were you about to say?”

Jiang Ruotang glanced back. Lu Guifan was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to ask him about this problem but couldn’t find him.

Oh well—he wasn’t getting anywhere struggling with it, might as well chat a bit more.

“Isn’t there a new drama about the development of private car companies? I think it’s called Boiling Era?”

Bai Yingchuan nodded. “Yeah. The producer reached out to me—they want me to play the male lead’s younger self. Not many scenes; I could finish filming during winter break.”

“You turned it down?” Jiang Ruotang lifted his eyelids.

Bai Yingchuan glanced at Lin Lu, who immediately explained for him: “Yingchuan consulted my dad. My dad thinks Yingchuan’s at a critical point in his rising popularity and should focus on securing his fanbase. This script is too old-fashioned and unlikely to win audiences. The producer probably wants to leverage Yingchuan’s popularity to attract investors. So…”

So they politely declined.

Jiang Ruotang glanced at Bai Yingchuan and lazily asked, “And you? Don’t you have your own opinion?”

“I also think the script’s a stale, preachy inspirational story—every plot point feels like it’s lecturing the audience. Not very appealing.” Bai Yingchuan looked at Jiang Ruotang, waiting for his thoughts.

“Well, since they want to use your popularity to pull in investors—that means you have leverage. You could demand they bring in younger screenwriters to revise the script. Keep the story, but make the dialogue and characters funnier, more down-to-earth. Lately the news keeps talking about boosting the real economy and reflecting on the past thirty years of development—this script fits right in. If your fame really brings them investors, maybe some big-name director or respected teacher will see the value in the project and elevate it into a prime-time or tribute drama. Then you’d…”

Jiang Ruotang lifted his index finger, indicating “rising in status.”

Lin Lu muttered quietly, “That’s way too idealistic… things never go that smoothly…”

“All this—up to you, Bai Yingchuan.”

With that, Jiang Ruotang glanced again at Lu Guifan’s empty seat—no sign of him, just his lonely little thermos cup on the desk.

“I’m pretty good at physics—I can help you with that problem too,” Bai Yingchuan noticed Jiang Ruotang watching the seat.

“Ah? I trust your skill, but I don’t trust my brain.” Jiang Ruotang smiled, tapping his temple lightly, still wondering if Lu Guifan was in trouble.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

As Jiang Ruotang got up to leave, Bai Yingchuan’s eyes followed his back, darkening slightly.

He could sense Jiang Ruotang’s unique reliance on Lu Guifan.

“Yingchuan, Ruotang just—”

Lin Lu’s words were cut off by Bai Yingchuan’s smile.

“He just went to find his class monitor. No need to make excuses for him—you don’t really understand him either.”

Bai Yingchuan’s smile was cold, and Lin Lu was at a loss for how to respond.

Bai Yingchuan lowered his eyes. Long ago, when Lin Lu spoke of Jiang Ruotang, he had vaguely guessed that Lin Lu was using him to manipulate Jiang Ruotang.

But it was none of his business—so he pretended not to know.

Everyone said Jiang Huaiyuan made him what he was, and that his own hard work meant nothing to the world.

So when he learned that Jiang Ruotang was being controlled by Lin Lu this way, he’d felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

But after transferring to Guangyao High, he realized the truth was far from what Lin Lu had described.

Jiang Ruotang had no crazy desire to invade his personal space—no blind obsession, no misplaced affection. In fact, Jiang Ruotang kept such a clear boundary with him that it bordered on coldness. There was no grudge, no history, not even real interaction.

Where had things gone wrong?

Because of Lin Lu?

At that moment, Lin Lu was still obsessing over Bai Yingchuan’s last comment.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ruotang took a detour to the restroom—but couldn’t find Lu Guifan there.

Which meant the only place left was the senior office.

But Lu Guifan always ranked first in the entire grade—what more could the teachers possibly expect from him?

When Jiang Ruotang reached the window of the grade office, he immediately saw Lu Guifan’s back. Before the other noticed him, Jiang quickly crouched down.

All he heard was Teacher Wang’s stern voice: “Considering the second monthly exam is approaching, we convinced the principal to only give you a verbal warning. Lu Guifan, remember—you’re a senior in high school. All your energy should be focused on studying! Look how ugly this matter has become!”

“I understand,” Lu Guifan replied calmly.

