58. A Sudden Surge of Jealousy

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"Minmin!"

"Minmin, wait for me!"

In the narrow alley, Chen Ruomin strode ahead with her hands stuffed in her pockets, while Bai Jinyan jogged behind her. Every time he caught up and tried to explain, she would fling him off with a glare sharp as a blade.

"Don’t follow me!"

Chen Ruomin was in a foul temper.

Just moments ago, she had declared in front of a strange woman that Bai Jinyan was hers. Bai had said nothing, and the other woman, discerning enough, had walked away. Yet the more Chen Ruomin thought about it afterward, the angrier she became. She had barely gone a few steps before she shook Bai Jinyan off and strode away alone.

"Minmin!"

This time, Bai Jinyan caught her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms.

"What are you angry about?"

He looked down at her, seeing the stormy fury written across her face. There was a touch of helplessness in his gentle eyes.

Chen Ruomin shot him a fierce glare.

He had the nerve to ask what she was angry about! Did he have no self-awareness at all?

Someone confessed to him; he neither accepted nor refused, just stood there listening with such serious intent! What if she had arrived a little later—what did he intend to do? Was he really planning to accept that so-called deskmate from the first year of high school as a backup girlfriend he could discard at any time?

At this thought, Chen Ruomin’s anger flared even hotter. She shoved Bai Jinyan away and ground her teeth.

"Jerk!"

Bai Jinyan was taken aback. "I didn’t do anything. How am I a jerk?"

"Then what exactly did you want to do?!" Chen Ruomin snapped.

"There’s nothing between me and Du Yueyue. Aren’t you being unreasonable?" Bai Jinyan paused, watching her fuming expression, and then a slow, faint smile tugged at his lips. "Even if there was… why does it make you so angry?"

Chen Ruomin’s fury stalled—then surged even more fiercely than before.

This bastard!

He dared to ask why she was angry!

Did he really have no clue at all?!

"Jerk!" Chen Ruomin swung her handbag at him, her voice shrill with emotion. "Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!"

Bai Jinyan stood and took the blows in silence. When Chen Ruomin was nearly spent, he crouched down, gathered all the scattered contents of her bag, and handed it back to her.

"Feel better now?"

"No!" Chen Ruomin retorted.

Bai Jinyan offered her the bag again. "Then do you want to hit me a few more times?"

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Chen Ruomin ignored the bag and threw herself against Bai Jinyan’s chest, sinking her teeth into his shoulder.

Bai Jinyan didn’t even flinch. When her anger had ebbed, he gently patted her hair and said quietly, "You only bit my jacket, not my skin."

"…"

"…"

"Bai Jinyan!"

"Yes?"

"Yes, what!?" she snapped.

He chuckled softly. "Now do you feel better?"

"No!" Not only that, she was even angrier now!

"Why don’t you trust me?" Now that she seemed a little calmer, Bai Jinyan finally asked, "After all these years, don’t you know what kind of person I am?"

The way he asked, it almost sounded as though she, Chen Ruomin, was the one being unreasonable. Yet it was clearly his fault for being so ambiguous with another girl, wasn’t it?

But… was Bai Jinyan really that kind of person?

Bai Jinyan took her hand, offering no further explanation.

"Where did you park? I’ll take you home."

"Parking lot across the street," Chen Ruomin muttered.

Bai Jinyan nodded and led the way.

It was only after he escorted her to her sedan that Chen Ruomin abruptly snapped back to herself.

Wait, even if he didn’t accept the confession, he still did all those ambiguous things with that girl, didn’t he?

Her irritation reignited. She glanced at Bai Jinyan, who was circling around the back of the car to open the door, and suddenly called out to Mr. Cui.

"Lock the doors."

Mr. Cui reacted in a split second, obeying the young mistress’s order and locking the car.

Bai Jinyan’s hand had just touched the door handle when he froze.

Then he saw the car window slowly roll down. On the other side, Chen Ruomin sat with half a meter between them, her gaze cold and detached as she scrutinized him.

Yes, scrutinized.

"So patient when explaining homework? So gentle when you speak? Even went out of your way to buy her food?"

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Chen Ruomin fired off three deadly questions in succession, leaving Bai Jinyan momentarily speechless.

How much had this girl overheard without him noticing?

"All of that is—"

"A misunderstanding?" Chen Ruomin interrupted, then huffed and rolled up the window. She spoke to Mr. Cui, "Drive. Let’s go home."

"Yes, miss!" Mr. Cui replied cheerfully, hit the gas, and sped away, leaving Bai Jinyan standing there in a daze.

She just… left?

Bai Jinyan stood in the chilly wind for five or six minutes, then shook his head helplessly, hailed a taxi, and went home.

What followed was even more uncertain.

Chen Ruomin seemed to be genuinely upset over what, to Bai Jinyan, was an utterly trivial matter. She wouldn’t answer his calls or reply to his messages. Even when he visited the Chen residence in person, the butler could only offer a rather awkward, "She isn’t home."

And indeed, Chen Ruomin wasn’t at home.

As the New Year approached, not only Shuangxing but companies across Huaguo were plunged into the most hectic period of year-end reports. Every department worked overtime summarizing the year’s achievements, setting targets for the new year, calculating bonuses, planning annual meetings, preparing gifts, arranging holiday shifts, and coordinating with overseas clients…

Since returning from winter camp, Chen Ruomin hadn’t had a single day to sleep in. She spent three or four days accompanying Chen Liwan to the company, attending year-end reports and shareholder meetings for more than a dozen subsidiaries under Shuangxing—she was so busy her feet barely touched the ground.

Even Guo Jingyuan, who lived under the same roof, hardly saw her, let alone Bai Jinyan, whom she had temporarily blacklisted.

Still, Chen Ruomin did look after the beautiful girl she’d picked up off the street. She instructed the butler to select several sets of her own winter clothes and pajamas for Guo Jingyuan to choose from.

Guo Jingyuan spent ages picking, but in the end only took two sets of clothes to change into, refusing to accept the rest no matter what.

When the butler reported Guo Jingyuan’s choices, Chen Ruomin merely glanced at the returned clothes and smiled.

"She really has no eye for these things—all she chose were the cheapest ones."

She went to her desk and picked up the note that had been neatly pressed beneath some papers. The elegant, delicate handwriting danced across the page.

"Today I owe Chen Ruomin six months’ rent for the guest room at Clearwater Riverside, two full sets of winter clothes, and two sets of pajamas. Total amount: priceless. Beginning from September 1st of this same year, I will repay Chen Ruomin one thousand yuan per month, until my debt is paid with my last breath.

Guo Jingyuan."

Chen Ruomin shook her head and tucked the IOU into her drawer.

This woman, it seemed, intended to spend her whole life repaying that debt.