novelraw Chapter 240
Chapter 240
Gu Yanshen gently wrapped his arms around Lu Xiran from behind.
His arm carefully wrapped around her waist, avoiding her slightly protruding belly, and his palm pressed against her body like a warm wall.
"Ranran." His voice was low and husky, his breath brushing against her ear, "I'm sorry."
Lu Xiran's body stiffened. The stiffness wasn't resistance, but an instinctive reaction to an old wound being touched—like a scabbed-over scar that had suddenly been gently touched; it didn't hurt, but it ached so much it made her want to cry.
"I know..." Her voice was muffled, as if squeezed from her throat, "I know you said that to make me leave. But..."
She closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling.
"But my heart still aches. I'm afraid—afraid that one day you'll think you should push me away 'for my own good,' afraid that you'll shoulder everything alone again, leaving me with your back turned. I'm afraid..."
"Ranran." Gu Yanshen tightened his arms, pulling her into his embrace, his chin resting on the top of her head. "I won't push you away again. I won't hurt you again. I won't do anything to hurt you in the name of loving you again."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word pierced the depths of the night like nails.
Lu Xiran didn't speak, but slowly and gradually leaned her weight into his arms.
Gu Yanshen seemed to be trying to prove something, exuding an extreme contradiction. From the time Lu Xiran became three months pregnant, he was like an insatiable young man every night, tormenting her in various ways, yet every move he made was carefully mindful of the child in her womb, gentle to the point of being almost devout—like repeatedly jumping between raging fire and gentle water, even he himself couldn't say who was conquering whom.
Lu Xiran was already a heavy sleeper, and she slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky.
Sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains, warming her face. She opened her sleepy eyes and instinctively reached for the spot beside her—it was cold; the person was long gone. She lazily rolled over, picked up her phone from the bedside table, and casually opened Weibo.
Then, she was so startled that she sat up abruptly.
It's trending on social media.
It's not just "exploded," it's "exploded, exploded, exploded!" The same person practically dominated the entire trending charts—
#XinMubai#, #XinMubai's WeChat Moments#, #XinMubai's Fireworks Screenshot#, #XinMubai and Lu Xiran#, #XinMubai's Instant Reply#, and also #The Second Young Master of the Xin Family is a True Architectural Lip-Stand#.
Lu Xiran clicked on it.
The first Weibo post was a screenshot of Xin Mubai's WeChat Moments, with only one sentence in the caption and a picture of fireworks lighting up the sky the night Gu Yanshen confessed his love.
"Who do you think you are? What right do you have to slander the person I like? Pity me? You don't deserve it!"
Lu Xiran was stunned for two seconds. She knew Xin Mubai was sharp-tongued, yet he was still so direct and ruthless. She scrolled down the comments, and the first popular comment was:
"Another fool who was deceived by Lu Xiran's appearance."
The number of likes has exceeded one million.
Xin Mubai, as if he had been waiting there, replied almost the instant the comment was posted.
"Who are you trying to fool? You? Your floor plan doesn't even clearly indicate the load-bearing walls. What am I trying to fool you about? That I'd trick you into helping me with structural mechanics calculations?"
Someone in the audience was confused: "Why is this guy using architectural jargon?"
Netizens immediately explained: "Xin Mubai, the second young master of the Xin Group, is a legitimate architect who has designed several landmark projects. He's not an internet celebrity; he's a real big shot."
The second comment followed immediately: "They were used as pawns without even realizing it, how pathetic."
Xin Mubai replied instantly: "Pity me? Do you deserve it? The smallest project I manage is worth two hundred million. You should count the number of strokes in the word 'pity' before you talk to me."
The third comment reads: "Xin Mubai, do you have a crush on Lu Xiran? Why are you so protective of her?"
Xin Mubai replied with extreme candor: "She's so perfect, isn't it perfectly normal for me to like her? But listen carefully—I protect her because she deserves it. You probably will never understand, there's a kind of feeling in this world called 'As long as she's happy.'"
He did not deny his past feelings, but he also did not use them as leverage.
Lu Xiran felt a pang of sadness as she looked at the words.
The fourth comment started with personal attacks: "Lu Xiran is a scheming bitch who climbed the social ladder by relying on men."
Xin Mubai's reply was delayed by a few seconds, then a rather long message popped up—
"Have you ever seen a scheming woman who remains silent, doesn't play the victim, and doesn't shift blame when she's being attacked online? She did nothing wrong, and just because she married someone you can't have, she's being subjected to this kind of slander from you people?"
He added, his tone suddenly serious: "And you're saying she relies on men? I admire her talent. I liked her designs before I even knew her, back when she didn't know me. Could someone who 'relies on men' produce those kinds of designs?"
Someone below replied to him, "Why are you so agitated? Did you get some money from her?"
Xin Mubai retorted, "Screw you. Do you think I need that little bit of money? My design fees alone are enough for you to type on a keyboard for a lifetime. I stepped forward for one reason only—she deserves it."
Someone else said sarcastically, "Does the Xin Group know that Young Master Xin is protecting her so much?"
Xin Mubai immediately posted a screenshot of a chat, some of the content of which was blurred, but it was still clear that it was a conversation between him and his older brother.
Brother: "What are you doing online?"
Xin Mubai: "Swearing."
Brother: "Who are you cursing?"
Xin Mubai: "Scolding them for bullying Ranran."
Big Brother: "Oh. Be mindful of the limits."
Xin Mubai: "Understood."
Big Brother: "Come back for dinner tomorrow night after you've finished cursing."
The screenshot caused an uproar among netizens.
"His older brother isn't doing anything about it?"
"Yes, we've taken action. We told them to 'be mindful of the limits.'"
"That 'oh' is such a sweet talk!"
"Wait, the point isn't 'oh,' it's that my brother said 'come back to work after you've finished yelling'—doesn't that mean he can yell whatever he wants?"
"Why is the Xin Group's style so different from what I expected?"
Then, the art style completely went astray.
No one cared about Lu Xiran anymore, nor did anyone care who Xin Mubai had insulted. Everyone's attention was drawn to the chat history between Xin Mubai and his older brother, as if by a magnet. The screenshot was enlarged, analyzed frame by frame, turned into memes, and someone even did a voice analysis of the older brother's "oh"—"Listen, the pause in that 'oh' clearly carries a hint of doting."
"I declare the Xin brothers to be the best-loved couple of the year!"
"What CP? They're brothers!"
"Brothers are so much more compelling! The brotherhood within a wealthy family—isn't that even more exciting than a TV drama?"
Netizens began frantically digging into the past of Xin Mubai and his older brother. What they found was astonishing—these two Xin brothers are truly a breath of fresh air in the world of wealthy families.