Huh? What was Teacher Wang talking about? For senior students, what else could cause such a fuss besides early dating?

“There are only about eight months left before the college entrance exam. Couldn’t you have waited? After the exams, you can tutor as many students as you want!”

Teacher Wang kept nagging on and on. Seeing that class time was approaching, Teacher Song quickly smoothed things over.

“Lu Guifan was just trying to ease his family’s financial burden. His intentions were good. Now that he’s promised not to take any more tutoring jobs, let’s trust that he’ll keep his word. Otherwise, all our earnest advice would be pointless no matter how many times we repeat it.”

Only then did Teacher Wang exhale and say in a deep voice, “Fine. Go back to class.”

Jiang Ruotang panicked and immediately turned to leave—if Lu Guifan came out and caught him eavesdropping, it would be mortifying beyond words.

But he forgot that he was crouching below the window, and when he turned, he lifted his head and—bang—his skull smacked right into the window frame. He nearly collapsed on the spot.

“What was that sound?” Teacher Wang asked.

Teacher Song poked her head out and saw Jiang Ruotang. She sighed helplessly and motioned for him to leave quickly. Jiang fled in embarrassment.

“Who was that?”

“Don’t know—they ran off.”

When Jiang Ruotang returned to his seat, his heart was still pounding wildly. He rubbed the back of his head. Dear God, he thought he’d cracked his skull.

“What happened to you?” Lin Lu asked with concern.

Just then, Lu Guifan walked into the classroom. As he passed by Jiang Ruotang, Jiang buried his head on the desk, pretending to be asleep.

Above him came a soft, helpless sigh. A hand gently patted his head.

“Don’t hit yourself any dumber, okay?”

Jiang didn’t lift his head, but from his neck to his ears, he flushed bright red.

How would me getting dumber be any good for you, huh?

When Lu Guifan walked away, Lin Lu reached over and touched Jiang Ruotang’s head. “You hit your head? Where? Are you dizzy?”

“My skull’s made of iron—don’t worry,” Jiang Ruotang grinned carelessly.

Bai Yingchuan withdrew the hand he had almost extended—he, too, wanted to pat Jiang Ruotang’s head.

That evening, Jiang Ruotang’s art class was canceled, so he stayed in school for evening self-study.

Before the study session started, there was a one-hour break. Jiang sent a message to Lu Guifan:
[Class Monitor, want to take a walk around campus?]

Lu Guifan looked at the message. Even though he knew what Jiang wanted to ask, he still agreed.

At the school gate, Jiang Ruotang bought two jianbing guozi—extra meat, extra egg, extra sausage—and walked side by side with Lu Guifan.

As Lu Guifan watched Jiang Ruotang skillfully place the order, he felt that Jiang had this strange contradiction about him—but it was precisely this contradiction that made him feel alive and endearing.

Obviously a young master from a famous director’s family, with a private car for his commute, and art classes that supposedly cost four figures per day—but he could still casually buy a 3-yuan street snack while chatting happily with the vendor, discuss supermarket discount combos with Lu Guifan’s mom, and sprawl comfortably on their cracked faux leather sofa to play on his phone.

They walked aimlessly, their only goal to finish the jianbing guozi in their hands—going as far as they could go.

“You know… instead of tutoring those middle school kids and getting reported to the school, you might as well tutor me. I definitely won’t report you,” Jiang Ruotang grumbled.

Lu Guifan replied, “Tutoring others makes money. Tutoring you brings nothing but mental exhaustion.”

“Mental exhaustion I get—but why no money?”

“Aren’t you the one who insists we’re friends?”

“Oh, hearing you say that makes me kinda happy—but even real brothers settle accounts clearly, you know.”

“Idiot. Didn’t you top up my phone credit and bring food and drinks to my house?”

“And I’m the idiot? Do you know why you got reported?” Jiang Ruotang turned to him.

“Don’t tell me you know why?” Lu Guifan smiled faintly.

“Of course. You taught too well—that’s why. Your students’ grades improved so much that other parents got jealous. But since you can’t tutor everyone, not all the students benefited—so those jealous parents reported you. If you can’t beat the competition, snitch on the ‘cheater.’”

Jiang Ruotang made a chopping gesture.

“Oh.”

“Did you even get paid for those tutoring sessions?”

“Nope.” At that, Lu Guifan actually laughed out loud.